Freedom 6/2/2012 review: 8 days of Southern Caribbean fun, sun, and photos

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review!

[bajangoddess82]

We will be on the freedom for the halloween cruise also. I was also on this cruise on june 2. We were also on the freedom last year for halloween. The freedom is a great ship you will love it. Have you been to the roll call for the 10/28/12 cruise. We are from ft lauderdale....If you have any questions about the freedom please ask....Mary

 

Hi Mary :) I found the roll call for our cruise a couple of months ago... I'm from Orlando so luckily I will be driving down instead of needing to look for a hotel... Thank you for your help in advance b/c I'm sure I will have lots of questions the closer we get to our sail date :) I'm soooo excited!!!

[Csh2145]

How expensive was the golf cart and how long did you get to use it?

We are on this cruise July 28- Aug. 5. Having never been to Grand Turk

we would love to explore it. The dune buggies are expensive and not too well

maintained so a golf cart could be doable.

Myrna

 

The golf carts are $80 for the entire day. If you search Nathan's Golf Carts you will find a number to call for rental. You pay the $80 when you reserve. I used my credit card and had no issues. After renting I did read some bad reviews about the golf cart breaking down, but we had no issues. Our cart made it around the entire island with my myself, my DH and 2 DDs with no problems. They met us right outside of the guard shack at the cruise terminal and that is where we returned. We had a map of the island, but didn't really use it. Just

road and explored. Others have talked about getting lost, I can't imagine how in the world they got lost. We left as soon as we could depart the ship. We stopped on a couple of beaches to swim, went to the light house and the Donkey Sanctuary, explored many back roads, stopped at a local 'flea market' to shop

and stopped at Jack's Shack for lunch (yummy jerk chicken). We made it back by 12:30. Just in time for the kids to have a quick dip in the pool and do a little shopping in the terminal before reboarding the ship. Awesome way to see Grand Turk!!! My girl's (5 and 7) favorite parts of the day was seeing the pink flamingo and all the donkeys, horses and cows roaming free all over the island.

 

Hope this helps. You will love this ship and the itinerary. Have a great cruise.

[mss22859]

Love the review so far! We are doing the same itin. in Sept. and can't wait,lol:)

[SenatorsFan]

I got off the Freedom the same day you were getting on (June 2). I'm planning on going on the Liberty next year with my SIL, her husband and my DH. I have a question about Grand Turk. Is the beach area free and it is on the same grounds as Margaritaville? I know the pool is attached to Margaritaville and you have to buy at least one drink in order to use it.

 

I love your LOLcat!!!:D And yes, the beach is free and right at Margaritaville.

 

OP, we did the 6-day Freedom last summer in an aft balcony and also had a great cruise. Looking forward to more of your review. Your daughter is growing up.:)

Heather

[Lady_Jag]

Sorry for the delay, everyone. I'm in the middle of a release and some other special projects at work and needed some extra rest. Here's the rest of day 3, starting with our departure from Grand Turk:

So we said goodbye to Grand Turk, walked onto the Freedom, climbed the stairs one flight to our cabin (LOVED that location!) and dropped off our stuff. From there, we went up to the Lido deck for a very late lunch…with the majority of the other passengers on board.

 

Seriously, the Lido deck was PACKED OUT! It was hard to find food where there wasn’t a huge line of people waiting, and it was even tougher to find a table. But we managed to wrestle up both and enjoy our meal as the Carnival Freedom sailed on towards La Romana, DR.

After lunch, we returned to the cabin to clean up for the past guest party. I saw all the VIFP changes on Cruise Critic before we left, so I knew that this would be the last past guest party we attended. And based on this party’s ambiance, I don’t think we’ll miss it.

(Kiss this party goodbye!)

There were several changes to the past guest party that I noticed, and none of them were good. (None of the changes upset me, mind you, but rather showed the lack of enthusiasm for this event.) Right off the bat, I noticed the timeframe listed on the invitation was down from 60 to 45 minutes: 4:00pm-4:45pm, and the place was pretty crowded, as there was only one party (as opposed to 2: one for early dining and one for late dining.)

Remember I mentioned how much Alyssa always loved the party because she always got to dance on the big stage? Well, there was no dancing this time around. The band played on stage, the singer belted out the lyrics, but no one was invited to come up and dance. Needless to say, Alyssa was severely disappointed…and bored.

Appetizers and drinks flowed and the service was good. At one point, I thought I saw a group from our CC roll call, so I walked over to say hello. All 3 people looked at me like I was trying to talk them out of their free drinks, so I flat out asked if they were part of the group. They shook their heads slowly, still suspicious of my intentions. “Sorry, my mistake,” I apologized and went back to my seat.

There was no group Carnival trivia game at this party either. (Maybe because they didn’t want guests on the stage?) There was a raffle, and a guy who was a producer for Nickelodeon Studios won. (Alyssa was impressed that he produced “Dora The Explorer.”) Other than the anticipation of which name would be drawn, though, the people around me seemed…bored.

One thing that DIDN’T change was the movie…towel animals have a chat, applause for the various ships you sailed, “welcome home” from various crew members. Afterwards, Brad, our cruise director did the hard sell for cruise raffle tickets and future cruise certificates and just like that, it was over. The past guest party ended, “not with a bang but a whimper.”

“Well, what now?” Alex asked me.

“Camp Carnival!” answered Alyssa.

“No, Camp Carnival is going to be closing to get ready for dinner,” I countered, then seeing her disappointed face, I got an idea. “Follow me,” I told them.

I lead Alex and Alyssa up the stairs to deck 7. “Where are we going?” Alyssa asked, intrigued.

“Shhhh! It’s a secret,” I smiled, and led the way all the way forward. At the end of the hall, I held the heavy exit door open for Alex and Alyssa, and we were soon all alone on one of the two “secret decks.” Wow, what a calm relaxing place to be! Even Alyssa appreciated the soft sounds of the waves sliding across the bow of the ship. I turned around, and got a decent view of the bridge and the officers moving across the windows. “Look, Alyssa.” I directed her to the bridge and one of the officers waved at her. Alyssa's face lit up, and she waved back vigorously.

(This place rings a bell.)

We enjoyed the secret decks a while, then brought Alyssa to the fish & chips station so that she could have dinner with her friends at Camp Carnival. I think it was the most excited she had been all day! While she dined, Alex and I walked up to the Serenity deck and commandeered a hammock near the hot tub and watched the sun set behind a wall of haze on the horizon. (One thing about this cruise - we never saw a good clear sunset. It was hazy most evenings, and many nights, I found it hard to tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Combine that with the mostly smooth seas, and it was easy to imagine that we were drifting through just a vast nothingness!) We swayed in the hammock for a while, then decided it was time for dinner in the MDR.

There was a line tonight, but we waited only 10-15 minutes before we were seated at a tiny table for two in the back. Our waiter, Mr. Suki greeted us with a huge smile and a huge pen! Yes, he wrote our order down with one of those giant 12” novelty pens! Alex told him, “Well, I guess you never have any problem finding your pen!” and we all laughed. Then we started cracking jokes of how useful such a pen would be, like if any of the passengers got out of line, all he had to do was whack them on the head without so much as missing an order.

Mr. Suki was awesome! He was fast, attentive, and very charismatic. I saw him work his charm and magic at the various tables around us and made a mental note to request his section the rest of the cruise.

After dinner, we picked Alyssa up from Camp Carnival. Again, she wanted to stay longer, but we had to say no this time. We had an early morning tomorrow in La Romana, and would need to rest up. When we returned to our cabin, we had a few surprises:

 

- Three Andes mints (the second night of the cruise would be the only night we received the Carnival chocolates)

- A towel animal

(Andes mints on the Fun Times)

 

- Another gift from John Heald:

 

Day 4: La Romana still to come. Good night!

[Lady_Jag]

Loving the in-depth review and pics so far :) Will be on the Freedom for Halloween this year for the 6-day and I can't wait!!! Living vicariously through you for now :)

Thank you. You will love the Freedom; it's a great ship! I'd like to do a Halloween cruise one day, but we will be at the mercy of Alyssa's school schedule for at least 12 more years. :eek:

 

I am truly lovin your review. As you know, my family was also on this cruise. We rented a golf cart in Grand Turk and really enjoyed exploring the island on our own. We found a beach called, Columbus National Park, I think. We were all alone for a couple of hours, with a pink flamingo, on this beach. Absolutely georgeous beach. View of the light house in the back ground. Shallow water out to a small island. Hundreds of conch shells. Small and huge, perfect and not so perfect, lovely pink ones and grey and white ones. We were in conch shell heaven. Thougt I would post for the future conch shell hunters.

 

Thanks for the tip! If, no when we return to Grand Turk, I will keep that place in mind. I considered a golf cart rental, but the pay up front without an assured easy cancellation situation deterred me. Sounds like it was a better (much less expensive) choice, though!

 

Great review! We are doing a B2B starting next Saturday on the Freedom! Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

Thank you! I envy you the anticipation leading up to your B2B, and of course the B2B itself. If you have Your Time Dining, ask for Mr. Suki's section. :D

[Lady_Jag]

How expensive was the golf cart and how long did you get to use it?

We are on this cruise July 28- Aug. 5. Having never been to Grand Turk

we would love to explore it. The dune buggies are expensive and not too well

maintained so a golf cart could be doable.

Myrna

Golf cart rentals are less than $90 for the day, I think. Even though I've never rented one from this location, I would recommend it over the dune buggies in a heartbeat.

 

And thank you again, Cruise Critic members, for sharing your discount promo code for Carnival’s shore excursions, as I was able to reserve a cabana at a 10% discount. Yay!)

 

I was wondering about the discount? We are thinking of booking a cabana with Carnival in an upcoming cruise.

 

Thanks for your awesome review!

Vicki

I got the code from a thread here on the Carnival board. One of these two should work:

BGT002

or

BDG001

Enjoying your review! We were on Freedom in Feb of this year, and will be on it next Feb, so it reminds me of how nice it was and will be. Also read your review of the Fascination since we will be on her in Sept. You have a gift for capturing details. Keep it up.

Thank you! You are too kind. I wish I were cruising again so soon. My next one isn't until January. :(

[Lady_Jag]

I got off the Freedom the same day you were getting on (June 2). I'm planning on going on the Liberty next year with my SIL, her husband and my DH. I have a question about Grand Turk. Is the beach area free and it is on the same grounds as Margaritaville? I know the pool is attached to Margaritaville and you have to buy at least one drink in order to use it.

Yes, the beach area is free and is bordered by Margaritaville. There is no minimum purchase required to use the pool in Margaritaville, but after hearing Ms. Can't-Stand-Up-Anymore's account of her pool activities, you might not want to go in it...at least not after the first 2-3 hours the ship is in port. :eek:

Love your cruz cat in your siggy, btw!

 

Really enjoying the review. I am taking my wife on this cruise in October for her 40th birthday though she doesn't know about the trip yet :) Looking forward to reading more of your review as you post it.

 

A couple of things... after a bad experience in Miami, I will NEVER use a hotel shuttle ever again. We will always drop a dime and pay for a cab to get us to/from the port.

 

And with the conch shells, they have those holes in them because that is how people remove the conch from the shell. They pop a hole in the shell and then pull the conch out through the hole. Just an FYI why the ones you found were broken or had holes in them. They are the remains after the living conch has been removed.

What a great birthday gift! Your wife will LOVE it!

I remembered reading something here on CC about the holes on top of the shells releasing the suction of the conch inside. I'm such a weenie about finding a shell with an actual conch in it, though, I think I prefer the holes. :o

 

Great review!

Thank you!

[Lady_Jag]

Love the review so far! We are doing the same itin. in Sept. and can't wait,lol:)

Thank you! I loved this itinerary and would like to do it again sometime. 4 ports + 4 days on board = a gr8t combo!

 

I love your LOLcat!!!:D And yes, the beach is free and right at Margaritaville.

 

OP, we did the 6-day Freedom last summer in an aft balcony and also had a great cruise. Looking forward to more of your review. Your daughter is growing up.:)

Heather

Love the Freedom!

Yes, I blinked too long and my baby became a little girl. My eyes burn now from trying not to blink again. :(

[scielerep]

We're going on the 7-28 cruise out of FLL -- and I just paid for the zip line excursion in La Romana -- did you speak with anybody who did this? That's the only excursion we're planned a head of time.

 

I'm enjoying your posts, btw.

[navybaby1113]

I've never seen Andes mints given out by Carnival before. I've always just seen the Carnival chocolates. Pretty excited about that change!

[jakeHOU97]

just marking my spot :)

[KroozFoolz]

Enjoying your review, as I always do.

Looking forward to the rest. (hint, hint ;))

 

I recall your mother often cruises with you, but she did not this time. I hope and trust all is well with her.

[Lady_Jag]

We're going on the 7-28 cruise out of FLL -- and I just paid for the zip line excursion in La Romana -- did you speak with anybody who did this? That's the only excursion we're planned a head of time.

 

I'm enjoying your posts, btw.

 

Thank you! Sorry, I didn't run into anyone who did that particular excursion in La Romana, but I think you'll have a great time. In all the reviews I've read of various ports and of the people I've talked to that have ziplined elsewhere, I've NEVER heard of a bad ziplining experience. Everyone always seemed to have a great time. :D

 

I've never seen Andes mints given out by Carnival before. I've always just seen the Carnival chocolates. Pretty excited about that change!

Don't get your hopes up. That one night was the only time we got the Andes mints. The rest of the cruise, we got nothing. :(

 

Enjoying your review, as I always do.

Looking forward to the rest. (hint, hint ;))

 

I recall your mother often cruises with you, but she did not this time. I hope and trust all is well with her.

 

Thank you for asking. Yes, Mom is fine, but she didn't have the time off or the funds to go with us this time around. I'm secretly saving up the cruise fare to surprise her with an Alaskan cruise when she retires in 2-3 years, though. ;)

 

 

Sorry for the delay! I took the weekend off from writing to spend some time with the fam and also get caught up on the various household chores. I am writing up our adventure in La Romana tonight so I can post tomorrow, though, so stay tuned...:D

[Lady_Jag]

Even though La Romana received mixed reviews, I was excited about this port…sort of! Months before our embarkation, I and several people from our CC roll call contacted Seavis and booked the “Saona Special.” Since so many of us booked the same excursion through the same company, I emailed Seavis and asked if we could get a group discount. They were so nice and agreed to do so, as long as we had enough adults sign up for the tour (which we did…I think there were 3-4 speedboats full in total!)

The time table on the Seavis web site looked like this:

“09:30 - 10:00: departure from Bayahibe or Cruise port

10:20: Rocks of Penon

10:40: Mangroves

10:50: Bay of Calderas

11:30: Catuano Beach on Saona, with at 11:45: snorkeling, with at 12:30: lunch

01:45: departure for Bayahibe

02:00: Piscina Natural - 30 minutes stay

03:15: arrival in Bayahibe”

Yeah, another sort of “beach day” (which was another reason I wasn’t keen on having a beach day at Grand Turk the previous day), with snorkeling… whoopee, I thought. Still, I l was really looking forward to watching Alyssa’s excitement as we raced across the water on a speed boat, and getting some pretty pictures of the island and my family.

Because we wanted to leave the ship as soon as we were in port, we placed our breakfast order for the 3 of us the night before. It arrived right on time and just before our cabin started shimmying from the thrusters maneuvering us into port. I glanced at our porthole windows and was taken aback by the up close and personal view of grass and trees passing by. We were REALLY close to the shore!

(Not the prettiest picture, but it shows how close to shore we docked.)

Our excursion bag packed, we went down one flight of steps, again told the myriad of photographers on board “no thank you,” and were off the ship and headed to the taxi are in no time. Our taxi was a 9-passenger van, and we got to ride with another Cruise Critic member, Carol, and her family. After approximately 30 minutes of bouncing around through the roads in DR, we arrived at Bayahibe, where our speedboats awaited. But first, we needed to pay for our tour.

A note to anyone who books a group rate: Seavis accepts cash only, and you might need to remind the person checking you in that you have the group discount. When I checked in, the lady quoted me the higher price (which was written on her check-in list), so I handed over my printed email confirmation that reflected the 10% discount. No big deal, but definitely something to keep in mind.

As I walked away from the check-in counter, a man with an armful of hats and souvenirs approached me. “Excuse me, pretty lady. You’re smile is so beautiful, it makes me happy. I was wondering if I could make YOU happy with a hat or something?” Had to give him credit for trying, but I politely refused and walked away to find a restroom. I heard the guy move to Alex when I left.

When the taxi first pulled into Bayahibe, I noticed a large building with the word, “Banos” written in large letters across the top. Before I checked in, I asked Alex to keep an eye on Alyssa, because I wanted to go to the bathroom after paying. Alex said, “Okay. The bathrooms are just on the other side of these buildings. Walk along the side of the building, and they’ll be right there on the right.” So thinking he meant the building marked, “Banos,” I walked along the side of the building to a sort of concrete boardwalk/walkway, then followed the walkway to the right. At the end of the walkway, to my right, was the “Banos” building with a lady sitting just outside the doors.

As I approached, I noticed the lady had a basket in her lap with a dollar bill in the basket (I thought it was Alex’s dollar tip from his trip to los banos), and a roll of toilet paper in her hand. She spotted me right away and started unrolling the TP, twirling it around her left hand. She handed it to me as I walked into the ladies’ room and I thanked her. Eeek! Without getting into the awful details, let me just say that the bathrooms ranked just under those at an old dilapidated gas station and just above a port-o-let at a highway construction site. When I exited, I dropped a dollar in her basket and hurried back to our group.

I rounded the corner and saw Alex wearing a hat the “beautiful smile” guy was selling. “What took so long?” Alex asked, “I thought you were kidnapped.”

“I walked down to the bathroom, remember?” I retorted.

“But the bathrooms were just right there,” Alex replied, pointed at a building to the left of the one I walked alongside, “where did you go?”

“To the ones marked ‘banos,’” I muttered, feeling a bit stupid. Yes, as it turns out, Alex was trying to direct me to bathrooms right behind the building where I paid for the tour! Doh! Trying to get the attention away from me, I said, “so you bought a hat, huh?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, “I talked him down to $8. Not bad, I guess, and I needed a hat.” (Ha! My diversion tactic worked!)

We followed our guide and a sweet dog named “Blackie” led us along the to the waiting speedboats. “Sorry, Blackie,” our guide said, giving his head a pat, “you can’t come this time. We’re too full.”

“Awwwwww!” whined Alyssa, leaning in to pet Blackie one last time.

I smiled and gently guided her to one of the boats. Our guide told us that “the adventurous people should ride in the front, and the more relaxed people in the back.” We were the last to board, so we were left, thankfully, with the very back row. The boats have several rows on each side, but they seat only 2 in each row, so we asked the two people in the next-to-last row if they would please move up one row so the 3 of us could be together. They kindly obliged.

When the boat took off, I was so glad we were in the back! The people in the very front were a good 3-4 feet ABOVE my head! Seriously, I don’t think the front third of the boat even TOUCHED the water! I tried to take a few pictures while we were moving, but the spray from the boat created a veil of water during most of the trip. We made a couple of stops along the way so that our guide could tell us about the mangroves and other various points of interest.

Side note for those booking this tour in the future: don’t place anything on the floor of the boat that you don’t want to get wet! I set our excursion backpack down by my feet when I first boarded, and when we took off, my feet suddenly felt wet from all the water that was in the boat rushing to the back, so I quickly picked up the backpack and set it in the seat next to me to keep our towels dry.

We reached the beautiful island of La Saona and filed out of the boat. I helped Alyssa out, then in the process of trying to get out myself, slipped and bashed my shin against the edge of the back of the boat. OUCH! Immediately, a huge purple bruise spread across the front of my shin, with the exception of the outter area of a lump right smack in the middle of the bruise. Here it is 4 weeks later, and the bruise is still there, albeit now yellowing, as is a small bit of the lump.

I silently scolded myself for being so clumsy and then walked along the beach, snapping a "few" pictures. For someone who doesn’t like the beach, I had a really great time! I won’t bore you with all the details of how we relaxed in loungers, swam in the clear refreshing waters, and watched Alyssa and her new 5-year-old friends, Jillian and Jasmine, play on the beach and in the water. It’s better if I post the pictures instead in the following posts. I will say that I had a wonderful time on the island, and was happy to be wrong about “booking another ho-hum beach day.”

Our hosts gave us plenty of time to play (and snorkel around the pier if we wanted) before calling us over to a delicious lunch buffet under a nicely covered pavilion. Grilled chicken and pork, pasta salad, beans and rice…it was all so yummy! And of course the run flowed, although I passed on it, knowing I would quickly dehydrate from the sun and then be inflicted with a migraine by day’s end if I drank any of it.

Alyssa, aka Miss Picky, turned her nose up at just about everything, so I handed her a box of Fruit Loops and a CapriSun from our excursion backpack. She was having so much fun, though, she didn’t want to stop for even a cereal snack, and it was a battle to try to get her to eat just a few bites of chicken or even by a bit of sugary cereal.

At a table near the edge of the pavilion, someone was selling fresh coconut. VERY fresh coconut! We actually watched the man scale a palm tree near one of the tables and cut the coconuts down from the tree. Alyssa was fascinated as the man climbed the tree in a matter of seconds and then THWACK! THUD! THWACK! THUD! the coconuts hit the sandy ground below. It was quite a show.

(The pavilion is to the right of the blue house, and the table with the shells and coconuts for sale is just out of the picture in the background to the right.)

(Can't get any fresher!)

 

After lunch, we were given a little more time to play and relax, so I made sure Alex had an eye on Alyssa and I walked around taking a few pictures of various colorful objects and silhouettes of palm trees. Before we knew it, it was time to leave. (Awwww!)

We boarded the boards, and this time I was careful with where I placed my feet, and again sat in the back. Our guide indicated that the right side of the boat was too much heavier than the left, so a few people had to shift around. Alyssa switched places with one of her friend’s dad and was delighted that she got to sit next to her new little friend.

The boat now balanced, all we had to do was don our life vests…only we were missing 3. We couldn’t go without vests for everyone. After some commotion, 2 vests turned up, and our guides decided that we would move on to our next destination and ask the guides in the other boats if they have extras. Off we flew across the water and in roughly 7 minutes, stopped at a sand bar.

Here, we were able to climb out of the boat (I used the ladder on the side this time!) and walk or swim amongst some gianormous starfish! They really were beautiful, and we were allowed to hold them and pick them up, as long as we didn’t have them out of the water for more than 2-3 seconds. Alyssa was in heaven, and I don’t she spent any time in the water without a starfish in her hands. She was so fascinated and delicately flipped them over to show anyone who would pay attention the underside.

As we enjoyed the sea life, our guides brought out the rum cake, rum, and punch for us to enjoy. We were standing in a bit of a dangerous area, though, because the boats kept drifting inward, and one nearly ran over Alex and then me as we stood there. So I guided Alyssa to another part of the sandbar so she wouldn’t be hit by one of the bows.

Alyssa continued her starfish examination for a while, and then I heard her say, “Ow! Feels like a shot!” Then she let the starfish go and started to cry, “Ow! OW! OW! OW!” I asked her what was wrong, and she held up her left foot, telling me her ankle hurt. I gently carried her through the water to the boat and helped her up the ladder so I could take a look. Sure enough, a small round welt had surfaced on the top of her foot at her ankle. Upon seeing it, my tired and overheated Alyssa started to wail. “OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!”

I reached into my backpack for a little mini first aid kit to see if I had anything to take away the sting. All I had was burn gel with aloe, so I gently applied a little to the mark then covered it with a band-aid. Our guide asked what had happened, and when I told her she nodded knowingly, telling me it was something called “fire coral,” and that vinegar (which they didn't have) would take the sting out.

Now I’ve never heard of “fire coral,” but according to our guide’s description, they’re little red specs that drift along in the water and will burn you if it lands on, or otherwise comes into contact with, your skin. At least two other people on our boat had similar welts on their legs (one girl had several up and down her legs), but Alyssa was the only one still crying in pain, and no distraction worked. (Although Jillian’s and Jasmine’s dad got her to pause in her wailing by showing her the black and purple toe he broke on the picnic table leg at the pavilion!)

Finally, it was time to leave, and now we had an equal number of life vests as persons on board, thanks to one of the guides on another boat. WHOOSH! The boats raced each other across the water, their drivers crossing each other’s wakes so that we were bounced across the water’s surface and soaked by the spray. I looked over at Alyssa and her eyes were closed and her head lolled around on the top of her life vest. Our guide smiled and winked at me when she saw me watching Alyssa. I mouthed, “Is she sleeping?!?” Our guide nodded.

SSSWWWWHHOOOOOSSSHHH! Those of us in the back of the boat were soaked by one of the waves. I looked back at our speedboat “captain.” He was smiling from ear to ear, whipping the steering wheel right, then left, then quickly right again. Yes, everyone was enjoying this high-speed ride above (and below) the water!

That last wave got Alyssa to pop her head up. She looked around, noticed her friend next to her and let loose a big grin. From then on, the two girls screamed shrilly with excitement each time the boat bounced across a wave: “AAAaaaaaaahhhhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!” they screamed at least once a second, like a car alarm, and the two of them together were powerful enough to be heard by those of us in the back over the high revving engine of the boat and crashing of the waves against the boat.

I saw one of the guides in the back stealthily move forward from behind our captain and slip into the seat in front of me and Alex, right next to the girls. They hadn’t noticed him, because they were still shrieking and laughing and watching the water splash over the side of the boat. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” he screamed in a very high falsetto. Both little girls were surprised, and their heads snapped around to look at the man, who was now laughing along with the rest of us in the back. Their wide-eyed surprise quickly gave way to huge grins when they realized the guy just wanted to play along. So for the remainder of the journey, the high-pitched screaming was intensified by a third voice.

I know what you’re thinking – how on earth could we stand that noise?!? But really, the engine noise was so loud and the crashing/splashing waves were so intense that even their screaming dulled in comparison. It was as if we were in a noisy restaurant speaking loudly to each other so that we could be heard. Besides, it was really funny to watch!

We made it back to Bayahibe soaked, but elated. When the “captain” cut the engine, Alyssa and her friend begged, “Let’s do it again! Do it again! Do it again! Pleeeeaaassseee?” I looked over at Alex, and from his water-logged face, I could tell he was glad their request could not be entertained. It was time to get back to the ship.

We climbed out of the boat (again I was careful with my footing) and walked up to the beach. Some young boys carrying 2-liter bottles full of water came running over to pour the water over our feet. I had read about this previously, and tried to wave them off, but they persisted. After they poured the water over our feet, they insisted that Alex owed them money. He gave them a few bucks, then they were insisting on more, because they washed the feet of the people who were walking next to us. I tried to explain that our family was just the 3 of us and if they wanted money from the other family to ask them, but they were still pantomiming to Alex and telling him in Spanish that he still owed them.

“Mira!” a woman shouted, “Don’t give them anything! They know they’re not supposed to be doing that!” Then the chase began.

The boys took off in a flash when a couple of cops on motorcycles came tearing down the beach. They ran around and behind the buildings, with the cops in hot pursuit. I wanted to watch the chase, but needed to visit the bathroom before our cab ride back to the pier. This time, I went to the “free” bathroom just behind the registration/check-in.

Only thing was, there was only one toilet in the ladies’ room and only one urinal in the men’s room… and a pretty decent line for the ladies’ room. Alyssa and I were last in line, so we (thankfully) missed out on the presentation of the huge snake and tarantula out front. While we waited, I saw the boys with the water bottles run through and across the concrete boardwalk I had taken earlier. Seconds later, I saw the motorcycle cops stop in front of the boardwalk and look around for the boys, then race off back the way they came. They were hard core!

Because I was the last to use the bathroom, our cab was the last one waiting, and I felt somewhat bad to delay everyone’s return. But since it would be a while before we were back on board, I knew I made the right decision as we bounced along the roads back to the pier.

We said “see ya later” to Carol and her family at one of the shops by the pier and walked back to the ship. Ah, to have a hot shower and clean dry clothes! After we were all cleaned up, we went up to one of the top decks to watch us sail away. I saw several people lined up along the pier wave to those of us on board as we pulled away from the slip. What a great adventure!

Time for an early dinner in the main dining room! We arrived just as the doors were opening. At the hostess stand, I requested Mr. Suki’s section, and we were seated at a booth near the table Alex and I had the previous night. Mr. Suki was there with a huge smile and huge pen and doted on Alyssa. She felt like such a little princess!

When Mr. Suki asked for our orders, Alyssa asked if she could start with some strawberries. “Ah! I no sure we have any strawberry left, but I check. If we don’t Mr. Suki bring you some nice kiwi, okay?” Alyssa nodded, not sure what “kiwi” was, but I guess she liked the sound of the word. There were no strawberries, but Alyssa loved the consolation bowl of kiwi slices and scarfed them down.

Then Alyssa’s cheese pizza arrived, and Mr. Suki said, “Alyssa, I cut your pizza for you, okay?” Then in a high-pitched voice, he gave a little monologue for Alyssa. It was something along the lines of, “Oh, Mr. Pizza! I going to cut you now for Alyssa! You so good and tasty! Alyssa will love you and eat you up!” He then did a similar monolog for Alex’s “Mr. Potato” as he added sour cream and butter from the potato condiment tray. Alyssa and I both laughed, while Alex sat there feeling a little foolish.

Showtime in the main dining room was a song by our Maître D’ followed by a dance by our wait staff. Mr. Suki said, “c’mon, Alyssa! Come dance with me!” and of course my tiny dancer would never pass up such an opportunity! It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful day.

After dinner, we took Alyssa to Camp Carnival so that she could meet up with her friends from our speedboat adventure. Alex and I took advantage of having the evening to ourselves by changing into our swimsuits and visiting the Serenity deck hot tubs. Except the hot tubs, being all the way forward on the ship, were spraying water across the deck because of all the wind. So instead, we walked down to the Lido deck and to the aft adult pool and spas.

Whoa! Those were some HOT hot tubs! It took a little while for my body to get used to the high temperatures, but once it did it felt really good. As we were soaking, we saw a little girl following her daddy across the deck to the ice cream station. Thwump! The little girl slipped and fell on her bum. She got right back up, took a few more steps, and thwump! She fell again. Again she got up and this time made it to the ice cream machine.

We watched the little girl’s dad help her get an ice cream cone, then lead her back across the deck. Thwump! Down she went again! Keeping her ice cream cone safe, she cautiously got up and followed her dad towards the sliding doors, but before she made it past the “Caution: Wet Floor” sign, thwump! This time, her feet went up in the air and her ice cream cone splatted on the deck. Seeing that she was alright, Alex and I giggled. The dad cleaned up the mess, then went back to the ice cream machine to help the girl get another ice cream. This time, he routed her towards the exit along the DRY part of the deck, away from the “Slippery when wet” cones!

We had a good soak, but it was getting late and we decided it was time to pick Alyssa up at Camp Carnival. We stopped first at our cabin to change, then went upstairs to sign her out. Of course Alyssa didn’t want to leave and begged to stay longer, but it had been an exhausting day and besides, we told her, she would get to play at Camp Carnival for most of the day the next day.

The idea appeased Alyssa, who then turned her attention to my wet hair. “Hey! Did you guys go into the hot tub?” she asked accusingly, “Without ME?” I explained that yes, we went to the hot tubs, but they were for grown-ups only, and besides, she was having too much fun at Camp Carnival for us to drag her out then anyway.

We returned to our cabin, where a towel animal greeted us…with no chocolates. No matter. Alyssa hates mint, and I was always too stuffed from dinner to want candy anyway. Still, I wonder if Carnival is trying to phase out the chocolates again?

Tomorrow we could sleep in a little, as we weren’t scheduled to arrive in Curacao until 2:00pm.

[Lady_Jag]

Plenty of seating:

 

One of my favorite shots:

 

This boat has seen better days:

 

A boat boneyard:

 

Starfish:

 

 

More pictures a little later...

[Lady_Jag]

Can't wait to go!

 

I brought a few sand toys for Alyssa to play with on the beach. She and her friend invented this game where they filled the bucket up with wet sand, then swam out to one of their parents and dumped the sand down their back. They thought it was hillarious!

 

Alex found a live sand dollar floating along in the water, so he gave it to Alyssa to check out. She was fascinated with this little creature:

 

The water was really clear and very refreshing. (That's the $8 hat I used to redirect our conversation.)

 

Alyssa was so fascinated by the starfish. Hmmm... I might have a future marine biologist on my hands.

 

[2manyBagsLady]

 

Alyssa continued her starfish examination for a while, and then I heard her say, “Ow! Feels like a shot!” Then she let the starfish go and started to cry, “Ow! OW! OW! OW!” I asked her what was wrong, and she held up her left foot, telling me her ankle hurt. I gently carried her through the water to the boat and helped her up the ladder so I could take a look. Sure enough, a small round welt had surfaced on the top of her foot at her ankle. Upon seeing it, my tired and overheated Alyssa started to wail. “OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!”

 

I reached into my backpack for a little mini first aid kit to see if I had anything to take away the sting. All I had was burn gel with aloe, so I gently applied a little to the mark then covered it with a band-aid. Our guide asked what had happened, and when I told her she nodded knowingly, telling me it was something called “fire coral,” and that vinegar (which they didn't have) would take the sting out.

 

Now I’ve never heard of “fire coral,” but according to our guide’s description, they’re little red specs that drift along in the water and will burn you if it lands on, or otherwise comes into contact with, your skin. At least two other people on our boat had similar welts on their legs (one girl had several up and down her legs), but Alyssa was the only one still crying in pain, and no distraction worked. (Although Jillian’s and Jasmine’s dad got her to pause in her wailing by showing her the black and purple toe he broke on the picnic table leg at the pavilion!)

.

 

I'm so enjoying reading your review - thanks for taking the time to write it. I love all the details and tips you are providing. My family will be on the Freedom in just a few weeks and we're going on the Saona Special tour. Now I'm a little freaked out about the "fire coral" because I don't want what happened to Alyssa to happen to my teen girls (or anyone on the excursion for that matter) but I never would've thought to take a mini first aid kit. And after your input I got to thinking I must find a way to pack vinegar - lol! I happened to find an empty mini spray bottle in my bathroom vanity that had facial product in it, I'm so glad I saved it for something just like this. So now I'm going to wash it out and fill it with vinegar expressly for this excursion, just in case!

 

I'm also going to look out for the correct bathroom building, hold my tote bag w/ towels on my lap in the boat, husband will probably want to sit near the front of the boat for an extreme ride, I'll remember to exit the boat carefully so I don't bang my leg, watch out for the picnic table so as to not break a toe like your new friend did, we'll try to avoid the boys that want to wash off our feet and then harass us for money! Also to not slip and fall on my behind near the pool deck on ship - and remind my girls of this, as we don't want bruised tailbones ruining our trip....Oh my!-so much to remember, but keep the good tips/hints coming! :)

 

Question, was there a tip bucket passed around on the speedboat on the return trip back? I've read before about that and wondered how much people tip per person?

[Lady_Jag]

I'm so enjoying reading your review - thanks for taking the time to write it. I love all the details and tips you are providing. My family will be on the Freedom in just a few weeks and we're going on the Saona Special tour. Now I'm a little freaked out about the "fire coral" because I don't want what happened to Alyssa to happen to my teen girls (or anyone on the excursion for that matter) but I never would've thought to take a mini first aid kit. And after your input I got to thinking I must find a way to pack vinegar - lol! I happened to find an empty mini spray bottle in my bathroom vanity that had facial product in it, I'm so glad I saved it for something just like this. So now I'm going to wash it out and fill it with vinegar expressly for this excursion, just in case!

 

I'm also going to look out for the correct bathroom building, hold my tote bag w/ towels on my lap in the boat, husband will probably want to sit near the front of the boat for an extreme ride, I'll remember to exit the boat carefully so I don't bang my leg, watch out for the picnic table so as to not break a toe like your new friend did, we'll try to avoid the boys that want to wash off our feet and then harass us for money! Also to not slip and fall on my behind near the pool deck on ship - and remind my girls of this, as we don't want bruised tailbones ruining our trip....Oh my!-so much to remember, but keep the good tips/hints coming! :)

 

Question, was there a tip bucket passed around on the speedboat on the return trip back? I've read before about that and wondered how much people tip per person?

 

Honestly, I think Alyssa had a little jellyfish sting. I looked up "Fire Coral" when I got home, and it didn't seem to fit the description of her injury. Still, bringing along a little vinegar would be good, just in case. I always have a small first aid kit with me, because Alyssa's not exactly the most graceful little girl (sorry to say she gets that from her mommy) and at her age, a band-aid is usually the miracle cure...except when she's over tired, and then nothing helps. :p

 

Speaking of gracelessness, don't let my clumsiness on the boat worry you. Everyone else was able to get on and off the boat without injury, so my bruised shin was due to my own lack of coordination. (In fact, I'm having to write my response from a mini bluetooth keyboard because I think I might have fractured my elbow the other day while changing out the sheets on Alyssa's bunk bed! :o)

 

To answer your question about the tip jar, yes, they did pass one around at the end of the tour. I gave Alyssa $20 to put in it for the 3 of us, but there were all sorts of monetary amounts in there: $1, $5, $10 bills, as well as quarters and other assorted coins. The amount to tip is entirely at your discretion.

 

Thank you for following my review and I will try to post more if I get out of work at a decent hour this evening.

[Scottee25]

Honestly, I think Alyssa had a little jellyfish sting. I looked up "Fire Coral" when I got home, and it didn't seem to fit the description of her injury. Still, bringing along a little vinegar would be good, just in case.

 

Vinegar is one of the suggested treatments for jellyfish stings. However, it appears the Fire Coral are closely related to jellyfish so it appears that their stings are very similar. Yet didn't you say you were on a sandbar at the time? Doesn't sound like the ideal place to encounter Fire Coral. You are probably correct in your assumption of it possibily being a jellyfish sting but I guess anything is possible in the water.

[2manyBagsLady]

To answer your question about the tip jar, yes, they did pass one around at the end of the tour. I gave Alyssa $20 to put in it for the 3 of us, but there were all sorts of monetary amounts in there: $1, $5, $10 bills, as well as quarters and other assorted coins. The amount to tip is entirely at your discretion.

 

Thank you for following my review and I will try to post more if I get out of work at a decent hour this evening.

 

Thanks for the reply! I have another question - the Muster Drill for the Freedom - was it held out on deck or in a theater or does the location (for the drill) depend on what your cabin assignment is?

[Lady_Jag]

Thanks for the reply! I have another question - the Muster Drill for the Freedom - was it held out on deck or in a theater or does the location (for the drill) depend on what your cabin assignment is?

 

It is outside...in the heat. You are packed in with all the other passengers along both sides of the promenade. It is most uncomfortable (albeit just a short 15-20 minutes), especially if you're in the back corner far away from the doors to the air conditioned interior of the ship.

 

We were able to get the #1 best spot for muster, though: front row closest to the railing, end column of our muster station, right next to the double doors leading inside! We felt the cool air from the inside, and didn't have to smell anyone's sweat or BO. When the drill was over, we were first through the doors. :p

 

The trick is to take your time getting there. Don't be late, but don't be first either. Let the masses push past you and just take up the end of the line "...and the last shall be first."

[scielerep]

Vinegar is one of the suggested treatments for jellyfish stings. However, it appears the Fire Coral are closely related to jellyfish so it appears that their stings are very similar. Yet didn't you say you were on a sandbar at the time? Doesn't sound like the ideal place to encounter Fire Coral. You are probably correct in your assumption of it possibily being a jellyfish sting but I guess anything is possible in the water.

 

20 years ago I was on a cruise and went to Coco Cay -- there were several people who ended up with jellyfish stings; one guy had to be carried out of the water -- apparently there was a "school" of them passing through -- that was 20 years ago -- and I've not put a TOE into the ocean since then and don't plan to any time soon.

[RedRam99V8]

:D

Thanks, Frank! I'm not making any promises on a review for my birthday cruise in Jan. It might turn out to be a "what happens on the ship stays on the ship" kind of trip! :eek:

 

 

Thank you! Hope you enjoy the next segment!

 

 

Thank you! I hope you find it helpful.

Oh Im sure alex will love that!!! PErhaps you should send him my way during your trip.. I will make sure what happens stays in.. well where ever we end up