!*! FREEDOM !*! Southern Caribbean 6/22/14 -Heavy on photos of 2.0 upgrades & menu

That would be a no. While it would be an awesome trip, my wife can not get vacation at that time. I am just disappointed that she will be leaving South Florida, which is much easier to get to (for me) and has more interesting itineraries. I know that she will be replaced in FLL with the Conquest, but the Conquest does not have the Serenity Area or Red Frog Pub!

We are sorry to see her go also, love to cruise from FL as the itin's are great. Hopefully Conquest will get 2.0 also.

Ontario cruiser guessed it!

That is on the bucket list...a repo cruise. Do you know who the cruise director will be? They could make it a fun cruise!

Haven't looked to see yet.

We are sorry to see her go also, love to cruise from FL as the itin's are great. Hopefully Conquest will get 2.0 also.

Wow after checking seems Conquest got 2.0 in 2012, bummer that not everything was done. Loved Serenity on Freedom and Miracle.

I realized I did not have a good shot of the EA Sports Bar for you. We are not a sports loving family (don't judge...we do a lot of crafting to make up for it). It is by the Fun Shops. This is what I got...

I can tell you, the wall the door is on is the bar wall. It is COVERED in screens showing a lot of sports. They have video games that play sport games (they may have Zelda or Animal Crossing, IDK - but I think you would get evicted if you tried to play that). Just kidding. It is a fun-looking bright space to watch sports. Apparently, just not the World Cup.

While wandering around before dinner, we saw a hubbub in the hallway. Turned out, the Captain was walking around with some other staff members. I have never seen this happen on other cruises; I am sure it does. I broke out of my shell and requested a photo with the girls; he graciously complied....

Captain Donato is on the left; I am sure the other guys are important...But I did not catch their names. Anyone?

Next: MDR dinner

This is the mini stage area they have in the Red Frog Pub. Currently being used for Karaoke (still the old machine with pages and pages of songs to look through). I hear they are phasing in the karaoke upgrades throughout the fleet. Freedom is still waiting for that to happen!

We've never been to any of the Karaoke but thought we might on our upcoming cruise. Is this area non-smoking?

WOW!! This is a great Review and pictures!! Thanks for taking the time to post all this great information!

Great review and photos, thanks!

Great Review, We go in September. Thanks

Great Review, We go in September. Thanks

And I'm sailing the Freedom 12/13/14. Thanks for the pics!!!!

(Anyone else sailing Dec 13 please join the roll call).

We've never been to any of the Karaoke but thought we might on our upcoming cruise. Is this area non-smoking?

Yes the international lounge where most of the karaoke is held is smoke free. Very fun time listening to fellow passengers. Enjoy!

Thanks for the wonderful review! Will be going on the Freedom in November--it'll be my 4th time on this ship, but the first time with the 2.0 upgrades. Looking forward to the rest of your review--especially the food porn!

We've never been to any of the Karaoke but thought we might on our upcoming cruise. Is this area non-smoking?

Yes, this is a non-smoking area. I think they do it in other areas too. It will be in your funtimes!!! :)

WOW!! This is a great Review and pictures!! Thanks for taking the time to post all this great information!

Thanks...It's my first, so be gentle with me! LOL

Great Review, We go in September. Thanks

Jealous...should be a good time. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the wonderful review! Will be going on the Freedom in November--it'll be my 4th time on this ship, but the first time with the 2.0 upgrades. Looking forward to the rest of your review--especially the food porn!

I realized how many pictures I have and thought people would get sick of food porn! I really bugged my family with those pics!

I realized how many pictures I have and thought people would get sick of food porn! I really bugged my family with those pics!

Please keep the food porn pics coming. I love them. My next cruise will be on the Freedom; will be my third time on this ship. Both previous times were before the 2.0, so I'm really interested in the changes, especially the food changes. I'm really enjoying your review.

And I'm sailing the Freedom 12/13/14. Thanks for the pics!!!!

 

(Anyone else sailing Dec 13 please join the roll call).

Want to stow away on these upcoming cruises.... I am sure they have enough food, it's just that pesky paperwork...and security...and... LOL

At work...will post another when I get home. :rolleyes:

Great pics. We were on the Freedom right before dry dock. What a difference. Looks awesome.

Great pics. We were on the Freedom right before dry dock. What a difference. Looks awesome.

Was kind of curious to talk with someone about what they changed, besides the major stuff; like carpeting here....statues of mermaids here....etc!

5:45 – Chic Dining Room. Our waiter was Danny who tried hard, but just didn’t entertain as well as Alex who spoiled us on embarkation day. NOT that their job is to entertain... they do enough... but I think you know what I mean.

Dinner itself was okay; nothing phantasmagorical. Forced everyone to wait again while I snapped food porn shots…

I am sorry that all my menu pictures are yukky, I was a bit self-conscious about taking them ( I don't know why ) and just snapped them as fast as I could sneak them in.

Greek Farmers Salad

Spicy Alligator Fritters

Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms

Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp

Barbequed St. Louis Style Port Ribs

Seared Fillet of Redfish

MDR wait staff singing for us.

Fruit and Cheese Plate

Cannot remember the name (and did not get dessert menu photo) I do remember it was good, crispy wafers and soft innards made it hard to cut, but it tasted good!

Cherries Jubilee. I actually laughed when I saw it; very sad looking - but it was good!

p.s. I literally have a picture of EVERYONE'S dinner, but I thought that would get boring....if you DO want to see them, let me know and I will start including them. With seven of us, we usually tried most of the items on the menu!

7:45 – Victorian Lounge. They changed the planned show of “88 Keys” to “Getaway Island” due to technical difficulties. It was another good show with good use of the large screens.

You had to wear 3D glasses and this snap turned out so funny...

We left a little early to do some Pub Trivia (which we lost, as the hostess gave points for flirting with her and creative answers (yes, I was a little bitter LOL, I wanted a SOS!). Took a couple for pics for you of the Freedom. I had not been on Freedom before this trip, so I don’t know what they upgraded/fixed/fancied up…but I tried to get pics of all the 2.0 upgrade stuff (over the course of several days LOL).

Had to get a few minutes of Seth in...

9:00 – Stateroom. Packed up our travel bags and snorkel stuff for our first port in the morning…Grand Turk!

9:30 – Lido Deck. pizza. And here is the Deli menu choices:

10:30 – Balcony; chatting up my sister.

11:30 – Bed

Day 3: June 24 Grand Turk

7:00 – Stateroom. Up and docked in Grand Turk

We planned to be off the ship by 8:15, we were walking off the gangway by 8:45; not to bad for 6 females and one guy!

We were at Jack’s Shack by 9:10 (some people ask if it is a strenuous walk…no, you can take it leisurely and be there in 15-20 minutes. It is hard to walk on the sand…we had heard that the road ran behind the beach but…never found that.

The water is pretty clear here; not a lot of fish seen.

We had a great time at Jack’s. If you order something, they let you use the beach chairs and umbrellas.

We spotted Rufus first (purple collar, Queenie pink collar), who actually dug out a crab!! Freaked me out and I screamed like a girl! Topher was in front of Jack’s as usual, digging to China!

Topher; standing in water - checking out the fish

Topher; hogging the raft.

We had many drinks and tried the Turks Lager, Jerk Chicken and Conch Fritters. The chicken was very good, spicy on the outside and moist inside. I don’t really like sea floor food (shrimp, lobster, etc); the conch was okay, just more chewy than I thought it would be; the breading was good!