Review and Pics...Mostly GREAT 8 Nt Freedom Cruise (Exotic East)

[sharecruises]

MOSTLY GREAT 8 NIGHT CRUISE CARNIVAL FREEDOM SEPT 8

 

All in all very pleased...tho some cutbacks/changes/problems

 

Not a day to day but just a summary, will include some pictures too

 

GREAT

Boarding...we live here, a neighbor drove me and friend to port,

I have Platinum VIP and it worked great @ Port Everglades..

we went thru security line quickly then whisked to check in counter,

got cards and whisked past lines and people sitting waiting in chairs, right to the ship itself, into the lobby (DJ spinning) and onto the Lido for first lunch ...

 

I went to Fish and Chips. Boulibaise was great but the Ahi Tuna was cheapened...now it is chunks of watermelon mixed with "tuna' pieces in a cup....not really ahi I thought...not very good.

All other food was good at our first lunch.

 

Freedom was sparkling clean, looks new...well organized, more subdued decor but all in all very very nice.

 

I loved Judit the group coordinator..best ever. Our group party was first night in the 70's Dance Club...wonderful service....no premade drinks, we were able to order most anything..mojitos, chocolate getaways, miami vice, scotch and soda whatever....nice time.

 

Cabin, inside deck 2 far forward was clean and fine. Steward Julio was great..he did remove the feather duvet for me (allergic) and gave us acrylic blankets. It was standard cabin, everything worked well.

 

I enjoyed the 8 night cruise....loved the sea days. Went to cooking demo in steakhouse, very nice.

 

Mostly GREAT...shrimp "changed'...and last 2 night pretty bad

We had 2nd seating in Aft dining room *(Posh)...4th floor..waiter was good but pretty overworked. Service was ok but slow for coffee.

They had a charge for expresso etc...only American coffee or tea were free. No biggie but slow, and often did not have enough splenda on the table, etc.

 

Food for most part was very good in dining room...

we had the "shrimp cocktail" on the menu every night...for the first 4? days it was great....the old "Tiger" shrimp with tail that we all knew and loved..

but...then the shrimp "changed">> to tailless, small, thawed shrimp, little round thawed shrimp of the sort used in the shrimp salad I guess? ?Ugh

very disappointing

 

The escargot was back and very yummy :)

 

Desserts were great as usual...chocolate melting cake, fig cake and bitter and blanc. Yes, they did have the vanilla sauce and they poured it on for you...yum

 

Lobster was good...also enjoyed the shrimp dishes...our "extra" night was a ny strip steak...I had mine medium rare and it was very nice, much better than the everyday steak

 

NOT SO GREAT - Need improvement IMHO

I did feel there were a few dinners that were just "bad" toward the end of the cruise, I usually don't send food back but everyone who ordered the "snapper" seemed to send it back...I did too...it was "shockingly" BAD...dry, burnt, many felt not really snapper. That night they also had tons of sweet potatoes...4 dishes had sweet potato as a side lol..

 

If you see the night with snapper on the menu that is the night I would go to steakhouse OR just eat at the buffet. Truly bad food....a friend had the "stroganoff" which was tough pieces of beef with a dollop or two or sour cream (or sour cream substitute?) very strange...a vegetarian friend had the yam and cheddar pie which was full of onions and yams but hardly any cheese...bad night.

 

My prime rib was fatty and horrible...sent it back...some had better...it all seemed recooked or something...not great 2nd "Elegant" night

 

 

Shows on Freedom were great...FREEDOM SHINES HERE

 

Both the guy and the gal singer had great voices....dancers were great

and the shows were just awesome

 

Big Easy...love that show ...love the songs, costumes, everything

 

Marcus Anthony....Motown revue...love love him...think Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke...what a talent...what a show :) Bought his autographed cd

 

Ticket to Ride....my first time seeing this one and it did not disappoint..

great show

 

hERE ARE COUPLE PICS FROM COOKING DEMO

 

 

 

YUMMY MUSHROOM SOUP @ cooking demo

 

 

LOBBY

[susie8862]

Wow....thank you for your review. I love to hear the details good or bad....too many people harp on one thing.

 

Excellent review:o:o:o

 

Oh....nice pics too:o:o:o

[sharecruises]

Comedy Club

 

We had 4 comedians, 2 great, 2 OK...all in all fun tho

club is (as many say) very crowded....I have NO idea why they do not

put this in the main showroom??? It was fun, but sometimes hard to schedule around ports/late dining/etc

 

Buffet was Great

 

Very good...not bad lines....loved the Indian Tandoori. They did have the chocolate buffet one afternoon, that was nice. Deli was good. All in all some of the better Buffet food on Carnival IMHO>> Freedom shines here

 

Room service was Great

 

Fast and for once efficient, only used a few times but very good, they didn't forget anything.

 

New - Great little "lite buffet" every nite on promenade

 

Nice little "lite buffet" every night...

out by the disco/sushi bar..they put up a nice little offering of lite bites

they had a shrimp and avocado salad in a little cup (small shrimp but ok in salad)....flatbreads, hummus, olives, cheeses, brownies, cookies, etc..

this was really nice...could grab a little plate of cheese and olives for last comedy show or take into the piano bar

 

Sushi....Very good...lines not too bad

[sharecruises]

One thing that made the cruise "Great">> mostly adults LOL

 

Jaques, cruise director told us that 2 weeks before the ship had 1300 plus kids on board....:eek::eek:

 

 

OUR sailing had only 120 (123?) kids total....and most of them in strollers LOL

 

I did NOT see any diapers in the hot tubs so that was great...all in all it was nice I must say (flame away)>>> I think it did make the buffet cleaner and nicer, less long lines, the ice cream machine was clean and

the elevators were kid free. No noise in hallways.

 

Great time to cruise...weather was wonderful I thought..*heard we had lots of rain back home in S Florida

 

First 2 nights were (people said) lots of motion but it did not bother me at all, I barely felt it, no one got sick, some took meds I didn't. I have been out on tuna boats, small boats, drift boats...and cruised many times on sea escape and discovery (out of biz) and other small ships with NO stabilizers so I seem to be pretty "immune" to it LOL

[sharecruises]

More Great stuff

 

Platinum perk....got a nice pin and nice binoculars plus the choco strawberries. Could do 3 loads of laundry *(I did send out 2, very prompt and nicely folded

 

Past Guest Party....was ok...the punch drink was large but 2 sweet,

the other drink pretty good. Less crowded. They brought the diamonds up on stage and took picture...nice touch. Towel animal/ship film ..clap clap :) Nicer snacks, pretty tasty IMHO

 

Enjoyed the islands...love St Thomas....did skyride to Paradise Point, pretty "tired" and just so so, great view...push peddlars with made in china junk...same junk sold in Ft Lauderdale, they had swim coverups that they sell in our Walgreens and Publix...LOL>> and cheezy made in china junk. Would not do this again JMO

 

Took cab to Morningtar beach (closest) $6 each way...just gorgeous...

drinks pricey but not crowded...they let us use chairs for free (usually $10 in season I guess)

Loved it

 

Went to Senor Frogs...they had tables for my group and gave us free margarita, put out big free nachos for us, and shots for those who wanted. We had 2 Birthday peeps who got up on the bar and chugged, LOL>> what happens at the Frog stays at the Frog :) Too bad we were NOT able to connect with other "singles" (middle aged/baby boomers) to invite them

Carnival has very little for singles...don't let anyone here tell you anything else.

No singles party....one night "singles in piano bar" scheduled at 9 pm...we rushed in after dinner and saw no one. Thank god we had a great group...

cause Carnival won't help you and these boards etc are anti-singles

 

it is simply more fun to be with a group /as much/little as you wish...you don't have to participate but more fun to have people to sit with, share cabs, tours, "party" with. Too bad that Carnival is not proactive about this...NCL is much better, especially on the Epic I hear.

 

We did have fun

 

Antiqua....we had tour with Gordon, we filled 2 vans...nice discount...pretty good tour...I enjoyed Nelson's Dockyard, sort of a Williamsburg feel without the "actors">> historic old buildings used by the British Navy, little museum, very cool

Nice scenery....beautiful island

The beach and the "Nest" restaurant were ....OK

Hey I live in Florida and we have better conch fritters here (cheaper too), nicer beach bars, and honestly nicer beaches JMO

 

Tortola....day too short..I would have liked tour to Jost Van Dyke but the day is very very short...town was ok, very British. Went to a neat art/spice store, got a few soveniers it was OK.

 

Nassau....good old Nassau....got off ship, dodged vendors, went to Senor Frogs where they had a table for me and my gang, 2 for 1 margaritas and some quesidillas :) They "know' me there and always treat us great. More balloon hats and shots haha

Thanks Senor Frog

 

 

Devils Bridge Antiqua

 

 

 

Old "ruins" in Antiqua

 

[sharecruises]

More nice things>>

 

Had breakfast 2x in dining room, lunch 2x in dining room

VERY NICE

Don't forget to bring your "free drink" ticket

 

Pools and Hot Tubs

No real chair hogs, not hard to get seats...

they did have the "40 minute" signs up on pool deck and seemed to be in control of this...nice

 

Serenity deck was nice...HOT hot tubs...aft adult pool nice...HOT hot tubs most of the time....actually prefered to serenity as it got a bit windy up there

 

DJ WAS OK...yeah I do prefer the Island bands but I guess they are NO more.

 

Cover band was good...the "duo" were unfortunately sick a few days and this messed up schedule..then the duo appeared and I found we didn't miss much....they were OK, nothing to get excited about IMHO

 

POOR SCHEDULE - Fun Times wrong a lot

 

The Fun Times was often useless...the sick duo meant that the band was not where they were listed.....they apparnetly had the Motown Trivia without any warning to take place of the duo in the lobby...grrr...I like Motown trivia and have won 2 ship on stick with it LOL

 

Fun Times said "Sean at Piano Bar" for most of the cruise...only problem..he left 2 weeks before LOL> guy at Piano Bar was Martin. He was pretty fun, finally they did change the listing. Nice it is not smoky now

 

Trivias were kind of haphazard this cruise....my friends played the "ongoing" trivia but people joined in , people sitting at the sides of the lobby added on...it took forever. Trivia and games started late, ended early...played Scatagories and they skipped half the answers to make way for the next poorly run game. Not great planning IMHO, the lobby was not the best place for this. Gal running trivia was nice but new, she was formerly a KJ and maybe this affected it?

 

Casino

I don't gamble so can't say anything....it was not as smoky as usual.

 

Smoking

Not bad on this cruise....I felt Freedom was well run

Saw security/head of housekeeping and room steward down the hall questioning a couple in an inside cabin regarding the ashtrays found by steward....yeah I eavesdropped :rolleyes:

 

The woman whined that she had gotten the ashtray for "her sister who has a balcony and no ashtray"...but they told her this was 2nd time caught, 2nd warning, they would check the cabin and she could be charged $250...they were pretty firm and let her know they would be watching/checking...so much for her whining. Good for Carnival

 

LOTS of NO smoking signs on this ship unlike others where people light up wherever and then get told no smoking. You could not miss it here. Thanks Freedom

 

Nice change from other ships IMHO

 

I felt all in all Freedom was well run ,other than the fun times snafus and some of the scheduling. It was frustrating that there were so many good options to pick from for late dining....we missed some stuff but it was good to have choices.

 

I do think the quality of the shows, the efficient and friendly staff made a big difference here.

 

We had our 2nd Open bar party at end of cruise, shared with another group and again had choice of drinks, great service.

 

All in all I found Freedom to be really good....very well run...mostly good food, WONDERFUL PRODUCTION/HEADLINER SHOWS...clean, perfect order...air cond worked great, bathroom fine, safe fine, and so on.

 

No more FCC...:mad:

 

One bad thing: I bought a future cruise cert as usual....when I got home I learned this was NO longer an option...of course they did NOT tell us this...grrr..or I would have bought more

 

That is truly a bummer IMHO

I still loved the Freedom and felt the cruise, dispite some cutbacks , was a true bargain....some cutbacks but also some good new things like the light bites and the binoculars <grin>:D:D:D

[vivavegas]

Welcome back! Thanks for a very informative review!:)

[beachbride91011]

Thank you for your review. We are thinking about the Freedom for our next cruise. This helps.

[bruisin4cruisin]

Very nice so far.

[dwaterhouse]

Loved the review... I was on the same sailing and I think you summed it up perfectly.

 

I agree about the FCC.. I got 1 also, but would have gotten more if the told us about the change.

 

Tortola was definitely to short, we decided to just walk the port.... There was nothing there, you definitely need to book an excursion.

 

We found the same problems with the fun times.

 

Coffee on the lido was still bad.. Even with sugar and flavored creamer (vanilla)!

 

We also loved not having a crowd of kids on board , but I think I ran into at least half of them at one time at the main pool...

 

This was my 2nd time on the freedom, loved it just as much as the 1st time.

 

We stayed on lido just inside the doors from the elevator... It was a little loud from being able to hear all the stuff going on in the lobby... But we had our fan to block out the noise... Would definitely go lido again, but maybe a few doors down.

 

Our room steward was not as stealthy as past ones, but kept our room clean and ice bucket filled, and we got quite a few new towel animals I haven't seen in the past... Over all ..... Another great cruise!

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures. Thank you for sharing.

[oncruisecontrol]

Thanks for your review. We're going on the Freedom in 10 Days! Yay!

[DebBrown]

Marc Anthony was on our Legend cruise a few weeks ago. We LOVED him!! Amazing voice.

[SASA13]

We were on the same sailing and had an absolute blast. I also noticed the change in shrimp ( coctail). I tried one of the comfort foods " mac and cheese" and it was good. It came with grilled chicken on top and I enjoyed it.

[4hunters]

Thanks for the review!