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Freedom with 54 Surprise Guests, $6513, and Justin Bieber :)

myfamilyluvs2cruise
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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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We were on Valley Church beach too. I haven't finished going through my photos yet, but when I post them, I bet you'll find some of your group in them. We were in the water next to the jet ski guy.

 

When he wasn't busy, he was sitting in the sand, smoking some um, custom rolled, um, cigarettes. Yeah, that's what they were! ;)

 

HAHA! I didn't see that, but it explains a lot! I look forward to your review for sure! :)

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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Sailing off to Antigua . . .

I already posted some of the pictures, but here goes:

We got up early and did our workout on deck. That part is a blur to me, I think I slept through it- still full and tired from the day before. J I think it involved going up and down the stairs mid–ship and running around the track and doing 100 reps of several other items. Maybe I just blocked out the pain, much like childbirth, you can't exactly recall . . . LOL!

 

I had contracted with Lawrence of Antigua for group transportation to Valley Church Beach after reading a spectacular review on CC of VC- so thank you to that poster. Lawrence was awesome, very responsive, reasonably priced, and he did not want any payment until we were safely back at the pier.

 

We met of the ship and wondered a bit looking for the guy with the Lawrence signs. Word of warning- we had many other drivers shouting “I am Lawrence” at us . . . It was a good thing we were skeptical due to our incident the day before in St Thomas. Once we found the REAL drivers with the real sign, we were led down an alley- which was a little unnerving, but arrived at two nice buses. Our drivers were very pleasant; we boarded and were off to the beach.

 

We got a tour through the city on our way, with lots of facts and stories about the island. It was very interesting and they were very entertaining! We drove by several schools that looked quite run down, and saw cute little kids in uniforms out in the heat on the modest playground. All of our children were pretty quiet and taking it all in. They do not live on a beautiful island, but they realized they definitely have it pretty darned good!

 

I had asked Lawrence to pre-negotiate a good rate on beach chairs and umbrellas via email before the trip. And, that he did! We arrived at the beach and they had set up a beautiful area for us with two chairs and umbrella for each family. The price was supposed to be $20 for each set up of three items, and we paid $12 thanks to Lawrence. It was awesome to have everything ready to go for our day of fun.

 

The beach is mind-blowingly gorgeous- and the people there are very nice. There is a beach bar/restaurant called the Nest. They had a server on the beach that brought delicious drinks to us. The food was VERY slow- and by slow I mean some items took 90 minutes to come out. The Painkillers came out every 30 seconds- LOL. But, it was very handy to have that restaurant and service right there, and we really enjoyed the day.

 

There is a Jet Ski operator there as well. If you want go and want to ride, make sure you DEFINITELY negotiate! The deals kept changing by the minute- and I don’t think any 2 people got the same deal and that created a little drama- but no big deal. But the jet skis were in great condition, and the water was perfect for kids to adults. It was crystal blue, smooth and other than a few tiny jellyfish- PERFECT!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our day, and then about 30 minutes before scheduled pickup, Lawrence himself came down to the beach to say hello as we had not yet me him. He brought a cooler of local beer, soda, and water for our group! It was SOOOO NICE and unexpected!

 

We packed up, headed back, and paid cash to both drivers at the end of our day- $15 pp. I would highly recommend Lawrence for anyone looking for great transportation at a fair price. They over-delivered in my opinion- and I would not hesitate to use them again.

 

There are some shops you walk through on your way back to the pier, and some entertainment. There was a musician- I will post a picture- that was belting out some song about “I LOVE TO SMOKE MARIJUANA” and our kids were all giggling in shock as they don’t hear that song every day in our word - ha-ha!

 

Once on the ship, we waited for an elevator and watched a very drunk man confront his wife over and over yelling “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” I swear he asked the same question 29 times in a row. She just stood there and said nothing. AWKWARD . . . People were taking the stairs to avoid the ugly confrontation- and we eventually joined them.

 

We showered up, and headed to dinner. Once again, the service and food were excellent. Nothing unusual to report, other than our kids had a blast dancing to “Low”. I usually make it a point to mortify my kids with my dance moves at least once every cruise as it builds character- LOL- but I was enjoying my dinner too much to boogie.

 

We went back to see our new friend Jay play at the Swing Time Lounge. We learned from Marco (the waiter in the pictures) that he had so much fun playing on Monday night- that he brought extra guitar strings, wore a special shirt, and showed up to play for our group on Tuesday. But, as it turns out, he was not on the schedule and had the night off- ha-ha! I guess it just speaks to how much some of those entertainers want to be appreciated for what they do. It would be so hard to have the energy to play your heart and soul out to only 3 people who look comatose every night. Talk about Groundhog Day . . .

 

We walked in, and it dawned on us that it was the 4th of July! The singer (Jay) had on a very patriotic shirt, and a red white and blue guitar- which was our clue. We had a number of veterans in the group we traveled with - and he acknowledged them and sang “God Bless the USA” and brought us all to our feet. It was a great moment.

 

At that point in time, Jay (the singer) was starting to LOVE Justin Bieber! OK, “LOVE” is a big stretch- but the Biebs was working his magic. J We had fun putting Justin on his chair when he would take a break (see photos) and Justin even took his drink and his mike. The Biebs gets what the Biebs wants . . . LOL !

 

We talked him into playing “Sweet Caroline” again, and the crowd went wild. My friend Kellie ended up inviting Jay to join us the next day in Tortola. He said he would try to make it, but that it was hard for the employees to get off the ship- especially at 7am as we had planned. But, he seemed excited that he was invited!

 

We had a great time, met some new friends, and closed down the bar. I think I am really a bit too old for closing down a bar- but had so much fun it was worth it.

If you are sailing the Freedom before September- GO SEE JAY!!! Tell him you heard he loves Justin Bieber. And, check his website out:

 

www.jaylaboy.com

 

Next up . . . THE BEST STOP EVER . . . 54 PEOPLE IN BEAUTIFUL TORTOLA (Plus one Carnival employee – hee hee)

Edited by myfamilyluvs2cruise
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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Great review! We leave on her Sunday. I love a great piano bar! We will definitely go see him and ask him to play "Sweet Caroline"!

 

 

OHHH please do! He is in the Swing Time Lounge next to the comedy club. We went in the Piano Bar, but it was dead at the time. He is billed in the Fun Times as "Groovy Tunes with Jay". Tell him you read on CC that he LOVES Justin Bieber- I think he would be really happy. He turned out to be a lot of fun and is an excellent singer/guitar player ! I hope you have the best cruise ever!

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