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REVIEW: Carnival Freedom, October 14, 2012, Western Carribbean

sweetcurves

By sweetcurves,
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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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Day 5-Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

So, I had read every thread I could find about Ocho Rios prior to this trip. It seemed opinions were varying from “it's more scary than Harlem at night” to “it's beautiful and the people are wonderful”. So I had NO idea what to expect. Initially we decided we would do something through Carnival to be the most protected we could be, but the excursions were more expensive than we could afford at the time. I read a ton more reviews of Phil Lafayette and Peat Taylor. Eventually we settled on Phil Lafayette and booked him for a Dunn's River Falls Tour.

 

So we got up at 6:45, had some breakfast and got off the ship as early as possible. We were off the boat by 7:30 and made the LONG walk down the pier. If you have any kind of disability, be prepared. My broken toe was disability enough for me to be irritated by the time I got to the end of the pier.

 

We had to ask around a bit to find Phil but then were introduced to the man himself! We got into his “bus” which is really a van that seats like 12 people. We had others with us: a large family from Colorado including 2 Grandmas!

 

I was seated up front with Phil. He took the time to stop and point out things in downtown Ocho Rios and give us some tips about Jamaica itself. He told us that when we got to DNR, it was best for us to just take what we needed with us and leave our things in his van. He said DNR did have lockers but he called them “rickety”. He told us we should all act like we are one big family and look out for one another. He warned us not to really shake hands with the locals, to let them place things in our hands or around our necks. He warned us not to give our names as some of the locals may then make something (a carving etc) with our name and expect us to purchase it. He also taught us some Jamaican history and lingo “ya mon” “no mon” “no problem” etc.

 

So we pulled into the parking lot at DNR and again told us to leave our belongings in the van. He had two young ladies that were already at the park that would be watching out for the van as well as taking us to the gate. Phil collected our monies ($35 each/plus we each tipped $5) and one of the young ladies went to the gate to purchase our tickets. So we stripped down to our swimwear, put some money in a small neck purse and put on our water shoes. Let me tell you, it was incredibly awkward to walk through the park in JUST a swimsuit!

 

So we were hooked up with a couple of guides (KC and Milton), who gathered together our group with probably another 20-30 people. They gave us tips and told us that if we had cameras that weren't waterproof, to give them to Milton and he would take care of them and take photos. So at the bottom of the falls, I handed over my camera. KC had all of us stand in a long line and hold hands (a man between every two women). The holding hands part actually made things more difficult, IMO. I need my hands to get my balance etc.

 

There was also a young man video recording the whole climb and a DVD could be purchased at the end. I think it was $30...I don't know if that was US dollars or Jamaican.

 

So we start the climb and the water is cold but refreshing. The climb was harder than I expected but not HARD. Eventually the hand holding went by the wayside and we all stuck together and helped one another but I found it easier not tied to two other people. We got about halfway up and my toe was KILLING me. Even though it was covered and I didn't bump it on anything, the rushing water itself was pounding down on it. I was considering bailing at the first spot where you could climb out of the water. But a few minutes later, my sister took a mega tumble and had 3 huge and deep scrapes on her knee. It was bleeding pretty bad but we trudged on for a little while longer. We eventually bailed about halfway through the climb. I didn't want to do any more damage to my toe and I was worried about infection in my sister's knee. So we got out and climbed the stairs up to the first aid hut.

 

The ladies at first aid cleaned my sister's wound and put an invisible bandage on it. After that we headed to the craft village. Now this was the only time I really felt uncomfortable (outside of being half naked the entire time). As we were walking toward the village 3 or 4 men came together at the entrance and just stood there (they were almost blocking the entrance). My blood pressure rose significantly at that point. They were all friendly and of course they all wanted us to look at their stuff. I told them we were just looking for now. One of them tried to touch me, gave me compliments etc. I was VERY uncomfortable. I ended up telling them that we were moving on. But we just ran into more of that. Lots of flattery, lots of wanting to shake/take my hand (which I was very leery of after Phil's warning). So then I got told I was being rude. I was not at all trying to be rude and kept a smile on my face the entire time but even when travelling in big cities in the US, I am leery of people wanting to be so close to me and people being pushy and somewhat demanding. I was firm with my “no thank you's” but it didn't seem to be enough. We made it about halfway and a young woman told us she wouldn't push us but asked us to come and look. So we did and made a few purchases from her. We decided at that point we'd had enough but there was no way out except to go all the way through. So more pushiness and attempts to pull me in were made. I was almost in full blown panic attack at that point and we picked up our pace.

 

We ended up meeting up with our van “family” in the little food court area where we had some water and a popsicle. Even while sitting there, a man approached us. I told him we were done shopping and he still told us that it would be polite to come and look. I didn't like the implication that I was being rude because I was done shopping and didn't want to come look for worry of being manipulated, groped, or told (again), that I was rude.

 

Thankfully the time to meet up with Phil again came very quickly and we were back out at the van. Every single one of my belongings was in my backpack, the way I left it. So I felt very confident that Phil is to be trusted. He began the drive back and was pointing a few things out to us. We got distracted by the huge spiderwebs in the powerlines but Phil seemed a little cheesed off that we weren't paying attention to him and got a little snappy with my sister and I. I understand him wanting to show us things and tell us things but at the same time I didn't think it was a big deal that we weren't wide eyed at the banana tree but the GIGANTIC spiders instead.

 

Anyway, Phil took us right back to the gate of the pier so that we could get back on the boat and then took the rest of the van to the river tubing.

 

I finally exhaled once I was back on the boat...which was at about 11:30 am.

 

I will say I think as two young women we were a little more vulnerable and I might not have felt as uncomfortable if I was with a man.

 

Truthfully Jamaica looks pretty but I was so turned off by the pushiness, I don't know that I would consciously choose to go back there and I would probably never take a land vacation there.

 

Once back on the boat, we did our normal routine of swimsuit, crystal light, Serenity hammock until about 4 pm. We then had a nap and showered and got ready for dinner. We didn't feel like the MDR so just picked up a few things at the Lido buffet.

 

We went and wandered around the fun shops after we'd gotten some flyers for a watch set sale that was going to be happening the following day. While in the fun shops, we could hear Motown music coming from the main lobby. We looked down and saw Brad doing some trivia and a sing along/dance along. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but Motown is my absolute favorite music so we ran down there and were out on the dance floor immediately, dancing and singing along for almost an hour. It was by far my most favorite thing I did on the boat. And Brad is hilarious. I LOVED how into things he got. He's a pretty good dancer for a white boy!

 

After that we wandered some more and then went to the late comedy show where I once again attempted to flirt with my favorite Serbian. Then we went to the night club and ran into our dinner neighbors from two nights before. We danced until close to 2 am, and even did a conga line!

 

When we got back to the room, we ordered some grilled cheese sandwiches and a bucket of ice. I ran up to guest services to use the little S&S atm thing and was gone quite a while. When I got back, room service still hadn't arrived. When it did arrive, all 3 of our grilled cheeses were burnt...to a crisp. They were cold, dry, and black on the bottom. I was not impressed and was SO hungry but just couldn't be bothered to wait another 45 minutes for more food.

 

We went to bed sad, knowing that Friday was our last day.

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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Thanks so much for your review and pictures. I'm getting even more excited for our November 17th cruise on the Freedom. Now that I know there's a White Party, I'll make sure to bring more white. :)

 

 

Are you on the same itinerary I was? If so I have all the fun times so feel free to ask any questions.

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GAMOM4

GAMOM4

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:)Thank you so much for your review!!! Especially your review of Ocho Rios...it answered the questions that we have had about our upcoming cruise. Everything that you described about Dunn's River Falls is exactly the kind of thing that I don't enjoy ... from the climbing rocks....to the having to stop ... and ESPECIALLY having to go through the market at the end of the falls. Thank you for your detailed report! Now I have time to find something that is more suitable for us.

 

Love your pictures!!!

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lbrav

lbrav

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Love your review from the word Milan!! On our girls cruise on the freedom in July we spent every night wherever Milan was!

But then I seen the picture(leopard dres w/ milan?) There must have been 2 milans!! lol.. I wish i knew how to post pictures of my milan!!

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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Love your review from the word Milan!! On our girls cruise on the freedom in July we spent every night wherever Milan was!

But then I seen the picture(leopard dres w/ milan?) There must have been 2 milans!! lol.. I wish i knew how to post pictures of my milan!!

 

Haha maybe there is more than one!

 

My Milan is pretty tall. I'm 5'8", was in flats in that photo (yup leopard dress is me with my Milan) and he is clearly 6 or more inches taller than I am. . And he has a stunning smile. He mumbles a little and his accent is very thick but super sexy.

 

*sigh*

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cruisecrayz

cruisecrayz

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Did he talk about his family at all? I found myself wondering about his family and if he was supporting them etc. I hate that we didn't have more time to talk. He was always just so busy...damn drunks on my cruise! LOL

 

He spoke of his sister and her children. He's very close to them. But, he didn't say whether they were dependent on him. Although, he did say that he worked on the ship because there's very little opportunity for him to work in Serbia.

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silvercrikhix

silvercrikhix

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Welcome to your new addiction!

Cruising is THE way to go!

Thanks for taking the time to share your 1st cruise with us, you have done a fabulous job with it :)

YOUR Milan is really dreamy, indeed.....Yummo ;)

You and your sister are so lucky to have each other to share with, so fun!

I LOVE the black shoes you wore with the ruched dress....saawoooon.....:D

I look forward to reading your future cruise reviews .........

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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Welcome to your new addiction!

Cruising is THE way to go!

Thanks for taking the time to share your 1st cruise with us, you have done a fabulous job with it :)

YOUR Milan is really dreamy, indeed.....Yummo ;)

You and your sister are so lucky to have each other to share with, so fun!

I LOVE the black shoes you wore with the ruched dress....saawoooon.....:D

I look forward to reading your future cruise reviews .........

 

Haha thanks! The night I wore them, there was a lady who complimented me and then she saw me again when she was leaving the dining room and almost knocked someone over because she was staring at them while walking! So funny!

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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He spoke of his sister and her children. He's very close to them. But, he didn't say whether they were dependent on him. Although, he did say that he worked on the ship because there's very little opportunity for him to work in Serbia.

 

 

More swooning. Wish that gorgeous brat would email me! Ah well.

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cotonwod

cotonwod

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My sister and my niece are going on this ship in November so I'm also fascinated with it. It will be their first cruise and I want them to have a wonderful time. It looks like you guys had so much fun and thanks for the pictures. I sure would have like to see some food tho. Love those food pics.

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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My sister and my niece are going on this ship in November so I'm also fascinated with it. It will be their first cruise and I want them to have a wonderful time. It looks like you guys had so much fun and thanks for the pictures. I sure would have like to see some food tho. Love those food pics.

 

LOL I just didn't want to be the chubby girl taking photos of her food.

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sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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I'm loving your review!! Happy belated birthday and thanks for taking the time to post...

 

Haha thanks and np. I work part time so I have A LOT of time to kill plus I'm a bit of a travel junkie and LOVED the idea of posting a review.

 

I have reviews of every hotel I've stayed in in the last 10 years on tripadvisor and I took notes every night on the cruise.

 

If being a TA wasn't an almost obsolete career, I would be one.

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  • 2 weeks later...
sweetcurves

sweetcurves

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I guess I should finish this!

 

Day 6, Sea Day

 

We slept a little late so finding somewhere to lay out was nearly impossible. So we spent some time in the cabin, packing our bags, moaning about having to go home and face the real world the next day.

 

In the afternoon we attended the watch set sale at 3 pm in the fun shops. Got some Christmas shopping done! It was a madhouse but everyone was polite and there was no pushing or shoving.

 

We found a hammock on Serenity later on in the afternoon and laid out as late as possible. Then we showered and dressed for dinner in the MDR. We both had the bacon mac n cheese with starter. We were in a mega hurry because we wanted to catch The Beatles show in the main showroom. Also had WCMC for dessert (again only ate about half). The portions are remarkable...I just can't imagine ever finishing everything.

 

After dinner we went to see Ticket To Ride in the main showroom. It was pretty good. For some reason I was expecting dialogue but it was all singing. Which was fine. I'm not huge into "shows". After that we headed to the International lounge for some karaoke watching and some Milan drooling. That's when I ordered my last virgin cocktail and got my picture taken with him.

 

I blew $40 on slots in the casino and we danced a bit in the night club but the mood all over the ship was really subdued. It was like we were all mourning.

 

We went to bed pretty late after making sure everything was ready for the morning. We chose to do self debarkation as we had a flight at 11:35 am out of FLL and I had no idea how long the customs process would take.

 

We got up around 7, got some breakfast and then debarked at about 7:35 or so. We were through customs, in a cab, at the airport, and through security by 8:30 am. Let me tell you, 3 hours in FLL is a loooooong time. Luckily FLL has free wifi.

 

Flight home was uneventful, parents were on time to pick us up and after a stop at Walmart for groceries, we were back home by about 8 pm.

 

We booked our next cruise within about 10 days. LOL

 

 

THE END!

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deedle7544

deedle7544

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Thanks! I'm so jealous, you have no idea.

 

I spent hours last night looking for a cruise we could afford and fit in to my very busy upcoming schedule. I think we are going to try to do a 4 days out of Miami in April. Key West for Kinos and Cozumel for some Mexican flavor!

 

Are you going on Destiny? We did that one in September, only complaint was not enough time in Key West, but the ship was great and the cruise awesome!

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