REVIEW of Carnival Freedom 8 Day Western to Panama 1/15 to 1/23

[Iron Horse]

Thanks so much Nancy for this wonderful review! My husband and I are doing this same cruise leaving April 9, and your wonderful review made me even more anxious for April! We plan to take the carnival Panama tour, glad to hear that it was a good choice. And I'm going to look into the Okey Doke tours too. I also have walking issues so your review was helpful there too. Thanks again so much.:)

[BarbG]

Thanks for the review and pictures..we'll be doing this cruise in October

[SMSACE6]

Thankyou for the excellent review with photos. I enjoyed this same intinerary on the Freedom last September. Your photos made me feel I was back on board again.:)

[Julitta]

Just thought you'd like to know this review has probably helped us pick out our next ship. Still don't know if it will be this itinerary or one of the others but I think the Freedom is for us! :)

[Prphan2]

[quote name='Iron Horse']Thanks so much Nancy for this wonderful review! My husband and I are doing this same cruise leaving April 9, and your wonderful review made me even more anxious for April! We plan to take the carnival Panama tour, glad to hear that it was a good choice. And I'm going to look into the Okey Doke tours too. I also have walking issues so your review was helpful there too. Thanks again so much.:)[/quote]


Have you joined our rollcall? Judging from the growing list for of those planning on meeting after sailaway, we have quite a nice sized group.:)

***I just checked and you are on the rollcall! It looks like we have a great group of people...I can't wait!

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Iron Horse']Thanks so much Nancy for this wonderful review! My husband and I are doing this same cruise leaving April 9, and your wonderful review made me even more anxious for April! We plan to take the carnival Panama tour, glad to hear that it was a good choice. And I'm going to look into the Okey Doke tours too. I also have walking issues so your review was helpful there too. Thanks again so much.:)[/quote]

It was my pleasure. I hope you enjoy your cruise in April.

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='BarbG']Thanks for the review and pictures..we'll be doing this cruise in October[/quote]

You're welcome. It was a great cruise Hope you enjoy yours in October.

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='sparky8']Thankyou for the excellent review with photos. I enjoyed this same intinerary on the Freedom last September. Your photos made me feel I was back on board again.:)[/quote]


You're welcome. It was fun reliving it as I was writing this review.

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Julitta']Just thought you'd like to know this review has probably helped us pick out our next ship. Still don't know if it will be this itinerary or one of the others but I think the Freedom is for us! :)[/quote]

Awesome. Glad I could help. I think you will really like it. All the itineraries are wonderful. Happy cruising.

[Crusin Hogs]

[quote name='hobbyhrs97']Great review so far Nancy.. I still have to finish mine , but can not find it. Your Panama tour review is way different from mine! I was on the over crowded secong ferry and hated every second of it!:mad:[/quote]

I was in downtown Panama City , very crowded

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Crusin Hogs']I was in downtown Panama City , very crowded[/quote]

How was that excursion?

[Crusin Hogs]

[quote name='mosaic_mom']You're exactly right. The Freedom is too wide by 6 ft. They explained that to us on the excursion. However, when the new part of the canal is finished, it should fit just fine in there. But it costs the cruise company a fortune to go through the Panama Canal.[/quote]

Nancy , our tour stopped at the Gatun Locks that morning , We saw
the Star go thru those locks , The Man at the Locks point out
things about the lock sayed , The Star payed $ 420,000 to pass
thru the canal , The 1st boat thru I belive it was 1916 payed .16 cents
to pass thru!

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Crusin Hogs']Nancy , our tour stopped at the Gatun Locks that morning , We saw
the Star go thru those locks , The Man at the Locks point out
things about the lock sayed , The Star payed $ 420,000 to pass
thru the canal , The 1st boat thru I belive it was 1916 payed .16 cents
to pass thru![/quote]

Charles, we passed that ship and our tour guide said it was somewhere around $400,000 or so. Said it was a record amount. Unbelievable. I never knew about the first boat. I love trivia. Learned something new. What was amazing is that from dock level cruise ships look huge, but the Star was at the top of the canal level and we were down in the very bottom of the lock on the opposite side looking up at it and it was unreal how huge it was.

We sure had a great time with you guys and everyone else. Hope there's a next time.

[Crusin Hogs]

[quote name='mosaic_mom']How was that excursion?[/quote]

Nancy , It was called The Panama City Tour , We had a small bus
like the one we rode in Costa Rica , We went to Gatuan Locks 1st
and then about a 45 min ride to Panama City , The guides pointed out
alot of places , We stopped at a small museum Learned a little history
Then we went to a really old fort , what was left of it
Drove into downtown There are 1.2 milloin people in Panama city
it is very modern , Trump is building a tower there , and they are
building a subway system. We stopped for some shopping
then went to the western entrance of the canal , near the
America's Bridge , They fed us a good lunch at a outdoor cafe
over looking the city and the Pacific ocean . I bought a large
( 35'') tall wooden parott , very colorful at the down town shop
And then a ride back to the port .
Charles

[Crusin Hogs]

I highly recomened anyone doing this cruise , In Costa Rica
have no fear about booking with Okey Dokey Tours run
by Charlie Soto . Even though they are not thru Carnival.
They are one of the best run ,most personable ,tour I have ever
been on . We paid $59.00 per person , Great Tour the A-1 they call it
FREE Beer ,soda, water on the bus , that's all you want to
a great lunch , and at the boat an hour before saling time
They are very concise about the time .

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Crusin Hogs']Nancy , It was called The Panama City Tour , We had a small bus
like the one we rode in Costa Rica , We went to Gatuan Locks 1st
and then about a 45 min ride to Panama City , The guides pointed out
alot of places , We stopped at a small museum Learned a little history
Then we went to a really old fort , what was left of it
Drove into downtown There are 1.2 milloin people in Panama city
it is very modern , Trump is building a tower there , and they are
building a subway system. We stopped for some shopping
then went to the western entrance of the canal , near the
America's Bridge , They fed us a good lunch at a outdoor cafe
over looking the city and the Pacific ocean . I bought a large
( 35'') tall wooden parott , very colorful at the down town shop
And then a ride back to the port .
Charles[/quote]

That sounds like a nice excursion. I know we saw the skyline, but from the part of the country we saw, I would not have pictured the city to be so modern and for Trump to be building there or for them to be buidling a subway. Seems like 2 different worlds from what we saw. That's a lot of people in one city. I would have loved to have seen that parrot.

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='Crusin Hogs']I highly recomened anyone doing this cruise , In Costa Rica
have no fear about booking with Okey Dokey Tours run
by Charlie Soto . Even though they are not thru Carnival.
They are one of the best run ,most personable ,tour I have ever
been on . We paid $59.00 per person , Great Tour the A-1 they call it
FREE Beer ,soda, water on the bus , that's all you want to
a great lunch , and at the boat an hour before saling time
They are very concise about the time .[/quote]

I totally agree. If I ever get back to Costa Rica again, I will be looking up Charlie Soto and Okeydokey Tours.

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing.

[PJK]

Very nice review thank you, we will be doing this one in May and I can't wait. I have a question, is there anything to do at the ports in Panama and Costa Rica?

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='PJK']Very nice review thank you, we will be doing this one in May and I can't wait. I have a question, is there anything to do at the ports in Panama and Costa Rica?[/quote]

If you are referring to right at the port when you get off the ship, then no. Both are industrial ports.

However, if you walk across the bus parking lot in Costa Rica, you will see a small tent area with souvenier shopping. If you continue through that and into the small building behind it and out the other side, you will see the fence to the port area. If you walk out the fence, you will come to part of downtown. This is where we started our excursion in Costa Rica. It's a little walk. I have limited walking mobility and I was able to walk it, but I can't tell you how long it would take an able-body person to walk it, but I can't imagine it would not take very long.

[jzcruiser57]

Thank you so much for the review. We took this cruise back in May 2010 and reading your review brought back many pleasent memories. Thank you again.:D

[mosaic_mom]

[quote name='jzcruiser57']Thank you so much for the review. We took this cruise back in May 2010 and reading your review brought back many pleasent memories. Thank you again.:D[/quote]

You're welcome. Thank you for your kind words. It was a lot of fun to write.