We were very fortunate to receive a day pass onto one of the Carnival ships on Saturday 6th February. Nadine was super excited to show us where she previously worked on her favourite ship named Carnival Freedom.
It was a rather long but very beautiful and scenic walk along the malecon to the docking bays and sometimes we are also lucky enough to have the Iguana’s visit.
Cozumel has two docking bays for the cruise liners, at times, there can be up to six cruise ships docked in the all the bays. It is a magnificent site to see them standing majestically waiting to be on the move again.
Between these two docking bays are one for the cargo ferry and another one for the passenger ferries.
This day it was very windy with an icy chill and threatening rain, we were relieved to get onto the ship.
The senior guest services manager greeted us and guess what? She is South African from Cape Town, how fabulous is that? The two guest services reception guys were from Zimbabwe, well we felt right at home immediately. We spent same time chatting about politics and all things African the poor lady (also at guest services) from Mexico smiled and tolerated our eagerness to enjoy the African reunion.
A little info of the ship; 110,000 Goss Tonnage, 952ft in length, 2980 Guest Capacity and 1150 onboard crew. The interior of the ship naturally reflected the Statue of Liberty, the image of Freedom it is very grand even though its only ranked a medium size ship.
There are several decks for retail stores, photo galleries, a spa, two dining rooms even a theater. On the very top decks are the pools, Jacuzzis, super-tube slides, a gym, track for running or walking and a basketball court.
Soon we were on the Lido deck where all the food is, this is the place to be, and it is no wonder that some of the guests never even bothered to get off the ship and explore beautiful Cozumel but instead they remained behind to devour the food. There is such a variety to choose from, and we had a little from almost everyone; seafood soup, roasted meat and veggies, Mongolian dishes, pizzas, tacos you name it. Ali enjoyed the experience of a Guy Fieri burger which mostly disappointed and was nothing to write home about.
The best, of course, was the selection of desserts and by this time, we were all completely stuffed so much so I could not move out of my chair for awhile.
Nadine took us down to the crew deck – deck 0 (no photos allowed) and we got to see where she used to work in the photo-lab and how they operate in such compact spaces. We visited the crew and staff dining areas, the medical center and the sleeping quarters.
It is so fascinating that they fit so much into such small spaces.
It was a fantastic and interesting visit aboard Carnival Freedom, and hopefully, soon we will visit another or perhaps go on a cruise. Time will tell.
I have loads more photos on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AliandAileenMissions/
Thank you Nadine – Mik ‘n Drik Photography for the brilliant photos (the ones with the logo on and some of the interior). Please follow her on Facebook too; https://www.facebook.com/Mik-n-Drik-Photography-286501064711643/?fref=ts