Cruisin' on Lady FREEDOM August 18-25, 2013

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Alright, I think that is enough pictures for now. I will post them here and there. I will finish from where I left off on embarkation day.

We were ready to Sail Away at 4:30-the time we were supposed to leave at. However, we just waited and waited and waited, wondering why we weren't moving. We seen a fir truck and an ambulance, but we thought that they were going to the Carnival Sensation, not the Freedom. We found out later that night that they had though that someone had a heart attack and that they sent him to the hospital. Thus delaying Sail Away.

I stayed out until we were past Lady Grandeur, and then I headed inside to Isaac's for dinner. There, I met our waiter, Dave, and our assistant waiter, Deepak. Both of them were excellent. We were seated at table 495. A good location, in my opinion. Dinner was usually a little over an hour, but it passed by quickly.

Unfortunately, I didn't make to the Welcome Aboard show, but my Granny and aunt did. We also met our room steward, lkomang . All of the room stewards I met were very nice and all said Hello.

Getting closer and closer to Lady Grandeur.

After fire aft view. Can't really tell there ever was a fire.

More on the way!

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During the 7 day voyage, I had many nicknames from many room stewards who I met in the hallway.

1 of them called me flash, because I was always moving fast and I almost always had my camera on me.

Another one nicknamed me F.B.I because I always was in a hurry and I looked like I was on a mission.

I was called sleepy, because every time he seen me, I was half asleep and looking really sleepy.

My room steward was calling me his friend by Day 3, Tuesday. (I liked this one the best. He would even open the door for me for the first few days, but that was because I wasn't feeling the best. It was really nice of him.)

I had so many different nicknames, it was like I was a celebrity at times.

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I didn't do much in the morning, as I wasn't feeling the best (all thanks to the virus.)

In the afternoon, I was feeling a little better. We went to see The Croods in 3D. It was a great movie. I could watch it over and over again.

Tonight was the first formal night. I didn't go as I was barely eating anything at this time. Everyone else went. We then went to the 9pm production show in the Arcadia Theatre called Marque. It was really great.

Before that though, I walked around on deck 4 and 12 and took many pictures. I did this during dinner and after dinner with my mom. It would become a nightly thing for us to do. (We walked a lot of miles on this cruise.)

Random Freedom pictures

Airplanes found at the top of the one elevator banks.

Lights from the elevator area.

Royal Caribbean International Logo

Rock Wall

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Today we were in Labadee Haiti. We arrived earlier than planned, so everyone was able to get off a little bit earlier than usual. I stayed on the ship, as I wasn't feeling well, but everyone else got off and came back a few hours later. They came back, ate lunch and then I decided that I was feeling well enough to leave the ship so that I could say that I had been there. My mom and I were off the ship for about 30-45 minutes, then we came back.

While everyone was out, my mom found a wooden elephant with it's trunk up- which means good luck. They brought it back and showed me. It really was a lucky elephant because I felt much better the next day.

 

I now have 2 sets of lucky elephants. A rainbow stone set of 5 from Costa Maya Mexico and the wooden one from Labadee Haiti. At some point in time, I got my ship model. I also unpacked today, only to have to repack about 3 days later.

 

Again, I didn't go to the MDR for dinner (lucky it was the last night) and ate at the windjammer again. While everyone else was at dinner, I sat at my favorite spot on deck 4 for a little while, then I walked along deck 4 up to the bow and took many, many pictures. I also went up to deck 12.

I don't remember if we went to the show or not(was there a show this night?)I watched a bit of T.V. and then called it a night.

Note: Labadee is a beautiful port of call, but it wasn't our favorite. Nothing against anyone, we just didn't like it that much. The beaches weren't the best, unless you were a higher up member.

Coming up: Todays pictures (some of them anyways.)

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My first look at Labadee (from my balcony)

 

These next ones were taken from deck 12 (I think)

More to come!

[fromsea2sea]

cant wait to see the pic's. we are going on the same one oct. 13,

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Have you ever thought about what happens to the mattresses when they change them? I do. They leave them in Haiti, where they are sent to a distribution place to be given out to people who really need them. I have pictures to prove it if ya think I'm kidding! Here they are:

And they just kept coming and coming...

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More mattress pictures

These were the last ones:

After they brought in the gang way that they were using for the mattresses. (There had already been a few trips at this point)

Next up: Jamaica

Edited September 1, 2013 by Calm Blue Ocean

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Just found a few last minute photos from Labadee.

The Zipline

The Ever-Helpful sign

Another sign

A hiding Lady Freedom

Sign found in tram.

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Final Labadee picture:

GOODBYE LABADEE!! UNTIL NEXT TIME!!

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For some reason or other, I can only remember a bit of what I did this day.

Again, we arrived earlier then planned(This became the norm). We got off the ship and shopped for a bit. We didn't have any excursions planned for this day. We returned to the ship and relaxed for most of the afternoon. Then we got ready for dinner. This was my second night eating in the MDR (the last time was the first night)

This is all that I can remember. (That's what I get for writing things down a few days afterwards. However, this is the only day that I forget)

I got pictures after dinner like I always did with my mom and then it was off to bed. Tomorrow we were going to be in Georgetown, Grand Cayman and we had an excursion booked for this one.

In Jamaica:

A cool sign (my mom is in this one)

 

I thought these were sooo cute!!

More to come!!

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Random pictures from Jamaica.

More to come!

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These guys were singing and playing on the pier. They were really good.

There's a resort on that island.

The impending storm approaches (or so we think)

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Again, we arrived earlier than expected. The first tenders left a little after 8. We (my mom, sister and I) left the ship at about 8:45 as we had an excursion for today. We did the Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim. We were also able to go to the turtle farm that was across the street. We originally signed up for the 9am time, but ended up in the 10am one.

This excursion was AWESOME!! I give it a 10 out of 10 and I highly recommend it We had to take a 20-25 minute bus ride from the pier to the Dolphin Discovery place. Our trainer was Lucia and our dolphins name was Luna. Everybody remembered them easily because they went by Lu and Lu.

The turtle farm was also part of this excursion. It was really cool. I picked up a few turtles, as did my sister. A few of the turtles that she picked up were moving around a lot, and I had learned from our tour guide that if you stroke the backs of their necks, sometimes they will fall asleep or go limp. I'm tellin' ya, it works, but not on all of them though. It was really cool to see.

We had finished with our dolphin excursion and were heading over to the turtle farm, when the sky darkened to an almost black colour. You could hear thunder and see lightning. We didn't stay at the turtle farm as we didn't want to get stuck in the rain, plus, we only had about an hour before we could head back. (We were on the first bus heading back, but the last bus heading to the excursion).

Once back at the port, we walked around for a bit and did a bit of window shopping, then got back on a tender and headed back to the ship. We relaxed until Sail Away and took pictures from deck 4. We had a little bit more relaxing time before it was time to get ready for dinner, as tonight was the second and last formal night.

After dinner, we changed out of our formal wear and my mom and I went and took pictures from deck 4 (can't you tell this is our favorite deck), and then we went and relaxed for a bit. There was a show tonight, but we didn't make it.

At this port, we got a lot of free gifts- we attended the seminar on shopping. Everything was really nice.

This will be all for today. I hope to post pictures and Chapter 7 up soon.

Thanks for tuning in and waiting!

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Our Tender buddy, Carnival Magic

 

Up Next: Cozumel

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Sorry for not updating for so long! School has gotten in the way, and then I mean to update, and then something comes up, and well you know how life is. I will try my best to finish off this review before too much time has slipped away.

Thanks for staying tuned!

[Nicksmom82]

Enjoyed reading your review of The Freedom, it's fun getting a sneak peek of your pictures, and reading your remarks. Will be sailing w/ her on October 13. Counting down the days!!!!! Love Royal Caribbean, that's why we're Diamond Members, we constantly sail w/ them. Friends & family have sailed on The Freedom and have all said that this is one of their favorite ships. :)

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Hope to finish this review Friday night or Saturday sometime.

So much school work to keep up with.. (_ _)

Thanks for being patient! :)

[Calm Blue Ocean]

[COLOR=navy]Today was our last port of call, Cozumel Mexico. We had been here the year before on the Carnival Dream. It is an amazing port of call, IMO. Due to being at a different pier (International Pier) then we were last year, we would end up going downtown. We had never been to this area before. We got more 'Free Gifts' (Thanks, port and shopping talks) and my aunt sent a postcard. It started raining and it wouldn't stop(it lasted about 10-15, maybe 20 minutes). We got soaked. We, my mom, aunt and I, stayed downtown while my granny, brother and sister went back to the ship, and shopped around the downtown area and at the pier, before heading back to the ship. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000080][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000080]We left the ship at 11/11:30 and we came back close to 1. We had lunch in the Windjammer then relaxed, walked around and took more photos (you'll never guess where) then got ready for dinner. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000080]Because of the late departure, there was no production show today. We went and walked around (you guessed it) on deck 4 and the bow, got some sunset pictures, ones of Carnival Magic and Conquest, and relaxed a bit before going to bed. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000080][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000080]UP NEXT: COZUMEL PICTURES AND CHAPTER 8: Day 7: Sea Day [/COLOR]

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Getting there!! Edited October 4, 2013 by Calm Blue Ocean

[Calm Blue Ocean]

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One of two other dockees (Carnival Conquest)

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The other dockee (Carnival Magic)

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Submarine excursion of some sort (the first boat is pulling the white sub)

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Look at how blue that is!!

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Freedom of the Seas

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A ferry to Mainland Mexico

More to come!

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The view of Carnival Magic from where we were docked(International Pier)

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Another excursion (Earlier they were attacking Carnival Magic)

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Random places in Cozumel

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Straight down view from the very front of the ship

More to come!!

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Random port area photos:

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Passing the Magic on our way from Cozumel
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Goodbye Cozumel! Until next time..

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The Carnival Magic followed us out of Cozumel, like we followed the Conquest.

Next up: Chapter 8: Day 7: Sea Day, followed by Pictures from around the ship and overview.