Our S2S Adventure - Freedom / Spirit (with pics) - 1/7/23

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

Ahoy, Cruise Critic family! My beautiful wife Patti and I have just returned from another two cruise adventure. I don’t think that we have ever sailed in January before, as we are usually busy with projects and such, but this year we decided to take a much needed post - Christmas vacation. The focus for these cruises was going to be the Carnival Spirit. We love this class of ships, having done sixteen cruises on them between the Legend, Pride, and Miracle, but we had never sailed on the ship that the class was named for, the Spirit.

We were going to book a B2B on her, but then something caught our eye. We are striving to sail every ship in the fleet that’s still sailing, and we noticed that the Freedom was sailing from Port Canaveral. She’s another one we hadn’t been on, so we decided book her and create a S2S with the Spirit. So now that’s two more ships crossed off the list. In fact, our next three ships will also be new to us, the Celebration, Venezia, and Vista. That just leaves the Valor, (1 covid cancellation), Radiance, (5 covid cancellations), Luminosa, and soon to be Jubilee, on the list.

So, on January 4^th we will begin our journey by driving down to Florida, and then boarding the Freedom on January 7^th for a 5 day cruise to Amber Cove and Grand Turk. After getting off the Freedom on January 12^th, we will drive down to Fort Lauderdale for two days, and then board the Spirit in Miami on January 14^th for an 8 day cruise to Princess Cay, Grand Turk, Bonaire, and Aruba. After debarking the Spirit on January 22^nd, we will then make the two day drive back home to New Jersey.

As I mentioned, we will be driving down to Florida once again. Being away from home for so long it just makes sense to have your own car down there. You can pack as much of your stuff as you want to, since you don’t have to worry about luggage weights and car rentals. Back in the day when our vacation time was limited, we used to drive straight through in one shot which used to take about 16 hours. Since we have the time now, we break it up into two days.

As usual, our reviews start and end at home and cover everything in between. I know that some people like to get right into the cruise stuff and I understand that, but when doing these reviews we want to re-live the whole vacation, not just part of it. Our format will remain the same as our past reviews with a day by day account. As always, there will be many, many pictures with plenty of explanations and details. For those that are wondering, our go to camera is the Canon PowerShot XS740 HS, and our water, and back-up camera, is the Fuji FinePix XP60.

So, let’s get this party started! We strive to make you feel that you are cruising right along with us, so grab yourself a DOD, and hop on board with us and join the fun!

Days # 1 & 2 - (January 4^th & 5^th) - Heading South!

As always, we begin our travels around 9pm in the evening. This allows us to bypass the morning rush hours in Baltimore and Washington. Our son Ryan will be minding the house and our cats. He takes our picture as we head out the door…..

When we left it was an unseasonably warm 60 degrees, and it was a beautiful moonlit night. Just perfect driving conditions. I don’t mind the drive at all. There is hardly any traffic, so I set the cruise control to 79 mph and listen to tunes all night. Patti on the other hand, tolerates the drive as long as I stop at Cracker Barrel along the way. As usual, we stop at the Cracker Barrel in Santee, South Carolina just as they open at 7am…..

After filling our bellies, and Patti getting a little shopping time, we are back on the road again. We make it to today’s final destination, Kingsland, Georgia around noon. We are going to be staying at the Comfort Inn & Suites. Knowing that our rooms won’t be ready yet, we stop at a Ruby Tuesday’s a block from our hotel…….

Patti had some boneless Teriyaki wings and a large Ruby Relaxer. I had a Philly cheesesteak, fries, and an Angry Orchard. That sure hit the spot after the long drive!

To be continued……

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

After eating, we made our way over to the Comfort Inn & Suites. If this place looks familiar, it is are usual stop over point when heading south or cruising from Jacksonville…..

We checked in at the Front Desk and were given Room # 214 on the second floor…..

Our room was right at the top of the stairs…..

Room # 214…..

To be continued…..

Megan_Strick · January 26, 2023

Yayayayayayayayay!!!

Megan_Strick · January 26, 2023

11 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Ahoy, Cruise Critic family! My beautiful wife Patti and I have just returned from another two cruise adventure. I don’t think that we have ever sailed in January before, as we are usually busy with projects and such, but this year we decided to take a much needed post - Christmas vacation. The focus for these cruises was going to be the Carnival Spirit. We love this class of ships, having done sixteen cruises on them between the Legend, Pride, and Miracle, but we had never sailed on the ship that the class was named for, the Spirit.

We were going to book a B2B on her, but then something caught our eye. We are striving to sail every ship in the fleet that’s still sailing, and we noticed that the Freedom was sailing from Port Canaveral. She’s another one we hadn’t been on, so we decided book her and create a S2S with the Spirit. So now that’s two more ships crossed off the list. In fact, our next three ships will also be new to us, the Celebration, Venezia, and Vista. That just leaves the Valor, (1 covid cancellation), Radiance, (5 covid cancellations), Luminosa, and soon to be Jubilee, on the list.

So, on January 4^th we will begin our journey by driving down to Florida, and then boarding the Freedom on January 7^th for a 5 day cruise to Amber Cove and Grand Turk. After getting off the Freedom on January 12^th, we will drive down to Fort Lauderdale for two days, and then board the Spirit in Miami on January 14^th for an 8 day cruise to Princess Cay, Grand Turk, Bonaire, and Aruba. After debarking the Spirit on January 22^nd, we will then make the two day drive back home to New Jersey.

As I mentioned, we will be driving down to Florida once again. Being away from home for so long it just makes sense to have your own car down there. You can pack as much of your stuff as you want to, since you don’t have to worry about luggage weights and car rentals. Back in the day when our vacation time was limited, we used to drive straight through in one shot which used to take about 16 hours. Since we have the time now, we break it up into two days.

As usual, our reviews start and end at home and cover everything in between. I know that some people like to get right into the cruise stuff and I understand that, but when doing these reviews we want to re-live the whole vacation, not just part of it. Our format will remain the same as our past reviews with a day by day account. As always, there will be many, many pictures with plenty of explanations and details. For those that are wondering, our go to camera is the Canon PowerShot XS740 HS, and our water, and back-up camera, is the Fuji FinePix XP60.

So, let’s get this party started! We strive to make you feel that you are cruising right along with us, so grab yourself a DOD, and hop on board with us and join the fun!

Days # 1 & 2 - (January 4^th & 5^th) - Heading South!

As always, we begin our travels around 9pm in the evening. This allows us to bypass the morning rush hours in Baltimore and Washington. Our son Ryan will be minding the house and our cats. He takes our picture as we head out the door…..

When we left it was an unseasonably warm 60 degrees, and it was a beautiful moonlit night. Just perfect driving conditions. I don’t mind the drive at all. There is hardly any traffic, so I set the cruise control to 79 mph and listen to tunes all night. Patti on the other hand, tolerates the drive as long as I stop at Cracker Barrel along the way. As usual, we stop at the Cracker Barrel in Santee, South Carolina just as they open at 7am…..

After filling our bellies, and Patti getting a little shopping time, we are back on the road again. We make it to today’s final destination, Kingsland, Georgia around noon. We are going to be staying at the Comfort Inn & Suites. Knowing that our rooms won’t be ready yet, we stop at a Ruby Tuesday’s a block from our hotel…….

Patti had some boneless Teriyaki wings and a large Ruby Relaxer. I had a Philly cheesesteak, fries, and an Angry Orchard. That sure hit the spot after the long drive!

To be continued……

I keep saying that one of these days I'm going to join you for lunch in Kingsland since I'm only 30 mins north of there in the next county!

Hogladyrider · January 26, 2023

Ready to follow along another FANTASTIC Jeff & Patti review....EXCELLENT timing!

pirate4me2 · January 26, 2023

YASSSSSSS! Been waiting (im)patiently for this to get me thru until my next adventure. 🙂

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

Patti takes us on a quick tour of the hotel. This is the Lobby…..

This is the breakfast area. They provide FREE breakfast every morning…..

I guess you can call this their Business Center…..

The Fitness Center…..

They have a small laundry room…..

This is the Pool and Spa area…..

Afterwards, Patti took the car and went out to check out the nearby stores. I was exhausted from the drive, so I just laid down on the bed and crashed!

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

23 minutes ago, Megan_Strick said:

Yayayayayayayayay!!!

First to the party! Welcome aboard!

19 minutes ago, Megan_Strick said:

I keep saying that one of these days I'm going to join you for lunch in Kingsland since I'm only 30 mins north of there in the next county!

Missed us again. Next chance is April 14th!

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

22 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

Ready to follow along another FANTASTIC Jeff & Patti review....EXCELLENT timing!

I knew you would be here! How's that knee doing?

17 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

YASSSSSSS! Been waiting (im)patiently for this to get me thru until my next adventure. 🙂

Hey Greenland buddy! Glad to have you along as always!

Megan_Strick · January 26, 2023

Now, the question is do I keep stalking to see if there a new post or do I wait a day or so, so I can binge read????

Hogladyrider · January 26, 2023

@Jamman54...thanks for asking about my knee...11 weeks post op now. It is wonderful to be back in Arizona where it is warmer than Massachusetts!

I am riding the stationary bike 10 minutes a day, lower tension and walking each day. I am doing good and feeling good. Yesterday was an "off" day with swelling, which is to be expected, so I just walked and then iced and relaxed most of the day. Learning this recovery is for the long haul not the short one!

Did book our 18 days cruise to Hawaii for next January, On HAL out of San Diego, trip of a lifetime for us, figure at 70 it is time to start enjoying retirement and spending some of that savings!

d-train · January 26, 2023

On board! Living another sailing vicariously through you guys...

Thanks for sharing your vaca!

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

57 minutes ago, d-train said:

On board! Living another sailing vicariously through you guys...

Thanks for sharing your vaca!

Thanks for hopping on board! We have a lot to share!

momof3cruisers · January 26, 2023

1 hour ago, Megan_Strick said:

Now, the question is do I keep stalking to see if there a new post or do I wait a day or so, so I can binge read????

Dilemmas, dilemmas! I’ve been looking forward to this review to hear about the experience on Spirit specifically. Baited breath.

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

36 minutes ago, momof3cruisers said:

Dilemmas, dilemmas! I’ve been looking forward to this review to hear about the experience on Spirit specifically. Baited breath.

Glad to have you aboard! We'll get to the Spirit eventually, but I'll say up front, that we enjoyed both of our cruises greatly, and had no major issues on either!

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

Day # 3 - (January 6^th) - Welcome to Port Canaveral!

We woke up to a sunny, but chilly 43 degree day here in Kingsland, Georgia. I thought it was supposed to be warmer heading south! We enjoyed the free breakfast that the hotel provided. Here are some pictures of the offerings…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

At 8:30am we checked out and hit the road again. Here I am in my usual position……

Just minutes after leaving Kingsland, Ga. We are in Florida…..

It was an easy drive to Port Canaveral, and we made it there in three hours. It was too early to check into our hotel, so I suggested to Patti that we head over to Cocoa and Cocoa Village for a couple of hours……

Patti loves Cocoa Village. I dropped her off, and then I drove to my Husband Daycare at Ryan’s Pizza and Pub. Patti will meet me there later. Here are some random Cocoa Village pictures…..

To be continued…….

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

Patti meets me at Ryan’s Pizza and Pub. We always get a chuckle out of this, since we have a son named Ryan!......

Patti is enjoying her first drink of the day. I’m probably on my 5^th or 6^th……

Here are the menus……

Patti is having the chicken tender basket, while I’m having a bar pie…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · January 26, 2023

Afterwards, we jumped into the car and got on the causeway that runs from Cocoa to Cocoa Beach and A1A. With the zoom on Patti’s camera you could see the ships in Port Canaveral across the way…..

After about another twenty minutes we are approaching Port Canaveral…..

We have reached our hotel, the Hampton Inn / Home2Suites……

We had tried to book the Hampton Inn three months out, but they were sold out. We were able to get a suite in Home2Suites. Normally these suites go for $300+ a night, but by using some of our Hilton Honors points we cut it down to $112. We were given Suite # 311…..