Freedom 2.22.14-8 day St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola,Nassau

[funinthesun1964]

We returned Sunday night, totally exhausted from all the fun!

 

We flew in on the day of the cruise - left early from Ohio - connected in Atlanta - landed in FLL around 10:30. Delta was on time and no problems or delays of any kind, luckily.

 

We had a "VIP" taxi driver who seemed to know everybody and everything (even though he told us he had only been there in the Ft. Lauderdale area for 2 weeks). He let us stop at a CVS for wine, soda, water, etc and was very patient. Then, when it came time to get to the port he yelled hello at everyone and they let us through traffic immediately. It was pretty funny.

 

Taxi Ride

 

 

 

 

Embarkation Photo

 

I went up ahead and took a picture of the other 3 ready to board

 

[soccersharon]

Welcome home, Brenda! Looking forward to more!

 

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[funinthesun1964]

The check in process went very smoothly. A very short line to check in. I'm guessing here, but I believe we arrived at the port around 12:30, somewhere in that area, by the time we met our friends, collected our luggage, got a taxi, and stopped at CVS.

 

We were meeting another couple on board also. We had all met last October on the Pride, and I told them then that I had already booked Freedom for the week of Feb.22 as it was my birthday, and I really wanted to visit Antigua and Tortola (for the baths). So, they followed, I had booked that cruise on the Pride and then gave them my F&F certificates. So we all were cruising together again!

 

Okay, so back to the story - we first went into deck 3 atrium and found the other couple. They allowed us to use their room to store our carry-ons (as it was not 1:30 yet) and they had FTTF. We dropped our stuff in their room, and then we all went to Lido for lunch.

 

DH loves the fish and chips. He and some others indulged in that tasty food and a few of us went elsewhere. But we all met back upstairs near the fish and chips area, as someone in our group had found a table that would accommodate all of us. We were so happy to be there, finally!

 

 

Bo and Susan

 

 

Oasis of Seas in Port also

 

 

 

 

DH with funship special

 

[funinthesun1964]

Welcome home, Brenda! Looking forward to more!

 

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Thanks, Sharon! Hope all is well with you :)

[jolyroger]

Love the Freedom and this exact Itinerary! We did this a couple yrs ago and fell in love with tortola! So much so we had to take our kids back last cruise so they could experience the "baths" excursion..It is something to see!! and they loved it!!

[sunsandsip]

So excited to read your review! Wa are leaving March 22 on the Freedom and I can't wait to see the Baths!

[CJinFLA00]

We did the same cruise 2 weeks prior. What a great itinerary. Thanks for doing a review.

 

 

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[soccersharon]

Thanks, Sharon! Hope all is well with you :)

 

Everything is good! Thanks!

 

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[KPfromCT]

LOVED this itinerary!!!:D:D We did this itinerary on the Breeze last April. Great islands.

Was hoping to do the Southern on the Freedom this year, but got sick of waiting to hear about the upgrades.

Booked the Breeze, AGAIN, for July. Cannot WAIT. Aruba!!!!:D:D

[funinthesun1964]

Love the Freedom and this exact Itinerary! We did this a couple yrs ago and fell in love with tortola! So much so we had to take our kids back last cruise so they could experience the "baths" excursion..It is something to see!! and they loved it!!

 

I was really looking forward to the Baths and it did not disappoint! This cruise was wonderful, the excursions we did at the first three ports were wonderful!

[funinthesun1964]

We did the same cruise 2 weeks prior. What a great itinerary. Thanks for doing a review.

 

No Problem, thanks for commenting. It really was a great itinerary!

 

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LOVED this itinerary!!!:D:D We did this itinerary on the Breeze last April. Great islands.

Was hoping to do the Southern on the Freedom this year, but got sick of waiting to hear about the upgrades.

Booked the Breeze, AGAIN, for July. Cannot WAIT. Aruba!!!!:D:D

 

Have fun on the Breeze. Aruba is on my list of ports to visit. Someday. lol

[funinthesun1964]

So excited to read your review! Wa are leaving March 22 on the Freedom and I can't wait to see the Baths!

 

You will have a great time. Beautiful sights to see! :)

[funinthesun1964]

Well, we could not have asked for nicer weather that day, it was beautiful. We had went back to our rooms and checked for our luggage, but it wasn't there yet.

 

DH always checks in with our adult son to see how things are going at the house. Really, he worries about our little Boston Terrier. lol

 

 

Susan is being silly!!

 

 

We decided to go to the spa and do the tour. We did this on the Pride also.

 

Gym. Here are the spin bikes. DH is a cyclist and always says he is going to do a class, but never signs up. I guess he figures he never knows what he is going to be doing at that time. Twice, we were in the gym anyway when the class was going on. He should have done it!

 

 

 

Here we are on the spa tour, I'm peering into one of the rooms before we enter.

 

[funinthesun1964]

Here is one of the spa showers. Nice and roomy. Always think to myself that I will shower here, but I never do.

 

 

Here is a guide of one of the rooms and Bo is a volunteer.

 

 

haha

 

 

I know this sounds crazy -- but I love the SMELL of the spa. It always smells so nice and fresh, light fragrance scent. (weird?) LOL, I can smell it now though.

 

Out in the hall on the outside of the spa, they were giving mini-massages. They were trying to get you to book a treatment right then and there though.

 

 

 

Sorry for the blur on the photos. I had a mini massage myself, they tested hot stone on my shoulder area/upper back, then tried the bamboo and asked which I liked better. I liked the hot stone. I had won a free hot stone massage on the Pride in the spa raffle, and it was very nice. The only thing, though, it made me feel tired and it was only 10 AM when I had my appointment!

 

It was nice though to have a little mini massage, although none of booked an appointment. And the spa tour was interesting, but I had seen it all before.

[funinthesun1964]

We went to check out the atrium again and it was packed!

 

 

 

Went back outside and checked out the other ships in port. I want to sail on this one sometime.

 

 

 

okay, I really would like to sail on this one sometime

 

 

This one too

 

[funinthesun1964]

DH on the phone again! He talks more than my mother!

 

 

 

Went back to the cabin and this is what I found, lol.

 

 

We had our luggage arrive and we unpacked and by that time it was time for muster. Muster seemed to last forever, and I thought we waited until the last to go. Wrong, several more people came and we waited and waited and waited! It took forever. Finally, we were free and went out on deck for sail away.

 

By the way, our cabin was 2358, an inside room on deck 2. Room was fine, although it stayed cold all the time! Previously, the thermostat would warm up the room if I turned it over to the room. Not this time, it was cold no matter what I did. Cold if I turned it up, cold if it turned it down. DH also agreed that it was cold, so it wasn't just me.

 

Here are some pics from sail away

 

 

 

[jigger]

Great Review !

[CJinFLA00]

The safety drill on the Freedom is so long! They really need to improve that process like having it in the theatre.

 

 

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[Shimmy86]

Enjoying your review, can't wait to read more!

 

 

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[GAMOM4]

Loving your review....I am going on the Sunshine in May and 2 of our ports are St. Thomas & Tortola so I can't wait to read about your excursions there! We are still trying to decide what to do....I have been to St. Thomas one time and we did the Champagne Catamaran Tour then

[GAMOM4]

Loving your review....I am going on the Sunshine in May and 2 of our ports are St. Thomas & Tortola so I can't wait to read about your excursions there! We are still trying to decide what to do....I have been to St. Thomas one time and we did the Champagne Catamaran Tour then

[funinthesun1964]

Great Review !

 

Thanks!

 

The safety drill on the Freedom is so long! They really need to improve that process like having it in the theatre.

 

 

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I wish they would improve. Of course, some of the problem is, some people wait entirely TOO long before they arrive. It's like maybe they are trying to hide until they are forced to show up. Something needs to change, it seems as though we were waiting there 45 minutes. Maybe it just seemed like it, I don't know.

[funinthesun1964]

Enjoying your review, can't wait to read more!

 

 

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Thank you!

 

Loving your review....I am going on the Sunshine in May and 2 of our ports are St. Thomas & Tortola so I can't wait to read about your excursions there! We are still trying to decide what to do....I have been to St. Thomas one time and we did the Champagne Catamaran Tour then

 

Oh, those ports are so nice. Wish I was going all over again, like next week. :)

[funinthesun1964]

So we went to the spa raffle and none of us won anything :( But that was okay. We went to the spot where some of our roll call was supposed to meet and we met a few people.

 

The six of us (we call ourselves the sinister six) all met for dinner I the MDR. I will say the first couple of nights in the MDR was slow service. We had a waiter by the name of I Made. Later in the week I found another I Made, lol. This first waiter identified himself as "I Made Mistake". It seemed as though there were long wait times between courses. But, since we were with friends and had good conversation and fun, it didn't seem all that bad. Later in the week, we had different waiters and found the service to be better. So I don't know if it was this particular wait team, or just chaos and confusion in the dining room.

 

After dinner we went the International Lounge, 5 aft (where the comedy club is held) for some karaoke.

 

 

Cheri found herself a dance partner:

[funinthesun1964]

Funny picture of DH. I don't know what he is doing here. I think I just caught him at a weird time.

Bo and his Superman stuff again!

 

 

Mmmm French martini

 

The 'dance partner' singing