Carnival Freedom 2017 7-Day Caribbean Cruise Review
Day 3 Part 1          July 10, 2017                        Cozumel, Mexico        
Scheduled Arrival:   9:00AM                   Scheduled Departure:   6:00PM                                       
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Pre-Breakfast Look Around The Lido Deck: 
               Since breakfast was scheduled to begin earlier than the day before, I got up extra early to be sure I had enough time to walk around the ship before breakfast. I walked around the Promenade Deck (5) before heading up to the Lido Deck (9).  Here are some pictures I took around the Lido Deck (9):

Lido Deck Main Pool Area - Was Still Closed For The Night

Lido Main Pool & Sunrise In The Distance

Lido Deck - Looking Towards Ship's Front

                      By the pool area of the Lido Deck (9), cruisers will find Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana Cantina. Guy's Burger Joint is a complimentary eatery that serves a variety of hamburgers. The Blue Iguana Cantina is a complimentary eatery that serves burritos, tacos, and taco salad bowls. Both of these eateries are primarily open at lunch, but the actual hours vary depending on the cruise's itinerary. 

Guy's Burger Joint

Toppings Bar Located In Front of Guy's Burger Joint

Area By Guy's Burger Joint

Blue Iguana Cantina

Salsa Bar Located Near The Blue Iguana Cantina

Area Surrounding The Blue Iguana Cantina

                            Before breakfast, I managed to catch the sunrise. On one side of the ship I could see mainland Mexico in the far distance. Since I had previously sailed to Cozumel, I already knew which side of the ship to watch for Cozumel. When breakfast rolled around, I could not yet see Cozumel in the distance. 

Sunrise - View From Deck 10

Deck 10

Umbrellas On Deck 10 Not Yet Folded Out For The Day

Breakfast - Omelet Station:
                    On Day 2's cruise review, I mentioned I get an omelet everyday of the cruise. Today, I went back to the Mongolian Wok's omelet station line. I was a few minutes late to breakfast and a long line had already formed at the omelet station. However, the line moved very quickly. Here are some pictures of the omelet station and my omelet:

Omelet Station Vegetables - Served From Behind The Counter

My Omelet Cooking

My Omelet After It Was Cooked

                      The continental breakfast buffet line was scheduled to open at 6:30am and the main breakfast buffet lines were scheduled to open at 7:00am. For cruisers that did not want to eat in the Lido Deck buffet, the Posh Dining Room was serving breakfast from 7:30am to 9:30am. Here are a few breakfast plate pictures that contain a variety of breakfast foods:

Breakfast Plate With Assorted Food

Breakfast Plate With Assorted Food

Breakfast Plate With Assorted Food

Watching Our Arrival To Cozumel: 
                   After eating breakfast, I went up to the Panorama Deck (10) to watch our arrival in Cozumel. I walked from the back of Deck 10 all the way to the front of Deck 10. There were a few people watching our Cozumel arrival too. As we got closer I was able to see Downtown Cozumel and the Punta Langosta area. The Disney Fantasy was docked at Punta Langosta, which is another cruise ship dock in Cozumel. I paid extra close attention to the location of Downtown Cozumel and Punta Langosta because we planned on taking a taxi from Puerta Maya to Downtown Cozumel later in the day. 

Cozumel In The Distance

Disney Fantasy Docked At Punta Langosta

View Of A Lighthouse Along Cozumel's Shoreline

Zoomed In View Of The Disney Fantasy

Carnival Triumph & Carnival Magic At Puerta Maya

                         We were scheduled to dock at Puerta Maya, which is where Carnival Cruise Line and Carnival Corporation ships primarily dock. The Carnival Triumph and Carnival Magic were already docked as the Carnival Freedom made its way closer to the pier. As we got closer, the local pilot boat came to the Carnival Freedom and an official boarded our ship.  

Pilot Boat Alongside The Carnival Freedom

Our Front As We Prepared To Pull Between The Two Ships

Carnival Triumph

                         Before we arrived at the pier, the Carnival Freedom turned around and sailed in backwards. I enjoyed looking at the Carnival Triumph and Carnival Magic as we docked. Last summer, I sailed on the Carnival Triumph out of New Orleans. I have not yet sailed on the Carnival Magic, but I have seen the ship docked several times in the past (when it used to sail from Galveston). 

Carnival Magic

View As We Backed Into Our Space At The Pier

View Of The Pier & Carnival Triumph's Front

                             Someone was flying a drone over our ship right after we docked. Based on my observations, it appeared the drone operator was on our ship, but I am not completely sure. After watching our arrival and docking, I headed inside the Deck 10 level of the buffet to get a quick drink of water before going ashore. 

Looking Down At The Shops On & By The Pier

Zoomed In View Of Cozumel

Someone Was Flying A Drone Overhead

                              Between the time of breakfast and the ship's arrival in Cozumel, our stateroom steward came by our stateroom for morning servicing. He left a new towel animal as well as some fresh towels. As we left our stateroom to go ashore, he was outside in the hallway and we talked to him for about 10 minutes. He told us about his 20+ years with Carnival and all of the ships he previously worked on. I was very impressed at the great job he did each and every day!

Getting Off The Carnival Freedom For Cozumel:
                               After a quick visit with our stateroom steward, we headed down to Deck 0 to get off. Since we were docked backwards, the gangways were located at the front and middle of the ship. There was no aft-gangway. This meant we had to walk a little further on the pier, but it was not too much farther. On Deck 0, virtually no line existed to get off the ship. Our Sail & Sign cards were scanned by security and getting off the gangway took an extra minute because the ship's photographers were taking pictures of people. We stopped to get our picture taken. 

Towel Animal Elephant

Carnival Freedom's Gangway

On The Pier - View Of Both Ships

                       After walking down the pier, we came to a building on the pier that is filled with merchandise for sale. Unfortunately, all guests are required to walk through this building. The building of shops was crowded with people trying to walk through and shop. Crew members do not have to walk through this building, but instead get to walk outside through a crew only gate. 

Back Area Of The Carnival Freedom

Carnival Magic & Carnival Freedom's Back

Crew Only Outside Walkway & Entrance To Shops For Guests

                         Following the seemingly endless walk through the shops, we came to the end. After exiting the shops, two lines were formed for the agricultural checkpoint. A dog was used to sniff for fruits and food products. People that brought fruits and non-allowed foods had to turn over those items. Cruisers with bags had to place their bag on the ground so the dog could easily smell the bag. This process did not take too long.

Taken Inside The Pier Shops

Snacks For Sale In The Pier Shops

Agricultural Checkpoint

                          Puerta Maya contains several different shops, places to eat, and a beach that overlooks the cruise ships. While cruisers are not allowed to get in the water, the beach is a great place for those that want to get some sun or relax. My first stop was the mini-beach area to get some pictures of the ship:

Sign That Listed All Ships Docked At Puerta Maya

View Of The Ships & Puerta Maya's Beach Area

View Of The Pier Shops From The Beach

Carnival Magic, Carnival Freedom, & Carnival Triumph

Pancho's Backyard at Puerta Maya

View Of Driveway At Puerta Maya

                            Our plan for the day was to take a taxi to Downtown Cozumel. There are several taxis available at the Puerta Maya cruise area, but we did not want to get on a taxi here. We left the Puerta Maya area and crossed the street. We started walking in the direction of Downtown Cozumel and eventually came to some taxis outside of a resort. The taxi driver was willing to negotiate since he had no passengers at the moment. 

Busy Street Area Outside Of Puerta Maya

Different Vehicles Available For Rental

Taxis Parked Along The Street

The street was busy!

Walking By The Royal Village Shopping Center

Shops

Looking Across The Street

Walking Along The Streetside On The Sidewalk

                          Here are some pictures taken as we arrived in Downtown Cozumel: 

Riding A Taxi To Downtown

Approaching The Punta Langosta Area

Senior Frogs - View From The Taxi

                           After getting out of the taxi, we started walking along the streets of Downtown Cozumel. There were several tourists walking around, but not as many as I expected. The Disney Fantasy was docked in this area so I expected more people to be walking around Cozumel. Here are some pictures I took as we walked around:

Walking Around Downtown

Walking Around Downtown

Walking Around Downtown

View Of A Hospital

Walking Around Downtown

Walking Around Downtown

Walking Through An Area With Shops

Walking Through An Area With Shops

A Fountain Area We Walked By

Vehicles Parked - We Walked By These

Walking Around Downtown

Crossing The Street

Walking Around Punta Langosta:
                  Punta Langosta is a pier and shopping area located in Downtown Cozumel. Since the Disney Fantasy was docked, many of the shops in this cruise complex were open. However, I learned even when a ship is not docked many of the shops here are still open (that's what a local said).  Punta Langosta has several shops and eating/bar areas. One thing I have always liked about Punta Langosta is most of the complex is covered. This makes walking around easier because there is some protection from the hot sun. Here are some pictures I took around Punta Langosta:

Disney Fantasy

Entering Punta Langosta

View Of The Street By Punta Langosta

Punta Langosta

Sign With Punta Langosta's Logo

Entrance To A Shop

Shop & Lighthouse In The Background

Walking Under Covered Area

Several Shop Entrances

Taxi Waiting Area

Looking Down From The 2nd Floor

2nd Floor & View Of The First Floor

                       Punta Langosta's shopping complex is two stories. After walking around the first floor, we headed up to the 2nd floor. There were several more places to shop upstairs. However, we were only allowed to go so far because there was a security checkpoint for Disney Fantasy passengers that are trying to return to their ship.

Diamonds International at Punta Langosta

Big Colorful Cozumel Letters

Punta Langosta

Looking At The Blue Water Below

Looking Over The Street

Entrance For Disney Fantasy Passengers

Looking At Punta Langosta's Lighthouse

2nd Level of Punta Langosta

Entrance To A Shop On The 2nd Floor

Looking Below & Escalators In The Distance

Punta Langosta

Shops

                       Finding a taxi to head back to Puerta Maya from Downtown Cozumel was easy. The taxi driver we found offered us a ride for $12.00. This was $2.00 cheaper than our ride earlier. Here are some pictures as our taxi took us back to Puerta Maya:

Last Look At Punta Langosta Before Finding A Taxi

View From A Taxi We We Drove To Puerta Maya

Riding Along The Shoreline - View From Our Taxi

Driving Along The Shoreline - View From Our Taxi

Driving Along The Shoreline - View From Our Taxi

Stairs & Above Street Walkway

                            When we got back to Puerta Maya's area, a security guard opened a gate for our taxi. Our taxi ride on the way back was much more enjoyable because our driver spoke about the island and some of the things we were seeing. 

Area Outside Of Puerta Maya

Getting Close To Puerta Maya's Entrance

Gate At Puerta Maya's Entrance

                                  Before heading back to the Carnival Freedom, I wanted to take some pictures of Puerta Maya and the ships from the beach. Here are some pictures:

Tropical Area At Puerta Maya

Tropical Area At Puerta Maya

Carnival Magic, Carnival Freedom, & Carnival Triumph

Puerta Maya

Puerta Maya

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​Day 3 Part 2 Is Here...
​Day 3's cruise review will be two parts. Join me for a few more Cozumel pictures, getting back on the ship, lunch pictures, some afternoon pictures, and dinner pictures!  
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