Key West was our first port of call. When we got of the ship, we just did our own walking tour vs. booking an excursion. We walk down to the infamous Southern Most Point and took pictures and ate a restaurant called Blue Heaven. Other than that, Key West is a cute little island. We just walked in and out of shops, took pictures, ate some Key Lime pie…etc. Very fun and we got A LOT of exercise just walking around and enjoying all the sights. 



Key West

Our second port of call was Grand Cayman. We didn’t book any excursions here either. Once you get off the tender, there are several people offering to take you around. There were was a taxi cab driver that offered us a sight seeing tour for $20.00 each so we hopped in a taxi (which was actually a mini van) with about 4 other cruise passengers. They took us to Hell, a store where you could sample and purchase different rums and rum cakes, the dolphin park to watch the dolphins (there is an extra fee to touch or swim with the dolphins), turtle farm, and seven mile beach. The taxi driver was very nice and informative so gave us a lot of facts about Grand Cayman as she was driving us around. Near the end of the tour she gave us the option of going back to town to do some shopping or to be dropped off at a public beach along the 7 mile beach and to take another taxi back. My friend and I wanted more beach time (the other occupants wanted to shop) so we hung out at 7 mile beach which is absolutely gorgeous. The beach offered the rental of water toys like jet skis, snorkel equipment, had a bar and food stand, restrooms…etc…We just swam and lounged around for a couple of hours and took at cab (about $5) back to the ship. This was a well spent $25.00 total in Grand Cayman. It was really nice to do our own thing there and we were able to see and learn a lot in a small group setting. Since we got back to the port a little early, we purchased a few souvenirs at the shops that were close by and hopped on a tender back to the ship. 



Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

This was the one place that we when researching we found the majority of the people saying that is it best to book an official shore excursion. Since we were first time cruisers and a little hesitate to book thru an independent company on our own that we never heard of, so we did pay the extra money and booked an excursion thru Carnival. We did the Jeep Safari and Dunn’s Falls for about $100.00 which was a little pricey but worth it. We hopped on a jeep with about 5 other passengers drove up a mountain thru Jamaica. Our tour guide was fabulous and we learned a lot about Jamaica, its vegetation and its history. We stopped at a few places along the way to take ample pictures of the breath taking views on top of the mountain and were able to talk with an elderly lady who grew up in Jamaica and a coffee farmer. 
The tour ended the tour and Dunn’s River’s Falls. You can either climb it or walk along the falls on a staircase (which I opted to do). People seemed to have a good time climbing the falls, but since I didn’t really feel like getting wet from head to toe, I just walked along the side and took in the scenery. I was able to meet some locals at the beach located at the bottom of the falls before walking back up to the Jeep in the parking lot. 
Many people complain about the vendors in Jamaica, but honestly they didn’t bother me at all. Our tour guide gave us some pointers of what to do and not to do when walking thru the crafts market. Plus I did some reading before the trip so I was well prepared. So even though it was kind of a weird experience having all those people begging you to buy their stuff, I just told the people “No” firmly and kept walking. I know they may seem a little aggressive to some people, but I understand they are just trying to hustle to make ends meet since they really don’t have much money. Our tour guy told us the average person makes only $1-2 an hour, so I can understand why they try so desperately to get people to stop and buy something I never felt unsafe and just kept walking. Once we got back to the port, we did do the shopping with the vendors that were closer to the ship. They were a little less aggressive and it was fun to bargain the down the price of the merchandise they were trying to sale. 



Ocho Rios

Even though the cruise information stated that we wouldn't be back to Fort Lauderdale until 7:00am, we got back way before that, so they started letting the self assist people off the ship before 6:30am.It was forward on the ship, so I wouldn't recommend it for those that are prone to sea sickness (because you can feel the ship moving at times) or for those that are light sleepers or late risers (because you can hear the anchor going down on port days).

Carnival Freedom Review

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