Carnival Freedom Review with Pictures June 18-26 2011

[hoosiergirl34787]

Once again thanks for the review, one more question, I know you did not travel with a child but did you happen to see or hear about the Club O2 for the teens? We are taking our 15 year old again this year and he LOVED the teen club on the Allure this past June, any info would be wonderful!

 

I know that the do have Club O2 it is right next to the Sushi Bar. It was funny because we noticed that the actual Club never had anyone in it, but the chairs directly across were always full on teenager. I don't have any other information about that--sorry.

[CruiseTeacher7]

Thank you for the review. We are going on the freedom next summer. We just got back from the Valor. When we were in St. Thomas we saw quite a few turtles when we were snorkeling off of Sapphire beach.

[StingRaysfan]

Day 4—St. Thomas

Finally the first port had arrived. Geoff as looking forward to this port since we would be scuba diving. I was looking forward to hopefully seeing sea turtles. I was up at 5:30 am to hit the gym. We grabbed a quick breakfast of fruit, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and milk before heading back to the cabin to pack our gear. We were off the ship and waiting with our tour group by 8am. Before leaving I had researched dive tours but most were the same price as Carnival so we decided to book with Carnival for this excursion. This would be the only excursion we did with Carnival.

 

On the pier we met our dive masters and signed off on the waivers. There were about 18 people doing the tour and they divided us into two groups. Each catamaran had about 9 people. Our main dive master was Jim and he was very organized and thorough. We rode out to the first dive site, Buck Island Marine Sanctuary. I was so excited since I had read on Cruise Critic that this is where the sea turtles congregate. However Jim informed us that the turtles had been around for a week so he wasn’t sure if we would be able to see them. Our second dive would be near by on a wreck. The ride out to the dive site was very rough. I was on the verge of becoming sick when we arrived suited up and were in the water. Once I was in the water my sea sickness subsided. The first dive we spent time on a reef. There were many fish, pretty coral, a lot of sea urchins and sea anemone. The highlight of the dive was this loggerhead turtle that swam right towards us. We ended up about 60 feet down for 38 minutes.

The second dive was on an old agricultural freighter that had been broken into three pieces by a hurricane. The highlight of the wreck dive was the nurse shark hanging out under the wreck. Again this dive was 38 minutes and the depth was about 40 feet.

 

 

 

After the second dive, we headed back to the pier. The return ride was so much smoother. The boat let us off right near the Havensight Mall. We returned about 11:40 which was nearly an hour sooner than scheduled. I felt that since we arrived so early we could have easily spent 15 more minutes on each dive. I did feel very comfortable with the dive outfit, but felt like we were ripped off when it came to time. Since we paid for a four hour tour, I expect a four hour tour not three. .

 

 

 

We did the St. Thomas scuba excursion on our cruise too at the end of May, though we didn't have the same timing issues... ours was right around 4 hours! It was really good, but you are sooo lucky you got such a great shot of the turtle and a shark! We only saw one turtle on our dive and it was from a ways away and a shark was too hidden in the shadows to see!

 

 

 

We had friends on your cruise so it's fun to read your review... thanks!

[tamigirl40]

brickergirl, you are so right..and isn't this a great way to pass time while we are waiting for our turn on freedom? Again I will say how much I am enjoying this review and thank you.

[antigualvr]

Really enjoying your review, thanks for taking the time to do it!

[LBumb]

great job

[Love PalmTrees]

I love your review!! Thanks for all the great details about the ship. We are cruising on her this fall, but on the Costa Rica/Panama itinerary. I can't wait to try the the Kiss on the Lips drink. I just lo-o-o-ove mango and need to expand my "cruise drink" choices. Congrats on all the prizes and ship on a stick winnings!!:D

[092306]

Great Review

 

Love the SCUBA pics. I booked BLue Island divers and I can't wait to go.

 

What type of camera did you use for those pics?

 

Also you said you found coupons for $2.00 off the bushwackers.

Can I ask you where you found them?

 

THANKS