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

[funinthesun1964]

When you got to the baths were you able to just carry your bags with you - was that a problem or hassle at all? When you booked the excursion with Dion does that include the cost of the taxi? I can't wait to finish reading your review of the Baths....because as I am typing this I am looking at every option there that I can find for me and my 20 year old son. Thanks :)

 

We had a backpack, and no, it was no problem or hassle or all.

Yes, the excursion with Dion included the taxi...we did not pay extra, we did tip that driver however.

 

Don't miss the Baths, whether you go on a ship excursion or however you get there. Just go, it is beautiful.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Isn't that strange?! I think all of our heat went to your room and all of your a/c came into our cabin! I was so cold every time I entered that cabin...I froze! It was like walking into a freezer.

 

I think you're right! I hope our room isn't freezing in July. We will be in an inside room on deck 7, I think. It will be our first inside. I'm a bit nervous...I love waking up to the sun peeking inside so I can get up in time to grab a chair on a lido deck. And no, I don't leave my stuff and walk away, I eat breakfast first and then find a chair and then stay put till lunch.

[funinthesun1964]

LOL, I took a picture of the restrooms. And when you go in here, there is a guy standing outside of the building making sure that you use water on your feet to get the sand off! I am not kidding. I didn't use these restrooms at all, but DH did and he had to clean his lower legs and feet, to make sure all the sand was gone!

 

 

Here is a place to get some light eats and a few drinks

 

 

Sorry for the blur, but you get the idea. There are two windows.

 

 

And here you go...a beautiful place! There are rocks to the right of this picture - we went and climbed all over those (definitely optional). To the left of this picture, you follow a path, through rocks, up steps and down others....weaving in and out of large rocks, until you come to the most beautiful beach!

 

 

 

[funinthesun1964]

I think you're right! I hope our room isn't freezing in July. We will be in an inside room on deck 7, I think. It will be our first inside. I'm a bit nervous...I love waking up to the sun peeking inside so I can get up in time to grab a chair on a lido deck. And no, I don't leave my stuff and walk away, I eat breakfast first and then find a chair and then stay put till lunch.

 

 

I think you will be fine. You could always get a wake up call or set your own alarm if you are afraid of oversleeping. I am an early riser anyhow, if I'm lucky enough to get to sleep in the first place! LOL

[funinthesun1964]

 

I WANT TO GO BACK HERE and STAY! We had such a good time going through the rocks and getting to the other side where the beautiful beach was. We met up with a woman who was on our cruise, Beth, and she was very nice. I don't have pictures of the trek or the other side of the beach, because I wasn't sure about the safety of my camera, as it is not waterproof. If I had to go it again, I would have just carried it with me. Beth's Husband did not want to go with us, so we just left our bags with him and did not have to worry about them. I do believe I saw some lockers in the area for rent for those who are wondering.

 

DH and I ended up doing some more climbing on the other side. Believe me, my legs hurt the next day, lol. Also, Susan, Cheri and I spent plenty of time in the water. If the others share their pictures, I will add at the end of the review.

 

I had a "Painkiller" at the snack bar place. DH had a drink also. Someone in our group had some fries.

 

After we left the baths (remember I said the taxi driver was there very promptly to pick us up), we went back to the place when we first arrived at Virgin Gorda, to this little bar. We all had a drink before it was time to head off in the speed boat, back to the port area.

 

 

 

The bartenders:

 

 

 

I would love to be at this place again. We are expecting freezing rain and snow tonight and tomorrow.

 

[funinthesun1964]

Well it was time to go back to our speed boat. The driver guy was there and ready to get going.

 

Susan was wanting to drive, lol. She thought she'd give it a whirl.

 

 

 

 

 

The guy put on some music and we were in a festive mood. I stood up in the boat and attempted to dance :o Of course, I feel into people's laps. LOL

 

We never did get any drinks. Susan asked, but the guy said that Dion never told him about that. So, no drinks.

 

Not sure if I would use this Dion person again. Sure, they got us there to the baths and back again, and the taxi was included. The thing that I did not like was waiting so long in the morning before leaving. The reason we booked with him was because we were to arrive at the Baths earlier than the people from the ship. When we got to the Baths, there were already people there with Carnival towels, although we did pass a ferry on the way there. So I'm not sure how many ferries go out from the ship. In the end, it all worked out okay. It was not overcrowded when we arrived at the baths, and we did have plenty of time to explore. I'm thankful that I was able to do this. We all had a great time.

[funinthesun1964]

Made it back to the ship on time, had to be back either 1:-30 or 2, and we grabbed something to eat for lunch. I think this day we all headed back to that same fish and chips table. DH loves that fish.

 

We made it back to our room finally, and this was there in the cabin.

 

 

Well, looks different than it did before. At least it didn't say "Don't Wait Up" - which I thought was stupid - I mean the party was 4:30-5:15 pm. LOL

 

After our showers and clean up, we made our way to the Victoriana lounge. It was a long line of people waiting, and the place was packed. We picked a place near the back, but then Susan found a place near the front. We all ended up there. The usual drinks, and appetizers. I didn't have any thing to eat.

 

Oh, one of the waiters spilled a drink off the tray and made a mess on the floor. That was the big excitement. LOL

 

Also, Brad the cruise director mentioned something about birthdays. Someone mentioned at the end of my row - "oh, there's a birthday here!" Ended up that the whole Victoriana Lounge ended up singing happy birthday to me. :o Quite a memorable 50th birthday for me indeed. But the day was not even over yet.

[funinthesun1964]

After the VIFP party, we headed to dinner. We got a table for 8, and had a nice dinner. Luckily, we did not have to wait long at all for a table.

 

 

 

 

 

After the dinner, a waiter - yet another I Made - brought me a cake! It was one of those yummy chocolate ones that Susan had ordered for me. It was very good. I love joking around with the waiters, and I asked I made if he made the cake. He just smiled. I don't have any pictures of that ordeal, the cake or anything, because I was so busy! We did have a lot of fun at dinner though.

 

Then we headed back to the room for a minute, I took some leftovers from the cake. Saw this...

 

and no birthday card from Carnival as I had had in the past!

 

Not a big deal though. I was having fun anyway.

 

Went to the atrium lounge and there was a performer.

 

One of the songs he sang was "Yellow Submarine" lol

 

[funinthesun1964]

We left the atrium lounge to go to the deck party then.

 

 

 

The dancing started.

 

They were handing out Mexican props so Bo made sure to get one of everything.

 

 

We hung around until they started serving some food in the buffet. I hadn't eaten all that much for dinner as I wasn't really hungry at that time. I just got a small portion of items.

 

 

I love how they do that ^.

 

 

Anyway, we all hung out and DH and I headed to bed around 12 or so. It had been a long and FUN 50th birthday. I was feeling a bit more tired, I noticed.

[funinthesun1964]

I was planning on writing more this morning but have got caught up in other things.

 

Only one more day at sea and one day in Nassau to go over.

 

Should be able to write more tonight. :)

[klaner64]

Great review. Glad you had a nice birthday. My DH and I celebrated our 50th birthdays on the Splendor in January.

[wrigley80]

Very nice review. And Happy Birthday :D

I have always wanted to go on a cruise for my birthday so this year I am finally going to do just that.

[WindsorFred]

We had this itin on the Freedom in 2012. Great review. Am reliving our cruise thru yours. Great ship with a great crew, both times we have been on her. We are looking to book B2B on her next January.

[oneboysmom]

Glad you had a wonderful birthday cruise! The baths look amazing!! Def putting that on my bucket list. I understand your weather, we're in a blizzard here today. I leave in 2 weeks for my vacation and cannot wait!

[cellalot]

Thanks for the review. We are leaving in a week and a half for the same itinerary. It is our first time to the southern islands..... looking forward to visiting the baths. We are taking a boat that you swim from to get there.... did you happen to see any of those when you were there?

[funinthesun1964]

Great review. Glad you had a nice birthday. My DH and I celebrated our 50th birthdays on the Splendor in January.

 

Thank you, and happy belated birthday to you two! :)

[funinthesun1964]

Very nice review. And Happy Birthday :D

I have always wanted to go on a cruise for my birthday so this year I am finally going to do just that.

 

 

Thank you!! I love to cruise for my birthday, what an excuse to go on a cruise, right? And the waiters in MDR will sing happy birthday to you!

I have cruised last 3 birthdays. :D

 

Have fun on YOUR birthday!

[funinthesun1964]

We had this itin on the Freedom in 2012. Great review. Am reliving our cruise thru yours. Great ship with a great crew, both times we have been on her. We are looking to book B2B on her next January.

 

Thanks for the compliment, enjoy your B2B cruise!

[funinthesun1964]

Glad you had a wonderful birthday cruise! The baths look amazing!! Def putting that on my bucket list. I understand your weather, we're in a blizzard here today. I leave in 2 weeks for my vacation and cannot wait!

 

Oh, baths were amazing. The weather here stinks today but didn't get as much snow as they were all predicting here. Terribly windy and cold though, and will be cold again tomorrow. Oh, how I wish I was back at the baths.

 

Enjoy your vacation!

[funinthesun1964]

Well, the week was moving along quickly. Friday came and it was a sea day. Was looking forward to a day of relaxation and not having to get up early and go to port.

 

DH and I got up to go to the gym. The usual routine: coffee first. The others had wanted to go to the MDR for seaday brunch, but I just wasn't feeling it, so DH and I just ate our breakfast on Lido.

 

After breakfast, we changed into our swimwear and headed out to get some sun. It was already busy. We found a place, but then decided to move because I didn't like that spot.

 

So we get settled in and relax a while. After a while, I get a dirty banana and DH gets a bucket of beer.

 

We get lunch real quick and bring it back to our seats. I had Mongolian that day and I don't remember what DH had. It was really hectic in there at lunch time. So, I don't think we were really all that quick. lol Thankfully, our seats and our stuff was still secure. No one reported us as chair hogs.

 

Here is the view from our seats

 

 

 

I liked my pedicure, so I took a pic of that too.

 

 

DH is a happy camper.

 

[funinthesun1964]

me making a crazy face

 

 

Should I go for it?

 

 

Sure, why not

 

 

Wee, that was fun. Did the slide 4 more times.

 

We didn't last outside all that long, I can't believe I'm saying this but it was really HOT. I felt like I was burning, on fire. We packed it up and went inside.

[funinthesun1964]

I must tell you about our quest for the Ship on a Stick. You already heard about the one that DH did have/didn't have, right. Well, Bo, Susan, Scott and I all tried a couple other times during the week. I'm not sure exactly which days, but we tried 2 games.

 

1 - Digital Scavenger Hunt...we went all over the ship taking photos of people, running like crazed people, I woke up a woman in a chair just to get a pic of her bathing suit (well, it was the right color!), I asked 2 people to kiss, the list goes on and on. In the end...we came up second. Well 2nd place is 1st loser, right. LOL . NO SOAS there.

 

2 - Scattegories - The four of us again tried to win. We thought, yeah, we can do this. but no. We lost. NO SOAS there either.

 

Which brings me to the next point in my review, I love music so thought that I could do another trivia game. We went to the atrium in the afternoon and I did my best. I have to say - people were playing in groups of six and I think they cheated ;)

 

 

this trivia game was packed, which I didn't expect since it was such a beautiful day out there.

 

 

 

There was only more room for people back here

 

 

Well since I didn't win here, went up to casino area for another music trivia game. Didn't win that either. boo. I stink. NO SOAS. Sigh.

[funinthesun1964]

Went to the casino for a while, I wasn't going to since I was down about $60, so I put another $10 in, played a while and won $47. Cashed out and left. While I was playing, I sat next to a guy from Altoona, PA and we were talking as we played. That was nice to meet another person.

 

Soon enough, it was time for dinner, so the 6 of us met in front of the CHIC restaurant. We didn't have to wait too long for a table. Not long at all. Tonight our head waiter was Wilbur (from India). He was very efficient and service was good.

 

Wilbur:

 

 

It was the second formal night, so we went back to our cabins to change. This was there.

 

 

[funinthesun1964]

We went to comedy club then. We saw two comedians this night. The favorite was the first one Carl Falkenberry. He had me laughing. The second guy, can't recall his name right now, but not so funny IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

My drink in the picture above^ the jokester.

 

 

 

 

After both comedians, it was getting late, around midnight. I headed back to the cabin for sleep while DH went to see another show going on somewhere. I was so tired, I didn't even ask him what or where.

[GAMOM4]

Well it was time to go back to our speed boat. The driver guy was there and ready to get going.

 

Susan was wanting to drive, lol. She thought she'd give it a whirl.

 

 

 

 

 

The guy put on some music and we were in a festive mood. I stood up in the boat and attempted to dance :o Of course, I feel into people's laps. LOL

 

We never did get any drinks. Susan asked, but the guy said that Dion never told him about that. So, no drinks.

 

Not sure if I would use this Dion person again. Sure, they got us there to the baths and back again, and the taxi was included. The thing that I did not like was waiting so long in the morning before leaving. The reason we booked with him was because we were to arrive at the Baths earlier than the people from the ship. When we got to the Baths, there were already people there with Carnival towels, although we did pass a ferry on the way there. So I'm not sure how many ferries go out from the ship. In the end, it all worked out okay. It was not overcrowded when we arrived at the baths, and we did have plenty of time to explore. I'm thankful that I was able to do this. We all had a great time.

 

What would be a good way for us to do the Baths? I don't think that Dion would be a good choice for us.....I am thinking more towards the Carnival excursion...but just trying to be sure....I did contact one place that does trips there...but he suggested that we use the Carnival Excursion because we don't want to snorkel and you have to swim from his boat to the shore.