02/27/2010 Freedom Eastern Caribbean Photo Review

[Krissta]

Hi all! This thread will take me a few days to finish, but I figured I'd start it. And I apologize ahead of time for the amount of posts this review will be because of the photo cap. ;)

 

Ok, so we (me, DH Jeff, and friends Eric, Matt, and Kim) went on the Freedom from February 27 through March 7. It was an Eastern Caribbean cruise, starting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and going to San Juan, PR; St. Thomas; Antigua; Tortola; and Nassau, Bahamas.

 

 

Day 1 Ft. Lauderdale

We got to Ft. Lauderdale pretty late. We did eat dinner at this awesome restaurant, Seasons 52. Great menu! :)

 

So the next morning, we got ready to board the ship.

 

We got a cab and I was getting SO excited on the way to the pier.

[Krissta]

There it is!!! The whale tail!!!!

 

Embarkation was pretty painless. Lots of lines, and we were really hungry since we didn't eat breakfast, but I was just so excited we were actually THERE that I was oblivious.

 

My first drink of the cruise, my favorite, a Miami vice. Those of you who don't know what that is, it's half strawberry daquiri, half pina colada.

 

Jeff playing chess with Matt.

[Krissta]

The Freedom's water slide, which I never got a chance to use. :(

 

Finally, we started sailing away. Bye Ft. Lauderdale!!!

 

Day 2: At Sea

Not many pics taken. The day consisted of sleeping in late, laying in the sun, and wandering around the ship. Oh, and a little game called hockey on the big screen. ;)

 

Jeff and I getting some good pics in during a beautiful sunset.

[Krissta]

 

Pay special attention to this photograph. Notice the big screen TV? Yes, that's Canada receiving their medals for the Olympic hockey game. They played the whole game out there! :) It took a lot of nagging from the HUNDREDS of Canadians on board to get Carnival to play the game out there, but when they noticed their tiny sports bar would be overflowing, I think they decided it was for the best to show it outside. Obviously Jeff was very upset at the outcome of the game, but I still think it's awesome that we got to watch a hockey game in the Caribbean in 80+ degree heat. ;)

[Krissta]

I decided to take a tour around the Serenity area.

 

Went back to the room that night to find our first towel animal: a dog! :)

[Krissta]

Day 3: San Juan, PR

 

We didn't get into San Juan until around 4:00 p.m. which kinda sucked because it seems like such a cool city, I wanted more time there.

 

Pulling past the fort.

 

The view down from our balcony.

 

Eric and Matt hanging out on their balcony, checking out San Juan.

 

Jeff on our balcony.

 

Our ship.

[Krissta]

Some random pics of San Juan.

[Krissta]

 

Our ship at night. Ooooo pretty!

 

We then went to Senor Frogs, where much debauchery did ensue. No pics need be posted here of that. :D

[Krissta]

Day 4: St. Thomas

 

Ok, so St. Thomas is the most beautiful port to be docked in. I love opening the drapes to view this.

 

The day started very early because we wanted to have as much time in St. John as possible. So we hopped a cab to the Red Hook ferry where we went to St. John. This is the second time we had been at this port, and did the exact same thing. We wanted to go to our favorite beach: Trunk Bay.

 

On the ferry.

 

Pretty water!!!

[Krissta]

 

We got to Trunk Bay, where Jeff immediately turned into a five year old, tearing his clothes off and running into the water.

[Krissta]

 

After an hour or so, I thought they had been in for long enough, so I called them out. (I play the Mom role quite well, TYVM.) We got back on the ferry and went back to St. Thomas, where we were quite hungry, and wanted a taste of the local cuisine. Instead of finding a restaurant (which were all stupidly expensive), we asked the guy at the bar where we could taste some local foodies, and he pointed right behind us. There were three food vendor type people serving all types of food. One was a burger and fries type place, so we didn't go to him. The others were authentic local foodies.

 

We decided to try pate, which is kind of like a stuffed johnny cake. Mine was full of a local fish, which was on the sweeter side, almost like shrimp, and spices. SO good. I can't even tell you how nomeriffic (tasty) it was.

 

So we went back to the ship, where I promptly started to crash from being so tired. Jeff took some pictures of the wonderful sunset.

[Krissta]

He then pulled me out of bed and made sure I appreciated the scenery, which I did immensely.

 

Later that night, we had a possessed towel pig in the room.

 

 

Ok that's it for today. Hopefully post more tomorrow. :D

[Tiffany1203]

Nomeriffic is a GREAT word!! :)

[Elaine515]

Great, great and great... I am soooooo enjoying all your pictures... keep them coming and thnx so much for showing me what I have to look forward to in 18 days...

[tor548]

It was fun meeting you and then bumping into you all week! I love your pics/review so far.

 

did you stay at the doubletree?? That view looks so familiar. we stayed there too.

I also think your room was right above ours (or above and a few over from it anyway). Your balcony views are almost identical to the ones I got

[canner2u]

Awesome review, I love looking at pictures of others cruises, the ships they were on and where they stopped.

 

Then add that I am planning to cruise on the Freedom in the future, this is really getting me excited.

[Leadft]

Which side of the ship were you on?

[Krissta]

It was fun meeting you and then bumping into you all week! I love your pics/review so far.

 

did you stay at the doubletree?? That view looks so familiar. we stayed there too.

I also think your room was right above ours (or above and a few over from it anyway). Your balcony views are almost identical to the ones I got

 

Yes! :) That is too funny! Great hotel, though. Too bad we got there after dark so we couldn't take advantage of the canal.

 

And I was so glad that I could meet one CCer that I would recognize! (Judy's hat made her stand out, but as she said, without the hat, no clue!)

[Krissta]

Which side of the ship were you on?

 

Port side. Room 1066, Panorama. I *highly* suggest this room. :) No one on one side, and right next to the door leading to the Lido deck.

[Krissta]

Great, great and great... I am soooooo enjoying all your pictures... keep them coming and thnx so much for showing me what I have to look forward to in 18 days...

 

You will LOVE it. Best cruise I have ever been on. And, personally, I thought the ship's decor was amazing. Jeff said it reminded him of the video game Bioshock (art deco type architecture and whatnot).

 

Best crew I have ever dealt with as well. We were in Posh, table 332, all the way in the back against the aft window (thanks to John Heald)! Our waiters were absolutely fantastic. Monchilo (head waiter, Serbia), Melvin (assistant waiter, Philippines), and Bojan (drink waiter, Serbia). Monchilo and Bojan would feed off of eachother and joke around. It was fantastic. They were so great.

 

The drink waiter at the wine bar, Bronco, is great as well. He knows magic tricks, so make sure if you get a drink there, you tell him to show you some! :)

 

And Petra is the cutie Croatian at the coffee bar. She was awesome as well.

 

Now I have to post a pic... ;)

 

(Left to right, first row: Kim, me, Jeff, Eric; second row: Bojan, Monchilo, Matt, and Melvin)

 

I'll be uploading some videos of them to Youtube as well, eventually. hehe

[Bigwave1129]

We are on Freedom in July. What time could you get off the ship in San Juan? I am wondering if we can make it to El Morro fort.

[fourwaystreet]

We were on the same cruise. Did you go to the wine tasting?

[Alegeeter]

THAT'S MY TABLE!!!!

Very bumpy back there, but I loved it back there. Lots of peace and quiet

[Krissta]

We are on Freedom in July. What time could you get off the ship in San Juan? I am wondering if we can make it to El Morro fort.

 

I think we got in a bit earlier than scheduled, so we could get off the boat around 4:30 if I remember correctly.

[Krissta]

We were on the same cruise. Did you go to the wine tasting?

 

No, but my husband and Kim did. They thought it was amazing. They were very impressed with the sommelier.