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

[Jamman54]

12 hours ago, aztekpm said:

 

LOL please tell me that's not your beer ... 

 

If so can understand copious cups!

 

3 hours ago, canes20 said:

 

Is that shots of Balashi?

I would get three at a time. The last time we were here (pre-covid), they served drinks in 16oz plastic cups. Now, like many places, they have cut back on plastics, hence the paper cups. Hotel guests and those in the know bring their own cups which the bartenders happily fill. Next time I will bring my 24oz plastic beer mug! 😁

[Jamman54]

Patti has left the Barcelo Aruba turns left and heads down the street. The Hyatt Regency is right next door…..

 

 

Continuing down the street, the Playa Linda Beach resort is next…..

 

 

A little further down the street is the Holiday Inn…..

 

 

This is the Radisson BLU. Patti and I did a day pass here when we were on the Horizon because the Barcelo Aruba wasn’t giving out day passes because of Covid. We’re thinking of possibly heading back here next time in October…..

 

 

 

 

Patti continues walking around the neighborhood and taking pictures of the various venues…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are a few more views along the way as Patti heads back to the Barcelo Aruba….

 

 

 

 

Once back, Patti spots me in the water and asks if I’m going to have lunch. I’ve got my beer, I’m good!

 

 

Patti decides to go have a light lunch at the buffet. Here are some of the lunch offerings…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are even more lunch offerings at the buffet….

 

 

 

 

They had plenty of desserts…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of all that this is Patti’s lunch…..

 

 

Patti and I hung out at the pool until around 2pm. We turned in our towels and checked out at the Front Desk. There was no need to call a taxi as there were several already waiting. Soon we were arriving back in Oranjestad…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

After the taxi dropped us off, I went back to the ship and up to Chopsticks for lunch. Patti stayed out for a while before going back to the ship. Here’s the Freewinds and Carnival spirit docked at Oranjestad…..

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple shots in the shopping area right outside the port…..

 

 

 

Patti has made it back to the Cruise Terminal…..

 

 

 

 

We met back at the cabin and hung out on our balcony waiting to sail away. Here are some views from our balcony…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple of shots looking over towards Palm Beach with the RIU having the tallest buildings…..

 

 

 

We are sailing away from Oranjestad, Aruba…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are some more shots as we sail away from Oranjestad, Aruba…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We watched this WestJet take off from Aruba’s airport…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are the last few shots as we sailed from Aruba….

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of sunset pictures…..

 

 

 

We decide to go up to the Lido and have some salads for dinner. Afterwards, we are going to the Pharaoh’s Palace Theater to watch Deal or No Deal. Along the way we pass the Spirit Lobby where the Art Shake Trio is performing…..

 

 

We get to the theater, purchase our cards, order some drinks and settle back to watch the action. Tonight, Kristin is hosting the show. I guess they are grooming her for a CD spot…..

 

 

The second player, Adam, did pretty well. We also won a $30 casino credit and another bingo package…..

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we were both pretty tired, so we went back to the cabin to relax. Here is tonight’s towel animal…..

 

 

Coming up next: The first of two sea days heading back to Miami.

[Saint Greg]

Deja vu

 

 

[Jamman54]

Day # 17 – (January 20^th) – Fun Day at Sea # 4.

 

We were up to a sunny and warm day. The seas are a little bit bumpy. Here are the views from our balcony…..

 

 

 

 

We love having two sea days at the end of our cruises. The first one is very relaxing because you’re not worrying about packing your bags and planning for your debarkation the next day. While Patti put together some laundry, I went down to the Fountain Café Coffee Bar for some coffee and today’s “Fun Times”……

 

 

 

Patti was hungry but I wasn’t, so she went up to the Lido for some breakfast. I stayed in the cabin for a couple of hours working on the pictures for the review. In the meantime, Patti came back from breakfast and hung out on the balcony reading.

 

I started feeling hungry, so I went up to the Lido for some breakfast, followed by a trip over to the Red Frog Rum Bar for a few Thirsty Frog Wheats. Around 11:45 I met Patti back at the cabin, and then we made our way to the Pharaoh’s Palace Theater for the VIFP Party…..

 

 

 

 

Danilo was on stage entertaining us with his guitar…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The drinks were flowing, but there were no snacks provided. They only had one guessing game which was guess the number of pieces of candy. Look at the line for that one game…..

 

 

Cruise Director Todd is hosting the event…..

 

 

 

The usual, though updated video…..

 

 

Todd introduces the Senior Officers and staff…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Bovo addresses the audience…..

 

 

 

Here’s a group picture with the contest winner…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Afterwards, I head to the casino to play black jack. Patti is going to the deli for a southwest wrap, but as she passes The Jungle, she stops to take some pictures…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the stairway up to the Cove…..

 

 

 

After finishing up in the casino (I won a little bit), I stopped to see Roma at the Lobby Bar, and then went to see Katiya and Giovanni at the Alchemy Bar, before heading back to the cabin where I met Patti. We hung out on the balcony. You could see that the seas have become calmer since this morning…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We had a 5:30 reservation at the Nouveau Steakhouse…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were given a table right next to the window…..

 

 

Here we are at the Nouveau Steakhouse…..

 

 

 

Here are our bread plates…..

 

 

 

The amuse bouche was a stuffed tomato something or other, but it was tasty…..

 

 

To be continued….

[Jamman54]

From our window table we were treated to a lovely sunset…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our starters we both had the shrimp cocktail…..

 

 

Patti also had a Caesar salad, while I had the pork belly…..

 

 

 

From our table we can see the Chefs hard at work…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

For our mains we both had the lobster tail with a baked potato….

 

 

And finally for our desserts, we both had the apple tart….

 

 

It was a fantastic meal. As we left Patti got these shots of the Steakhouse Bar. One of these times I’m going to spend some time there…..

 

 

 

Patti’s feeling a little tired, so she heads back to the cabin. I head to the Pharaoh’s Palace Theater to watch the Playlist Production of Getaway Island. When I get there Danilo is on the stage warming up the crowd…..

 

 

Cruise Director Todd comes out and introduces the show….

 

 

Here are some pictures of Getaway Island…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danilo is part of the show…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are some more pictures of Getaway Island…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audience shows their appreciation…..

 

 

It was a cute show and I enjoyed it. I hadn’t seen it in quite a while. I had a quick drink at the casino bar and then back to the cabin for the night. It appears that the laundry that Patti sent out this morning is back already. Good job!

 

 

 

Here is tonight’s towel animal…..

 

 

Coming up next: We can’t believe we’re nearing the end!

[pirate4me2]

Darn it.....I didnt book the steakhouse on Celebration next week, and now based on that last segment I want the steakhouse! LOL. I actually want the steakhouse AND Rudi's. Grrrrrr. 

I also agree that I like 2 sea days at the end of the cruise to decompress and enjoy, not be like "oh man, it's my last day, I gotta do this this and this!" With 2 you can just sit back and enjoy that first one, reflect on the fun you had in the ports. 

[Jamman54]

2 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

Darn it.....I didnt book the steakhouse on Celebration next week, and now based on that last segment I want the steakhouse! LOL. I actually want the steakhouse AND Rudi's. Grrrrrr. 

I also agree that I like 2 sea days at the end of the cruise to decompress and enjoy, not be like "oh man, it's my last day, I gotta do this this and this!" With 2 you can just sit back and enjoy that first one, reflect on the fun you had in the ports. 

We'll be on the Celebration in April, and we have the Steakhouse and Rudi's already booked. Extra bonus is that we have two sea days back to Miami from Mahogany Bay! 

[WhiteOptima]

51 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

We'll be on the Celebration in April, and we have the Steakhouse and Rudi's already booked. Extra bonus is that we have two sea days back to Miami from Mahogany Bay! 

We have them both booked too but you just reminded me about checking out the Steakhouse bar!

[Jamman54]

7 minutes ago, WhiteOptima said:

We have them both booked too but you just reminded me about checking out the Steakhouse bar!

What I like about the Steakhouse bars on the Excel Class is that they are out front. 

[pe4all]

Our CD on Spirit 1/28 was Erin.  Very pleasant, not too many announcements.  Todd must have been getting ready to leave Spirit soon after your cruise.

[Jamman54]

36 minutes ago, pe4all said:

Our CD on Spirit 1/28 was Erin.  Very pleasant, not too many announcements.  Todd must have been getting ready to leave Spirit soon after your cruise.

Todd got off the Spirit the day we did. He was going home to New York for three weeks and then back to the Paradise which is where he is now.

[Jamman54]

Day # 18 – (January 21^st) – Final Fun Day at Sea. 

 

It’s our final day of the cruise. We awoke to a beautiful and warm day. The seas are fairly calm. Looking aft from our balcony we could almost see the sunrise…..

 

 

 

We’ve decided not to eat breakfast today, but of course I’ve got to have my morning coffee so I head down to the Coffee Bar. My coffee is free today because I filled up my punch card! While I was there, I picked up today’s final edition of the “Fun Times”……

 

 

 

We spent most of the morning relaxing on the balcony, packing, and working on the pictures. At 10:30 I went to the Red Frog Pub to the bingo pre-sales to get the bingo packages that we won at Deal or No Deal and upgrade them for $23 to the top package and get some extra cards. Patti only goes to the Coverall Jackpot on the last day now because the prizes offered at the other sessions have become puny.

I then head over to the casino to play blackjack for the final time on this cruise. Patti heads up to the Lido for Groove for St. Jude. Cruise Director Todd gets the crowd going…..

 

 

 

 

DJ Lando is spinning the tunes…..

 

 

People are lining up to support Groove for St. Jude…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti next checks out the Chocolate Extravaganza…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back out by the Dome Pool Patti catches the very end of the ice carving demonstration…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

I had another good session of blackjack and will leave the cruise a few hundred up. I met up with Patti and we went up to the Lido for lunch. She made herself a salad and got her favorite southwest wrap from the deli. I got my lunch from my favorite place, Chopsticks.

 

Afterwards, I went over to the Red Frog Rum Bar for a few Thirsty Frog Wheats and then back to the cabin to relax. Patti made her way to the Coverall Jackpot bingo, stopping in the atrium to take a few shots. Here she’s looking down at the Lobby Bar…..

 

 

She’s looking up at the glass staircase…..

 

 

 

Patti returns to the cabin after bingo and informs me that she didn’t win again. We spent the rest of the afternoon finalizing our packing and just kicking back and relaxing. We spot Virgin’s Scarlet Lady passing us heading south…..

 

 

 

Later on, off in the distance Patti spots another ship…..

 

 

She zooms in to see that it is NCL’s Encore, which is also returning to Miami…..

 

 

We are enjoying the last sunset of the cruise…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..