JerseyGirlJen

Cruising out of Port Canaveral for the first time next December, yes….407 days, but who's counting! Good thing I enjoy the journey as much as the destination :D

Anyway, I have never been there before so I wanted to get an idea of the area and where to stay. When I plugged in my dates it's showing that most places are already booked. I'm not going during the holidays, the hotel is for one night on 12/1/2017.

Is this normal for that port to book up so early? I didn't think I'd need to book until a few months prior to departure but now I'm rethinking that. Any thoughts from experienced Port Canaveral cruisers would be greatly appreciated.

I also thought that maybe a lot of hotels didn't open up their booking windows yet for that far out so maybe that's why they're showing as unavailable?

As golfadj said, it's a buffet on the last sea day. On my cruise a few weeks ago it was done in the afternoon, around lunchtime. I went into the buffet area to get some lunch towards the end of lunchtime (thinking the lines would be short), and lunch was already done and the chocolate buffet lines were long. I went to the Deli instead. The chocolate extravaganza lasts an hour or two, it's not very long, so plan accordingly.

This is really more of a planning tip than anything, but I make bookmarks on my computer for all the ports I'm visiting. For anyone else with a Mac, I'll go to the Bookmarks Bar (the gray area at the top where it says Apple, Yahoo, etc.), and I'll make one called "Cruise". Then I'll make subcategories of all the ports, (Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios) and add in bookmarks I find into each place, respectively.

l go on the tourism websites, and google other info about each place. Whenever I find a place that's interesting I bookmark it under that port. Shops, restaurants, tour operators, other interesting places to see, etc. It's really helped me keep things organized, and also helps if I stumble upon something interesting I won't forget about it all those months later when it's cruise time.

Carnival Freedom on Dec 9th!

Great review, thank you!

Keep up the great work!! I'm leaving on the Freedom in 44 days :D And I found myself going back over your B2B2B2B2B2B2B 2010 review as I'm doing the same itinerary. Thanks again for taking the time to be so detailed, we are all so appreciative!!

Yay another review from Mike and Tracy, I love reading about your adventures!!!

Jealous! I want to go back on Freedom so bad...if only because of some specific eye candy. :D

LOL!! I'll keep an eye out for him and send him your love. :p

Can't wait to read this one, I'm doing this same trip in December :D

I'm loving your review, thanks so much for taking the time to share.

I'm cruising in early December, reading your review made me realize that it's going to be here before too much longer!!

Thanks again, looking forward to reading more :D

They often recommend doing both knees at once because most people would not go through with the surgery a second time. The healing and PT process is painful, and it can take months to recover. I've seen a rare few who recover beautifully in a short amount of time, but that is not the norm.

Expect to be in pain for at least a year after your surgery. Attending therapy 3x/week is not fun....it's painful, but necessary.

As someone who has worked for years in the PT field, I would not book a cruise that soon after this surgery....I'd wait to cruise until at least 8 months out. Again, it also depends on your conditioning, activity level, rate of healing, etc.

Good luck!!

I'm 37, single, no kids :) I started traveling solo a few years ago when I went to Europe by myself. I just got tired of not going anywhere because none of my friends were able to go due to their own work or financial situations. I really enjoy solo travel...so much so that I have turned down offers from others to do group trips because I'd rather travel alone!

This is my first solo cruise (coming up in December), and I'm looking forward to it. I like to say that traveling solo is an introverts paradise. :) I like that I can do as much or as little as I want...sit out on my balcony and keep to myself, relax on the Serenity Deck, or head to the bar for a drink and make new friends.

Sailed the Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday April 23, and returned on Sunday May 1st.

This was my first cruise, and it was a great time! We flew in on Friday evening and stayed with a friend in the area. They took us out for great Thai food (Thai Bayshore in Ft. Lauderdale, highly recommend it!) On Saturday we arrived at the port at noon and got through the embarkation process in an hour. We arrived on board at 1:00. We had lunch in the buffet on the Lido deck, then went to our room at about 1:30 (7287 on the Empress Deck) and our luggage was already there.

We did a quick tour of the ship on our own to get the lay of the land, then put our swimsuits on and found a lounge chair. Sail away was at 4:00, and we were off. That night we had dinner in the dining room, we opted for anytime dining. It's true what others have said in regards to having a table for two. You're really not dining alone, as you are seated practically right on top of another table....but it worked out as we met some really nice people and ended up chatting with our "neighbors" each time we decided to have dinner in the MDR.

The food in the MDR was good overall, however, the appetizers and desserts seemed to be better than the main entree. I had the prime rib one night, and was not at all impressed. I had steak twice, and that was good, but not as good as I was expecting. I think I had it in my mind that it was going to be "steakhouse" quality, and it wasn't quite there, but it was good. The crab cake as an appetizer was very good, as was the chilled strawberry soup. The cherries jubilee was delicious, and the chocolate melting cake is to die for! Service was great, and we got seated quickly.

We ate breakfast daily in the Lido buffet, which was also good. They had the usual pastries, cereals, breads, eggs, sausage, bacon, and omelette station, pancakes and french toast (yum!), etc. For lunch we usually ate there as well, each day they had a different buffet menu, but all the food was good. I had pizza a couple of times, and enjoyed that as well. The pizza area is in the back of the ship by the aft pool on deck 9.

Sunday was our first sea day. I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel the movement, and while I felt ok, I could tell we were in some waves. I got a prescription for Meclazine from my Doctor, he gave me 40 pills. It's the same medicine as Bonine, but for a $10 copay I got a lot more pills than what comes in a box of Bonine. I started taking my Meclazine the day before the cruise. I took it 3x/day: around 8am, 4pm, and again around 11pm. I had NO issues with seasickness and never felt queasy...not even for a second. I am extremely sensitive to motion sickness, so I was concerned, but I was fine. During the day I had overheard other people saying that "So and so was sick in the room", so many other people did not fare so well. At noon our Captain announced that we were in the middle of 12-15 foot seas. I will also note that the movement was not side to side, but forward to back, and was told by an experienced cruiser I got talking to that the front/back motion is easier to take than the side to side, so I guess it just depends how the waves roll in I guess. I was at the deck near the front of the ship and when I turned to look at the back of the ship it was surprising how much we were moving up and down. If I kept looking at that motion I probably would have felt ill, so I chose to look elsewhere ;)

We enjoyed the Serenity Deck on Deck 11? (forward, ages 21+) for most days at sea. It's a nice retreat with cushioned chairs and loungers, and plenty of shade. The upper deck of Serenity has a hot tub and a couple of hammocks and some chairs and loungers as well.

Second sea day was Monday, and the weather was just like the day before. We spent time at the gym, sauna and steamroom. The hot tub in the gym wasn't warm, so we didn't stay too long. (The warmest hot tub I found all week was the one under the waterslide). We were also on the pool deck, this time we moved around a bit. In regards to **CHAIR HOGS**....I didn't notice them in full force, and we were sailing at close to full capacity. Maybe I didn't notice them because I was a newbie, but I also wasn't fighting for a chair right.next.to.the.pool. I never had a problem finding a deck chair. If I didn't see one in the general area I was looking to sit I just went elsewhere. Seems like there were always chairs open on the sides of the ship towards the back. Just my observation.

St. Thomas and Antigua: I had read many other reviews on here about both places, and many people said it was no problem to get a taxi to take you anywhere on the island. Since we were in port from 7a-6p on both days, we decided we were going to do that instead of booking a shore excursion through the cruiseline because A) it was cheaper, and B) we could stay as long as we want. Well, after getting off the ship in those ports we decided against it. Know that we are both well traveled women. It was just the two of us as our boyfriends didn't come with us. (women in our 30's) and we just had a bad gut feeling about it. 2 single women alone just didn't feel safe. Perhaps others have had no problems, but immediately a red flag went up in both places.....Antigua more than St. Thomas, so instead we opted to do some shopping and have a drink at the new Senor Frogs at the port. It's definitely not nearly as "broken in" as their other establishments, as this one is new and only been open for a couple of months. It was kind of disappointing, but maybe it's better when it's busy?? We enjoyed the pool on the ship when we got back on board. I did learn through experience that when I cruise again I will book through the cruiseline, at least then it's a bigger group of people and I'd feel safer.

Tortola: We booked independently through Tortola Charters and went to Jost Van Dyke for the day. It was the highlight of the cruise! The only people with them on the JVD trip were fellow "Freedom" cruisers. We followed their instructions and met them at the main gate at the cruiseport. Note that this is not the first area that you come to when getting off the ship.....you have to walk about 100 yards past there up to the main gate, past the grass field. We hopped in our van and took a 20 minute ride to Pussers Landing, which is where we left from. Once we got on board it took an hour to get there, in a beautiful catamaran sailboat. JVD is absolute paradise! We anchored about 30 feet from shore and got to jump in the water and swim to shore. They had a small rubber boat which we put all our backpacks in and they drove that up to the beach so our stuff would stay nice and dry. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we were only in port till 3:30. Tortola Charters was great to deal with, we had no problems. They got us back in plenty of time, probably around 2:15/2:30 or so, and we didn't have to be back on board until 3:00. The crew were friendly and professional. I would book with them again without hesitation.

Our last sea day was Friday, and the seas were calm. I enjoyed the slide, the pools, and sat outside pretty much all day in a few different spots. Deck chairs and loungers were hard to come by this day up on the Serenity Deck, so I opted to go elsewhere and get comfortable instead.

Nassau: The port is right near Atlantis, but I don't think you can walk there from the cruiseport. We enjoyed the shopping in Nassau much more than in Antigua or St. Thomas, and it seemed safer. There is a Senor Frogs near the cruiseport which was hopping, and that's always a fun spot to enjoy a cocktail and people watch. It was much better than the one in St. Thomas.

At nighttime we went to the comedy club, it was great. The guy with the vantriloquist was a riot!! We also went to the shows. I really liked the Jump, Jive, and Wail, but wasn't into The Big Easy....I thought the JJ&W was much better. The Beatles show was fantastic, that is a must see. We did Trivia, and took a class on how to fold the towel animals too. :D We enjoyed the movies out on the big screen at the Lido deck at nighttime, and also checked out the casino and the shops. My travel partner went to the spa a few times and was very pleased. During the afternoons they played music out on the pool deck, and also had a band out there. They were very good.

The Freedom was a very nice ship, and the staff was excellent. Every Carnival employee greeted us and said hello or good morning, and our room steward (Clarence) was also very nice. He did a great job. The ship itself was very clean! Our room was spotless when we arrived, as were all the bathrooms around the ship....I never saw a dirty bathroom. The eating areas were also very clean. You leave your plates, etc. on the table in the buffet when you're finished and the staff is right there to clean them up. I was very happy with the level of cleanliness all over the ship, and the level of service we were given.

This was my first cruise so I hope I covered everything!

The date is important because she would still be 17 until the last night of the cruise...and get to go to the Teen Club, which she loves. She will turn 18 on the last night of the cruise!

You can't be serious. :confused: You really think that's a legit reason for your COLLEGE STUDENT daughter to miss a week of class instead of taking her during a break? <insert facepalm here>

It's college, not high school. A note from Mommy isn't going to cut it. Professors do not speak to parents about their kids either....your daughter is an adult, and needs to make the decision for herself. Keep in mind that most classes only allow for 3 absences....after that, they fail, or at minimum get their final grade lowered by one letter. Plus, she is going to miss a LOT of work!

She will most likely have group projects going on in more than one class (they are a constant reality for college students) and that will not go over well with her group partners if she is going to be absent...because then they're going to have to pick up her slack.

I cannot imagine missing an entire week of college for any reason, especially going on vacation. She's off for a few weeks at the end of December into January....take her after the new year.