Just back from 2 weeks on the Freedom part 2

Hello Again. I really wish I was a better writer and took more comprehensive notes so my reviews might be a little better. I started to but then decided I wasn't really wanting to mske this a job. Instead I'm just going to cover the high points as best as I can.

Embarcation Day:

Getting aboard was pretty painless. We purchased FTTF and in my eyes it was worth it. Just being able to go to our cabin immediately made it great. Put away our carry-ons and headed upstairs for a bite to eat. When we got back our luggage was there. Put away everything and relaxed a little, did some exploring, got a drink at the Red Frog Rum Bar and made our way to the Lido deck aft pool. That's the 18 and older pool where we would spend much of our time for the next two weeks. It was getting pretty close to Muster drill so we headed back to our cabin. When the "alarm" sounded we did our duty and headed to our station G. I've seen Muster drills go back and forth over the 15 years we have been cruising. I do like that you go to your actual station as opposed to gathering in some lounge. Yes, it's kinda hot in Galveston in the summer but I think the drills are important.

After the drill we went back to the Red Frog for another rum. I really wish they had a wider variety of rums. It's billed as a rum bar for goodness sake. Not everyone drinks sweet, flavored Bacardi crap rums. How about several quality dark rums. Sorry, got off on a rant there.

Ended up at the 'adult pool" had a few drinks, met some great folks. I sort of like the energy of the midship Lido Pool, but my wife hates the crowd, loud music and the high volume of kids. Being a wise husband of 34 years I pick my battles. My compromise is to get most of my drinks from the Red Frog. Andi and the other guys there got to know me pretty quickly.

Sea Days

I love that this cruise had 3 full sea days. For us this cruise was all about relaxing together. The last 7 months have been tough. I put my wife through some very scary times by getting very sick after my surgery. On a happier note both our sons have become fathers in the last 3 months.We've spent almost every free weekend since March visiting one grand baby or another. Add usual job and life strains on top of that and we were both pretty strung out by the time this cruise finally happened. So this was all about relaxation. We did that by spending our Sea Days at the adult pool. Typical day for us was for me to sleep in until 0545 or so and head to the gym while my wife slept in a bit more. We'd grab a little breakfast and head to the adult pool to read, swim, drink and chat with other folks there.

Roatan, Honduras

Ok , I'll just start by saying we didn't exactly hit the great excursion lottery on this trip. I'm sure you will do more research and do better.

We pre-booked the Extreme Ziplining and beach break. It was our first experience with a Zip Line and it was pretty fun. There wasn't much extreme about it. The lines were higher and ran farther than the other one offered by Carnival but that was about it. It's considered "strenuous" by CCL but about the toughest thing you do is walk up some steps a a bit of an incline. All that aside it was fun and our guides were entertaining. The last line takes you back to Carnival's beach area which is pretty nice. There are numerous restaurants and bars there. The food and drinks are overpriced but the drinks are pretty strong. It was just nice to be relaxing on a beach with a drink in my hand and very few cares of the world.

Belize

Yeah, we really blew it here. We knew we wanted to snorkel here. Belize is famous for diving and snorkeling. We booked the Shark, Ray Alley and Island Getaway.IMHO, it was a bust. After tendering in on a long slow tender ride we were off to our excursion. After a very long ride on a local boat with very uncomfortable seats we get to our snorkel site, along with a hundred or more other people in many other boats. Rays and nurse sharks were the attraction but with so many other people in the water, many wearing fins against the advice of the guides the water was clouded with stirred up sand and visibility was not good.

Next we were off to our "Island Getaway" another long boat ride to Caye Caulker. We were steered to a certain restaurant on the pretense that "Service is slow on this island and because of a special arrangement with this restaurant we can call in our orders ahead of time." Yeah, whatever.. The food wasn't too bad, but sort of pricey. As I said before, food isn't a big deal to us. Drinks were ok, service was a little sullen though. Not much else to do on Caye Caulker. It seems to be mostly guest cottages , restaurants and beach bars.

Despite all my grousing, I'd go back to both port stops, next time hoping for better excursions. I'd almost certainly book from sources other than CCL.

Cozumel

We've been here 7 or 8 times, know our way around and didn't need CCL excursions. Since we knew we would be back in a week on our second trip we didn't worry about trying to do it all in one day. We had pre booked a private day resort called Nachi Cocom. We love Nachi. The price is right, the food is good. There aren't any or at least many children and they limit the number of guests each day. We spent the day relaxing, swimming, drinking... You know, vacation stuff. 😉. After Nachi we just got back on the ship and spent sail away at, you guessed it, the adult pool on deck 9.

Well, that's gotta wrap up Part 2.

Next time I'll cover turn around day and the ports from our second week; Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and , of course, Cozumel 2.

Let me give you a hint. Cayman and Coz 2 were mostly about jewelry shopping for my wife.😱

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing the Freedom in October and also visiting these same ports. We have a private tour planned for Roatan. Our previous private tour was awesome!!

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing the Freedom in October and also visiting these same ports. We have a private tour planned for Roatan. Our previous private tour was awesome!!

We have done 6 tours with Victor Bodden, really enjoyed,his house neat, tell the driver where you want to go,41/2 to 5 hours, eat @ West End. Reasonable.