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

[heffy2]

Wooohoo! Another Jamman review! 

[Jamman54]

14 hours ago, 2Shoes2Go said:

Hi, y’all! We’re on Valor and following along, too. Y’all stayed at Country Inn and Suites, Kingsland, GA, right? Not Comfort. 😂 We stay there, too, when heading to Jacksonville. Look forward to your take on Freedom. We had fun! 

 

It was great seeing you guys again aboard the Freedom. It's been much too long. We also had a great time, and I see you've added some more Freedom cruises! 

 

Thanks for pointing out that we indeed stayed at the COUNTRY Inn and suites in Kingsland, Georgia. I don't know how I messed that up since we have stayed there over a dozen times, and we'll be back there in April. Must have been a "senior" moment, and to top it off, I messed up on two posts! 

[Jamman54]

7 hours ago, jimbri said:

Looking forward to another great review!

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride once again! 

 

6 hours ago, blarko said:

Yay!! Love another Jeff and Patti review. Again, thanks for sharing and all the hard work that goes into your amazing reviews.

 

Thanks for following along once again, and for your kind words. It's our pleasure to do them! 

[detroitavant]

It's interesting that the bungee jump was open on the Indy, it was closed the entire trip pre-covid.

[Jamman54]

4 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

I'm late to the party!  Thought you were starting your review tomorrow and I was actually going to start a count down today!  Thanks to both of you for taking me/us on another adventure!  😊👏🥳🍻

 

Hey Karry! You're not late as we are just getting ready to board the Freedom! I was ready to start a little earlier than I thought. Glad to have you on board once again! 

 

8 minutes ago, heffy2 said:

Wooohoo! Another Jamman review! 

 

Yep! Thanks for following along again! 

[Jamman54]

5 minutes ago, detroitavant said:

It's interesting that the bungee jump was open on the Indy, it was closed the entire trip pre-covid.

 

Are you sure that wasn't the Mariner? Patti's zoom got a good look at that one, but not on the Independence. 

[Jamman54]

Day # 4  -  (January 7^th)  -  We board Ol’ Stubby!!

 

We are up to a sunny, though a cool 57 degree day, here in Port Canaveral. It’s embarkation day! Looking out our window, we can see the Mardi Gras over at Terminal 3…..

 

 

Patti heads down the hallways to get pictures of some of the other ships in port today. Here is the Wonder of the Seas…..

 

 

This is the Norwegian Escape…….

 

 

And finally, the Carnival Freedom. Texas Teach in one of his Mardi Gras reviews, referred to her as Ol’ Stubby, so I’ll give him the credit. I think that it’s the perfect nickname for her now. She will be getting a new Whale Tail in October…..

 

 

The Disney Fantasy is also in port today, and we will have pictures of her a little later. Now it was time to partake of the free breakfast that the hotel provides. There are two breakfast areas. One is on the Hampton Inn side of the lobby, and one is on the Home2Suites side. You can eat at one or the other, or even both of you choose. Here are some views of the breakfast area on the Hampton Inn side…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some views of the breakfast area on the Home2Suites side…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[detroitavant]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Are you sure that wasn't the Mariner? Patti's zoom got a good look at that one, but not on the Independence. 

Good catch, I was reading too fast and didn't realize you talked about both ships.

[Jamman54]

After eating, we went back to the room and finalized our packing and attached the tags. We checked out of the hotel at 8:45am and made the drive over to Terminal 6 where the Freedom was waiting for us…..

 

 

 

 

 

After dropping off our bags with the porters, we pulled into the parking garage. We were parked a little after 9. As we exited the garage, Patti took this picture of our location in the garage. We are old people you know! 

 

 

We found the priority line and got in it. We were the second people in line….

 

 

They opened the doors at 9:30am, and we began the check-In process. Everything went very smoothly. Because we are stopping at Grand Turk, they asked us if we were vaccinated, but didn’t ask to see our cards. We were directed upstairs to the Diamond seats. We were seated by 9:45am. At 10:45am they began boarding. They announced the order of boarding as follows: Diamond, Platinum, Suites, FTTF, Boarding zones. We were the first ones to board the ship. Here we are happily heading up the gangway…..

 

 

 

On the Freedom you board into the Millennium Lobby…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Now that we are on board, here are today’s “Fun Times”…..

 

 

 

The first stop of course, is the Lobby Bar…..

 

 

Here are our first drinks of the cruise…..

 

 

 

 

Here are the menus at the Lobby Bar…..

 

 

 

 

Guest Services and Carnival Adventures are both located in the Millennium Lobby…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[SenatorsFan]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Hey Heather! Our review wouldn't be complete without you! Thanks for jumping on board yet again. You know I have to say it, Go Devils!!! 

Yes, I know. 😁 Go Sens!

[luvcruzing]

From your picture at the Lobby Bar, I see the value in boarding early. My last cruise on the Magic, waiting to get a drink and being ignored, was a test of my patience. 😬

[Princess Cruiser27]

It's PAR-TAY time.  😂  The Freedom looks way different with the Whale Tail.  Will be waiting for the rest of the review. 

[Jamman54]

10 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

From your picture at the Lobby Bar, I see the value in boarding early. My last cruise on the Magic, waiting to get a drink and being ignored, was a test of my patience. 😬

 

Yes, the Lobby Bar can get chaotic once embarkation really gets rolling. We'll head elsewhere once it starts to crowd up.

 

9 minutes ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

It's PAR-TAY time.  😂  The Freedom looks way different with the Whale Tail.  Will be waiting for the rest of the review. 

 

Hey Barb! Glad to have you along for the ride again! 

[Knights on the Beach]

23 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We go upstairs to be seated……

 

 

 

We only go to Fishlips once or twice a year (Grills is our place at the port) but I've never seen that many empty barstools there when we're there.

[Jamman54]

16 minutes ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 

We only go to Fishlips once or twice a year (Grills is our place at the port) but I've never seen that many empty barstools there when we're there.

 

The picture was taken when we got there around 4pm. It got a lot busier as the evening wore on. 

[Jamman54]

Patti steps outside and takes these pictures of the Disney Fantasy, Norwegian Escape, and Wonder of the Seas…..

 

 

 

 

It’s time to get muster out of the way. Our muster station is “G”, which all the way aft on the starboard side on Deck 4. We cut through the Chic Restaurant on the way back there. This is the restaurant used for Your Time Dining (YTD)…..

 

 

 

After muster we head up to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons. The cabin isn’t ready yet, but we meet our cabin steward, Agung, and let him know we’ll be leaving our carry-ons in the closet. No problem. We’re getting hungry, so we head up to the Lido buffet on Deck 9, which is called the Freedom Restaurant. Here is today’s buffet menu and carving station…..

 

 

 

We decided to go to the Ol’ Fashioned BBQ up on Deck 10…..

 

 

Here is my plate…..

 

 

Here is Patti’s plate…..

 

 

Patti had gone down to the buffet to make a salad, and she brought me back a bowl of jambalaya…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

It takes the newbies a few days to find this place, so for now it is almost completely deserted…..

 

 

 

Looking down at the Sweet Spot from Deck 10…..

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we have eaten, Patti is going to begin her picture tour, while I head over to the Red Frog Rum Bar. Patti heads up to Deck 11 aft, and the mini-golf course…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

There’s a couple pieces of exercise equipment back here…..

 

 

 

This is where the jogging track is located…..

 

 

 

The Sports Court is in front of the funnel…..

 

 

There’s the parking garage where our car is…..

 

 

Here are a couple of views of the Timeless Pool area…..

 

 

 

Looking towards the stadium seating and the Water Works…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[mcgore83]

Great start to your review!  I always enjoy your reviews and Patti's pictures!

[ejnsb]

Thanks for doing this.  Sailing on the Freedom for the first time on her transatlantic return in October.  Soaking up all the info.

[MeMetwo]

Jeff and Patti, thanks for another great review. What a lot of work y’all put into these travel adventures!  We sailed on the NCL Escape the same day. I waved to your ship since I knew you all were sailing that day. Happy sailing!

Loretta

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, mcgore83 said:

Great start to your review!  I always enjoy your reviews and Patti's pictures!

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride! 

 

24 minutes ago, ejnsb said:

Thanks for doing this.  Sailing on the Freedom for the first time on her transatlantic return in October.  Soaking up all the info.

 

Be sure to take notes! When you sail on her she'll have a brand new Whale Tail. 

 

7 minutes ago, MeMetwo said:

Jeff and Patti, thanks for another great review. What a lot of work y’all put into these travel adventures!  We sailed on the NCL Escape the same day. I waved to your ship since I knew you all were sailing that day. Happy sailing!

Loretta

 

Thanks for following along! Our balcony was on your side as we sailed out. Did you see us waving back? 

[Jamman54]

Patti heads all the way forward on Deck 11 to the Fitness Center…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti checks out the Women’s Locker Room……

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the Women’s Sauna and Steam Room…..

 

 

 

 

Here are the Beauty Salon and Massage Room…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..