dan359

I love to bike - light mountain bike kind of thing and I have been trying to find an excursion from Carnival Freedom. Does anyone have a non-ship tour company or suggestion?

Tours booked on board are expensive vs those booked off. I like to support the local economy vs the ship shareholders.

Question about large ships

Do they empty the black tanks and grey tanks while at sea or wait until back at original port

For example if the leave from Tampa donthey only empty once they get back to Tampa?

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For those that posted about washing your hands or putting them under the machines.

The machines were hard to find and many were empty. They are very easy to use. What I like about the staff person standing there is that they pretty well forced you to apply alcohol to your hand.

For the person that said - well it is flu season - my response. --- duh!! Does not mean that you have to give me your virus because you touch a tong on the salad bar with your infection.

Washing hands

Sure we did that but if other people don't than it's meaningless (almost)

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We read all the bad reviews here and really took a chance at Lots of Honor.

We were fortunate to have a bit of extra time so we were in no hurry.

When we got of the Celebrity Magic and made it through customs, the shuttle was right there and we hopped right on. I don't think parking at the port would have been any faster.

Maybe they saw all the bad reviews and have responded - dunno - but we were happy to save the $$.

There is an app that you can put on your phone that tells you everything happening on the ship! It is great!

the phone app worked great!!! you could always look up what was going on and where it was located. It had great deck maps.

We are not very experienced at cruising and trying out different companies. We just returned from Magic and it the layout, service, entertainment and food is not like Celebrity Equinox nor Holland America.

Wife developed a cold 5th day in

- I'm not saying it is because of the ship not being very clean (it was not) but we did find on other lines that as you enter most public areas, there was a staff member there to squirt alcohol into your hands. We never saw this and found it hard to find dispensers. In fact, it really sucks to get a cold on a vacation. Some of you would say that she got the cold on shore - Yah maybe....

Entertainment in main show area

We were told by so many people that the entertainment in the main area was very good. Well, it was not. Celebrity had shows EVERY night that were Las Vegas quality. The main entertainment staff had only 4 shows none of which I would pay to go and see.

Lido Food layout

The buffet lines get big very very quickly. Found people to be rude and pushed and shoved to get their food. After two days of this pushing and shoving we opted for the dinning room on deck 3. On Celebrity Equinox, the buffet serving area was one large area and it had many stations that you could access from 4 sides at the same time.

Smoke Filled Lido

Ventilation on this ship is very poor and food smells fill the ship. This is very bad a lunch time when the Mongolian Wok is open. Many times, we would have to leave the area due to it being filled with smoke.

Smoking in Casino

REALLY? It is 2017 and it is well know that smoking will kill you. 2nd hand smoke will kill you too.

We are told over and over again that candles and smoking are not allowed in public areas or your room. Then why in the casino? The ventilation is so bad on this ship that as soon as the door opens on deck 5 you can smell the smoke from the casino. WHY IS SMOKING ALLOWED???? It seems to be a destination for the minority of people that smoke. I don't believe they would loose business. They lost mine since I would not go and gamble because of the stink! If you are walking on deck 5 you are forced to walk through the casino to get from one end to the other. After the walk through the casino your clothes stink! Thanks Carnival for putting my health at risk.

Announcements

Shwartz was great as the CD. However, you can't hear any (non emergency) announcements in your room. I asked if there was a TV channel that you could turn to. NOPE they don't have this - so for the morning announcements, I would have to stand with the room door open to hear what was said. Why can't it be but on one of the many of the ship channels selling things to you?

We were at the aft on deck 1. Every night we could smell Sewer gas.

Also, a few times if the wind was right we could also smell in on deck 10 at the very back.

Not sure if they incinerate on the ship but we saw black smoke come out of the stack and it started raining ash on the back deck on 10. This was during our last sea day coming from Mexico back to Florida.

Leaving this weekend on the Carnival Magic. Does anyone know which pier the ship typically docks at? It makes a difference. One pier is downtown and the other you have to take a taxi to get the ferry to Playa deCarmine

I always seek out a grocery store. The some of the best coffee's that I have purchased have been from a grocery store. Plus they are not overpriced. And you get to see how other people shop.

Most grocery stores take credit cards so it is an even better deal than the exchange rates these place charge.

It depends!

I know smart a** comment

Basically - if it is windy you will have waves. If it is not windy than the waves may not be a big.

Done it a number of times. last month is was pretty calm.

Its not like your ship - it does not have stablizers.

How do you book a reservation? I don't see anything on the https://ahhhmahahual.com website

I tend to not drink very much as it's a fast way to gain a bunch of unwanted lbs. I have a hard time paying $50/day/person + 18% tip

I do have a couple tips

POP or Soda

I like to drink pop and I prefer it from a bottle vs a can. Most cruise lines allow you to bring bottled water, pop and juice. I stock up with 6 packs, put them in my carry on roller bag.

Wine - you are allowed one bottle of wine each - we do this and we get the wine package for dinner typically 1/2 bottle per night. They take the bottle, cork it and bring it the next night.

Pouches - go onto AMAZON and search for Cruise pouches. These are clear plastic pouches that don't show up on x-ray. They come in various sizes from 8oz to 32 oz. If you fill them, seal them and spread them around your suit case they won't be seen. You put whatever you want in them and they are secure and sealed.