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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Well, I have delayed the wrap up of this review long enough. I have delayed mostly because it has been unbelievably busy. However, I am sure a little part of the delay is that I hate to have it all officially over. We had such an amazing cruise and so much fun, and after all the planning, it is a little weird to have it behind us. :)

Summary:

I must confess that I had some misgivings when planning this cruise originally. At that point, my only Carnival experience had been a very crazy four nighter over Spring Break. I was sold on cruising, but we were not sold on Carnival- as it really didn't seem very family friendly. After that cruise we began cruising with RCCL at that point, and were exploring a Disney cruise.

When I planned this surprise cruise, I had to find a balance of itinerary, experience, and cost. In weighing the variables, the choice of Carnival was pretty clear, and I booked the Freedom. But, it was still uncomfortable, as the more I read the boards here, the more I had visions of our group floating on a glitzy Walmart-styled hotel, with throngs of drunk people in bathrobes hogging all the chairs by the pool and us being served spam and jello salad- I was picturing Clark Griswald and Cousin Eddy in Vegas Vacation at the buffet-"Gimme some of that yella" -and all our friends looking at me wondering what in the world was I thinking when I booked it!

To that end, I booked a Fall cruise for our family last year on the Carnival Spirit- just to "mystery shop" without my DH knowing, and to put my mind at ease. Our family had a great time on that cruise, and a totally different experience than our first time- and I definitely felt better.

I became obsessed with CC- reading everything about the Freedom and Carnival- and trying to figure out how best to plan our cruise. In doing so, I noticed the almost daily threads and posts/comments on these boards regarding the "classiness" of the cruisers on Carnival ships. There are many conversations on this board about "class" and how it relates to wealth, and what exactly that means to people.

I personally have no clue what class and wealth have to do with each other, because we all have seen classy people who are in low income brackets, and classless jerks who are rolling in money. However, given the crowd we were going to be traveling with, I was curious what their take on a Carnival experience would be. Several of our guests had only cruised Celebrity and higher end cruises, three are CEO-level execs, and one is NFL coach. I only reveal that to say that our group was comprised of people who generally travel in style. Would they have fun on a cruise line dubbed not so affectionately as the 'Walmart of the Seas"? Finding that balance of value and luxury and fun for our entire diverse group had me worried.

The definite consensus amongst our group was that Carnival is a great cruise line!

Everyone had nothing but good to say about the cruise product we were offered. I guess if we were the types to sit back and pick everything apart, well, we wouldn't have had nearly the amount of fun. But, really, there was very little to complain about. Our group was definitely made up fun-loving people who do not expect everything to be perfect.

The consensus (by category) is as follows:

1. Food- Excellent. We found the service, the variety, the quality at the MDR to be fantastic. Our order came out at the correct temperature, in the right order, and our service was very efficient. The Sun King was amazing, as was the Chef's Table. Overall, there were many choices of food and the quality for the most part was great. A couple of negatives- the line set-up for omelettes, the powdery fake eggs, and the pizza (especially the GF) was not always consistent. But minor details . . .

2. Accomodations- Excellent. Our staterooms were clean, they were well nicely sized, and the balconies were excellent. Everyone commented on how well they slept, and the beds were comfortable. Our room stewards were efficient, pleasant, helpful but not intrusive, and ice was always provided. Overall, (other than the orange color- LOL) A+.

3. Entertainment- Good. We found the live music to be outstanding- Music Motion, Jay Laboy, and various other artists were very entertaining. The comedy club was a total blast, and they offered 4 different comedians with 2 different shows minimum on our 8 day cruise- which was awesome. Karaoke was fun, and the kids had many opportunities to sing, as it wasnt too crowded. There was always something going on around us and good variety of activities to pick from (too many options, in fact). The ship was always very lively! I think Carnival definitley surpasses RCCL in the nightly entertainment area, in my experience. However, I will say we felt the live shows were nowhere near as professional or exciting at those offered on RCCL in our opinion. Our group only saw Ticket To Ride and Legends, but we all voted they were just really so-so. (Other than our friend Gloria Estefan's performance- LOL) But, to each, his own.

4. Other Passengers- Good to Excellent. We really did not encounter any of the rude obnoxious passengers "Wal-Mart of the Seas" that are so often written about here on Cruise Critic, with a couple of small exceptions- and some of those exceptions may have been us- LOL. Most people were quite courteous, friendly, and appeared to be having a good time. We saw tons of kids and families, but hey- that made it a very family friendly environment- which was what we were looking for. We saw very little chogging, bathrobes, and no jello salad and spam. We met a lot of nice people, and the whole ship seemed to be having a great time. And I have to admit, that we may have been the "riff raff" on a couple of occasions- LOL!

5. Embarkation/Debarkation- Good. Embarkation was ridiculously easy- and our group got on much earlier than anticipated. Debarkation was ridiculously disorganized, but we have to chalk that up to the engine trouble and delay.

6. Itinerary- Excellent. :) Tortola was an unbelievably spectacular. Nassau- well, ho hum, but nevertheless is a very scenic place.

7. Overall value for the money- Excellent. We have cruised RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, and Disney collectively as a group. We all agreed that Carnival provided us a great value for what we had paid, and provided a perfect set up to have a wonderful cruise. I had priced RCCL for this surprise and it was easily 50% more for the same week, with a less favorable itinerary. I also priced Disney, and that was double the price we paid. I think both are excellent cruise lines- but would we have had a better time on either line? I really don't think so. Carnival provided a fabulous cruise, and the cost savings allowed our guests to not only come, and also to really live it up and have fun off and on the ship.

In summary, we really loved our time on the Carnival Freedom. The ship was great, the crew was fabulous. Carnival provided us with an excellent family friendly forum to be together, entertained, and relaxed.

Thank you for reading my review, if you have any questions, please let me know!

I also want to give a big thank you to those who really helped me with your advice and suggestions, CC has been great!

Our next cruise is the Disney Fantasy in 4 weeks! I am excited to try line that and see what it is like. But if I have learned anything, a cruise is what you make of it. If you complain about everything at home, you will probably do the same on a cruise ship. :)

We loved our Carnival experience- and look forward to planning another large group cruise in 2014 on the Breeze!

Happy Sailing!!!

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ibcnusoon

ibcnusoon

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Again, excellent review! I"m amazed at your organizational skills for the excursions!! And yes, please let us know when you book your next group cruise ... we want to join you! LOL! No, seriously, next cruise post a link in this thread to your next review, really enjoyed it!

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crusinpsychRN

crusinpsychRN

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Spent all morning enjoying every word of this fabulous review! What a great bunch of partiers! And you are some planner.

 

I love the scavenger hunt ideas! This review needs a table of contents to find things, I know I'll be referring to it in the future.

 

Best review EVER!! Thank you so much for all your hard work.

 

I see this published with the pics and given as Christmas gifts to all your friends!:D

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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Spent all morning enjoying every word of this fabulous review! What a great bunch of partiers! And you are some planner.

 

I love the scavenger hunt ideas! This review needs a table of contents to find things, I know I'll be referring to it in the future.

 

Best review EVER!! Thank you so much for all your hard work.

 

I see this published with the pics and given as Christmas gifts to all your friends!:D

 

 

THank you so much and thanks for the awesome idea for gifts!!!! I would have never thought of that- so THANK YOU!

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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Again, excellent review! I"m amazed at your organizational skills for the excursions!! And yes, please let us know when you book your next group cruise ... we want to join you! LOL! No, seriously, next cruise post a link in this thread to your next review, really enjoyed it!

 

I will, thank you so very much! And come along with us! :)

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SenatorsFan

SenatorsFan

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Thank you! We are looking forward to it for sure. I hadn't thought about it, but will do a quick review. :)

 

Looks like you have sailed DCL as well- did you like it?

 

We did like Disney. That was our very first cruise and the one that got us hooked.:) My boys were 8 and 13 at the time and we'll probably never sail Disney again, but I did find there was a good balance between kids' activities and adult spaces. The food was good, as was the specialty restaurant, Palo, but we've enjoyed most of Carnival's food, too and their supper clubs.

I'll look forward to your take on DCL!

Heather

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  • 4 weeks later...
myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Well, we are getting ready to leave on a family-only cruise (DH and 3 of our kiddos) on the Disney Fantasy this upcoming Saturday. It will seem odd sailing without all the chaos and fun we had on the Freedom this summer. I have been checking out the D$sboards, and I think the most interesting thing is that so many of the threads are addressing the same issues as here on these boards- alcohol policy, dress code, etc. And, the passion about cruising and their choice of cruise line is definitely there too. Maybe Disney cruisers and Carnival cruisers are "more alike than different" - LOL. We signed up to take part in a "FE"? Took me forever to figure out what that was . . . but should be fun!

 

We are looking forward to relaxing in the Western Carribean. But, we will definitely miss all of our sailing friends :)

 

Happy Sailing Everyone ! :)

Edited by myfamilyluvs2cruise
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Cricket63

Cricket63

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Well, we are getting ready to leave on a family-only cruise (DH and 3 of our kiddos) on the Disney Fantasy this upcoming Saturday. It will seem odd sailing without all the chaos and fun we had on the Freedom this summer. I have been checking out the D$sboards, and I think the most interesting thing is that so many of the threads are addressing the same issues as here on these boards- alcohol policy, dress code, etc. And, the passion about cruising and their choice of cruise line is definitely there too. Maybe Disney cruisers and Carnival cruisers are "more alike than different" - LOL. We signed up to take part in a "FE"? Took me forever to figure out what that was . . . but should be fun!

 

We are looking forward to relaxing in the Western Carribean. But, we will definitely miss all of our sailing friends :)

 

Happy Sailing Everyone ! :)

 

Thank you for sharing your vacation!! What an awesome surprise!

Have a great time on your Disney Cruise! BON VOYAGE!! :D

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FloridaGram

FloridaGram

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Well, we are getting ready to leave on a family-only cruise (DH and 3 of our kiddos) on the Disney Fantasy this upcoming Saturday. It will seem odd sailing without all the chaos and fun we had on the Freedom this summer. I have been checking out the D$sboards, and I think the most interesting thing is that so many of the threads are addressing the same issues as here on these boards- alcohol policy, dress code, etc. And, the passion about cruising and their choice of cruise line is definitely there too. Maybe Disney cruisers and Carnival cruisers are "more alike than different" - LOL. We signed up to take part in a "FE"? Took me forever to figure out what that was . . . but should be fun!

 

We are looking forward to relaxing in the Western Carribean. But, we will definitely miss all of our sailing friends :)

 

Happy Sailing Everyone ! :)

 

I frequent the other board too so I hope to find a TR there! We were on the Fantasy in May and loved it. We are planning a trip next year, not sure if we are going to do that or the Allure. I know you will have a great time. Don't forget to try Satellite Falls, that was one of my favorite places on the ship!

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Spudder

Spudder

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You keep up with those kinds of reviews and planning and you may have to charter a cruise ship with everyone that will want to join you next time (including us :D) .... thanks for a great read!!!!!!

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