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

[Jamman54]

We decide that our last dinner of the cruise would be at Bonsai Sushi. Once again, we had a fantastic meal……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These three ladies were absolutely wonderful!

 

 

Afterwards, Patti was going to take a final walk around the ship and then head back to the cabin. I went to the Skybox Sports Bar to watch the Giants / Eagles playoff game…..

 

 

I only watched until halftime as my Giants were getting crushed.  I went back to the cabin where I find our last towel creation of the cruise…..

 

 

Nothing left to do but put our suitcases out with the others. Sigh…….

 

 

 

Coming up next: Debarkation and our journey home to New Jersey.

[SenatorsFan]

Those sunset pictures are spectacular! 

[kelkel2]

That’s an amazing zoom on that camera to be able to capture what ship it was!!

[pirate4me2]

8 hours 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! 

Darn it….you just convinced me to book them both. 😂 I’m such a hard sell!

[ShakyBeef]

9 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

That’s an amazing zoom on that camera to be able to capture what ship it was!!

I was going to say the same thing!😃

[Jamman54]

9 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

That’s an amazing zoom on that camera to be able to capture what ship it was!!

 

23 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

I was going to say the same thing!😃

Patti loves the zoom on her camera. The pictures of the Scarlet Lady were also taken using the zoom. 😎

[Jamman54]

Day # 19 – (January 22^nd) – Debarkation & Heading North.

 

We were up at 5:30am just as the Carnival Spirit was docking in Miami at Terminal “D”. Here are the last views from our balcony……

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the Valiant Lady over there. Megan will be getting off her cruise today as well…..

 

 

Here is the General Debarkation information…..

 

 

 

Here is our Diamond Debarkation information……

 

 

We got ready and got our stuff together. We saw that the Diamond self-assist started a little after 7am which was a half hour early. We decided to head down to our meeting place in the Empire Restaurant early as well. As we left, we said goodbye to our room steward Jay and his assistant. They both did a wonderful job for us this cruise…..

 

 

We’ve made it to our meeting place…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

We were only in the Empire Restaurant for a few minutes before we were given the okay to debark. What an easy debarkation. We barely stopped walking. Found our luggage easily, a porter was right there to grab them, went in the passport line and through the facial recognition, and to the car in the parking garage by 7:45am!

 

We paid for our parking which was $22/day for a total of $176 and away we went, through the tunnel and out the other side. Patti got these quick shots of the ships in port today. We’ll be back here for the Celebration in April…..

 

 

 

Soon we are headed north on I-95…..

 

 

 

This is the exit for the Springhill Suites we stayed at pre-cruise…..

 

 

 

A little north of West Palm Beach we stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel…..

 

 

 

Once leaving Cracker Barrel our plan was to make it to the Daytona Beach Bucc-ee’s to gas up and for Patti to take bathroom pictures.  When we got there, the traffic going into and out of the place was horrific, so we just went to another gas station to fuel up. That was just crazy!

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Around four and a half hours later we arrive at the Hampton Inn in Santee, South Carolina for our overnight stop. We are given Room # 304…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti takes us on a quick tour of the hotel. This is the 3^rd floor elevator lobby. Soda and ice machines are in the back…..

 

 

This is the Fitness Center…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Business Center…..

 

 

There’s a small store for snacks and stuff…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the seating for the Breakfast Area…..

 

 

The Front Desk of the Hampton Inn…..

 

 

Coffee and tea are available in the lobby 24/7…..

 

 

We were too tired to go out and eat someplace, so Patti went to the Subway right next door and got us some subs. After we ate, we watched some TV and then crashed for the night.

 

Coming up next: The final push home!

[Jamman54]

Day # 20  -  (January 23^rd) – Heading back to New Jersey. 

 

We were up at 6am ready to get back on the road and head home. But first we had to have some free breakfast courtesy of the Hampton Inn…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The breakfast was great and by 8am we were leaving the hotel. This is the back of the hotel and the pool area…..

 

 

 

 

 

We’re pulling around to the front of the hotel…..

 

 

 

This is the Subway Patti went to last night…..

 

 

We are heading north once again…..

 

 

The sun is rising over Lake Marion…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We’re passing this place once again. Patti tries so hard to get me to stop. 

 

 

 

 

 

We are really making good time on the way home. In Virginia we pass by Kings Dominion…..

 

 

As we pass Andrews AFB in Maryland, what could be Air Force One passes overhead of us. I say could be Air Force One because the government has two of these aircraft and neither are designated Air Force One unless the President is aboard. I wonder if Joe is travelling today?

 

 

 

A little while later we pass through Baltimore and the Cruise Terminal….

 

 

 

 

 

We cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge and back into New Jersey…..

 

 

 

 

We head up the New Jersey Turnpike…..

 

 

We make it home at 5:30pm, another trip, and another two cruises completed.

 

The End! 

 

Coming up next: Our final thoughts and ramblings.

[ShakyBeef]

You don't stop at South Of The Border?!?! 😲 Dude, you're missing out on so much fun, fabulous tackiness!😎

[Jamman54]

13 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

You don't stop at South Of The Border?!?! 😲 Dude, you're missing out on so much fun, fabulous tackiness!😎

 

I'm hearing it from Patti now. I'll have to stop for gas there one time and let her have at it! 

[ShakyBeef]

1 minute ago, Jamman54 said:

 

I'm hearing it from Patti now. I'll have to stop for gas there one time and let her have at it! 

Make sure you devote at least an hour to it.  There's a LOT of ticky-tacky crap spread over several buildings!  And a restaurant.  And an ice cream shoppe.  And a whole store just for fireworks.  And a menagerie of giant concrete animals.😁

[floridagal83]

Jeff and Patti,

Thank you so much for another very entertaining and informative review! I cannot imagine how many hours you put into these, but I'll be looking forward to the next one 👏.

 

What was your favorite port from these two cruises?

[Jamman54]

23 minutes ago, floridagal83 said:

Jeff and Patti,

Thank you so much for another very entertaining and informative review! I cannot imagine how many hours you put into these, but I'll be looking forward to the next one 👏.

 

What was your favorite port from these two cruises?

 

Thanks for your kind words! We absolutely love Aruba! We'll be back there in October and April 2024. 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Jamman54

[Elsammo46]

Thanks for another great review! Reading about your travels never fails to brighten my day! Looking forward to reading about y'all's adventures on the Celebration in April! Always helps the days until my next cruise go faster...75 days until the NCL Getaway...soon, but not soon enough 😅

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for another fabulous review, Jeff and Patti. I'll be looking forward to your April Celebration review since we just booked a B2B for Jan. 2024! 😊

[WingNut1026]

Jeff and Patti,

You both do such an amazing job on your reviews. I always look forward to reading them. Our first cruise since Covid will be on Celebration in April, and I can't wait. 

[jamscckmc]

Thanks for the double review with Patti’s great pictures! Don’t envy the 95 north drive! With all your post Covid cruises have you ever contacted it on a cruise? That’s my fear as I get back into cruising this year.

[Hogladyrider]

@Jamman54....thanks to you Jeff & Patti for ANOTHER HOME RUN Review!  I hated seeing this one come to an end.  I so enjoy my morning coffee reading your reviews.

 

Being retired and being able to have the time to drive to ports as you do is the only way to go!

 

After having seen your visits to Resorts utilizing day passes that is now on my "cruise to do" list!

 

We have taken several Carnival excursions that have been great.  We are water people, we love snorkeling and the beach.  My all time favorite excursion was in Antigua, where we partied, danced, yes I even did some pole dancing after so many rum punches and we dined on a lobster feast all prepared on the boat with several stops at several beaches.  Life is so good on a cruise!

 

Looking forward to following along your next adventure!

[BEACH47]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:39 PM, Jamman54 said:

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…..

 

[BEACH47]

Oh that magic lighted stairway that I fell 1/2 down backwards. So lucky I was not hurt.  Love the Review it is Wonderful , thanks to Patti for all the beautiful pictures. Cannot wait until your next review.😃