My Freedom Review - Kinda "Live" but not really with lots of pics

[bigmama9224]

Sorry i meant the Freedom not the Fascination.....

[Delta Dear]

First of all, loving your review and the awesome pictures, thanks for sharing. Second, I'm laughing at how you included Delta Dear and her hubby, that was just too cute. She also does great reviews as well. Keep up the great job on your review, and yes I've subscribed!

 

 

Thanks for the compliment, ch27088. Can't wait for Dec. so I can write a review about OUR Freedom cruise. Morgan had a real chuckle at seeing the photo bombing of us with the St. Maarten sign.

[sayvan]

I love your review thanks. I am not planning on any cruise on the Fascination, will be going on the Splendor, I don't fly and live in NY. We are going to Turks and Caicos. Have been there three times. The tour you did sounds very interesting. In your opinion can a person with knee problems be able to handle the Safari truck...

 

 

Hi Bigmama...... The tour we did in Turks & Caicos was very interesting and gave you a great snap shot of the island.

 

Depending of course on how bad your knee is the Safari truck was had two to a seat and a step ladder with railings to go up or down on so I think this would be ok as long as you can do the climb. There were maybe 5 steps....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[JoLoca2208]

Thank you for doing this review :) Love the pictures and all comments!

[Momma1980]

Now getting to the question. If your looking for an all in one, good quality lens, I would recommend you get the Tamron 18-270mm lens. This is a perfect lens to capture some nice wide angle shots while still being able to zoom into the those great close up shots. This lenses comes in both a Nikon or Canon mount. Almost every shot in my review was taken with this lens.

 

 

Thank you so much for the reply. Just what I was looking for. I appreciate the help... Happy Cruising!

[sayvan]

and your pictures are stunning! We did a B2B cruise on the Freedom and, many cruises later, it is still one of my favorite ships and itineraries. :D

 

Thank you and I would agree, we found this ship to in great shape and also ranks near the top for us as well.

[sayvan]

Thank you for doing this review :) Love the pictures and all comments!

 

Thanks for following along....

[sayvan]

It is hard to believe that we are heading into our final Port of Call. This would be our third time in St. Thomas so we figured we would be pro's at this port by now.

 

We did not book an excursion for St. Thomas and we were planning on just doing our own thing. Our own thing would involve taking a cab and seeing some of the island and then heading to a beach. We had been to Megan's Bay twice before so this time we decided we would give Coki Beach a try... But first we had to get into port...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

Once we were in Port our plan was to meet up with our friends and then head off for the day. We, once again, had no trouble getting off the ship as things were very smooth. The longest line up was waiting for those annoying photographers at the bottom of the gang way. I did find on this cruise that they seemed to be everywhere. oh well, I guess folks like that and they must sell a ton of photos because they are always around.

 

St. Thomas is yet another island that offers some fabulous views.

 

 

 

Magen's Bay is always a nice scene...

 

 

 

....and some natural wildlife always fascinates as well.

 

 

[sayvan]

A quick stop at Blackbeard's Castle is always a nice adventure...

 

 

St. Thomas.. the former home of many a Pirate...

 

 

 

Having some fun with the Pirates...

 

 

 

[travelerfamily]

Great review so far! We are sailing this same trip on 5Apr! Getting excited, of course, and your review is helping! If you would not mind, and if you checked it out, can you tell us about the sports deck? My son loves Basketball and it looks like there is only a single basket, since he is small he sometimes gets beat up on by the older kids while playing. Of course he sometimes beats them. I appreciate any info or pictures.

 

Thanks again for taking your time to do such an in depth review... cant wait for the rest of St Thomas and St Maartin!

[sayvan]

also located near Blackbeard's Castle is the famous 99 Steps...

 

 

looking up toward the Castle..

 

 

After some touring and a visit downtown....

 

 

 

We hopped in a cab and made our way to Coki Beach... The cab ride to the beach from the port area was $20 each way. I think we may have paid a little more than some others but such is the luck of life... I had heard some folks paid $15 so we were not out that much. However, the beach was well worth the fare.

 

 

Mike and Jerilyn... So cute!

 

[sayvan]

Great review so far! We are sailing this same trip on 5Apr! Getting excited, of course, and your review is helping! If you would not mind, and if you checked it out, can you tell us about the sports deck? My son loves Basketball and it looks like there is only a single basket, since he is small he sometimes gets beat up on by the older kids while playing. Of course he sometimes beats them. I appreciate any info or pictures.

 

Thanks again for taking your time to do such an in depth review... cant wait for the rest of St Thomas and St Maartin!

 

Hi Travelerfamily... I did take some shots of the sports deck and those are still to come so hang in there.... After St. Thomas we still have two days at sea to go through :D...

 

Also.. I have already posted on St. Maarten... its right before we arrived in St. Thomas..

 

thanks for following along!

[sayvan]

So... as with many of the islands the taxi's heading to the beach have a complete network set up. Once we arrived at Coki Beach, we were led to a particular gentleman who then advised us that he would be looking after us for the day. We made our way along the beach until we found a pretty good open spot and then paid 10 bucks each for a lounger and some drinks for the day.

 

Coki beach was a wonderful spot. The water was beautifully warm and a perfect aqua blue. You could walk out in the water for about 15 feet before it would begin to drop deeper. We were situated toward the end of the beach and near the cliffs at the end the snorkelling was great as you shall see...

 

 

Looking to our right, facing the water...

 

 

Love the Palm Trees..

 

 

 

 

If your hungry there were many options on this beach as well!

 

[sayvan]

We spent about 3.5 hours at the beach...

 

 

 

some snorkelling...

 

 

 

 

and the best part of the beach....

 

[sayvan]

Vanda was doing some exploring for shells.....

 

 

The area we had settled into...

 

 

After some sun and a frosty drink, I headed out to do some snorkelling..

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

 

 

 

...back on shore it was time to see what everyone was up to... oh just chillaxing I see...

 

 

 

A boat goes speeding by....

 

[sayvan]

 

a nice ride for sure...

 

 

....the waves pick up after the boat sails by...

 

 

Then we have some fun with the cameras...

 

 

 

[sayvan]

 

We loved this beach!

 

 

 

 

I loved watching these three guys... They spent almost the entire time we were there in the water with their drinks on floaters...

 

 

The newlyweds...

 

[sayvan]

 

The symbols we are all making with our hands stands for V.I (Virgin Islands)

 

 

We then shot a couple of shots where our ladies were the reflected in our eyes... the apples of our eyes...

 

First Vanda...

 

 

Then Jerilyn...

 

 

Vanda then decided on one last dip in the water before we left the beach...

 

 

[krewzin]

Very nice review! :D

 

Why is the Oasis called "queen of the seas (your earlier post)?" What am I missing?

[sayvan]

before we knew it the day was quickly coming to a close... so we packed up and got ready to head back to the ship.. Our taxi driver was waiting to take us back to the ship....

 

Good Bye for now Coki...

 

 

...and hello Freedom...

 

 

 

a Black and White shot for you...

 

 

When we got back to the ship we realized we still had some time before departure so we headed into Senor Frogs for a little refreshment...

[sayvan]

Very nice review! :D

 

Why is the Oasis called "queen of the seas (your earlier post)?" What am I missing?

 

That's just what I called her... you know.. Largest ship on the seas.. the Queen.... We can't refer to her as a King now can we...

[sayvan]

We headed into Senor Frogs, which if you haven't been to St. Thomas is immediately outside of the gangways where the ships dock... and once inside we grabbed some nachos and a couple more drinks before heading back onto the ship... the place was hopping with other cruise passengers having a grand ole' time...

 

Senor Frogs is an open air type bar with a small pool in the front area. No one was in the pool when we were there and it actually looked like it wasn't really looked after...

 

The Norwegian Epic was also in Port today... These shots were with my Ipad.

 

 

Another reason I wanted to head into Senor Frogs was for the free wifi... I never buy wifi on the ship so wherever I can find it off the ship is great... This is a snapchat I sent to family back home...

 

 

and a shot I posted to Instagram...

 

 

I always enjoy a local beer... not so sure this one was local however.... the label indicated it was from the Dominican...ripped off!

 

 

It was now time to head back onto Freedom. So off we went to get ready for the sailaway party.. The live band would be playing today...

 

Oh before I take a break from posting today I thought I provide another shot from Coki Beach... this one is for the ladies... Mike hamming it up for ya!

 

[Roadrunnergirl]

Thank you for this wonderful review! I love the pictures, they make me feel like I'm there, rather than here, where it's only 5 degrees out!