!*! FREEDOM !*! Southern Caribbean 6/22/14 -Heavy on photos of 2.0 upgrades & menu

[oncruisecontrol]

Yes, the driver (Sylvan) was nice enough to go slow for many photo ops!

 

I'm glad he went slow for you so you could take that beautiful picture, but two years ago I had a near panic attack on that bridge and our driver could not go fast enough to get me across it. I do not like heights, and this bridge was high with low railings. We were on our way to Sequarium Beach, but on the way back I had the taxi driver drop us off downtown, and we walked across the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge to get back to the ship. No way was I going back over that Queen Juliana Bridge.

[CleveCruiser]

I'm glad he went slow for you so you could take that beautiful picture, but two years ago I had a near panic attack on that bridge and our driver could not go fast enough to get me across it. I do not like heights, and this bridge was high with low railings. We were on our way to Sequarium Beach, but on the way back I had the taxi driver drop us off downtown, and we walked across the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge to get back to the ship. No way was I going back over that Queen Juliana Bridge.

 

I am very glad you found a way to work around going over the bridge again! Probably gave you some good photo opportunities on that side. Very resourceful.

[lovestocruise19]

I can see the pics now! Awesome review! I can't wait to board the Freedom for her repo cruise in February!

[CleveCruiser]

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Day 7: June 29-Sea Day #2

 

8:00 – up. Great night sleep. Really acclimated to the bed now! 1063 is also up.

Off to Lido for snack and discovered: TOWEL animal day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue iguana breakfast appetizer.

 

There is a line to have the cooks make you a breakfast burrito (not a long line!)

 

 

 

 

Or the huevos rancheros and arepas are made already (and very good). The salsa bar is available to jazz them up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:30 – Some of us went off to team trivia.

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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10:00 – Posh Dining Room. Brunch with drinks by Cabarrrrron. I guess an inside joke that the waiter (who was very good) had with the bartender (1063 used their past guest drink coupon). The menu is the same at brunch as on the first sea day.

 

 

 

Past guest drink coupon choice: Twilight Zone

 

 

 

 

Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage and hash browns.

 

 

 

 

Steak and eggs

 

 

 

 

Eggs Benedict

 

 

 

 

11:00 – Promenade, relaxing with hubby. People watching.

 

 

 

12-1245 – future cruise talk w/JP. Pretty much just wanted you to get their mastercard. Nothing that I didn’t already know. Gave a list of all cruises with single supplement, if anyone is interested. Easy to win a medal/SOAS-he had about five SOAS and 10 medals to give out. Know how many Guy Burgers are served on a cruise, and that hot tubs project out over the water on dream class ships.

 

 

 

1-2:00 – Stateroom. Relaxing, organizing and getting ready for family pictures.

 

 

A word on the pools: On a sea day the pools are heavily used. I wish I had snapped a picture, but by the end of the day….they are very cloudy. If you wanna swim on a sea day…do it EARLY! The adults only endless pool was much better/clearer (catch my drift? ;)).

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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3:00 – Posh Dining room: High Tea (again…gave hubby a chance to nap!)

 

 

 

(i have a feeling i used this pic already...but it is very pretty, love the wake)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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4:30 – Took about 55 pictures at six different backgrounds with the family, my 4 and sisters 3. Hope some come out! (spoiler alert…they did!)

 

My pics...a little fuzzy, they had some nice ones and I spent more on photos then I ever had on a cruise. The rewards program is different too:

 

buy 3 photos; get a free ship photo.

buy 6 photos; get a free gift (luggage tag).

buy 10 photos; get a free gift (?sorry - can't remember, I think it was a frame).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott's Piano bar....because I don't think we have talked enough about this already :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

He who shall not be named anymore as CC viewers are just about tired of hearing about Seth (oops).

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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6:15 – Chic Dining Room. Elegant Dinner Night w/Alex Rueben (head waiter), Vicente, and ... man, don’t think I ever got the third guys name. It was not posted on table and he was stealthy. The Maître de makes an appearance (as he did most nights) and attempts to tell a joke…dead silence…you can hear the waiters scratching orders on their pads! He says… “It is a poor joke-just laugh it off!” and everyone does laugh – at that! It was a valiant effort gone wrong.

My plan for domination of the table is complete as everyone expects to wait while I snapped food porn shots…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled tiger shrimp

 

 

 

 

 

Martini braised basa (it said basa, not bass!) fillet

 

 

 

 

 

Chateaubriand; Med rare..... It only came MR or Med well. THIS one is my DH's. P.S. this is one of my favorite dishes. So tender.

 

 

 

 

Chateaubriand; Med well

 

 

 

 

8:00 – Stateroom; in room to change out of formal wear.

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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8:45 – Guess….Scotts! Spent the rest of the night relaxing, chatting, and walking around.

 

 

 

OKAY...OKAY...I looked ahead....this is my LAST two photos of him.

Pictured here is the fabric softener shot; did I talk about this already? Well, ask Seth about it if you get a chance. It sounds gross, but it is actually quite good (Baileys, blue curacao, and tequila). Don't judge until you try it !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12:30 – Lido deck for snack pizza. Same spicy chicken sandwich and ham & cheese sandwiches.

 

Went to stateroom 1063 to have a salsa party w/ sister. They had procured some salsa from the Blue Iguana before they closed and kept it in the room fridge. They don’t serve chips at the Blue Iguana (I guess guests were sticking their hands in them) and they have the best salsa. My sister wanted to bring a bag of tortilla chips on board, she waffled at the last minute…and I talked her into bringing them. Very glad she did! It was a pain, as you can imagine, (getting chips through check-in and security and not ending up with crumbs) but delicious.

 

 

 

 

1:30 – to bed

 

 

 

:) The nice thing about having two sea days at the end is that this sea day was great to relax, unwind. The ports are over, you still have a WHOLE cruising day left! :)

 

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

I can see the pics now! Awesome review! I can't wait to board the Freedom for her repo cruise in February!

 

 

It was a bandwidth issue (I say that and I don't know what it means...!). Have a great time on your cruise.

[CleveCruiser]

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Day 8: June 30-Sea Day #3

 

08:00 – Up for Behind the Fun tour. Took all morning!

 

 

 

8:45 – Meeting in the Monticello Library: Rio Nina is our tour guide. She is young and energetic and works in the HR department. Everyone is present and tucked in and ready to go by 9:00. (There is another BTF tour at 9:30.)

 

 

 

I was SO, SO sad we could not take pictures…this whole cruise I photographed everything for you guys and it tore me up to learn and see so much and not be able to capture it :( They were very serious about it. There were two security guys there; you had to sign a form and then they wanded everyone! This lady…after ALL the warnings…had her cell phone in her pocket! She was pulled aside and threatened with walking the plank (okay, that’s what I thought they SHOULD have done!)

 

 

 

Here is some things I learned on the tour (I had to take notes, since I couldn’t photograph! (Rio said it was okay to take notes).

 

 

The following are my notes from BTF tour.....

 

First stop…Ships bell. It is considered unlucky to ring the bell now; it used to be rung for dinner and other things; but now…it is only used for danger and bad things, so it is considered unlucky to ring it. As a matter of fact, they have padding in it so the wind does not accidentally ring it.

 

 

Freedom can hold 3377 guests and 1127 crew, 4504 total.

 

 

The numbers on the blue floor by the crew outdoor hot tubs are their muster stations.

 

 

Stage: Justin; audio tech. Some interesting, but not noteworthy facts (sorry Justin).

 

 

Behind the Stage: Ryan, dancer/dance captain. They were given one week to learn the new choreography for Playlist. They help out with dance classes and other fun things when not performing. Costumes pieces are all numbered one through eight, each dancer has a number.

 

 

Morgue: what can I say…they say it is rarely, rarely ever used.

 

 

Bosun: manages supplies for maintenance.

 

 

Brig: what can I say…they say it is rarely, rarely ever used.

 

 

Laundry: They say it is ALWAYS in use! Hot and humid, but not awful. Each machine (about 6) washes 400 pounds of laundry. They have a huge machine called the Chicago skyline 2000 folder. Sheets go in 80% wet and come out clean, dry, and FOLDED.

 

 

 

It is HOT in that laundry, but at least someone is not dripping sweat over an ironing board! There are a lot of cooling a/c vents all over. Older sheets and towels are recycled into cleaning cloths. There are rules and laws for venting and water treatment. The laundry area for guest laundry is different, and smaller with smaller machines (crew can have their laundry done here too-ship does their uniform).

 

 

Crew training center: 70 nationalities need a lot of training! HR department right on ship. Many computer stations crew can use. Rosetta Stone available for all crew and they get a certificate upon completion. Focus on Carnival values. 6-10 month contract on, and 8-up to 20 months off.

 

 

Mess: three “Mess” areas; Crew (very nice, like a hospital cafeteria), Officer (like a mom and pop restaurant (they get served-which helps new waiters practice), and Captain (like a private swanky dining room- they can be served or serve themselves). Their menu is on a 27 day cycle.

 

 

Crew cabins: the ship was full, and no empty cabin to see, but they had photos. There is a bunk with a curtain for privacy and they share a bathroom. They have a TV and a desk. The whole room is about as wide as you can stretch your arms. They try to give people opposite shifts in rooms so only one person is in room at a time.

 

 

Crew Internet café: crew wi-fi is available. They have a lending/sharing library if you want to lug some books through security to donate to the crew.

 

 

Crew lounge: billboard table, foosball, darts, huge screen TV.

 

 

Marshaling area: no one can use this area on embark/disembark days; they have to go up one floor, over and back down past it. Not as large as your would think, the width of the ship, and about the size of two grade school classrooms. All the luggage carts are strapped here. There are two forklifts. All the recycling that has been building up on the ship, ready to get shipped off (cardboard, metal, rope, old slot machines!)

 

 

Environmental sorting: A lot of recycling goes on. They recycle, incinerate, compact or discharge. Discharging is done twelve miles off-shore and a minimum speed of 6 knots.

 

 

Storeroom: 2 decks, a large, large area. We saw the beef thawing room; they are thawing the beef for use two-three days from now in a chilled fridge. Chicken thawing is a separate room. They always have enough food for the itinerary and 3-4 extra days. 140-160 tons of food is loaded for each cruise at a cost of about $330,000 (do NOT quote me on that number - it was loud; but I think that is what I heard!).

 

 

Engine control room: I don’t know why I wrote the word “robot”?! There are six generators; 17,000 HP each. Generating 16 megawatts. (does this mean something to anybody???!!-cause I am furiously scribbling it down). Five are needed to run at the maximum speed of 22 knots. High and low sulfur fuel is used; they use low sulfur when less than 200 miles off shore. The ship has a 24 foot draft. (anyone know what that means?!). The ship uses technical and potable water. The propeller is 19 feet in diameter. There is not spare on board (someone asked that!). It is usually 40 deg Celsius (104 degrees F) in engine room; we were NOT allowed in there…and as a matter of fact, we passed it and a door opened for an employee, it was like a glimpse into Hades! Hot loud hot loud hot loud.

 

 

Galley: forgot to take notes here, it was too loud to hear anyway. The space was clean and huge, and a maze with different prep and cooking areas for different shifts and meals and desserts….Wow. They took us past the remains of the "Dr. Suess at sea" brunch. We watched a cake decorating and vegetable carving chef. We had a cookie, still warm! It was too loud to hear what the quiet chef was saying and we couldn’t hear the answers to our questions either! We went out the revolving doors to the dining room. Ahhhhh- silence. Had some refreshments.

 

 

Bridge: The view from the bridge is A-MA-ZING. Over 180 degrees of gorgeous water. The lighting is minimal, the carpet is blue, the furniture is wood, the buttons and dials are many, the steering wheel is small, smaller than a car wheel! There is a place, in that wing that sticks out, where the floor is glass. Very weird to stand on that, overlooking the ocean below. A minimum of 4 officers are always on deck; Quartermaster, first officer, second officer, staff captain. The quartermaster really tells the captain where to go and is always on lookout. He spent 80% of his time with binoculars, looking out the windows. There are infrared cameras along the outside of the ship; they can see if someone jumps. (I don’t know what else they see! ) There is a weird high-speed spin window wiper; even in a torrential downpour, you can see out.

 

obviously not our funship!! just an example:

 

Captain Candeloro Donato came on deck (no one said “captain on deck” –-which was disappointing to me!). He has 34 years in. He was leaving the ship when we did; reported having a bit of vacation coming. He was glad to hear we were from Ohio and wanted specifics, I said Cleveland, he said “where” and I said Brooklyn, and he said he knew it, as he lived in Twinsburg for some time. Another couple in our group lives in one of the Carolinas now (did not hear which one) and happened to be near to wear he lives now. What a coincidence! He was very cordial, we all had our pictures taken, as a group and individually. He was ready to answer more questions, but we were all tapped out and just stared at him in awe, like he Captained the starship Enterprise! It was kind of funny. Someone asked how close we get to Cuba and he said 3-10 miles, depending on the traffic lanes. That was it!

 

 

Steakhouse: chef Brandon. He educated us on the cuts of meat in the steakhouse, steaks are aged 21-27 days. The Lamb is from Opal valley in Australia, something about the special grasses there!? Were offered an opportunity to make a reservation (not pushy). We had either OJ, champagne, or a mimosa. We turned in our “Behind the Fun” passes and got to keep the lanyard. We filled out our evaluation form, received a free bag, baseball cap, and wristband. And the tour was over. Very nice, very informative. Yes, it was a bit of money, but I think to do it at least once is very much worth it.

 

I would love to do it on the new Vista ship, if it is offered!

 

 

 

 

Headed to the bar by the Chic MDR; I had heard if you miss the lunch/brunch option to use your returning guest drink coupon they would redeem it here. He seemed a little hesitant "Who did you hear that from, Maam?" but he did it. I think he was also swayed by the fact that we were on the tour all morning.

 

(Tip: I hear that some people redeem them for an unopened beer - so they are not drinking in the morning; or get it without ice and add ice later. Just passing along a tip.)

 

 

 

 

When we got back to the stateroom: these were waiting for us....

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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12:30 – Done with tour, off to Lido deck for lunch.

 

Someone had Guys:

 

 

 

 

Decided to try the Mongolian Wok. Mine was delicious, but my sisters (made by the other chef-on the right) was tasteless. It seemed like they did not put sauce in, it was pale (even though she had black bean sauce too).

 

 

 

 

You pick your ingredients:

 

 

 

Here is my before:

 

 

 

 

You pick your sauce (choice of three- shown in photo):

 

 

 

 

Here is my after (with black bean sauce, chicken and pork):

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the Chocolate extravaganza; and there was a lot of chocolate to be had. Some were too chocolaty for me! My favorite was a light, fluffy cake.

 

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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Chocolate Extravaganza

 

 

 

 

Lido Aft, servers cut and served the cakes for you. Ask for a small piece, it will still be too big!

 

 

 

Chocolate fountain

 

 

 

 

My choices; best for me was back left, some others were (gasp) too chocolatey

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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2:15 – Stateroom, chatting and organizing.

 

 

3:00 – Pixel gallery, purchased our family photos. We had about 50 pictures to look through and there is nowhere to do it. We started using a wall that was blank and then someone told us they had to fill it, and we couldn’t do that. There should be some sort of place to do that. Finally narrowed it down to five or so.

 

 

4:00 – Stateroom; packing :( Left to spend some time on the promenade deck, just people watching. I think I was grumpy and wanted to be alone for a bit, did not want to think about leaving. Tried the taste bar’s grilled ham and cheese and tomato soup. Cute bowl and nice sample.

 

 

 

 

6:00 – Lido deck, family is watching the movie “Frozen.” Back to more packing.

 

 

7:30 –Victoriana; comedy and magic show. The magic part was a joke (pun). But he was amusing!

 

 

 

8:15 – Chic Dining room. Last dinner with Alex and his crew. Gave him his extra tip.

 

The domination plan is complete, as people are asking for the camera before they begin eating….

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled portabello mushroom

 

 

 

 

Arugula mint and vegetable salad

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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Zucchini and egglplant parmigiana

 

 

 

 

Broiled fillet of mahi mahi

 

 

 

 

Prime rib (look away... I think it is raw and gross, but DH likes it MR)

 

 

 

 

BMC: Bacon mac and cheese (sinfully good, I think it is a bit better at brunch)

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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The wait team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple pie

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

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9:45 – Victoriana; they re-showed the “80s Pop to the Max” show. It was still good. Left early, after the Michael Jackson part.

 

 

 

 

10:00 – Pixels; Picked up the photo book from my daughters graduation shoot.

 

 

11:00 – International Lounge; Comedy show was quite good, slammed a few drinks to forget that we were leaving in the morning.

 

 

Taking down the curtain, immediately after the show

 

 

 

Looking down into the atrium

 

 

 

 

12mn – Lido deck. Hot chocolate and ice cream.

 

 

12:30 – Stateroom; last time to sleep in 1061. And I just got used to it too.

 

Last pic of dbl balcony

 

 

 

 

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[CleveCruiser]

Later: our last day on Freedom..... :(

[CleveCruiser]

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Day 9: June 30-FLL Port

 

 

Docked in Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale

 

 

7:30 – up and showered. Packed and carry-ons, or rather carry-offs, ready.

 

 

8:12 – Posh Dining room; ordered breakfast. Took our time disembarking, even though we were zone 1. We were just driving to Tampa and were in no rush.

 

 

8:30 – Last breakfast. Went to Posh dining room for a last breakfast. It was, as usual, very good.

 

 

 

 

 

9:15 – Leaving the ship; Last DING. Easy disembarking. Found luggage, porter helped us through the line. Customs agent was brief, but thorough.

 

 

9:32 – All checked out.

 

 

9:35 – Waiting for DH to bring the car around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:47 – pulling away….see you next year, Carnival.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed it. I learned a lot about CC and posting and photobucket. Still a long way to go. But this one is finished.

 

 

 

I may have a couple follow up questions for fellow travelers...... I'll leave that a little open.

 

Thanks all!,

 

CleveCruiser.....out.

 

 

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[Momma1980]

Congratulations on finishing your first review! I enjoyed every post!:)

[CleveCruiser]

Glad you got your review in motion ! I'm still trying to work on mine . I may just give up and read yours instead haha

 

 

someone once told me " you will get sick of cruising " I just smiled and said " Only when I'm dead " 😀

 

 

 

Would be so great to see your photos too! If you do a review...post it on our roll call page? p.s. I did find you on FB too (stalker alert! :eek:).

[CleveCruiser]

Congratulations on finishing your first review! I enjoyed every post!:)

 

 

Why that is very kind of you. I appreciate it. :p

[Gingee]

We just realized from your review that we missed the chocolate extravaganza. Was that advertised? Also missed the final show since the dinner ran late. Of your three servers I think the one on the left (facing us) was also one of our servers. Maybe the bread guy?

[Shipcats6]

Wonderful review! Really enjoyed it.

[arubanut]

CleveCruiser,

 

 

GREAT review,GREAT pictures and looks like you all had a GREAT time!!!

 

 

26 more days till our Freedom cruise:)