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10/22 Freedom Cruise Review

UpstateCruizer

By UpstateCruizer,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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UpstateCruizer

UpstateCruizer

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This was a cruise of many firsts despite this being our first Platinum cruise. I'll point those out as I go along with this review. As always this is our experience aboard the Freedom and strictly based on what we experienced.

 

We always start our cruise out with an overnight stay at one of the hotels that offer a park and fly option. We were flying Southwest which meant another stay at the Albany Wolf Road Holiday Inn. We love this place and upon checking in found that they were offering a Priority Club reception for the next 2 hours. There was no charge for parking for the 10 days we left our vehicle there. The shuttle dropped us off at the airport right at the Southwest area. Early flights mean very limited breakfast options since most places didn't open until 5-5:30am. Flight was uneventful and arrived early in FLL.

 

We arrived at Embassy Suites around 11:00 am after a short taxi ride from the airport. We requested a port view and were given a room facing the port on the 9th floor. A quick walk over to Publix and Total Wines & Liquors and we were set for the cruise. We spent two days in FLL pre-cruise and loved staying at this hotel. We ate at Duffy's and Bravos which are both favorites of ours. Breakfast and a two hour manager reception with open bar made this hotel a great value for us. We arranged a hotel shuttle to the port for 9:30 am which cost $7pp.

 

Arriving at the port security we are informed that the ship was late getting in and boarding was pushed back to 1pm. Luckily this was not our ship so off we went into the port area. A quick drop off of our checked luggage and to security to begin our first Platinum cruise. Security checked all of our beverages to ensure there was nothing we weren't supposed to have. Off to a waiting area to wait since the VIP check in wasn't ready. Once checked in we were directed to another area of chairs. This area filled quickly and we waited along with several others from our roll call. This was one area that was lacking any enthusiasm from the staff. Not one welcome back or pleasant exchange of chatting with the staff. There was a security guard manning the entry into this area and she was not the least bit friendly. At several points I found myself scratching my head as to what was so special about VIP boarding other than you get to be herded onto the ship in the first 200 or so guests. Weddings and groups went first then the VIP would be escorted to the general boarding area. 20 minutes before they started boarding us they brought out water and cookies.

 

Shortly after boarding we made our way to the Lido deck for a quick bite to eat. We had sailed on this class of ships in the past so we were familiar with the layout etc. We then went to find our table in the dining room and discovered we were at a small table for two against the wall area. The Maitre`D was available at 1pm for any table change requests. While waiting in line to speak with him dh and I were discussing that so many people recommended anytime dining for our upcoming 15 day cruise to Hawaii. We decided that we'd try it again on this cruise if getting a different table wasn't an option. The Maitre` D was fantastic and asked us which we preferred so we opted to try the anytime dining. He asked if we had tried it before so I told him only one night on the Miracle and did not like the experience we had. Since it was fairly new at that time it was worth another try. He asked us to meet him upstairs when we arrived for dinner that night and he'd ensure we had a wonderful experience. Upon arriving he remembered us and escorted us downstairs to a booth and assigned us a team of waiters that would be ours for the remainder of the cruise. He also assigned the booth to us and said we could arrive anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 and it would be waiting for us. Every night he came to see us and asked about our service etc. He also made rounds to all the other tables as did his assistant. Extremely personable and exceeded anything we have ever experienced in the dining room. Our servers were excellent as well and provided the outstanding service we remembered back when we first started cruising. We will be switching to anytime dining for our future cruises.

 

Food in the dining room was good and most nights nothing spectacular but we certainly had many options to choose from. There were a few times our waiter would suggest other items to try as a second dish in case the first one wasn't something we'd like. One particular night was the night I decided to try the meatloaf. It didn't taste like anything I had ever tasted and not sure if it was even beef. That night the second entree was much appreciated. The other entree that I was really disappointed in was the new bacon mac and cheese. I loved the mac and cheese that had been served in the past. This one was way too rich and the bacon overpowered the entire dish. A small side dish of this would have been more than enough. We were greeted with a fresh fruit plate every night which was nice. I did find myself "fooded out" on this cruise and not really hungry. We ate on the Lido one of those nights and a salad and fresh fruit were a nice change from the heavier dining room meals. We plan to do this more often in the future. We had an awesome breakfast waiter in the dining room on several visits. Tzolt was amazing and although not our dinner server he was just as atentive and pleasant.

 

The Lido deck had the usual offerings but our favorite was the deli. A grilled turkey on a country roll was a perfect lighter meal. The only time we encountered a line there was on embarkation day. I think the addition of the reuben to the room service menu has helped with this. We tried the fish and chips once again as the fish was longer resembling a corn dog more than the traditional triangle pieces we had tried in the past. It was still greasy and just not our kind of lunch but many raved about it. Coffee from the Lido each morning seems to have improved over previous cruises. It was smoother and lacked that muddy taste that we have experienced in the past. One thing that I noticed on this cruise and I'm not sure if it's exclusive to the Freedom or something new fleet wide is the closing of the grill around 6pm. It did not re-open later at 11:30pm like all of the other cruises we have been on in the past. Instead we found the sushi area on the Promenade set up with late night snacks. Cookies, cheeses, breads, fruit and one hot item each night were set up. This was a great way to draw people to the Promenade which made the entire area lively. One suggestion would be to have lemonade and ice tea set up in this area as well other wise people still had to head to the lido for drinks if they weren't drinking from the bars.

 

Our room steward was unbelievably good on this cruise. When we stopped to drop off our carry ons he came up and warmly greeted us and asked if we had any special requests etc. There wasn't a day that went by on this cruise that we had to ask for anything. He was extremely pleasant and personable through out the cruise. This was our first time using the platnium laundry service and one of my absolute favorite perks to being platinum. Since our next cruise is 15 days to Hawaii we wanted to take advantage of this service as much as possible to test the waters for that cruise. Every single item we sent out came back folded nicely and in perfect condition. If it was sent out before 10:30 am it came back that same afternoon. This will make packing for the 15 day cruise much easier now. This was our first inside cabin. We usually book a balcony cabin but find we spend very little time in the cabin other than sleeping and showering which made the balcony a waste for us. I loved the inside cabin and wouldn't hesitate to book them in the future. We have a balcony on our cruise to Hawaii and I'd book one when we cruise to Alaska.

 

The entertainment on this cruise was excellent. We enjoyed Stan who performed in the casino many nights. If only every ship could have someone as talented and entertaining! We actually spent time sitting at the casino bar on this cruise which was a first for us. Kudos to the casino bar staff who went way above and beyond when dh ordered a Red Frog beer which is only served in the atrium bar on this ship. Instead of telling him they couldn't get it they sent someone down to get it for him! We enjoyed all of the comedians and attended both the family and adult shows for each of them. JR McCollum was the only comedian that was a repeat for us. We did notice that the Fun Times now has an asterisk by the comedy shows that are repeats. I had expected most of them to be a repeat show but found that they had different material at each show. This was not the case on previous cruises so hopefully this is something new moving forward. Tyson was the comedy host along with some of the other activities on board. He was excellent and the most entertaining and approachable of all of the entertainment staff. We went to see Ticket to Ride although we rarely go to any of the shows we found that one to be excellent. There was a guest talent show on this cruise so we decided to go to that one as well. It was entertaining but this was where we got to see the cruise director Jacques for the first time. I'm not sure if he's new or just not very good at being a cruise director but I'd rate him at the bottom of the list after 10 cruises. This is where I have to mention his daily repeated announcements that were heard in all of the cabins. In the past we'd have to open our door to hear the announcements but that certainly was NOT the case on this ship. Not only did you get to hear Jacques announce the watch sale, the spa specials, the next few activities, the steak house etc he rarely did it in one swipe and often repeated the entire message in his wrap up. I don't mind hearing all of this while I'm out and about on this ship but when I'm in my cabin I don't enjoy the intrusion. If this happened once a day as a briefing of the days high lights that would have been tolerable but the announcements were several times a day. Trying to catch a cat nap in the afternoons was difficult with these announcements in the cabins. While on the subject of announcements the debarkation was not a silent debarkation. This is the one time the announcements are greatly appreciated and it served as a wake up call.

 

The platinum perks included a plate of canapes which were delivered to the cabin one afternoon when we were out. We didn't return until later that evening and they had been sitting there. There was nothing on the plate that I was willing to even consider trying even if they had been delivered fresh. I've heard from many others who do not eat these so it seems to be a waste that Carnival could ski[ and not be missed. The petit fours were tasty and made a nice late night treat. We received a Carnival logo cooler which came in handy during this cruise. We used the complimentary slot tournament entry although we didn't win I was glad we were playing on Carnival's dime and not ours. The VIP guest services line was so nice and we were able to get some decks of cards to play on the rainy day we had.

 

We had a great roll call and had arranged to meet at Duffy's pre-cruise for dinner. There was also a meet and greet set up for embarkation day in the casino. It was awesome to finally have a face to go with the names. I had set up a cocktail party for our roll call which included 1 hour of open bar and dry snacks for $11.44 per person. We had 36 people at the party. It was alot of fun getting to know everyone.

 

This cruise was originally scheduled to go to Cozumel, Panama and Costa Rica but hurricane Rina changed that. I thought the captain did a great job in keeping us updated and while some were disappointed in the changes it didn't affect the overall mood of the cruise. We were given Montego Bay and Grand Turk as alternative ports. When it came time to book excursions for this cruise I had no real interest in any of the Panama or Costa Rica tours so we were in the minority and happy with the changes. We had booked an all inclusive at Nachi Cocum in Cozumel for $49 per person. We love this place and it was our second visit. The price is going up to $54 but still well worth it for everything you get. We opted to stay on the ship when we were in Montego Bay. Since we really didn't have time to prepare and research our own excursions we weren't comfortable heading out on our own. Instead we had a great day of relaxation on the ship. We used the gym for the first time and found that exercising at sea really isn't any better than on land ;) Grand Turk was another repeat stop for us and we love Margarita ville.

 

Overall this cruise rates right at the top for us. Dh won his first ship on a stick playing Name That Tune. It's amazing how much that ship on a stick means when you actually win one :) Service was exceeded in so many areas making it a pleasure to cruise again. I would love to sail on this ship again. This is also the first time I have received the post cruise survey and I am excited to be able to use it to leave my feedback.

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UpstateCruizer

UpstateCruizer

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Any pictures you would like to share?

 

Thanks for the review!

 

They are still loaded on my camera which is still packed :eek: I have found though that the more we cruise the fewer pics we take on each cruise. Is there a particular picture you are interested in? If I don't have it someone else may have taken it :)

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linbobky

linbobky

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welcome home betty!!:)

 

look how much fun you would have had if we were there:)

 

i followed the ship everyday with the webcam and the ships tracker.

 

did you get to meet our friends on board?

 

maybe next time. glad you and steve had a great time.:)

 

we cruise in 81 more days on the dream.

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UpstateCruizer

UpstateCruizer

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Nice review Betty! We loved the Freedom when we sailed on her. See you soon!

 

Looking forward to Hawaii ....if this cruise had been that one we'd still be on board :)

 

welcome home betty!!:)

 

look how much fun you would have had if we were there:)

 

i followed the ship everyday with the webcam and the ships tracker.

 

did you get to meet our friends on board?

 

maybe next time. glad you and steve had a great time.:)

 

we cruise in 81 more days on the dream.

 

We thought of you guys often Linda!! Yes, we met them at the cocktail party but I don't think they stayed long. Hopefully we'll cross paths again on one of these ships :)

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bluecruisin

bluecruisin

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I'm glad to hear you had such a wonderful cruise.I have a question about the cocktail party you set up with carnival. I've heard of this before and would like to know if you have any say in time,date and place of the cocktail party. When and where was yours held and were you happy with all the details? Thanks!

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UpstateCruizer

UpstateCruizer

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Nice review Betty :) Thanks for sharing!

 

Kristen I kept thinking about your exciting embarkation a couple weeks earlier as we were sitting in the VIP area waiting to board. Our wait was quiet and actually boring lol

 

I'm glad to hear you had such a wonderful cruise.I have a question about the cocktail party you set up with carnival. I've heard of this before and would like to know if you have any say in time,date and place of the cocktail party. When and where was yours held and were you happy with all the details? Thanks!

 

There was a travel agent who had a group going on this cruise and she offered to set the party details up for us. I did get to request the time/day and location but there were other parties already set up so we were given the piano bar for the location. The jazz club is a better place as there is a bar that people can sit at etc. We still had a great time. I've been to several of these parties that have been set up by others on the roll calls and Carnival has always been great about accomodating requests. It does have to be on a sea day though. We had our cocktail party at 3pm on our first sea day which was day 2 of the cruise. When I got to our cabin upon embarkation there was a letter from the group event coordinator on the ship. She gave me her extension and asked that I contact her if I had any questions. Later that night she had left a message on the cabin phone which I didn't notice until the next day. She stopped by right before the party started and offered any assistance we might need. I was impressed~ When the party first started we had one server which had me nervous as she had a tray of pre-made drinks (the usual free ones) but soon after another server joined her. We had to be firm about wanting to order our own drinks but they were fine with bringing whatever we ordered.

 

 

This was also the first cruise that I did not take any Bonnie on nor did I feel any of the motion! It only took 10 cruises to get to that point but it was nice not having the motion affecting me at all. Dh had stopped taking anything a few cruises back.

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