A Carnival guy on Freedom OTS, The WOW factor: A pictorial review

[tahqa]

WHAT A GREAT REVIEW! Thanks so much for taking the time to upload all the great pics!

 

You made a comment-don't know if you care or not:

 

 

 

That is the acutal sail from the USS Nathanael Greene SSBN 636.

 

She was a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine that ran aground in 1986. It is a memorial to the original 41 ballistic missile submarines. It was placed in full view of departing ships as a reminder that our submarine force is still on patrol throughout the world today keeping us safe.

Also, there is still a submarine pen there to allow submarines to perform a brief stop for supplies and repair parts. It is also used for loading/unloading of submarine-launched ballistic missiles into SSBN's to conduct test launches in the Atlantic Ocean ICBM Test Range.

[FLASHINGLIGHTS83]

Also, there is still a submarine pen there to allow submarines to perform a brief stop for supplies and repair parts. It is also used for loading/unloading of submarine-launched ballistic missiles into SSBN's to conduct test launches in the Atlantic Ocean ICBM Test Range.

 

i was out at PC one day eating lunch at Grills watching the ships leave on a Sunday(3 total) and after the third one i saw something in the water a little ways back. turned out to be a sub that was leaving behind the ships. I think i got some pics of it, but I will have to look for them. If i find them I will post them on here.

[CarpeCerevisi]

 

 

Not sure why that is there

 

 

 

That is the sail of the USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN 636), a ballistic missile submarine that was in service with the USN from 1964 to 1986. The restored sail is now a memorial to the original 41 ("41 for Freedom") ballistic missile submarines of the United States Navy.

[jty1220]

I really enjoyed this thread.

 

Thank you

[blessedx3]

GREAT PICS!!!!!!! We were on the inagural sailing on the Freedom out of Port Canaveral in May. These pics are awsome!!!!!!

We are taking the kids with us on Nov. 29th. These pics just really amp up our excitement!!!!!

Thanks so much!!!!!

[DarthGrady]

Hi Grady,

You are fantastic, what great photos. I don't have to post my review because you have done it all. Enjoyed sailing with you and all the other CC folks on this beautiful ship. What an great cruise just not enought time to do it all.

 

I have copied some of your photos, they were so much better than mine. Thanks for a great review, waiting to see and read the remainder.

Linda & Tom

 

Thanks, it was great cruising with you guys too. I know what you mean about the time, I feel like I needed an extra week just do do everything.

[DarthGrady]

That is the sail of the USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN 636), a ballistic missile submarine that was in service with the USN from 1964 to 1986. The restored sail is now a memorial to the original 41 ("41 for Freedom") ballistic missile submarines of the United States Navy.

 

WHAT A GREAT REVIEW! Thanks so much for taking the time to upload all the great pics!

 

You made a comment-don't know if you care or not:

 

That is the acutal sail from the USS Nathanael Greene SSBN 636.

 

She was a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine that ran aground in 1986. It is a memorial to the original 41 ballistic missile submarines. It was placed in full view of departing ships as a reminder that our submarine force is still on patrol throughout the world today keeping us safe.

 

 

Excellent posting!

 

Another reason why I love CC, there is always someone out there that knows the answer to your question.:)

[micro yaya]

you will have a frig in your cabin on the freedom.

 

thank you cruiselover, and thanks darth for all the pics, i can't wait for december

[LBumb]

i am really enjoying the review and pictures. thanks for taking the time to post.

[MreenD]

Thank you for the wonderful pictures and review. Looking forward to seeing more. We are going on the Freedom at the end of January and are very excited!

[spammie]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post such a detailed review. I love details and your pictures are beautiful. I have been on Freedom before but we will be sailing the Eastern for the first time next April. Can't wait to read the rest of your review. Wanda

[DarthGrady]

Day 2: Coco Cay, Bahamas (almost; missed it by THAT much)

The second day of our cruise got off to a rocky start, both literally and figuratively. Richard the cruise director came over the intercom early in the morning to break the bad news that we would be missing Coco Cay due to high winds and seas. Those same high winds and seas had made for a fairly rough first evening and second day. We were not overly upset about this, since we had considered staying on board anyway during this stop. This is mostly because we wanted to enjoy the ship’s facilities without the throngs of people at every turn. So missing Coco Cay was bad in a way for us too, since all the people that we were hoping would be on the island during the day were still on the ship.

Lunch this day was at Johnny Rockets, which we wanted to try at least once during the cruise. It was good fast food, but I don’t think that I would make a habit of eating there since the Windjammer has similar foods with no cover charge.

In the afternoon, my wife went ice skating at Studio B. It is really something that they have an ice skating rink on a cruise ship. She had a great time on the rink, and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it too.

We made a couple of trips by the Solarium whirlpools, but they were consistently occupied by several people, so we passed them up. We also went by the Schooner Bar for trivia, but it too was crammed full of our fellow cruisers. We found the Screening Room just as packed when we went there to see Quantum of Solace, there weren’t two open seats next to each other in the entire room. Apparently the combination of the surprise sea day coupled with the foul weather upstairs was a one-two punch for our hopes of a relaxing day around the ship. As always, the Viking Crown Lounge provided a welcome shelter from the crowds and noise.

During the first seating of dinner, we were finally able to catch the Solarium’s whirlpools without a huge crowd in them. I was impressed with the views that they offer, we spent quite a bit of time there before heading to the room to get ready for the first formal night. I was glad to see that the vast majority of folks were dressed properly for the formal night. I don’t recall seeing anyone walk into the main dining room wearing casual clothes. Speaking of dinner, they served the escargots this night, one of my RCI favorites.

We returned to our cabin after dinner and found that it had not been made up for the evening. This is the first time that I can recall that our room steward forgot to do the evening service. We were able to get a hold of someone in housekeeping and they dropped off some clean towels and the next day’s cruise Compass for us.

We then attended both the “Now you see it” magic show, and the “adults only” comedy show. The magician put on a good show. It was an entertaining mixture of magic, and song and dance numbers. The comic Jim Colliton was funny, although I felt his “adults only” show was tame enough to easily be for a general audience.

Even Johnny Rockets has dancing waiters

 

 

The rough seas that kept us from Coco Cay

 

Revolving doors on the Lido deck

 

Not many pool goers this day

 

[DarthGrady]

Day 3: At Sea (again)

Our third day onboard started very early, at least by my standards. We both woke at 8:30 AM so that we could pick up our ice show tickets on the promenade. The line was long, but moved quickly. We picked tickets for the Friday matinee show. I had heard from many different people that the ice show was definitely something to see, so I was looking forward to it.

We decided to have breakfast at the main dining room since we were up at such an early hour. The food was very good; I had my usual Eggs Benedict. The wait staff did a great job, and we had some really nice table mates.

After breakfast we went to the Olive or Twist bar in the Viking Crown Lounge for our Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. It was well attended and we had a great time. Our group did a gift exchange which was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we did a brief cabin crawl. We got to visit the Ben and Jerry’s “Sweet”, and two balcony rooms.

Big thanks to Lynne and Pee Wee (Lynyrd) for letting us all see the "Sweet"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scooter90]

Excellent review and pictures....now its going to be even hard to wait until March for our cruise. Keep 'um coming!

[DarthGrady]

Lunch was spent again on the Promenade in the Sorrento’s restaurant. Sorrento’s is one of my favorite places to eat on the Freedom. Having a dedicated restaurant area for the pizzeria is such a better setup than we have seen on Carnival ships or Monarch of the Seas. We also stopped in the Promenade Café for cookies. This restaurant is very handy, since it is open 24 hours and has deli sandwiches available all the time.

While my wife hit the gym and had a nap, I spent the majority of the afternoon relaxing in the Viking Crown Lounge and sitting at the front of the ship on the helipad. It is so nice to be able to the bow; it is very peaceful and has the best view of any area, on any ship, anywhere. I wish that every ship had an observation deck on the bow itself.

Unfortunately, while I was sitting in the Viking Crown Lounge a code “Alpha” was called. After the location was called, I could see a crown forming on the deck above the Solarium on the Port side of the ship. A crew person could be seen giving CPR to someone who apparently had fallen on the jogging track. One of the waitresses walked down there, and came back after a few minutes. She said that one of the joggers had suffered a cardiac arrest, but fortunately he was breathing again. I don’t know what happened to the man, the last time I saw him they were taking him down to the medical center.

Before dinner we watched the Marquee stage show in the Arcadia Theater which was a variety of musical pieces from various Broadway productions. Regular sang and dance shows aren’t my thing, but it was a very well done show. We then went to the Pharaoh’s Palace for the “Crown and Anchor” past guest reception. They served complimentary drinks (rum punch and Yellow Birds) and snacks with live music and dancing. There was also a performance from the Freedom’s drink service stunt team. They juggled bottles as they mixed the drinks; the whole thing was really amazing. Even more impressive was that they served the drinks after they were done.

Dinner in the main dining room was very good this night. They had delicious crab cakes and clam chowder as starters, and I had the Black Angus sirloin as the main course. The only disappointment was the dessert. I had the apple pie, while she ordered the caramel cheesecake. Both were very poorly done and bland. Other than the lackluster dessert course, it was a very good meal.

Later in the evening we headed to the Solarium for a late night hot tub visit. We figured that it would be a great time to go since a ton of people were on the Promenade for the “70s Dancing in the Street” party. When we got there, the Starboard tub was not working and was cold. The Port side tub was filling up and closed. One of the pool attendants told us to wait about 15 minutes, and the Port tub would be opening, which it did, but the temperature was so hot that we could only stay in for a few minutes. After a little while in the lobster pot, we went back to the room for the night.

Mens "Sexiest Legs" contest

 

Past Guest Reception

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Night shots up on deck

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Day 4: St. Thomas, USVI

Since we were just at St. Thomas on the Carnival Liberty last month, we were not in any hurry to get ashore. After waking at around 11 AM we went to the Windjammer for lunch. This was the first time eating there for us since it is usually so crowded. The food was very good compared to what we had in the Monarch’s buffet. Cruise ship buffet food can range from good to very bad on an almost daily basis, so I would need a few more visits to make an accurate judgment.

After going ashore we went up to Paradise Point. As with the last time we were there, the view is almost worth the steep $19 per person, round trip price. The frozen drinks they serve at Paradise Point are, however, worth every penny.

We returned to the ship and headed to Sorrento’s for a pre-swim snack. The Solarium was our next stop for a soak in the hot tubs. The views from those cantilevered tubs are great at sea, but truly exceptional in a picturesque port of call like St. Thomas. We also spent some time in the pool before returning to the room to get ready for dinner.

I went to the bow to watch sail away and get some evening photos of St. Thomas. Shortly after we left port, security came and closed the deck. The view was nice while it lasted, that area should really be open at night. The stars are very bright since there is no lighting out there. The security officer said this was due to the ship’s staff fearing someone acting foolishly and falling overboard. Another prime example of how a few morons can ruin a good thing for everyone.

The dining room staff was very accommodating for us this night. Although we had the 8:30 dining, we requested to sit with two folks from our Cruise Critic group who had Anytime Dining. The staff allowed us to sit together without any problem at all. The wait staff was excellent as usual. I had the surf and turf, which included grilled shrimp and sliced steak. I also had the Coconut Crème Brule. All the food was very good.

The Love and Marriage show was the main production of the night. The selection process took about 20 minutes to get 3 couples to participate, the longest I have ever seen. From this long start, the show shaped up to be a very funny one. Probably the best I have seen on any ship that I have been on. Richard the Cruise Director did a wonderfully funny job with the show, especially considering that one of the couples were a tad inebriated. As such, their answers and actions were either atypical or non existent. One of the funniest jabs I heard from Richard was during the “If your love life were a movie title, what would it be?” question. Richard prodded “Arthur?” to the sloshed couple. Apparently there were not many Dudley Moore fans in the crowd, because it seemed that no one else got it.

In regards to Richard, he is now on my favorite Cruise Directors list. His energy and dry British wit are a perfect combination for someone dealing with crowds and emceeing shows. He says enough to get the message out there, but does not spend all day jabbering on the intercom like some Cruise Directors that we have had.

One minor annoyance that we dealt with this day was problems with our SeaPass cards. Early in the day my wife’s card quit working in the door lock. She got it replaced and had no more problems. Mine stopped opening the door after our return to the ship from St. Thomas. I got it replaced and the new one also did not open the door. Prior to the show, we went back to the Pursers Desk and she replaced both of the cards, hoping that having them both reset at the same time would cure it. Upon returning to the cabin after the show, neither card worked. My wife smartly kept her other new card (#2) and we were able to get in the room. So apparently I would get to see the Guest Services ladies for a third time.

FOTS at the pier

 

 

 

 

Mojo's Tiki Bar

[DarthGrady]

Going up to Paradise Point

 

 

A 'dam (HAL) ship off in the distance

 

 

 

A seaplane climbing

[DarthGrady]

The views from Paradise Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the ship

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

A warm sunset over St. Thomas

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Leaving St. Thomas

 

 

Next stop, St. Maarten

[snausman]

Love the night shots of the ship!!

[JP32]

Great job Grady, look forward to seeing the rest. BY the way where was that Mojo's Tiki place? John

[Colorado Kat]

Grady - The photos are wonderful, and you write a terrific review. As soon as I heard about those cantilevered hot-tubs, I wanted to try them out!

 

Do you think the ship just has too many people on it? Or do you prefer to use facilites when you "almost" have things to yourself?

 

Kathy