B2B On the Freedom ~ August 18th & 25th: My Diary

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane - it has been awhile since we have cruised together - looks like you are having fun!!!! Just a couple of questions..............

 

We are going to try Nachi for the first time (have been to Mr. Sancho's) - how much were the cab fares and their availability? How were the facilities for bathrooms and changing area?

 

Thanks...........

 

Gary!! Great hearing from you. You will love Nachi....it's the next beach down from Mr. Sancho's and is so much nicer (IMO). The bathrooms are pretty good there as far as beach bathrooms go. The cab fare is about $16 per cab up to 4 people. So if you have another couple to go with you....it's a little cheaper. When you are ready to leave in the afternoon, your waiter will call a cab for you and they are there in just a couple of minutes. No worries. Nachi is open until 5.

Hope to see you on another cruise soon. Tell Mary hello!

[molsonschooner]

Gary!! Great hearing from you. You will love Nachi....it's the next beach down from Mr. Sancho's and is so much nicer (IMO). The bathrooms are pretty good there as far as beach bathrooms go. The cab fare is about $16 per cab up to 4 people. So if you have another couple to go with you....it's a little cheaper. When you are ready to leave in the afternoon' date=' your waiter will call a cab for you and they are there in just a couple of minutes. No worries. Nachi is open until 5.[/size']

 

Hope to see you on another cruise soon. Tell Mary hello!

Great review. I believe you mentioned that Nachi was an all inclusive. Do you recall what the cost per person is? It certain looks like a place my DW and I would like.

[maxs mom]

Great review. I believe you mentioned that Nachi was an all inclusive. Do you recall what the cost per person is? It certain looks like a place my DW and I would like.

 

Yes.....it is $55pp. Here is the link:

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelBeachBreak.htm

[molsonschooner]

Yes.....it is $55pp. Here is the link:

 

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelBeachBreak.htm

Thank you. That certainly seems like an excellent deal.

[maxs mom]

Sunday ~ August 25th ~ Turn Around Day ~ Port Canaveral

We were up early this morning so we could get breakfast and hopefully get moved before having to get off and back on again.

Fortunately everything was very organized for us and after breakfast, our new cabin steward, Nowell, had our new cabin, 6390, ready! Hooray! We said good-bye to Richard, the old cabin steward.....then rolled our suitcases down to the new cabin and put our stuff in the safe. Richard would bring our hanging clothes down while we were going through customs and getting back on.

This is Richard. He was a great cabin steward!

Our new cabin was a D-3....all the way aft. Slightly bigger than the last cabin. I didn't think we would notice the difference in size, but we did. This was much better. But it was a loooooooong walk to get to anywhere! Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I kind of liked this location.

A looooooong walk........

At 9:15 the Consecutive Cruisers were to meet in Pharoah's for the turn around process. I was so glad that we got moved before this. Some others were not so lucky. We had to wait there until about 10:00......then we walked off, went down to customs with our customs form and passports, then went back upstairs where Berty (the Diamond Concierge) gave us our new sea pass cards. We had our pictures made for those and got back on the ship. Very easy.

Welcome home!!

We went back to our new cabin and got unpacked.

[maxs mom]

We had the ship to ourselves for just a little while. We roamed around a bit. I was saddened to see how some passengers left their cabins. So much mess and trash all over the place. Disgusting! June and George said their cabin was full of sand. It took a while to clean that up so they were delayed getting into their new cabin.

The Presidential Suite was just around the corner from us, so we went to take a peek at that. I think one of our roll call members had this cabin booked for the coming week. Very nice!

Several bedrooms and bathrooms in this thing!

[maxs mom]

At 11:30 I went to Chops and Portofino to make reservations for the week......also to the MTD desk to make those reservations. No problems. The new cruisers were getting on by this time. When I took the elevator up to deck 11, the elevator doors opened and there were so many people crammed into the hallway there that I couldn't even get off the elevator! There was some delay in the opening of the Windjammer. Boy.....was that a mess! I've never seen anything like that. This is NOT the norm. I found out later that there was an inspection today of all the restaurants and they could not open any restaurant until that had been completed and that caused the delay. They did receive good marks in the inspection, but it certainly caused some frustration for the new cruisers getting on board.

At 12:00.....we went to the MDR for a special lunch provided for consecutive cruisers. It was very nice. We ate with June and George. I had salmon and apple pie a la mode. Royal Caribbean has trouble making pies for some reason, but this one was very good. Sorry .....I didn't get any pictures of this affair.

After lunch we had a good rest until muster at 4. Our muster station this week was in the dining room. Yay!!! My favorite place for muster!

After muster I went to the Sky Bar for the traditional mojito.....once again.....very good!

Then I immediately ran into our friends Al and Phyllis. It was great to see them again. We were really looking forward to spending the week with them! We had such a good time on the Independence together.

The sail away this week was right on time. A little overcast today. We watched from the deck this time but on the port side. Different view from over there.

Another week of cruising was under way!!!

[Ocean Boy]

Jane: Great review as always. Caught the toe pictures. Can't wait to make our "multiple toes/feet" picture with all in December!

 

You know it' date=' girl!! Can't wait![/size']

 

I think I am getting to the point where I would recognize those feet anywhere!:eek::p:p

[maxs mom]

We cruised by Cocoa Beach on the way out.

I forgot to mention that when I was able to push my way out of the elevator on deck 11 into that crowd, that I immediately saw some ladies with their Pink Boas. We had a huge contingent of Pink Boa cruisers on our roll call, so I immediately knew that this must be Wendy and Kay!!! I was right. It was great meeting them and seeing them throughout the week. What fun girls!!

So we get to the CL tonight at 6:30 and boy, was it packed!!! Quite a difference from last week. Many more D/D+/ and P folks on board this week. Al was already there, so we grabbed some seats the best we could. It's amazing how the dynamics of the passengers change from week to week.

Soon our friends, Gerry and Sandy from last week joined us, and we had our posse for the week! We made a toast to a great cruise!

We had made reservations for 4 at Chops tonight with Al and Phyllis to get our 2 for 1. A little more crowded this week than last. Once again a great meal here.....complete with mud pie!! I had the petit filet again......melt in your mouth delicious!

OK.....so since we were offered the two for one at Portofino on this night last week......we asked the waitress if she would take care of that for us tonight. We had reservations there on Thursday night. Well.....her response was, "We don't do that". Well.....you did it last week. Long story short.....the manager came over and took our cards and did give us the 2 for 1 in Portofino since we were B2B cruisers. Sheesh!

After dinner we braved the smoke and went to the casino. I had $20 in my purse so I played various slots on that for a while. Finally I hit a little something and got $8 ahead, so I quit. John hit a $50 spin on Wheel of Fortune so we cashed out and went to bed.

A long, but fun day. A new cruise has begun!!

[maxs mom]

I think I am getting to the point where I would recognize those feet anywhere!:eek::p:p

 

LOL!! They are pretty ugly!! One day I looked down at my feet and said, "OMG...I've got my grandmother's feet!" Bunions and all. But I love the beach and getting my toes in the sand and the relaxation that goes along with that!! So I am always making foot shots!

[loeytalldog]

 

This is Richard. He was a great cabin steward!

 

 

 

Richard is wonderful! We've had him on two of our cruises and when we went this past June even though we didn't have him, he remembered us! Such a sweet man!

 

Lois

[maxs mom]

Monday ~ August 26th ~ Coco Cay

Very dreary looking day outside. We anchor at Coco Cay around 7 AM. Very blah looking place.

The tenders are ready to take the fun loving passengers over to the beach!

We got a table for two in the MDR this morning. Lots of people already there, so service was very slow this morning.

I think we got off the ship around 9:30. There were long lines for the tenders, but they moved fairly quickly. Each tender holds lots and lots of people. The sea was calm today, even though the weather was not.

Al and Phyllis were on the same tender, but we didn't know it. We met up and walked over to the right and found some chairs under some trees.

We set up camp here for the day. We all began to relax and get some reading done!

Since it was so cloudy, it wasn't very hot. There was a little burst of rain every now and then. I didn't think we would be able to spend a lot of time here today because of the weather, so I went out and about to get some pictures made.

This was the view from our chairs:

[maxs mom]

Richard is wonderful! We've had him on two of our cruises and when we went this past June even though we didn't have him, he remembered us! Such a sweet man!

 

Lois

 

You are right! We saw him quite a bit on the second week and he always wanted to know how we were doing!

[Ocean Boy]

We have never been to Coco Cay. What did you think of it vs. Labadee?

Edited September 7, 2013 by Ocean Boy

[maxs mom]

Lots of nice beach areas on Coco Cay. And lots of activities for everyone. I am partial to Labadee, however.

[maxs mom]

We have never been to Coco Cay. What did you think of it vs. Labadee?

 

For me.......I just like Labadee better. It's just more beautiful with the mountains all around and there's no tendering. It's more a regular beach day there for me and the food set up is much better. Coco Cay is more like a free for all with the food and drink stations. It's still a nice day, though.....don't get me wrong.

[Ocean Boy]

For me.......I just like Labadee better. It's just more beautiful with the mountains all around and there's no tendering. It's more a regular beach day there for me and the food set up is much better. Coco Cay is more like a free for all with the food and drink stations. It's still a nice day' date=' though.....don't get me wrong.[/size']

 

Since I am not crazy about beach days the vendor area at Labadee is always a nice diversion for me. Does Coco Cay have anything similar? What about hiking trails?

[maxs mom]

Lots of activities here. Of course there is jet skiing. Then there is paddle boarding:

That was entertaining to watch!!

There were paddle boats and kayaking:

And of course, plenty of relaxing!! There are those feet again!

Al and Phyllis didn't like the look of those rain clouds, so they went back to the ship. We stuck it out and it was really quite pleasant for a while. We stayed long enough to fight the crowd at the food stations and get our island burgers. Then there was lightening and thunder, so we packed it all up and headed for the nearest tender.

Here's the Coco Loco guy!! It was funny......everybody kept asking for Labradoozies!!

[maxs mom]

Since I am not crazy about beach days the vendor area at Labadee is always a nice diversion for me. Does Coco Cay have anything similar? What about hiking trails?

 

Well.....I don't care for either of those options, so I don't know for sure. But I think there is a shopping area and I believe I've read about some hiking areas as well. So I think you would be fine!

[Lionesss]

Having never been to this island, and only have been to Labadee (love it there) do you happen to have any pictures of the buffet? You know "Food Porn".

Just curious

Thanks

Sea Ya

[maxs mom]

There were lines to get back on the tender and of course security, but it moved quickly. We just barely made this tender.

Here is a neat little hammock area near the tenders:

[maxs mom]

Having never been to this island, and only have been to Labadee (love it there) do you happen to have any pictures of the buffet? You know "Food Porn".

 

Just curious

 

Thanks

 

Sea Ya

 

Sorry, Sue. I didn't get any pictures of the food stations, etc. I was trying to get my and John's plate at the same time and I just didn't get any. The food was almost exactly the same as Labadee, though. I just didn't care for the way they had things set up there. They had a big round area with three lines of the same thing. Then they had a separate station for salad stuff. A separate station for desserts and a separate station for drinks. It was confusing to me.

[maxs mom]

Heading back to the ship:

After getting back to the ship......we of course went for frozen yogurt. John went back to the cabin while I went up to the Solarium to nap and take advantage of there not being very many people back on the ship yet. but the weather kept getting worse and they all started coming back.

Back to the cabin for a hot shower and another nap!

[prudon]

I love both Labadee and Coco Cay. I love to snorkel at Coco Cay. The island is much smaller and there is no need for a tram. Coco Cay only has one ship at a time tendered so it isn't as crowded at it can be at Labadee. Last time we were at Labadee there were two big ships at the dock. We came in later so the other passengers had already set up for the day. It took some creativity to get a group of 13 chairs in one shaded area but we managed!

Labadee is prettier and I love that too.

[maxs mom]

I love both Labadee and Coco Cay. I love to snorkel at Coco Cay. The island is much smaller and there is no need for a tram. Coco Cay only has one ship at a time tendered so it isn't as crowded at it can be at Labadee. Last time we were at Labadee there were two big ships at the dock. We came in later so the other passengers had already set up for the day. It took some creativity to get a group of 13 chairs in one shaded area but we managed!

Labadee is prettier and I love that too.

 

We will be in Labadee again in December and we will be the second ship in. Never been there with two ships before. I am dreading it!