Freedom May 13th review

[htowncruiser]

I sailed on the May 13th cruise on the Carnival Freedom. I will start with a little background about myself. I am a single woman in my mid thirties, travelling with my friend who is also in her thirties. This was my seventh cruise. Prior to this cruise I had cruised twice on Carnival, twice on Princess and twice on Royal Caribbean. Ok here goes the review, sorry it's a little long J

Prior to cruise

We are a couple of Canadian girls, we travelled from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale on Southwest. Was a direct flight and smooth, other than waiting an hour and a half to cross the boarder (we came close to missing our flight J) So note to Canadians, even when the boarder crossing website says no wait, don’t trust it!

Upon arriving at the Fort Lauderdale airport we used the courtesy phone and called our hotel for the shuttle to pick us up. We stayed at the Hyatt 17th street convention center. We got our room for $99 and booked it through Value Trips (google it J). I found this site through someone on cruise critic – great tip. We loved this hotel which is 4 miles from the airport. Super clean, friendly staff, continental breakfast, free airport shuttle, GIANT room, nice pool, excellent location!! LOVED IT, especially for $99! Shuttle picked us up within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport and the shuttle will take you anywhere within a 5 mile radius of the hotel.

Once we checked in we walked to the harbour shops which are a 2 minute walk away and got some pre-cruise necessities. We started with dinner at Duffy’s which is a sports bar. It was happy hour when we arrived and had 2 meals and 6 beer for only $38!! And it was good! Maybe this was exciting because where we live that would have cost closer to $100 but we were impressed J After that it was a stop at total wine for our wine and liquor, then to publix for a few last minute things. These were all within a 5 minute walk of the hotel. After a great night sleep and a continental breakfast we decided to take another walk around did some more shopping and took the shuttle to the cruise port. The shuttle through hotel has was $7 per person, we could have taken a cab for less money but this was just convenient.

Embarkation

The previous cruise had a bad outbreak of Norovirus so we were informed by Carnival that they had to do some extra sanitizing and that the boarding time was going to be delayed until 1:30. We arrived at around 3:00 and the line to get inside the building was craziness, it wrapped around a few buildings and it was hot out! Still not irritated though because I was about to start my vacation J The staff did pass around cold water to everyone in line and after an hour and half we were checked in. This was the longest embarkation I have ever experienced but if the ship was cleaner then I am not complaining because I didn’t want to get sick!! So considering the extra things they needed to do embarkation was good J

The Ship

We had an inside cabin on the 7th floor mid ship. Was nice, standard, 2 beds and a tiny bathroom J Worked out fine for us. The cabin steward was good, only issue being we had to call him every day and remind him that we needed 4 towels :), but he made us cute towel animals every day so it was all good!

Common areas are all nice. We were always able to get lounge chairs without a problem. We spent a lot of time in the serenity area which was beautiful but not necessarily ever serene J They did do a great job of keeping kids out however they still let in the drunken college kids which to me was more annoying!! I still loved it!

Nightlife

We choose Carnival because we were 2 single girls looking to have a good time and some nightlife and Carnival did not disappoint. We stayed out until at least 2am every night and there was always lots of people out and things to do. We spent the majority of every night in the swingtime lounge. Ok this is a smoking area where they allow cigar smoking so be warned. However the entertainment was great. Most nights it was a musician named Jay, he was very good, and took requests. Was a nice way to just chill out and relax. We also went to all of the comedy shows which were very good (make sure to go early or you will not get a seat)! We also spent some time in the 70s disco. The disco was a young crowd but we enjoyed it – lots of fun. We did not go to any of the shows so I can’t comment on them.

Dining

We ate in the dining room every night, fixed late seating in the posh dining room. We had a table of 8. I don’t think Carnival did the greatest job of picking table mates for us. We had 2 sets of girls who were in college and they were nice enough but what in the world to I have in common with college girls?! Wish they had put us with people our own age, even if they were couples at least we could have had an adult conversation. Also in our mix were 2 single men in their 30s who only came to dinner twice but were interesting and nice enough. Overall we still enjoyed the dining experience. Our wait staff was great!! The food was good. I always had a choice that I enjoyed, always tried the didja item because I thought that was cool. Desserts were good, especially the warm chocolate melting cake which I did order more than once J

We also ate in the dining room one morning for breakfast. Worst meal of the cruise. I ordered eggs Benedict. The sauce was crusty and hard and it was really gross. I couldn’t even eat it and I eat pretty much anything.

The buffet at breakfast and lunch was good. There were lots of choices and the food was hot and tasty. The fish and chips on the 10th floor were good. Also ordered room service a few times for breakfast which was good and on time. We wrote on the breakfast menu to bring BLT’s and they were delivered J. 24 hour pizza was yummy. Takes 15 minutes to order fresh, but they always had lots available that was ready! And I will admit I had ice cream at least once a day!!

The drinks

So, we ordered alcohol through bon voyage (1L bottle of vodka for $50), and we also ordered 32 drink tickets (which we loved). We had a bottle of wine each in our carry on’s and we also put a bottle of vodka and a bottle on rum in plastic bottles in our checked luggage. Both got to our room without a problem, so we had a lot of stuff to drink J

The drinks on board are yummy!! Be warned they are strong!!!!!!!! So yes they might be 7-9 bucks but they are worth the price tag.

Ports of call

We booked all of our excursions ahead of time. Look on cruise critic for a discount code, we did and saved $25. That’s a few extra drinks!

First stop was Key West. We did not book an excursion for this port. We did a lot of walking, went to the most southern point and there is a beach right there so we stopped there for a few hours. There is a nice beach bar and restaurant. Chairs are $5 each to rent, and an umbrella is $10. The chair set up guy also brings you little treats during the day like frozen pineapple and my favourite a frozen towel (think of the warm towel they bring you at a Chinese buffet but frozen and sooo nice on a hot day). On the walk back we stopped at Kermit’s and I got key lime pie on a stick. Was good!

Next stop was Grand Cayman islands. Tender at this port which sucks but what can you do? We booked the stingray city and rum point beach safari. Was fabulous!!! This is my third time visiting this port and I enjoy the stingrays every time. It is an amazing experience!!! Stingrays come right up to you and you can feed them and even ask them to give you a kiss! Rum point beach is beautiful. Chairs are free and they have a little restaurant/bar. They take American money but your change will be in Cayman dollars. Was a nice day!!

Last stop on the cruise was Ocho Rios. We booked an excursion through Carnival here as well. IMO this is not a safe port to just wander around. I would recommend a tour of some kind for sure. We did the Cayoba gardens and Dunns River Falls climb. The gardens were nice and the falls were beautiful, the climb itself if really not that difficult, you just have to take your time and need some balance. It was another wonderful day for us!

Honourable mentions

Aaron the “table artist”. This is a fancy word for magician. Loved him. He came up to us a few times and talked and joked around but never did a trick. Then on the last night though I got 2 tricks!! He was funny and interesting and maybe I am easily amused but his tricks were awesome!!!

The cooking demonstration was also a highlight. You get to watch the chef cook a soup, salad, entree and dessert course. They give you a tasting of each after each course is prepared, and also a recipe handout of what you just ate. I really enjoyed it.

Tea time. On sea days they have an afternoon tea. Was a neat thing to do to break up the afternoon.

Overall we had a fantastic cruise!! Carnival freedom and it staff were great!

[needabreakcanada]

We are also from canada but I will be turning 50 while on my cruise.

 

Hubby and I are looking forward to our first cruise ever - same itinerary you just did.

 

Was wondering where the shopping is in each port? Close to pier?

 

Thanks,

[needabreakcanada]

Hi Fellow Canadian:

 

As i mentioned in my previous post we will be taking same cruise.

 

Was wondering if you had any pictures of your cabin and what # it was.

 

We will also be midship on 7th floor. Room #7304

 

Thanks

[atinys]

Thanks for the review. My friends were on this same cruise and had a great time also.....

 

i can hardly wait till december

[vivavegas]

Welcome Back! Thanks for posting your review! Glad you had a good cruise!:)

[htowncruiser]

We are also from canada but I will be turning 50 while on my cruise.

 

Hubby and I are looking forward to our first cruise ever - same itinerary you just did.

 

Was wondering where the shopping is in each port? Close to pier?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Hi! In Key West you dock right downtown and everything is within walking distance. Grand Cayman also docks within walking distance to shops and I'm not sure about Jamaica because we didn't leave our tour. I personally did not feel safe enough in Jamaica to wander around.

 

And to answer your other question we stayed in room 7316 but I do not have any pictures of the room :(

 

Enjoy your cruise!!