Carnival Freedom Review Eastern Route

[LANERACING]

Can you tell me which nights are the Elegant nights?

Thanks

[eedee]

sorry to go back to the drill, but did you have to take your life vests and did they pack everyone against the wall like sardines? I was under the impression that the drills improved.

[eedee]

Was there a buffet that served fried calamari on this ship? We are going in August.

[suz1607]

I was on the Jan.2 cruise. You do not have to take life jackets but you are packed against the wall. We stood a long time waiting for the drill to start. If Fort Lauderdale is chilly be sure to take a wrap.

[Nanatravel]

Can you tell me which nights are the Elegant nights?

Thanks

 

On the 6 night cruise, they are Tuesday and Thursday. (This is from a past passenger who answered the same question to me.)

[htrobaug]

Was there a buffet that served fried calamari on this ship?

 

Answer: I am not aware of a buffet that served the calamari however I think that at the fish and chips restaurant you can get all of the calamari you want. I do not know for sure but I think that is correct.

 

By the way no one ever found the fish and chips area. When you go into the lido area where the buffet is, look at the dessert table or the area where the cereal and friut is in the morning. There are two sets of stairs. Follow the stairs up. If you are comfortable carrying your tray you can find plenty of room up there with lots of piece and quiet. We ate there every day at lunch and had our table beside the drink machine. The fish and chips are on this level. It is on Deck 10 but can be hard to find if you try to find it other ways.

[htrobaug]

did you have to take your life vests and did they pack everyone against the wall like sardines?

 

Answer:

No you do not have to take your vest to the drill. However it takes you forever to go through the drill if you are among the first to get to the deck. Take your time getting there. You are like sardines just no jacket to give you a little personal space.:( It is hot and long so I don't think that it has improved much.

[htrobaug]

Can you tell me which nights are the Elegant nights?

 

Answer: The elegant nights are on the full days at sea. So Sunday and Friday for the Eastern Route. You would see anywhere from a shirt and tie to tux for the men. For the women you would see a pant suit, sundress and some formal dresses. It seemed to be fairly relaxed and one couple with a small baby wore what I thought would be for the normal evenings with out a problem. They wore tan pants and a polo for both the mother and father. Only the baby was wearing a tie.

[htrobaug]

Just a couple of notes that I remember now:

 

• Eating on the upper level is a good idea if you can manage the stairs (Very quiet and Private)
  
• Secret door all the way forward on Deck 9 Port side for great views when leaving the ports (Very quiet and Private)
  
• We went to the dollar store as I stated earlier and purchased 3 plastic cups (they came in a pack) approx 16-20 oz for $1. These were really good for the trip. The cups provided by the ship are about 4 oz. So if you don't mind getting up 100 times or carrying multiple cups don't worry about the cups.
  
• Secret use for the cups- fill one cup half full of chocolate ice cream from the soft serve machine. Ask for a carton of chocolate milk from the lido buffet. They have them in the morning but are put away in the afternoon. Just ask one of the servers and they will bring you as many as you like. Mix carton of milk in your half 16 oz. cup of ice cream with a fork. Get a straw from the drink area. It makes the best milkshake all for free. If you like Vanilla just ask for plain milk and use Vanilla. We got so many comments from people who said at the next port I am buying a cup. or What a great idea I wish I thought of it. :D
  

[Grover-Lee]

Just a couple of notes that I remember now:

 

• We went to the dollar store as I stated earlier and purchased 3 plastic cups (they came in a pack) approx 16-20 oz for $1. These were really good for the trip. The cups provided by the ship are about 4 oz. So if you don't mind getting up 100 times or carrying multiple cups don't worry about the cups.
  
• Secret use for the cups- fill one cup half full of chocolate ice cream from the soft serve machine. Ask for a carton of chocolate milk from the lido buffet. They have them in the morning but are put away in the afternoon. Just ask one of the servers and they will bring you as many as you like. Mix carton of milk in your half 16 oz. cup of ice cream with a fork. Get a straw from the drink area. It makes the best milkshake all for free. If you like Vanilla just ask for plain milk and use Vanilla. We got so many comments from people who said at the next port I am buying a cup. or What a great idea I wish I thought of it. :D
  

 

Thanks for your fabulous review! And I LOVE the milkshake idea! I'm sooo going to try that on our upcoming cruise. yum yum! :p

[Baystate]

Great review!

 

We will be on the Freedom in a couple of months and plan on doing self-assist disembarkation because we have an 11:25 flight. Can you tell me what time self-assist started and how early breakfast started on that day?

 

Thanks.

[Elaine515]

If we are a family of 5 who wants to see/hear the waitors dance etc, where do you suggest we try to get a table? Also, if this ship is like the others, and there are 2 dining rooms, which is the one in the middle of the ship?

 

I am soooooooo tired of walking all the way to the back of the ship for dinner that I'm going to try to get the middle dining room this upcoming cruise. Thnx for all your great ideas... Very nice job of posting...

[htrobaug]

Self Assist Disembarkation starts at 6:30 a.m. We went to the lido and could only have cereal and fruit for breakfast. We could have waited longer but I was afraid of missing the call for the self disembarkation. They start with floor 1 at 6:30 then 2 at say 6:40 then floor 6 at say 6:50 and floor 7 where we were was promptly at 7:00. We were off the ship, through customs and in a cab ($16) for 2 by 7:15 or so and in the airport by 7:25. If you do self disembarkation it definately is the fastest way to go. You have to carry all of your luggage with you. It was not a problem for us because we are light packers. You do have to manage an escalator which was a problem for some, but I think there is an elevator just up the way.

 

Please remember to pay attention to the numbers being called. There are no rooms on floors 3,4,&5.

 

The airport at the Delta airlines line was a mess. The lines were horrible and everything was getting backed up because of checked luggage. There was something wrong with the belt or something. I asked the women if we could just get to a kiosk to check in because we had no checked luggage. She asked the entire line if they had carry on only and when she finally found that we were the only ones we were able to cut through the lines to the kiosk that was just sitting there waiting for the next customer. I always try to print my boarding pass from home but the internet cafe was really expensive and I was not sure how long it would take to get everything done. I think the internet cafe is around 1.99 per min. You could get some package deal but it was not much better. I would still rather wait in line and keep my money.

[htrobaug]

If we are a family of 5 who wants to see/hear the waitors dance etc, where do you suggest we try to get a table? Also, if this ship is like the others, and there are 2 dining rooms, which is the one in the middle of the ship?

 

I am soooooooo tired of walking all the way to the back of the ship for dinner that I'm going to try to get the middle dining room this upcoming cruise. Thnx for all your great ideas... Very nice job of posting...

 

Sorry to those before. I just realized how to do the quote. :rolleyes:

 

You want to be in the Chic dining room if you want the mid ship dining room. That is the room we ate in except for the one night in San Jaun that was open seating only in the Posh dining room.

 

As far as being able to see the action you want to be at one of the center tables up the two or three stairs on the main floor. The waiters and waitress' dance right there. If you want to see more from afar you could ask for a table in the upstairs Deck 4 of the dining room that over looks the center area.

 

I hope this helps.

[Baystate]

Self Assist Disembarkation starts at 6:30 a.m. We went to the lido and could only have cereal and fruit for breakfast. We could have waited longer but I was afraid of missing the call for the self disembarkation. They start with floor 1 at 6:30 then 2 at say 6:40 then floor 6 at say 6:50 and floor 7 where we were was promptly at 7:00. We were off the ship, through customs and in a cab ($16) for 2 by 7:15 or so and in the airport by 7:25. If you do self disembarkation it definately is the fastest way to go. You have to carry all of your luggage with you. It was not a problem for us because we are light packers. You do have to manage an escalator which was a problem for some, but I think there is an elevator just up the way.

 

Please remember to pay attention to the numbers being called. There are no rooms on floors 3,4,&5.

 

The airport at the Delta airlines line was a mess. The lines were horrible and everything was getting backed up because of checked luggage. There was something wrong with the belt or something. I asked the women if we could just get to a kiosk to check in because we had no checked luggage. She asked the entire line if they had carry on only and when she finally found that we were the only ones we were able to cut through the lines to the kiosk that was just sitting there waiting for the next customer. I always try to print my boarding pass from home but the internet cafe was really expensive and I was not sure how long it would take to get everything done. I think the internet cafe is around 1.99 per min. You could get some package deal but it was not much better. I would still rather wait in line and keep my money.

 

Thank you so much. You really have been so informative and nice in answering all of these questions.

[htrobaug]

Thank you so much. You really have been so informative and nice in answering all of these questions.

 

No problem. I have enjoyed this website so much. I received alot of information for my cruise and I feel that I owe it to other people to return the favor. So thank you to all that helped me:)

[pcrum]

Next Tortola.

 

This was a beautiful island however it was really steep. We thought about renting scooters to run around the island, but we felt that they would not pull the hills with just a 125 motor and it was to dangerous. We walked to town and shopped in the areas for a little while. It was funny, when we first got out of the pier area tours cost $15 for a tour around the island. I jokingly said by the time we get to town it will be $10. Sure enough by the time we got closer to the open tent market we could go on a tour for $10. We decided not to do a tour. We looked all around the market area and went through a few stores. We went to the spice store recommended by the cruise ship. I felt that the prices were a little high and I was concerned about being able to get the spices on the plane. I therefore chose not to buy anything.

 

We went back to the boat and then went to the secret door to watch sail away. It was beautiful however a storm was moving in. You could see the dark clouds moving in over the island. There were so many boats moving in to the harbor. I guess it was to get out of the storm.

 

Can you tell me where the secret door is. We are booked on the Freedom in June and would love to partake of the deck you access through the secret door. Thanks so much.

[imagine8]

Will you be posting any pictures?