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Our S2S Adventure - Freedom / Spirit (with pics) - 1/7/23

Jamman54

By Jamman54,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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ShakyBeef

ShakyBeef

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31 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Another thing that Patti and I agree on is that we will never do a stand-alone cruise shorter than seven days again. Five days is just too short. If the ship we’re booked on is doing shorter than seven-day cruises, we will make it into a B2B to make sure that we are on that ship no less than seven days.

 

Good decision!😎  This is exactly what DH and I decided several years ago, hence our 5 + 5 day B2B on Elation in January 2020 (with the same itinerary as this cruise of yours).  Extended family members had picked this cruise and really wanted us to join them on it, but 5 days just wasn't 'worth it' to us, so we added another 5 days.😁

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RenoNanaOz

RenoNanaOz

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On 2/3/2023 at 12:09 PM, Jamman54 said:

Patti has reached Jack’s Shack…..

 

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The place has really been upgraded since the last time we were here. Jack and Janet have retired back to Canada, but the new owners appear to be doing a great job…..

 

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To be continued…..

Loved ther Jerk Chicken!

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Jamman54

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2 hours ago, Florings said:

Always enjoy your vacation reviews/memories very much!  Looking forward to your Spirit review.

 

Thanks so much for reading! We'll be getting you on the Spirit in the next couple of days. :classic_cool:

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Jamman54

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You usually don’t see this kind of car parked in a handicap space. :classic_biggrin:

 

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We have our table and our first drinks…..

 

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Patti had the Zingers, and I had the pot stickers and a spicy chicken sandwich…..

 

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After another round of drinks, we went over to our hotel. We are staying at the Springhill Suites in Dania Beach…..

 

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This is the Front Desk of the Springhill Suites…..

 

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To be continued…..

Edited by Jamman54
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Jamman54

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Here is the view looking out of our window……

 

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Patti does a little exploring. This is the view of the lobby and breakfast area from the balcony on the 2nd floor elevator landing…..

 

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Patti goes down to the lobby and gets these views…..

 

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To be continued…….

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Jamman54

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There is a little market area right next to the front desk…..

 

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Patti steps out to check out the pool area….

 

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I guess these are the hotel cats….

 

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This is the Exercise Room…..

 

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After we got settled into the room, Patti went over to the Shopping Center which is literally across the street. I took a nap, and then spent some time working on the pictures for the review. After she got back, we walked over to the Panda Express right next door for dinner. It was better than we expected. Afterwards, we went back to the room for the night to relax.

 

Coming up next: Our day in Fort Lauderdale!

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monykalyn

monykalyn

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Patty takes such great pictures! Loving the review. Found a good price for Freedom over our anniversary in August-so many of the vlogs on YouTube say there’s a bad sewage smell in common areas and ac doesn’t work well? Hold on a 4J (with leftover gift card and $500 OBC would be a cheap cruise but not if it’s stinky lol) Did you have any issues? TIA!

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Jamman54

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4 minutes ago, monykalyn said:

Patty takes such great pictures! Loving the review. Found a good price for Freedom over our anniversary in August-so many of the vlogs on YouTube say there’s a bad sewage smell in common areas and ac doesn’t work well? Hold on a 4J (with leftover gift card and $500 OBC would be a cheap cruise but not if it’s stinky lol) Did you have any issues? TIA!

 

Thank for reading! We didn't experience any of those issues and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again! :classic_cool:

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monykalyn

monykalyn

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1 minute ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Thank for reading! We didn't experience any of those issues and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again! :classic_cool:

After reading so many of your reviews (I lurk a lot lol) I’d trust you over some of the bloggers-thank you for doing these reviews! 

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Hogladyrider

Hogladyrider

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34 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Looks like a nice hotel.  Checks all of the boxes.  Too bad it’s not in Port Canaveral.  

Not to highjack. @Jamman54review but the hotel they stayed at in PC was a Homewood2 Suites.  He had pics in the beginning of the review.

They appear new and very clean and comfy.

 

 

 

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luvcruzing

luvcruzing

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3 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

Not to highjack. @Jamman54review but the hotel they stayed at in PC was a Homewood2 Suites.  He had pics in the beginning of the review.

They appear new and very clean and comfy.

 

 

 


I know, but I liked this one better, especially with the stores and restaurants very close by - and maybe cheaper?

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Jamman54

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12 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

Looks like a nice hotel.  Checks all of the boxes.  Too bad it’s not in Port Canaveral.  

 

11 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Not to highjack. @Jamman54review but the hotel they stayed at in PC was a Homewood2 Suites.  He had pics in the beginning of the review.

They appear new and very clean and comfy.

 

 

 

 

11 hours ago, luvcruzing said:


I know, but I liked this one better, especially with the stores and restaurants very close by - and maybe cheaper?

 

Both of the hotels fit our needs very nicely. I like the Hampton Inn / Home2Suites because they have a bar at the pool. Patti likes the Springhill Suites because of all the nearby stores. In fact they just opened a huge entertainment, restaurant,  and shopping area a block away which we haven't checked out yet. We'll be back there in April. 😎

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jedi bobs Great Review Rare

jedi bobs

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On 2/6/2023 at 3:10 PM, Jamman54 said:

D

Another thing that Patti and I agree on is that we will never do a stand-alone cruise shorter than seven days again. Five days is just too short. If the ship we’re booked on is doing shorter than seven-day cruises, we will make it into a B2B to make sure that we are on that ship no less than seven days.

 

 

I thery, Ann and I agree with you, but if what we can afford is a 5 day, so be it, kind of works out in terms of work. She gets Sat to Fri day off, then we have to get at least 1 day off at the start and one at the end..  Ann and I would also like to invite you to come along with us on the Eleation out of Jacksonville on Dec 9th I think of 2024, we are going to Bimini and Nasau.

 

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knagl

knagl

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On 2/6/2023 at 1:22 PM, pe4all said:

6232 - triple-sized balcony.  We went in the cabin to drop our backpacks off at 11 a.m. and it was really, really warm in there. When our steward came by at 3 pm I told him it was too warm for me - I was dripping!

 

We were in 6232 on the Spirit in December and had a similar issue. We told the steward but nothing seemed to get done. Later we talked to someone at Guest Services who sent a HVAC guy to the cabin. His thermometer showed it at 74° with the thermostat set to cold. He opened up a damper in the vent which made it mostly tolerable for the rest of the cruise, but still not as cold as I would have liked. 

 

In contrast, our first room (we were B2B) on the 7th deck got really cool.

 

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Jamman54

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6 hours ago, jedi bobs said:

I thery, Ann and I agree with you, but if what we can afford is a 5 day, so be it, kind of works out in terms of work. She gets Sat to Fri day off, then we have to get at least 1 day off at the start and one at the end..  Ann and I would also like to invite you to come along with us on the Eleation out of Jacksonville on Dec 9th I think of 2024, we are going to Bimini and Nasau.

 

 

Of course you have to do what's right for you. Since we are semi-retired, we have the time to go for longer periods of time. We enjoyed our cruises on the Elation, but we can't cruise in December. 😎

 

1 hour ago, knagl said:

 

We were in 6232 on the Spirit in December and had a similar issue. We told the steward but nothing seemed to get done. Later we talked to someone at Guest Services who sent a HVAC guy to the cabin. His thermometer showed it at 74° with the thermostat set to cold. He opened up a damper in the vent which made it mostly tolerable for the rest of the cruise, but still not as cold as I would have liked. 

 

In contrast, our first room (we were B2B) on the 7th deck got really cool.

 

 

I guess we picked the right deck. We were in 7188. 😀

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pe4all

pe4all

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3 hours ago, knagl said:

 

We were in 6232 on the Spirit in December and had a similar issue. We told the steward but nothing seemed to get done. Later we talked to someone at Guest Services who sent a HVAC guy to the cabin. His thermometer showed it at 74° with the thermostat set to cold. He opened up a damper in the vent which made it mostly tolerable for the rest of the cruise, but still not as cold as I would have liked. 

 

In contrast, our first room (we were B2B) on the 7th deck got really cool.

 

After the HVAC guy worked his magic we were actually chilly - but better cold than warm.  Can't beat the balcony though.

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Jamman54

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22 minutes ago, cruisingTXfamily said:

I know you haven’t started the review of the Spirit yet, but I’ll be on it soon. For the access to the safe in the room, is it a code that we enter or do we use a card with a magnetic strip?

It was a keypad safe. 😎

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Jamman54

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Day # 10 – (January 13th) – Our day in Fort Lauderdale. 

 

We woke up to a beautiful sunny and warm day. The forecast for later this afternoon called for heavy rains and a sharp drop in temperature, so we shouldn’t delay going out. After partaking of the hotels free breakfast, which by the way was pretty good, we got ourselves ready to go. Soon we were leaving Dania Beach and heading for Fort Lauderdale…..

 

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No matter which way you go, you can’t help passing the airport…..

 

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We turn onto A1A and as we cross the bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway we get a nice view of Port Everglades. Here is P&O’s Arcadia……

 

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The Liberty of the Seas and a couple of Celebrity ships are in port today…..

 

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Soon we were at Fort Lauderdale Beach…..

 

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To be continued…..

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