Carnival Freedom
Our 1st Blogger’s Cruise & Matthew Turns Platinum
February 20-27, 2016
My goal of starting a blog is to share some of my adventures while doing what I love to do, which as you know by now is cruising…but ironically, our most recent cruise was one of the least adventuresome cruises we have ever taken, and it turned out to be one of our best cruises ever. As with any vacation, the planning and researching is part of the fun, and getting ready to take our first “Bloggers Cruise” made things all the more exciting. We were lucky to be part of the group of about 700 or so people that would get to interact with Carnival’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald and to be part of his planned festivities throughout the week. I’ve enjoyed following John on Facebook and laughing along with him each day as he shares the good and the bad of his very important role with Carnival.
There was so much anticipation leading up to this cruise , but finally the day had come. The long awaited travel day was here!! It was the day before our cruise and we were ready to head towards Galveston, TX to board the Carnival Freedom!! Our cruise was to leave on Saturday so we had planned on flying into Houston on Friday. We booked our airfare through U.S. Airways months in advance due to a great deal at the time. Usually we get a flight at the crack of dawn, but this time, since we were only flying to Texas, we got an afternoon flight so we had plenty of time on our hands. I scheduled the obligatory pre cruise hair appointment for the morning of our flight. I was a bit nervous because if it had gotten cancelled or something went wrong with that hairstyling, there would be no turning back. I kept having flashbacks to an episode of the Brady Bunch where Greg Brady got his hair done and it accidently turned orange!! Well, all my worrying ended up being a waste of time because my awesome, long time stylist, Barbara, did her usual superb job (Thanks Barbara!) and at last, my hair and I were set to travel. Our flight was to leave at 4pm so we picked our son Matthew up from school early and we went back by the house to grab our luggage then headed to the airport. Since it was a Friday we left ourselves plenty of time to fight any traffic and get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
We arrived at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Jamie dropped Matthew and I off at the Terminal 4 curb with the luggage, and he went to go park the truck in the Economy lot. It’s the cheapest way to go if you don’t have a ride to the airport and Sky Harbor has a sky-tram that makes it super easy. Although we cruise a lot, we don’t do much other travel by air, so even the self check-in and tagging our own luggage process can be a challenge, but we found a kiosk with a very nice attendant that helped us out. The most stressful part of the check in is when Jamie puts the luggage on the scale. The look on his face will immediately tell me if we are under, or over, the 50lb limit. Thank God our scale at home is accurate! I nailed it with 50.0 and 49.5 so with that sigh of relief, we were on our way to security. The line for security wasn’t too bad, but the craziest thing happened…both of our carry-on bags got pulled from the x-ray machine and were put through a pretty intensive search, including a chemical swab throughout the interior of the bags. I had never seen anything like it and it made me kind of nervous, but next thing you know, I was zipping up my bags and heading for the gate. I wish I knew what it was they thought they saw in my bags, and I was a bit annoyed from the delay, I mean we were running early and this slowed us down, but I supposed you can’t argue with airline safety. We still had time to make a quick bathroom stop before boarding (I hate using airplane restrooms), and grab a few waters and a snack for the flight and we were ready to board our flight. Next stop, Houston, Texas.!!!
Our plan was to stay near the airport that night, and head down to The Port of Galveston in the morning. We usually stay at Hilton hotels so Jamie and I looked online and found a Hampton Inn at a good rate near the airport. They offer an airport shuttle, no charge, so we would just need to pay for the ride to the port in the morning. The plan seemed flawless. We landed in Texas, got our luggage, and I gave Jamie the hotel paperwork so he could call the Hampton Inn for our shuttle. We waited outside until a very nice lady showed up in a small Hampton Inn hatchback sort of vehicle. Apparently, the shuttle was running so late, she didn’t want us to wait too long so she hopped into another hotel vehicle to come pick us up. She was great…she even took us to a store nearby so we could buy our 2 bottles of wine to carry on the ship in the morning. Things were going perfectly! She dropped us off at the hotel and said farewell as she was off to pick up more guests. We dragged all our luggage inside, ready to get to our room and just relax. There was no one in line at the desk so we walked right up and proclaimed that we had arrived and we had a reservation for that night. Jamie gave her our name and she looked us up in the computer and looked some more…and asked us for our name again, and kept looking. Then she looked at us and said she didn’t see our name in the computer!! Jamie stated we had our paperwork with our confirmation and he proudly handed it to her, and she proudly handed it back and told us we were at the wrong Hampton Inn!! WHAT??!! Oh boy, things just took a wrong turn!! Apparently, when Jamie called for the shuttle, he just googled Hampton Inn George Bush Airport, instead of calling the number on our reservation. I mean, how many of them can there be? Well there are 2!! Now of course there are 2 sides to every story, and since this is my blog, I am here to tell you that my side was the right one and let’s just leave it at that. The lady at the counter called the other Hampton Inn and they said their shuttle would be by to get us in about 20 minutes. Muttering an array of inappropriate comments, Jamie went outside to wait for the shuttle while I stayed inside explaining to our son why we could not go up to our room, and why his dad had veins popping out of his forehead. Just to add insult to injury, the other hotel’s shuttle ran late so the original lady that picked us up at the airport came back and gave us a ride to the other hotel. How embarrassing!! Especially after she went out of her way to take us to the store the first time she picked us up. Somewhere in this incident is a great lesson for married couples about communication and understanding, but at the time, we failed to identify it. So we get to the correct Hampton Inn, check in, ask where we can go for dinner, since we are starving at this point, and we find out the only place within walking distance is a gas station with a Church’s Chicken inside of it. This bit of information didn’t make matters any better. We decided to suck it up, and make the best of it so we walked across the parking lot and luckily, I kid you not, we got there moments before the Church’s was about to close and we were the last order of the night. We got back to the room, ate our fancy pre-cruise dinner and discussed, as a family, how this evening’s little mishap would be no indication of whether or not this cruise would be the greatest cruise ever.
We awoke the next morning with the same level of excitement a child has on Christmas morning. In just a few short hours, we will be on The Freedom!! We are up early, since we have a pretty long trip to Galveston, and we went downstairs to find the hotel’s complimentary breakfast bar. We are big fans of a free breakfast! We like to eat light in the morning and save room for a big Lido Deck lunch. The breakfast bar didn’t disappoint….it had everything we needed, but most importantly, it had a waffle maker. Matthew must have a waffle the morning of the cruise. It can literally affect his mood for the whole morning. The kid is a ridiculously picky eater, totally unlike Jamie and myself, and seeing that waffle maker just lets us know it will be smooth sailing, excuse the pun, all the way to Galveston.
After breakfast, we headed over to the front desk to inquire about a taxi to the Port of Galveston. We tell him we want to leave the hotel by about 8:30am and the clerk assures us it’s no problem and he will call us shortly with the information. As we are getting ready in our room, he calls to tell us the taxi will be there at 8:30 and it’s only $110. We thought great, because we had heard it might be as much as $150 and he even told us it would be an SUV, not a taxi! After last night’s snafu, we figured things were finally going our way. We get downstairs, and a big black Chevy Tahoe is sitting there waiting for us. Jamie opens the door and I could smell the leather interior. I’m thinking, Wow, we’re riding in style to the port, I mean it’s like an hour drive and this is so much better than a musty old taxi. As Jamie is helping to load the luggage, I hear him confirming the flat rate to the port. Next thing I hear is Jamie saying “Whoa, whoa, whoa the guy inside told me $110!!” Apparently the $110 was to the Houston Seaport and it would be $175 to Galveston. Since half the luggage was already in the vehicle, and we were ready to head to the port, Jamie and the driver agreed on $170 and we hopped in and headed South. I guess the old saying is right on point, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. I’m not sure how the guy behind the counter confuses the Port of Galveston and the Houston Seaport but we enjoyed the comfortable ride to Galveston, and we didn’t mind spending the extra money, considering it wasn’t much more than what we originally planned on spending.
After driving for a while, we saw water. We crossed the bridge into Galveston and then we saw it, just off in the distance but getting closer and bigger. It’s unmistakable and stands out across the skyline…there it was, the Carnival Whale Tail!!
We got to the port, found a porter to take our luggage and headed inside to check in. We were part of the first check in group, the 10am check in time, and we got to walk right in, go right through security and right upstairs to get our sail and sign cards and wait in the lounge. One of the perks of cruising a lot and being Platinum is getting there early and waiting in the VIP lounge I know, whoop de doo, we are VIP’s but in our normal life, we are just everyday schlubs so when we cruise, it’s the one time we feel important! Usually there are just a handful of people in the lounge, but since this was a Bloggers cruise, the place was packed!! Instead of 20-30 people in the VIP area, there were 200+! It was crazy and one thing was for sure, there were going to be a bunch of us all racing to be the first ones in the Red Frog Pub…
By about 11:45 they started the boarding. What a crowd there was swarming to get on the ship. We opted out of the embarkation picture. This was part of our plan to save time since we were on a mission to be the 1st ones in the Pub. It’s one of our favorite things to do. The first people in the Red Frog Pub get a free beer (Matthew gets a coke) and have their picture taken. Our last 3 cruises we able to do this and were attempting #4. Matthew ran ahead trying to secure our spot, but we saw him stop at the entrance of the pub. The look on his face told the whole story. We gave it our best shot, but there was already a group at the bar. Damn those Back To Back cruisers!! Oh well, better luck next time. We moved on to make the usual rounds. We stopped by the cabin to drop off our carry-on bags (when we got to our cabin our bloggers schedule and lanyards were laying out on the bed… how exciting).
We then went to the Lido aft bar to get Matthew a coke and his bottomless bubbles sticker. We headed to guest services to apply our Carnival gift cards, that I had been collecting, to our account, and then the all important trip to the Posh dining room to check out where our dining table was. (That way if we don’t like the location, we can try to change it before dinner.) We were very happy with our table by the window! Now that we had all our immediate, getting onboard business taken care of, it was time to kick off vacation with a delicious adult beverage and an overflowing plate of food! Lido Deck, here we come!! Now we were finally feeling like we are on vacation……
After stuffing ourselves on the Lido Deck, we headed up to Camp Ocean to check it out. Matthew is a big fan of Camp Ocean (formerly known as Camp Carnival) and has enjoyed going there since he was 2. Every time we cruise, it’s one of the highlights of his trip. When we got there, we got him signed up in the 9-11 yr old age group. They were called the Sharks. This cruise, Camp would be a little different than other times and we were a bit nervous about it. You see, Camp Ocean is great with security. They are very strict about who can, or can’t, sign your child in or out and they really have the kid’s area on lock down. We have always felt very comfortable leaving Matthew with the Camp Ocean counselors. Well, Matthew is 11 now, and once the kids reach a certain age, they are able to be signed up for Camp where they can sign themselves in and out on their own. We could have still made it so that we had to be there each time, but the kid’s been on 13 cruises already, and the last few cruises, we have taken the time to make sure he knows how to maneuver around the ship and what to do in any emergency situations, so this was the cruise that we would cut the cord and give our little baby a bit of independence. Now, he may be getting too old for Mom and Dad to take him to Camp, but none of us are too old for the Dr. Seuss Breakfast, so while we were there, we also got signed up for that. It’s the last Sea Day, and you have to sign up early because it fills up quickly. I mean, who doesn’t want to have breakfast with the Cat in the Hat and Things 1 and 2? We’re still not exactly sure how they make the eggs green for the green eggs and ham, but we have been there a few times and it’s always been a good time and a great breakfast. Since it was the first day, it was like an open house at the Camp where parents could go in with their kids and check everything out, so I took the opportunity to poke around and take a few pictures so I could share them on my “Cruising Carnival with Kids” Facebook page. I think when parents of younger kids actually see the Camp setup, it put’s their mind at ease, knowing there is actually a nice, clean and safe environment where kids can play while the grownups enjoy some time alone on the ship.
Now that Matthew’s entertainment was all squared away, and we were starting to feel the effects of our tremendous lunch and side order of beverages, we decided to head to our cabin to check out where we would call home for the next 7 nights. We were relieved to see our luggage at the cabin when we got there, it’s a little perk when you are Platinum or Faster To The Fun, that you can go to your room a bit sooner and you get your bags a bit quicker, at least that’s how it’s supposed to work and we have been very lucky to have never had any luggage mishaps. Next we got our things unpacked. You see, I am a big fan of taking the time to unpack on day 1 so everything has a home. That way I can stick my suitcases under the bed and out of the way and not have to live out of my suitcase all week. While doing that, Matthew took the opportunity to enjoy his last bit of phone connectivity for a week and played some video games, and Jamie organized some of his things. I won’t let Jamie actually unpack anything and put it away. I spend hours painstakingly packing our clothes in a way to maximize suitcase space and minimize wrinkling, and yes, I have things organized in a way that I know what we will wear on certain days and at dinner, so if I let him unpack any of it, he would quickly destroy all my hard work and have all of our neatly packed items thrown into the closet in a…I don’t know of a better way to describe it…in a clusterf**k. My apologies for the language, but that’s about the best was to describe it! While unpacking, we met our Cabin Steward, Jojo. He came by the room to say hi and introduce himself. I really liked that. We enjoy when our Steward is interactive. We have had some that are a bit more stealth where you don’t see them much, but they always get everything done, so we were happy Jojo seemed outgoing and personable.
Shortly after, it was time for the Muster Drill. Oh that dreaded Drill!! I know, safety first, but you’ve seen one muster drill, you’ve seen them all. There is one very important thing I do learn at every Muster Drill, and it’s something I think everyone should know…it is extremely possible to get hammered in the short time between boarding the ship and going to the Drill!! And, it can happen to anyone! Young, old, men, women. I’ve seen it all, and not to throw Jamie under the bus here, but there may have been 1 or 2 cruises where I saw it firsthand!! My 2 best Muster Drill tips?? #1 Drag your feet a bit, remember the last ones to the drill are the first ones to leave the drill and #2 Be aware of who is behind you. You never want to be in close quarters when the person behind you decides those 4 “drinks of the day” were too much and they can’t hold down that big lido lunch any longer!! 10 minutes later (but it seemed like a lifetime) the drill was over and we were heading back to or cabin to get ready for the evening’s festivities.
By now it’s about 4:30 or so, we had a 5pm Blogger’s Welcome Aboard party to attend and then our dinner was at 6pm, so I had to crack the whip to get both Jamie and Matthew cleaned up and into their evening outfits. I mentioned we were lucky enough to be part of the Blogger’s group and this was the first event. Just a quick get together in the main theater to meet John Heald and have a few free drinks and “nibbles” as John would say. There were servers coming around with trays full of drinks and appetizers and you had to grab what you could, when you could. The tray usually had wine, beer and a mixed drink like a whiskey sour or hurricane. We are just grateful to enjoy the drinks at no charge so we take whatever is available and then ask them to bring a coke for Matthew. Oh yeah, he enjoys a Welcome Aboard party with the best of them!! John came out to the stage and said hi and introduced his sidekick (for lack of a better term) Calvyn and he also had Mr. Radu with him on this cruise. Mr. Radu is a world famous photographer, and also Carnival’s main photography expert. John and Calvyn were a riot and they work so well together. They are quite a comedy team.
On the way out of the room, John was standing at the exit doing a little meet and greet with people on the way out. We were excited to finally meet him but the one that got really excited was Matthew. He proudly proclaimed to John that this was his first Platinum cruise and he held up his sail and sign card which was hanging around his neck. John spent a minute chatting with him, took a picture with him and then told Matthew to leave his cabin number at the main desk so he could send him a little something. As we walked out, Matthew was smiling ear to ear and we could tell he just thought that was the coolest thing ever…
We then headed to the aft restaurant for dinner and to meet this cruise’s table mates. We knew we had a table for 10 with a window view, and we were anxious to see who our dinner partners were. We got there and a family of 4 were there with their 2 daughters and another family with 3 and they had a daughter. So we all introduced ourselves and chatted a bit about the cruise. One family had never cruised and the other only a couple times, so we were able to share some info with them. I know I have a tendency to ramble on during the review, so instead of going into much detail about each night’s dinner, I will just say that the others we met at dinner were very nice. One family left the table after the first night to try to sit with some other family members that were seated at another table and the other family of 3 came to dinner in the dining room about half the time.
We didn’t even go to the dining room every night, as we have usually done in the past so ultimately our table of 10 mostly had about 6 of us at the most seated during our dinner, and that was fine with us. We had a great mixture of privacy for the 3 of us to chat and then we were able to socialize a bit as well. Considering some of the horror stories I have heard when it comes to sharing a table at dinner, I’d say we made out great and dinner in the dining room was always very enjoyable. Good food, good service and good times!! After dinner, the 3 of us wandered around the ship for a while and decided we were exhausted and the smartest thing was to turn in early. But before bed, there was one very important thing left to do. It’s pretty much a nightly cruising tradition and although we say it’s all for Matthew, I’ve got to admit that Jamie and I love it too….Late night Pizza and Ice Cream!!! What night isn’t complete without few slices of pizza and a soft serve ice cream cone. Then it was back to the room to get a good nights sleep.
1st Sea Day
Well I guess we were exhausted because we almost slept through our room service knock with our morning coffee. Traditionally, we would order a big spread from room service for breakfast, but this cruise we decided to lighten it up and leave room for a little buffet breakfast later in the morning, so we stuck with coffee, fruit and Matthew’s usual chocolate muffins. Matthew was still sleeping when room service came by so we had some coffee out on our balcony and enjoyed the scenery. I’m not sure there is anything better than sitting on the balcony in the morning and listening to the ocean crash against the ship and all you can see is deep blue water in every direction. It’s so relaxing and really gives you a perspective on the fact that you are in the middle of the ocean on a floating first class hotel!! Once Matthew woke up we all got ready and headed to the lido for our regular breakfast. After breakfast Matthew went to Camp Ocean and we headed out to find some lounge chairs and get some sun. Remember, this was a new experience for us with Matthew and Camp Ocean. In the past we always had to walk him there and go pick him up. Now he is going on his own and leaving to meet us at certain times, usually back in our cabin. We opted not to participate in the blogger activities today and decided to attend all the others the rest of the week. We just needed a lazy day.
We later met back with him for lunch and then he went back to Camp Ocean and we went to check out some of the bars on the ship. Now I’m not a big fan of watching TV while on the ship, but apparently it was the opening day for Nascar and Jamie really wanted to try to watch the race in one of the bars while enjoying a few frosty beverages. Turned out it was only showing in the Sports Bar, but when we went in there, it was already packed. We might have been able to squeeze in somewhere, but on top of the crowd, it was very smoky. Now I don’t fault someone for smoking, but I don’t smoke and prefer not to be in a room filled with it, so like any good husband, Jamie realized he wasn’t going to get his way, and quickly gave up on his dream (don’t tell him I said that). We decided to head back to the cabin to regroup, and what would you know, the race we searched all over the ship to watch, was on TV!! Jamie relaxed and watched his race, while I enjoyed some more balcony time. I’m pretty sure we each nodded off a few times, after all…this was our lazy day, and it didn’t let us down. A while later, Matthew came back from Camp Ocean, and right on time I might add, and it was time to start getting these men ready for our first elegant night. I love dressing up, but the boys, not so much. Jamie is the guy that only wears a suit when forced to, and Matthew follows right in his footsteps. Now it takes me about an hour to get ready, and Jamie about 10 minutes so I try to time it right to avoid sitting around the cabin in full formal dress. Back in the day, elegant night was good for 3-4 arguments, lots of stress and at least one time where Jamie would storm off to the casino for a drink while waiting for me to finish getting ready, but over the years we’ve fine tuned the evening, and also learned to have Jamie’s Scotch already in the room, so that helps take the edge off and keeps him quiet just long enough for me to finish my hair and get us headed down to the dining room. Also, over the years, we have learned that you don’t HAVE to eat in the dining room every night and it’s ok to just hit the buffet, have a Guy’s Burger or check out any of a few other ways to enjoy dinner. I have even agreed on a few cruises to forego one of the 2 elegant nights, but if we do that, it’s always the second one, because I have been waiting too long for this to miss the first elegant night and Jamie would hate to miss the Lobster Tail more than he hates to dress up. Tonight’s elegant night was as wonderful as I had hoped it would be, the boys ended up behaving and we fully enjoyed our Lobster Tail, Prime Rib and the always, kids chicken nuggets!
After dinner Matthew headed back to Camp Ocean as was his usual move. Jamie and I attempted to walk off our dinner a bit, we stuck our heads in a few bars and lounges to see what was going on and make sure we weren’t missing anything too exciting. We took a stroll through the casino, which is a big part of Jamie’s cruise. I enjoy gambling a bit and playing roulette and the slots but Jamie really enjoys the table games. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not big spenders, he just enjoys playing. He doesn’t really get to gamble any other times so he says he needs to put a year’s worth of vices into one week. His favorite games are craps and roulette and he usually has fairly good luck. We don’t come home rich from his gambling, but he seems to win more than he loses and he usually breaks even at the end of the trip and I consider that a big victory! Later that evening we met Matthew back at the cabin, he ran out for his usual, pizza and ice cream and we ordered some late night nibbles from room service and called it a night!
2nd sea day
You know, the more I cruise, the more I appreciate Sea Days onboard the ship. My first few cruises, it was all about how many ports could I visit in a week, but now I really enjoy a 7 day cruise with 3 ports and 3 sea days. I know the math doesn’t add up, but the day you board the ship counts as one of those seven days. This cruise starts with 2 seas days before even getting to a port, and those 2 days really offer you the chance to unwind and catch your breath after all the months of build-up and anticipation of the cruise. We woke up to the usual room service knock on our door. We have come to use room service as our wake up call, or should I say Jamie’s wake up call. He handles jumping out of bed to get the door about 95% of the time. Those room service folks are like ninjas…they come in so quietly, drop your tray filled with deliciousness and then they are gone. There have been plenty of times where I don’t even wake up and Jamie sneaks a little balcony time with his coffee and leaves me sleeping. After I while, Matthew and I finally got up and while we enjoyed our mini-breakfast on the balcony, Jamie went out for a lap around the ship. Another lesson learned after many cruises. Since Jamie can wake up and be ready for the day at the speed of light, he will venture out on his own for a bit and give Matthew and I space to get ready. I’m not quite sure what he does on those walks, but two words come to mind….Bloody Mary. Luckily the casino isn’t quite open that early in the morning, so I know he can’t get himself into much trouble. We had a few things we wanted to do today including a few Blogger’s group activities. There was a photography talk with Mr. Radu, and then a Blogger’s karaoke hosted by John and Calvyn and that promised to be a good time. First things first, we wanted to have breakfast in the Main Dining Room. It’s a nice change from the breakfast buffet and we will eat in there at least once per cruise. Nothing too fancy but the food is always great and we enjoy the service.
After breakfast, Matthew headed out for a day at Camp Ocean. If we didn’t insist he eat with us, I’m pretty sure he would stay there all day long. We headed to go see the photography talk with Mr. Radu. He shared a lot of good information and we saw some amazing pictures he had taken over the years. Some while he was with Carnival, and others while doing his own thing. He was selling copies of some of the photos, and they were a lot cheaper than the ones they take of you on the ship, so we bought a couple for ourselves and family back home and then got him to sign them. I was a little worried that Jamie would get a bit bored, I mean, we are point and click photographers and there was a lot of talk about ISO and exposure and filters, oh my!. A few things went right over our heads, but overall we really enjoyed it. Immediately following the time with Radu, we met up with Matthew and quickly raced to the aft lounge to get a good seat for the karaoke. On a normal cruise, we wouldn’t have any interest in sitting around listening to others butcher perfectly good songs, but since it was the Bloggers version, we were hoping it would be a bit more entertaining. Calvyn was hosting the event, but John Heald was there as well. Jamie and I ordered drinks, and of course a coke for Matthew. It started out like any other karaoke. A few decent singers, I can give credit where credit is due, and then when they ran out of volunteers, groups would volunteer one of their own and pressure them into getting up to sing. I’m pretty sure people do that because they secretly hate the person and just want them to publically humiliate themselves. I won’t go into any details, because who knows, maybe one day one of those karaokiers might come across this blog and read this review but let’s just say I’m still having nightmares about the guy that wanted to honor David Bowie with his rendition of Major Tom. After a while, the crowd started wanting John Heald to sing, and if you want to get John to do something, there’s one surefire way. Donate to charity! A few folks started a collection for St. Jude’s, as a matter of fact, Carnival does a lot of work with St. Jude’s and every cruise there is a collection and donation event, like they do a walk for St. Jude’s around the ship. Well the collection got up to a thousand dollars if John would sing, and not just any song…he had to sing “Let it Go” from the movie Frozen!! Apparently he is quite familiar with the song, having a lovely young daughter at home, so after a lot of fun back and forth, John finally broke into song, and the crowd went crazy for it. The guy is just an entertainer and this had to be one of his best performances. The 3 of us offered a standing ovation when it was all done and karaoke turned out to be a great time!
We were planning on foregoing the Main Dining Room tonight and just eating at the buffet because one of Matthew’s favorite movies was playing at the Dive-In Movies. Tonight we would be watching Jurassic World on the big screen. The movie started at 7pm, and we knew we needed to be early for good seats (lounge chairs) so we filled our plates at the buffet and then found a few perfect chairs on the Lido deck. It really is a great way to watch a movie. Laying out on the lounger, feeling the motion of the ship, hearing the ocean pass by while staring up at the big screen. It was a bit breezy so Jamie got us a few blankets at the towel hut and we wrapped ourselves up and enjoyed the show.
We had a big day planned for tomorrow, so after the movie, we grabbed some ice cream and all headed back to the room. I knew we were getting up early so I put my foot down with the boys, no Camp Ocean tonight for Matthew, and no Camp Casino for Jamie. When we got back to the cabin, there was a nice surprise waiting for Matthew. We walked in, and found a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, a Carnival medallion and a Carnival Freedom Ship on a Stick, accompanied by a note from John Heald wishing Matthew a great Platinum cruise. Wow, that John Heald is really a man of his word. Needless to say, Matthew was so excited that I was worried he wouldn’t fall asleep! In all of our cruises, we had never been able to win the elusive Ship on a Stick, and for Matthew to finally get his first one, was quite a big deal. (Oddly enough, by the end of this cruise, Matthew would have 3 of them!) What a great ending to a great evening. Finally Matthew calmed down and I was able to get him to fall asleep, but now I was the excited one because tomorrow is our first port day and we are going to Little French Key in Isla Roatan! I am SO looking forward to it!!
Isla Roatan
Well we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. We had been worried about weather because before the cruise the forecast was showing rain each day. So far NO rain!!! Well we were in a hurry this morning because our excursion was picking us up shortly after we docked in port so Jamie ran up to the lido buffet and brought a few things back for us to eat. We then headed to the gangway and we were off the ship in no time.
We booked today’s excursion through a private company. If you do your research, you can confidently book through a local tour guide and usually save money and a lot of times you will be with a smaller group. We were to be picked up by Dave and Larry outside of the port area. In Isla Roatan there is some kind of law where private tours cannot pick you up at the port so you have to walk out through the port and up a hill outside the port area. They have updated the walkway area since we were last there. It’s all cement/brick now. It’s not a bad walk, but it could be a bit intimidating for first timers not quite knowing where they are heading. As we got to the crest of the hill, we saw all the tour guides waiting just outside the port entrance. We then saw our guys Dave and Larry from Frenchy’s 44 waiting to take us to Little French Key. There were a number of people that had booked this same excursion with a group, and one thing we have learned is to pay attention and always try to be at the front of the line. We climbed into the full van and began the drive to Little French Key. We arrived at Frenchy’s 44, which was like a little bar/restaurant and dock where we would take a small boat over to Little French Key, You see, it’s a tiny island.
It’s just a few minute boat ride, but you can only get there by boat. When we got out of the van, we followed right behind our tour guide as he walked us over to the desk to pay. There were 2 vans, each holding about 25 people so we knew we wanted to get to the desk quickly. We already had our reservation, but the folks in front of us were part of a group and the girl at the desk was going through the options of how much to pay for what tour and such. I overheard them say to the people that if they are with the “group” they would get 10% off, so of course when we got to the counter to pay, I announced that we were also with the “group” and what do you know, it saved us about 20 bucks! I mean, sure it’s a cheesy move, but we ended up just spending extra on food and drinks so they got their 20 bucks back, and then some! I mentioned that we try to be in the front of the line, and I’m so glad we were. It took us less than 10 minutes to get to the desk, pay and get on a small little boat that would take us across the lagoon to the island. A few moments later, the small boat, with only about 10 of us on it, started pulling away from the dock, and as we looked back, we saw the long line of people still waiting to pay. I’m pretty sure that we were already settled into beach chairs on Little French Key and ordering a drink before the last person was pulling out their wallet at the tour desk. When you have 50+ people going to the same place, it can take a while. The front of the line is the place to be. As we approached the island, it was just beautiful. We did plenty of research, and LFK was everything we had hoped for. We were greeted by a guide that quickly walked us around the area and showed us a few key spots. We found a row of chairs right along the water’s edge along a beautiful calm pool of clear blue water that was protected by the waves of the sea by an underwater jetty. Within moments of sitting down, we were greeted and we ordered drinks….local beer for Jamie and a frozen margarita for me, and don’t forget a coke for Matthew. My margarita was delicious and I just laid there feeling the ocean breeze, listening to the sea and soaking up the warmth of the sun. Every so often, I hopped out of my beach chair to cool off in the water, and to make sure those margarita’s weren’t making me a permanent part of the chair. As the day went on, more and more people started to arrive and things started to pick up. There was a bar, and place to sit and eat, but we opted to stay right in our little slice of heaven, and since our server was so good, why bother leaving this prime piece of real estate. We ordered some snacks. The chips and salsa were great, I really loved the chips. Jamie thought they may have been fried plantains instead of tortillas. Whatever they were made of, they were perfect. Then we ordered lunch. We each got a plate piled high with rice, beans, chicken, steak, shrimp and lobster. Everything was fresh and tasty. I’m not big on seafood so I gave Jamie my shrimp and lobster, and when you give Jamie seafood, you then have a very happy Jamie!
After stuffing our faces, I noticed there were some people using kayaks and paddleboards. Non-motorized toys were free to use. A lady pulled up to the beach near us in a kayak. She got out and walked away, leaving the kayak right in front of us, like some sort of temptation, so Matthew and I grabbed the kayak and each took turns paddling around in the water. Neither of us had ever been in a kayak and it took us a few minutes to get the hang of things. I could see Jamie was pretty amused watching us trying to get in and not capsize. We had so much fun, we didn’t want the day to end. Eventually, we started packing ourselves up so we could see a bit of the island before leaving. We had been there for a few hours by now and the sun, and drinks were starting to get the best of me. The island even had a small zoo, with lots of wildlife, including monkeys and even a lion. The lion was rescued from a circus and there is a tremendous story behind how he came to live on Little French Key.
A few pics of our day at LFK!!!
We headed back to the dock and it was still a bit early, but we knew that shortly, everyone would try to leave the island at the same time and things would get hectic, so as usual, we wanted to be one step ahead to avoid the rush. We got to the dock and 2 men were there and each had a monkey on a leash. The monkeys were climbing on people and posing for picture, so Matthew ran up and we got a few pics with the most adorable little monkey.
They told us the boat would be back in a few minutes to take us back to Frenchy’s 44. We took a seat at a table to wait in the shade and saw a little boat with 2 men approaching the dock. They both got out and were talking with the other men that were there. I recognized one of them from reading about LFK and I leaned over to Jamie to whisper that I thought that one of those men was the actual owner of the island! I thought to myself…. ”How cool, that guy owns Little French Key”! Next thing I know, Jamie, who by now had enjoyed plenty of the local brews, gets up and says to the guy “My wife says you look just like the guy that owns the island” and what do you know, he introduces himself and sure enough, it was him!! We talked with him for a minute, told him we loved his island, and just like good tourists, we asked him if we could take a picture with him, and he did it with no hesitation. He was super nice, and so down to Earth. He had moved to Isla Roatan years ago and when presented with the opportunity, he bought the island. Once again, being one step ahead paid off and gave us a great story to tell. ( and yes, as soon as we got home, we double checked and confirmed it was really him and not just a local pulling a fast one on a couple of buzzed cruisers).
Our boat then arrived and we headed back to the mainland where we got a cab and headed back to the ship (no overloaded van on the way back). It was an amazing day on that little piece of paradise. I’m not sure, if we ever get back to Isla Roatan, we could see ourselves going anyplace else other than Little French Key. We got back to the port and as usual, I wanted to shop, and the boys wanted to get back on the ship. We compromised, as I shopped quickly and they kept their whining to a minimum. We got back on the ship so we could get ready for the big evening we had planned. We were finally going to try the Steakhouse. We had reservations for 7 so we figured we could rest a bit, get Matthew fed and off to Camp Ocean, and Jamie and I would enjoy our first ever trip to the Steakhouse. We grabbed a light, late lunch and headed back to the cabin. That’s when things took a bit of a turn. We all started to feel the effects of a very long day in the sun. I mean, we all lathered up with sunscreen, but maybe being in and out of the water kind of minimized the protection, because we were all starting to get pretty red. Especially Matthew, who really never gets burnt. Within an hour, his back was quite red and he started feeling ill. He didn’t eat any food on the island, and his couple of cokes were in cans, so we ruled out any stomach illness. It was just a good old fashioned case of too much sun. Well, we couldn’t just leave our poor little baby in the cabin, sick and alone, so Jamie made the heart breaking call…he cancelled our steakhouse reservation. We were all exhausted, and with Matthew feeling so sick, we just ordered room service for dinner, which was actually a first for us (room service for dinner). I stayed in the room with Matthew, but after dinner, Jamie ventured out a bit on his own. I took the time to tidy up the room and get us ready for the next day in port. This time, we actually booked an excursion through Carnival to go to Starfish Island. We did the same thing last time we were in Belize, (it used to be called passion island), and it was great, so we figured, why not do it again! Jamie wasn’t out too late, and he came back to the cabin with a big smile on his face. Uh oh…did he decide to switch his drinks to doubles? Nope, but apparently I am not the good luck charm I thought I was, because without me, he actually won money in the casino tonight. Oh well, I guess we found the silver lining for the evening.
Belize
We woke up still feeling a bit crispy from our day in the sun on Isla Roatan. Matthew still wasn’t feeling well, and we were all looking a bit “lobsteresque” from our sunburn. We had booked, and already paid for, an excursion which was to be spent entirely on another beach and in the sun, and we were thinking that might not be the best idea at this point. As we nibbled on our morning muffins, we held a family meeting and the vote was all in favor of not spending the day on the beach. We were a bit worried about getting a refund on our excursion, but we were more concerned about Matthew feeling better and all of us avoiding spontaneous combustion on a beach in Belize. The fact that we had been to Belize before, and had done this tour before, made our decision a bit easier, although we were bummed out to miss what we knew would be a beautiful day. Later in the morning, Jamie went down to the excursion desk, prepared to do battle until he received a full refund for the excursion. He had a full arsenal of reasons why we couldn’t go, all of which sounding better than, “We are seasoned cruisers, but we just got too much sun yesterday”. A few minutes later, he got back to the cabin and said they were going to credit our account the cost of the excursion, no questions asked. That was a load off my mind! I wasn’t sure it would be that easy considering it was pre-paid and the morning of the excursion, but Carnival took care of us. Not sure if being Platinum had anything to do with the ease of the refund, but we’ll take it. So now we had the entire day to ourselves with no plans, what would we do?? Well we spent the better part of the morning lounging around the cabin and relaxing on the balcony. Jamie made a run to the buffet for supplies, so we were ready for anything. By late morning, we were all feeling a bit better and besides the sunburn, Matthew was getting back to normal and was no longer feeling sick. We entertained the idea of getting off the ship, but didn’t want to be in downtown Belize and have to make an emergency bathroom run, so we decided to spend this port day on the ship. Only once before has this ever happened, and that time it was part of the plan, so this would be new territory for us. We knew many of the ship amenities wouldn’t be available while in port (like Jamie’s favorite, the casino) but we would make the best of it. By lunchtime, Matthew was able to eat, and that was our biggest concern, him feeling better, so we ventured out on the ship in search of entertainment. What is one sure-fire way to make a kid feel better? Hit up the arcade!! We had the whole arcade to ourselves, and most of the ship for that matter. I joked with Jamie that this was Matthew’s casino, and just like all the times I stood with him while he gambled, he would have to stand with Matthew while he played. You couldn’t even tell that just a few hours ago, this kid was barely able to get out of bed. He was bouncing from one game to another, we had an air hockey tournament, we really had a lot of fun, and when it was over, I’m pretty sure we spent the same amount in Matthew’s casino as we would have in Jamie’s!! Those games don’t come cheap and since you can use your sail and sign card to play, you don’t realize how much you are spending. Well, at least Matthew was feeling better with a smile on his face again, so that was worth every penny.
After we left the arcade, we wandered around the ship a bit. We stopped at the Atrium bar and decided that after all that work in the arcade, we all deserved a drink. As we arrived, one of the cruise director’s assistants was getting ready to start a round of trivia. Matthew wanted to play, so we got him a pencil and paper and prepared for trivia battle. We made out pretty well, but there were some serious trivia pros in that crowd, and we just could not compete. One of the ladies next to us had won the last round of trivia, and as she and her friend got up to leave, she came over and handed her ship on a stick trophy to Matthew and said she would like him to have it. Wow, what a sweet lady. We thanked her and Matthew was all smiles. After she left, we realized who she was. During a recent blogger event, John Heald was speaking with 2 ladies that cruise together all the time. They had both lost their husbands a few years back and met on a ship, and now they are dear friends and spend their time doing what they used to enjoy doing with their husbands, cruising with Carnival. What an amazing story, and how nice of her to offer up her prize to Matthew.
We wandered around the ship a bit more and we went outside to see if we could squeeze in a quick round of mini golf before the crowds got back on board, but it was extremely windy out and the upper decks were closed, no golf, waterslide, or basketball courts were open. We went back to our cabin for sail-away from Belize, although it being a tender port, there wasn’t much to see. Then I remembered one important thing we had not done yet. You see, when Matthew was younger, we would always collect a build-a-bear from each ship, but the last few cruises, he has outgrown the build-a-bear and now he is collecting the models of each ship that they sell in the gift shop. We still needed to add the Freedom to his collection so we ran down to the gift shop and picked one up. As we were on our way to the Main Dining Room, we ran into John Heald again, and Matthew took the opportunity to thank him for the items he had sent to the room. John remembered him, so that immediately put Matthew in a great mood for dinner. That poor guy can’t walk from one end of the ship to another without getting swamped, but he always stops to spend a minute with everyone that approaches him. I don’t mean to gush about him, but it’s pretty impressive. He has the patience of a Saint! We were a bit early for dinner, so we took a few photos along the Promenade deck.
It’s not often I can get Jamie and Matthew to stand still for a nice picture, so I have to pick my battles, and tonight they gave in very easily. Must have been the restful day on the ship that was giving them the extra bit of energy. After a great dinner, we did the usual. Matthew to Camp Ocean, and Jamie and I went to see a show and then took a lap in the casino.
Once again, I proved to be a factor with winning and losing. We played roulette for a bit, and lost, then Jamie switched tables and I walked away to pull some slots, and when I got back, Jamie started shoo’ing me away from him. Apparently, as soon as I walked away, he hit one of his numbers on the roulette wheel and proceeded to hit 3 of the next 4 spins. Then when I came back, it was loser city! I got him to leave while he was ahead, which can be quite a challenge and we went to meet Matthew for a little pizza and ice cream late-night dessert.
We came back to our cabin for the night and found these waiting for us…. Our 2nd bloggers gift of the week from John Heald.
I mentioned the winds earlier, well they were still howling! The second show had to be cancelled and the ship was rocking about as bad as we could remember. Even I got a bit queezy as we got back to our room to settle in. As I got to bed, I tried to forget about the movement of the ship and started thinking about the plans we had for Cozumel. We actually had another ship excursion booked, this time we had a date with some Dune Buggies and we were super excited about it!
Cozumel:
As we woke up approaching Cozumel, the winds were not letting up. The seas were a bit calmer, and we were probably moving slower than the night before, but it was still extremely windy. They started announcing excursions that had to be cancelled due to the high winds. Mostly all were boating or snorkel related so we figured we were still on for our dune buggy excursion. There was a stop at a beach to snorkel, but that was only a small part of the tour and since we had read some reviews that said high winds had kept them from going in the water, but not from relaxing on the beach, we assumed there would be no problem. We finished our usual room service nibbles and Jamie made a buffet run while Matthew and I finished getting ready. We gathered all our things and headed down to deck 1, ready for a great day in Cozumel. We walked down the pier to the area where all the tour guides were holding signs and found they guy with our sign. He pointed us to a guy in an area where others were sitting, so we headed that way, found the guy, showed him our excursion tickets and he had us sit a table and said he would be back shortly. About 10 minutes go by and we see this guy going from table to table talking to people. Then these people start getting into a line that quickly starts moving. Jamie goes over to the guy to see what’s going on. He comes back to our table saying our excursion had been cancelled. We questioned why, since it was mostly dune buggy riding, but he says it is because of not being able to snorkel. Then he tried to offer us a more expensive Jeep tour, which really annoyed Jamie. I mean, why not just switch us over without the extra charge. Jamie let the guy know he thought it was B.S. and we would not be paying any extra to ride in a jeep instead of a dune buggy and we went on our way. We re-grouped and sat for a minute thinking what we should do. We had been to Cozumel at least 5 times before and new we could quickly grab a cab to any of a number of beaches, but we decided to walk around the port for a bit and do some shopping. Since it wasn’t the end of a long day, I was able to get Jamie and Matthew to walk around shopping for quite a while, complaint free. So I was actually really enjoying myself. I took the opportunity to by souvenirs for the whole family back home, and then we stopped at 3 Amigos for a drink. I ordered a frozen margarita, and it was delicious, and Jamie got a Sol, which is one of his favorite Mexican beers. And of course, Matthew got his usual Coca-Cola. We order Guacamole and Chips and few more drinks and sat there people watching for at least an hour. End result, we turned things into an enjoyable afternoon of shopping and drinking, and that’s not all bad. We decided it was some kind of fate that kept us from our Dune Buggy ride, like maybe our Buggy was destined to break down or get a flat, and since we knew we would get reimbursed for this excursion, we just accepted it and moved on. We got back on the ship, and after those 3 Amigos Margaritas, I have tell you, I was feeling fantastic.
When we got back on the ship, Matthew ran up to Camp Ocean for a bit and Jamie and I hit the Red Frog Pub on the Lido Deck for another round. We grabbed a Guy’s Burger to hold us over until dinner.
Then headed back to our room to watch us sail away and especially to watch the pier runners. You know, the drunk people that end up running down the pier so they don’t miss the ship. That’s always a lot of fun, and Cozumel is a great port for it. Ultimately, it wasn’t the day we planned, but we made the best of it as we usually do. Plus, it’s not often that we book excursions through the ship, and sometimes we pre-pay for them with outside companies. We ended up missing 2 or our 3 excursions, and luckily, got reimbursed both times, so I suppose that is some kind of bright side. Tonight was the second formal night. We had already been to the first one, so Jamie and Matthew were both happy they didn’t have to get dressed up. We went to the lido buffet for dinner and had a great meal. Although I love the Main Dining Room, it’s nice to just throw on some clothes and go to dinner without a schedule, especially after a day of delicious adult beverages. Matthew then went back to Camp Ocean and Jamie and I tried to walk off some of our dinner. We ended up going to tonight’s show. It was called “88 Keys “ and it was a new one that we hadn’t seen before. We really enjoyed it and thought it was much better than Getaway Island, the show from the night before. Tonight was the late-night Mexican Fiesta buffet, and I swear we tried to hang in there to make an appearance, but we were just too exhausted and we caved in as we headed back to our cabin. Matthew popped his head in as he left Camp Ocean to tell us he was making a pizza run and we even passed on late night pizza and ice cream. Maybe it’s old age because back in the day, we would have never missed a late night buffet. As we laid down to go to bed, I got bit sad. Tomorrow was our last sea day and then it would be back to reality!! How come a week at home can last forever, but a week on a cruise ship is over in the blink of an eye? I went to sleep knowing we had to have one Hell of a last day on the ship!
Last sea day
Well we woke up to the usual quiet little knock on the door saying “room service”…We enjoyed our morning coffee on the balcony then got ready for our last day at sea.
We had a few Blogger activities on our list of things to do today and the first one was to go pick up our Blogger’s T-shirts. We would wear them later for a group photo and I didn’t want us to be the ones in the wrong colored shirts. Jamie volunteered to run down and pick them up. He acted as if he was doing a great deed, but I knew he just wanted to get out of the room while Matthew and I finished getting ready. We had an 8:30 reservation in the Chic dining room for the Dr. Seuss breakfast, and we knew we needed to be early to avoid a long line and get a good table. We have been to a few Seuss’s breakfasts, and we enjoy it every time. Matthew still gets a kick out of it, the food is always good, and who doesn’t like to see green eggs. We still take pictures with characters and we love the looks on the little kids faces when the Cat in The Hat comes walking in.
After breakfast, Matthew headed to Camp Ocean and Jamie and I found a few chairs on the lido deck for some last day relaxation. The winds were still pretty active, so after a while we gave up on the sunbathing on lido deck and wandered around the ship for awhile and ended up at the Blue Iguana Cantina so I could enjoy a frozen margarita.
The next item on the agenda was the John Heald Love and Marriage show. It wasn’t exclusive for the bloggers, and usually the cruise director does one, which he did earlier in the cruise, but this time John was doing it and he is known for putting on a great show. We have seen a lot of these shows, and now we know why John’s is so special. He had us cracking up. Halfway through, I looked at Jamie and he was even laughing out loud, and for Jamie to laugh out loud, it has to be something pretty funny and uniquely entertaining. Our last sea day was starting out great and we had a few more things planned. Next up was the Blogger Tea Time. In the past I would ask Jamie to go to tea time, and he would literally laugh at me, but I convinced him that since it was a Blogger event, he had to go. It was in the same dining room as the Seuss breakfast and we got there early and got a table just for ourselves. They came over with a box of fancy tea, and Jamie looked at me, then the server, and said, “Uh, I just want regular tea” I held in my laughter as they gave him a tea bag and he looked at me and said” What am I supposed to do with this?” Open it and put it in your cup!! Then they came around with hot water. He added sugar and cream and took a sip. ”Hey, I forgot how good hot tea can taste” Next thing you know, we’re both getting all hopped up on hot tea I almost forgot how much caffeine was in a cup of tea. They also served the most amazing little snacks and treats. Shockingly, Jamie admitted to really enjoying the Tea Time and said he will go again on our next cruise.
We met Matthew back at the cabin to get ready for our last Bloggers event…The Blogger’s Farewell Party. One last chance for free drinks and to see John Heald. Since we were still all wound up from the tea, we got into that party and started grabbing those drinks like there was no tomorrow, and there really wasn’t a tomorrow, at least not one on the ship anyway. I even order a frozen margarita, which is something we usually never do. We are usually very happy taking whatever they offer, but this time was different and we were feeling a bit wild and crazy. John came out with Calvyn, his assistant, Jacinta and Mr. Radu and we all took a farewell group photo, which is no easy task. Radu has to take multiple photos and blend them all together. Later we were able to buy a copy of the picture at the photo shop.
We wrapped things up at the party by saying goodbye and thanks to John. John told Matthew he hopes to see him as a Diamond cruiser one of these days, and Matthew responded that he definitely would.
We enjoyed our final dinner in the Main Dining Room and got choked up as usual when the servers sang “Leaving on a Fun Ship”. That song always gets me, but this time it wasn’t so bad, since we already have our next cruise booked for June, and I was kind of missing our sweet little dog, Lucy who I knew would be excited to see us. After dinner, Matthew wrapped up his week at Camp Ocean and we cashed out our casino chips from the week. Overall, we pretty much broke even in the casino. I consider that a big victory, although Jamie always wishes he could “just gamble a little bit more”. Matthew came back early, and the 3 of us took one more lap together around the ship. We used up the last of our arcade cards, stocked up on candy at “Cherry on Top” for the trip home and of course, we took one last run at the pizzaria and ice cream machine, just to get our money’s worth.
We were doing self-assist in the morning, so we headed back to the cabin to get all packed up. Tonight, the waters and wind were much calmer, so we slept with the door open just to get all the fresh sea-air we could before getting back to the mainland. Also, Matthew has ended up with 3 ships on stick at the end of the cruise (and boy was he happy)!!!
Debarkation day
The next morning, we awoke back in Galveston where it all started. We had our morning coffee delivered for one last time and Jamie went to bring some breakfast back form the lido buffet. We were all ready by 8:15. Debarkation went surprisingly well. We headed down to the forward elevators and not a sole in the one that opened up for us. Took it right down to deck 3. Got in a short self-assist line and within 10 minutes we were off the ship. Then we went to the customs line and only took about another 10 minutes to get outside the port. By 8:45 we were out looking for a taxi to take us to the airport. Just like that it was over as quick as it started. As we were leaving we watched all the new people getting to the port with excitement ready to board the Carnival Freedom.
We took a taxi van to the airport. We got in the typical TX bumper to bumper traffic but we had had an afternoon flight so we weren’t in a hurry. Although the taxi driver was brake happy and my stomach was feeling it. By 11:30 we were at the airport. We did the usual move to find a scale and weigh our bags. The 1st one was 43 lbs, but the next 2 were 52.5 and 52.0. Uh oh, we had to do the old re-organize the luggage trick. Luckily, I still had a nice handled bag from my purchase at Ron Jons in Cozumel. I pulled it out, threw a couple things in it and decided I would just carry the bag on. Wow, that went easier than expected and we averted the usual airport overweight luggage argument. We were on a roll!! We then made it through security without issues and even got pre-check status so we didn’t have to disrobe and get a full cavity search. We even had time to sit down at Chili’s at the airport for some lunch before boarding the plane. How depressing, to sit down to eat, and then have to pay for it. I will say, Chili’s at Bush International got a thumbs up review. After lunch we found a seat by our gate to wait and guess who we noticed sitting close by??? MR. RADU!!! He was sitting on the ground listening to something on his phone. We wanted to go say Hi, but we let him enjoy his quiet time and just decided to sneak a pic of him instead. After about 30 minutes he got up to board his plane, then we starting to board ours and next thing we knew we were back on our way to AZ, and just like that it was over. What a great cruise. Everything about the Carnival Freedom was pretty fantastic and like I mentioned previously, it was a fairly uneventful cruise for us. We had a few mishaps, but nothing that would get us down. The Blogger part of the cruise was really a lot of fun, and we plan on doing it again. As you could probably tell, John Heald was certainly a highlight for all of us. After following him on his blog and Facebook page for so long, and now cruising with him, it was just kind of special. Now we can start planning our next cruise. June 2016 on Carnival Magic. We will be cruising with some great friends we met on the Carnival Valor about 10 years ago. It was Matthew’s first cruise and we have been close ever since. No doubt that cruise will be one to write about.
Thanks for letting me share our cruise with you. I sure hope you enjoyed reading about it, as much as I enjoyed re-living it and feel free to leave any questions or comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Until next time, thanks for spending some time with me, Sharon, at Sea.
