December 2016 Cruise - Background and Precruise

Here's a little background that led up to our December 2016 cruise: In August of 2016, I decided I wanted to go on a cruise after years of hounding by my mother. Ever since I was 10 years old, she wanted to go on a cruise and I never wanted to do it; the thought of being on a ship that long didn't really appeal to me. One sweltering August day I was visiting with my grandmother (who had gone on her first cruise a year prior.) The topic of her cruise came up as she loved discussing it since she had so much fun. I tossed around the idea to my grandmother about going on a cruise during my winter break. I figured I was 20 years old, and I only had so many trips left Mom would be paying lol. She was all for it, and I mentioned it to Mom who was also down for it (no surprise there.) After deciding who would end up going (Mom, 6 year old brother, 12 year old cousin, and grandmother), we started looking for the best value that would get us to Jamaica because my grandmother (Nana) said it was simply amazing. We settled on the Carnival Freedom December 17-24 out of Galveston. We were due to leave early Friday morning so we could stay the night before. We are a 6-7 hour drive out since we live in Louisiana. We set off and had an uneventful trip. If you're coming in from the east, I highly recommend taking the Galveston Bay ferry. The kids will love it; I recommend taking some snacks for the sea gulls as they love to fly around the back. As you can see, it was foggy the day we were on the ferry.

After careful planning, we selected the Hilton in Galveston as our pre-cruise hotel. The rate was fair, and they had a shuttle to the port. We sprung for a balcony room but didn't get to utilize it due to the weather.

That night we decided on the Rainforest Cafe for dinner because it was right next door, and we had a free appetizer coupon given to us by the front desk. Nothing much to say about that place; atmosphere was great if you have small kids, but otherwise the food was nothing to write home about. The next morning, we all woke very eager to go. We could see the Freedom from our balcony, and it made every one giddy with excitement. The view the next morning was much better and we got a nice sunrise picture.

The shuttle to the port was very convenient and simple; we did have to drive our car to a different lot and get picked up there, but it was no inconvenience. They dropped us off right at the front door. Checking in was very quick too because we had FTTF (faster to the fun.) I recommend buying this if you ever find it available; it's worth every cent. We were checked in and waiting to board within 20-30 minutes of being at the terminal. There she is!

We began boarding about 12:30 or so if memory serves me right. We were one of the first groups to board; we waited about 15 minutes or so between being called before we stepped on the ship. We had arrived!!!