Freedom OTS Trip Review - 2/16/14 (Western) - Playing “Clue” in the Caribbean!

[fletch1027]

 

 

All I brought to Cayman was my Coolpix underwater camera. It does an awesome job for costing around $100. The only downside so far is that I wish it had better illumination underwater. But for $100, it hasn’t failed me yet. No leaks and a great battery life.

 

This will be a quick post (no jibber jabber) of some “best of” pictures I got of the rays that were answering the dinner bell on the sandbar. I didn’t have a mask, so these pics were me holding the camera underwater and blindly firing away. :-)

 

 

 

 

Someone about to get a tail tickle:

 

 

 

Here’s looking at you kid:

 

 

 

It looks like they are weaving around our legs like dodging rush hour traffic:

 

 

 

 

I don’t think most people realized how close they were to them, but it is really neat to experience:

 

 

 

Flapping his wings like a bird:

 

 

 

Next up… snorkeling adventures…

 

 

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[fletch1027]

 

After finishing up at Stingray City (we were there about 30 minutes), we then moved on to the two snorkeling stops. They were not far away from the rays, about 5 minutes in the boat. Captain Marvins outfitted everyone with fins and snorkel as part of the price of the tour (yes, they are sanitized) :-)

 

I’m not sure which pictures are from which of the two stops. I feel like I took better snorkeling pictures last trip. I don’t know why. This time I spent a lot of time making sure DD was in sight. The sea also had a little more waves than last time and maybe that churned up more sand? Anyway, here are some pics from the snorkeling portion:

 

 

DD in the water for her first snorkeling experience:

 

 

 

Random sea plants – not sure what they are specifically:

 

 

 

 

I didn’t find Nemo, but I did track down Dory:

 

 

 

 

We were out on the outer edge of the coral reef. We had to be careful not to touch any of it but it was between 10-20 feet down there:

 

 

 

The world’s biggest aquarium:

 

 

 

Some more random fish:

 

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

[bigque]

 

 

 

 

Now regarding Jamaica in general. On the CC boards (ship boards as well as the Port of Call boards), there are several categories of people. This is a general list that I have come up with from doing a lot of research for our two trips in the last 12 months. I list them in order of “adventure” :-):

 

- never leave the ship

- get off the ship but do not leave the Falmouth port secure area

- get off the ship and take a ship tour

- get off the ship and take a private tour

- get off the ship and rent a car

- get off the ship and walk around the city of Falmouth

 

** The next paragraph is my opinion and observations and in no way is meant to offend anyone **

 

That being said, I can understand peoples fear and trepidation in regards to thinking places like Jamaica are “dangerous”. I don’t know if people are used to thinking of vacation in regards to someplace like Disney World or if people on vacation tend to turn off their natural defenses, but in my opinion, “real” cities like you will visit on a cruise should be treated like any major city in the United States. I work in downtown Atlanta. Common sense and knowledge dictates where in the city I should and should not go. It is the same with any city on vacation. Those that either stay on the ship or stay inside the gates of the port area in Jamaica are really missing out on some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

 

After having been there back in October, I agree with you 100%! :cool:

[fletch1027]

 

 

Another reason I may not have had as good pictures this time was that I spent a lot of time trying to get a photo of a moray eel that was hiding in a rock crevice to come out. I never got a picture of him, but here was his house (the dark gap between the rocks:

 

 

 

This is “Frisbee” the stingray that is a popular resident of the area. He got his name from his missing tail:

 

 

 

Some more fish:

 

 

 

 

So, these three pictures are actually from the trip last March, but I included them to show that there is a lot of cool stuff to see out on these snorkeling trips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued… One more port to wrap up Day 5

 

 

 

[SteelerCruiser]

This is “Frisbee” the stingray that is a popular resident of the area. He got his name from his missing tail:

 

 

 

YAY Frisbee!!! We got to meet Frisbee on our 1st trip to Grand Cayman and we went to Stingray City. She is a very popular Ray that all the locals must know as when we went back a 2nd time with our Son she was not available as she must have been with another group. Our first tour guide told us how she must have lost her tail at a very young age but has survived and done well in life. He did say she is a little more aggressive at first but warms up very quickly once she gets comfortable. She is such an Awesome creature!!!

 

Great Review! Looking forward to the rest!

[Tropicalgal2]

We then got to meet Carl the Spice Man. He is quite the character! His home is on the side of the road in Fern Gully. Can’t beat the scenery on any side of his place! We spent about an hour with Carl, and he showed us a huge assortment of fruits as well as plants that are used to make spices. He broke open a cocoa bean pod and we all got a sample bean. Until now I never knew how a cocoa bean eventually becomes chocolate.

 

We also got to learn about and try several Jamaican fruits like sugar cane, grapefruit (sweet – unlike “American” grapefruit), almonds. I know sugar cans isn't a "fruit", but according to Elf, it is one of the four food groups!

 

We then were shown spices still in plant form including cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger root, allspice, basil, and nutmeg that I can remember.

 

Here is a picture of Carl in action. He looks like a scary dude at first glance, but he is the nicest guy!:

 

 

In the lower right hand corner the two green fruits with "spines" looks like Guanabana. YUMMY We have three plants in our back yard! :p

[FSUDAVE]

Great pictures!

[philps]

Please continue fletch we want to see it all till the end.

[bbw187]

Fletch......please continue!

 

Just bumping up this post to keep it on my radar.

[mickev99]

So apparently Fletch thinks that working is more important that a cruise review. Hmmmm....those darn jobs! Why can't we all be independently wealthy and cruise and write reviews all the time??? We are missing you, Fletch! :)

[bbw187]

I agree, Fletch got sucked into the vortex of "work." Come back to us Fletch and continue your cruise review. My daughter is sailing FOS western itinerary in August and I'd like to share your adventure with her.

 

Thanks!

[swim25]

Yes Fletch. Please finish the review. My son and I are also going on the FOS in August!

[fletch1027]

So apparently Fletch thinks that working is more important that a cruise review. Hmmmm....those darn jobs! Why can't we all be independently wealthy and cruise and write reviews all the time??? We are missing you, Fletch! :)

 

I heard that! The NCAA tourney is our busiest time of the year, but I promise more updates are coming soon!

 

The down side of doing a review is wishing you were on vacation again! :-)

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[fletch1027]

I agree, Fletch got sucked into the vortex of "work." Come back to us Fletch and continue your cruise review. My daughter is sailing FOS western itinerary in August and I'd like to share your adventure with her.

 

Thanks!

 

That's funny. My son and DIL are sailing FOS in August (I believe Aug 31st) also to celebrate their 1st anniversary.

 

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[bbw187]

That's funny. My son and DIL are sailing FOS in August (I believe Aug 31st) also to celebrate their 1st anniversary.

 

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

SAME DATE for my DD and her BF! That is too funny. Looking forward to more of your cruise review. The same DD and I are doing FOS eastern in October. She is one lucky daughter!!!!

[fletch1027]

 

Well, apologies again for my latest gap in postings, but away we go!

 

Here’s a picture of one last fish as we say goodbye to the snorkeling & stingray adventure:

 

 

 

On the way back, Captain Marvin’s crew had drinks for everyone as we headed back to the dock. They did a really good job taking care of us on our trip. I have read good reviews of other tour companies, but I highly recommend Captain Marvins.

 

Here we are heading back (notice the waves by the reef and the dark blue drop-off beyond that):

 

 

 

On the way back I had some time to kicking back and play around with the camera filters. The Coolpix waterproof doesn’t have as many options as the Nikon P510, but there is a little play, and with digital who cares. Just delete the ones that don’t turn out! :-)

 

 

 

Back at the dock, you get the first of several chances to see one of the island residents grabbing some sun:

 

 

 

We didn’t do the turtle farm this trip, but there are iguanas all over the place there! We were then back in the shuttle van for the ride back to the Captain Marvins office by the pier. We applied our “20% tip” standard for the boat crew. Although there was a tip jar on the shuttle, we did not tip the driver. I’m not sure if they pool tips and share or not, but we gave all of our allotment to the boat guys. One thing we did do this time that we didn’t have time for last time in Grand Cayman was to grab lunch. I found on Trip Advisor this place called the Paradise Bar & Grill. It is pretty close to the pier – about a 10-15 minute walk. It’s roughly across the street from Hard Rock and has a great view of the water and the cruise ships bobbing around out by the pier. The food was good – I had a blackened chicken sandwich. Here is where I was reminded of the exchange rate. The menu is in Cayman dollars, so multiply menu items by 1.25 in your head to know what you will be paying! :-)

 

We cut it a little closer than we had planned getting back to the pier to tender. The last tender is posted as 3:15, and we got back to the pier at about 3:10. We got on what we thought was the last one, but there was in fact one more to scrape up the straglers. :-)

 

Headed back to the Freedom – it’s cool to note that the Freedom does not drop anchor when stopped here at Grand Cayman. Instead she uses a system based on maintaining a GPS position using the thrusters and azipods:

 

 

 

So, way back in the first post of my review I mentioned “Professor Key Lime did it in the Library with a Silver Medal”. I explained the key lime & library already, but now comes the third piece – the silver medal.

 

As background, Jen and I were both teenagers in the 80’s, so between the pair of us we have a pretty good knowledgebase from back then. On Thursday’s compass, two things stood out to us:

 

5:00 – Ultimate 80’s Trivia

 

7:15 – Music Trivia: 80’s hits

 

For those not familiar with Schooner Bar trivia, it is almost always 20 questions long with teams of up to six people. Last cruise, us and another couple won the “TV Theme Song” trivia. Winning is a lot of fun. Losing is not as much fun, and losing to poor sports that act like life and death depends on these games is not fun at all.

 

That being said as we headed down there for the 5:00 game, there was a gang of six people that looked like they had been hunkered down all day long there. Jen and I were on our own team of two and did really well (considering 2 vs 6), finishing second to that other team. I think they had 19 and we had 18. No big deal.

 

It was formal night; so our plans were to get ready, then head down for the 7:15 trivia on the way to our 8:00 MTD dinner reservation. We get back down there, same six pack of people, same spot are there. This time we pair up with another couple so it is 4 vs. 6. We are feeling pretty good about ourselves as the songs tick off. They give 1/2 point for artist and 1/2 point for title. At the end of it, we were tied for first with the other team (either 18.5 or 19 points – I can’t remember). We were getting ready to go into overtime, when one of the guys on the team came over to us, grabbed my score sheet, looked at the INXS answer “Need You Tonight” and said that since we both put “I” at the front, they won because they should get credit for it. It was crazy. I can’t stand people that take something fun and make it an extreme thing. Give me a break. Anyway, that’s what bent me out of shape after a fun day in Grand Cayman. In my heart I know we tied for first. :-)

 

Thursday night formal dinner in the MDR is commonly referred to as “lobster night”, so it was easy for me to let the trivia thing go. The technical menu item is the “Fisherman’s Plate” because it is a lobster tail as well as a few tiger shrimp which were all very good. Of course at dessert, I was presented with way too much Key Lime pie again. I actually had to call over the head waiter and “cancel” what had become a standing order for it. Almost (but not quite) too much of a good thing!

 

After dinner, I shed my suit as fast as possible, and we wandered around after dinner listening to live music. The guy in the Bull & Bear was very entertaining, but it was hard to find a place to sit. It’s a very small place with only a few tables inside and a few out in the Promenade area. DD went off to the “Teen Takeover” at the Crypt. We went to the 10:30 “Love and Marriage Game Show”. We didn’t go to it last cruise, so this was our first time. It was a lot of fun. They pick three couples: newlyweds, middle agers, and the oldest couple they can find. The older couple were hilarious and it was a fun thing to watch.

 

Back to the room, our towel monkey was hanging out awaiting our return and we hit the bed, looking forward to Cozumel tomorrow...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[mickev99]

Question about Dunn's River Falls...did everyone seem to be wearing water shoes? Wondering if I need to invest in these since we will never wear them any other time.

Thanks!

[Kimnjimnkids]

Question about Dunn's River Falls...did everyone seem to be wearing water shoes? Wondering if I need to invest in these since we will never wear them any other time.

Thanks!

 

 

If you plan to do the Falls def invest in the shoes. We didn't go but I've heard that you really NEED the shoes! They sell basic ones on the Freedom for $20and up but that's a rip off compared to walmart or target in your hometown. I've seen them at our walmart for less than $5 ea

 

 

Royal~FreedomOfTheSeas 2014

Carnival Glory 2012

Disney Magic 2011

Carnival Triumph 2010

Carnival Victory 2009

Disney Magic 2008

Carnival Inspiration 2008

Carnival Victory 2007

Carnival Triumph 2002

[DrD]

Question about Dunn's River Falls...did everyone seem to be wearing water shoes? Wondering if I need to invest in these since we will never wear them any other time.

Thanks!

 

You could get away with just sandals.

 

I do bring water shoes and use them a lot, they're handy for Labadee also, and sometimes for pool on board (deck can get very hot.) Also good to wear with fins to avoid chaffing. I bought mine for only $20 on sale so I think it's worth it.

 

But at Dunn's river last year most were wearing sandals or sneakers.

[beshears]

We didn't do the Dunns River, but I think you would be smart:) to wear water shoes, if you did. One of the girls that sat at our table, broke a finger, and I think another one broke a toe. It is beautiful to see, but I think climbing it, can be rough at times.

[Jessicalice]

 

As background, Jen and I were both teenagers in the 80’s, so between the pair of us we have a pretty good knowledgebase from back then. On Thursday’s compass, two things stood out to us:

 

5:00 – Ultimate 80’s Trivia

 

7:15 – Music Trivia: 80’s hits

 

For those not familiar with Schooner Bar trivia, it is almost always 20 questions long with teams of up to six people. Last cruise, us and another couple won the “TV Theme Song” trivia. Winning is a lot of fun. Losing is not as much fun, and losing to poor sports that act like life and death depends on these games is not fun at all.

 

That being said as we headed down there for the 5:00 game, there was a gang of six people that looked like they had been hunkered down all day long there. Jen and I were on our own team of two and did really well (considering 2 vs 6), finishing second to that other team. I think they had 19 and we had 18. No big deal.

 

It was formal night; so our plans were to get ready, then head down for the 7:15 trivia on the way to our 8:00 MTD dinner reservation. We get back down there, same six pack of people, same spot are there. This time we pair up with another couple so it is 4 vs. 6. We are feeling pretty good about ourselves as the songs tick off. They give 1/2 point for artist and 1/2 point for title. At the end of it, we were tied for first with the other team (either 18.5 or 19 points – I can’t remember). We were getting ready to go into overtime, when one of the guys on the team came over to us, grabbed my score sheet, looked at the INXS answer “Need You Tonight” and said that since we both put “I” at the front, they won because they should get credit for it. It was crazy. I can’t stand people that take something fun and make it an extreme thing. Give me a break. Anyway, that’s what bent me out of shape after a fun day in Grand Cayman. In my heart I know we tied for first. :-)

 

Thursday night formal dinner in the MDR is commonly referred to as “lobster night”, so it was easy for me to let the trivia thing go. The technical menu item is the “Fisherman’s Plate” because it is a lobster tail as well as a few tiger shrimp which were all very good. Of course at dessert, I was presented with way too much Key Lime pie again. I actually had to call over the head waiter and “cancel” what had become a standing order for it. Almost (but not quite) too much of a good thing!

 

 

 

I am just curious...what do you "win" if you win trivia?

[mickev99]

So is the tournament over yet?? I want to see more review!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

So is the tournament over yet?? I want to see more review!

Last game is tonight.

[mickev99]

Last game is tonight.

 

Haha, can you tell I'm not a basketball fan? Bring on football and I'm all over it, though!!

[MagneticMags]

Enjoying the review. DH and I are doing this itinerary in September! In your opinion, which deck was the best for photography?

 

 

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