Freedom Review! Dec 14-20

[rtfnl]

Anna, I were on the same cruise as you. I rented a red six-seat electric car in Key West. It was blast. When I had it parked in front of the Westin for about ten - fifteen minutes while waiting for someone to get off of the ship about 5 people came up to me to ask me how much do I charge for a tour. I could have made some money since I learned my way around the island, which wasn't hard. The cruise was nice.

[crsnfun]

Ok, about the ship...

Ship was beautiful!! :D

I was surprised though that the Promenade was not bigger. There was a bar, a piano, the pursors desk, shore excursion desk, tables, chairs...the whole nine yards but, I did not see many people down there. It could have been because I was not there when everyone else was. However, the elevators that we took to get to our room took us right up and over the promenade every day, 2 or 3 times a day and it normally seemed empty. I guess I am just used to the Promenade on different ships being very busy.

The decor...oh, the decor on this ship...WHO CARES? Well, I didn't care. After reading about the decor on some other reviews, of course, I had to check it out. Yes, there were odd combinations of colors and patterns and textures. Did it bother me? Not in the least. In fact, I probably would have never noticed it had other folks not pointed it out.

The ship was bright and colorful.

The only "decoration" I noticed about halfway through the trip was the statue of liberty heads! They are EVERYWHERE! LOL! It is a little creepy but, I almost had to laugh at it because this is exactly what everyone had been talking about!!!

One thing that was nice is, having our room on the Lido deck, it is almost the only deck where you can walk from the front of the ship to the back of the ship without having to go up or down a floor. This sure was helpful!

This is kind of odd but, one thing I noticed from the second we got on the ship is that the signs telling you where everything was (ie: restaurants, bars, casino) they were all lit up and they change every couple seconds. Which, really is no big deal. However, my terrible eyes found it so difficult to focus on what they said, even with my glasses on! I know this is tiny and petty but, that was really the only true thing that I had a problem with all week long. By the time my eyes focused on what the sign said, it was changing already!! :)

Stacie figured out the layout of the ship very quickly so I would just hop in the elevator and say "Ok, which floor?"

Unfortunately, we did not see any shows all week long!! Yes, we were those people who got sucked in to the bright lights and sounds of the casino EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!! :D

The restaurants were nice. Layout made sense. The restaurants are where people were talking about the snakeskin decor. The first night I sat down to dinner, there it sat! A big, round cabinet right in between our table and the table next to us...SNAKESKIN PRINT!! Of course, I had a little smile on my face because, once again, I had read about this!!

We never had a single problem finding chairs by the pool or, for that matter, ANYWHERE outside.

 

Smoking is on the Starboard side of the ship. If you smoke on the port side, there are no ash trays. I am a smoker, as is Stacie and I was happy to see there was only smoking in certain areas because I hate to offend anyone with my smoke.

 

The casino...oh, the casino! I donated about $400 to the Freedom casino while on board!! We had a fun time and I found myself traveling down there when I wanted to smoke. So, there I sat, $10 at a time, blowing my $$!! We generally played the penny slots. win a few bucks here and there and then keep playing till we lost it all. I won $85 in the penny slots, walked away and then spent it all the next day. The last night on the ship, Stacie put in $10 in the "Hot, Hot Penny", 2 cent slots, she just kept winning! Bonus, Bonus, Bonus it kept saying! She put in $10 and, over about the course of 2 hours, won $90. Not bad!

[crsnfun]

Anna, I were on the same cruise as you. I rented a red six-seat electric car in Key West. It was blast. When I had it parked in front of the Westin for about ten - fifteen minutes while waiting for someone to get off of the ship about 5 people came up to me to ask me how much do I charge for a tour. I could have made some money since I learned my way around the island, which wasn't hard. The cruise was nice.

 

That is hilarious!!

The guy who took us back to the ship said "It is expensive to ride this. It will cost you $11!"

$11!?!?

That is nothing when all you can think of is how you are going to pass out from the heat!! :)

[dst]

Anna:

 

Funny about the decor, I never pay attention to that either. As long as I am on a ship I could careless what it looks like :)

 

How was the food, I am sure you'll get to that again in your review

 

Thanks, keep it coming :D

[crsnfun]

Tuesday, December 16

FUN DAY AT SEA

Well, I will be honest with you....Stacie turned in early last night. Asked if I would mind. No, not at all....I am going to just hit up the casino for a while. Be back soon.

Well, SOON turned into a gentleman coming over to me and asking me to cash out because the casino was closing! :eek:

I climbed into bed about 3 am!

Stacie was up at 8 and I slept till about 10:30.

We didn't do much of anything....ordered in room service.

Let me tell you guys...the room service was delicious! We ordered the same thing everytime...2 ceasar salads, one with smoked salmon, one with chicken. Either a fruit plate or vegetable plate and a piece of chocolate cake! So freaking yummy!! This soon became our favorite thing to do around 1 in the afternoon!

We put on our suits and decided to take our Ipods and find a nice sunny place to lay outside. Being a day at sea, I was concerned about not being able to find a place to lay.

 

It was very busy, however, we went to the TOP, TOP deck. The one where you have to walk through the basketball courts to get to it and it says "ADULTS ONLY". There was one man up there, sunning his buns in a speedo..noone else!

We pulled down some chairs, put on the Ipods and soaked up the sun! Now, this deck was VERY windy! BUT, when you have the sun shining on you, it is nice to have a breeze to cool you off.

 

 

[tiffytutu99]

this is one of the best reviews I've read! :)

[campdaan]

Anna... Don't skip a single detail. And keep those pics coming.

 

I LOVE these kind of Reviews !

[crsnfun]

ROOM SERVICE!

Order it if you get a chance!

We tipped $5 everytime we did. Except for the one night that we stumbled back to our room at 12:30, ordered cake and then fell asleep before it made it to our room! :)

 

 

 

 

 

[crsnfun]

Hello Anna, I am sailing on Freedom this spring and I am enjoying your review.

I am also from the Central Ohio area...what a small world. This is my first time to Cruise Critic and I find your post.

 

Funny thing my husband and I drove to Florida for our 1st cruise last year and we had the same discussion about whether to take 23 or 33.

 

So, which way did you end up going??

Did you see BISCUIT WORLD?!?! :D

[crsnfun]

Wednesday, December 17

Grand Cayman

Up and at'em early this morning!

I have been to Cayman Islands before. I love this island! The last time I was here, I did the Turtle Farm and Hell.

Stacie and I really wanted to do the Stingray City/Snorkel tour. Here was the problem: We took a look at the excursion list and the Stingray City excursion did not start until 11 am. We wanted to do something in the morning so we could get back to the ship, change and still have time to do some sight seeing.

We opted for the Shipwreck/Reef snorkel excursion instead. The cost was about $45 per person and it last 2.5 hours, starting at 8:30 in the morning.

We tendered in, as many of you know, GC does not have a dock.

As we made our way to the meeting spot for our excursion, we heard an announcement that, since Stingray City was on the North part of the island, weather conditions had caused them to have to cancel the excursion for the day. Well, this was good news for us, since we decided not to go on this excursion!

After about a 20 minute wait, our tour guide came for us and about 30 people walked single file down the road to a boat waiting for us.

Now, perhaps I forgot to mention that my biggest fear is DROWNING! You all are now saying to yourselves "Why in the world would you choose to snorkel if you are afraid of drowning?!?!?" The answer is this: I can swim. I have snorkeled before. I snorkeled in St Maarten. However, in St Maarten, they took you to an island and you walked down a ramp into water that slowly got deeper and deeper. In this case, they took you on a 5 minute boat ride, then you jumped off the boat (or, in my case, slowly walked down the ladder).

We got on the boat and were given very humorous instructions by our instructors for the morning:

"If you put your hand on your head, we know that you are ok, you just swallowed a bunch of salt water and your choking but, your having a great time doing it!"

We were also instructed that we might possibly see a fish called a TARPON fish. The instructor says "This is a rather large fish".

"Please do not yell SHARK! This is not a shark! It will not eat you. It eats fish the size of your pinky. If you yell shark, you will cause mass panic for the 50 other snorkelers around you. 50 people trying to get up one ladder? Not such a good idea! PLEASE DO NOT YELL SHARK!"

Everyone gets outfitted with their snorkel gear and then, one by one, we take turns jumping, or walking slowly down the ladder, into the 25 or so foot of water below.

Stacie jumps in first and then proceeds to take a picture of me as I climb down the ladder into "certain death". I do believe that I was the only idiot with my life vest blown up. It is one of those that has a straw to blow it up. Yeah, that was me.... :rolleyes:

Stacie kept saying...it's salt water, you are not going to sink! Yeah right! I will be the only person who someone gets sucked down into a man hole, never to be seen again!

I make my way off the boat...slowly lean forward to take a look at what is below me and, sure enough, WOW! the water is D-E-E-P! What else did I expect.....Crazy, I know!

Well, I reach for Stacie's hand, convinced that if I started to drown, she would swim to the bottom of this "sink free" ocean floor and save me!

No, I did not drown. Yes, I did have a slight panic attack. No, I did not have to yell "Shark!"

We swam for about 45 minutes at the Reef and then boarded the boat again to go over to the Shipwreck. I did not hesitate as much getting off the boat this time although I did, every 5 minutes, reach down to ensure that my life jacket was still inflated! Yep, sure was!

We saw some very beautiful fish and an incredible school of fish! Must have been about 100 fish or more in the school of fish! It was just like Finding Nemo...they all went the same direction...pretty incredible. After about a dozen or more times of circling the shipwreck and seeing new and awesome fish, we were beckoned to come back to the boat. By this time, I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't want to go back.

Stacie and I snorkeled back to the boat and eventually, I could see the ladder about 15 feet in front of me. Stacie climbed in the boat first and I continued to look around under the water. As she got closer and closer, I noticed that she seemed to have picked up her pace a bit....swimming quicker...pulling off her flippers very quickly. When it was my turn to climb into the boat, I reach for my flippers and that is when she informed me that she just saw a SHARK! "It was HUGE", she says!

WHAT!?!?!

Holy Crap! Get me out of here! Now I no longer had just the threat of drowning, I now had the possibility of being eaten alive!!

Well, I made it into the boat while Stacie tried to convince our instructor she saw a shark. He grabbed a mask and fins to go take a look at this so called shark....

Turns out, what she saw was a 6 foot tarpon! Yes, I probably would have freaked out too! Since I did not see it, I don't know but, the way Stacie described it, she made it out to be JAWS!! :D

We had a great time!

Back to the ship to change....

[JPNROB]

Knock,Knock.....Landshark!!!:D

[crsnfun]

Food? You want FOOD PICTURES?!?!?!

Stacie is quite a cook! If it weren't for her fabulous cooking, I would be 20 pounds lighter!

I was excited for her to taste some great cruise food and come home with ideas for some new meals!

She enjoyed the food but did not LOVE it....she was more excited with the sushi bar which was, I must say, DELICIOUS!!

The food was good, not great. Some might beg to differ...I am no connoisseur, I just eat what I like and this included the Warm Melting Cake...EVERY NIGHT for dessert!

Here you go folks!

More to come!

[crsnfun]

Are you drooling yet?:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crsnfun]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crsnfun]

I think I have a few more food pictures but, I have not uploaded all of my pictures from my camera yet. I will post those when I get caught up!

Enjoy the others for now! :D

[christy23]

Anna,

 

I have enjoyed reading your review of the freedom. My husband bought me a cruise to the cayman islands and ocho rios for christmas and we set sail june 14. I am very excited and I have sat here reading your review and showing him your pictures.

 

We are also from Ohio. We live in NW Ohio so it is kinda neat to read about the people you met in MAnsfield. Interesting to hear cities that we know.

 

You daily log is quite interesting to read. Can't wait to see more pics of your cruise.

 

Keep it coming

[crsnfun]

Anna,

 

I have enjoyed reading your review of the freedom. My husband bought me a cruise to the cayman islands and ocho rios for christmas and we set sail june 14. I am very excited and I have sat here reading your review and showing him your pictures.

 

We are also from Ohio. We live in NW Ohio so it is kinda neat to read about the people you met in MAnsfield. Interesting to hear cities that we know.

 

You daily log is quite interesting to read. Can't wait to see more pics of your cruise.

 

Keep it coming

 

I purchased this cruise for Stacie for Christmas and as a Birthday present (her 29th was celebrated on the ship). We were in Jamaica for her birthday. You will have a wonderful time! The Freedom is an incredible ship! Will this be your first cruise?

[stlrboo]

Anna, wonderful job on the 'review'! Wish I had the energy to do the same, but since we were on the same sailing, you certainly have 'my butt covered'!:) Many THANX!:D

 

Its great to re-live it all over again... Love the pics.. Especially love the commentary! GREAT job....:p

[crsnfun]

After our close call with the enormous Tarpon, we went back to the ship to shower and change. Oh, and we ordered room service while we got ready....

 

After we showered and changed and I surveyed the damage that the Caribbean sun had done to my pale, Ohio skin. Yep, I was pretty burnt....oh well...too late to take it back now.

 

We hopped on the tender and decided that we would find a taxi to take us...well, somewhere, anywhere. We hadn't decided where to as of yet but, when we got there we would know.

 

We walked down the main road, right where ALL the traffic is. Took a few pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as we were finishing up, a taxi driver came by and asked if we wanted a ride. I said sure ...how much? $5 per person...where do you want to go...?

 

HELL?!?! You can't go to the Cayman Islands and not go to Hell!

 

BTW, as I am typing this, the mailman came to drop off the mail at work and he brought the postcard I sent to my co-workers, postmarked "Hell". FUN! :D

 

So, off we went to Hell....the drive was longer than I remember, maybe 15 minutes. There was alot of traffic, 5 ships in port that day.

 

 

Pictures to follow...

[crsnfun]

Pictures of the infamous "Hell"....

It still amazes me!

[crsnfun]

Anna, wonderful job on the 'review'! Wish I had the energy to do the same, but since we were on the same sailing, you certainly have 'my butt covered'!:) Many THANX!:D

 

Its great to re-live it all over again... Love the pics.. Especially love the commentary! GREAT job....:p

 

Sure was a GREAT cruise, huh?

I was so happy we had good weather! :D

[crsnfun]

When the driver dropped us at Hell, he said he was going to take a few people down to the turtle farm and that he would come back and pick us up. Sure enough, he was waiting for us when we got done.

I think I gave him $15 total which, I think was more than he was expecting because he looked at me weird when I gave it to him.

He dropped us at 7 mile beach where we found a TON of people enjoying the beautiful weather we were having!

We got a couple of Pina Coladas ($9 a piece, I think) at the bar by the beach and then went down to fry in the sun some more.

After we were done, we were able to catch bus back down to the tendering service to get back on the ship. I believe it cost us $5 per person and anyone could get on the bus, it wasn't with a tour or anything.

CAUTION: When we got back down to the tendering service, there were ALOT of people in line to tender back. The last tender left at 3:15 and it was about 2:30. We decided to do some last minute shopping since, afterall, if we get in line now, all we will be doing is standing and waiting. We shopped, walked by, saw the line, the line was long so we went and shopped some more...

At around 3:15, we decided we had better go over and check out the tendering area. Well, it turns out that everyone was back on the ship but a handful of people and that all of the other people waiting in line were waiting to get on other ships! Just beware! Although, GC wouldn't be a terrible place to get left behind! ;)

We tendered in at about 3:20, they were taking down the "Freedom" sign and packing up to go so it is a good thing we stopped to check it out!!

[scrappinannie]

Wonderful rewiew, Anna! I really like the way you write and your pics are fantastic! It does look like you had great weather...just what us Midwesterners need at this time of year. I'm from Michigan (near Toledo, actually) and I sure could go for that great Caribbean weather about now!

 

DH & I will be on the Freedom in November. We can hardly wait! Thanks for your review.

[stlrboo]

Sure was a GREAT cruise, huh?

 

I was so happy we had good weather! :D

Except for the 'barf bags:eek:' showing up near the elevators on the sail between GC and Ocho Rios, weather was really GREAT!..:)

Except for the off/on rain we had in Ocho Rios..:rolleyes: We still had a great tour there...:p

[crsnfun]

Except for the 'barf bags:eek:' showing up near the elevators on the sail between GC and Ocho Rios, weather was really GREAT!..:)

Except for the off/on rain we had in Ocho Rios..:rolleyes: We still had a great tour there...:p

 

The "Barf Bag" night is the night I won in the casino!! I wasn't feeling well and I was just about to go to bed and I hit "Max Bet" and won $85!!

LOL!

It's always Ok if it is vacation rain!!

:D