Carnival Freedom 10/13/14 Review....toddler in tow & pics

[ras]

Is anyone interested in me scanning the FunTimes?

I don't see this itinerary anymore on Carnival's website......

That would be wonderful been looking for them and can not find any that are recent. Thanks so much

[momof3cruisers]

That would be wonderful been looking for them and can not find any that are recent. Thanks so much

 

I agree. We are not doing this itinerary, but to get a feel for the activities, it would be nice.

 

Oh, and Mrs CO5, your little guy is adorable. Did you post a picture of how you set up his little bed yet?

[wrigley80]

Nice review. I love the Dr. Seuss area on the Freedom....makes me want to be a kid again. I am eager to see your pics of the Dr. Seuss brunch because that is on the Dream as well and we want to book it as soon as we get onboard

[lyannea]

If you could scan the Fun Times, that would be GREAT!!!! Thank you.!!😎

[NightOne]

Am I the only one not seeing any of the pictures? :(

[wrigley80]

Am I the only one not seeing any of the pictures? :(

 

 

I'm able to see them

[Mrs.C05]

I've scanned the FunTimes so I'll post them at the very end all together.

[Perfect Stranger]

I've scanned the FunTimes so I'll post them at the very end all together.

 

Looking forward to seeing them!

[pmms052999]

Ethan fell asleep pretty quickly in the room, as I came back with sandwiches around 3pm. We left Grand Turk right at 5pm, and the sea was kinda rough still. We had a late dinner in the buffet, and finally had ice cream! We’ve still yet to have pizza…..My stomach was not liking the seas, so Ethan and I went back to the room. (I know I’m sorry, now that I write this, I’ve realized we hung out in the room a lot) Ethan and I watched Rio and the start of Frozen before it was 9pm which was his bed time. Tommy came in sometime around 10:30pm from the casino.

 

Side note: Margaritaville was fun and relaxing but.......I don't know if it's normally this busy, since this was our first time here. However, I will say that Margaritaville should have had more servers outside walking around for drink orders, or more people at the swim-up bar to help out. It was hard to tell who wanted drinks since many were standing behind those that were sitting at the bar.....Just sayin'.

 

Coming up: Sea Day, Dr. Suess character breakfast and Ethan's first time in Camp Ocean......

 

 

We were also on this cruise and in my opinion, Margaritaville was a waste of the day. We had been there before and service was incredibly slow so I'm not sure why we decided to go back. There was also a large group there that was really loud...it definitely made the day less relaxing.

 

It sounds like you got back on the ship fairly early on HMC. We were on the last tender and the wait was ridiculous. I think we waited almost an hour in the blazing hot sun...not fun!

 

Other than those small issues, our group of 22 had a blast. I'm ready to book the next one!

[pmms052999]

The other "issue" I spoke of earlier that I said happened at Margaritaville was this:

While waiting 20 minutes at the swim up bar for drinks, the DJ was playing songs left and right to keep the party going. Everyone was having a good time.

 

The songs being played were mainly booty and music, no songs of which I knew because I haven't listened to it much lately, however I don't mind it. Well one song comes on, and everyone that wasn't at the bar, started splashing. Like 10 feet in the air splashing, ridiculous splashing. Now, people at the bar down on the left of me were not happy at all, as they were getting pretty wet.

 

I felt it was pretty rude. Now I know we're all in the pool, and you're bound to get wet, but the splashing was pretty unnecessary. Just my thoughts....

 

We were at the tables around the corner from where this was happening! It was so incredibly loud and irritating. After waiting almost an eternity for our bill (corrections were needed since food we ordered never arrived), we got back on the ship and enjoyed the quiet.

[hlb76]

OMG. .. Waiting for that last tender was the worst. It was so stinking hot plus carrying our bags and stuff it was horrid. I really wondered for a while if I would pass out from the heat

[Mrs.C05]

It sounds like you got back on the ship fairly early on HMC. We were on the last tender and the wait was ridiculous. I think we waited almost an hour in the blazing hot sun...not fun!

 

Other than those small issues, our group of 22 had a blast. I'm ready to book the next one!

 

OMG. .. Waiting for that last tender was the worst. It was so stinking hot plus carrying our bags and stuff it was horrid. I really wondered for a while if I would pass out from the heat

I have heard of people waiting til the workers get on the last tender, and they ride back with them, instead of waiting on the long line.

I will get the next segment up shortly.

[Mrs.C05]

Today’s excitement: Dr. Seuss Character breakfast!!

 

We woke at 6:30am but lay in bed til 7:30am. We all got up and grabbed a small bite to eat because the character breakfast was at 9am in Chic Restaurant on Deck 3. We just walked around until it was time for the Dr. Seuss breakfast. I will let the photos’ speak for themselves. It seems everyone had a good time.

 

 

First glimpse....

 

 

Our table:

 

[Mrs.C05]

Menu:

 

 

 

 

Mr. Cat in the Hat's bow was right in my face, lol!

 

My "Truffala Tree Pancakes"

 

[Mrs.C05]

Sam I Am:

 

One quick pic before leaving:

 

 

The breakfast was very cute, fun, and delicious! $5 a person is not a bad deal when you can order as much as you want. I really wanted to try everything on the menu, just for picture-sake, but behaved, lol.

 

[Mrs.C05]

Afterwards, we figured we’d give it a shot with Camp Ocean aka/fka Camp Carnival. This would be Ethan’s first time since he’s now old enough. We signed him up and in, Ethan got a name tag, I filled out a form (his name, parent’s names, any additional guest that could pick him up, any allergies, food allergies, special needs, etc.) and we took him in and dropped him off in his area. They also gave us a phone to use to call them, or they call us.

 

This little phone was very helpful and reassuring for me.

 

I left a change of clothes with them as well and told them he was in big boy underwear. I called to check in on him about an hour in to it, and he was fine, but 30 minutes after that they called me to tell me he was crying and to please come check in on him. We went in and they said he’d been crying for a little bit. It was right at 11am which is close to his nap time and lunch time (although we had a late breakfast) so we signed him out and took him to lunch with us. He had pizza for lunch, I had a deli sandwich, and 2 soft tacos from Blue Iguana Cantina and Tommy had pizza and 2 soft tacos as well.

 

The tacos were very good!!! I look forward to future cruises that have the Guys Burger Joint and Blue Cantina on it. It makes the buffet food look like porridge, lol!!!

 

After we eat our lunch, we grab some ice cream and then head back to the room for a nap for Ethan. He passes out pretty much immediately. I started laundry while Ethan napped and before Tommy slipped out to the casino. The laundry is $3.00 per wash, $3.00 per dryer and $1.50 per 1 load detergent. I completely forgot the laundry detergent since we had free laundry service being platinum, and I didn’t think I’d be doing laundry twice, but with Ethan’s accidents and wet salty bathing suits, we are. Once laundry was done, we started packing up, and then Tommy went to the casino for a bit again. Once Ethan woke up we walked around for a bit before dragging Tommy away from the craps table and getting dinner in the Chic Restaurant.

 

This was our entertainment while Tommy was in the casino after nap time--tabletop shuffleboard:

 

Something was funny:

 

Beautiful Sea Day! I should've been up at Serenity or something:

 

This became "my" place:

 

Tonight Tommy and I both had crab cake and shrimp cocktail for an app, and Mahi Mahi for dinner. All was very good. Ethan had the chicken nuggets and fresh veggies. We didn’t get dessert since we were full, and took Ethan to Camp Ocean.

 

He willingly went in without a fuss. I actually got to step foot in the casino and roll some dice. It was pretty nice to have some adult time, lol!! The table was up and down. Overall Tommy won some money but was down for the night. At 9pm we went and got Ethan, and they said he just started crying. He sure has his schedule down as 9pm is his bedtime.

 

On the way to the room, we grabbed ice cream, and then finished packing up. We have #1 tags to get off, but we always do self-assist. Since Ethan gets up so early anyways, and as long as we get out of the room early, we should be able to grab an elevator to assist us. We're told by a letter of instructions to wait in the Chic Restaurant Lounge, Deck 3 Forward for guest that are self-assist. Hopefully it’ll be a breeze to get off. We are not looking forward to the 3hour drive home. Please don’t TP me or throw eggs for those who have a longer drive/flight.

 

Well, we're in bed around 11pm, and have an early alarm clock time of 6am.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Mrs.C05

[dallas52]

I have a question, is son's name is Ethan, is it E than or Et han? most people pronounce it E than but my Father said it Et han, was just wondering. We sail next week on the Freedom also. Glad you had a good cruise.

[Mrs.C05]

So we set the alarm for 6am to get up and move on out so that we can easily get down the elevator. Waking up several times in the night was not fun, due to The 70’s lounge or whatever it was directly below us, was bumping and grinding at 4am in the morning still *eeks!*

 

We get up when the alarm goes off, get dressed, finish packing things up and head out. It was a ghost town walking around the ship. We went down to the Chic Restaurant lounge as they instructed and waited. We waited for about an hour until we finally docked and were cleared. I overheard of 2 groups/couples that had very early flights, like 8am flights……and we didn’t walk off the ship until 7:45am!!! Not sure if they’ll make their flights. Getting off was very easy as it has been in the past. We were on the road by 8:30am, and home by 12:30pm, stopping a few times for restroom breaks, Starbucks, and lunch.

 

In reading many comments on the Facebook group for this cruise, it seems Jen the cruise director was very disorganized with this, and keeping people in line to follow directions. It seems that all 3-thousand-something people all tried getting off at once despite the zones that are in place for a reason. This is one of the many reasons we self-disembark if we can.

 

All in all, it was a wonderful, fun, and relaxing cruise for us. No, we didn't go to any shows, I didn't get to lay out, but I did get to go to the gym which was my "outlet", lol.

 

I will get the FunTimes up next.

 

Our one and only sunset (no sunrise) picture:

[Mrs.C05]

I have a question, is son's name is Ethan, is it E than or Et han? most people pronounce it E than but my Father said it Et han, was just wondering. We sail next week on the Freedom also. Glad you had a good cruise.

 

Yes, we pronounce it "Ee-than". Pronounce it however you want.

Both my grandmothers, and some acquaintances thought his name was Nathan, for some reason. Lol.:o

Edited October 31, 2014 by Mrs.C05

[cruiser82]

Thank you so much for posting pictures of the Dr. Seuss breakfast as I haven't seen many here. My mom and I will be making reservations for this as soon as we board but we aren't sure if we do it at Guest Services or the dining room? My mom doesn't know it yet but I ordered Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts for us to wear to the breakfast so I'm looking forward to us taking pictures with the Things.

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]

Please excuse my son's scribbling, lol!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2014 by Mrs.C05

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]