Review: Freedom 6 Day Western Caribbean 11/9/14

[cruiser82]

Hello! I didn't see any reviews for the cruise I was recently on so I thought I'd write up a quick one. I intended to keep the Fun Times but my mom forgot about that and threw them away so unfortunately I don't have any to scan and post here.

 

I am 32 years old and went on this cruise with my mom. We were looking for a cruise to take this month since I had a lot of unused vacation time at work, and when my mom's best friend told us she and her husband had booked this cruise we decided to join them. This wouldn't have been the cruise we chose since we wanted to leave out of NYC and my mom's not a fan of Carnival but since the dates worked with both my birthday and my mom's best friend's husband's birthday we booked it to celebrate both occasions.

 

I'll try to hit on the main aspects of the cruise and will try to answer any questions that I can. I didn't attend a lot of events/activities during the cruise because I just wanted to sleep and read (and I was able to do a lot of both) but I'll try to help out however I can.

 

Faster to the Fun: We booked this cruise late and as a result Faster to the Fun (FTTF) was already sold out. I literally stalked the website for about two weeks to see if any would become available and luckily I was able to snag one. Our flight wasn't due to land in FLL until 11:20am the day of so I knew we probably wouldn't get the priority embarkation but since there were other perks I wanted to get it anyway and I felt we got our money's worth (see below).

 

Embarkation: We got to the ship around 12:15pm I think because traffic was really bad due to the amount of ships in Port Everglades. All four of us shared a taxi and I think the fare was $23+tip. We dropped our bags off with a porter and he attached our FTTF tags with his stapler. Embarkation had already started and it was a bit of a madhouse, with both the security and check-in lines winding through the terminal. This is where the FTTF really paid off for us. I absolutely hate waiting in long lines, so the fact that we were able to go in the short security line with about 3 people in front of us and the check-in line with no one in front of us made me very glad I was able to get the FTTF for us. I felt a little bit bad when we had to leave our traveling companions in the long line since they didn't get FTTF, but only a little bit lol. Check-in was quick and easy and I have no complaints about the embarkation process.

 

Stateroom: We booked a balcony guarantee for this cruise. Normally we prefer suites but since Carnival doesn't really offer any additional perks for suite guests we decided it wouldn't be worth it to book one. We were in 8347 which was very close to the elevators but that's the risk you take with a guarantee stateroom. We did hear some loud people a couple of evenings but we were never woken up by the noise. The room was fine for the two of us but I imagine it would feel very cramped if more than two people were sharing it. We could never get the room to stay at a comfortable temperature for very long; it would be ok for a while and then it would either get very cold or very hot.

 

Cruise Director (CD): There seemed to be a lot of people here that did not like Jen so I have to admit that I went on this cruise thinking I wouldn't like her, but I honestly thought she was fine. I don't place that much importance on a CD and they definitely don't make or break my cruise but I really don't get why so many people don't like her. To be fair, I only saw her before/after the shows I attended and once on the morning show so maybe she's worse during other events/activities. She also didn't say brilliant as many times as I thought she would based on what I read here :).

 

Entertainment/Casino: The only entertainment I attended were the Playlist Productions, which is something else I was expecting to hate based on what I read here. I think the ones I saw were 88 Keys, Getaway Island and Heart of Soul; I'm pretty sure there was one in the beginning of the cruise that I missed. Yes, the animated backgrounds took some getting used to but they still had the lead male and female singers plus 3-4 backing male and female singers so the shows really didn't seem that different from the production shows I seen on other cruise lines. My issue was more with the quality of the singing and dancing as opposed to the background. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised to see that two of the female singers were black and had natural hairstyles as that is something I have never seen on 17+ cruises. We didn't have any luck at the casino but I wasn't expecting to anyway so I wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of smokers and quite a few who were just sitting at a machine and not playing it so that was a little off-putting but not entirely unexpected.

 

Food: This was the biggest disappointment on this cruise. I remember Carnival for having good food but both my mom and I were really disappointed. I will say that the breakfast and Seaday Brunch in the dining room were excellent, as were the cheeseburgers and fries that I got from Guy's Burger Joint. I always get vanilla ice cream for desert at dinner in the main dining room but it was terrible. The orange sherbet and the warm chocolate melting cake were good though.

 

Dr. Seuss Breakfast: This was something I was really looking forward to prior to sailing, and it was a lot of fun. My mom and I were not the only people there without small children so if that's something people are concerned about, don't be! Prior to the cruise I ordered Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts for my mom to wear to the breakfast and it was fun to wear them and take pictures with the Things. There is a ship photographer that comes around but they allowed you to use your own camera if you want. I thought it was well worth the $5 per person charge. I'm writing this at work (shh, don't tell my boss) so I'm not able to post the pictures since they're on my iPad at home but I will post some tonight since I told someone here that I would.

 

Itinerary: We weren't too excited about this itinerary but since this was the cruise our friends booked we were stuck with it. We booked a Dunns River Falls and Bobsled tour through Carnival but decided to cancel it the day before we sailed due to the weather forecast calling for an 80% chance of thunderstorms and rain. The weather (in Falmouth anyway) was fine so we probably could have still done the tour, but oh well. In Grand Cayman we did the City Highlights tour and really enjoyed the tour, the other people on the tour, and our guide Erscelle. In Cozumel we just walked around the shops at the pier.

 

The Ship: We've been on the Freedom before so I thought we wouldn't have any trouble finding everything but I thought the layout was really confusing. I found myself consulting the deck plans more often than I have on any other cruise and still had to go up or down decks because I couldn't get to where I wanted to go from where I was. The decor was a little too loud for my liking but I guess that's how Carnival ships are.

 

This definitely wasn't a bad cruise but I think it made us realize that Carnival may not be the line for us. I'll try to answer any questions anyone has and I hope this review was helpful!

[jk13292000]

How did you find the FTTF line at the port? Was there signs?

[cruiser82]

How did you find the FTTF line at the port? Was there signs?

 

 

Just outside the entrance to the terminal there is someone checking your boarding pass. They saw that we had FTTF so they directed us to the short security line and after that, another person directed us to the FTTF check in line. There was a sign but it's easy to miss so definitely ask someone if you're not exactly sure about where they're directing you to go.

 

 

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[cruisexlife]

This is so nostalgic for me. The Freedom 6 day itinerary (I had Key West instead of Cozumel and Ocho Rios instead of Falmouth) is a great cruise often overlooked, so it's usually cheap.

 

I never got the 2.0 amenities, as I got off the day they sent the ship to Freeport.

 

Thanks fro your review! Sounds like a great cruise! :D

[cruiser82]

This is so nostalgic for me. The Freedom 6 day itinerary (I had Key West instead of Cozumel and Ocho Rios instead of Falmouth) is a great cruise often overlooked, so it's usually cheap.

 

 

 

I never got the 2.0 amenities, as I got off the day they sent the ship to Freeport.

 

 

 

Thanks fro your review! Sounds like a great cruise! :D

 

 

Such a shame that you just missed out on the 2.0 upgrades!

 

 

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[Rh2458]

We were also on that cruise and appreciate reading other people's opinions on it. Personally we enjoyed the food in the Main Dining Room but will probably take a pass on the Sea Day Brunches in the future. That was probably the meals we least enjoyed. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Guys Burgers! As far as the entertainment, I think the one you missed was an 80's review (don't remember the name) but that one we left in the middle because it was incredibly cheesy and we didn't really care for the male blond lead performer. We left when he came out with the guitar and started singing Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl. However, the other shows we saw, Heart of Soul and 88 Keys (mainly because we think the dark haired male performer was superior to the blond guy) we really enjoyed.

I did find Jen's (CD) voice a little annoying, and even more so as the week went on with her daily announcements, but she is entertaining in person. I also agree with you regarding the layout of the ship. When we were on the Imagination last summer we didn't remember feeling as lost as we did on The Freedom. Of course it started really being less confusing towards the end of the cruise but then we were leaving! Like you we had FTTF and as long as it's available we will also grab a FTTF in the future. We totally felt like it was money well spent.

[cruiser82]

We were also on that cruise and appreciate reading other people's opinions on it. Personally we enjoyed the food in the Main Dining Room but will probably take a pass on the Sea Day Brunches in the future. That was probably the meals we least enjoyed. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Guys Burgers! As far as the entertainment, I think the one you missed was an 80's review (don't remember the name) but that one we left in the middle because it was incredibly cheesy and we didn't really care for the male blond lead performer. We left when he came out with the guitar and started singing Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl. However, the other shows we saw, Heart of Soul and 88 Keys (mainly because we think the dark haired male performer was superior to the blond guy) we really enjoyed.

 

I did find Jen's (CD) voice a little annoying, and even more so as the week went on with her daily announcements, but she is entertaining in person. I also agree with you regarding the layout of the ship. When we were on the Imagination last summer we didn't remember feeling as lost as we did on The Freedom. Of course it started really being less confusing towards the end of the cruise but then we were leaving! Like you we had FTTF and as long as it's available we will also grab a FTTF in the future. We totally felt like it was money well spent.

 

 

I agree, I like hearing other people's opinions of the cruises we take because they usually had a completely different experience! It sounds like you enjoyed yours :)

 

I must admit that one of the reasons why I like the brunch is because I can get two of my favorite foods, omelettes and Mac and cheese, at the same meal lol. And you're right, it was the 80s show that I missed but it sounds like I didn't really miss anything.

 

I was unsure if the FTTF would be worth it for us but like you I'll definitely get it if I cruise Carnival I the future. Thank you for your comments!

 

 

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[dallas52]

we were also on ship, a group of 8, we had a good time also. have been on other ships like the Freedom that you cant get from side to side on deck 3. other decks arent that way, shows were good but like you said, the dark hair male singer was very good. didnt care for the game shows as main shows and no comedy on these nights also.