Carnival Freedom 6-Day Western Caribbean Cruise

[jwalk03]

 

 

Took time out to let Travis kick my butt at a game of chess on the giant board as well.

 

 

 

And of course I had to take a trip or 2 down the waterslide.

 

The slide at Margaritaville Ocho Rios was definitely the best one on this trip.

[jwalk03]

After an eventful and fun-filled morning and afternoon on the Lido Deck we decided it was time to get ready for dinner. Back to the cabin for a little while to rest and freshen up then we all met up again at the Sports Bar for some before dinner drinks.

 

 

 

and then Misti and I had reservations at the Sun King Steakhouse for dinner, we would all meet up again after dinner for the Ticket to Ride Show in the Main Lounge, more on that after dinner.

[jwalk03]

The Steakhouse is an up charge restaurant that is only open for dinner time and costs $35 per person. It is certainly a much higher quality meal and overall experience than the MDR.

 

 

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

The Steakhouse was only about half full for most of our meal. The dinner does take some time, I believe it was around 2 hours for the complete meal. For starters they bring you some small "chef specialties" that are just small tastes of different "fancier" dishes. I don't remember what either of us had, but I do remember that neither of us liked them!

 

After the chef items we ordered. They actually have a person with a cart containing raw versions of all the available cuts of meat to chose from to assist you in ordering which I have never seen at a restaurant before.

 

You get an appetizer, salad, side, main course, and dessert. It is my understanding that you can order multiples of anything just like you can in the MDR for no extra charge except for the main course item, but I don't know how you would begin to eat extra of anything, the regular portions of everything at this meal left me more stuffed than I have ever been!

 

We had the stuffed mushroom appetizers, very good! (no pic sorry) After the appetizer it was salads. We both ordered the Caesar salad (hold the anchovies!) which they actually come and prepare the entire salad at your table, with wedges of romaine lettuce, blocks of cheese that they grate there, and very good Caesar dressing. I'm not sure if its different than the regular dressing they use but it was much better tasting overall than the MDR Caesar salads. (again sorry, no pics of the salads or prep of the salads)

 

Then it was time for the main course! I had the filet minion, with a baked potato.

 

 

and Misti had the 18 oz Ribeye with mashed potatoes.

 

The steaks were very very good! After this we were completely stuffed!! but you can't go to the steakhouse without having the dessert. I highly recommend the HUGE piece of cheesecake! We decided just to split one piece because we never could have finished a piece each.

 

 

This picture really doesn't give you a good concept of just how big of piece of cheesecake this thing is, but trust me, its freaking HUGE!!

 

Overall, I would rate the Steakhouse experience very highly! All of the food (except for the chef's things at the beginning) was amazing. It is definitely comparable to a Ruth's Chris or a Morton's in my opinion, and at only $35 per person really not a bad price for the caliber of meal you get. If you like a good steak, and don't mind paying for it when there is lots and lots of other free food on board I would definitely pick 1 night to indulge at the Sun King Steakhouse.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great review! This is brain coral by the way. :)

 

[Dare2Believe]

Thanks for your great review!!! I am booked on this cruise in July, and I can hardly wait.

 

Quick question...was the beach at Margaritaville in Ocho Rios free?

[jwalk03]

Thanks for your great review!!! I am booked on this cruise in July, and I can hardly wait.

 

Quick question...was the beach at Margaritaville in Ocho Rios free?

 

Yes it was free. I believe all beaches in Jamaica are public.

[jwalk03]

After the Steakhouse it was off to meet our friends in the main theater for the Beatles show! I had heard very good things about this show on here before our cruise and was looking forward to it all week long. This show did not disappoint at all. Everyone loves the Beatles, and the show was very well done.

 

Your not allowed to take pictures of video during the show (oops, I may have taken a few.)

 

 

 

[jwalk03]

 

 

 

 

 

This was a phenomenal show! Don't miss it!

[jwalk03]

After the show it was back to the cabin to pack up and prepare to leave the wonderful Carnival Freedom after our 6 day adventure.

 

We decided just to do self assist debarkation, which took no time at all. We were off the ship and through customs by 8AM. We parked at an off site lot and had to wiat about 20-25 minutes for one of their shuttles to pick us up. It was a little annoying but was probobly worth it for how much less $$ it costs to park off site. Sorry I cant remember the exact price we paid or the name of the lot.

 

And then we off, driving back north to Ohio after a wonderful fun-filled week. Can't wait to cruise again in 2013. Thinking of trying the Carnival Dream next.

[Pauser]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this and your great photos! I really enjoyed reading your review. You write very well. :) I have been trying to get to Key West for a couple of years so I really enjoyed seeing your photos. Glad you and your friends had such a great time!

[qbanrican84]

THanks for giving me aother mental break at work (an almost 2 hour mental break at work LOL) reading through all of this and looking at all of the pics...sooo excited, only 110 days to go but who's counting :o

[wrigley80]

We leave in 1,605 hours!

 

Yes, more please :-) :) :o

 

We are on the Carnival Freedom on March 3rd as well.....you should join our roll call :p

[funinthesun1964]

I just read your review, must have missed it the first time around. Glad I did get to read it. We did the same cruise but we did different things in the ports. It was nice to see other's experiences. Looks like you had a blast!

 

Thanks for writing the review!

[pcvtmom]

Quote: After the climb there is a small market and numerous people trying to sell you various trinkets, and hair braiding, etc. The vendors are persistent, but just be firm and keeping walking if you are not interested and you won't have any issues.

One warning the crew on the excursion boat provided was to NOT purchase the DVD of your climb, as it was a scam, and the DVDs they sell are often blanks. I didn't see anyone selling these DVDs, but it sounded like it was a frequent problem, so something to be on the look out for.

 

 

This is interesting...maybe we've just been lucky, but we've done the Cool Runnings Excursion to DRFalls on all 3 of our cruises to Ocho Rios. Each time, we've bought the video (no one warned us not to!) and we have 3 AWESOME videos with music dubbed in. I wonder what company they were referring to? We have videos from 1998, 2007, and 2012, and they are great!

[Butterflywings]

Great review....thanks for posting! We are considering this exact cruise for September, and you may have just convinced me! I like your choices of excursions and overall it looks like you had a great time.

[crusinfamof4]

Great review! Seeing your pics has really answered a lot of our questions about the Freedom!

[GuitarPlayer]

We are on the Carnival Freedom on March 3rd as well.....you should join our roll call :p

 

We already did!

 

Funny how we are all looking at the same things :D

 

3 weeks and we'll be onboard!

 

GP

 

P.S. to OP: VERY good review. Thanks for all the pics.

[mnsawyer]

Great review - we were in Jamaica last March and noticed how many empty store fronts there were at the Margaritaville shopping area. The shopping area has been around for many years but bet there were only just a handful of actual shops there. We did walk down to another shopping area and were not confronted by taxi cab drivers too badly. We just said no thanks and kept walking. Scored a GREAT coach bag for $35!

[gelo7]

Excellent review.

[jaxie001]

Thanks for sharing and linking post from another post lol, Awesome pics!!