Carnival Freedom 8 Day Eastern Caribbean Review 09/10/11 - 09/18/11 LOTS of PICS

[Winterstale]

Our home-away-from-home moored off Cooper.

Limin' off the boat at Cooper...

Soggy on Jost during a "busy" time....

[Winterstale]

Your pictures just answered my question....Cistern for sure. Great, right? Seriously...I just LOVE the fact that your handle is "let'sdothiscruisething" and you were smart enough to book privately for Tortola -- it is really the ONLY way to go. And you have NO idea how rare a trip to Cooper is on an excursion...just doesn't happen all that often. Your guide knew his s**t - with the exception of the misnomer of Dead Chest ;)

[Winterstale]

A better pic of our girl, "Trinity", off of Cooper.

[Winterstale]

Another view from Cooper Island Beach Club happy hour :D

And the island in the BVI no one will EVER get to via cruise ship....Anegada...hard to get to...even harder to leave....

[cuiser8349]

Seriously.... best review ...... EVER!! I have been on Freedom before... and will sail on her agian Feb 2012.... I swear... its just like being on it again...... its WONDERFUL..... thank you!!!!!!!

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

Another view from Cooper Island Beach Club happy hour :D

And the island in the BVI no one will EVER get to via cruise ship....Anegada...hard to get to...even harder to leave....

Hi Winterstale,

 

Oh, my! Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! The water is so beautiful. I really wish that we could have gone to the Soggy Dollar, but I was still happy with what I got. Now that I know how rare it is to get to go there for a cruise excursion, it's even better! Thank you so much for your comments and pictures. I also appreciate you correcting me on the Dead Man's Chest. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure that is a Pirates of the Caribbean movie...LOL. Yes, Dead Chest. My error. Thank you so much for reading my post and providing your wonderful contributions!

Edited September 23, 2011 by Let'sDoThisCruiseThing

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

Seriously.... best review ...... EVER!! I have been on Freedom before... and will sail on her agian Feb 2012.... I swear... its just like being on it again...... its WONDERFUL..... thank you!!!!!!!

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I appreciate you taking your time to stop by!

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* Tortola Continued *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

 

 

We arrived at a beach which was a resort that had a dock. We saw a small boat there, but didn’t see anyone on the beach. It looked deserted. We later found out that it was off season and no guests were at the resort. We all got off of the boat and began to set up on the beach. There were no chairs, no umbrellas, no bar…nothing. DB went to look for a restroom, found it and let everyone know that it was boarded up with sheet rock and a board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little did we know that when we arrived, the owner of the resort was out swimming. Shane and Clive asked if we could use some chairs while we were there. The owner advised them to “Come see him on October 3rd”. Hmmmm nice….guess we will make the best of it. It was ok that we were there, but no comforts would be provided. I almost felt like we were on the LOST island and I needed to find the Swan station to enter the numbers and push the button every 108 minutes. Hehehe.

 

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* Tortola Continued *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

 

Some of us snorkeled, some sat at the beach on their towels. The snorkeling wasn’t spectacular, but it was something to do. Underwater was mostly sea grass. I saw a stingray…I stalked him, made him angry and decided to leave him alone before he decided to stalk me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon after we got there, the owner of the resort decided that it was a good time to start using power tools. It was awesome that we were at this peaceful, private beach and all we can hear is power tools. I would snorkel…collect shells…snorkel some more. We were there for several hours.

 

 

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* Tortola Continued *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

 

Shane and Clive advised us that it was time to leave and we all packed up and boarded the boat. We were taken by a few different places like Peter Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back and Clive offered us iced rum punch. It was not the best rum punch I have ever had, but we drank it. One of the other passengers came down from the upper deck to drop off a couple of empty beers into the trash can. He told us that the beer was complimentary due to the fact that we didn’t go on the planned excursion and that there was no bar available to us. I think that once we docked, all of the passengers had emptied the beer cooler.

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* Tortola Continued *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

 

We docked and tipped them. I have to say, this was not the excursion that we expected, but Shane and Clive were great and I can’t complain about them. We did some shopping on the way back to the ship, showered, changed and grabbed something to eat. We talked to a few people and found out that there was a ferry from Tortola that took people to Jost Van Dyke that was functioning that day. I would have preferred to NOT know that, but owell.

 

 

 

 

Great tip 1: I was able to bring an extension cord in my checked luggage. This was wonderful because there is only one outlet for the entire cabin. We were each using our phones for cameras and video and also our camera. We needed to charge them all nightly. The cord came in handy and I’m so glad we were able to bring it. I have read posts saying that people have had their extension cords confiscated. We kept it in the drawer right below the vanity and made sure that it was always unplugged when we were not in the cabin. If you have several electronic devices to charge, you may want to consider bringing one with you.

 

Great tip 2: Start a packing list document on your computer prior to your trip. When you see a good tip on something to bring from reading the forums, just add it to your list. You will be amazed at how many little things will add up that you will feel like you couldn’t live without while cruising. There are numerous starter lists on Cruise Critic if you just search the forums for “packing lists”. These lists will help you get started with adding your own must have items to your list. You will really enjoy packing when you can just print off your list and check off the items that you have packed. ;)

 

 

Next up we have a sea day…Farewell Tortola....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[finzup-kt]

Great review.

 

My husband and I are regulars in the BVI - we charter and sail ourselves every year - you got the better end of the deal at Cooper - I'm assuming you snorkeled Cistern? Hope it was great - Cooper has been recently "re-done" in the last couple of years and the Beach Club is fabulous! I have some amazing photos of our boat on a ball there last summer. Don't get me wrong, White Bay is a must for us every year as well - the bartender, Mic, at SDB is a GREAT guy -- but going to Cooper is not something ANY cruise ship guest gets to do often so you have to understand that you REALLY lucked out! Good for you for booking something like this!

 

I agree wholeheartedly about Mic! He was super nice! We spent a week at sandcastle (soggy dollar's cabins) and everyone at sandcastle/soggy dollar was fantastic.

 

OP I hope someday you get to JVD because it's not to be missed!

 

I even have a picture of him in my fb album (along with more of tortola, soggy dollar/sandcastle, JVD, etc etc)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.458216728979.242648.527963979&l=f0c9e182f8&type=1

Edited September 23, 2011 by finzup-kt

[Winterstale]

Hi Katie - I've thought about staying at sandcastle but we sail, so every time we head down there, it's just too much fun to not charter! The sailing is GREAT in the BVI. We first met Mic on our wedding trip in 2005 -- he was working in Nanny Cay then at Peg Leg Landing. LOL - it was before he got his new teeth, too! ;)

 

OP - bummer that Cooper Island Beach Club was so unaccomodating! And bummer that you guys didn't snorkel at Cistern longer! LOTS of places close down in the BVI for September and October -- Soggy Dollar never closes -- just put it on your "to do" list for next time. And LOL on the Pirates of the Caribbean reference -- heck, I work for Disney and it didn't even occur to me that you were thinking of that! :D

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!!!

[BIGA961]

Here's another helpful tip. ;) We got a lot of "where did you get those?"' date=' "did you buy those on the ship?" and "that was a great idea!" for doing this....[/color']

 

The Carnival drink cups are pretty small. About 12 ozs. We brought our own insulated mugs and filled them with iced tea or water as needed. We would bring them to the buffet and fill them up (which was very close to our cabin) so there are less trips for drinks and you stay hydrated.

 

Also, it's a great thing to have if you are a soda drinker. When you buy a soda, they will give you a small plastic cup filled with ice and then pour the soda in for you. You never get the full can that you paid $2.24 (gratuity included) for. Also, the soda is not chilled, it's room temp when they pour it in. With the bigger mug, your soda is chilled and you get your full can. :)

 

 

 

If you buy the soda card, will they give you more than one can at a time?

[TakeMeAway1001]

Thanks again for this great review, I appreciated the info on Tortola Charters since we too have them booked for JVD in a few weeks, I hope we get to go there :)

Edited September 23, 2011 by TakeMeAway1001

[Winterstale]

Make sure you head down the beach at White Bay to Seddy's One Love for a bushwacker after you have your required painkiller at the Soggy Dollar -- much quieter place to enjoy the beach and the bushwackers are the best.

 

Or -- if you fancy a little hike -- head over in the opposite directions to Ivan's Stress Free Bar -- this is where Kenny Chesney hangs out a lot ;)

[Buffettfan 225]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* St Thomas Continued *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

 

 

The water was very choppy and our boat was flying up and smashing back down on the water pretty forcefully. We all seemed to enjoy the ride though. It was like a roller coaster. They offered snorkel gear' date=' but we brought our own mask and snorkel and ended up using their vests and fins. Our first snorkeling spot was Turtle Cove at Buck Island. This is a protected nature sanctuary. [/color']

 

Buck Island:

 

 

The water was choppy on top, but calm underneath. It was a beautiful, clear sapphire blue color. You could see all the way to the bottom about 25-30 ft. There were a lot of sea turtles there. There were supposed to be stingrays there as well, but I was mesmerized by the sea turtles, so if they were there I didn’t even notice. We were told that they come up every 10 min or so for air, so if they come up….be really still and they will come right up to you. This happened to me a quite a few times. It was pretty awesome!

 

Sea Turtles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how close this one came to me: I didnt want to scare it away, so I took a picture the best I could. ;)

 

 

 

Aren't the turtle soooo cool? Just wanted to know what type of waterproof camera you selcted? I figured it may be new as you were testing it at hotel.

Thanks. p.s. was this the same camera for all your photos? We loved Capt.Nautica over 10 yrs ago.

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

If you buy the soda card, will they give you more than one can at a time?

Hi BIGA961,

 

We didn't get the soda card, we thought about it, but then decided against it and went with water or tea most of the time.....when we weren't sipping on a delicious drink of the day (wink) We bought sodas here & there as needed. I hope someone else reading this will be able to answer this question for you.

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

Aren't the turtle soooo cool? Just wanted to know what type of waterproof camera you selcted? I figured it may be new as you were testing it at hotel.

Thanks. p.s. was this the same camera for all your photos? We loved Capt.Nautica over 10 yrs ago.

Hi Buffettfan 225,

 

About 90% of the pictures were taken with our waterproof camera. The camera is a FUJIFILM FINEPIX XP10. Not too expensive, easy to use and I was pleased with the picture quality. I really liked being able to take it on excursions and not worry about it getting wet. Any other pictures were taken with our phones. We have the HTC EVO and the Samsung Epic. My Epic took all of the panorama pictures.

 

 

The turtles were amazing! I loved watching them!

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

█▓▒░★ Sea Day★░▒▓█

 

 

Friday, September 16, 2011

 

 

 

Today, we realized that there was only one full day left of this awesome trip. :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pretty much did what we did on other sea days. We checked our account on the TV looking for our refund for the parasailing which would have been roughly $190. We were beginning to think that since “technically” we were sent up, we wouldn’t get a refund. Even though we really didn’t get the full experience like the 2 guys before us got. We decided to stop by the shore excursion desk to ask them about it. We walked up and explained the situation. We were told that they would need to email the company and that we would hear something from him later. That was fair so, we decided to do some shopping.

 

 

In the fun times there were some interesting sales going on in the Fun Shops. There was a t-shirt sale 2 for $20. We ended up getting several shirts because they were nice quality shirts. They were a lot better than some of the t-shirts that we got from the ports and not all of them had Carnival logos on them. Even though we ended up buying some that did as well. Nice deal for gifts for us, friends and family. The other sale was a designer watch sale that was to take place at 3:30pm for one hour only. This sale was for male and female watch sets that included a watch, necklace, earrings and some had a bracelet as well. The sets were $19.99 each. Here’s how this fiasco went…. People were already arriving for the sale when we arrived at about 3:10pm. There were 4 tables inside of the fun shop set up with blue covers on them. We were waiting outside, but started noticing that people began to go inside the shop and stood in front of the tables to wait for the sale to start. They had a display set up outside in a case that displayed the watches that would be available for purchase. People would walk past the display and then get really excited and go wait inside. I had a couple of men’s and women’s watches in mind as well.

 

 

I decided that I would go wait inside and DB would wait outside, just in case they decided to put a table outside. This was the longest 20 minute wait ever! The entire shop was filled with people waiting arm to arm by 3:25. What I thought was chaos was soon to become real chaos as soon as the sale began. At 3:29 they gave away a free watch set from a drawing….then the sale began. We were advised that all of the boxes were closed and would have to be opened to see what was in them. The blue boxes were men’s watches and the olive colored boxes were women’s watches. They removed the covers and the chaos began. It was a free for all. People were pushing and shoving and reaching in between and over and under people. It was crazy! I have never seen anything like this. I was in the second row and I would wait for an opening, grab a box, open it and it would be an ugly watch. Put it back, grab another and try again. I ended up finding 2 women’s sets and 1 men’s set. None of which were the sets in the display window. I don’t think that any of the display sets were even included in the sale. I think that they played this whole event up to make everyone crazy. When I got back to the cabin and got a good look at what I got….I probably wouldn’t have bought them if I wasn’t in a situation where I felt like I was getting the best deal ever. DB said at one point, a man was walking by the shop outside, saw the craziness and asked “Are they giving away stuff for free?”. Hahaha. That was a good assessment because from someone that didn’t know what was going on, that’s probably what it looked like.

 

 

We went back to the cabin to put the watches away and take a better look at them. DB didn’t like the men’s watch, wallet & pen set. Both of the necklaces that I got were tarnished once I got them out of the box. I guess we can give them away as gifts. Owell, lesson learned and at least we only paid $19.99 each. While we were in the cabin the phone rang and it was the shore excursion desk. They said that they received a response about the parasailing and said that the company couldn’t find us to refund us because they thought we were on the Dream. They said that the refund would be on our account within 48 hours. It was there in a matter of minutes. We had ended up having a nice rest of the day.

 

 

 

The watches:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop….Bahamas

[Let'sDoThisCruiseThing]

-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-•* Sea Sickness *•-:¦:-•:*"'"*:•.-:¦:-

 

 

Before the cruise, I read all about the usual sea sickness remedies ~ Bonine, Ginger capsules, Ginger candy, Green Apples, Crackers, Sea Bands, Essential Oils, Dramamine, Transdermal Scopolamine Patches.....etc. They all sound like good options, but I wanted to make sure that we got the kind that would work the best for us. After reading a thread about this, I decided that we would go with non-drowsy Dramamine. I didn’t know if we would need any sea sickness remedies, but I wanted to be prepared just in case.

 

 

 

We felt fine until the sea day on the way to St Thomas. The sea was very choppy and the ship was moving pretty fast with a lot of rocking. This is the first time that we felt a bit queasy and took the Dramamine. As I said before, it was the non-drowsy kind. It made DB drowsy, but I was fine. We took it a couple more times, but took it at night so that it would be okay if we got drowsy. One of the ladies that we were on an excursion with said that she was using the Scopolamine patch and it made her mouth extremely dry. I would suggest that you bring some type of sea sickness remedy just in case you end up needing it. You may want to research the type that would be right for you ahead of time, especially if you plan on taking it with alcohol. They sell it in one of the fun shops on the ship if you forget, but we got it from Walmart for about $4.99 for 8 pills.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Let'sDoThisCruiseThing

[Payd]

█▓▒░★ Sea Day★░▒▓█

 

 

 

Friday' date=' September 16, 2011[/color']

 

 

 

Today, we realized that there was only one full day left of this awesome trip. :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pretty much did what we did on other sea days. We checked our account on the TV looking for our refund for the parasailing which would have been roughly $190. We were beginning to think that since “technically” we were sent up, we wouldn’t get a refund. Even though we really didn’t get the full experience like the 2 guys before us got. We decided to stop by the shore excursion desk to ask them about it. We walked up and explained the situation. We were told that they would need to email the company and that we would hear something from him later. That was fair so, we decided to do some shopping.

 

 

In the fun times there were some interesting sales going on in the Fun Shops. There was a t-shirt sale 2 for $20. We ended up getting several shirts because they were nice quality shirts. They were a lot better than some of the t-shirts that we got from the ports and not all of them had Carnival logos on them. Even though we ended up buying some that did as well. Nice deal for gifts for us, friends and family. The other sale was a designer watch sale that was to take place at 3:30pm for one hour only. This sale was for male and female watch sets that included a watch, necklace, earrings and some had a bracelet as well. The sets were $19.99 each. Here’s how this fiasco went…. People were already arriving for the sale when we arrived at about 3:10pm. There were 4 tables inside of the fun shop set up with blue covers on them. We were waiting outside, but started noticing that people began to go inside the shop and stood in front of the tables to wait for the sale to start. They had a display set up outside in a case that displayed the watches that would be available for purchase. People would walk past the display and then get really excited and go wait inside. I had a couple of men’s and women’s watches in mind as well.

 

 

I decided that I would go wait inside and DB would wait outside, just in case they decided to put a table outside. This was the longest 20 minute wait ever! The entire shop was filled with people waiting arm to arm by 3:25. What I thought was chaos was soon to become real chaos as soon as the sale began. At 3:29 they gave away a free watch set from a drawing….then the sale began. We were advised that all of the boxes were closed and would have to be opened to see what was in them. The blue boxes were men’s watches and the olive colored boxes were women’s watches. They removed the covers and the chaos began. It was a free for all. People were pushing and shoving and reaching in between and over and under people. It was crazy! I have never seen anything like this. I was in the second row and I would wait for an opening, grab a box, open it and it would be an ugly watch. Put it back, grab another and try again. I ended up finding 2 women’s sets and 1 men’s set. None of which were the sets in the display window. I don’t think that any of the display sets were even included in the sale. I think that they played this whole event up to make everyone crazy. When I got back to the cabin and got a good look at what I got….I probably wouldn’t have bought them if I wasn’t in a situation where I felt like I was getting the best deal ever. DB said at one point, a man was walking by the shop outside, saw the craziness and asked “Are they giving away stuff for free?”. Hahaha. That was a good assessment because from someone that didn’t know what was going on, that’s probably what it looked like.

 

 

We went back to the cabin to put the watches away and take a better look at them. DB didn’t like the men’s watch, wallet & pen set. Both of the necklaces that I got were tarnished once I got them out of the box. I guess we can give them away as gifts. Owell, lesson learned and at least we only paid $19.99 each. While we were in the cabin the phone rang and it was the shore excursion desk. They said that they received a response about the parasailing and said that the company couldn’t find us to refund us because they thought we were on the Dream. They said that the refund would be on our account within 48 hours. It was there in a matter of minutes. We had ended up having a nice rest of the day.

 

 

 

The watches:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop….Bahamas

 

 

Thanks for such a great review. I actually like the look of the first watch set. Cute design for the necklace, earrings, bracelet - or course I can't see the tarnishing.

 

Good note to skip the watch frenzy

[MamaParrotHead]

If you buy the soda card, will they give you more than one can at a time?

 

No, with the card you don't even get a whole can. They load up about a 12 oz. cup with ice and then fill it with about 2/3 of a can. I've done it previously and not done it...my personal theory is that if you have 3 sea days or more, it's worth it. Otherwise, and I'm a pretty big Diet Coke drinker, you have to REALLY be tossing back sodas to break even.

[mosweet]

OMG..your review is really making me think of changing my itin to this one. especially since I have never been to Antigua or Tortola..hmmm :D

[mosweet]

Oh on another quick note about sea sickness the acupuncture bracelets work very well also. And you don't have to worry about the alcohol or taking any meds