Just off Freedom - Feb. 14th - random thoughts and cabin 7434

[bguppies]

We just got off the Freedom 6 day western sailing less than 15 hours ago. (sorry this took so long but the drive back from FLL was 10 hours. ;))

 

First, FLL is a great port for embarkation and debarkation.

Right there with Port Canaveral.

 

Arrived last Sunday morning around 10:30.

Dropped our bags with porters, went right into terminal and checked in.

Sat in their large waiting area for about 15 minutes before they started boarding.

Our group was the 3rd group to board. (it looked like they broke the groups into about 100)

We were on the Lido Deck by 11:20 or so....

 

Getting off was even easier.

Our tag number 8, so we got called right after the Luggage Express folks.

We got called at 8:15, made our way from Promenade on deck 5, to elevators, off the ship, down the gangway, to our luggage, through customs and out to a cab in less than 15 minutes flat.

Simply amazing efficiency in FLL.

Kudos.

 

Our cabin was 7434 on the Empress deck.

The balcony cabin right in front of the aft wrap.

The cabin that is turned sideways, with the double length balcony for the price of a regular balcony.

All I can say is GREAT cabin.

We could not believe how much roomier this cabin seemed to us being turned sideways.

Granted you lose the sofa in the room, but no offense, why would anybody sit in their cabin on a sofa, if you have a double length balcony?!?!?!?!!?:rolleyes:

We loved the extra space by the door for storage.

Loved the bed facing the baclony door and window.

Loved it, loved it, loved it....

 

The staff across the board this cruise was great.

Our stewards were amazing. (although we were a pain all week with both of us being sick off an on.)

Our wait staff was excellent.

The staff at the Buffet was constantly clearing tables and cleaning.

(although their management left alot to be desired)

 

Needless to say, the ship is in great shape being very new.

Love the addition of the big screen.

Amaing how clear the picture was at 1PM poolside, in full sun and at 8PM after dark.

Plus great speaker set up, where you could hear it clearly anywhere within view, without ever finding a spot where it seemed to be blaringly loud.

 

Loved the stops in Key West and Grand Cayman.

Hated the stop in Ocho Rios.

 

The ONLY problem on the entire cruise we encountered was the poor management of the buffet by the food service management.

 

I need to hit the sack and get some sleep.

 

I'll post more tomorrow in detail on the ports, the excursions we took and heard about from other passengers and the various problems with the buffet this past week on Freedom.

 

Bill

[sunlover5]

Bill, thank you!! We will be heading out on the Freedom a week from today for the exact same cruise.

 

Please go into detail your experience at Ocho Rios. We are 4 gals (Turning 50!!) and cruising. Right now we are just going to the shopping area and Margaritaville for either lunch or a drink then back to the ship. We are debating just staying on the ship and enjoying the pool. Would love to know what you think.

 

Also looking forward to hearing about the buffet.

 

Thanks again! My sister booked that cabin on the Dream as we are in the aft wrap. Hope it is just as nice!!! Thanks again!!

[Gater Girl]

We were on the Freedom during Jan. 09..Panama Canal cruise and I share your opinions. We found it VERY clean, the cabin service was great..even though we saw our attendent only twice. Once when we arrived and once when we hunted him down to give him an extra tip for keeping our 'place' so spotless. Ditto the three young ladies who were our wait staff at dinner. Two were servers and the other the Drink Server who had a martini for my husband before the meal arrived. The food was good, but it was their smiling faces and sweet attitudes which made dinner such a pleawure. We were at table 217 in the Chic Dining Room, early seating. If you can snag it....you are a lucky cruiser.

 

If the economy starts showing signs of being alive, we would like to take the cruise again. One gentleman had a heart attack, and the Captain did the ONLY thing he could have done...which was to divert to Honduras and get the man on a Mercy Flight to Miami. He did. The Man lived. I would want the same thing done for me...my husband..or any of you. BUT...we did not see Costa Rica. And we would like to go through the Canal.

 

And of course, dreaming and planning and looking at cruise booklets and going on line to see 'specials' and reading these boards.....and even saving to pay for it...is part of the anticipation. And that...I think...is part of the allure of cruising.

 

I hope to hear more of your review. If I have ONE complaint...it is that the penny and nickel slot machines are so tight....no one ever seems to win. And the bonus rounds are not high paying..or even medium paying. I don't expect to win in a casino and I think anyone who does is a fool...but it is nice to win enough money to play for while.

[DaveOKC]

Thanks for your review thus far - keep it coming.

We also are on the next 6 day sailing - Feb 22. One question - did you have any problem getting a taxi at debarkation? We have heard that sometimes there are.

DaveOKC

[mld1950]

We were on the Freedom January 25 and off the 31. I share the same thoughts loves Key West and Grand Cayman, if I did it again I would stay on the ship at Jaimaca. Just did not like it. The excursion we went on was nice to the Falls and a Plantation, but the people kept putting things aroind you neck or trying to puch it in your purse & bags, "says free." the telling you donation please, donation please. I just did not like that at all.

 

I found the service, food and everything on the Freedom great. We were in room 7279 and it was great. Loved the larger room, it was a cat 11 suite. would do that again in a minute.

[bbiggar]

We had the same cabin 7434 last month on this ship and Mohmad was a great cabin steward. Our balcony was a little larger yet since we opened it up to the in laws cabin next door. The dead space next to the door was great storage. This was the second time to have a cabin like this, but our next cruise is back to a basic balcony for the convience of the lido deck.

 

Can't wait for more details to see how your cruise compared to ours.

[dbrucern]

We were on this ship in December and loved her. We had the 9A right beside your room and it was a great room also. We were pleasantly surprised by Ocho Rios because our first thought was that we would stay on the ship but took our first Carnival excursion in a long time to Mystic Mountain. We decided again Dunn River falls climbing for various reasons and were happy we did when we saw them loading two gentlemen on the ship with broken legs. Mystic Mountain is a beautiful chair ride to the top of the mountain even though I am terrified of heights I managed to look down to our ship below and yes I admit that I told my DH if he did not sit still I was pushing him off. At the top they have zip-lining, a beautiful barside pool and the Jamacian Bobsled run which we did multiple times and I don't do rollercoasters but I have to admit was fun. You could leave anytime you wanted so after a couple of hours we took the chair down and went to Margaritaville and enjoyed the rest of the day before heading back to the ship. Great cruise and would go back to Ocho Rios again.

[Colette]

Sunlover5- did this trip in January, on the Freedom. It was my best friends first cruise, my 8th. We did the Trolley Tour in Key West and had lunch at Margaritaville-great food and drinks, fun atmosphere. Walked and shopped alot.......In Grand Cayman we did a short tour, spent some time at 7-mile beach, then in to town to shop(of course) and have lunch at Margaritaville. Wish we had more time to hang out there-it was a blast-better food and drinks than Key West and loud music, Disc Jockey, games going on-so much fun. In Jamaica we did the horseback riding, then back to town to shop and we were supposed to have lunch at Margaritaville, but were too late getting back so just went to the gift shop and had to run for the ship. We loved Ocho Rios, but I think it's where you go while you're there. This is my 3rd time there and Dunn's River Falls was the worst for peddler's, plus I didn't like the climb. One time we just grabbed a local cab, for the day and he made sure that no one bothered us-took us on a tour, shopping, and to the beach-walked us down to the beach and came back to get us-wonderful. Don't miss Ocho Rios-it's beautiful!

[DaveOKC]

Mid1950 - we are two cabins down from the one you had and it is a Cat 11 suite also. It is right next to the penthouse suite area. Was this area quiet? I heard that sometimes you can get loud families in the suites, especially the larger Penthouse ones. We are used to suites on HAL and they are very quiet - an older crowd to be sure than Carnival.

Looking forward to a great trip!

DaveOKC

[Rstamper]

I am also going on the February 22 cruise. I would like to know which day and time of day the chocolate buffet I have heard about is. Also who was the pool band and what kind of music did they play? Were they good? What movies were on the big screen? I am looking forward your review. It will probably be one of the last I read before I go on the cruise!

[Payd]

We just got off the Freedom 6 day western sailing less than 15 hours ago. (sorry this took so long but the drive back from FLL was 10 hours. ;))

 

First, FLL is a great port for embarkation and debarkation.

Right there with Port Canaveral.

 

Arrived last Sunday morning around 10:30.

Dropped our bags with porters, went right into terminal and checked in.

Sat in their large waiting area for about 15 minutes before they started boarding.

Our group was the 3rd group to board. (it looked like they broke the groups into about 100)

We were on the Lido Deck by 11:20 or so....

 

Getting off was even easier.

Our tag number 8, so we got called right after the Luggage Express folks.

We got called at 8:15, made our way from Promenade on deck 5, to elevators, off the ship, down the gangway, to our luggage, through customs and out to a cab in less than 15 minutes flat.

Simply amazing efficiency in FLL.

Kudos.

 

Our cabin was 7434 on the Empress deck.

The balcony cabin right in front of the aft wrap.

The cabin that is turned sideways, with the double length balcony for the price of a regular balcony.

All I can say is GREAT cabin.

We could not believe how much roomier this cabin seemed to us being turned sideways.

Granted you lose the sofa in the room, but no offense, why would anybody sit in their cabin on a sofa, if you have a double length balcony?!?!?!?!!?:rolleyes:

We loved the extra space by the door for storage.

Loved the bed facing the baclony door and window.

Loved it, loved it, loved it....

 

The staff across the board this cruise was great.

Our stewards were amazing. (although we were a pain all week with both of us being sick off an on.)

Our wait staff was excellent.

The staff at the Buffet was constantly clearing tables and cleaning.

(although their management left alot to be desired)

 

Needless to say, the ship is in great shape being very new.

Love the addition of the big screen.

Amaing how clear the picture was at 1PM poolside, in full sun and at 8PM after dark.

Plus great speaker set up, where you could hear it clearly anywhere within view, without ever finding a spot where it seemed to be blaringly loud.

 

Loved the stops in Key West and Grand Cayman.

Hated the stop in Ocho Rios.

 

The ONLY problem on the entire cruise we encountered was the poor management of the buffet by the food service management.

 

I need to hit the sack and get some sleep.

 

I'll post more tomorrow in detail on the ports, the excursions we took and heard about from other passengers and the various problems with the buffet this past week on Freedom.

 

Bill

 

Happy to hear that most things were excellent. Looking forward to further details!

[waykaylincruz]

Are the pools chlorinated or are they salt water on the Freedom??

[MistyRo76]

Are the pools chlorinated or are they salt water on the Freedom??

 

They are salt water. But there are fresh water showers to rinse off with right next to all of the pools and water slide.

 

Misty

[bguppies]

Please go into detail your experience at Ocho Rios. We are 4 gals (Turning 50!!) and cruising. Right now we are just going to the shopping area and Margaritaville for either lunch or a drink then back to the ship. We are debating just staying on the ship and enjoying the pool. Would love to know what you think.

 

Also looking forward to hearing about the buffet.

 

Thanks again! My sister booked that cabin on the Dream as we are in the aft wrap. Hope it is just as nice!!! Thanks again!!

 

As far as Ocho Rios.

I lived in Turkey for 2 years as a kid, so I am used to having people haggle and bater with you and beg for you to look at their wares.

 

My Wife and I have also been to Nassau 3 times and absolutely LOVE the town, which has a reputation for people being bothered by the street vendors. We just politely say no and keep mopving and have never had a bad time in Nassau.

 

So we stupidly thought that the horror stories about Ocho Rios and Jamaica in general wouldn't be a problem for us.

 

So we proceeded to get off the ship around 8AM and were just going to meander close to the pier and hit a few shops and meet some of the people.

Literally, every single taxi driver in the parking lot almost assaults you, by jumping into your path, with their particular spin on how he can give you a great day. (even if they heard you politely turn down the 2 guys right before him and plainly state we had zero intrest in a cab ride anywhere.)

At the edge of the taxi lot is a small makeshift market set up on the fence. These folks were just like the folks at the straw market in Nassau.

Trying to steer you into their area, but not terribly intrusiove.

Then we left the compound area and made our way into the area just outside and were then constantly bothered by even more cabbies and guys walking down the street selling anything and everything.

We got stopped at least 10 times, before we could simply walk across the street to the first set of shops.

Once in the shops, the people were extremely nice and helpful, but some stragglers were even coming into the shops asking if we needed rides, etc...

 

So we left the shops, walked back across the street and went straight back to the ship.

 

I would suggest if you want to go to Margaritaville, which is on the far side of the bay from where you dock, that you catch a cab from inside and go straiight there and come straight back.

The bar did look very cool.

(PS make sure if you hit the one in Grand Cayman, I saw some people on our tender, that had wristbands from Grand Cayman Margaritaville, to get a free Margarita in Ocho Rios.)

 

As for the Dream.

If you have the aft wrap and get the stewards to open the barrier between your cabin and 7434, you guys will have the most amazing party balcony of all-time.

 

I'll go into the problems at the buffett in a few minutes.

 

Hope you guys have an incredible time.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

I hope to hear more of your review. If I have ONE complaint...it is that the penny and nickel slot machines are so tight....no one ever seems to win. And the bonus rounds are not high paying..or even medium paying. I don't expect to win in a casino and I think anyone who does is a fool...but it is nice to win enough money to play for while.

 

My Wife and I aren't gamblers and don't play.

 

But one guy on our cruise hit, I think it was called a progressive slot machine for like $19,000 during our cruise.

 

It was mentioned a few times during the week and at the debarkation talk, they joked how that guy had better declare the over $10,000, so he wouldn't get busted as a drug smuggler at customs.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

Thanks for your review thus far - keep it coming.

We also are on the next 6 day sailing - Feb 22. One question - did you have any problem getting a taxi at debarkation? We have heard that sometimes there are.

DaveOKC

 

We were lucky and got number 8, for debarkation, so we were 3 or 4 after the Luggage express people.

Literally from the time they called 8, it took us 15 minutes, tops, to get from deck 5, down to 3, off the ship, down into the luggage area, get our 3 bags, get through customs and into a cab back to our pre-cruise hotel.

 

Best embarkation/debarkation port we have been to.

(And we LOVE Port Canaveral's debarkation.)

[bguppies]

Mid1950 - we are two cabins down from the one you had and it is a Cat 11 suite also. It is right next to the penthouse suite area. Was this area quiet? I heard that sometimes you can get loud families in the suites, especially the larger Penthouse ones. We are used to suites on HAL and they are very quiet - an older crowd to be sure than Carnival.

Looking forward to a great trip!

DaveOKC

 

The only time we had any noise was the day we got back onboard in Key West, the folks in the aft cabin next to our's had a bunch of people into their cabin for sailaway and they were all trashed and LOUD.

But we just had fun listening to their incoherrant babblings and waitied for them to quite down after sailaway.

 

Never had any noise problems anywhere around us at anytime during the rest of the cruise.

 

I worried about the crew stairwell next to us being possibly a problem, but we never heard a sound from there all week.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

I am also going on the February 22 cruise. I would like to know which day and time of day the chocolate buffet I have heard about is. Also who was the pool band and what kind of music did they play? Were they good? What movies were on the big screen? I am looking forward your review. It will probably be one of the last I read before I go on the cruise!

 

 

Let me get those capers out.

 

I'll list every movie all week for you. (planneed on doing it later anyway :D)

 

Sunday- Seaside Theater

ELO Concert at 6PM

Made of Honor at 8PM

Grand Old Opry concert at 10PM (there was a GRand OLd Opry group on board this week)

 

Free in cabin movies

Apaloosa (never heard of it)

 

Monday (Key West) - Seaside Theater

Brian McKnight concert at 10AM

Acoustic Alchemy concert at 11AM

Fool's Gold at 1PM

Speed Racer at 8 and 10PM

 

Free in cabin movies

Made of Honor (Patrick Dempsey flick) and Bonneville

 

Tuesday (sea day) - Seaside theater

Live Morning show at 9:30AM

Gato Barbieri concert at 6PM

Leatherheads at 8 and 10PM

 

Free in cabin movies

Death Defying Acts (Houdini Movie) and Bottle Shock (great movie I had never heard of before)

 

Wednesday (Grand Cayman) - Seaside theater

Wynonna concert at 10AM

Brian McKnight at 11:30AM

Kung Fu Panda at 1PM

Drillbit Taylor at 6 and 8PM

 

free in cabin movies

Leatherheads (Clooney) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (Brandon Fraser)

 

Thursday (Ocho Rios) -Seaside Theater

(we spent the day at the theater rather than in Ocho Rios)

Glen Campbell concert at 10AM and 6:30PM

Lilith Fair concert at 11:30AM

Iron Man at 1PM (was great even in full Jamaican sun)

Indiana Jones IV at 8 and 10PM

 

Free in Cabin movies

the Rocker and X-Files

 

Friday (sea day) - Seaside theater

Wynonna at 10:45AM

Acoustic Alchemy at 6PM

Chronicles of Narnia at 8 and 10PM

 

Free in cabin movies

The Bucket List and Iron Man

 

There were also a few unannounced kids movies for free in cabin throughout the week.

 

Hope that helps.

[bguppies]

The chocolate buffett was the last seaday (Friday) at the front side of the regular lido buffett during lunch.............

 

Never heard the pool band very much.

Just in passing maybe once.

Most of the time they had something playing on the seaside theater.

[bguppies]

I think I got everyone's questions answered so far....

 

Here goes with some more reviews.

 

Key West is a great port of call.

The Freedom's lengthy stay there (versus most Carnival itinerarys) is perfect.

Freedom docked at Pier B, right in front of Truman's Little White house.

 

We got off and walked to Truman's LWH, then down the street to Hemingway's house, then down to the Southernmost point a few more blocks.

Then we headed back up Duval St and stopped at the Butterfly Conservatory, which was pretty intresting. (but hot inside on a cool day outside)

We hit a few shops on Duval and a couple of bars until we got back to CVS at the top of Duval.

Picked up a few 12 packs there and walked straight back to the ship, and took the sodas back to the cabin to ice them up.(our steward was great at keeping the cooler full all week)

We actually had almost 2 more hours, but were both under the weather and headed back a bit early.

 

Grand Cayman is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

The water everywhere there was simply amazing colors of blues and greens.

Went down to the Main Lounge a little before 7AM to get early tender tickets.

Easily got number 1.

They had 2- 300 seat tenders pull up first. (as we were first ship to drop anchor out of 4 that day) So they had the right side of the lounge proceed down first, then the left.

Was on a tender and on shore by 8AM.

Jeanne was too ill to go into Cayman, so she stayed on the balcony all day and I went in.

 

Had a private excursion booked with Native Ways to Stingray City, a reef snorkle and Rum Point Beach for lunch and an hour or so of beach time.

 

The pier area is well laid out, with a bunch of covered areas for various tours to meet.

If you have any questions, there is a little shack in the center that is the information booth and the 2 girls working in there were amazing.

I sat next to them for about an hour waiting for my tour to start and they knew the direct cell # of every tour guide and operator in there and kept helping people who were late, not get left behind.

 

While I waited, I headed across the street to the little shopping mall with Margaritaville and checked it out, but obviously at 8AM nothing was open yet. (but it is just across the street to the right)

 

Hit a few shops there at the pier area for a few things, as I knew my excursion wouldn't leave time afterwards.

 

Got in a van and took a 15 minute ride to a pier north of the ship, to catch our excursion boat.

Took a 30 minute ride out to near Sting Ray city, but saw it was packed, so we did the snorkle first, which was on the way out to SRC.

The water was clear as could be and only 10-15 foot deep.

But the current was running fast. (don't know if that is normal or not)

It was definitely a tough, amateur snorlkle.

 

When we got done, SRC was still packed.

We had to circle twice to wait for a spot to open.

Once in, it is truly an amazing, not to be missed experience.

(I would definitely suggest doing a private excurision, because the 2 from the ship we saw, were 300+ seaters.)

 

Rum Point beach was very nice and away from the crowds.

 

When we got back, we had 15 minutes before the last tender, so the 8 of us on the Freedom on our tour, made a beeline straight for the tender line and were back on the ship in 15 minutes.

 

I defintely want to do Grand Cayman again and see some other things next time.

 

I detailed our Ocho Rios experience in a post above, answering someone's question.

I will say, most of the people we talked to who went to Dunn's River Falls in the 100 different excursions there you could take, told us they were unimpressed or had a bad time, because it was too crowded when there excursion was there.

One group who did it and a Catamaran ride did say they had a great time.

 

The other people who seemed to overwhelmingly, had a great time were the people who took any of the 3 different excursions to Mystic Mountain skylift, the bobsled ride and the canopy slide.

Did not hear one bad thing about any of those.

Just rave reviews.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

Got to go get soime dinner..

 

Please ask any more questions you might have.

 

I'll answer them all tomorrow and finish up with some detail on the ONLY negative, shipwise, for us.

The buffett management.

 

Bill

[MistyRo76]

I think I got everyone's questions answered so far....

 

Here goes with some more reviews.

 

Key West is a great port of call.

The Freedom's lengthy stay there (versus most Carnival itinerarys) is perfect.

Freedom docked at Pier B, right in front of Truman's Little White house.

 

We got off and walked to Truman's LWH, then down the street to Hemingway's house, then down to the Southernmost point a few more blocks.

Then we headed back up Duval St and stopped at the Butterfly Conservatory, which was pretty intresting. (but hot inside on a cool day outside)

We hit a few shops on Duval and a couple of bars until we got back to CVS at the top of Duval.

Picked up a few 12 packs there and walked straight back to the ship, and took the sodas back to the cabin to ice them up.(our steward was great at keeping the cooler full all week)

We actually had almost 2 more hours, but were both under the weather and headed back a bit early.

 

Grand Cayman is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

The water everywhere there was simply amazing colors of blues and greens.

Went down to the Main Lounge a little before 7AM to get early tender tickets.

Easily got number 1.

They had 2- 300 seat tenders pull up first. (as we were first ship to drop anchor out of 4 that day) So they had the right side of the lounge proceed down first, then the left.

Was on a tender and on shore by 8AM.

Jeanne was too ill to go into Cayman, so she stayed on the balcony all day and I went in.

 

Had a private excursion booked with Native Ways to Stingray City, a reef snorkle and Rum Point Beach for lunch and an hour or so of beach time.

 

The pier area is well laid out, with a bunch of covered areas for various tours to meet.

If you have any questions, there is a little shack in the center that is the information booth and the 2 girls working in there were amazing.

I sat next to them for about an hour waiting for my tour to start and they knew the direct cell # of every tour guide and operator in there and kept helping people who were late, not get left behind.

 

While I waited, I headed across the street to the little shopping mall with Margaritaville and checked it out, but obviously at 8AM nothing was open yet. (but it is just across the street to the right)

 

Hit a few shops there at the pier area for a few things, as I knew my excursion wouldn't leave time afterwards.

 

Got in a van and took a 15 minute ride to a pier north of the ship, to catch our excursion boat.

Took a 30 minute ride out to near Sting Ray city, but saw it was packed, so we did the snorkle first, which was on the way out to SRC.

The water was clear as could be and only 10-15 foot deep.

But the current was running fast. (don't know if that is normal or not)

It was definitely a tough, amateur snorlkle.

 

When we got done, SRC was still packed.

We had to circle twice to wait for a spot to open.

Once in, it is truly an amazing, not to be missed experience.

(I would definitely suggest doing a private excurision, because the 2 from the ship we saw, were 300+ seaters.)

 

Rum Point beach was very nice and away from the crowds.

 

When we got back, we had 15 minutes before the last tender, so the 8 of us on the Freedom on our tour, made a beeline straight for the tender line and were back on the ship in 15 minutes.

 

I defintely want to do Grand Cayman again and see some other things next time.

 

I detailed our Ocho Rios experience in a post above, answering someone's question.

I will say, most of the people we talked to who went to Dunn's River Falls in the 100 different excursions there you could take, told us they were unimpressed or had a bad time, because it was too crowded when there excursion was there.

One group who did it and a Catamaran ride did say they had a great time.

 

The other people who seemed to overwhelmingly, had a great time were the people who took any of the 3 different excursions to Mystic Mountain skylift, the bobsled ride and the canopy slide.

Did not hear one bad thing about any of those.

Just rave reviews.

 

Bill

 

 

I have to agree about Mystic Mountain....it was wonderful. We did the Tranopy tour, which inlcuded the Sky Explorer (chair lift), the Bob Sled and the Zip Line. The ride up the Sky Explorer is beautiful...took alot of pics going both up and down. The Bob Sled was a BLAST. If you do this, go as fast as you can. You can control the speed by pushing the lever all the way forward. It was sooo much fun. And I found this zip line tour to be much better than the one we did in Belize a couple of years ago.

 

I actually enjoy Ocho Rios...I think it's one of the most beautiful ports I've been to. I think the key with Ocho Rios is to stick with a tour and don't stray too far off the beaten path. The three times I've been there we've done the Falls, a Horseback riding tour and the Tranopy and they were all amazing. I think with the Falls it's best to just take a taxi out there and pay one of the park guides to take you up rather than go with a large excursion group. Our guide took us up a different path than the large groups so we didn't feel crowded. Plus, he would tell us where to step and stopped a took pics of us along the way. I know it's annoying to get hasseled, but most of the people we encountered would leave us along after telling them we already had a tour booked. But I definitely wouldn't stray too far in Jamaica. While I have never been offered drugs or felt too unsafe, I have heard of other who have.

 

Also, I heard that Mystic Mountain is a joint venture between the island and Carnival in an effort to help clean up the perception of the island. One of the guys with us heard it on one of the port talks being shown on the TV in his room.

 

Misty

[bguppies]

Also, I heard that Mystic Mountain is a joint venture between the island and Carnival in an effort to help clean up the perception of the island. One of the guys with us heard it on one of the port talks being shown on the TV in his room.

 

Misty

 

I was at that port talk when Todd said that.

 

I would imagine the truth is probably closer to Carnival and the other cruiselines who use Ocho Rios, all chipping in for the attraction.

Kind of like the various cruiselines did in Costa Maya, Mexico for the pier and the walled in pier area there.

 

Makes good business sense on the various cruiselines part, to try and make a port, small on excursions, a much better stop.

 

A better idea would be for all the cruiselines to chip in and pay for a gigantic pier in Grand Cayman. Maybe like the super long one in Progresso.

Grand Cayman is an amazing port, with too much time wasted on tenders back and forth.

 

Bill

[MistyRo76]

I was at that port talk when Todd said that.

 

I would imagine the truth is probably closer to Carnival and the other cruiselines who use Ocho Rios, all chipping in for the attraction.

Kind of like the various cruiselines did in Costa Maya, Mexico for the pier and the walled in pier area there.

 

Makes good business sense on the various cruiselines part, to try and make a port, small on excursions, a much better stop.

 

A better idea would be for all the cruiselines to chip in and pay for a gigantic pier in Grand Cayman. Maybe like the super long one in Progresso.

Grand Cayman is an amazing port, with too much time wasted on tenders back and forth.

 

Bill

 

We had pretty good tender luck this time. But we didn't get off of the ship with the early morning rush. We waited till about 9 AM since we didn't have anything specific planned. We went to the lounge to get our tender tickets and were told to head straight to the gangway that there was a tender waiting. And same with the way back. We headed back a little early to avoid the last minute rushers. Timing is important sometimes....and lucky. But I have had bad tender experiences previously. So being able to avoid tenders would be wonderful.

 

Misty

[bguppies]

Here goes my slight rant on the buffett area management.

 

My Wife and I were both sick at the start of the cruise (her a cold, me pneumonia) and we were trying to avoid the dining room until we were feeling better and less contagious.

 

The first night, they only had one of the 4 buffett lines open, which I assumed was usual, as most people at least try the dining room on the first night. Thought nothing much about it.

 

The first morning, the capers stated continental breakfast started at 6am-8am and the regular buffett 7 to 10:30AM.

I hadn't slept much all night, so I woke at 6:15 and went down to try to get my Wife and I some toast and juice to start with and try to go back up later for some hot food if we were feeling better.

Got up to the buffett at 6:20am. Nothing is open or ready yet. (except the juice) Took the juice back to the room and tried back at 6:45.

Still nothing open or ready. Nobody even around to ask.

Went up and came back in 10 minutes and somebody was finally laying out some pasties in the desert area, but nothing else, toast, bagels, cereal, milk etc... was available yet.

So I sat there and waited until; 7:10 when they FINALLY opened the line to get some toast, etc....

Never bothered to go back, as I wasn't going to miss Key West, over a hot breakfast, maybe served by 10AM...

 

Then throughout, the next 3 days, when we stayed pretty much at the buffett, until we were feeling better, they constantly had too few sides of the buffett open for the amount of people waiting.

At least 3 or 4 times, the lines wrapped completely around to the never open Mexican buffett or the deli on the other side.

 

I don't know if it was because of the Grand Old Opry group that was on that sailing had an extraordinary percentage of their group hitting the buffett instead of the dining room each meal, that made it worse each time. But less than 50% of the time we went up there (which was a lot more than usual), were we able to get through the line in a decent 10 minutes.

 

Also, I loved the Mexican buffett on the opposite side of the Deli. (which for some strange reason has a sign that says Oriental.)

But unfortunately it was barely ever open.

It was scheduled for 12-3:30 on Sunday, nothing Monday, 12-2:30 Tuesday, nothing Wednesday or Thursday and 12-2:30 on Friday.

I was lucky enough to catch it Tuesday and Friday.

And Friday it closed about 5 minutes after I got through line, at 1:45PM.

45 minutes early!!!!!!!!! (I was sitting in the booth closest to it and about to go back and get a 2nd yummy shrimp quesadilla.)

Personally, I think it should be open the same hours as the Deli opposite it.

The food was amazing.

If you could catch it.

 

The buffett area on Freedom was wonderful, WHEN fully utilized. (they didn't even have everything open on the Sea Days, which I found incomprehensible)

But whoever decides how many parts should be open and when they are, does a horrible job.

 

The staff working cleaning the tables and serving the food, did a great job.

 

But whoever manages the buffett on the Freedom needs to be replaced.

 

Bill