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

[funinthesun1964]

Went to dinner and had I Made again. Just a little slow between courses again, not a big deal because we were having a great time with friends.

The servers did their little dance.

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After dinner, we went back to the Atrium for the Motown show. Pretty good and there was an 86 year old lady there (we found out later in the cruise how old she was) who was just dancing away. She had a lot of energy!
It was a good time.

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[funinthesun1964]

After the Motown show concluded there (complete with Brad) Brad awarded a SOS to the 86 year old woman, and an announcement was made that the Motown theme would continiue with a band, in the Havana lounge. We made our way there for a bit.

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We didn't stay out too late, maybe 11 or 11:30. We wanted to rest up for St. Thomas tomorrow.

[wrigley80]

Nice start to your review....what are the Baths in Tortola??

[B and B Rookie Cannucks]

Hey Brenda! Great pics of the meet and greet!! (We were the yellow shirts- TTF's). Had a great time at the party! :D:D:D Love the ship and loved doing the B2B. Great meeting you guys. We have already booked the Liberty for next Feb.
The other Brenda LOL:D

[funinthesun1964]

[quote name='wrigley80']Nice start to your review....what are the Baths in Tortola??[/quote]

Oh, the baths in Tortola are wonderful! You need to take a ferry or private boat to Virgin Gorda. Then go to the baths. Wonderful, beautiful beach, rocks, just amazing! You will see from the pictures that I have. Also, if the friends that we were with have any additional photos, I will sure those also. I do believe this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Wanted to stay there forever!!! :D

[funinthesun1964]

[quote name='B and B Rookie Cannucks']Hey Brenda! Great pics of the meet and greet!! (We were the yellow shirts- TTF's). Had a great time at the party! :D:D:D Love the ship and loved doing the B2B. Great meeting you guys. We have already booked the Liberty for next Feb.
The other Brenda LOL:D[/quote]

Hey Brenda!

I was so jealous of you guys doing a B2b! We had a lot of fun at the party also, and I'm glad we all got to meet each other. Have a great time on your Liberty cruise! Another b2b?

[funinthesun1964]

Time for St. Thomas! We had a day planned to go to St. John. We were going to take the Red Hook Ferry, and from there - go to Trunk Bay. I had heard that this was one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The last time we were at St. Thomas, we had done a taxi tour and saw some interesting highlights of the area, so I thought this would be a different thing to do and see.

We had all agreed to meet at a designated time in the hall (our cabins were all in the same general vicinity). We exited the ship together and stopped for one of those ship photo ops - which I ended up purchasing.

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We then started looking for a taxi. We had heard it was going to be $10 pp for a taxi to the red hook ferry. But, Bob found a taxi driver and negotiated $7 per person. We saved $6 per couple. What a guy!

The taxi is known to me now as "crazy taxi". The driver was driving like a crazy person, passing, weaving, whatever. He said he would get us to the ferry on time, and he did. Thankfully, we made it all in one piece. LOL

We paid our fare for the ferry. I believe the cost was $4 per person, one way.

Here it is!
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I am SOOO unphotogenic:
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Bob and Cheri always take nice pictures.

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[funinthesun1964]

Some sights along the way.

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This was the ferry terminal as we were leaving
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Beautiful sight, isn't it? I'd like to have a vacation home here.

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[funinthesun1964]

After about a 20 minute ferry ride, we arrive in St. John.

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Funny seeing a pig out in the grass?

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I just thought this was a funny looking car

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We get another taxi (more like an open air little bus) to take us over to Trunk Bay. I'm not sure about the cost....thinking it was $5 per person?Just a pretty view along the way

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[funinthesun1964]

Finally, we arrive.

There is an entrance fee to use this beach. I'm thinking it was $4 per person. There are showers, changing rooms, etc.

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This was a beautiful place. Note, no restaurants/bars on the beach, but there is one small place to purchase drinks (beer and frozen cocktails) and some food items (burgers, fries). When we secured a place to sit, the men came back with food and drink for us women. DH had a beer and brought me a "painkiller". We didn't have food here, but some of the peeps we were with did, and they didn't complain about it. So it must have been okay. It was pricey, but that is expected in the middle of nowhere with no competition.

Just look at that water!
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Scenery

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[funinthesun1964]

DH and Bo went snorkeling here. There was a small cost involved. We don't have an underwater camera, but Bo took his GoPro and caught some video. They said it was nice and they had a good time.

More photos from Trunk Bay

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LOL...my absolute best picture evah!

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This picture shows just how pretty the view is.

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[funinthesun1964]

We finally had to leave :-( and get the transportation back to the ferry. When we arrived, it was not quite time yet for the ferry to leave.

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We had walked around a short while, then found a place to grab a couple of drinks before we boarded the ferry

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Cheri's drink:

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We arrived back to St. Thomas, Bob found a taxi driver that would take us back to the ship for $8, we saved another $4 per couple. We made it safely. This taxi was not crazy taxi.

Susan and Bo went back to ship, while DH and I and Bob and Cheri found a bar in the area. We had a couple of beers and saw Brad the cruise director at the bar. I should have taken a picture of the place, but did not. I do remember it was in a row of shops and it was across the street.

We finally boarded the ship and had a bite to eat. Pizza sounded good.

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We met up with our friends later for dinner. We had a different waiter this night and things moved along more quickly.

We tried our luck in the casino and found we didn't have any.

I'm not sure what we did the rest of the night, but I know we were tired and decided to go to bed fairly early because we had a tour scheduled for the next day in Antigua.

I'm going to work on my taxes now. :( Possibly be back later today for our day in Antigua.

[chels2125]

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this review together! We are going on the Freedom March 22 with the same itinerary. For some reason there aren't a lot of reviews for this particular cruise.

I have a quick question about your day in Trunk Bay. Do you remember what time you left the ship and what time you came back? How much time were you able to spend on the beach? I've heard traffic can be a nightmare to get back to the ship in St. Thomas. We're trying to do all excursions on our own this time to save a little money. I'm just a little nervous about missing the ship!

Thanks again!

[2 cruzen]

That Capt Morgan drink sounds yummy. Btw, I usually have my eyes closed in pictures too. When cruising, I just keep my sunglasses on. :D

[wrigley80]

[quote name='funinthesun1964']Oh, the baths in Tortola are wonderful! You need to take a ferry or private boat to Virgin Gorda. Then go to the baths. Wonderful, beautiful beach, rocks, just amazing! You will see from the pictures that I have. Also, if the friends that we were with have any additional photos, I will sure those also. I do believe this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Wanted to stay there forever!!! :D[/QUOTE]


Thanks.....Tortola definitely sounds a nice port. I'll have to put that on my destination list

[funinthesun1964]

[quote name='chels2125']Thank you so much for taking the time to put this review together! We are going on the Freedom March 22 with the same itinerary. For some reason there aren't a lot of reviews for this particular cruise.

I have a quick question about your day in Trunk Bay. Do you remember what time you left the ship and what time you came back? How much time were you able to spend on the beach? I've heard traffic can be a nightmare to get back to the ship in St. Thomas. We're trying to do all excursions on our own this time to save a little money. I'm just a little nervous about missing the ship!

Thanks again![/quote]

I'm thinking we were in port from around 8-5:30, so you have to be at the ship half hour before departure. There is time, just be sure you are familiar with the ferry schedule (I believe it leaves on the hour). We had plenty of time to spend on the beach. If you allow time for traffic when you get back to the mainland, then you will be fine. We even had time to go to a bar when we got back in the port area. So yes, you will have time and you will be fine, as long as you keep your mind on the clock, the ferry schedule, and allow time when you get back. No problem at all really.

Have a great time! :D

[funinthesun1964]

[quote name='wrigley80']Thanks.....Tortola definitely sounds a nice port. I'll have to put that on my destination list[/quote]

No problem. I know that CCL will not be going to Tortola after June of this year (I think that's it -- they have replaced San Juan on the Tortola stops) so you may have to go on another cruise line. Unless CCL will get back into Tortola sometime in the future. Edited March 10, 2014 by funinthesun1964

[funinthesun1964]

[quote name='2 cruzen']That Capt Morgan drink sounds yummy. Btw, I usually have my eyes closed in pictures too. When cruising, I just keep my sunglasses on. :D[/quote]

I guess I should have kept my sunglasses on too. :o

[funinthesun1964]

Well, we got up early again for Antigua! DH and I went to Lido for a quick breakfast and we met in the hall again to begin our day.

We had planned in advance to do a tour of Antigua with Lawrence. Susan had e-mailed and took care of the arrangements, the cost was $45.00 pp. We would meet Lawrence at the end of the dock. A refreshment (drink) would be include in the tour, but we would have to pay a small fee (thinking it was $4, but I have to admit this amount is stuck in my head!) for entrance into the parks. The parks included Shirley Heights and Nelson Dockyards.

So, off we went. It was overcast and sprinkling this morning. A few we ran into later said that where they were, they had a complete downpour. I guess it was lucky that we had a tour scheduled where we would be in a vehicle.

Here is "Lawrence of Antigua". Loved his plaid vest! He is making sure of the people he had scheduled for the day.

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This is the area, just a short walk away, that Lawrence told us to meet him after he went to get the bus. It was parked a little distance away.

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So after Lawrence left to get the bus and we were waiting for him to come back to collect us, I decided just to take some pictures of the area.

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The line of cars coming down this lane is the same route that Lawrence would take.

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[funinthesun1964]

Exactly where we were standing, there was a coffee shop. I didn't get anything, as I had just had my breakfast.

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Another couple from our roll call was also on the same tour we were.

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The area was pretty congested.

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[funinthesun1964]

Where are you, Lawrence of Antigua?

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There he is!

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And guess what, we didn't have to go the "designated spot" to load in the bus. He just told us to get in right here, on the street.

Lawrence gave us a map of the island, so that we could follow along where we were.
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We drive through some neighborhoods

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[funinthesun1964]

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This next picture, in case you can't read the sign, says "jeweler".
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A side street:

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Going through the countryside

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We get to a stop, get out of the bus, and it is an old fort. There is a building with restrooms, gift shops, and a little room where you sit down and watch a movie about the history of Antigua.

Beautiful views on the outside of this place:

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[funinthesun1964]

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[funinthesun1964]

I think I may be out of order here...I believe this woman was the one working at the gate of the first stop -- the previous pictures -- and she was collecting the money for the parks entrance. We all paid our fee here. The funny thing is, we were all teasing Lawrence about this woman. He said he was single, and we said that this woman was interested in him, or he should hook up with her, or something like that. Lawrence was very funny, he had a sense of humor and was very nice. He was also very professional. I do recommend him.

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Next stop, Lawrence is pointing out highlights here. I believe this I the one where Eric Clapton has a home, complete with recording studio.

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Or maybe this was it...

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Look over here....

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Be careful Bo!

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[funinthesun1964]

Look, the weather is starting to clear up! It's beautiful!

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Lawrence offered a variety of drinks here. There was water, juice, but of course I took the beer.

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Another stop and another neat place.

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Can you spot Lawrence and his vest?
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We bought a couple of souvenirs here from some vendors behind the old building. DH bought a really cool shot glass which had a leather casing. I bought a little change purse.