Freedom Review –W. Caribbean – 8 day – Cozumel, Costa Rica, Panama

[elsplace2]

We came back on board by 11:15…DH worked out while I laid out at the empty aft pool. (Well, there were a few people there.) Then met up with BFF girls, for lunch on the Lido deck. After lunch, we went back to the pier and took some pix at 3 Amigos etc. We stopped off at Fat Tuesdays for some Daiquiris and Mexican beers, hoping to catch the golfers coming back. (Both bars right at the end of the pier). No luck seeing the golfers, so we went back on board around 2:45, it was HOT sitting at Fat Tuesdays.

Here are some pix of the 3 Amigos and Fat Tuesdays.


3 Amigos




Fat Tuesdays for a drink.

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The BFF golfers got back around 3:30…they had a good time. The downfall on that was the couples didn’t get to spend any time together in Cozumel. At 4:00 we went and got our DOD – Mexican Mama- at 4:45 DH and BFF2 – (J) went to compete in sports trivia. DH won! Got a ship on the stick! Although it was neck and neck between the 2 of them with DH winning the tiebreaker! Of course DH has been flaunting his ship on the stick, since then.
We set sail around 5:00.

Here I am with my DOD



Again we met up for dinner at 6:00….again the table next to us arrived at 6:20, but it was only 2 of them that showed up, this time….Boy did we have a close call this evening for dinner…..after we ordered our desserts, a woman and husband came from one of the tables behind us. Her DH was helping walk her out, we think she may have had one too many marquaritas in Cozumel….but once she got to our table, she stood right there and said…”I think I’m going to throw up!” DOH! Not here lady….we’re looking forward to our dessert!! We stared at her like deers in headlights! She took a few more steps and stood right behind BFF2 (S’s) – chair, keeling over. BFF2 (S) was hunching over, begging, please don’t throw up on me! Please don’t throw up on me! We’re all still staring like deers in headlights and mouths wide open……please don’t ruin our dessert!!! Fortunately, she started walking again and we THINK she made it out. Whew! That was a close call! Don’t mess with our dessert!!!
After dinner we walked around, tried to look at some of the pictures, that Carnival took, but for some reason it was VERY crowded there. Then went to the show at 8:45. It was a juggler act, Michael James. He was very good and funny!
Went to the deck party at 10:00. It was OK; people were doing the conga and line dancing. It started to rain a bit, so we went to the aft, and played a game of pigs. (2 little pigs as dice, depending on how they land are how many points their worth.) Fun travel game.

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Day 4 – Tuesday -Sea Day
Got up around 6:30-7:00am. DH went to the gym while I went out on the deck. When he came back we went to breakfast on the lido deck. After breakfast we walked the track for a mile. Beautiful day. Decided to try out the mini- golf. Couldn’t figure out where the equipment was….no one could give us a straight answer. Turns out it’s on the lido pool area at the towel station. It was VERY windy up there, but we had fun. You have to play your ball through; otherwise, your ball will not be in the same spot you left it due to the wind. After golf, went to look at the pix. Also the jewelry store was having a gold sale, I needed a chain for my necklace for formal night, because it had broken, just before we set sale. It was only $1.00 inch. And $4.00 for a clasp. Other chains were a little more…like $2.50/inch, $3 etc. but I needed the smallest one they had.
Went to the aft pool around 10:30am. Our BFF’s were already there. There were no seats available, oh wait, there were available seats, but people must think there flip flops, towels, books, etc. could use some extra sun, while they’re in their room still sleeping!…….drives me CRAZY!!!!! So we just sat in the pool in the upper part of it, it was actually refreshing; we didn’t stay there too long.
For lunch DH and I went to Fish and Chips….good but greasy and small pieces of fish, not very filling. After lunch was another Meet and Greet, this time is was organized by Carnival. (We had made arrangements with Host Mach, before our sailing and he said there should be a note in the Capers for Sunday at 1:00) There wasn’t, so we stuck to the original plan for Sunday….they didn’t know we had already met, so they announced that they would have one today, at 1:00. Wee Jimmy was there and a few crew members…they had a Q&A and a little trivia with prizes, like cards, ship on the stick, etc. It was very interesting and fun. It was only for an hour.
After that this was the first day we went to the Casino…we are not big gamblers, plus we always seemed busy. We usually just play the slots….after an hour of playing; I won $5…Big Whoop, compared to one of our fellow Cruise Critic RC members who won $12,000, on the first night on a $5 slot on his first pull! Anyway, they say the machines are cashless, but that’s for your winnings. You can put in cash…not sure if you can put in coins. But any winnings will go to your “Players Account” which is your S&S, just a separate account. You create pin # the first time you play and use that # to play and put your winnings in. (You can get a free lanyard at the cashier’s desk. They will punch a hole in your S&S card. It is good to get, this way you don’t forget your card in the machine.) At the end of the cruise or whenever you want to cash in, you just go to the cashier’s desk for your cash. I had .11 cents by the end…they could keep that!

4:00 we met up with BFF1 for DOD - Caribbean Breeze.

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Went to dinner at 6:00….Yea! The table next to us came in on time today!! Just 2 of them. After dinner, we listened to a singer in the Atrium, from the upper deck. She was very talented and had a beautiful voice. Then we went to the show at 8:45. “Swing Time”...not my cup of tea, but everyone else loved it. He was very talented and had a great voice, but I’m not a big fan of Frank Sinatra type music. After the show, went to aft deck and played some yahtzee with BFF1. BFF2 went to see the Michael Jackson Tribute in the 70’s lounge. They said it was pretty good. Back to our room by 11:00.

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Day 5 – Wednesday - Costa Rica
Costa Rica…the reason for this cruise…we’ve always wanted to see Costa Rica. It was a bit of a disappointment! But then again, we expected this from my research. They say the other side of the country is much nicer. I don’t regret going one bit; it was still nice to see. We pulled into port around 9:45am. It was a nice partly cloudy, hot day. Our excursion wasn’t until 10:30. We did the excursion offered by Carnival, Caribbean Train, Boat and Bus. We met at the end of the pier and were on our bus by 10:05 and took off by 10:25. We headed toward the Banana Plantation which is about a 25-30 min. bus ride. It was very interesting here, especially learning the process of growing and packaging bananas. We were at the Plantation for about 20-30 minutes.
Here we are pulling in, very cloudy.

Pierside


The Banana plantation

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We then headed for the train. This is a train used only for tours. (It use to be a passenger train). This was a bit of a disappointment. The train was VERY HOT! No A/C and it was about 90 degrees outside. They would stop several times if they spotted a sloth or monkey. At first it was cool, to let everyone see. We would stop for about 10-15 min. and it was very difficult to see unless you went to the front or the back of the train, but even then it was hard to see because they were so high up in the trees. I recommend bringing binoculars. But then after about the 4th stop….it was getting redundant. Did I mention it was HOT and the only air you got was when the train was moving…..we did stop at a desolate beach and got off the train to walk around and take some pictures…we were only there for about 10 minutes. Then the train went backwards to catch the bus, which had moved its position to meet the train. We were on the train for a total of about an hour and half.

Here's a pic of the train


Here we are on the train


Here's a sloth sighting from the train


Here's the beach area

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The bus took us to the boats, which was about a 10 minute ride. AGAIN, a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting a leisurely ride down the canal and pointing out the wildlife. But again, they stopped several times, to look at Iguanas, sloths, monkeys and even bats. Don’t get me wrong it was nice to see these animals in their natural habitat, but I was hoping for a more leisurely boat ride. I think we only made it down the canal a half mile, because of all the stops. I believe we were on the boat for about 45min. After the boat ride they had a little fresh fruit buffet…consisting of watermelons, pineapples, coconut and bananas….they were delicious, especially the pineapple was very sweet! I believe they offered water and coffee for free, but beer and soda was a $2 charge.

Here's the boats we went on.




Bottom line we enjoyed the tours and seeing the countryside/wildlife of Costa Rica. Our tour guide, Julio, was awesome and very knowledgeable and made things interesting, but if they would make fewer stops or spend less time at each stop, I think we would have enjoyed it more. Of course someone else may have thought this was the greatest tour they’ve ever taken, so as I always say, it’s a matter of opinion.

[elsplace2]

We got back at the pier around 2:30. Shopped pier side (about 100 venders in this flea market type building.) All basically selling the same things. Supposedly fixed prices…we don’t haggle, so I’m not sure if you could talk them down.

Here's a pic of the indoor flea market/pierside. It's a little difficult to make out, it's the white building on the right.




Got back on board, and went up to grab a slice a pizza and our DOD – “Bahama Mama”. Back to room and relaxed on deck for a bit, then got ready for dinner. Again, table next to us on time! (Which from this point on they were on time.)
After dinner we went to the casino and show. Tonight’s show was Jump Jiving. Again not my cup of tea….40’s type music. But others really enjoyed it.
Walked around a bit and back to our balcony and bed.

DOD on Day 5

[elsplace2]

We pulled into port around 7:00am. Went to breakfast and met in the Victorian Lounge at 8:00am for our Shore Excursion with Carnival, “Portebelo & Gatun Locks” Again, great weather. On the bus by 8:20 and headed to the Gauton Locks…which was about a 30 minute ride. It was very interesting there, and we were lucky we got to see a ship go through the locks. We were there for about an hour.



Then headed to Portobelo which was about a 45 minute ride. This was a very poor little section. We walked around as a group and were given the history of the town, then we went into the Black Christ church…I guess there are different versions of the history of the Black Christ, because what he told us was not what I had read. Then we went to the fort area. Again given history of the forts. They had a 10 min. movie of the history of Portobelo, for ½ the group at a time, while the other half hung around the middle area there, playing with a little monkey; I got to hold the monkey, too for a minute. He was funny little guy, he kept trying to pick pocket everyone, and go through our bags etc.

Black Christ


Forts


Me and the monkey


We were there for about an hour and a half. It took about an hour to get back to the ship...got back around 1:00….went on board and grabbed a quick lunch, then back to the pier to do a little shopping. Although if I had known there were only about 4 shops there, I would have just shopped first, instead of going back on board. It looked like there would have been more than just 4 shops. Got back in the nick of time the skies opened up at 4:00pm until about 6:00pm. We were a little late departing due to one of the Carnival tours being delayed.
Pierside and shopping area

[tiggerman101]

Nice review El. It is interesting to read since we did completely different things on the cruise. It was great to meet you and Mark. Is this where I insert the pics of the two of you in your bathrobes?

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Got our DOD at 4:00 “Riviera Delight”. Oh also forgot to mention that we got our invitation for Past Cruisers party for Friday between 3:00-3:45. Dinner at 6:00…delicious as usual...walked around a bit, gave our donation to the Casino. One show tonight at 10:30, Carnival Legends. Fellow guests auditioned earlier in the week to be James Brown, Britney Spears, Elton John, etc. It was pretty good and funny at times.

DOD Day 6

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Day 7 – Friday -Sea Day
Up around 7:00….breakfast and did walking track and gym! Yep, the gym….figured after all this eating maybe I needed to a little more than walking….yeah, like one day will help! After my 20 min. workout, I was exhausted and headed to the aft deck for some rest and sun. Met up with BFF1 for some mini golf at 10:30am. Lots of fun and quite a challenge with the wind! After golf, we finally got to go down the slide a couple of times. Not that it was ever crowded there, just never got around to it. It was fun!




Went to lunch, a donation to the casino was in order. Then decided to buy the $100 certificate for a future cruise. (You get up to $200 on board credit for buying this, depending on how many days you travel. 7 day cruises are $100. The $100 you paid goes towards the down payment of your next Carnival cruise. You have up to 5 years to use it or you can get a refund if you don’t use it, but just get $ back before it expires. I believe.)
At 3:00 we went to the Victorian Lounge for Past Cruisers party...They must split up the parties because there are so many past cruisers, our BFF’s had gotten one earlier in the week, but didn’t go to that one, but then got another one for Friday at 5:00-5:45. Probably got the second one, because they didn’t go to the first one. Anyway, they walked around with pre-made drinks…then did a little speech and a slide show, on all their ships. We got 3 drinks out it, but had to hunt them down for them…for some reason, they kept missing our row….but they were not potent at all!
Met for DOD around 4:00.



Tonight was the second Formal night…everything was delicious as usual. After dinner I wanted to do the martini tasting….I guess it was bad timing because the bartender was very busy…by the time he got to me, we had to go and grab a seat for the show. Tonight’s show was Ticket to Ride…a tribute to the Beatles….really good show!! After show we walked around a bit, we met up with BFF2 at the International lounge for another Adult Comedy Show. JR McCollon. Very Funny!


Didn't a pic of BFF2....they went to their room right after dinner to get some drinks.

[dan-o 1]

We are going in Feb 2010 really enjoy reading about it from one who has been there. Will be our 4th cruise love the DOD

[elsplace2]

Day 8 – Saturday - Halloween – Sea Day
Last Day at sea. Bummer! Up around 7:00am – Did walking track, laid out a bit. Went to disembarking presentation at 11:00. Did a little shopping in Promenade Deck, no specials with the exception of a few clearance items. Went to lunch. Forgot about the last Roll Call meeting they were having at 1:00. Sorry guys! Did some packing in the afternoon. Hung out on the balcony enjoying our last day at sea. DOD at 4:00 “Ultimate Suntan” BFF1’s did the DOD’s all week with us!! Forgot about the Farewell party too.


Back to our room and watched the last sunset at sea…..BEAUTIFUL!!!



Dinner at 6:00…we all chipped in and gave an extra tip in an envelope to Chutina and Rodolfo. It was kind of sad leaving them that night.

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We walked around; it was Halloween…lots of people wearing costumes…you wonder how some of those costumes got in their suit cases. There were some awesome costumes, too. Costume contest was going to be at 10:30, so we were heading back to our room for a bit and remember I had mentioned on Day 2 that I would talk about Day 8 and meeting up with the Mom/Grandma from the pool. Well we had dodged them all week. But we were going to our room and we hopped in the elevator and there they were. Grandma and the little boy! It was so funny, DH and I immediately turned away to avoid eye contact with her, and turned our backs to her and pressed up against the button area of the elevator and stared at the buttons...I could see DH’s face in the reflexion of the button area and we both looked at each other with the “Oh crap look!” Yet, trying not to laugh at the sight of us, avoiding her. Thankfully there were a few a people on the elevator and we escaped, without injury!
Anyway, we headed back to the Victorian Lounge at 10:30 to watch the mummy wrapping and costume contest. It was fun to watch. (No we did not dress up.)
Scary costume!!


Mummy contest


Uncle Sam

[AryMay]

Enjoying your review...and especially the photos. We did this same cruise in July, but did totally different tours so it is fun to see what else there is to do.

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Day 9 – Sunday – Disembarking Day
Woke up around 5:30, because of the vibration of the ship pulling into FLL. Breakfast at 6:45…left our stuff in our room and came back and was surprised to see our room steward already pulling the sheets off and towels. He immediately left and kept apologizing…but we had our stuff all over the place so I was surprised he still came in. No big deal, because he was a sweetheart. Anyway, we picked up all our stuff, figuring he had to get the room ready for the next cruisers. So off to the Aft Deck by 7:15am. We ran into BFF1 and BFF2 around 8:00. (We were on one side they were on the other and we didn’t realize it. The plan was just to meet at the airport if we don’t run into each other in the morning) We were in no big hurry anyway; our flight wasn’t until 3:00. We were #12. BFF1 #11, BFF2 #19. There are 35 zones. They called our number around 9:30am. Once out in the street, to the left, there were plenty of cabs and shuttles waiting. Very organized. We got our own cab, because our BFF’s got off at different times, but it was only $14.50 plus tip. Shuttles were $11 per person. We were at the airport by 10:00am. A warning to those of you flying Southwest….seems to be a very popular airline. At one point at 10:15am there looked to be over 100 people in line! (We had to wait anyway, because you cannot check in if your flight was more than 4 hours away.)
Well I guess that should cover it…..sorry this was a little longer than I expected, but I know I liked to read as much as possible, when I was researching. I hope your cruise is as wonderful as ours was! Happy sailing!! Alaska here we come!!!

[bobandkelly]

Great Review! Thanks for taking the time to post it. We are going on the Freedom in June 2010. Now I'm even more looking forward to it!

[elsplace2]

Hi David,

Funny about inserting the pic with the robes....actually it is a cool pic with that sunrising or setting in the background...can't remember what time of day that was. I was going to insert you and Wade, but I wasn't sure if you would have wanted me too, seeing you just got up!

[elsplace2]

Originally Posted by bobandkelly

Great Review! Thanks for taking the time to post it. We are going on the Freedom in June 2010. Now I'm even more looking forward to it!

You will love it! I didn't want to get off!