Our Carnival Freedom awesome vacation, May 20-27th!!!!

[ABQrobin]

Next we had to start again on our quest to find the ship's coin. On Embarkation day we had tried exploring on all the outside decks a bit but it was so crowded and hot we gave up. Today though we were determined to find it. Up and around every deck, Serenity deck, secret decks, all around the ship....BINGO. Found it! I will not disclose the location, just that this one was harder to find.

 

 

 

The Havana Bar is kind of hidden, you have to take the stairs near the Alchemy down to it, or behind the Taste Bar down. We love the cigar bar stools and funky decor with label designs on the wall and crackle finish ceiling. It is very cool though and I bet very under-utilized due to being hidden. We had planned to see the Latino duo there one night, but their schedule always conflicted with the Playlist shows, just like the Comedy shows. It is always hard for us to decide what to attend every night after dinner!

It was lunchtime before we knew it, so off to the Lido we go. I was in the mood for a salad, and since the Blue Iguana now has taco bowls, we both thought we would try a taco salad there. No line...again! Wow, I am really getting to love this. We got our taco salads made but unfortunately, they don't keep much lettuce there, so it wasn't much "salad" to it, just lots of toppings. I got shrimp, he got chicken. Both were good, but the shell just isn't very tasty and I just don't eat fried greasy shells anyhow. So after we ate our salads, we hit the Lido salad bar for another salad. Dessert... of course! Key lime pie and some kind of mousse with raspberry topping. Yeah, I know we are odd. It was Cruise Elegant night and we knew at dinner we would be eating way too much.

 

.......

[ABQrobin]

The Habana Bar

 

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued....

 

robin

[ABQrobin]

Lunchtime..... Blue Iguana Taco Salad

 

As you can see....there were always seats available around the pools

 

 

By mid-afternoon we were starting to get hungry.....off the try the Sushi at Sea!

[ABQrobin]

Yes...... we tried it...... and it was GOOD.

 

 

We split the Bang Bang....it was gorgeous, too.

 

There were several other people doing the same thing.. we saw several platters with a little bit of everything on them and they looked delicious.

 

....continued....

[ABQrobin]

Elegant night.... same menu as on every cruise. We both got the spinach salads and then Lobster tail with orzo and shrimp. It was all very good, as usual. I was stuffed, so ordered the fruit for dessert, Ron ordered chocolate melting cake. While we were waiting for the desserts, our waiter came out with a special anniversary cake for us, and the waiters sang to us. It was so nice and totally unexpected. We had not told them our anniversary was next week (after the cruise) but were told they keep track. Well done Carnival. The cake was really like a fudgy gooey thing, no cake at all. We could only eat half. When we returned to our room, our steward Carter had a message written on our mirror for us.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we changed to comfy clothes and headed to the Victoriana theatre to see the Playlist Productions show 88 Keys. It was a good show, not our favorite though. Afterwards we walked to the other end of the ship for a Comedy Show...but the line was down the hall past the Alchemy Bar. By the time we got inside, all seats were filled! Uggghhh. Oh well, another night. I hate how the shows are opposite each other and you can't attend them all. We love the Playlist shows and we love the Comedy Club both. We turned around, went to the Sports Bar and the basketball game was on. Okay, that works for us. We watched the rest of the game, then back to the room to crash. It was a long day since we started at 6am.

......to be continued.....

[elainmir]

wow there are so many similarities between you guys and us...my hubby was 21 years split between Army/ AF...now he works on base also...we have family in T or C about 2 hours from you ..so we fly in to ABQ next week! :D I love going to ABQ just for Allsup's burritos...lol...we've been know to import them home and freeze them.

 

Loving your review! We leave on the Fantasy again June 22...short 4 day one but looking very much forward to it! Cant wait to see more of your photos!

[jimbo5544]

Nice start to your review and pics, the Freedom is one of the Carnival ships we have yet to be on. Your review makes us want to sail on her soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[redstapler7]

Loving this so far! Food is looking great!

[beavismom]

I loved our cruise on the Freedom (we debarked shortly before you got on), but I have to say I think it is the ugliest ship I have ever cruised on. I would never pick a cruise based on ship decor, but if I did, Freedom would never make the cut. Pretty much everything else about the cruise was great though. I loved Malcolm and the rest of the entertainment staff!

[ABQrobin]

Sea Day, Monday, May 22nd

Yes, another Sea Day. This itinerary the ships goes all the way south to Roatan, then works its way back to Belize, then Cozumel, and one Sea day home to Galveston. Breakfast at the Lido, the usual. Lunch at Guy's Burgers. This day was just a chill day....relax, and relax some more.

At 4pm we attended CD Malcolm's Motown trivia in the Lobby. It was packed when we got there. I just loved it, and so did the crowd. Malcolm is hysterical! The game and answers were done around 5:30pm, so we hurried back to the room to change for dinner.

 

 

 

Dinner was good - I had the Greek Salad and Mojito Chicken, Ron had the same salad and Lamb Shanks. For desserts we got the Coconut Lime cake and Pana Cotta Tropicale. Playlist was doing their show Getaway Island, which we had seen before. It is good if you like the "beach blanket" music but we wanted something different tonight.

So after dinner we rushed to the Comedy Club, getting in line for the 8pm show which was PG. The comedian, Tim Walkoe, was very good but I am sure he was even better at the later R rated show. We were set to turn in early - tomorrow was dive day! Woo Hoo. We went back to the room and made sure we had all our dive gear packed for the excursion.

 

.....To Be Continued.....

 

 

[ABQrobin]

First PORT.....Roatan....May 23rd

Yeah...Roatan. We love this island. We have been here twice on week-long land vacations to dive, and also 2 other times for the day on cruises. We just never get bored with it. This time, however, we HAD to scuba dive. Our previous land trips we had stayed at a resort on the southside of the island and the diving was there. The cruise ships all use Anthony's Key Resort, on the northside of the island, for diving excursions. We were excited to try this place out, and try out the diving on the other side since we had been told it was a bit different from the southside of the island.

 

 

 

that is the Glory, coming around the island from the opposite direction as they had been in Caymans

 

 

The ship arrived and docked at 8am, and we could see the Glory off in the distance. That ship would be joining us at all three ports. Our excursion did not meet until 9:15am, but we didn't mind getting off a bit early so we headed down to the gangway at 8:30am. Our excursion sign was with all the other excursions, up the hill in the main plaza area. We showed our C-cards to the guy, and gave him the Dive Waiver from their website that we had filled out prior to the cruise. We then were directed to go inside the Flipflop store (owned by Anthony's Key) and sign the sheet inside. We did that, then came outside to wait for the others to arrive from our ship and also from the Glory which was docked and unloading.

At 9:30am everyone booked had arrived, so our guide came up and led us out to the parking lot to a bus. He drove us to the resort which was about a 20 minute ride.

[ABQrobin]

If you have never been to Roatan, let me say it is quite different than most other Caribbean islands. It is part of a third world country, Honduras, so most of the island residents live in poverty. By poverty, I mean dirt floors and plywood walls to their houses, with electricity that comes and goes, with wires tangled and hanging everywhere, not at all what codes are back in the states. Tourism is the primary source of income on Roatan, and though the native language is Spanish, many residents also speak a local dialect. Speaking English, however, is the only way to make money in the tourism industry on Roatan. The paved roads are minimal, and very rough, as the country is mountainous and winding through a dense jungle from end to end. Only a few paved roads run north-south on the island. We took the main road west for awhile, then the road that cuts across the island north to Anthony's Key Resort. As we did, we passed several large resorts and condominiums, mostly inhabited by Americans and Canadians for vacations.

 

Anthony's Key Resort is a beautiful property, on the northside of the island, with its focus on scuba diving the reefs there. Families are welcome, and it is an all-inclusive resort, so all meals are included in the price.

 

 

 

The restaurant, office, gift shop, and dive operation are all located on the mainland, along with some cottages. The rest of the cottages and pool are located on the island just off-shore. A water taxi shuttles people back and forth to the island.

 

Honestly, this is MY idea of PARADISE!

 

When we arrived, the dive boat was ready and we loaded up and got our briefing. We were instructed to put on all gear, including our weights which they gave us according to our request, and then just take a giant stride off the back of the boat to make sure it was enough weight before we left the dock. After everyone took turns, we all were back on the boat and heading just 5 minutes away to the first dive site....Green Outhouse Wall.

We were divided into two groups, each with a divemaster. There were 10 divers, so that meant 5 divers per DM, sweet. The first group jumped in, then we geared up with group 2. This site was a nice easy short wall with fingers going in and out, lots to explore. No current meant total control, too. The dive plan for everyone was 40 minutes with a 3 minute safety stop. Before we knew it, we were back on the boat. Since the dive sites are so close to the resort we went back to the dock for our surface interval. Everyone got off the boat, some went into the Gift Shop to buy snacks, others went to the restroom or to explore the dock area.

 

 

...to be continued....

[ABQrobin]

Both dives were really fantastic. It was so nice to be back in the water again!

Lots of fish, and healthy coral and reefs. Sea fans and sponges of every color, just like I had remembered diving in

Roatan, but the reefs on this side of the island were lower profile coralheads. The southside of Roatan is more wall diving.

 

Here is my dive video:

 

Unfortunately, I had some problems with the GoPro on the second dive, so I missed getting the eagle ray and the beautiful reef after the wreck tour.

 

 

some screen captures from the video:

 

 

 

Our dive profiles: Dive #1 = 53' max depth, 42 minutes. Dive #2 = 71' max, 58 minutes. Water was 82 degrees on both dives.

We returned to the dock, rinsed off our gear, and loaded back up on the bus. It was 20 minute ride back to port, then another 20 minute walk with our gear bag (luckily on rollers) to the ship and our room. We rinsed off the gear and put it out on the balcony to dry, rinsed ourselves, and changed to dry clothes. It was just after 2pm, so we headed up to the Lido to eat a quick lunch before heading back out to shop.

 

...to be continued....

[ABQrobin]

Back out into the port area....

 

 

 

 

Our back-on-board time was 4:30pm so we had a few hours. Our son loves it when we bring him coffee from the port, so we had to get him a bag. Ron also can't stand it if he doesn't get to drink a local beer so we had to find one for him at the bar there in the port. It was scorching hot, so we opted to get something cold - gelato! Wow, best gelato I have had in forever. We got a coconut and a pistachio and shared. Yum.... We strolled through all the shops but didn't find much screaming our names, so we headed back onboard the ship early.

Back onboard, we finished drying off gear, hanging things up in shower as the ship began to pull away from the port. Mahogany Bay, Roatan and Anthony's Key Resort...we will return! Dinner menu I forgot to photograph, food was good, I had fish and Ron had the Ports of Call, whatever that was. At least, that is what I wrote down in my notebook. Tonight there was no Playlist or Comedy...geez, why can't they have one or the other? The theatre had Hasbro the Gameshow, then the Love and Marriage Show. We stuck our heads in to see a little bit of the Hasbro show, and it was funny but meant more for families with young kids. I like that Carnival does do shows just for them, but it wasn't really for us. We opted to just walk around the ship, to get some steps for our fitness trackers, a quick drink at the Red Frog, then back to the room to pack up our gear for Belize - we were doing the Cave Tubing!

 

 

[supertop]

I have not seen the menus. Where it says "mains," is this the main dining room that you don't have to pay extra for? If not where can I find the menus?

[amyotravel]

Supertop - "Mains" means main course selections, so it is the part of the menu (just like appetizers or desserts sections on a menu) that refers to the main courses you have to choose from - not a "location" or "venue." It does not mean Main Dining Room, although that is where the menu is from.

[E@syPe@zy]

I loved our cruise on the Freedom (we debarked shortly before you got on), but I have to say I think it is the ugliest ship I have ever cruised on. I would never pick a cruise based on ship decor, but if I did, Freedom would never make the cut. Pretty much everything else about the cruise was great though. I loved Malcolm and the rest of the entertainment staff!

OMG....I so agree!! They need to strip the Farcus out of all of their older ships and give the poor gals a good face lift!! I've been following a review on the NCL Dawn and I can't believe how nice that ship looks after a re-do. I love Carnival but they have got to update some of their ships. I don't know if after so many cruises I'm getting pickier, but I find myself getting let down by some of the old over the top looks of Carnival's older ships. But I also know the itinerary of the cruise is my first consideration. I think the Breeze has spoiled me. I would love to try the Vista or the Horizon or both.:)

[E@syPe@zy]

Robin....Happy Belated Anniversary!!

[ABQrobin]

OMG....I so agree!! They need to strip the Farcus out of all of their older ships and give the poor gals a good face lift!! I've been following a review on the NCL Dawn and I can't believe how nice that ship looks after a re-do. I love Carnival but they have got to update some of their ships. I don't know if after so many cruises I'm getting pickier, but I find myself getting let down by some of the old over the top looks of Carnival's older ships. But I also know the itinerary of the cruise is my first consideration. I think the Breeze has spoiled me. I would love to try the Vista or the Horizon or both.:)

 

Thanks, it was a nice anniversary trip. But I have to disagree.... I like the Farcus designs, I just think the Freedom is one of his oddest. If I want sleek and shiny I will go to Vegas. I want cool and funky....but then, I am an artist so I like seeing unique things. I sail for the Ports...but I do appreciate a ship with personality.

 

robin

[miss tea]

Loving your review so far.:cool:

[ABQrobin]

...........Wednesday, May 24th....BELIZE

 

Belize is a tender port, which means that all ships anchor off-shore and tender boats shuttle passengers back and forth to the dock. Our shore excursion, as all the Carnival excursions, met in the Victoriana theatre before 8am. From there, as each group was called, people were lead down to the tender boats and taken to shore to meet their tour guides.

Our tour, the Cave Tubing with Lunch, was the second group called. Our tender boat was waiting for us and over 100 people loaded on. The ride is around 20 minutes to shore, and then we walked down the pier and found the sign for our tour. We were directed down a walkway and told to wait until passengers from both ships (yes, the Glory was there too) arrived. We were loaded onto 4 buses and off into the jungle we went for an hour fifteen minute drive to the Jaguar Paw Outpost.

 

 

 

Our tour guides were Big Bruce and German. On the way there Big Bruce did all the talking, and man can he talk.

 

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When we arrived, we were directed to the counter to rent a locker to put our dry belongings. From there, we got the life vests and helmets, and met our tubing guide. In groups of 8 we were led down the path through the jungle, carrying our tubes. It was about a half mile and not as bad as we had read from other reviews, but it was hot and there were roots and gravely rocks at times. We emerged from the jungle at the river bank and cave entry. Our guide tied the tubes together and off we went....for a 30+ minute drift through the cave. Our guide pointed out stelagtites and stalagmites of various shapes and sizes with names from the local Mayans, and told of the legends of the caves. We saw a few bats, too.

 

 

[ABQrobin]

Photos.....

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE.... as we were walking through the jungle, our guide was talking and I was trying to capture bits here and there on my GoPro....well, suddenly my GoPro decided it was not happy, and wouldn't turn off. I tried everything, while I was walking and trying not to stumble over the roots and rocks and such. Literally, stumbling the whole way. I ended up, while I was walking, to open up the case and take the battery out, put it all back in the case including the little moisture muncher thingies, and lock it back closed. It was insane! I know what caused it though.... it was 90+ freakin' degrees! It was overheating. It has never happened to me before like this but I have had it overheat and just shut down a few times. The waterproof case is meant to keep it dry, but it doesn't breathe at all and the GoPro with back monitor that I have both get very hot. So....my fault, but it was insane! I was panicking and trying not to trip and fall, all the way to the river.

 

 

We reached the river, and walking in the cold water felt so good!!! And I was able to dunk my GoPro in the water to help cool down the case a bit. Wow.

 

....to be continued.....

[ABQrobin]

.....so our guide had the tubes all tied together and began pulling us towards the cave entry...

 

 

 

 

.....and into the cave we go..... one last look at the outside light....

 

 

IT WAS DARK......

but my GoPro can capture in low light....so here is my video!

 

 

About halfway through the cave, the GoPro went insane again, so after fiddling with it for what seemed like 10 minutes, it finally shut off. Sheesh.... time for a new GoPro for sure!

 

.....to be continued....

[redstapler7]

Loving this. I had no idea cave tubing was a thing. Defin going to have to look that up for next year!

[Clarasgrandma]

Love the pics!