They were right...I was WOW'D!!-Freedom of the Seas

[MrsKC08]

[COLOR=Blue][SIZE=5][FONT=Palatino Linotype][I][B]Back on the Ship and Saying Goodbye to St. Thomas...
[/B][/I][COLOR=Purple][SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]After our brief shopping stop it started to rain so we made our way to a cab and headed back to the ship.

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Back to our cabin to freshen up and make our way to the Arcadia Theater to see the Headliner show, Now You See It. Folks, this is a show you don't want to miss. Drew Thomas puts on a performance like no other. Don't get me wrong, sometimes magic shows can be a little cheesy and sometimes flamboyant but this was right in line with Vegas style entertainment. We sat down in the front row and I can't tell you how he did anything. We are definitely looking foward to seeing him in February.

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After the show we headed straight to the MDR for dinner. I started off with the Garlic Soup which was soo yummy. I'm already telling Ken that I will have 2 bowls next cruise! It was that good. After my soup I had my usual ceasar salad followed by lasagna. Ken opted to have the strip steak again (he must have liked it the first night) along with the Tiger Shrimp.

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Garlic Soup! SO YUMMY

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Lasagna

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Tiger Shrimp




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[MrsKC08]

[COLOR=Purple][SIZE=2][FONT=Palatino Linotype][SIZE=5][COLOR=Blue][I][B]To complete our dinner we had 3 different desserts...[/B][/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Because it was such a busy long day for us, we were back in our cabin and ready for bed by 10:30.

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[I][B][FONT=Palatino Linotype][COLOR=Blue][SIZE=5]Tomorrow is St. Maarten...[/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/B][/I]
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[MrsKC08]

I know that it has been 10 days since my last posts and I am so sorry that I have not been able to complete this review...trust me, I would so love to have it done by now. Unfortunately computer issues are making this a next to impossible task. My last posts were done from the laptop, but it was a pain staking task in doing those. I promise, there will come a time when I can get this review completed and off my to do list. Hopefully this is sooner rather than later.

[suizas]

[quote name='MrsKC08']I know that it has been 10 days since my last posts and I am so sorry that I have not been able to complete this review...trust me, I would so love to have it done by now. Unfortunately computer issues are making this a next to impossible task. My last posts were done from the laptop, but it was a pain staking task in doing those. I promise, there will come a time when I can get this review completed and off my to do list. Hopefully this is sooner rather than later.[/QUOTE]

yes........................ inquiring minds want to know if you went to Maho Beach?

[jules815]

What a nice review! So glad you enjoyed Freedom of the Seas. We'll be sailing on her in May, but have been on Dream twice, 2010 and just this past October. Last cruise on Dream wasn't nearly as good as our first one, so we're coming back to RC for our next cruise.

[atlgants]

Thanks for the great review! Looking forward to our February 2nd Western!

[mdjohn5]

Are you in Imperial Jewlers in St Thomas?

[MrsKC08]

Sorry everyone. I know it has been a long time since I added anything to my review. My computer took a dive and was down for quite a while. I think we now have the problem resolved and hope to update tonight with the remaining of my review (for those still interested).

As for the person who asked...yes, we are in Imperial Jewelers. They have been our Jeweler for over 7 years. We can't even walk down the street without them bringing us in, giving us a few drinks and showing us their new stuff. Many times we walk out with something new (like this last time) and sometimes we don't. We enjoy our visits.

[mdjohn5]

My wife, mother and sister all love Imperial Jewlers. We have also been loyal customers for about 10 years. They need a bigger store though...it becomes a mosh pit in there in the afternoon.

I prefer to spend my time in Coconuts (the bar) around the corner not thinking about how much damage ($) is being done in there.

[mrlddst]

Welcome back...loving your review. Can't wait to read the rest.

[Jimnbigd]

Is that Larissa Sherman doing the hula hoops in the ice show?
We saw her on the Voyager of the Seas -- fantastic. Great silks show in the theater too.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN4BwHCU80c[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Vs8JusXFk[/url]

You did not mention Sorrentos. Did you eat there?
Also, the cheesecake in Cafe Promenade has been good on my cruises -- better than the MDR or buffet.

[maxs mom]

[FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=3]Enjoying your review. Just found it today! We are on Freedom in about three weeks for a Back to Back and looking forward to it. Our second week we will be in 6390.....just across the hallway from your cabin. Not sure I'll like being all the way back there but we will see. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=3]Thanks for taking the time to do this. I like to do the same type reviews after our cruises, so I know how time consuming and frustrating it can be (especially when those computers and photo hosting sites act up!!)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic][SIZE=3]Will look forward to reading more![/SIZE][/FONT]

[endobaby]

Loving the review..cruising on Allure in November but already looking for one for early next yr to take my mom and daughter....did you see a lot of teenagers on board? DD will be 17 yrs old. Thanks. :)

[MrsKC08]

[FONT=Palatino Linotype][SIZE=5][COLOR=blue][I]Ok, when I last left off, we were sailing our way toward St. Maarten (another one of our favorite islands).[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]We woke up this morning and had a quick breakfast in the Windjammer. Surprisingly it wasn't so busy when we arrived. I guess people were sleeping off the night before.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]After a quick bite, we made our way toward the to Solarium to watch us slowly making our way to the pier. It was cloudy and overcast and we were the only ship going to be in port that day.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]For St. Maarten we had booked a tour with Bernard's Tours after all the great reviews we had read on CC and TripAdvisor. We thought that we would get our money's worth more from doing his tour than a ship sponsored tour. We met Bernard himself at the Information Desk just off the pier (after dodging rain bullets between the ship and the covered info desk). I was kind of bummed that Bernard himself wasn't going to give us our tour, but after meeting our guide, "Mailman" we knew we were going to have a good time.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]Now, I'm sure that if you had read anything around these boards about Bernard's Tours, I'm sure you have heard about their famous Rum Punch. Let's just say, there is a reason why they serve this drink in small cups. After a sip you will surely see why. These two young girls, I would guess college aged, were on our tour and between the two of them, they drank just about all of the punch (2 bottles). I'm not sure how they made it back to the ship! haha. But they sure were fun and had a great time. Oh, and very well behaved. I mean they were obnoxious drinkers if you know what I mean.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]Because of the rain, we were unable to do a couple of the stops that were scheduled for the tour (Iguana Farm and the Sea Urchins), but we definitely got our monies worth. What was to be about a 4.5 hour tour ended up being about 6 hours and we saw all there was to see about the island of St. Maarten.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]Here are some photos from our tour...[/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]Due to the wonderful 6 photo limit...more photos in next post![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[MrsKC08]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]More photos from our Bernard Tour of St. Maarten...[/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]Sorry for the bad photo. I just happened to be on the wrong side of the van. Do you see the castle?[/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]We made a stop at a resort beach for a brief bathroom break, and some great photo ops.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]I just loved how this photo of the flower came out. Loving my new camera![/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]This is looking above the town of Marigot...[/COLOR][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]Where we stopped to have some lunch at Bistro de le Mer. We were not very impressed with this lunch. We chose it because it looked like a French cafe with nice covered seating outside. We shared some fajita's (I know, not very French) and it was over $30 for the Fajita's and cokes. They were not very good either. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[juljas]

Are you glad you did Bernards Tour? Was it the best way to spend your time in St Martin? We're trying to decide whether or not to take it or just take a cab to Maho to watch the planes (which is one thing we do not want to miss). I've noticed many reviews for Bernards are sometimes not always at Maho at the right times

[MrsKC08]

[quote name='juljas']Are you glad you did Bernards Tour? Was it the best way to spend your time in St Martin? We're trying to decide whether or not to take it or just take a cab to Maho to watch the planes (which is one thing we do not want to miss). I've noticed many reviews for Bernards are sometimes not always at Maho at the right times[/quote]

We felt that we got the best bang for our buck with Bernard's. I will be uploading photos from our stop at Maho this evening. They do a really good job at getting you there and staying for some good plane arrivals and departures. We were there for about an hour.

[Wine Luvuh]

Great review - keep posting!!

Bernard is GREAT! If you have a large group and you are the only ones on there - he will customize the tour for you. We always skip the shopping and go right to Maho. He is well worth it!! Highly recommended!

[prekteacher]

Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest.

[mikechass]

LOVE this review.. Thanks so much for doing it especially since its been so difficult to get through.
Sorry for the troubles you have had.

We are leaving NEXT WEEKEND for this exact cruise.
SOOO great to show my kids the pictures.
The dining room one made my daughters mouth drop open!! haha
Thanks again
Chass

[back2tampa]

We have done Carnival 6 times since 2005 and went on the Dream on our last cruise and it was not a dream.I did have a good time but I would not go back on her.We have watched this cruise line go down since 2005.I guess the worst things on the Dream were the pee stains I found on the bed spread in put in the plastic case that they come in shoved under the bed with the pee stain showing..YECK! I was already kinda upset becouse all the elevators were always so full and people still get on.On top of that there were always a couple broke down.I have also noticed that the food in the mdr was not as good as some of the smaller carnival ships.I always have fun on cruises so I never said anything untill after the cruise and we made the best of it and still had fun and used the stairs(it did'nt hurt us one bit)ordered other things on the menue besides what they suggest (burgers,fried chicken or just ate pizza)as far as the pee stain I took photo's and posted it on the CC Carnival site.(oh yeah,The shows were the same as we have seen from the 3 cruises we took before so we did not watch but like the first 5 minutes of them)Casino Time!!

We booked our first RC cruise for DEC. on FOS and it's almost like our first cruise again.We are very excited and enjoying your thread.Great job and good photo's.Looking forward to more and thank you for all the great info.

[NeuroQueen]

I have really enjoyed your review. The pictures are looking good!!! Your fur babies are adorable. I can't leave my precious pup in a kennel, either. Have fun on your next cruise!!

[Lorey2007]

Patiently waiting for the rest of your review...great job.

[MrsKC08]

When in Marigot...

You must stop at Sarafina's, or at least that is what most CC members will advise. So, what did we do?

 

 

We were short on time and the line was so long we didn't think we had the time to wait. It was kind of a bummer because my whole cruise preparation I was often thinking about having a sweet treat from here. Everything looked so good, but we missed our opportunity. I've got big plans to partake when we return in February!

 

Once we were all back on the van, we made our way to Maho Beach!

 

 

The water was beautiful and by the look of the sky you wouldn't have known there was a rain shower. I didn't think we would have been there very long, but we actually got to stay there about an hour. Had I have known I would have wore a bathing suit under my clothes so that I could have gotten in the water here. Now, we were the only ship in port that day, and this place was PACKED! I can't imagine what it would be like on the days that there are 3, 4 or more ships in St. Maarten.

 

 

 

 

As we were getting ready to leave and make our way back toward town it did start to sprinkle again so I put my camera away. I really am disappointed though, because just as I had put it away the big Air France jumbo jet came through and that sure would have been a great photo even for someone like me who is not the best at taking photos!

 

At one point a jet did take off and there was a group of people who grabbed onto the fence to feel the hurricane force winds...I personally think they were out of their minds, but I did take video of it. I had thought about uploading mine onto youtube but there are already a ton of videos on youtube of silly tourists doing this, so I didn't add one here.

[MrsKC08]

After leaving Maho...

Our driver gave us the option to either go back to the ship or be dropped off in town to do some shopping. We really didn't have a lot of time to shop, but there were a few things I wanted to pick up that we didn't get the chance to get in St. Thomas. For example, I wanted to get some little token for my co-workers in my department and a gift for a couple in our Sunday school class that had originally planned on cruising with us that couldn't go this time.(remember at the beginning of my review?)

 

We were able to get a couple shots of our ship...

 

 

 

Ok, that's it for tonight guys. My dad is coming into town tomorrow and should be here when I get home from work. Then we are off for a long weekend in Nashville! :)

 

Thank you for all the gracious comments. It is a lot of work with these reviews, but I am enjoying reliving my wonderful trip with all of you!