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

[092306]

Sorry but I have one last question for you. I was wondering how long of a ride is it to the village and then to the locks. I know you said in the review how long the excursion it is, but I read somewhere that the ride was like two hours and I was wondering if that was true ot not. Thank you.

[elsplace2]

Originally Posted by 092306

Sorry but I have one last question for you. I was wondering how long of a ride is it to the village and then to the locks. I know you said in the review how long the excursion it is, but I read somewhere that the ride was like two hours and I was wondering if that was true ot not. Thank you.

Ask away! I have no problems answering any questions! No it was definitily not 2 hours from the locks to Portobelo, it was only about 45 min.....I have read that it took 2 hrs to get to some places as well, but I can't remember which places...I believe the ferry ride was one of them, the bus ride to the ferries, but I don't know for sure maybe even the ocean to ocean, when taking the train one way and the bus back which may have been 2 hrs....but again, I'm not sure where I read it....I'm just sure it was not 2 hrs for us!

[kdoodle22]

Originally Posted by NJDeb2

We had room 7445 this past summer. You are going to love it! Even tho the cruise deck plans say it is 185sq ft, the room seems so much bigger, Its the way the bed and the furniture is set up. The bathroom is not in the hall like most balcony rooms. It is by the door to the balcony. There is planty of storage and lots of floor space. There is no sofa only a chair and table.
The balcony really has to be seen. It had 3 chairs, 1 lounge chair and 2 tables. We spent so much time out there especially in the evenings. Felt as if we had a large part of the ship just for us. We also had the L shaped room next to it and had the partition opened. Another great room with a very large balcony. Between the 2 rooms it was amazing.

Enjoy your cruise and your great room!!

NJDeb,

Thanks for your post. I'm so glad that you liked the room. I'm so excited! We have friends that will be next to us in room 7447, not the L- shaped room, but on the other side of you. Did you happen to notice if you can open the partition on that side? My PVP said you could, but the websites that tell about the floorplans said that they don't connect. I was hoping that they do.

Thanks,
Kim

[SeafordCruiser]

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Freedom in February. I was curious about your mentioning lounge hogs. On RCCL security removes the towels etc if there unattended for over an hour or so. Do they do that on Carnival or do we have to be early risers? Thanks again...

[elsplace2]

Originally Posted by SeafordCruiser

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Freedom in February. I was curious about your mentioning lounge hogs. On RCCL security removes the towels etc if there unattended for over an hour or so. Do they do that on Carnival or do we have to be early risers? Thanks again...

We spent all of our pool time in the aft, so I'm not sure if they did it on the Lido deck....but NO security did not remove towels/books etc. if they were unattended, not that we saw, it could have happened and I wasn't there.....security seemed to be back there, most of the time, so if you notice a chair being unattended for more then an hour, I'm sure if you bring it up to them they will take care of it for you.
Around 9:00 am there are still plenty of chairs....around 10:00 am it seems to start getting tougher to find them. But again that's in the aft.

[nicoletta]

We will be in the same cruise over Thanksgiving. Where are you guys going in Costa Rica and in Panama. We are a family of 4 (2 Adults and 2 children 7 & 9) and we still don't know what to do. Definetely not into cruise excursions plus I speak Spanish, do you have some plans? Let me know, thank you.

[elsplace2]

Originally Posted by nicoletta

We will be in the same cruise over Thanksgiving. Where are you guys going in Costa Rica and in Panama. We are a family of 4 (2 Adults and 2 children 7 & 9) and we still don't know what to do. Definetely not into cruise excursions plus I speak Spanish, do you have some plans? Let me know, thank you.

Hi Nicoletta,
I'm not sure who you are refering this question to when you ask the question in a future tense. As far as our excursions.....Costa Rica, the Caribbean train, boat and bus ride would probably be too boring for them, and the Gatun Locks, I think would be interesting for them in Panama. This itinerary, I don't think is too geared for kids....maybe someone who has been on this itinerary with children, may be able to answer that for you? Our cruise did not have many children at all...maybe because it was a Halloween cruise and most kids would rather be home, or because of the itinerary. Not sure, but I heard there was only about 400 kids, if even....I hardly saw any of them!

[nybumpkin]

Originally Posted by nicoletta

We will be in the same cruise over Thanksgiving. Where are you guys going in Costa Rica and in Panama. We are a family of 4 (2 Adults and 2 children 7 & 9) and we still don't know what to do. Definetely not into cruise excursions plus I speak Spanish, do you have some plans? Let me know, thank you.

We did this itinerary (Costa Maya in place of Cozumel, though) with our sons in 2007 - they were then 16, 11 and 7. We go to Paradise Beach when we visit Cozumel - the kids love it. In Limon, we did the bus, boat and train tour and the kids enjoyed it - but they love boats and trains anyway. They liked looking for wildlife along the Tortuguero Canal. In Colon, we did My Friend Mario's Gatun Locks and Beach Break tour and they still talk about this one. The beach is very rustic - no water toys or activities like parasailing - but the water's very nice. And the kids had a great time at the canal - but like I said, they love boats. (Oldest son is now a student at the US Merchant Marine Academy - he's learning to do this for a living!)

[elsplace2]

Originally Posted by nybumpkin

We did this itinerary (Costa Maya in place of Cozumel, though) with our sons in 2007 - they were then 16, 11 and 7. We go to Paradise Beach when we visit Cozumel - the kids love it. In Limon, we did the bus, boat and train tour and the kids enjoyed it - but they love boats and trains anyway. They liked looking for wildlife along the Tortuguero Canal. In Colon, we did My Friend Mario's Gatun Locks and Beach Break tour and they still talk about this one. The beach is very rustic - no water toys or activities like parasailing - but the water's very nice. And the kids had a great time at the canal - but like I said, they love boats. (Oldest son is now a student at the US Merchant Marine Academy - he's learning to do this for a living!)

Thanks for helping Nicoletta out on this question.....it is so hard to give advice on tours....like for instance our BFF1 did not like the train or boat at all! I think if they could have grabbed a cab home they would have. We liked it but it was hot and they did spend alot of time looking for a sloth.

[cruisedrew]

Great review!
We are also on the thanksgiving Freedom cruise: Travelin' Turkeys!
One thing that made me very very sad...
Reading about the last day of your cruise!
I hate those days!
lol
deep sadness!

[elsplace2]

Yes it is deep sadness, knowing your cruise is over....especially when we saw our final sunset!!

[Nanatravel]

Thanks Els for a good detailed review. Hope you can take time to put it all together and post it in the Members review section for all future Freedom cruisers to enjoy.

You will love Alaska, too but it's an entirely different sailing experience.

Bon Voyage
Nanatravel

[spotter27]

Great review.Thanks for all the pictures.I sail on her Dec.19th cant wait.