Fresh off the Freedom 2/13-2/21

[frazzledrazzle16]

We're taking this cruise, but not until next January. :( We are driving to the port too. You can try parking at the Park N Fly nearby. They have a cruise lot. We priced the parking for the 8-day cruise at $99. They shuttle you to the pier and back when you return.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm sure we'll cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale again (hopefully soon lol).

[092306]

Thanks for answering. Sorry to hear about some of the disappointments of the Freedom. We are definitely looking forward to our cruise on the Freedom. 19 days and counting.Hope your drive in uneventful and again thanks for answering. You HAVE helped alot.

[frazzledrazzle16]

How strange, I'm just off of the Liberty on Saturday, and we had a Coast Guard medivac on Friday. While no one wants to see somebody needing to be resuced at sea the process is completely amazing and awe inspiring.

 

That is really strange, and I completely agree. As unfortunate as the situation was, it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The Freedom doesn't have a helipad either, so the helicopter was hovering over the glass ceiling of the lido buffet. I heard it took them two attempts to coordinate it, once at 8am and again at 1pm. They kept the aft pool and decks above closed off all morning. We were up in fish and chips when the helicopter arrived and saw most of it. Some people were taking pictures while the family of the person being airlifted was nearby and they were quite upset.

[applegam]

Well we have 20+ hours of driving ahead of us, so any questions are welcome!

 

Just a few quick thoughts... We had a great cruise, although there were some big disappointments (cruise director & entertainment staff, lido food, debarkation, and the weather in general). The good definately outweighed the bad, and a huge shining point of this ship was the hard working staff. Yesterday there was a medical evac by a coast guard helicopter around lunchtime that caused a lot of chaos. We forgot how big the Conquest ships were, so it took us awhile to get used to the crowds again.... I think next time we may just stick with the spirit class ships.

 

As for the weather - was it rainy, cold - or both?

[frazzledrazzle16]

it was that noticeable wow... Stephannie what room were you in the front? Im thinking of booking either 1211 or 6224. Thanks for the info. Mary49

 

7203 & 7205

[frazzledrazzle16]

Thanks for answering. Sorry to hear about some of the disappointments of the Freedom. We are definitely looking forward to our cruise on the Freedom. 19 days and counting.Hope your drive in uneventful and again thanks for answering. You HAVE helped alot.

 

You will have a fantastic time I'm sure. Whatever 'disappointments' we had were insignificant and we did have a great time. I wish I

was still on the ship!

[frazzledrazzle16]

As for the weather - was it rainy, cold - or both?

 

It was pretty cold at the start of the trip, but warmed up rather quickly. We had rain in Cozumel and Costa Rica, as well as a few of the sea days. We also had really rough seas for the majority of the trip, the worst we have ever had in 9 cruises.

[rigldbrg]

That is really strange, and I completely agree. As unfortunate as the situation was, it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The Freedom doesn't have a helipad either, so the helicopter was hovering over the glass ceiling of the lido buffet. I heard it took them two attempts to coordinate it, once at 8am and again at 1pm. They kept the aft pool and decks above closed off all morning. We were up in fish and chips when the helicopter arrived and saw most of it. Some people were taking pictures while the family of the person being airlifted was nearby and they were quite upset.

 

Sounds as if we could have been on the same ship! I would imagine since the two ships are sister ships, there was the same type of preperation plan institued. In our case the evac was sometime around 3:45 PM - 4:30 PM, and the whole thing took a good 30 minutes. The pilot took his time in pacing the ship before he positioned over the aft for the pickup. They went through the process twice to get the Coast Guard diver, patient, and medical staff onto the chopper.

[applegam]

It was pretty cold at the start of the trip, but warmed up rather quickly. We had rain in Cozumel and Costa Rica, as well as a few of the sea days. We also had really rough seas for the majority of the trip, the worst we have ever had in 9 cruises.

 

So sorry to hear that. You can plan everything possible for a cruise - except mother nature.

[thefog]

Steph, first of all have a safe trip home, my name is Randy and 9 of us are on the freedom march 13, my mom and dad are celebrating there 60th wedding day on this cruise and dad is a fussy eater, so how was the dinner menu on this cruise?

[LUPY48]

Thanks! What week are you sailing? We have already been looking for our next one and are considering the Miracle for the last week of May.

 

We are sailing on May 15 with a cc group. It would be great if you could join us!

[frazzledrazzle16]

Steph, first of all have a safe trip home, my name is Randy and 9 of us are on the freedom march 13, my mom and dad are celebrating there 60th wedding day on this cruise and dad is a fussy eater, so how was the dinner menu on this cruise?

 

Hi Randy! The food in the main dining room was great! Much better than our past few cruises where we thought the quality had slipped. The cuts of meat were more generous and tender. We did notice a few changes to the menu, but it is still basically the same as always. They offer "everyday favorites" (I think that's what it's called) so if your dad doesn't like whats on the menu that night he can always order a chicken breast, a flat iron steak, or broiled salmon. My sister is a fussy eater as well and never had a problem finding something good.

 

So sorry to hear that. You can plan everything possible for a cruise - except mother nature.

 

Very true! I think the weather has been ruling under murphys law since we left our house almost two weeks ago.

[tjmaher]

Stephanie,

 

We were on the Freedom last week and I totally agree with your comments about the Cruise Director. Never have I seen a more absent cruise director. As I told Carnival, since he had his girlfriend on the ship you should have just gave him the week off as we never saw him, except for the dumb morning show or the show. He had no interest in anything.

 

I was very surprised that they did not have anything special planned for Mardi Gra.

 

Where did you go in Cozumel? We had nothing but clear sunny skies and spent the day at the beach. Even did parasailing!

 

I heard that they had to wait for a Holland American ship to catch up to us (3 miles behind) as they also had a Medial Emergency and they wanted to do them both together. Crazy, since there were three, one on our; one on Holland American; and one on the Liberty. Ours was for internal bleeding.

 

Did anyone in your party become ill. My other half became sick on Friday night and from then on more and more folks were ill. The ship was fumigated Sunday morning and cleaning was under way with bleach. Apparently when more than 50 percent of the passenagers turn up ill they are required to fumigate. I am hoping I don't come down with anything. Time frame for one set is 24-48 hours.

[oncruisecontrol]

and the Mongolian stir fry was just okay (it's certainly no Big Bowl or Stir Crazy. They didn't even offer mushrooms!).

 

 

There must have been some specific reason that they did not have mushrooms: Perhaps they ran out or the mushrooms spoiled or something. I was on the Freedom in Sept 2009, and there were mushrooms everyday at the Mongolian Grill. My sister and brother-in-law just boarded the Freedom yesterday and had lunch from the Mongolian station. She selected mushrooms as one ingredient for her stirfry. There had to be some reason that they were not able to put mushrooms out on your cruise.

[oncruisecontrol]

That didn't bother me until the helicopter medevac yesterday, when all the outside aft decks were cleared except for the specialized crew, the coast guard personnel, the person being evacuated, and their family. Filipe was up there as well, but brought his girlfrind with him, and she stood there watching it like a spectator sport. I found it HIGHLY inappropriate and unprofessional.

 

 

Just curious: Is Felipe's girlfriend a member of the entertainment staff or crew?

[tjmaher]

I don't believe that she was. He made it very clear that he was traveling with his girlfriend this week, "that she was on board." Announced it every chance he could. Never saw her doing any acts at the shows. Very bad week for him as many folks we talked to were disappointed with him.

[golfadj]

I was on same cruise and a few comments

 

Felipe was absent most of the week. Lots of people commented on that. Apparently the asst CD was also absent as he performed a singing set one night and was in the audience the rest of the week.

 

Felipe is an acting CD and I hope I never see him act on a future cruise.

 

Food at Lido was good for lunch and DR was great for dinner. Noticed on the next to last day they put out breakfast stuff about 7 15 (pancakes, sausage,etc) and it sat on warming trays until it opened at 8. Pancakes were actually crunchy so we went down to DR t hat morning.

 

Only two late night shows for 8 day cruise was a little disappointing. I think that was because they had a large group of bluegrass people and they took over the rear lounge quite often.

 

As a result Karoake was moved to the other lounge in the back of the ship most nightsand Music Boardwalk (excellent btw) was either playing in the small area by casino or one night as I recall in the small lounge or several nights not playing at all.

 

My DW got the virus a day or so before we left the ship and I got it the last night. I assumed it was just me until speaking to some members of our roll call.

 

Weather was not that hot but was fine for most of the cruise including the day in Cozumel. Costa Rica rained in the morning. Very windy most mornings and hard to walk on the outdoor track.

 

All in all a most excellent time was had.

[frazzledrazzle16]

Stephanie,

 

We were on the Freedom last week and I totally agree with your comments about the Cruise Director. Never have I seen a more absent cruise director. As I told Carnival, since he had his girlfriend on the ship you should have just gave him the week off as we never saw him, except for the dumb morning show or the show. He had no interest in anything.

 

I was very surprised that they did not have anything special planned for Mardi Gra.

 

Where did you go in Cozumel? We had nothing but clear sunny skies and spent the day at the beach. Even did parasailing!

 

 

I heard that they had to wait for a Holland American ship to catch up to us (3 miles behind) as they also had a Medial Emergency and they wanted to do them both together. Crazy, since there were three, one on our; one on Holland American; and one on the Liberty. Ours was for internal bleeding.

 

Did anyone in your party become ill. My other half became sick on Friday night and from then on more and more folks were ill. The ship was fumigated Sunday morning and cleaning was under way with bleach. Apparently when more than 50 percent of the passenagers turn up ill they are required to fumigate. I am hoping I don't come down with anything. Time frame for one set is 24-48 hours.

 

I'm glad that I am not the only one who thought the CD did a crappy job. We also felt that there was a definate lack of acivities planned for this cruise. There was only one deck party... On our last cruise there were three great ones. You're right.. They did forget mardi gras and that would have been an awesome event. Those things compounded with the unenthused and invisible entertainment staff (with the exception of Little John and Levi) and some of the things we saw/heard from them really made Carnival look bad. It's a shame, too, because the rest of the staff was some of the best we have ever experienced.

 

Anywhoo...

 

In Cozumel we got off the ship early and took a taxi downtown. It was raining on and off while we were there. Later on we went shopping around the port and the weather had completely cleared by then.

 

I am seriously dumbfounded to hear about everyone getting sick on the ship, as I didn't notice anything while we were onboard, but also a bit relieved b/c both my sister & I have been ill with bad stomach pains since last night and thought it could have been something more serious. I don't think it's Noro b/c I had it last year and it was much much more severe (I won't go into too much detail, but I was throwing up every 20 minutes for at least 10 hours straight). Whatever it is, Carnival should have let us know to begin with.

[bamaphotopro]

Having been on the Freedom a couple of weeks back, I thought Felipe did a poor job as director ... just didn't like him at all. And yes, I know he's just filling in, but I could have handled someone like Steve Cassel much better than Felipe. Steve actually has some talent!

 

Felipe, was just not my cup of tea ... and evidently, I am not alone in that sentiment. He definitely needs more 'seasoning'. Carnival should do better on one of their newer, larger ships.

[Krissta]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning about people getting sick. :( Hopefully everything will be bleached when we get on next week!

 

For some reason, this trip for us seems doomed to fail. DH and I are both sick with a horrible sinus infection, one friend we're traveling with almost couldn't go because of a military reason, and another was throwing up all day yesterday! AND it's supposed to snow here for the rest of the week! UGH! We're flying in a day early. Or at least we're supposed to. :( Really hope we can just GET there!

[frazzledrazzle16]

Apparently the asst CD was also absent as he performed a singing set one night and was in the audience the rest of the week.

 

LOL It took us a day to realize the guy performing and the assistant cd were the same person. The only time I saw him actually doing something was his show, and in that case he should just have the position of entertainer and give the job of assistant cd to someone who actually wants to work for it.

 

BTW, I recognize you from your picture! I think you came up to us when Nicole lost trivia :)

[frazzledrazzle16]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning about people getting sick. :( Hopefully everything will be bleached when we get on next week!

 

For some reason, this trip for us seems doomed to fail. DH and I are both sick with a horrible sinus infection, one friend we're traveling with almost couldn't go because of a military reason, and another was throwing up all day yesterday! AND it's supposed to snow here for the rest of the week! UGH! We're flying in a day early. Or at least we're supposed to. :( Really hope we can just GET there!

 

That's how we felt too. We had to drive through a blizzard in the dark with no sleep in us. Don't worry... You will get to the nice warm weather soon enough and forget about all the stress that happened before you got there. I hope you have a fantastic time!

[hartskys]

We are on the freedom the 1st week in May. How can we tell her the cruise director will be?

[goscudder]

We are on the freedom the 1st week in May. How can we tell her the cruise director will be?

 

We're on the Freedom the first week in April. I found a cruise director list and it looks like the cruise director will be Ryan Fitzgerald in April and May. I hope he's better than this other guy :eek:

[bamaphotopro]

We are on the freedom the 1st week in May. How can we tell her the cruise director will be?

 

 

Looks like a change is coming ... hope it works out. Looks like Ryan Fitzgerald. I know nothing about him, but perhaps a search here on the boards will give you some info.

 

 

http://johnheald.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/2010-cd-schedule-january-june1.jpg

 

:-)