Freedom 8 day Eastern May 2013

[Gopherpharm]

Been back a month now (and missing it for a month!) and wanted to share some highlights of our trip. I’d be happy to answer specific questions as well. This was a celebration cruise for four 20-somethings graduating from pharmacy school-two with 3+ cruises already, one with 1 prior cruise and one cruise newbie.

 

Ship overall: Biggest ship I’ve been on yet but very manageable. Definitely got “trapped” midship due to the dining rooms a few times. Definitely hard to find a lounge chair on sea days, a few times we had to walk the entire length of the ship to find seats (and no, we weren’t holding out for 4 seats together, either!).

 

Cabin 8284: Prior to sailing we were upgraded from a 6C oceanview-deck 2 to an 8A balcony-upper deck ($50), then from the 8A to an 8C balcony-empress deck. We loved our cabin location, near the elevators. Some noise a few evenings (music) but likely quieter than the 8A we previously had (above the theater).

 

Food: We used room service and visited the buffet breakfast, as well as brunch in the MDR. Room service and buffet are OK, 5/10. Brunch was delicious-I had omelettes made to order and my friends ordered other things which they liked as well. Not many lunches on the ship, but did the buffet about one time and the MDR one time, again OK 5/10. Biggest disappointment was the Mongolian Wok, because the line was always REALLY long and after 15 minutes it’s not worth it to me anymore to stand there. I liked the Fish & Chips area. Dinner in the MDR was very good, 8/10. One of two of the nights there wasn’t anything that caught my eye on the menu, and I was disappointed there was not lobster on the second formal night (only the first). Big bummer that burgers and hot dogs are no longer served around 11pm-there’s a small station outside the nightclub that serves some finger food instead. Really wanted that midnight burger some nights!

 

Drinks: Good drink service overall on this trip. In January on the Imagination it was nearly impossible to get an adult beverage in the MDR-you had to flag down a bar waiter, and even then your drink might arrive during dessert. Our main waiter took our drink orders and they arrived promptly-kudos, Carnival!

 

Service: Our Anytime Dining team was incredible. After the first night, we requested the same team every night because they were fabulous. There was one evening out of eight that we had to wait a while for our food, and our waiters apologized like crazy. Jordan, Annalyn and Plamen got generous supplemental tips from our table on the last night. Room steward was great and learned our routine quickly (we also used the door tag when going to breakfast/brunch/off the boat and dinner).

 

Entertainment: Wine and food pairing-9/10. Comedy shows-saw about 4 different comedians, 1 was hilarious, 2 were ok and 1 was not my cup of tea-7/10. Stage show, Ticket to Ride-8/10. Nightclub-not too impressed with the music selection or the crowd, had fun anyway-6/10.

 

St. Thomas: Went to St. John on our own to snorkel at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. Amazing day, beautiful island, would do again in a second.

 

Antigua: Carnival excursion-Crusoe Island Getaway and Snorkel (our kayak & snorkel was cancelled 2-3 days prior to embarkation). Decent fun, review is posted on Carnival website. Enjoyed walking about port a bit after the excursion.

 

Tortola: Carnival excursion-Virgin Gorda Snorkel. Favorite place to dock so far because it’s not a built-up port (yet). Loved this excursion, haven’t written review on Carnival website yet but would highly recommend. We had a really short stop in Tortola and didn’t want to miss this-really glad we got to see the Baths.

 

Nassau: Half of the group had been before, so we waited until the lines died down and got off the boat for a little bit. It was quite warm and we just walked around the straw market, which I personally find overwhelming. Really liked our quiet time by the pool upon returning!

 

Miscellaneous: We were up very early for St. Thomas as we wanted to catch a taxi to Red Hook to take the ferry to St. John. As we waited in line, some guests were loudly discussing that they had “priority” which I’m assuming meant they had suites or FTTF. Sadly, there were no tenders on this cruise, and unless I’m mistaken, there is no priority to get off the ship at non-tender ports.

 

Loved the itinerary, loved the ship, favorite cruise so far.

[Dicedlr711]

Thanks for your review.

 

No midnight burger! I will be devastated!

[MIZZ_K]

I'm doing this itinerary in August, really looking forward to Antigua and Tortola, will be my first time on those islands,have been to St.Thomas and Nassau twice.

[omalley16]

Can you tell me approximately how much it cost to do the excursion you did in St Thomas/St John? I'm looking to do that when we go in a few weeks. And any suggestions on it?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[lovebelle]

Thanks for your review.

 

No midnight burger! I will be devastated!

 

:) I also wish they kept the grill open a bit later (not 24hrs but at least til midnight). But its ok.

 

Im so excited for this cruise though. While I cant do those excursions since traveling with a little one, I definitely want to keep them in mind for another time. Thanks for your feedback and review!

[Joanne G.]

Glad you had a great time, and congratulations on your graduation.

 

My sister and I booked this cruise for next spring. Can I ask what time disembarkation started? I have booked a return flight out of FLL at 12:10, which is a earlier than I would like. I know there is always a chance of unforseen delays, but under normal circumstances, is this flight time OK, particularly if I do not do self-disembarkation?

 

Thanks for any info.

[peachcreamsicle]

Congrats on graduating pharmacy school, I'm a 20-something pharmacist from Toronto. I did this exact cruise in April with my parents & a friend. It was my 3rd CCL cruise and I'm not sure if it was just me, but I'm sort of over this cruise line. I'll prob sound horrible saying this but I just feel that the CCL caters to more working class clientele. I have one more Carnival cruise booked in Sept but will prob be going with other cruise lines in the future. Shame I wasn't booked on the same cruise as you, I love meeting fellow pharmacists! :)

[peachcreamsicle]

Glad you had a great time, and congratulations on your graduation.

 

My sister and I booked this cruise for next spring. Can I ask what time disembarkation started? I have booked a return flight out of FLL at 12:10, which is a earlier than I would like. I know there is always a chance of unforseen delays, but under normal circumstances, is this flight time OK, particularly if I do not do self-disembarkation?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

I've done this cruise and you will totally be fine as long as you carry your own bags off. Just let them know you have an early flight and they'll let you off first :)

[deedle7544]

working class clientele? Really?

[Gopherpharm]

Thanks for your review.

 

No midnight burger! I will be devastated!

 

It was a serious bummer. I don't know if this is just the Freedom (the Imagination had the burgers and hot dogs in January).

[Gopherpharm]

I'm doing this itinerary in August, really looking forward to Antigua and Tortola, will be my first time on those islands,have been to St.Thomas and Nassau twice.

 

Antigua was nice, I always try to sample the local flavors when I visit new places. Just outside the port there are pharmacies where you can buy Wadadli (less than $2). I wish we had more time in Tortola, I'm really itching to get back to the British Virgin Islands soon.

[Gopherpharm]

Can you tell me approximately how much it cost to do the excursion you did in St Thomas/St John? I'm looking to do that when we go in a few weeks. And any suggestions on it?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Here's what we did with approximate prices: got in line early to get off the ship in STT. Walked to taxis and took a 20-minute drive to Red Hook ($15 pp). Arrived at ferry dock about 8:30 am. Purchased ferry tickets for the 9 am ferry to Cruz Bay ($24 pp round trip), short ferry ride to STJ. Arrived on STJ before 9:30 am and boarded a taxi (open air, they will wait to fill before they depart) to Cinnamon Bay ($6 pp). Snorkeled to the Cay, attempted to go around but saw some jellyfish so headed back to the beach. There were less than 10 other people on the beach-it was amazing. Took some pictures and headed back towards the road where there was a restaurant. They kind of ignored us/assumed we were camping there so after 20 minutes we decided to move on and get food somewhere else. Caught a taxi to Trunk Bay ($4 pp) where we bought some food and frozen drinks, then headed to the beach. We decided we were too tired to snorkel more (and the snorkel trail looked pretty crowded) so we swam and enjoyed the beach for a bit. Took a taxi back to Cruz Bay ($4 pp) and took the 3 pm ferry to Cruz Bay. Decided to get adventurous and took the public bus back to port ($2 pp). We were dropped off a ways from port, but that was ok as we had time to spare and saved a lot of money doing it this way instead of taking a taxi again. Approximate total cost: $55 pp. Huge advantage-we spent 5+ hours on St. John, which is hard to come by on excursions. Navigation was not difficult and none of us had any prior experience with travelling around STT or STJ.

 

Hope this helps!

[Gopherpharm]

Glad you had a great time, and congratulations on your graduation.

 

My sister and I booked this cruise for next spring. Can I ask what time disembarkation started? I have booked a return flight out of FLL at 12:10, which is a earlier than I would like. I know there is always a chance of unforseen delays, but under normal circumstances, is this flight time OK, particularly if I do not do self-disembarkation?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

I believe embarkation started around 8 am. We were zone 10 and were off by 9:15 am.

[mojean]

Glad you had a great time, and congratulations on your graduation.

 

My sister and I booked this cruise for next spring. Can I ask what time disembarkation started? I have booked a return flight out of FLL at 12:10, which is a earlier than I would like. I know there is always a chance of unforseen delays, but under normal circumstances, is this flight time OK, particularly if I do not do self-disembarkation?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

You may want to do self-debarkation. See my review in my signature below.