Let FREEDOM ring! A picture review of our 2/25/17 cruise!

[jblaze15]

AMAZING shots, sounds like a wonderful time! I don't have any actual shots but here is some aerial footage over the Carnival Cruise off of Grand Turk Island! Hope it is ok to share here... It was such a fun time.

https://www.airvuz.com/video/DJI-Mavic-Pro-Drone-Fly-over-of-a-Carnival-Cruise-Ship-in-Port-on-Grand-Turk?id=58b4ddcbdbe0ba74a6ddd379

[watermelonqueen99]

How? Amazon. Can't help ya with the explaining.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Greenco-Giant-Inflatable-Lounger-Connectors/dp/B01DAHAIUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493235625&sr=8-1&keywords=pizza+floatie

 

I feel like Sky Mall probably offered these as well before they shut down. Lol

[watermelonqueen99]

I just found your review today, and I wasn't even finished reading page 1 and I was cracking up!

 

Loved the picture of all the shoes you packed.....makes me not feel so bad about the suitcase I bring on every cruise that only has my shoes in it!

 

We live about 30 minutes from Galveston, so we cruise out of there often but have yet to cruise on the Freedom.

 

You sound like you would be a blast to cruise with.....looking forward to the rest of the review!!

 

I would guess 50% of the luggage Carnival has to haul onto the ship are shoe bags! :')

 

Thanks for reading! :D

[watermelonqueen99]

AMAZING shots, sounds like a wonderful time! I don't have any actual shots but here is some aerial footage over the Carnival Cruise off of Grand Turk Island! Hope it is ok to share here... It was such a fun time.

https://www.airvuz.com/video/DJI-Mavic-Pro-Drone-Fly-over-of-a-Carnival-Cruise-Ship-in-Port-on-Grand-Turk?id=58b4ddcbdbe0ba74a6ddd379

 

Wow, that's incredible! We visited Grand Turk last year, gorgeous island!

[watermelonqueen99]

After we were done looking around Nachi a little bit, we decided to go for a swim in the ocean. After that, we were hungry, so we got out to dry off and get something to eat. (For those of you who don't know, Nachi is all inclusive. That means your lunch and unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks [i don't even know what a non-alcoholic drink is, but it sounds terrible.] are included. And just an FYI, if you ever do go to Nachi, they make the best Miami Vice you'll ever have, so order you about 12-15 of them to start off with. (You don't wanna look greedy.) I can't remember what this particular drink was, but I'm sure it was delicious. And even if it wasn't, I probably drank it anyway:

 

 

Here's a pic of part of the food menu. There's another side I think, but I can't find the pic. Don't pay any attention to the prices, it's all included:

 

 

This next pic is embarrassing. By looking at it, you would never know that I'm actually a certified Zumba instructor who works out 7 days a week and is getting ready to start on my ACE Group Fitness certification. It's like on vacation, I turn into a fat, lazy alcoholic man who has given up on life, eats and drinks whatever the he*l he wants, and just plain doesn't given a sh*t. (In other words, my idol and future life goals.) I ordered the Mexican Quesadillas and a plate of nachos. And because C has highly refined taste and likes to immerse himself in the culture of the countries we visit, he ordered fried mozzarella sticks and a cheeseburger. We also had some pico and a basket of chips. To our credit, we didn't order a dessert, unless you count the Bahama Mamas we had afterward:

 

 

A closer look at my Nachos:

 

 

The food at Nachi is pretty good, and we stuffed our faces and ordered some more drinks. This next pic I'm gonna show you is one of the darker sides of Nachi. What you see here is just one of a gang of hardened criminals that hang around the beach, just waiting to steal from you. Beady eyed, shady looking little b*tches:

 

 

For real, these little thieves don't have one single eff to give. You get up, they will fly their feathered ass*s right over to your table, eat your food, and drink your booze. I had a good 30 minute stand-off with this little b*stard when he was eyeing my margarita. Not today, thug birdie, not today. After defending what was mine, we decided to swim around in the pool for a bit. We met some nice folks at the swim-up bar and chatted with them for awhile. Since we knew we had more things planned (remember, that's an alternative fact), we dried off and headed to our next activity.

 

To be continued.......

[watermelonqueen99]

This next excursion we did has been, hands down, our favorite across 7 cruises. It was the Salsa and Salsa tour through Carnival. You are taken to a local hotel, seated at big round tables with other cruisers, and you learn how to make several different salsas and several different margaritas. It also includes unlimited margaritas while you are there. And it seemed as though you would take one sip, and the waiter was there refilling your glass. Linda, our "teacher" was absolutely fantastic. I even got to go up and help her make a drink. She had no idea how bad of an idea that was, but it worked out alright. At the end, you learn how to salsa dance. Being a Zumba fanatic, already knowing how to salsa, and also having partaken in the unlimited margarita bar, let's just say I really enjoyed that part. They give you the recipes for all the things you make while you are there, and oh my lawd was that some good salsa and margaritas. We ended up purchasing one of the molcajetes you see in the pic so that we could recreate the salsas at home:

 

 

When that was over, we headed back to the port. We stopped at Fat Tuesday to mooch off their WiFi. And since we hadn't hardly ate or drank a thing all day, we decided to order something. I have no idea what was in this cup, but we all know it probably contained booze:

 

 

We also ordered a plate of Nachos that were mediocre at best and that we could have made at home for $4:

 

 

After paying $76.89 USD for some Nachos and a drink, we decided to head back to the ship. The RCCL Harmony of the Seas and the Celebrity Reflection were in port with us:

 

 

We snapped another pic of the Freedom before we boarded:

 

 

Once we were back onboard, we went to an upper deck to snap a pic of the pier. It's so long, it won't all fit in the pic. (That's what she said.):

 

 

We headed back to the cabin, got cleaned up, and headed to Alchemy for the evening. Since we had missed last night, it was like a mini family reunion with our friends and our favorite bartenders. There were hugs, there were tears, there were emotions that there's not yet a name for. We briefly thought about going to the 80's glow party later in the evening, but we felt like we had missed time to make up for at Alchemy. We closed down the bar, and fell into bed knowing that tomorrow would be our last day on the Freedom.

 

To be continued.......

 

*Footnote: Thank you for letting me cheat a little and for joining me on this "alternative day." Everything I wrote and every pic I posted is a real experience of ours. The pics from Nachi are from our first cruise in 2014. The Salsa and Salsa tour was from our August 2016 cruise on the Dream, where we were rerouted from a Bahamas itinerary thanks to a hurricane. That tour was fantastic, and I am not kidding when I say I barely remember the ride back to port. To this day, when I smell or taste a Margarita, I am immediately taken back to that place in time, and remember even the smallest detail of that excursion. The pics from Fat Tuesday are from our January 2016 cruise on the Freedom.

[Thrilled2012]

 

*Footnote: Thank you for letting me cheat a little and for joining me on this "alternative day." Everything I wrote and every pic I posted is a real experience of ours. The pics from Nachi are from our first cruise in 2014. The Salsa and Salsa tour was from our August 2016 cruise on the Dream, where we were rerouted from a Bahamas itinerary thanks to a hurricane. That tour was fantastic, and I am not kidding when I say I barely remember the ride back to port. To this day, when I smell or taste a Margarita, I am immediately taken back to that place in time, and remember even the smallest detail of that excursion. The pics from Fat Tuesday are from our January 2016 cruise on the Freedom.

 

Whaaatt?? Oh good Lord, you are too much ;p

[pghsteelerfan]

 

*Footnote: Thank you for letting me cheat a little and for joining me on this "alternative day." Everything I wrote and every pic I posted is a real experience of ours. The pics from Nachi are from our first cruise in 2014. The Salsa and Salsa tour was from our August 2016 cruise on the Dream, where we were rerouted from a Bahamas itinerary thanks to a hurricane. That tour was fantastic, and I am not kidding when I say I barely remember the ride back to port. To this day, when I smell or taste a Margarita, I am immediately taken back to that place in time, and remember even the smallest detail of that excursion. The pics from Fat Tuesday are from our January 2016 cruise on the Freedom.

 

I was wondering if your pictures from your "alternative day" in Nachi were from 2014 or from another cruise. Dang, you sure lucked out with the ocean water there (from pic you posted). We must have been there just a few days before you in 2014 and the water did NOT look pretty like that. We were there on 4/7/14 and it was windy and the water was a bluish/grayish/brown and not clear at all, like beaches in SC, and so much sea weed. Someone working there told us that there are only about five days a year where the water looks like that and we just happened to be there on one of them. Ha, good excuse to go back. Loved it...loved the food and loved those unlimited drinks. I am really really enjoying your review and laughing my @rse off the whole way through!!!

[miss tea]

Great review

[50Cruising]

Love reading your review! On the Freedom in June and can't wait! Especially now that I have a new drink to be on the look out for - Big Black Dick!!

[watermelonqueen99]

Whaaatt?? Oh good Lord, you are too much ;p

 

Uh-oh someone didn't read. Off to the principal's office. Lol :D In a previous post I wrote that I didn't really take any pics in Cozumel this time, so in order to have something to post for this day, I was going to share some pics from our previous visits. :D

[watermelonqueen99]

I was wondering if your pictures from your "alternative day" in Nachi were from 2014 or from another cruise. Dang, you sure lucked out with the ocean water there (from pic you posted). We must have been there just a few days before you in 2014 and the water did NOT look pretty like that. We were there on 4/7/14 and it was windy and the water was a bluish/grayish/brown and not clear at all, like beaches in SC, and so much sea weed. Someone working there told us that there are only about five days a year where the water looks like that and we just happened to be there on one of them. Ha, good excuse to go back. Loved it...loved the food and loved those unlimited drinks. I am really really enjoying your review and laughing my @rse off the whole way through!!!

 

It was gorgeous that day. But we went again in October 2015 and it was a totally different experience. There was so much seaweed that we couldn't even get in the water. And there was a massive, and I mean MASSIVE pile of rotting seaweed on the far end of the beach that smelled so awful that when we walked to the bathroom, we had to put our hands over our mouths and noses or risk literally gagging. There was no warning posted, and no refund offered. People were P*SSED! But we knew some people who went a few months later and said it was fine. Crazy!

 

Thanks for reading, glad you're enjoying it!

[watermelonqueen99]

Great review

 

Thank you! Thanks for reading!

[watermelonqueen99]

Love reading your review! On the Freedom in June and can't wait! Especially now that I have a new drink to be on the look out for - Big Black Dick!!

 

You will love the BBD! :D

 

Thanks for reading!

[threadcrapper]

Great stuff! Just booked our next cruise (my 3rd - her 2nd) on the Freedom last night. Wife is disappointed about not being able to start Cheers until the 2nd day, and is now calculating how much to mark up Girl Scout cookies to resell in front of the Wal-Mart to cover the first night of boozing

[watermelonqueen99]

Great stuff! Just booked our next cruise (my 3rd - her 2nd) on the Freedom last night. Wife is disappointed about not being able to start Cheers until the 2nd day, and is now calculating how much to mark up Girl Scout cookies to resell in front of the Wal-Mart to cover the first night of boozing

That's genius! Your wife and I would be great friends! [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[watermelonqueen99]

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

On our last day at sea, we decided to sleep in. Once we got out of bed and got dressed, we started packing a little. We like to do it throughout the day instead of all at once. I have a self-diagnosed mild case of ADD so I can't....hey, did you all hear about that new Unicorn drink at Starbucks? Crazy! Anyway, we decided to order some room service before we headed out for the day. Here's the menu if you're interested:

 

 

 

 

I just noticed that in that second pic my fingers look a little yellow. I panicked for a minute because I only have $3 saved up in my liver transplant fund (12 quarters that I threw into an old Moonshine jar), but I see now that it's just the lighting. Whew. After we ate, we roamed around the ship a little. We ended up at Alchemy early afternoon, and played cards with some new friends. The seas were ROUGH, and I mean ROUGH. The Captain actually came on and warned us that we were approaching a storm, and told us that we should expect really rough seas that evening, but that everything would be fine. (All I could picture was that scene in Airplane where they're reassuring the passengers that everything is under control as the flight attendant drags the pilot's body down the aisle.) But because I'm my mother's daughter, my mind immediately went to the worst case scenario, and I came to terms with the fact that we were all going to die. I mentally envisioned the dress I would wear after I died, when I would meet C on the deck 9 staircase. (If you don't understand that reference, please see your way out.) There was almost an electric buzz in the air, I assume from the combination of the approaching storm, and knowing it was our last night. We spent the rest of the day playing cards, people watching, packing, and sitting out on deck 3 watching the whitecaps. Eventually we got ready for the evening, and headed to Alchemy. The seas were definitely rocky, and we noticed that there were less people out and about. I get extremely emotional on the last night of a cruise, and this time was no different. As the night drew to a close, we said goodbye to our new friends. I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life as when I said goodbye to Inga when she had to go work the piano bar. We hugged and rocked back and forth for a good solid 5 minutes. That memory is traumatizing, so to jump ahead a little, we ended up not dying, and made our way back to our cabin for our last sleep on the ship.

 

Saturday, March 4th, 2017

We were rudely awakened at a time that I can't even bring myself to type by the CD letting us know that we were docked in Galveston and that debarkation would begin shortly. We had zone 27 tags, so we headed up to Lido for some breakfast. Eventually, it was our turn to get off, and we waited in line for approximately 18 hours to retrieve our luggage. We found our way to the Galveston Express shuttle, and we were soon bound for Houston Hobby. We made it there safely, and boarded our flight. On our way home, we flew over a storm, and it was a little bumpy:

 

 

We landed safely in Tulsa, and had to face the harsh reality that our vacation was over. We made it home and remembered that we have 2 kids and a business to run. It was heartbreaking. We fell into bed that night wondering why nobody had poured us a drink or turned our bed down. We dreamed about faded Cheers stickers, soggy bacon from the Lido buffet, and that weird smell in the public bathrooms by the casino.

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, (I use those terms loosely, as no true lady or gentleman would have read this review after the first couple of installments.) concludes my review of the Carnival Freedom. I truly hoped you enjoyed it. We just decided this evening to switch our Halloween cruise over to the Dream, so please join me this fall for another one of these messes. I will definitely take more pics, (I did this review on the fly, I really hadn't planned to do a review, hence the lack of pics.) and we have excursions planned for all 3 ports. Montego Bay: Returning to the Hilton Rose Hall. Grand Cayman: Back to SMB and obviously getting more BBD. Cozumel: Cozumel Bar Hop.

 

I'm really struggling with how to end this review. "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night?" Nah, that doesn't work. "Amen?" Nah, if I walked into a church, it would burn down. "Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other?" Eh, I'm not classy enough to quote Jerry Springer. I'll just go with a timeless classic:

 

Bye, Felicia.

[Kev_99]

Thanks for the review and the great entertainment!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[miss tea]

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

On our last day at sea, we decided to sleep in. Once we got out of bed and got dressed, we started packing a little. We like to do it throughout the day instead of all at once. I have a self-diagnosed mild case of ADD so I can't....hey, did you all hear about that new Unicorn drink at Starbucks? Crazy! Anyway, we decided to order some room service before we headed out for the day. Here's the menu if you're interested:

 

 

 

 

I just noticed that in that second pic my fingers look a little yellow. I panicked for a minute because I only have $3 saved up in my liver transplant fund (12 quarters that I threw into an old Moonshine jar), but I see now that it's just the lighting. Whew. After we ate, we roamed around the ship a little. We ended up at Alchemy early afternoon, and played cards with some new friends. The seas were ROUGH, and I mean ROUGH. The Captain actually came on and warned us that we were approaching a storm, and told us that we should expect really rough seas that evening, but that everything would be fine. (All I could picture was that scene in Airplane where they're reassuring the passengers that everything is under control as the flight attendant drags the pilot's body down the aisle.) But because I'm my mother's daughter, my mind immediately went to the worst case scenario, and I came to terms with the fact that we were all going to die. I mentally envisioned the dress I would wear after I died, when I would meet C on the deck 9 staircase. (If you don't understand that reference, please see your way out.) There was almost an electric buzz in the air, I assume from the combination of the approaching storm, and knowing it was our last night. We spent the rest of the day playing cards, people watching, packing, and sitting out on deck 3 watching the whitecaps. Eventually we got ready for the evening, and headed to Alchemy. The seas were definitely rocky, and we noticed that there were less people out and about. I get extremely emotional on the last night of a cruise, and this time was no different. As the night drew to a close, we said goodbye to our new friends. I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life as when I said goodbye to Inga when she had to go work the piano bar. We hugged and rocked back and forth for a good solid 5 minutes. That memory is traumatizing, so to jump ahead a little, we ended up not dying, and made our way back to our cabin for our last sleep on the ship.

 

Saturday, March 4th, 2017

We were rudely awakened at a time that I can't even bring myself to type by the CD letting us know that we were docked in Galveston and that debarkation would begin shortly. We had zone 27 tags, so we headed up to Lido for some breakfast. Eventually, it was our turn to get off, and we waited in line for approximately 18 hours to retrieve our luggage. We found our way to the Galveston Express shuttle, and we were soon bound for Houston Hobby. We made it there safely, and boarded our flight. On our way home, we flew over a storm, and it was a little bumpy:

 

 

We landed safely in Tulsa, and had to face the harsh reality that our vacation was over. We made it home and remembered that we have 2 kids and a business to run. It was heartbreaking. We fell into bed that night wondering why nobody had poured us a drink or turned our bed down. We dreamed about faded Cheers stickers, soggy bacon from the Lido buffet, and that weird smell in the public bathrooms by the casino.

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, (I use those terms loosely, as no true lady or gentleman would have read this review after the first couple of installments.) concludes my review of the Carnival Freedom. I truly hoped you enjoyed it. We just decided this evening to switch our Halloween cruise over to the Dream, so please join me this fall for another one of these messes. I will definitely take more pics, (I did this review on the fly, I really hadn't planned to do a review, hence the lack of pics.) and we have excursions planned for all 3 ports. Montego Bay: Returning to the Hilton Rose Hall. Grand Cayman: Back to SMB and obviously getting more BBD. Cozumel: Cozumel Bar Hop.

 

I'm really struggling with how to end this review. "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night?" Nah, that doesn't work. "Amen?" Nah, if I walked into a church, it would burn down. "Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other?" Eh, I'm not classy enough to quote Jerry Springer. I'll just go with a timeless classic:

 

Bye, Felicia.

Did you have to schedule and pay for Galveston express a head of time or can you just get on it and pay then.

[Thrilled2012]

Uh-oh someone didn't read. Off to the principal's office. Lol :D In a previous post I wrote that I didn't really take any pics in Cozumel this time, so in order to have something to post for this day, I was going to share some pics from our previous visits. :D

 

Oops, yep you're right. Somehow I missed that entire post! Lol, I felt so scammed after reading the other Cozumel posts. My bad!

[watermelonqueen99]

Thanks for the review and the great entertainment!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

You're welcome! Thanks for reading!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[watermelonqueen99]

Did you have to schedule and pay for Galveston express a head of time or can you just get on it and pay then.

Yes, you schedule and pay online before you leave.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[watermelonqueen99]

Oops, yep you're right. Somehow I missed that entire post! Lol, I felt so scammed after reading the other Cozumel posts. My bad!

I'm sorry you felt scammed! 😂😂😂

 

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[funkidd]

I loved your review. Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with us.

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

So sad to see this one end, but I will be looking forward to following along on your next one. This one? Loved, loved, LOVED it & as I mentioned earlier, laughed my @rse off the whole way through. Thanks for taking the time to share! :)