Freedom Help !!

[eiger]

Leaving July 2nd on the Freedom, not a lot of reviews on the 8 day Ft.Lauderdale, Cozumel, Costa Rica and Panama itinerary. We have booked the Chef's Dinner and the Steak house. Our problem is Costa Rica. In Cozumel we are going to do the Catamaran snorkel and beach. In Panama we are going to take the cruise through the canal (never know if we will see it again). But, Costa Rica is a big ?? Any help as always would be greatly appreciated. Also, anything else on the Freedom that we should be sure not to miss? Again a BIG THANK YOU to everyone on this board, we have been luckky enough to cruise 12 times, and if wasn't for everyone out there, I am sure we would have missed tons of great experiences.:)

[Catrin]

We did this itinerary on the Liberty several years ago.....

 

In Costa Rica, my husband and Boys took a tour on a retro fitted huge Army Truck through the rain forest and Jungle... they said it was a blast. I had booked a tour through the Pineapple Factories, but due to lack of interest, it was canceled. I decided to take advantage of an empty ship that day!

 

The best thing about this cruise, was that it was 8 days instead of 7!! Having that extra day at sea was such a treat.

 

Have a great time!

Catrin

[jl24]

We used "okeydokey" tours in Costa rica, we were on the freedom in May 2011

[eiger]

Thanks I knew you guys and girls would come through for us.

[w4kry]

we zip lined in costa rica. Absolutely loved it!

[VegasGreen]

What night did you decide to try the Steakhouse? We're on the other 8 day itinerary 7/16, and can't decide when to try it not know what's served when in the MDR

[DaDivaMom]

We just returned from the 6/4 sailing, same as w4. Had a great time. We took the Carnival white water rafting and really enjoyed it in Costa Rico. Be advised that you will not have time to do anything else, it is an all day trip but well worth it!

 

We loved the "Ticket to Ride" show (the Beatles tribute) on board and I especially loved the Serenity area. We also enjoyed the punchliner comedy club.

 

We had Anytime dining but it doesn't work well on Freedom and switched after the first night to late seating and that worked MUCH better for us. Hope your cruise is wonderful, enjoy!

[readytotravel44]

We did this trip during Christmas a few years ago.

 

Cozumel - horseback riding - the horses were in bad shape. it was depressing.

 

Panama - Canal - Loved it! Christmas Day - no canal traffic! Worth doing!

 

Costa Rica - Ziplining and canopy tour. Ziplining was terrific! My mom (70's) did it with us! We didn't see any monkeys, but our bus driver pulled over to the side of the road on the way back to the Freedom to watch a monkey having a blast in a tree. It was great! We all got pictures! The canopy tour was a bit too tame for us. Would have rather ziplined longer!

 

FYI - While we were in Costa Rica - one man from our ship drowned after being caught in a riptide. The family got off the ship and went off on their own to swim. Apparently the riptides were pretty awful there. Quite a few people were caught. The man who drowned was attempting to rescue two of his family members who were in trouble. It was a pretty big family. They ended up leaving the body in Costa Rica and returned to the ship for the rest of the cruise. They planned on dealing with everything once they were back in the states.

[VegasGreen]

We just returned from the 6/4 sailing, same as w4. Had a great time. We took the Carnival white water rafting and really enjoyed it in Costa Rico. Be advised that you will not have time to do anything else, it is an all day trip but well worth it!

 

We loved the "Ticket to Ride" show (the Beatles tribute) on board and I especially loved the Serenity area. We also enjoyed the punchliner comedy club.

 

We had Anytime dining but it doesn't work well on Freedom and switched after the first night to late seating and that worked MUCH better for us. Hope your cruise is wonderful, enjoy!

 

Thanks for the comments! Quick question... how do you mean that Anytime doesn't work well on the Freedom?

 

Also - I've seen the 7 night sample menus ( https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/sections/shipboard/DinnerDesserts_master.html ), but what do they do for the 8th night/when does it fall? I'm aware you probably didn't memorize menus, but just wondering if there was a weaker menu in there somewhere so that I could better pick when to try the Steakhouse...

 

Gracias in advance! :)

[shellgoodman]

We are on your sailing and we are going zip lining, banana plantation and beach with My Friend Mario.

 

This is the first time that I will be zip lining and I know that I have to shut my eyes on the first run! My husband and my 12 yr old daughter went extreme ziplining in Honduras last year (we were on the Legend) and loved it. My 11 yr old daughter is willing to try this year although we are both nervous and someone is going to have to push us off the first time.

 

We white water rafted before in the US and loved it although I don't know how it is in Costa Rica.

 

See you onboard!

[DaDivaMom]

On most of the ships for Anytime there is little to no line for anytime dining for smaller parties but on Freedom anytime after 6:00 PM even parties of 2 were being given a beeper and wait times were up to 45 minutes with empty tables in the dining room. Not sure what the problem was. We went to dinner at 7:30 and the line was out the door! Our party of 4 didn't get seated until 8:30 and didn't finish dinner until almost 10:15. Not cool so we switched. Our four boys who were also with us stayed with anytime and loved it but they ate late each night and stayed with the same wait staff.

 

I can't honestly recall the menus but there were two nights that were weak in my opinion and one in which we had wished we had booked the steakhouse. Sorry. This was a go with the flow cruise for us as we were traveling with 6 young people!

 

The white water rafting was GREAT!

[hobbyhrs97]

We did the same cruise in Jan, and loved every minute of it!

 

If you look for my name I believe you will find my review.

 

In Costa Rica we took the A1 tour with Okey Dokey tours, he also will give you a 10% discount if you mention you are a CC member. We did a walk in the jungle , got to hold a sloth(loved that) , banana plantation tour, went down the canal, went to playa Bonita beach for a yummy lunch, and to a local market for coffee and vanilla.Water, soda and beer were included. I think that tour was the highlight of our trip. Charlie was quick to respond to my email and his staff are great.

 

As for the canal we did do it and I found it to be very long and boring(watching paint dry would be better), our ferry was way our crowded and I did not feel safe on it(I booked that with Carnival). Hubby always wanted to head down the canal and now wishes we did something else. IMHO you get to see a better view of the canal just watching it.

 

I have included a link for my facebook page so you can better see my pictures. If it doesn't work send me a email and I will try to get it so you can. My email is classitup@hotmail.com

 

 

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=592251891&sk=photos

 

Have fun and enjoy your trip! Ryan is a awesome CD and I am sure you will have a blast!

[LizaMM]

We just returned from the 6/4 sailing, same as w4. Had a great time. We took the Carnival white water rafting and really enjoyed it in Costa Rico. Be advised that you will not have time to do anything else, it is an all day trip but well worth it!

 

!

 

I did the White Water Rafting through Carnival with my DD last time we were in Costa Rica and we LOVED it! In fact, this was one of the BEST tours/port days we have had. It was so much fun - we smiled and laughed and shared the most amazing day together!

 

I don't often do tours through Carnival but this is one place where I always do.

 

We have done the Train & River Tour in the past as well and my parents did just the river tour but I highly suggest trying out the WHite Water Rafting

[LBumb]

we are doing six night in sept and cannot wait.

[eiger]

Thanks again everyone, can't wait to get out of here. Vegasgreen we are booked for the Saturday night before we hit port. We did this last year on the Liberty and it was a great way to finish of our cruise, we had a wonderful dinner and a great evening.:)