Carnival Freedom 8 Day 6/16-6/24 Review (With Pics)

[Robpuffdaddy]

After the meet and greet we went back to our cabin to see if our luggage had arrived, it was getting a bit close to dinner and we wanted to unpack and get things organized in the room and get ready for dinner. When we got back our luggage had still not arrived. I was getting a bit concerned because lets say that I had placed some items (RR's) in my suitcases and was worried there were detected. I was waiting for the call to go do the walk of shame to the Naughty Room to get my luggage. We talked to our cabin steward and he said that there was more luggage on the way and he would go check for us. Well sure enough 5 minutes later there was a knock on the door and there was our luggage. We started to unpack and get organized. Well good news, our little bags of joy (RR's) all made it through. Let the part begin. My wife went to go take a shower, while she was in there I was working my magic and was decorating the room. I turned our room into a life size aquarium. I went to Party City and bought several decorations and went to Yankee Candle and bought a Bahama Breeze spray air freshener and made the room look and smell like a vacation. Well when she came out she was very surprised and thought I had done a great job.

Our Fishbowl Suite

 

 

Our door decorated, this way when we come back after having a few to many to drink, we will be able to find our cabin. After all, all the doors look the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our not so Mini-Bar

 

 

 

 

[LizaMM]

I, personally, really enjoyed the decor on the Freedom! I loved finding all the details in every lounge/area that added to the theme. I remember taking a bunch of photos of the ceilings because the details were even found there. I just thought it was a really cool ship!

 

Thanks for you review and I am loving the photos!

[Robpuffdaddy]

We had the late sitting at the Posh Dining Room at 8:15. Our new friends Dianne and Kevin had contacted their PVP and set us up to have a table for 6 of us from the group. It was nice to have met these people already and had the ice broken. It made dinner so much more fun because we had the same interest. It seemed that people like all of us that utilize these message boards have the same ideals and expectations of cruising. I am not going to go into to much detail on the food in the dining room because everyone has a different appetite and likes differnet foods. The service in the opinion of the 6 of us at the table was the same that I had seen on here in the past. The servers seemed way too inundated. They had to many tables and the service was not what it was like in the past. We had the 2nd sitting and it seemed every night, the staff still had things not ready for when we got there. There were utensils missing, one night we had 2 salt shakers and no pepper shaker, glasses were missing, etc.. You get the idea. The quality of the food was not as good as it had been in the past, but do not get me wrong, I did not go hungry and with the expansion of the menu to include the comfort foods, there was always something for everyone. Even the ones with the picky appetite.

I am old school a bit and felt like that during the day we wear the bathing suits and shorts and at night, we get dressed up to go out to dinner each night with a show or dancing after. On formal nights I wore a tux ( I am prior-military and I am in the Veterans of Foreign Wars and I go to several Military Balls a year. So between cruising and the balls, I got my money's worth to have a tux. My wife wore her formal gowns on those nights and on the other nights I would wear dress pants and Tommy Bahama type shirts. My wife would wear sun dresses. I know everyone does not feel the same way I do and that is fine. Just seemed wierd to see people wearing shorts and jeans in the dining room.

My wife Jen and I

 

 

Ross and Karen

 

 

Kevin and Dianne

 

 

The table of troublemakers

 

 

 

Well after dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard Show and then went back to the room. It was a long day and we have a busy sea-day ahead of us. Good night for now.

[Robpuffdaddy]

Day 2- Sunday 6/17...Sea Day

Like I said I am a bit of an early riser. Even on vacation, and even when I stay up late the previous night I still seem to get up around 7 A.M. Well we were in no rush to get up to do nothing, but we got out of the cabin around 8 and decided to go see how bad the CHOGS were, but was surprised it was not as bad as I thought. We found that there were chairs available everywhere, even by the pool. We had decided that we were going to set up our camp on the loungers on the elevated area between the Lido main pool and the pool near the slide. This way we could face the Seaside theater sceen and watch the morning news and the morning programs. We headed to the Lido Buffet for omelets and a nice pile of bacon. The selection of food was good and it had flavor. At first they did not have the apple-mango juice in the juice dispenser and I was worried. I asked a crew member and they looked at me like they did not understand what I was talking about. They said they orange juice but he seemed like he had never heard of apple-mango juice. Well I just thought they no longer had it so I had the coffee and oj. I had brought 2 large insulated cups with me to fill up with juice in the morning to put the cups in my fridge in the cabin to have juice to make cocktails later on in the day. I went to go put oj in my cups and to my surprise they now had the apple-mango juice labeled. So to my joy I filled my cups with both oj and apple-mango juice. After breakfast we started our sSunday worship service praying to the sun gods. Make sure you bring plenty of sunscreen. We live in Florida and we are use to using it over and over, but you could tell who did not prepare because they were already starting to look like lobsters in a pot. Going to be a long and painful week for them.

After seveal hours of laying there doing nothing it was time to eat again. We were not big fans of the food they served on the buffet on the Lido deck. Meaning the food on the taste of the nation buffett. My wife is allergic to onions and gets real sick, and it seemed every item in that area had onions swimming in it. It was not the end of the world because there were many other options. The burgers at the bar grill were great. The chicken nuggets they have there are awesome. We always pick on our kids because all they seem to want to eat are chicken nuggets and french fries. Glad they were not with us on the cruise because we would have got so much crap from them cause that is what we were eating, chicken nuggets and french fries. I made my way to the deli section and got a nice rueben sandwhich. I was nit a gig fan that they did not have fries at that section so if you wanted fries you had to go wait in the burger line to get fries. Then you had to go wait in the juice line to get a drink. And for those that were wondering, yes they did get rid of the trays on the Lido deck. I was concerned before the cruise but it was of because they have very nice size platters for your food, so you can get a lot on them.

After lunch, I went to the casino for a bit,, then we went to the murder mystery show. It was pretty cool, it was something to do to get out of the sun for a bit and it was fun thing to do during the week. Sunday night was the first formal night. MY wife went to go to the spa to get herr hair done before dinner and I made my way to the sushi bar try it out. It was ok. I have had better and then again I have had worse. I went to go get my tux on and go to dinner. Before dinner we went through the gauntlet ( that is what I call the set up of all the photographers set up on the Promenade Deck.) We do not usuallly buy that many photos during the cruise, but we like to get one or two of us in our formals for the scrapbook my wife does of each cruise. It was nice to see so many people dressed up. After dinner we went to go see the production of The Big Easy. It was a great show with all types of jazz music and music from New Orleans. The singers were ok, but the big credit went to the dancers. It is amazing they not only have to do all the dance moves but to imagine that they are doing it on a moving ship with the waves and all. Sometimes I would just have a hard time walking (ok, alcohol might effect me).

It was sports night at the SeaSide Theater and they were showing, The Rookie and Cool Runnings. In the cabin tv they were showing Harry Potter, Hugo, and We Bought a Zoo.

They had 2 comedians in the Punchliner Comedy Club. They each did a family friendly act and then they had and adult only (over 18) act later in the evening. We passed on the comedy because we were going to be getting up early the next day in Grand Turk.

Victorian Theater

 

 

Our towel animal for the night.

[bluecruisin]

Thanks for taking the time to write this! We're doing the same cruise in October and I'm loving reading this.

[FloridaGram]

Well after soaking up our new home away from home, we decided to go for a walk to get the lay of the land before the muster drill. We went on the Carnival Valor back in 2006 and it is the sister ship of the Freedom, the design is basically identical, but it was nice to see the way the ship was decorated. I had seen where people had complained that the decor is gaudy and the lighting is so 1970's, but in my opinion I loved the 70's when I was a kid so I dealt with it. We went to the muster drill right before sail away. It was nice that we did not have to wear our life jackets like we had done in the past. I thought it was funny how people were complaining of the muster drill and that we were crammed onto the decks near the life boats and thinking that these would be the same people that would complain if there was an emergency during the cruise and there was no order in place. After the muster drill, our Roll Call/Facebook group had made plans to have a meet and greet at the Aft-Lido Bar. It was great to finally meet everyone. We met some great people and we enjoyed spending the time we did during the cruise and look forward to reamaining friends with them after the cruise. One of the couples Kevin and Dianne were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary and had made arrangements before the cruise to have the Port Everglades Webcam do a close up on our group. They made a banner and we all went up to the rail on the Panorama Deck in the aft of the ship and had our Webcam moment.

 

Lido Pool

 

 

Promenade Deck

 

 

 

Casino

 

 

 

Lido Buffet

 

 

Roll Call Meet and Greet

 

 

Leaving Fort Lauderdale

 

 

I have to agree that the ship seems gaudy to me in your pictures. But hey, I am on a cruise going to places I really want to go and the decor is not going to affect my enjoyment of the trip. I had looked into another ship, maybe the Liberty?, with red white and blue decor and I think I thought that is what I had booked. Freedom or Liberty either one could have been red white and blue in my mind.

 

I am really enjoying your trip report. Hopefully you will be done before I leave in about 56 days!

 

I like your term CHOGS! Glad there is a chance to get a chair at 8 AM!

[FloridaGram]

Did you think the suite is worth the extra $$$? We are doing an OV this go round and have not been in less than a balcony or suite since 1999. I am sure it will be a bit of culture shock, but it is a bonus cruise this year since we went in May so I am just happy to be going! Twice in one year is a treat for us!

[Robpuffdaddy]

Did you think the suite is worth the extra $$$? We are doing an OV this go round and have not been in less than a balcony or suite since 1999. I am sure it will be a bit of culture shock, but it is a bonus cruise this year since we went in May so I am just happy to be going! Twice in one year is a treat for us!

 

We actually originally had an aft-wrap cabin on the Empress Deck. I was looking forward to the large balcony. But because there were only a few of those cabins in the ship there never was a rate reduction. This spring when they had the Spring Sales going on. I tried to get a reduction with no luck, but I was able to get an upgrade to the suite and it only cost $40.00 for the week. We could not pass that up. The perks of the suite are nice, the larger size room was nice too. But after sailing it I think I would have rather spent the money on 2 cruises forinside or possibly porthole views. I do like the balcony. It will be hard to go back to an inside though.

[Robpuffdaddy]

Sorry I am not getting this done any sooner but my work schedule has been a nightmare.

Day 3- Monday 6/18...Grand Turk

We were to be at port from 7AM - 2 PM

I got up again early just after 6 AM and went out to the balcony and saw that we were still a bit from port. I looked to the aft of our ship and saw that the Carnival Miracle was behind us. We knew that we were going to be sharing the port with them for the day. I went up on deck and went for a walk for a bot and to take some pictures. I then went and played room service for the morning and went and got coffee and breakfast for my wife. We had to get going pretty early because I had booked us to go on a shore excursion today. We went on the Ultimate Snorkle tour.

We to the port and we met up at a grouping area in the at the end of the pier. We were led to a pier near the ship. There were several pontoon type boats waiting for us. There were about 30 people on the boat. I had brought my own snorkle gear with me on the cruise, but they had equipment available. The water was a bit choppy and there was a nice breeze going on this day. No rain but it was cloudy. We took a 20 minute boat ride to the area near the Wall. It was very beautiful. There were lots of fish in the area. IF you are not familair with the wall it is an area off shore a bit and it is about 20 feet deep or so and then it just drops to the blackness of the sea. So it is like you are flying over a cliff and then look straight down to nothing. We swam there for about 45 minutes of so and then got back on the boat. We rode to an area about 10 minutes away to an area I think they called horseshoe reef. It was a nice area too. It was not as deep and there were a lot of rocks and a lot of fish in that area. There was a large size rock near the boat and there were 2 nurse sharks swimming there. They were about 5 foot long. They were friendly and we were able to swim down to the rock and pet them. We were there for about another 45 minutes and got back on the boat and went back to the pier. My tip for some nice photos is to make sure you buy an underwater camera and before your cruise and before you leave the ship in the morning go to the Lido Buffett and grab 3 boxes of Cherrios cereal. The fish will be your friend when you get in the water and feed them the cereal.

After we got back to the pier we went and walked over to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritiaville. It was packed. If you do not get there early forget about it. It is a nice area with a large pool with a swim up bar. Lots of chairs and a DJ playing music with pool games and activities going on. Since we did not get there early, we did not try to find a place to crash. We have annual passes to Universal Studios in Orlando and there is a Margaritiville over there. We wanted to get new beach towels so we bought a few towels and decided to head back to the ship. It was getting to be lunch time and wanted to beat the rush back to the ship.

Not much more exciting happen that night. Went to dinner and then went and watched the Jump, Jive & Wail show with the dancers and the singers.

It was sequal night at the SeaSide Theater. They showed Men and Black 2 and ********* 2.

The Pier at Grand Turk

 

 

The beach at the end of the pier.

 

 

 

the pool and the swim up bar at Margaritiville

 

 

 

 

 

 

[auntdodaa]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I am going on this cruise in November and this review is making me want it to come quickly.

[sweetcurves]

Wow, you weren't kidding about Margaritaville being packed! Holy cow!

[erewhon]

Enjoying your review and photos.

A beautiful ceiling inside the train station.

[boaterette]

Enjoying your review. And boy that pool is packed. Holy cow.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review. Thank you for sharing.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for the information on the train and your Freedom itinerary.

 

Margaritaville was packed and the beach looked crowded, too! Was another ship in port with you?

 

Patiently waiting for more....

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for the review! I love seeing the photos of the ship. I was on Freedom two years ago, and the photos bring back so many great memories. I had a great cruise on Freedom. While the decor of the ship may not be my favorite of all Carnival ships Ive been on, it certainly didnt bother me in the least. I just dont get the negative comments about the decor from some reviewers, but I guess it is all subjective as you say. So thanks again for the review, I know it takes a lot of time to post these, and I do appreciate them. Looking forward to the rest of the review.:)

[Robpuffdaddy]

Thanks for the information on the train and your Freedom itinerary.

 

Margaritaville was packed and the beach looked crowded, too! Was another ship in port with you?

 

Patiently waiting for more....[/quot

 

Carnival Miracle was in port the same day.

[Robpuffdaddy]

Day 4- Tuesday 6/19...San Juan, Puerto Rico

In port from 11AM- 7PM

Since we did not have to get up early today, we decided to stay up a little later the night before. But forget trying to get a full night sleep. We still got early around 7AM. We decided to head up to the Lido Deck and beat the rush to breakfast. It was nice to get an omelet and not have to wait in a long line. After breakfast we sat by the pool and watched the morning program on the big screen. We then headed back to our cabin and sat on the balcony and watched the scenery as we pulled into San Juan. It was cool to sail past the fort at El Morro before we docked.

We got together with another couple and decided to tour the port together on our own. We walked out the port and went right by the long line of taxis and all the drivers offering to take us all on a tour for $10.00 per person. We started to hike up the steep hill through Old San Juan and hike up to the fort. Now for those that have done this trek before please cut me some slack. Like I said I am from Florida and the only hills we have are Space, Big Thunder, and Splash Mountain. It was actually not that bad of a walk but when we got to the top of the hill the view was great. We headed toward the fort and we paid the $5.00 per person admission. The $5.00 actually covered both forts. It was a really historical and scenic place to visit. We then left there and walked to San Cristobal Fort. It was about 20 minutes away by foot. It was not as big but the view was just as good.

After the forts it was time to get some food and drink. We headed back thru town. Downhill this time. We went to Senor Frogs near the port. I had a great taco salad and an even greater pina colada. If you have never been to a Senor Frogs, you must try it once. IT is not for everyone but for those that like a fun party atmosphere this is your place.

After lunch we headed out to do some shopping. It was pretty warm that day and it was time again for another drink. This time we headed to Barrachinas. If you are not familiar with this place, they are suppose to be the birthplace of the pina colada. Well since it is suppose to be the birthplace, we figured they knew how to make a good pina colada. Well they did. It was great. So good I had 2. We then went and did a little bit more shopping and then decided to beat the rush back to the ship. My advice is if you are not the type of person that does not like to wait in lines, take my advice and get back a bit earlier than scheduled. We were able to get back on ship, put our suits on and head to the Serenity Deck and go in the hot tub and take claim to one of those nice round lounger and take a nap. This place is awesome. Do me a favor and keep it our secret so there will be seats available for us.

We then went to dinner and decided to go to the casino after that. We skipped the Motown show with Marcus Anthony that night. When we went on the Valor back in 2006 we spent almost every night in the Piano Bar. It was a party every night. I was so looking forward to doing it during this cruise but was prior to this cruise I saw post on here about the bad experiences people had with our piano player Steven "Sean" Laws. I went in with an open mind and wanted to find out for myself. Well they were right. He was horrible. We went by the bar almaost every night and there was hardly anyone in there. Every time I saw no more that 4 people in there and on 2 occassions there was no one in there even at 10-11 o'clock. He was actually in there singing to himself. Well like I said it is only my opinion, but numbers do not lie.

After winning a little bit of money we decided to turn in for the night. Big day in St. Martin tommorrow.

El Morro as we were pulling into port

 

 

The walk up to the fort

 

 

Senor Frogs

 

 

My taco salad and my little drink

 

 

The sign outside Barrachinas

[PathfinderEss]

Great pictures, can't wait for the rest of your review.

[sweetcurves]

Question about Serenity (I'll be on the Freedom 6 day itinerary in Oct). Is there an adults-only pool or just the hot tub? I am getting conflicting information when I read old reviews or when I Google.

[Godiva5]

 

Our Fishbowl Suite

 

So, how did you adhere the decorations to the cabin ceiling? It all looks wonderful!:) Been thinking if I should order the birthday decoration package or, give it a try myself. :rolleyes:

[SmileEh]

 

Our Fishbowl Suite

 

So, how did you adhere the decorations to the cabin ceiling? It all looks wonderful!:) Been thinking if I should order the birthday decoration package or, give it a try myself. :rolleyes:

 

I'm wondering the same thing... cuz its my fiance's b-day the day we get on the ship so I thought this would be a great idea

[Robpuffdaddy]

Question about Serenity (I'll be on the Freedom 6 day itinerary in Oct). Is there an adults-only pool or just the hot tub? I am getting conflicting information when I read old reviews or when I Google.

 

In the Serenity Area, there are only 2 hot tubs. There is no pool. The closest pool is the pool near the end of the slide. There is an adult pool on the Lido Deck in the aft end of the ship. Kids do go in that area because that is where the pizza and a grill is located. But the kids are not suppose to use that pool.

[Robpuffdaddy]

 

Our Fishbowl Suite

 

So, how did you adhere the decorations to the cabin ceiling? It all looks wonderful!:) Been thinking if I should order the birthday decoration package or, give it a try myself. :rolleyes:

 

I brought paperclips. THe decorations had little plastic ring type hooks on them already and I jsut opened up the paperclip a bit and slid them into the crack in the ceiling

[Robpuffdaddy]

Day 5- Wednesday 6/20...St. Maarten

We were in port from 8AM - 6PM

Today with the one day that I was really looking forward too. The last time we came her in 2006 we spent the whole day at the beach at Orient Beach. Are kids were with us on that cruise, but due to the fact taht the beach was a French Beach, we knew that there was a good chance that there would be topless females and my boys were a bit young and I did not want to expose them to that at their age. So it was an adult day at the beach and we had a great time. This time we wanted to do a tour of the island and get the atmosphere of the French and Dutch culture. We made arrangements to do a tour with Bernard's Tour Company months before the cruise. We left the ship and met the group at the visitors center at the end of the pier. The normal tour that they do is to go to the French side and go to Marigot for a small visit, then go to Orient Beach for 2 hours and then go over to Sunset Beach at Maho and watch the planes come in. We made arrangements to deviate from those plans and they do a little bit different itenary.

We first went over to an area where there were all these iguanas. It was pretty cool. We then headed over to Orient Beach and we spent about 20-30 minutes there. We were able to see the area and look and the scenery. We then headed to Marigot and we went to Sarrafinas and had some great French pastries. I then went and bought a few nice Cuban cigars for later use. While we were in the van on the tour, we were supplied with a nice supply of water, soda, and some very good rum punch. We then headed to Suset Beach and enjoyed the large crowd there to sit and the end of the runway and watch the planes come in. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go on You-Tube and search Maho beach, planes landing and you will see what I mean. this airport was also featured on the Travel Channel's World's Most Dangerous Airports. It was like number 3. Anywasy it was a cool experience to be at the beach and have these planes flying over our head. After that we toured the island a bit more and then headed toward the port and did some shopping in Philipsburg. Picked up our Guavaberry Liquor and then headed back to the ship

After dinner we decided to skip the Love and Marriage show in the main theater and headed to the Lido Deck and watch a movie at the Seaside Theater. Tonight was chick-flick night and they were showing "Sweet Home Alabama" and then "The Wedding Planner". We then went and crashed for the night because we had another busy day planned tommorrow.

The iguanas

 

Pastries at Sarafinas in Marigot

 

 

Plane landing at Maho

 

 

No one paid attenttion to the sign.

 

 

The crowd at Sunset Beach watching the planes