B2B On the Freedom ~ August 18th & 25th: My Diary

[atlgants]

Subbing! :)

[bb24]

Thanks for the review! We'll be leaving the Independence when you begin your B2B in December!

[maxs mom]

Thanks for the review! We'll be leaving the Independence when you begin your B2B in December!

 

Great!! Make sure you leave her in good shape. We were on the Indy right before the refurb. Looking forward to seeing the changes. I know they weren't all that extensive, but still a good thing.

The Freedom could really use a refurb. They seem to be doing it piecemeal as they go. We saw a lot of work being done here and there. Painting, new carpet, lots of new mattresses, wallpaper......lots of work that is over and above just the regular stuff. They replaced many, many shower doors as well. They replaced ours one evening and there wasn't anything wrong with it that I could see. We saw lots of shower doors sitting in the hallway!

[Karma5]

Enjoyed your review.................thank you

[Sugar*Magnolia]

So once again....another two cruises are in the books! Once again a good time was had by all. This cruising lifestyle is great fun and we love it. We meet the nicest people on cruise ships and have made some life long friends as a result. Looking forward to more and more cruises and hope to meet more nice folks as well. So please be sure and say hello if you see me.

Next up for us is the Explorer out of Bayonne on October 13th to Bermuda! Hey .....It's almost time to start packing for that one!! As always......here is a toast to all our cruise buddies.....past and present. Hope to see you once again on a cruise ship!![/font]

It took me a week to catch up and read through your review!! As always...a wonderful, wonderful review! Loved your pictures.

 

Enjoy Explorer in October!! If you need any NJ suggestions for your drive up, dont hesitate in asking! You & John look like you are enjoying your retirement. We're aspiring, its really just a few years away!! :-) Thanks for taking the time and sharing!

[cruzeluver]

Wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking us along.

 

We did a B2B on Freedom in April and Willie was the best! What an asset to Royal he is.

[maxs mom]

Stacey.....Always good to hear from you! And thanks so much! We are lucky that john's sister lives in S. Jersey, so we will be staying with them and then just driving over to the port that morning. They are going with us. It will be nice to be on the Explorer again. It's been a few years.

cruzeluver....Thank you as well. It will be interesting to see where Willie goes next! Seems to be some confusion with some of the concierges.

[tampadee]

Loved you review, thanks!

 

I have to ask. How did you get a dinner at Chops from the casino manager. We spend so much time in the casino on RCI and no such luck for us.

 

Dee Dee

[maxs mom]

Loved you review, thanks!

 

I have to ask. How did you get a dinner at Chops from the casino manager. We spend so much time in the casino on RCI and no such luck for us.

 

Dee Dee

 

Thanks!

We didn't get the dinner.....our friends did. I guess it came from playing so much poker!!

[Coolcruise02]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

[maxs mom]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed it.

[SherriZ366]

As I posted before, really enjoyed this review and all your others. Hope we sail with you sometime.

[maxs mom]

As I posted before, really enjoyed this review and all your others. Hope we sail with you sometime.

 

That would be great! Love meeting up with fellow CC'ers on cruises! Did you say you live in SC? SC is my home state.

[SherriZ366]

That would be great! Love meeting up with fellow CC'ers on cruises! Did you say you live in SC? SC is my home state.

We live in Bluffton (Sun City Hilton Head) so we are near Savannah. Love SC and so glad we moved here from Md. in 2004.

[maxs mom]

We live in Bluffton (Sun City Hilton Head) so we are near Savannah. Love SC and so glad we moved here from Md. in 2004.

 

Oh....that's nice! I'm from the upstate area. We would very much like to move back there. Must sell a couple of houses first, though!

[jadehouse]

Thank you Jane, for a wonderful, wonderful cruise report.

We are going on our very first cruise on Freedom on Sept 29th and we can't wait :):D:)

Thank you for the tips and advice throughout your report.

Can you tell me how long it is from the ship in Grand Cayman to Rum Point beach?

Lynne x

[maxs mom]

Thank you Jane, for a wonderful, wonderful cruise report.

 

We are going on our very first cruise on Freedom on Sept 29th and we can't wait :):D:)

Thank you for the tips and advice throughout your report.

 

Can you tell me how long it is from the ship in Grand Cayman to Rum Point beach?

 

Lynne x

 

Thank you and welcome to the world of cruising!!

You will have to rent a car to go to Rum Point and that is easy to do. It takes about 45 minutes to get out to Rum Point.....a very easy drive.....no traffic once you get on the road.

Here are a couple of pictures out at Rum Point:

This was Christmas Eve 2006. It was a great day at the beach!

Hope you can get out there!

[jadehouse]

Oh thank you once again Jane.

I will look into car-hire, there will be 4 of us so we are up for a bit of adventure and looking at your photos...The drive there is well worth it.

Lynne :)

[maxs mom]

Oh thank you once again Jane.

I will look into car-hire, there will be 4 of us so we are up for a bit of adventure and looking at your photos...The drive there is well worth it.

 

Lynne :)

 

yes......it IS well worth it. Check Avis in Grand Cayman. They were good. They pick you up in town and take you over to the airport (not far) and that's where you get the car. It really was easy. I hope that we can do that again one of these days!

[Nicksmom82]

After lunch we took a swim. The water felt great. Did I mention it was HOT!? We remembered to bring our water shoes this time......a definite MUST for Labadee! I felt really bad for the folks that didn't have any. They really struggled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed reading your review on your BB cruise on the Freedom. I'll be sailing October 13 w/ hubby & our dear friends( in which will be their 1st time ever cruising ) hubby & I are avid cruisers( Diamond members) Our last sailing was back in November on the "Oasis" 2010, on her 1 yr anniversary. Two year gap of not sailing was due to our one & only son getting married, in which turns out a whole year of celebrations leading up to his wedding of October '2011. Then one week after our sons wedding,hubby went in for open heart surgery. All went well, great recovery. So we opted to stay close to home and let him totally recoup. So needless to say, this trip is very well needed. I have friends who've sailed on Freedom, & have said only good about her. So right now it's Sunday, October 15th, hubbies watching FOOTBALL, lol lol lol....... & I came across your review and had a great read. Thanks for all the insights of your adventure &!lovely pictures. 27 more days and its my turn. Thanks, Cathy { from NY }

[SherriZ366]

Oh....that's nice! I'm from the upstate area. We would very much like to move back there. Must sell a couple of houses first' date=' though![/size']

It's a great area -- so beautiful. Savannah is close by -- DD, SIL and our triplet grandsons lived there (SIL is 4th generation Savannah) and then he got a fabulous job offer in Charleston and that is not too far.

 

The real estate market is getting better so I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

All Florida ports are a fairly easy drive -- 8 hours or less and there is now non-stop service to San Juan from Jacksonville. Europe is a bit trickier with the need to change planes in Atlanta or Charlotte. DH hates to fly so have been sticking to FL ports since we moved here.

Edited September 15, 2013 by SherriZ366

[maxs mom]

I enjoyed reading your review on your BB cruise on the Freedom. I'll be sailing October 13 w/ hubby & our dear friends( in which will be their 1st time ever cruising ) hubby & I are avid cruisers( Diamond members) Our last sailing was back in November on the "Oasis" 2010, on her 1 yr anniversary. Two year gap of not sailing was due to our one & only son getting married, in which turns out a whole year of celebrations leading up to his wedding of October '2011. Then one week after our sons wedding,hubby went in for open heart surgery. All went well, great recovery. So we opted to stay close to home and let him totally recoup. So needless to say, this trip is very well needed. I have friends who've sailed on Freedom, & have said only good about her. So right now it's Sunday, October 15th, hubbies watching FOOTBALL, lol lol lol....... & I came across your review and had a great read. Thanks for all the insights of your adventure &!lovely pictures. 27 more days and its my turn. Thanks, Cathy { from NY }

 

Cathy......Glad to have helped you out this afternoon!! Well......you are certainly in need of a cruise, I'd say. Hope you have a great time. It's so fun to introduce others to cruising. I hope your friends get hooked as well!

Sherri....That's impressive.....4th generation Savannah. Yes....you do live in a wonderful area!

[Margy23]

Thanks for posting such an informative review. We'll be on Freedom on 12/15 and your review is enhancing our anticipation.

 

Margy

[maxs mom]

Thanks for posting such an informative review. We'll be on Freedom on 12/15 and your review is enhancing our anticipation.

 

Margy

 

Margy.....December will be here before we know it! Hope you will enjoy Freedom! Hope this was helpful for you.

[Motleu]

Thanks for a great review. We are sailing on Freedom next March (spring break - yay!) and your review was very helpful! Happy sailing!