Be sure to check out Sunglasses and Umbrella Drink’s blog. She is wonderful with details and has GREAT pictures.
The first two blogs I’m going to do are from past travels, but in the last year. These aren’t going to be terrific b/c the pictures weren’t geared toward doing a detailed blog about travel and b/c they are past travels, my memory may lapse a bit, but I will try my best to give you a decent blog and hope you get some ideas from it.
My first blog will be about my Carnival Freedom cruise back in April of ’08.
First, here is a little of my cruise history:
Royal Caribbean-Sovereign of the Seas-June 2001
Celebrity-Summit (I think)-June 2005
Carnival- Freedom-April 2009
Royal was a graduation gift for my HS graduation. I paid for the trip, but at the last minute, my mom gave put the money back into my account as her graduation gift to me. It was with others my age and one of their parents. Tiny inside room and I mean inside. It was on an inside corridor and then recessed again. The Sovereign was probably good for older people, but it didn’t have all the activities for the younger crowd or all the new fangled stuff the newer RC ships have. But when you are with good friends and it’s your first cruise, everything is fun.
Celebrity was a graduation gift for my BA from my aunt. I went with my cousin and went out of Norfolk. Celebrity is a smaller class of ships, but that lets them provide more personal service. It never felt crowded and my waiters always knew what I wanted before I said it. I didn’t do much exploring on shore for this one b/c my cousin did more sleeping during the day and going off the ship by myself was a little dangerous. But, I met some people my age and we did venture off a few times. We stayed in Bermuda for the port. That was it. It was nice though to not feel rushed in seeing things b/c you were going to be there the next day too.
Carnival Freedom was my Masters graduation present to myself. It was a tight budget since I had just got a job, but I didn’t want to break tradition. This cruise was with my college friend, Nicole. We both were on budgets, but needed a vacation. This was Nicole’s first cruise, so it was fun to experience things with a newbie. I leave the rest to the review b/c this is where I’m starting.
Again, I’m sorry about the lack of “travel” photos. I will do better this June cruise.
Oh, did I mention I was going on a cruise in June with my mom? Well, I’ll be sure to fill you in after I get back.
*(I saw the other blogs do this so) I don’t mind if you want to use my pictures for some (odd) reason, but if you’re going to use it for publishing reasons or distribute it in anyway and not just for like a desktop picture, then please ask my permission first (not that my pictures are that great or interesting).*
The details:
8 Day Eastern Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassua on April 25th-May 3rd. This would be a busy Itinerary; the price was the same as a 7 day, so we jumped on board!
We were booking about a month out and that meant paying in full. I can't seem to find the exact price we paid.....anywhere (I looked everywhere, I thought I'd have it), but I believe for an inside guarantee it was about $620 with taxes and fees. We ended up getting a 4 G cabin # 8354 right next to a set of elevators and right to the edge of the Lido Buffet. (Pictures will come)
Getting there: With the cruise booked we had to get there. My friend lives in Boston and I live in VA, so we weren't going to be able to fly together. So, we each booked our own flights to Ft. Lauderdale. I think my ticket was about $300 with taxes and then of course tack on the baggage fee of $25.
Accommodations: We flew in the night before. Since we were both on a pretty tight budget we found a cheap place called the Rodeway Inn for about $79 and a free shuttle to the port. It had good reviews, so we booked it.
The Story:
I flew out of a small airport next to the town I live in. I had my granddad drop me off so I wouldn't have to pay for parking. Other than he kind of locked my luggage in his trunk (He had a new vehicle and had pushed a button that locks the trunk) it was easy to get through the airport. I like the people in small airports b/c they don't treat you like another name on a list. I was there super early (well, two hours, but in a small airport that is EARLY), so I had to wait a bit. I just texted my friend (who was still at work b/c her flight left later). After waiting we got on our way to the layover in Atlanta then on to Ft. Lauderdale. With the layover time and such my friend would get to Ft. Lauderdale about an hour after me. This is where you can tell I don't fly much.
I touched down in Atlanta and being a nervous flier (not a fear of flying, but big busy airports and security and fitting in the seats) I forgot to look at the screens when I got off the plane to check if my flight gate or time had changed. Yea, I know.........S-T-U-P-I-D. Please take into account that I had only flown 2wice before. Long story short....I panicked......then got on standby with the help of a nice lady who was also waiting for a standby. It was nice though b/c it also alleviated another fear-seat fitting-the ticket checker guy put me in a seat that had a seat in the middle that was empty. I got in about the same time the other flight did and my friend wasn't far behind, but we were at different terminals. I'm not use to big airports, so I didn't understand why I didn't see her in the luggage check b/c it was EMPTY, lol. She had to come find me, lol. Anyway, we called the hotel for our pick up and happened to catch them just as they were about to pull away.
The hotel was kind of off the beaten path, but close to the ports. I have to say this is a hotel for $79 a night. There is no elevator. From the pictures online it looks kind of hip and modern, but it’s not as impressive in person. I'm not saying this place is a dump, just not made for all the extras. It had a bar/restaurant, but when we went in the floor was sticky and the atmosphere was not appealing. The check in girl was really nice though and made sure we knew to sign up for the shuttle in the morning and gave us free breakfast tickets. Our room was on the second floor, but it was only like 10 steps up. Here is where I have to apologize to my friend first. Nicole, I love you, but you are def. use to higher quality hotels and I know you were thinking you were going to kill me for booking this place. Again, not a dump, no dead bugs, nasty sheets, dust, and everything worked. It was just a place to sleep and get shuttled to the ship. And we were safe b/c there was a police car parked outside our window all night:
Picture of the police car outside our hotel room. It was still there in the morning.
Since we weren’t going to eat at the restaurant and I hadn’t eaten since lunch (too worried) Nicole let me eat her leftover pizza from the airport. It was enough for me. We both took showers that night and laid out everything we’d need in the morning. Checked our bags for any last min. needs (the hotel did have a small nook that was like a mini convenience store). We set our phones for about 9am and went to sleep in seconds.
We got up the next morning and got ready b/c the shuttles were leaving around 10:30. We had a small breakfast. They had the usual fare, nothing special, but from the breakfast nook you get to see the courtyard which was beautiful. Breakfast is NOT fancy. Basic, muffins, waffles, toast, donuts, yogurt, juice etc.
The shuttles: This is where the Rodeway Inn Shines. They have several shuttles and try and divide people up amongst which ship they are going on. If you have disabilities I would suggest making your own arrangements or calling them and making sure they have something b/c they had a lady in a wheel chair, but no shuttle with a lift on it. I saw her on the ship though, so she def. got there somehow. The hotel manager has like a wireless microphone and comes outside and announces the ships and what shuttle to go to. He then gets on the shuttle before it leaves and does a “Please tip the driver and thank for staying spill” and your off. We only waited about 15mins. To be loaded on the shuttle for our boat and had a nice chat with some people on the shuttle
Waiting outside to get on the shuttle to the port
It took about 10-15 mins to get to the port. The driver helped unload our stuff and we handed it over to the porter (and tipped about $5 for suitcase and one shoulder bag). There was a fence, but you can see the ship and the name right there, so Nicole decided she wanted a picture. We took the obligatory shots.
Nicole and I posing in front of the Freedom!
We walked over to the line area. There was hardly anybody around. We walked up to the older gentlemen, they checked our passports and funpass and let us go inside. We went in and the serpentine wrapped around about 5 times and I would say there was about 50 people in front of us. We moved for a little bit then stopped. A Carnival employee talked to us from the stairs and said that we would have to wait about 10 mins before going through security so they could process the early arrivers. We waited 10 mins exactly and through the line we went. No big deal. We walked through what must have been the “waiting area” b/c there were seats there and into a bigger open “warehouse” room and into another serpentine. This one was a lot bigger and I’d say we had about 100 people in front of us. But the workers went fast and they were really efficient. We were called in no time. When we got up to the desk the people beside us had two sets of people in their party in two different rooms. They didn’t know they had to “check in” separately. The girl asked our lady to take them, but she said that we were already there and she had to check us first. The people were nice and said that was fair; from reading some of the post of Cruise Critic (a great resource for cruises!) I thought I was going to get ripped a new one, but I guess not everyone is rude.
Off we went took our boarding picture, then our S&S (Sign and Sail card) picture and up the escalators and up the ramp to the ship. The ramp is kind of steep, so if you have trouble or are in a wheelchair I would ask for help. They board you on Deck 3 the Atrium level. The Millennium Atrium is beautiful. My favorite part is the glass elevators and the changing lights. Some people think its gaudy, but I think it’s part of the “wow” factor.
When we first got on the ship
Atrium picture
We went straight to the Lido deck and to Freedom buffet. It was busy in there! We found a table near the window and sat down. Nicole kept our place and watched our carry ons while I went to grab a few things. I warned you my memory was fuzzy and I don’t have a lot of pictures to help, so I don’t remember what I ate. I got in line and started picking up food. I then came back and ate while holding the place for Nicole. She came back with food from the Mongolian stir fry station. I DO have pictures of that! But I have to say that she didn’t like it. She thought the chicken was under cooked. We didn’t try it again.
Nicole’s food
It was about 12:30 when we were done eating. We thought we would check our room to see if it was ready (it wasn’t supposed to be until 1pm). The doors were open, but the stewards still had vacuums and stuff in the hall so we thought we wouldn’t be one of those people and went to explore the ship. We didn’t get too far into the ship and lounges. Again, sorry not any good pictures (I will next time). We hadn’t got a drink yet and decided we need one, lol. So, between getting our first Fun Ship Special and walking around the lido it was finally 1pm and we wanted to get rid of our carry ons. So, off to our room. The doors were open and most of the stewards were done, so we walked down to ours and found it ready. We had an interior guarantee and actually were really happy with the location right next to the elevators and stairs that walked right up to the dining room. Many people don’t like this deck (8) b/c its right under the Lido and Pool area. Chair movement and deck parties, dropping dishes are an issue. However, we weren’t underneath the buffet and we were right at the place where you first step through out of the elevators, so no deck chairs on top of us. Plus there was a storage room on one side of us, so only one set of neighbors. The only problem we had was that on the days that had the art show they woke us up b/c apparently that is the room they keep the paintings. It wasn’t horribly early, so we weren’t mad. It did stink though. All those acrylics and oils smelled up our room for the day, but since we didn’t stay in there for most of the day it was fine.
Wasting time until our room was ready
Pictures of the room
If you notice there is a washcloth in the shower with red stuff on it. That wasn’t left there. Nicole knocked over my Funship Special and cleaned it up. It’s alright. I wasn’t found of the special, too strong for me. So, about the time we were going to go back out we heard a thud outside the door. Our bags had arrived. So, we figured it would be a perfect time to unpack and cool down. I was missing my shoulder bag at first, but didn’t panic b/c I know that they often don’t deliver everything together. I just happened to poke my head out of the door a few mins. later to check for it and saw a crew member trying to hand it to the people across the hall. When they said it wasn’t theirs, I just chimed in and he handed it over. Now, I thought I packed clothes, but not compared to Nicole! We split the hangers up equally and she had to triple up clothes on them, lol. I even had one or two extra and gave them to her. About time we finished unpacking they called for muster, so we grabbed our life vest (still a requirement at the time) and headed to our station. I knew the drill, lol. I don’t like it b/c I’m slightly claustrophobic, but Nicole kept me entertained.
Oooo fun Muster Drill
After Muster we went and grabbed some more drinks and walked around the Lido. We had a 8:15 dinner, so we had some time to relax. So we set on the deck and had a Kiss On The Lips and a frozen Rum Runner. We had a list of drinks to try on the cruise (which I got from cruise critic.) We were already 2 in, haha. After relaxing we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. Although the first night is casual we didn’t want to wear the clothes that we had been lugging stuff around in all morning.
Another picture of us getting on the ship
Well, I don’t have food shots and can’t even begin to remember what I ate that night, so I’m just gonna leave it here for now and I’ll start on the first sea day next.
1 comment:
You have to consider your budget and purpose of visit to ensure that the hotel that you will eventually pick is the right fit for your needs.
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