Freedom 12/9 Notes/Tips

Got back yesterday from the Freedom Casino Ultra Cruise out of Galveston and I45 just before Huntsville was closed (both directions) and it took me 3 to 4 hours to creep thru and I was too tired last night but thought Id put out some review notes.

Priority Embarkation they called for all the diamonds, and a huge group got up to board and some lady kept yelling for people to sit down for sure all the people who jumped to line up were NOT diamonds, go sit down.

Turns out she was wrong, there were 101 diamonds, over 300 platinum and add in FTTF there were about 550 priority guests.

Cozumel the water was choppy and they cancelled all the water excursions thru Carnival. Those not thru Carnival IDK. I heard a first time cruiser say she liked to plan and everything she planned was getting cancelled.

Shops were supposed to open at 6:30, and people wanted to gamble and we were still docked. The chicken itza (sp) excursion I talked to a few people on it, the boat got 50 yards from shore and one said the motor quit and another said the boat would just go in circles. It took about a hour and a half to rescue them. We pulled away from the dock shortly before 8 pm. I always tell people doing ruins which always are far away to use Carnival. This was one time it was the boat, not the bus that broke down. I heard a mexican family of 5 got lucky who were late back to the ship and got on who wouldnt have made it had we left on time. ... but its a lesson for newbies, ... if your excursion is far, use Carnival not a private excursion.

Belize I KNEW better, did it once before about 10 years ago, but sat on the top not under the canopy in the full wind. It was 68 degrees. my hair was so tangled it took me 15 minutes to get out the knots ... note to self, never again. and it was so cold, i was dying to change seats. But figured there was probably a rule about changing seats while the boat was moving. But it was a cold miserable tender. I felt bad. One lady waiting said she prepaid for a private excursion $200 for the two of them and was going to meet and ask how much of it was in the water, she didnt want to get in the water with the air temp 68 degrees. This wasnt the day for tubing or wanting to jump in the water. Still windy.

Roatan still cool but not awful early on. But the first rain drops were hitting by Noon, and more rain in the afternoon. But I got my hand rolled cigars and my pottery and other stuff I wanted to shop for in all my ports, but it was a cold cruise.

The onboard shop guy told me I could bring back up to a gallon of booze duty and tax free. I had not cruised in a while so I also went to the debarkation talk by the cruise director. Steve from Canada? was the CD and he told me he thought it was a gallon, but that there was a form the cabin stewards would be putting in the room with specifics. Turned out bad information. Out of galveston every bottle and every carton of cigarettes is now taxed, i have the form here if someone wants the exact figures. I think the 1 liter is $3.95 for each liter, I was confused by the form, kept trying to figure out where to put the free stuff. My cabin steward too was confused when i asked him for the form, he told me to go to guest services. I said the CD just told me you had the forms. My cabin steward was wonderfull thru out. big kudous. But I think the CD if he is giving the debarkation talk should read the form himself unless he was just a fill in and know the limits. I went up to him afterwards and stood in line to ask him about the limits which he was so vague on. Said read the form, it explains all basically. IMO he should read it and know what the rules out of Galveston were.

The Maitre D also was charming and wonderful. I had asked on here if you could still order the indian food 24 hours in advance and was told no since its now on the menu. He said you can still order the meat version 24 hours in advance and offered to do it for me any night, just come ask for him. He came thru the buffet and talked to me at least 3 times. I thought the staff was great.

Its only the vegetarian Indian food you can no longer order 24 hours in advance....so Im putting this up as a correction to info I had gotten before my cruise on another threat.

The last day at sea stormed and I guess there was a general announcement to stay inside if you could and not cross the wet pool deck and use the handrails. I was a bit seasick and missed the annoucement. Movies under the stars, were good but cold. I saw 3 of the singing and dancing shows. All pretty good. There was a blond guy who I enjoyed watching him dance and what hair do he would do, he changed every time I saw him. But he cant sing. Drawback to making dancers also sing, his voice mediocre at best. But I enjoyed his dancing so no biggie, The other brown haired male singer was just such a big voice for a little compact body that the difference was obvious.

Debarkation was a tad late, I think they announced they lost some time in the storm on Friday, but not too bad, FTTF, then the diamonds had their own place to sit, then platinum. Since it ran a tad late, and with about 550 priority people on board, still went pretty smoothly ... if only I45 hadnt been closed to use back hoes in the medium, would have been home much earlier, and not had to drive thru downtown Dallas in the rain at 5 pm. Any questions, ask away. I was glad to see they added ceasar salad back to the pizza bar. Some old things like that have come back I was happy with. This was mostly just a warning there is no duty free booze or cigarettes out of Galveston any more and the people in the shops and the CD are giving out bad info. lol and dont be stupid like me and sit in the open top part of the first tender out on a cold morning. duh. Coldest cruise I can ever remember taking.

Thanks for the good details and useful information, Fly. Did you see any passengers using large electrical appliances? j/k :) Good to see you here on the Carnival board.

lol well i saw a lot of wheelchairs and distilled water, i assume cpap machines, but didnt see any in use. Yep Im the one who had a extension cord confiscated. hahahahahahha

I also heard some say the ultra casino cruise wasnt worth it, they probably wouldnt do it again. idk, but the cold weather maybe didnt help but maybe they also lost money also saw someone who won a dell computer who traded with another lady for a samsung phone, some nice prizes, and a lady who said she won $1000. Someone sniffed and said well someone else won $30k, lol idk.

lol well i saw a lot of wheelchairs and distilled water, i assume cpap machines, but didnt see any in use. Yep Im the one who had a extension cord confiscated. hahahahahahha

You still have fans here with long memories ;)

Thanks for the tips.

I looked up the state rules on "duty-free" alcohol out of Galveston: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/poe/tax_rates.asp

Surprised that the fee for miniatures under 2 oz is $3.25, the same fee for a fifth of wine or a 6-pack of beer!

Guess if I want to buy a 6 pk sampler of rums, I'll just buy them back home for a lower price!

Questions on the ship...We'll be on in 3 wks. and it's our first Carnival in years.

Who is the CD? Other than the production shows, what options are there for live music? What were your impressions of the dining venues? What were your favorite meal choices? What were some of the specials offered in the Fun Times? Do they have daily drink specials/prices?

There were actually 3 post made about I-45 during the trip on FB....sorry you didn't see them.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forums mobile app

Appreciate the feedback.

Thank you for your report. Welcome home.

Keith

The Maitre D also was charming and wonderful. I had asked on here if you could still order the indian food 24 hours in advance and was told no since its now on the menu. He said you can still order the meat version 24 hours in advance and offered to do it for me any night, just come ask for him. He came thru the buffet and talked to me at least 3 times. I thought the staff was great.

 

Its only the vegetarian Indian food you can no longer order 24 hours in advance....so Im putting this up as a correction to info I had gotten before my cruise on another threat.

Hey Firefly, I'd like to hear more about the Indian food and sort of confused. I thought there was a vegetarian Indian food option every night on the menu. Are there other Indian options? What are they? And what's meat is in the meat version? Really curious here. Thanks.

I saw some drink specials in the Red Frog Pub on deck 5, $2 off a drink and $1 off some food.

The Indian food you preorder the maitre d said they would be serving curry, and i know there is always a indian bread that changes, and a couple of other items. Im not sure what meat, chicken?

I did mongolian wok the first day before it got so crowded, other days I wasnt willing to bother.

The BBQ up a deck on deck 10, up the back steps where the old fish and chips used to be was excellent. I noticed a lot of crew members ate up there as well. I only had the chicken and the pulled pork, not the beef. Both were good and they have 3 sauces you can put in ramekins to put on. You can ask for bread and make a sandwich or just eat it alone. I loved all the sides surprisingly. hand made cole slaw was better than downstairs, maybe a mayo base, not vinegar like on the buffet. The beans were kinda hot but tasty, but hot hot hot. I think they put in coarse pepper perhaps or they might have had a touch of jalepeno. something made them hot. Everyone told me the mac and cheese was to die for. Im not a pasta eater but i had it, had to try it lol. They said it has 3 kinds of cheese, a kinda white cheese blend. One guy said he asked, no velvetta, real cheese. That was everyones favorite. And the potato salad was surprisingly good, better than my moms. It had wedges of potato, like they sliced a baked potato with lots of stuff on top to make it tasty. Obviously it was about my favorite Though of course the hamburgers were good and my 2nd favorite, and open until 6 pm. the BBQ closed at 3:30 pm

The pizza station as i mentioned they brought back the ceasar salad as a option. I was up during the night more than once, so except for room service was the only choice. I thought the guy making pizza didnt take pride in his work. 2 out of 3 times i had NO cheese on a piece of pizza, i guess he puts on a few blobs and doesnt bother to try to put them on evenly, just how it gets cut you might or might not get a shred of cheese on a piece. And it wasnt like at 2 or 3 am he was that busy he couldnt take the time. One of the 3 times the crust was like a rock. I said something to him and he remade it with more cheese and then half cooked it. That wasnt what i wanted either. I just wanted ordinary cheese and cooked so the crust wasnt so hard like a rock you couldnt bite into it. Id say that was the dissapoitment food wise.

The eggs station in the morning opens at 7 on port days and 7:30 am on sea days and never had to wait very long. I had them make eggs, im pretty sure the scrambled eggs on the buffet are made from a box and eggs out of a gallon box dont taste the same as individual eggs to me. thumbs up

You still have fans here with long memories ;)

I heart you

It never occured to me to check fb for road closures for the drive home. And im driving by myself. If i had someone in the passenger seat yea i know there are apps and stuff to check, but i dont know how people do that and drive. I dont know if i was in a hole or not. I called my mom on my "smart" phone twice and she couldnt really hear me. I had to wait until I inched ahead to a better area and called her a 3rd tiime when i got away from the parks area. Im not good with tech.

I barely used the app, i had a 11 1/2 inch tablet i had the hub app on but didnt want to drag it around on the ship. But Friday another lady opened her app up in the buffet where we all had missed lunch so had hamburgers and the seas had settled down a bit and when you open it, it tells you what the temp is onboard right when you open it. It said it was 46 degrees at about 3:30 pm in the afternoon if that gives you a idea why Im saying it was COLD.

I will say they had the back pool covered so that area wasnt so bad.

The night between cozumel and belize i was up during the night and the waves in the pool in the middle was so big they would crash on the end of the pool.

I got to see a couple of times the lifeguards doing laps and stuff with relays a couple of nights, i counted 16 lifeguards. I didnt even know we had life guards lol.

The cruise and staff were about as good as you can get, just was a bit cold, not good for water stuff. I felt bad for those who booked things like tubing and snorkeling I talked to one guy who wanted to cancel and was past the cancel window, was already the day of .. I told him I heard of one guy who had managed to cancel because they were sick. He said he had someone sick in his family he was going to try that. Who wants in a river or in the water in belize when the outside temp is only 68 and the wind is blowing.

But overall I was pleased with the cruise.

I seem to have forgotten how to upload photos from my device to here, keeps asking me for a url.

Anyway, I have a photo of the further away duty free liquor store in cozumel. The one about 4 blocks of stores away, not the one nearest the ship I went into with the idea of buying some scotch and checking the price of a bottle I bought onboard.

I drag out my 11 1/2 inch tablet, hard to hide lol. And some employee said the manager has a policy that you arent allowed to take pictures of the prices. I was like come on, he stood there dancing in front between me and the prices. I bought a bottle of Macallan scotch onboard for 76.77 and it was 69.99 there. You know how they tell you onboard you can price match.

Well, it turned out ok, the other duty free store that you walk thru as you get off the ship let me take a picture of the bottle and price. I heard in the onboard store same thing. like no big deal, the one store allows it. Still was annoying, as of course I wouldnt have played with the guy dancing in front of me in the other store had I known, would have gone to the other one in the first place. I found Glenlivit 2 for $88 I was tempted to buy and same was 2 for $86 in Roatan. The cheapest onboard was about $53, maybe 52.99, this was before I knew each bottle would be charged duty. I dont know if they would have matched the 2 for price if you bought 2 onboard or not?? onboard was a price per bottle. in drurys or whatever their name was it was priced 2 fer. Im going to ask next time if they would price match if you buy 2 or just buy them in port.

The Macallan was the expensive bottle i was price matching for $7 cheaper in Cozumel port. I wish I could post the picture here of the store employee dancing and standing there i got his picture lol.

Id asked here about scoth prices is why im listing a few because the pictures people posted had few prices.

The Glenmorangie ORIGINAL (there was at least one more or two more Glenmorangie in the onboard store for more $) was the only bottle with a price on it onboard in a whole row of different scotches, the rest had no price posted. I find that curious lol. I got the Glenmorangie original (the cheapest of that kind) for 45.99. which was about $53 in Cozumel. so just the opposite, more expensive in the port.

They had the MacAllister in 1 liter in the green bottle I bought and a regular sized bottle, not the 1 liter in red that is the aged i think 13 years, but it was around $176, Im sure the friends will be happy with the Macallan select oak. The guy said it was aged 5 to 10 years.

I find it odd that only one bottle in the row of good scotches had a price below it on the ship. They had some cheap brands and some more expensive in the 2 rows below the row I was interested in (I was sent with some specific names all of which they had). They had a 13 year old scotch 2 for $40 but it wasnt a single malt.

They also had I think its Johnny walker?? on special, but it to isnt a single malt i was looking for, but the black was 2 for $70 and the double black was 2 for $80, or a single bottle of the double was i believe $50.99 so a decent deal if thats what you wanted.

But the guys i know would rather have had the 2 for $86 on the Glenlivit. (not sure thats spelled right). Funny the guy who posted pictures of the fun shop prices the scotch prices were missing, and on my cruise they were still pretty much missing on all but the Glenmorangie Original. One oriental lady was looking with me and she thought since there was only one price tag, any bottle was that 45.99, i said no it only is that one bottle of original. lol. curious though that you have to ask for prices.

no point in getting cheap bottles to me if they are going to charge the same duty tax per bottle no matter what you get, might as well get the good stuff. But i got home with my cigars and scotch. I got the hand rolled ones in roatan, the biggest size they came down to $25 for 7,and the next size they sold me for $20. I got the size down because the wrappers were much darker. I paid $26 for cubans which might or might not be cubans, someone else paid $10 for them in belize outside the port but I didnt go outside the port since I was alone, and find them pushy. The guys will try them and be able to tell if they are real or not.

The cruise director told me you can bring back 50 cigars. strangely enough cigars were not on the form for tax, only cigarettes and booze though. I can make a ss of the form for the duty fees, but dont remember how to post it in my replies here. sorry They told me the no more one gallon for no duty tax changed just this year. I still think the cruise director should know the rules and not tell people wrong or say go read the form. Not if he is the one giving the debarkation talk. shame on him for not knowing. The guys working in the shops also told me the gallon rule. Thats why Im posting here dont believe them. Its per bottle, no free ones any more out of Galveston, but still my room steward was excellent, and other staff, no complaints otherwise. good cruise. be sure and get to the BBQ

The white henessy someone suggested was only on sale if you bought 6 then it was $40 per bottle, i didnt want 6, if you just buy one it was like close to $55 per bottle, so i didnt get that.