Carnival Freedom 12 Day Repo Cruise with tons of pictures

[lovestocruise19]

Wonderful review, photos and sharing of your lovely trip. You give us all more of a feel for these fabulous ports...

 

Sorry comming home was harrowing..you all on the east coast are absolutely getting hammered. Have had my share of getting out or back with big issues..both summer and winter storm wise..but it is always worth it if safe, and calm, padded time and insurance.

 

I had a surprising Roadway Inn save me this year on a tough drive back from Portland, Or this year..not as nice looking as yours...but clean..very clean and nice in middle of nowhere when I needed it ..LOL..and 60 bucks walk in!!!

 

This is only our second time cruising in winter...we might go back to springtime sailing from now on. Lol! ;)

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We stopped at a church where they handed out baby wipes to us. The white wipes quickly turned brown because we were all so dusty!

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Our last stop before heading back on the main roads to the ship was the California Lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

I see funnel!

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We got back to De Palm and it was just a few minutes before 3:30 p.m. which was our back onboard time. We got on the bus and got stuck in a little bit of traffic. We made it onto the ship at 3:37 p.m. I wasn't worried because it was a Carnival excursion.

 

Back in the room we each showered off all the dust and then ordered room service. DH got a BLT and I got a grilled cheese. We rested a bit and went down to the MDR at 6:30 p.m. There was actually no line.

 

 

Both DH and I ordered the Caesar salad, which DH loves, but I wasn't a big fan of. DH also decided to do the $20 upcharge and get a NY sirloin strip from the steakhouse. I think it's great that they have this option now so DH can get a really awesome steak without wasting money on me going to the steakhouse with him because I don't eat steak. Anyway, he said it was really good and he was sad when he finished it. Lol! He said even the broccoli it came with was extra yummy. I got the cheese ravioli which I've never eaten on Carnival and liked it a lot! i finished my whole plate, which I usually don't because there is usually so much food on it. I got a WCMC and DH got orange sherbert for dessert. My WCMC was really soupy that night.

 

 

Really crappy picture of my ravioli. We were in a dark section again.

[lovestocruise19]

After that I had DH do a casual photo shoot with me against a Carnival Freedom backdrop. Here is the one I bought:

 

 

We saw the comedian ventriloquist. He was okay. Some of his jokes fell flat. The best part was at the end when he had volunteers from the audience come up and be his puppets. After the show, we wandered up to Lido and DH got pizza and I ate a few cookies.

Edited February 23, 2015 by lovestocruise19

[lovestocruise19]

Oops, forgot to post a pic of the towel animal. Interesting position...Lol!

 

[lovestocruise19]

I got up and had cinnamon buns, honeydew, apple juice and hot chocolate for breakfast. I then went down to the lobby to see the fruit carving demo which was really cool!

 

So cute!

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

I found the casual shoot picture, but couldn't decided between two so I decided to wait and get DH's opinion. DH and I ate lunch on Lido and then he helped me choose a photo.

 

Nothing was really good for dessert at lunch today. The only thing I liked on this plate was the cookies. Lol!

 

I looked in the shops while DH went back up to Lido for dessert. I found a shirt I liked and asked if they had a larger size. She said they would set out more in an hour (it was a sale).

 

I went back to the room and grabbed my Kindle. DH popped into the room and then I went up to Serenity to read. I read for a bit and then bought that shirt I liked. It was two for $20 so I got DH a shirt too. I showed the shirt to him when I got back to the room and he liked it. We watched a bit of TV together and then I ordered room service chocolate cake for me and a BLT for DH.

 

 

The water was like glass on this day. As smooth as I've ever seen it in six cruises!

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

I posted some photos to that social media site while DH watched a show called The Presidents' Gatekeepers. I then read for a bit and took a quick nap with DH. We woke up at 5:50 p.m. so DH hurried up to Lido to get a Guy's burger before they closed because he didn't have one for lunch. I joined him a few minutes later and got potato salad, a garden salad and a roll. They only had chicken parm as a chicken choice and that is one chicken I know I don't like. DH discovered they had the lemon cake we loved so much when we were on the Freedom on our honeymoon.

 

 

After that DH went to the casino and I got some fresh air.

 

 

 

 

I love the mosaic artwork at the entrance to Lido.

 

I then went back to the room to grab my Kindle. I read on Serenity for a half hour and then the wind really picked up. I wandered down and it started raining, so I went back to the room. DH was there and he said he blew $20 in the casino within minutes so he decided to stop. Lol! I read more while DH watched TV. We went to the comedians double header show at 11:15 p.m. where they had one comic come on right after the other.

Edited February 23, 2015 by lovestocruise19

[lovestocruise19]

A few more pictures from Sea Day Four:

 

 

This was one funky looking elephant! DH and I seem to think that perhaps Ronald was still learning how to perfect the art of making towel animals. Lol!

 

Me wearing the earrings I bought in Aruba!

Edited February 23, 2015 by lovestocruise19

[cruisinbabs]

yay! thank you for sharing! cant wait to read more!

[cruse2loose]

Loving your review. I am hoping to go on the Freedom since she is in Galveston, TX now :)

[lovestocruise19]

yay! thank you for sharing! cant wait to read more!

Thanks!

[lovestocruise19]

Loving your review. I am hoping to go on the Freedom since she is in Galveston, TX now :)

Yup, Breeze and Liberty are also moving to Texas. Liberty is one of DH and my favorite ships. Not sure if we'll ever cruise out of Texas, but there's always a possibility depending on flight costs.

[lovestocruise19]

I woke up at 10 a.m. and had breakfast. Then I went to the WCMC demo.

 

 

DH and I ate lunch on Lido and the desserts were really yummy. I had a citrus Neapolitan and a chocovanilla cake.

 

 

We got a little bit of sun and then watched the end of the Miss Carnival Freedom competition. They then had this thing where the DJ played music videos and you either had to fist pump or splash in the pool.

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We went down to Deck 5 and DH went to the sports bar while I went to the International Lounge for the napkin folding demo. I sucked at it, plus Roger was going really fast with his instructions. Jen, the cruise director, helped me with the duck. The last one was a small boat and I actually got that one on my own. It was a different guy teaching that one and he was a better teacher. DH came and saw my boat! He was actually there to play Bingo.

 

 

 

I went up to Lido and got an ice cream cone and then joined DH at Bingo.

 

 

He didn't win. :( After that we saw Jen doing Disney trivia in the lobby so I stopped on Deck 5 to watch while DH popped back in the sports bar to play the handheld games they have at each table.

[lovestocruise19]

This was the second elegant night so we decided to go up to YTD right when it opened just in case there was a line. We got to the lobby at 5:42 p.m. and the line was all the way into the Victoriana Theatre! Luckily it moved fairly quickly and we were seated about 20 minutes later with no need for a buzzer like the first elegant night.

 

The appetizers and entrees took awhile to get out. I had fruit cocktail and half spring chicken and DH had Caesar salad and flat iron steak. We both had Baked Alaska for dessert.

 

 

 

We made it to the Getaway Island Show where Trent the country singer was singing beforehand. Trent had a couple come to the stage to dance and the guy proposed to his girlfriend! So sweet! I got teary eyed! Lol!

 

Another part of the preshow consisted of three men and three women coming onstage to do a hula hoop competition and a limbo competition.

 

The show itself was really fun. It had a storyline and two 3D parts where you put on the 3D glasses they had. There was a bartender from the Red Frog Rum Bar doing bar tricks, which was really cool. After the show, the dancers went into the lobby and danced some more with the audience. We then went to the comedy club and saw Kim Harrison. She was really funny.

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We got off the ship and met our scoot coupe tour (through Carnival). There were only two other couples in our tour. The guide was Gabriel. We drove around the streets following Gabriel. Mexican drivers are crazy-especially the taxis! Our first stop was a statue and historical steps where they used to do sacrifices. There was a bathroom there and I went and there was no toilet seat! Lol!

 

 

 

 

The Breeze coming in:

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

We drove a little more and then stopped at the "beach" which was really just the coastline. It was all rocks/coral and no sand. We sat at a restaurant and ordered sodas. They did a guacamole demo.

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Guacamole demo:

 

At the restaurant they had two photos they had taken of us earlier and said we could buy the two for $20. The pictures weren't that great quality, but DH whipped out a $20 to buy them:

 

 

We drove a little bit more and stopped at a shopping market.

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

I bought black coral earrings, a magnet and a Patriots poncho for my best friend who was back home watching my cats. DH got a t-shirt. We then drove back to the ship.

 

I wish the tour had more time in the scoot coupe. We really didn't see that much of the island. This was probably our least favorite excursion we've ever done. Especially for the price of $129. And it seemed like they were trying to milk even more money out of you. At one point we were sitting at a bench resting and our tour guide told us we had more time to go shopping. At the end he passed out little review sheets and then basically said he lived off tips.

 

 

Looks like they are building a new Carnival pier:

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We got room service for lunch. DH got a BLT and I got a turkey and cheese sandwich. I also got the veggie assortment. The carrots and celery were really good. I got some ice cream and cookies from Lido and bought them back down to the room for DH.