MITSUGIRLYS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS REVIEW & PICTORIAL

[mitsugirly]

Back at the port by 5pm and the last thing I wanted to do was shop. I headed for the ship and Kendra went shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't wait to get in the shower and assess my wounds. After my shower I watched us pull out of port from our very big  room with a view.

 

 

Shortly after we pulled out, we headed to the buffet for food. We were hungry and tired and every bone in my body ached. Thank goodness I brought the prescription Naproxen and muscle relaxers.

 

I just had to comment on how RC does things...they don't just put a platter of square cut cheese out, they make it a nice display!!! It's just the added touches.

 

 

 

I don't know what it is about cruises but I always crave salads for some reason.

 

 

 

I FOUND THE CREPE STATION!! HALLELUJAH! AND THE CHEESECAKE...real cheesecake not the foamy kind.

 

 

 

Back to our cabana with the gang.

 

 

 

As we entered the buffet area...always entertaining us.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

After dinner, it was relaxation time! This was much needed. We headed out to the pool to watch a movie and Sakari decided she wanted to swim. Kam went to the kids club and Shawna and B went to play basketball.

 

 

 

We watched "The Upside" with Kevin Hart. He's so funny and it was a good movie.

 

 

 

Sakari morphed into a mermaid and daddy put her in the pool.

 

 

 

It was a little chilly out with the breeze blowing and Kendra was cold. She took Sakari's towel and wrapped up. This is the one thing I do miss about Carnival...the movie blankets and popcorn during the movies. That's one of their added touches.

 

 

 

 

Sakari crawling on her "fins" (not knees) to get to us because she refused to remove her mermaid tail in front of everyone at the pool. I mean people might discover her human status if she did that right?

 

 

After the movie was over, we headed back to the big room with a view and Sakari wanted to stay in and draw on her ipad.

 

We had a penguin that night.

 

 

 

We headed to the casino for the first time and I did REALLY WELL that night on just about every slot I played.  The hubby played the tables and also did really well. I think he was up $300 by the time we left.

 

 

 

Sakari had made another husky masterpiece and went to sleep. Don't kids this age know that once they get too old for the kids club the tables are turned and they must wait up for the parents to return at night to make sure they make it back safe?!? Pffffhhhh on her.

 

 

 

 

I packed our bags for tomorrows adventures, watched a little t.v and off to bed we went. 

 

 

 

 

 

[skidawg79]

55 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Geez.  That's a tour I think I'd be happy to skip. I'm glad you made it back to the ship.  Did you tip the guys? I might not have considering how unhelpful they were. AND I'd leave a less-than-stellar review on their website.  Of course, I wasn't there, so maybe the excursions wasn't all that bad.

 

***EDIT***

 

What is this buggy tour you speak of?

She can correct me but  there is a tour called Mad Max Dune Buggies.   I actually booked them on my cruise in 2 1/2 weeks!   I'll be happy to report back what i think!

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/5/2019 at 12:39 PM, mitsugirly said:

Now remember I decided to go with a bigger room this time. I booked the Ultra Spacious Oceanview at the front of the ship. Kendra kept making fun of me for paying an extra $500-600 to do this but remember...this is my graduation cruise and I deserve it!

 

We stayed in room 9200 (which I would later discover that ours and the room on the other side of us (9500) were the same size but the room on the other side of us and down were smaller. I did get a glimpse of some of the mini suites down the hall from us and they were very small in comparision.

 

 

I walked in and was OH EM GEE! This thing is HUGE! wow!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The space was AMAZING! A living room/couch area (the couch pulled out into a bed) and there was a curtain to block that area off.

 

Then the bedroom area consisted of a sitting area too..over by the windows. There was TONS of closet space, drawers, places to hang clothes and even the mirrors at the sitting table opened up for more storage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had 2 desks to sit at.

 

 

 

This room definitely got Sakari's approval (notice her ok hand signal).

 

 

The sitting area beyond the bed and by the windows. There were 2 chairs (one on each side) with foot stools and those opened up for additional storage as well. There was a glass table in the middle of them, but we just pushed it in the corner because I wanted to stand there to look out the windows.

 

 

 

 

Now lets talk about the bathroom again...SO SMALL! It was the same size as any other bathroom, like the interiors, and I would have thought with all this space they could have extended it some and made it bigger. I would have definitely gave up part of the room at the second desk area for a bigger bathroom and shower. Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we come to Sakari's "room". She absolutely loved this. I was like having her very own place. It had a bunk bed in it and she claimed the top bunk. lol  It also had a nice sized closet in it and she was able to have all of her clothes and necessities in there with her. Then the best part was it also had a curtain to pull it closed and she felt like she had her own room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The jealousy immediately came across Kendra's face and she couldn't hold back anymore. She now wanted to pay the extra $500-600 for this room and wished that she had! HA! mom +1 vs Kendra 0. I'm winning.

 

 

They had these magnets to put on your door instead of the normal door hangers when you needed something.

 

 

 

 

 

So if you can't tell....WE LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS ROOM! If I had my choice, I would get this each and every time and now I feel a little spoiled and will be looking for something equivalent to this in the future. I would take this over any balcony any day.

 

 

 

Glad you liked the cabin.  You and I talked a bit a few months ago before we went on the Freedom in March.  We have had that cabin before and loved it.  Also look at the family promenade cabins next time if you are on a Freedom class ship.  They cost less than the one you had, have a walk-in closest (which we often used as a change room), have a full shower/tub in the bathroom, and 2 windows into the promenade.  For the ultimate, look at the panoramic cabins.  They are the best and there is one on each of that class of ship that is larger than the others.  Glad you seemed to have enjoyed the cruise.  I still have 8 plus pages of your review to read that will have to wait til tomorrow.  Congratulations on the great start to the review.

[skidawg79]

I'm finally caught up!   Great pictures and review so far!  I have a quick question.  You mentioned on embarkation day there was no lines and you breezed right through.  What time of the day did you get to the port?   I figure it would be a little busier from 12:30-2:30ish....not sure what time we want to go over.    We did pay for the drink package so might as well get on early and start taking advantage of it!  haha Great start to the review.  Looking forward to the rest!

[mitsugirly]

8 hours ago, fyree39 said:

We'll be on St. Kitts in November.  I have no idea what we'll do there. You're giving us some ideas, though. 🙂

 

 

Lol, maybe not after you read the entire day.

 

8 hours ago, legaljen1969 said:

If you are looking to book a Promenade Room you will find them in the "interior cabins" section- not oceanview.   The only interior/promenade room I would ever consider would be the Ben & Jerry's Sweet *Suite".  That's hard to get though. Still, on my bucket list for someday.

 

Oh ok. I thought someone had told me in the past they were considered OV. Also, when I looked on another deck plan site, they also had it listed as an OV.

 

I'm definitely looking up this "Ben & Jerry's Sweet".

 

 

8 hours ago, Luv06012012 said:

We went to Reggae Beach Bar & Grill for the day.  It was a wonderful beach day with plenty of shade available, great food, monkeys and even goats up on the mountainside.  There were plenty of beach activities and you could also get cheap massages there right on the beach.  It was heaven!  That would've been right up your alley Mitsugirly!

 

Mitsugirly….I was excited to see your review!  If you ever have a need to stay in Puerto Rico again, check out Tres Palmas Inn.  I'm thinking it's in the general area of where you stayed this time.  I would go back and stay a whole week if I could and it was inexpensive. 

 

 

I've been there twice now and really don't care for the beach for some reason. I also do not do massages. I never have. For some reason the thought of someone touching me like that just freaks me out. Kendra however, they get massages all the time and probably go about twice a month here. That would be up her alley for sure.

 

I will definitely check out the Tres Palmas Inn next time.

 

 

8 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

We've also gone there several times and enjoyed it.  Very scenic drive there, and a nice view of Nevis from the beach.

 

Nice view but I just don't care for the beach. It's been crowded each time we went there and I just don't care for the chairs being so close together.

 

 

8 hours ago, starfish the second said:

Been waiting for your review so happy to have found it Congrats of finishing school I know how hard that is I too am a nurse have worked same hospital for 30 years Love what I do My daughter also is a nurse she teaches nursing program on line We both love to cruise! My majority of cruise also is on NCL but I love the other Line also. mostly book for ports Hubby and I snorkel just about every where we go I have booked on rcl Serenade of the seas southern 11 day trip mostly because its going to Gernada want to snorkel the sculpture park  Please keep doing your reviews Love reading them

 

Thanks for the congrats! Happy nurses week to you! I like to book for ports as well. Discovering new places is awesome no matter what line I'm on.

 

I definitely want to go back to Grenada and have a do-over with our scuba trip to the sculpture park again. Last time we missed a few things and it just felt so rushed.

 

 

7 hours ago, LuCruise said:

We managed to snag this room on Independence.  It came with some lovely perks. 😉

 

Very nice!

 

6 hours ago, mchin said:

Great review and love, love, love your pictures!  We are on in seven weeks and I can't wait!  We are staying in Condado for two night pre-cruise.  How did San Juan look overall?  We are hopeful that hurricane recovery continues well and most places are open for business.  

 

Ship looks to be in good condition.  Did you see any of the entertainment?  What shows were on board?  My theatrical daughter loves the shows.

 

Thanks so much. I hope you have a great cruise.

 

Old San Juan is fine (it was last time we were there too for the most part). Most of the areas that are still recovering are far from the port area.

 

We didn't see much of the entertainment as far as theatrical shows. We don't really care for them. But Kia's daughter loves them and they go to all of them. She told me that they really weren't the best. 😞 Of course that's a matter of opinion and you might enjoy them. 

 

6 hours ago, Mamacane71 said:

Thanks so much for posting. We will be on Freedom in July on the other route. ABC islands and St Maarten. But still enjoying all of your report. 

 

You are welcome and I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I really want to do a cruise to the ABC islands because I have not been to the B yet.

 

2 hours ago, Hooked! said:

My mitsugirly cruise review spidey-sense must be strong, because I was just thinking, “Hmm, I wonder if she’s done another cruise lately...” and here I find your trip report! Enjoying your humor and photos as always, and I sure hope that Billy had some much-needed fun on the cruise. 

 

Megan

 

 

LOL I'm glad you found me and enjoying the review. Billy definitely needed this time away.

 

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

Please tell me that you don't mean that literally, and that you didn't smuggle that Haliconia off the ship? If you do, I hope that you microwaved it before you threw it away. That is how we have unwanted, invasive and exotic pests are introduced into the United States. 😡

 

Sakari draws everything she sees. She has a photographic memory for every little detail. She went back and drew a picture of it and will keep it forever. If she had her choice, she'd bring every critter she can find back with her and several instances they tried to smuggle a lizard and I threatened her and B over it. However, I do bring sand from each port back with me, so I guess that's the same thing. I have a curio cabinet I display them all from everywhere I've been in little bottles with a cork in it. And no matter what, I don't plan on changing that aspect of my cruising.

 

47 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Geez.  That's a tour I think I'd be happy to skip. I'm glad you made it back to the ship.  Did you tip the guys? I might not have considering how unhelpful they were. AND I'd leave a less-than-stellar review on their website.  Of course, I wasn't there, so maybe the excursions wasn't all that bad.

 

***EDIT***

 

What is this buggy tour you speak of?

 

Yea, it was a little more than what we all bargained for, but very different and I'm glad we experienced it anyhow. I honestly don't remember if we tipped them. I know I was contemplating it after all the things that I didn't find very professional. At the end of the tour, it was also such a cluster flark of everyone trying to pay and figuring out who owed what. It was a mess and took forever. We had a huge group of 11, but yet 3 families...so we got a discount. That seemed to make things difficult on their mathematical end for some reason. 🙄

 

 

42 minutes ago, SenatorsFan said:

I'm glad to know what tour NOT to book next time I'm in St. Kitts! You did get some beautiful pictures, but I agree that was just too strenuous.  I don't like the look of that beach, either. 

Heather

 

Yea, it's one I'll chalk in the book for "been there done that and won't do it again".

 

 

32 minutes ago, FirstAnthem said:

I’m so sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this excursion as much as we did! I feel bad because I suggested the excursion! We had a very different experience. We didn’t find any of it strenuous—we enjoyed all the physical parts of the day. We also didn’t experience any of the crowds you did. Maybe because we were there during Presidents week and not Spring Break. The beach was fairly empty when we were there, and we only had 9 people total on the excursion. The only part of your day that was the same for us was Javin leaving the water and shore before we were all out of the water. I didn’t like that either. But other than that, we had a fantastic day. So sorry it wasn’t the same for you! 

 

 

Oh, don't feel bad. I'm glad we got to experience it and I managed to get some awesome pictures that I normally wouldn't get. I think falling on the slippery rocks in the very beginning kinda put a sour taste in my mouth about the entire hike in the rainforest. Also them saying that Billy would have to see if it would be something he could do once he got there made me think "are they serious????" once we got started. How would they ever think that someone who had surgery for a broken foot/leg with plates and screws with a walking boot ever be able to climb and walk on slippery rocks/moss and everything else we did? Only having 9 people on the excursion probably would have made a big difference as well. We would probably be able to go at a better pace and enjoy it more. There were just so many people on it. They had said they had 7 other people that booked but I'm telling you there were a LOT more than that. I want to say I counted 23 total not including the 2 guides...and Peaches. LOL

[mitsugirly]

10 minutes ago, skidawg79 said:

She can correct me but  there is a tour called Mad Max Dune Buggies.   I actually booked them on my cruise in 2 1/2 weeks!   I'll be happy to report back what i think!

 

 

Oh I forgot to answer that question from her post. Yes, Mad Max is who we were going to go with. I hope you have a wonderful time. It looks like a lot of fun!

 

 

7 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

Glad you liked the cabin.  You and I talked a bit a few months ago before we went on the Freedom in March.  We have had that cabin before and loved it.  Also look at the family promenade cabins next time if you are on a Freedom class ship.  They cost less than the one you had, have a walk-in closest (which we often used as a change room), have a full shower/tub in the bathroom, and 2 windows into the promenade.  For the ultimate, look at the panoramic cabins.  They are the best and there is one on each of that class of ship that is larger than the others.  Glad you seemed to have enjoyed the cruise.  I still have 8 plus pages of your review to read that will have to wait til tomorrow.  Congratulations on the great start to the review.

 

 

Oh yes, the cabin was AMAZING!! I'm so glad we were able to book it. I never want to go back again to a regular interior...but prices will influence me. LOL

 

I will look into the family promenade next time as well. I did see the panoramic cabins but they were already booked when I booked. I was real lucky to find this one still available. Right after I booked it they were all sold out. (There was mind and one on the 7th floor). 

 

We definitely enjoyed the cruise AND the ship.

 

Glad you are here to read the review.

 

1 minute ago, skidawg79 said:

I'm finally caught up!   Great pictures and review so far!  I have a quick question.  You mentioned on embarkation day there was no lines and you breezed right through.  What time of the day did you get to the port?   I figure it would be a little busier from 12:30-2:30ish....not sure what time we want to go over.    We did pay for the drink package so might as well get on early and start taking advantage of it!  haha Great start to the review.  Looking forward to the rest!

 

Thanks so much.

 

We arrived at the port at 1pm (was still in the van and my first picture I took in my review of the ship). Looking at my timestamp on the pictures...we were stepping on the ship at 1:40PM. It took us longer waiting on Kendra to check in her luggage than anything else we did. I guess deck 7 was a popular deck at the time we arrived. There wasn't anyone in the area to drop off luggage for deck 9. LOL

 

 

 

[Thrilled2012]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 3:48 PM, mitsugirly said:

Now we usually cruise spring break with our cruising friend (Kia) and her kids. She had her flights canclled all together and wasn't sure if she would be able to get to the ship in time or would have to fly to our first port stop.

 

She did make it just in time (flying in the day of the cruise) and she let me know that they were having an Easter Egg scavenger hunt and then party after that. Sakari is growing up on me and really wasn't too interested in an egg hunt or a party. I really wanted to be at the sailaway party and dance the day away...but where was it? The Freedom has an odd layout on the pool deck and there's really no place for dancing parties or a sailaway party. That was the one thing I really didn't like about it. They obviously had the sailaway party somewhere else because there wasn't anything going on in the pool area.

 

I finally talked Sakari into going to the dance party. The minute I told her Kia would be there she changed her mind. Kendra had also went to the egg hunt and party so we met them down there.

 

The kids were playing with the hula hoops and balloons.

 

 

We immediately found Kia and I introduced her to Kendra and the kids. They participated in the balloon dance competitions and hula hoop contests while I relaxed and took pictures. Kia and I have the same camera (our last cruise together her camera got water down in it and it didn't recover so she bought a new one). While they were dancing and playing games I took it upon myself to do some pictures and videos with her camera of her and Xander her son. I didn't bother to tell her I did it and I wonder if she now knows? SURPRISE! lol  I figured it would be a nice surprise when she got back home to see them when she downloaded her pictures.
 

 

Great review so far, as usual!  I've only made it as far as here (page 2)  though....and now have to get back to work :(.  LOL, you may know by now that I am worse than Kendra.  I got home and got back to "real life" and haven't even glanced at my pics from the cruise.  So I had no idea until now that you pilfered my camera!  I will certainly take a look as soon as I can.  You are too funny!  We didn't even talk about your pre-cruise stay.  I was so drained and happy to even make the cruise that I neglected to ask you about it :(.  Sounds like your AirBnb was "interesting".  As you know, we didn't get to stay in the one that we booked bc of our flight being cancelled.  We loved the one we stayed at post cruise though.  It was in Ocean Park (adjacent to Condado).  We actually walked to Condado at night to have dinner at a fantastic Argentinian restaurant.  It was right on a beautiful beach.  Way better and less expensive than that hotel (Sandy Beach) that we stayed at last year in Condado.  I am looking forward to catching up on your review and following along to relive our fantastic Spring Break :)

[jenseib]

I knew there had to be a review coming since I have been seeing your pics on facebook.

I am already far behind, but wanted to say hi and I will start reading and hopefully catch up!

[TimeToGetNauti]

I don't know how you remember everything you did on the cruise.  I can barely remember yesterday. lol. Enjoying your review. I was on Freedom last april and loved it. 

 

[BrandFam4]

23 hours ago, legaljen1969 said:

If you are looking to book a Promenade Room you will find them in the "interior cabins" section- not oceanview.   The only interior/promenade room I would ever consider would be the Ben & Jerry's Sweet *Suite".  That's hard to get though. Still, on my bucket list for someday.

 

22 hours ago, LuCruise said:

We managed to snag this room on Independence.  It came with some lovely perks. 😉

 

That sounds like a cool cabin!

 

Really enjoying your review mitsugirly! :-)

[pam_1024]

On 5/5/2019 at 8:44 PM, mitsugirly said:

DECK 4

 

Boleros

 

This area was popping during the cruise and it had a dance floor and a latin-theme. I was so mesmerized with the glass sculptures that every time I passed by there I think I was taking a picture. I really didn't take a picture of the area itself. LOL  OOPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love those sculptures too!  Beautiful!  I have several pictures also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dude_hdt]

I've sailed on Liberty a couple of time and understand it's the same class of ship as Freedom.  Can passengers go out to the very front of the ship?  I think you exit deck 5 forward then up a flight of stairs to deck 6 and out to the helipad.  I do like the layout of Liberty the best with that feature being one of them.

[mitsugirly]

5 hours ago, Thrilled2012 said:

Great review so far, as usual!  I've only made it as far as here (page 2)  though....and now have to get back to work :(.  LOL, you may know by now that I am worse than Kendra.  I got home and got back to "real life" and haven't even glanced at my pics from the cruise.  So I had no idea until now that you pilfered my camera!  I will certainly take a look as soon as I can.  You are too funny!  We didn't even talk about your pre-cruise stay.  I was so drained and happy to even make the cruise that I neglected to ask you about it :(.  Sounds like your AirBnb was "interesting".  As you know, we didn't get to stay in the one that we booked bc of our flight being cancelled.  We loved the one we stayed at post cruise though.  It was in Ocean Park (adjacent to Condado).  We actually walked to Condado at night to have dinner at a fantastic Argentinian restaurant.  It was right on a beautiful beach.  Way better and less expensive than that hotel (Sandy Beach) that we stayed at last year in Condado.  I am looking forward to catching up on your review and following along to relive our fantastic Spring Break 🙂

 

 

Thanks and haha. You weren't supposed to see this part before discovering the photos and video. LOL

 

I'm just so glad you made it at all on Sunday. That was a close call. I will have to keep Ocean Park in mind next trip to PR. 

 

Talk to you soon love! 

 

4 hours ago, jenseib said:

I knew there had to be a review coming since I have been seeing your pics on facebook.

I am already far behind, but wanted to say hi and I will start reading and hopefully catch up!

 

Haha, the first day I post on fb and you are on it. hehe  I always do my review part before posting on fb. I don't even get on there anymore except to post vacation pictures these days. 

 

Glad to have you here!

 

2 hours ago, TimeToGetNauti said:

I don't know how you remember everything you did on the cruise.  I can barely remember yesterday. lol. Enjoying your review. I was on Freedom last april and loved it. 

 

 

I don't either and I'm sure I am forgetting a lot. I just try to snap a picture with everything we do so that it can remind me in what order we did what. lol

 

 

1 hour ago, BrandFam4 said:

 

 

That sounds like a cool cabin!

 

Really enjoying your review mitsugirly! 🙂

 

Super cool and I hope I can find more cool ones like this in the future. 

 

Glad you are enjoying the review. 

 

50 minutes ago, pam_1024 said:

 

 

I love all the glass blown flowers we find in various places. NCL had some on one of their ships before as well. Our local conservatory has tons of them and the artist always does thousands of them, puts them on a glass tunnel that you walk under and with each display he does, he hides an angel in it that you have to search for. So neat. 

[mitsugirly]

5 minutes ago, dude_hdt said:

I've sailed on Liberty a couple of time and understand it's the same class of ship as Freedom.  Can passengers go out to the very front of the ship?  I think you exit deck 5 forward then up a flight of stairs to deck 6 and out to the helipad.  I do like the layout of Liberty the best with that feature being one of them.

 

Yep, you can go out there. We watched people out there every time we were pulling out of port. I comfortably watched from my room. hehe

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/5/2019 at 10:38 PM, mitsugirly said:

Promenade

 

My absolute favorite area of the ship. It was just amazing in this area. I loved every bit of it (other than it was always so crowded and when they did the parties here, you couldn't move). It was the closest thing I have been to anything that reminded me of the Oasis with the opening in the middle. (I really need to sail the Oasis class).

 

I really did feel sorry for the people who decided to book the rooms along here. (I think they are considered ocean view rooms...only they don't face the ocean???). The parties they had going on here and the loud music accompanied by the strobe lights would have made it impossible to sleep here at night if you go to be early.  Now had these rooms had a balcony that you could walk out onto and participate with the dancing and entertainment...I would have loved to have one of those rooms!

 

If you ever do book the Oasis class, you will like the Promenade even more.  They have skylights to let real light into the Promenade from Central Park above.  Even better, once you walk thru Central Park, you might not want to ever walk thru the Promenade again.  We went up 2 or 3 floors of stairs just to walk thru Central Park then went down 2 flights again afterwards.  It is that nice.

 

Do not feel sorry for the people in the Promenade cabins.  They only pay INTERIOR rates and they get a window (2 windows in you have the family promenade cabin I mentioned to you before).  Pull the curtains and it is just like an interior room.  Open them and you can get some more light in and look down on the Promenade.  I will not even describe to you the benefits of what you get if you stay in the "Ben and Jerry Sweet" overlooking the Promenade.  You pay the same rate for that cabin and get some extra perks.  I will let you Google that one.

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/5/2019 at 11:17 PM, mitsugirly said:

Solarium

 

Well, I found a sign that said you must be 16 years old to be in that area/pools/hottubs. Wait, what? Since when are 16 year olds considered an adult? I would have thought it needed to be at least 18!

 

🙄

Just be glad they do not let 13 year olds in the Solarium.  When RCCL offers a "Kids Sail Free" promo from time to time, that only applies to those 12 years of age and under, so according to RCCL, a 13 year old is not a child (at least when it comes to being able to charge more for the cabins anyways).

[mitsugirly]

TUESDAY: ANTIGUA  8-5PM

 

This would be the first time we have ever been here. So, I had no idea what to do. After searching the boards, I knew that St Johns (across from St Thomas) had some awesome snorkeling and everyone always talked about taking the ferry over there for the day. I was always too chicken to try it and make it back in time for the ship to leave so I immediately got super excited about coming here and docking here. I posted on the St Thomas board and patiently waited for a reply. Too my surprise, people were talking out of their minds about it and it just didn't add up. They continued to talk about using the ferry to get there. I proudly exclaimed that I would be lucky enough to not have to use a ferry like they did. Then confusion really sat in...I was informed that there's no dock at St Johns. Well surely they must not realize that RC docks at St Johns right? After awhile, I was set straight. I found that "St Johns" did not mean the St Johns across the way from St Thomas like I had thought. Oopsy! St Johns meant Antigua. I hung my head in shame and put my tail between my legs and headed over to the Antigua boards to start my search over. 🤪

 

The search started again..."Hello, I'm Mitsugirly and I'm here because I have a cruise addiction. I would like some suggestions on a nice beach to go to and I promise you I did not mistake St John Antigua for St Johns". Boom! Everyone responded informing me that Antigua supposed to have the prettiest beaches in the Caribbean (I swear everyone claims this no matter where we go). But I was informed that they have 365 beaches!!! Wait, what? How is this even possible? For every 20' you walk do they count it as a new beach? I can't imagine. But, at least I was in luck because to the beach it was for us!

 

Lawrence Leston came highly recommended (i.e. Lawrence of Antigua). He had excellent communication and answered all my millions of questions. He offered the following:

 

 

"You can have a combination of beaches around the island which includes Long Bay in the eastern section of the island. 

Then we will drive through the Rain Forest to get to the beaches on the south western section of the island. Which includes Turners beach, Darkwood beach, Ffryes bay, Valley church beach and Jolly beach. You are free to stay as long as you wish on each beach also at the last beach you can relax until you are ready to go back to the cruise ship. 

 

Drinks is served on this beach tour. Also free Wi-Fi will be available on board. 

 

You pay cash at the end of the day. If your group is 4 or more person it will be  $50.US each."

 

Additional information also stated:

 

The choice will be yours as to how long you spend on each beach. The last beach that we will be visiting is call Jolly beach, you are free to stay as long as you wish before heading back to the crise ship. It can be a private tour if you so desire

 

I will be using a bus that can take all 10 person from your group. In fact it can take more if the group gets larger the bus can take up to 22 person, so there will be a lot of space for 10 person, everyone will be comfortable all along the way while driving in the bus.

 

To meet will be very simple. I will be standing on the dock, I will be holding my Lawrence of  Antigua sign. 

 

Well I mean...how could you go wrong with going to a new port, a port with 365 beaches, a port that claims to have the prettiest beach in the Caribbean and we were going to get to see several of them on a private tour. Ok...booked for 11 people.

 

I couldn't wait and only $50 a person? Pssshhh, that made me think about the $95 I paid the day before. 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

So here we are. Tuesday and ready for our first NEW port and I couldn't wait!!!

 

We headed to the buffet for breakfast and it was yummy as usual. 

 

 

 

Kia decided not to go on this tour so now we were down to 8 people instead of 11. We were going to have lots a room on this 22 person bus private tour. 

 

I contacted Kendra and they were up and moving. We made plans to meet her at her room and get off the ship as soon as it was docked. However, we couldn't find her. We waited and waited and ....typical Kendra fashion...she was no where to be found. Now normally I would wait until we found her but this time...I remembered there was ONCE...and ONLY ONCE, that she couldn't find me and she decided to get off the ship and went to the port entrance to wait on us. Well, I had envisioned this in my mind and made the choice to go ahead and get off. Wrong choice, she wasn't out there.

 

Now usually you have to exit the cruise compound and out some gates to get to any outside vendors. Well not this time. Lawrence was standing on the pier waiting for us with his sign. 

 

We waited and waited and FINALLY she came off the ship (Billy and his scooter was spotted). 

 

Then we were off and running for our tour. Well, at least in my mind I was because I was so excited. Lawrence wasn't running...he was an older gentleman and I don't think he would appreciate it if we made him run. 

 

 

 

 

We got to the tour van and it was the exact same van like we had the day before. Lawrence passed out a map and showed us where we would be going today.

 

 

 

He also had this...

 

 

 

So it made me wonder what happened for the last 7 years? (Notice 2012). 

 

The first stop was going to be Long Bay Beach. It was pretty much on the other side of the island so quite the drive. The kids were excited about going to the beaches today and couldn't wait to get in the water. I kept hearing "Are we almost there yet?" "What's taking so long?" Ugh...so hard to plan things with this group and be patient. 

 

Along the way he was on his headphone speaker system and telling us things that we passed. Like the day before, I remembered next to none of it. So, I snapped pictures as he spoke about the things and I'll share just a few. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All this space and the kids insist on sitting side-by-side and Sakari insisted on sitting on one of the middle seats that fold down like she did the day before. Kendra, I have no idea what that face is about. Did you just eat a lemon?

 

 

 

 

Look at the hearts made into the fence...

 

 

 

 

Brayden: "Mamaw, are we almost to the beach yet?"

 

 

 

 

Sakari: "Are we there yet mommy?"

 

 

 

 

Kendra... "Mom! How far of a dri......." I cut her off and told her to sit back and relax and look for some more cows that were horses from yesterday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billy's scooter kept rolling back and forth with each stop. He finally decided to take advantage of it and prop his feet up on it to make it stop. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We finally arrive at Long Bay Beach at 9:53am. So we started to grab our things to head to the beach and Lawrence says "Ok, so this is Long Bay Beach. You can get out and your are welcome to take a look around, take pictures, and then meet back here in 10 minutes"

 

WAIT!!!! SAY WHAT??? My face must have turned 5 shades of red and the kids were all glaring at me. Ohhhh noooo! This is not how this day is going to go at all. I immediately spoke up. "I was told this was a private tour and the emails I got said we are welcome to stay at the beach however long we wanted. We are not on a "tour" so-to-speak. We are here to actually GO to the beaches....as in swimming and relaxing and having fun. I'm not here to get out and look around and on to the next. We would spend the entire day just riding in a van and that's not at all what we were looking for. We plan on staying for awhile!"

 

He asked me "How long do you plan on staying?" "Well, we plan on swimming, snorkeling, and taking a bit of time and I have no idea how long that is going to be but it's not going to be 10 minutes".  So he said we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted and we would do the tour at our own pace. Well, I certainly hoped so since that's what I was told in the email. 

 

Out we went and OH EM GEE...the beach was BEAUTIFUL! It kinda reminded me of St Thomas. 

 

 

 

There wasn't a lot of people here at all and it was great. 

 

A carving they had in the tree where we put our things. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now to the right was a place that was closed. There was a sign that the hotel was no longer open. I bet it would have been great to stay at right up against the beach when it was open. 

 

 

 

The kids were excited to hit the water finally. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari wrote a note to Loki...yes, she was really missing him. 

 

 

 

 

The water was a little cool and Shawna's body language said that loud and clear. But it didn't take long to get used to it. 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Oh course since we were on limited time (so to speak), I immediately grabbed my snorkeling gear and headed out to see what there was here.

 

Somehow I ended up with a water spot on my camera. Like how does this happen when you are IN water? Like it makes no sense but it has happened in the past. It comes and goes. It's weird. I do not like it here or there I do not like it anywhere. Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the further you got out, the more rocks there was. It looked as if it had a path to follow where there were no rocks and it led out to the ocean.

 

However, it was VERY wavy and hard to keep away from the rocks and coral. So, I didn't go out too far.

 

You see the huge blue surgeon fish under the rock.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to tell because the water was so wavy and stirred up but I was following a large school of blue tangs down this rock path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really was getting hard to keep from being thrown up against the rocks so we decided to turn around and go back. It just wasn't worth it at this point. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what happens with your flash goes off. I hate the flash! I wish there was a way to automatically keep this off when you turn on the camera but it automatically goes to on each time you turn it on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My attempt to capture and over under didn't turn out too well and I wasn't about to try forever since we are on limited time but I did spot a mermaid tail. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

Great review so far, Kim!  Can't wait to read the rest 🙂  Your Antigua tour sounds a lot like the beach hopping tour I did in Curacao last year... when I saw that long list of beaches they recommended for your tour, I was thinking you would need 12 hours in port to spend a decent amount of time at all of those places!  I'm curious to see how the rest of the tour turns out and how many beaches you make it to in the end 🙂  Thanks for taking the time to write your review!

[perfect match]

That was quite the adventure you had in St Kitts! Definitely not my kind of tour! 

 

We we stopped in St Kitts on the Symphony Cruise we just got back from and did the Sky Safari zipline tour. We loved our tour and had a great day!

 

We have been to St Kitts twice now. I can’t believe that in two stops there, I have not even managed to stick one little toe in the water. That may have to change the next time we go there.  🐡🐠🐟 😀

Edited May 9, 2019 by perfect match

[theump]

On 5/7/2019 at 10:52 PM, mitsugirly said:

So, final comments on this James Javin My Island Tour. It was definitely something different than what we normally do. It wasn't all that bad (yea, I say that now that we have done it and it's in the past and my memory is fading lol) and we got to see more of the island than in the past.

 

The rain forest was neat and pretty and gave me some great picture opportunities. It was just a strenuous walk for most, both old and young. It was not what I was expecting at all. I had no clue we would be climbing and walking on moss covered rocks/boulders and pulling ourselves up by branches or any of that. But, it was definitely pretty and don't get me wrong, I did like it for the most part.

 

As for the lava rocks...it was a very pretty area and again, great picture opportunities. The hike down and back up the hill using the rope was somewhat difficult and there a lot of "slips" along the way (no falls). It just kinda aggravated me that they weren't doing their job of holding the rope for people to get back up and just stood there. 

 

The lunch was amazing and very yummy. They had plenty of water along the way as well.

 

Peaches was a lot of fun and entertained us the entire time.

 

The old cotton factory...just not my type of thing.

 

The snorkeling wasn't that good and not something I would ever want to do again. Then the fact that we were pretty much left to struggle on our own with no thoughts about something going wrong or supervision was just plain annoying and unsafe in my opinion. Also the distance in which we had to swim just to get there was crazy and I just think there has to be a way to go down the other side of the beach bar instead. 

 

The beach at Cockelshell...well, just not a place I like and would pick any other beach over that one. But just my opinion.

 

So, I'll let you all be the judge on whether it would be the right tour for you or not for $95 pp. Our family members did not think it was worth the actual price paid (especially after doing other things during the cruise for a much cheaper price).

 

Next time I return to St Kitts, it will be a buggy tour for us or a different beach (Frigate since we haven't been there and actually the buggy tour takes you to that beach).

Looks like a tour through the rain forest I would have like about 20 to 30 years ago.  LOL  Looked fun but don't think could do it now.  Know better half would have cared for it.  Also like you not my kind of snorkeling.  We are heading to Bermuda in October and not sure about snorkeling there but will probably still take gear in case I change my mind.  I am like you doing my own thing in the water and find everyone gone or I am off the beaten path checking things out. 

 

The Ump

John

[mitsugirly]

21 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

If you ever do book the Oasis class, you will like the Promenade even more.  They have skylights to let real light into the Promenade from Central Park above.  Even better, once you walk thru Central Park, you might not want to ever walk thru the Promenade again.  We went up 2 or 3 floors of stairs just to walk thru Central Park then went down 2 flights again afterwards.  It is that nice.

 

Do not feel sorry for the people in the Promenade cabins.  They only pay INTERIOR rates and they get a window (2 windows in you have the family promenade cabin I mentioned to you before).  Pull the curtains and it is just like an interior room.  Open them and you can get some more light in and look down on the Promenade.  I will not even describe to you the benefits of what you get if you stay in the "Ben and Jerry Sweet" overlooking the Promenade.  You pay the same rate for that cabin and get some extra perks.  I will let you Google that one.

 

Oh, I know I will. I have seen pictures. Some day I hope!

 

I did look up the Ben & Jerry Sweet and after staying in the room we were in, it just looks so small. 😄 

 

 

21 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

Just be glad they do not let 13 year olds in the Solarium.  When RCCL offers a "Kids Sail Free" promo from time to time, that only applies to those 12 years of age and under, so according to RCCL, a 13 year old is not a child (at least when it comes to being able to charge more for the cabins anyways).

 

But you know what? I've seen 13 year olds that look 16 so...I know they don't go around carding them. 

 

You have a good point with the "kids sail free" and not being a child after 13. Oh boy. 

 

17 hours ago, fyree39 said:

I always love your water pictures.  I haven't snorkeled since I was a kid and this makes me want to try it again.

 

Thanks so much. I just can't imagine life without snorkeling. hehe

 

14 hours ago, deladane said:

Great review so far, Kim!  Can't wait to read the rest 🙂  Your Antigua tour sounds a lot like the beach hopping tour I did in Curacao last year... when I saw that long list of beaches they recommended for your tour, I was thinking you would need 12 hours in port to spend a decent amount of time at all of those places!  I'm curious to see how the rest of the tour turns out and how many beaches you make it to in the end 🙂  Thanks for taking the time to write your review!

 

Thanks a lot! Glad you are enjoying it. 

 

I was wondering how we were going to get to all the beaches myself when he told me. But, now I know...just "seeing" them and not staying. Not at all my cup of tea!

 

12 hours ago, perfect match said:

That was quite the adventure you had in St Kitts! Definitely not my kind of tour! 

 

We we stopped in St Kitts on the Symphony Cruise we just got back from and did the Sky Safari zipline tour. We loved our tour and had a great day!

 

We have been to St Kitts twice now. I can’t believe that in two stops there, I have not even managed to stick one little toe in the water. That may have to change the next time we go there.  🐡🐠🐟 😀

 

Yes it was an adventure in St Kitts. But at least we can say we did it and managed to see more of St Kitts than ever before. Now that I've seen other areas, St Kitts is still not my favorite island. 

 

1 hour ago, theump said:

Looks like a tour through the rain forest I would have like about 20 to 30 years ago.  LOL  Looked fun but don't think could do it now.  Know better half would have cared for it.  Also like you not my kind of snorkeling.  We are heading to Bermuda in October and not sure about snorkeling there but will probably still take gear in case I change my mind.  I am like you doing my own thing in the water and find everyone gone or I am off the beaten path checking things out. 

 

The Ump

John

 

Definitely some snorkeling in Bermuda. We loved it there. But, each time was a different experience. 

 

I think Bermuda has some of the BIGGEST parrot fish I have ever seen before. They eat their Wheaties there!

 

Over at St Georges, we found Tobacco Bay to be excellent snorkeling the first time around. The second, it was still good but not as good. HERE'S SOME PICS

 

The only other place I snorkeled was at Snorkel Park. A lot of people say it's not any good, but I found a lot of decent things and it wasn't bad AT ALL.  HERE'S MY PICS     

 

There's a place called Achilles Bay too with some snorkeling. It's located in St George by St Catherines beach.

 

We absolutely loved Bermuda and I'm thinking about heading back maybe this summer.