Carnival Dream 2014 7-Day Bahamas Cruise Review
Day 4 June 18, 2014 Freeport, Bahamas Arrival: 8:00AM Departure: 5:00PM
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Day 4 June 18, 2014 Freeport, Bahamas Arrival: 8:00AM Departure: 5:00PM
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Overview: Today was the second port of the cruise - Freeport, Bahamas. The weather was much nicer today compared to yesterday in Key West. In this port of call we paid to do a shore excursion that would give us a tour around the island. I will give more details about the shore excursion later. This is a longer review because I combined parts one and two into one page. Today's review will include photos from all three meals, our Freeport shore excursion, and photos taken around the pier & shops in Freeport. Today was my favorite port of call during the cruise and I hope you will enjoy today's review.
Breakfast Pastries
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Omelet Cooking
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Omelet on Plate
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Hash Browns and Bacon
Breakfast:
Today the continental breakfast buffet lines opened at 6:00am and the regular breakfast buffet lines opened at 7:00am. Breakfast was also being served in the Scarlet Restaurant from 7:00am until 9:00am.
I ate breakfast in The Gathering again. The buffet was crowded with people trying to eat before the ship docks. I had an omelet, bacon, hash browns, and pastries. All of the breakfast food pictures that you see on today's review are of my food. I learned that the omelet station where the Mongolian Wok is located almost always has a shorter line. I was able to get my omelet in less than 5 minutes because I only had two people in front of me. The other omelet station line had at least 7 or 8 people that would have been in front of me.
Today the continental breakfast buffet lines opened at 6:00am and the regular breakfast buffet lines opened at 7:00am. Breakfast was also being served in the Scarlet Restaurant from 7:00am until 9:00am.
I ate breakfast in The Gathering again. The buffet was crowded with people trying to eat before the ship docks. I had an omelet, bacon, hash browns, and pastries. All of the breakfast food pictures that you see on today's review are of my food. I learned that the omelet station where the Mongolian Wok is located almost always has a shorter line. I was able to get my omelet in less than 5 minutes because I only had two people in front of me. The other omelet station line had at least 7 or 8 people that would have been in front of me.
Arrival in Freeport, Bahamas:
While I was eating breakfast the ship was arriving in Freeport. When I finished my breakfast I went outside to try to get some pictures and take a look at the island. There were many seagulls and birds around the ship. The ship turned around before docking and was docked earlier than the scheduled time (8:00am). Here are some pictures I took as we arrived into Freeport:
While I was eating breakfast the ship was arriving in Freeport. When I finished my breakfast I went outside to try to get some pictures and take a look at the island. There were many seagulls and birds around the ship. The ship turned around before docking and was docked earlier than the scheduled time (8:00am). Here are some pictures I took as we arrived into Freeport:
Ships in Freeport Harbor
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Blue Water and Part of An Island
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Looking Down At the Lanai and Birds By The Ship
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Looking Back At The Area Where The Ship Just Was
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View From The Back As The Ship Turned Around
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Cargo Ship Area
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Side of the Ship & The Dock
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Industrial Area of Freeport In the Distance
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Looking At the Dock in Freeport
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View Of the Grand Bahama Shipyard
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Painting of the Carnival Funnel on the Pier
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Dream Docking in Freeport
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Looking Down at Senior Frogs
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Looking Down At Del Sol & Cariloha
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Looking Down At a Welcome To Freeport Sign
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Thing In Water That Helped The Ship When Docking
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The Ship Has Docked in Freeport
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Getting Off The Ship & Going Ashore To Freeport:
Getting off the ship was a quick and easy process. There was a line to get off today, but it moved quickly. The front and middle of the ship had gangways set up so passengers could choose which of the two they wanted to use to get off. I got off at the front gangway. Security scanned each person's Sail & Sign card before he or she could get off and the ship's crew handed out shopping maps to passengers.
My shore excursion was not until 9:30am. I had about an hour before the excursion would start. I decided to walk around and take a look at the shops & buildings around the area where the ship was docked. Here are some pictures:
Getting off the ship was a quick and easy process. There was a line to get off today, but it moved quickly. The front and middle of the ship had gangways set up so passengers could choose which of the two they wanted to use to get off. I got off at the front gangway. Security scanned each person's Sail & Sign card before he or she could get off and the ship's crew handed out shopping maps to passengers.
My shore excursion was not until 9:30am. I had about an hour before the excursion would start. I decided to walk around and take a look at the shops & buildings around the area where the ship was docked. Here are some pictures:
Front of the Ship - View From the Pier
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View of Some Shops
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Open Space & Shops in Background
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Information Center By The Ship
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Payphones and View of the front of the Ship
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Tour Buses For Shore Excursions in the Distance
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Looking Around the Area Near Where The Ship Docks
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Welcome to Freeport Harbour Sign
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Carnival Dream Lettering and Funnel
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Fat Tuesday Sign
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Big Open Area in the Center of All of the Shops
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Shore Excursion - "Freeport Island Tour":
Unlike Key West, we decided to do a shore excursion in Freeport and Nassau. Today's shore excursion was "Freeport Island Tour" and we choose the 8:45am time. The shore excursion guide for this cruise advertised this shore excursion as:
"Take this opportunity to explore the island of Freeport in the heart of the Bahamas. Travel through both residential and industrial streets of Freeport at your leisure. Transportation is provided, however if you choose to stay downtown longer, your return transportation will be at your own expense. Note: A shuttle will bring guests back to the pier every 30 minutes. Exact departure of the last shuttle may vary depending on ship's itinerary, please check with the Shore Excursions Desk for your ship's time."
Around 8:45am a lady with a sign for our tour started checking tickets and we were directed to a tour bus. The driver was given clearance to pull out shortly after 8:45am to start the tour. The tour guide was very friendly and gave very good information about the sights & island. There was a little bit of rain outside, but it was not bad at all.
PLEASE READ! There were some things that I got to see on this tour that were not a part of the published excursion itinerary. My tour guide went above and beyond to let us see more of the island than we paid for. We stopped at the beach which was not advertised as a part of this excursion. If you plan on doing this tour please be advised that you might not get to see some of the same things that I am highlighting here.
Unlike Key West, we decided to do a shore excursion in Freeport and Nassau. Today's shore excursion was "Freeport Island Tour" and we choose the 8:45am time. The shore excursion guide for this cruise advertised this shore excursion as:
"Take this opportunity to explore the island of Freeport in the heart of the Bahamas. Travel through both residential and industrial streets of Freeport at your leisure. Transportation is provided, however if you choose to stay downtown longer, your return transportation will be at your own expense. Note: A shuttle will bring guests back to the pier every 30 minutes. Exact departure of the last shuttle may vary depending on ship's itinerary, please check with the Shore Excursions Desk for your ship's time."
Around 8:45am a lady with a sign for our tour started checking tickets and we were directed to a tour bus. The driver was given clearance to pull out shortly after 8:45am to start the tour. The tour guide was very friendly and gave very good information about the sights & island. There was a little bit of rain outside, but it was not bad at all.
PLEASE READ! There were some things that I got to see on this tour that were not a part of the published excursion itinerary. My tour guide went above and beyond to let us see more of the island than we paid for. We stopped at the beach which was not advertised as a part of this excursion. If you plan on doing this tour please be advised that you might not get to see some of the same things that I am highlighting here.
View From Tour Bus As We Depart
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View Of Some of the Shops From the Tour Bus
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Driving Through Freeport's Industrial Area
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Industrial Tanks
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Industrial Tanks and Welcome Sign
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The tour was going great until...
The tour bus driver received a call from the shore excursions management on the pier to turn around. About 8 people were late for the excursion and we had to turn around to get them. The driver remained upbeat even though we were about 10 minutes into the tour and away from the pier. Here are some pictures I took on our way back to the ship:
The tour bus driver received a call from the shore excursions management on the pier to turn around. About 8 people were late for the excursion and we had to turn around to get them. The driver remained upbeat even though we were about 10 minutes into the tour and away from the pier. Here are some pictures I took on our way back to the ship:
View of the Carnival Dream As We Came Back
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Side View of the Carnival Dream and Road
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Shuttles Leaving the Cruise Pier As We Turned Around
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We Went Back To Get The People And Then...
The tour bus driver got another call to turn around for one guest that was late. By this time that person was close to 30 minutes late. The driver mumbled something and apologized to everyone on the bus. The driver cut off his phone and then went back to the pier to pick the person up. Here are some pictures I took on our third time to return back to the pier to pick up late people:
The tour bus driver got another call to turn around for one guest that was late. By this time that person was close to 30 minutes late. The driver mumbled something and apologized to everyone on the bus. The driver cut off his phone and then went back to the pier to pick the person up. Here are some pictures I took on our third time to return back to the pier to pick up late people:
View of the Ship We Came Back For the 2nd Time
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Back of the Carnival Dream - From the Shuttle
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Going Through the Industrial Area Again
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The tour continued once again. Since the driver's phone was off, he couldn't get any more calls to return to the pier.
Freeport Industrial Shipping Area in the Distance
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Forest That Was Damaged Partly By A Fire
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Freeport Post Office
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A Burger King In Freeport
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Shopping Center in Freeport
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Excursion Stop #1 At A Straw Market (Was Not on the Excursion's Itinerary):
Our first stop on the excursion was at a straw market. There were many different small shops that had high priced goods that seemed cheaply made. This was not on the tour itinerary, but it was nice to walk around. The people were very pushy to try to get you to buy their stuff. We stopped here for about 20 minutes.
Our first stop on the excursion was at a straw market. There were many different small shops that had high priced goods that seemed cheaply made. This was not on the tour itinerary, but it was nice to walk around. The people were very pushy to try to get you to buy their stuff. We stopped here for about 20 minutes.
Shops in a Flea Market That We Stopped At
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Our Tour Bus
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One of Many Fruit Stands at the Flea Market
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Stop At A Beach (Was Not On the Excursion's Itinerary):
The tour bus driver promised a stop at the beach at the start of the tour if we made good time, but to make up for the turning around he told us he would definitely take us to the beach. He told us that this was not supposed to be a part of the excursion, but he tries to take people here as part of the tour. The weather was great during our beach stop and were given about 20 minutes here also.
The tour bus driver promised a stop at the beach at the start of the tour if we made good time, but to make up for the turning around he told us he would definitely take us to the beach. He told us that this was not supposed to be a part of the excursion, but he tries to take people here as part of the tour. The weather was great during our beach stop and were given about 20 minutes here also.
Bar At the Beach With The Beach in the Background
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The Beach
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Walking Along The Shoreline
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Looking Down the Beach
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Looking at the Water and Beach
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I Have No Clue What This Was...Sorry
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Stop At Port Lucaya:
Port Lucaya was a destination that was on the published description of the tour. Port Lucaya has a bunch of shops and you can find inexpensive soft drinks in some of the stores. Most of the canned soft drinks in the Bahamas are made with real sugar, unlike many of the US sodas. We were given between 30 - 40 minutes here and the driver told us that he would have to leave us if we were late.
Port Lucaya was a destination that was on the published description of the tour. Port Lucaya has a bunch of shops and you can find inexpensive soft drinks in some of the stores. Most of the canned soft drinks in the Bahamas are made with real sugar, unlike many of the US sodas. We were given between 30 - 40 minutes here and the driver told us that he would have to leave us if we were late.
Shops at Port Lucaya
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Port Lucaya Sign
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Entrance to Port Lucaya
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Telephone Booth at Port Lucaya
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Port Lucaya Shopping Area
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Port Lucaya Shopping Area
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Pay Telephones - Don't See Many of These At Home
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Port Lucaya Shopping Area
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Shops at Port Lucaya
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Back To The Ship & End of the Shore Excursion:
The shore excursion ended about 3 hrs. after it started. We got to see everything we were promised & then some. This shore excursion was enjoyable and worth the price. There were a few sprinkles coming down from the sky, but the weather was not bad. We got back on-board the ship for lunch and had plans to get back off to walk around the pier by the ship.
The shore excursion ended about 3 hrs. after it started. We got to see everything we were promised & then some. This shore excursion was enjoyable and worth the price. There were a few sprinkles coming down from the sky, but the weather was not bad. We got back on-board the ship for lunch and had plans to get back off to walk around the pier by the ship.
Welcome to Freeport Sign
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View of The Ship After Exiting the Tour Bus
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View of the Side & Back of the Ship
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Once on-board the ship all passengers had to get their Sail & Sign cards scanned and go through metal detectors. There was a short line that moved very quickly.
This gangway was closed.
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Tents With Water Cups & Chairs Underneath
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Looking Towards The Back From the Gangway
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Lunch in The Gathering:
The buffet had very few people because most people were off the ship enjoying Freeport. Most of today's lunch buffet lines opened around 12:00pm, except for the deli and pizzeria. Today's Taste of the Nations buffet line was serving French. My philosophy is get back onboard and eat the already paid for lunch, but everyone can do what they want with their own money. Here are some pictures I took at lunch:
The buffet had very few people because most people were off the ship enjoying Freeport. Most of today's lunch buffet lines opened around 12:00pm, except for the deli and pizzeria. Today's Taste of the Nations buffet line was serving French. My philosophy is get back onboard and eat the already paid for lunch, but everyone can do what they want with their own money. Here are some pictures I took at lunch:
Pastrami on Rye Sandwich
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Burrito Bar - Burrito & Chips
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From the Grill - Hotdog & Chips
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From the Deli - Turkey Wrap (Cold Selection)
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From the Pizzeria - Pepperoni Pizza
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Burrito
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Assorted Desserts From the Dessert Station
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Assorted Desserts From the Dessert Station
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From the Burrito Bar - Chips & Salsa
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Carnival Dream Burrito Bar Toppings
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Plate of Desserts
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Ice Cream and Cookies
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Going Back to Freeport For the Afternoon:
After lunch, we got back off the ship. We walked around and looked in some of the shops. We didn't buy anything, but I got a free bamboo lei from Cariloha. Here are some pictures I took during the time we spent walking around:
After lunch, we got back off the ship. We walked around and looked in some of the shops. We didn't buy anything, but I got a free bamboo lei from Cariloha. Here are some pictures I took during the time we spent walking around:
On the Pier - Looking Towards the Back of the Ship
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Gangway
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Covered Area Where Most Shore Excursions Met
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Fat Tuesday in Freeport
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Senior Frogs in Freeport
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Looking Up At the Carnival Dream
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Carnival Dream's Funnel
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Back of the Carnival Dream
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Senior Frogs - Statue of a Frog
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Open Around in the Middle of all of the shops
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Pond
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Harley Store in Freeport
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Getting Back Onboard:
We got back onboard the ship in the middle of the afternoon. There was a line to get back onboard that took about 15 minutes to get through. After getting back onboard the ship I walked around on the outside decks to look at Freeport. Here are some pictures that I took:
We got back onboard the ship in the middle of the afternoon. There was a line to get back onboard that took about 15 minutes to get through. After getting back onboard the ship I walked around on the outside decks to look at Freeport. Here are some pictures that I took:
Looking Down At Freeport From the Ship
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Dark Clouds in the Distance
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Freeport Cruise Port
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At The Front of the Ship
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Cargo Ship Area
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Looking At the Freeport Dry-Dock Facilities
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Looking Down at the Shops Below
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Lido Pool Area
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Deck Chairs and Freeport In the Distance
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Looking Down From Deck 12
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Lido Buffet
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Lido Buffet
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Dinner in the Crimson Dining Room:
Once again, the line for dinner was long. I noticed that the same people always were waiting for dinner at the same time as us. At 5:45pm the dining room opened and we were able to request the same wait staff as the other nights. We were seated at the same table and dinner began. Here are some pictures from tonight's dinner:
Once again, the line for dinner was long. I noticed that the same people always were waiting for dinner at the same time as us. At 5:45pm the dining room opened and we were able to request the same wait staff as the other nights. We were seated at the same table and dinner began. Here are some pictures from tonight's dinner:
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Dinner - Bread Basket
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Appetizer - Shrimp Cocktail
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Appetizer - Mushroom Soup
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Appetizer: Chicken Tenders Marinated in Thai Spices
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Appetizer - Beefsteak Tomatoes & Buffalo Mozzarella
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Appetizer - Caesar Salad
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Main Course - Gourmet Burger
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Main Course - Chicken Breast
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Main Course - Shrimp & Fries
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Main Course - Salmon
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Dessert - Apple Pie
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Dessert - Warm Chocolate Melting Cake
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