Just off Freedom

[NOLAbebe]

How crowded was Doctor's Cave? How was the water? The beach? I am worried that the size of this beach in photos is no match for a slew of cruise passengers.

[IslandGrl411]

IYO (In your opinion) is the Freedom out of Galveston culturally diverse or were activities and music more geared toward country and western?

[SadieN]

Lack of activities during sea days or port days?

[Texasl8dy]

Lack of activities during sea days or port days?

 

BOTH. Nothing scheduled until around 3:00 PM each day. You were on your own (except for Team Trivia) each day. Not like any of the other Carnival ships. I was very disappointed!

 

 

.

[ABQrobin]

We were just on the Freedom 2 weeks ago....

 

What we really liked:

The Red Frog Pub... it is better than the one of the Magic, which is L shaped. The one of the Freedom is more like a real pub, and the entertainment was good. Ashby was our favorite entertainer on the ship and we went to see him specifically when he was playing. Gosh, that boy is talented and LOVE his voice.

 

The EA Sports bar is right between the Casino and Shops, in a room off to the side. It is also much better than the one on the Magic which is IN the Casino. If you don't like smoke but love sports, like me, it is a much better way to watch a game. They have a huge wall of tv screens! And if you have family members who love to play sports video games, they have those set up with tvs in the corners. Very cool idea.

 

The Playlist Performers.... really good shows with talented singers and dancers. Just an hour long each time but really FUN if you love music.

 

Guys Burgers... had a hard time getting my husband to eat elsewhere at lunch. He loved it.

 

Lido buffet lunches.... they have a "Comfort Food" section which always seemed to have great options that had a theme. The Caribbean buffet was actually really good. It seemed like the buffet foods were better than our previous cruise on the Magic.

 

 

What we didn't like:

Freedom seems to rock a bit more than the Magic. You do feel it everywhere on the boat. The Magic didn't even feel like a boat until we hit rough water on last day heading back to Galveston.

Freedom staff seemed to be more overworked and less cheerful. Not sure if there were recent cuts but it seemed like they were all running constantly and service was slow at times.

The decor.... just downright ugly. Every surface had a swirl of colors or pattern. It was like a bad 70s acid trip. You get used to it though by the end.

[Cruisefriends]

What about the cheers program? Was it $300.00 per person as you couldn't purchase it til the second day?

[sjn911]

OP thanks so much for sharing your experiences...just great to know the budget cruise was worth it for you all being used to a premium line....and your nice pros and cons comments can do nothing but help improve status quo IMHO!!!!

[sjn911]

OP thanks so much for sharing your experiences...just great to know the budget cruise was worth it for you all being used to a premium line....and your nice pros and cons comments can do nothing but help improve status quo IMHO!!!!

 

Woops posted in wrong thread..sorry....thanks a bunch for your comments....want to do this ship and would love a back to back trying 2 ships from Galveston .....Sarah

[harleygirl4rb]

Do you have your Funtimes that you could post or dinner menu's?

[BeckyfromLouisiana]

Thanks so much to the recent passengers for posting here! Great intel on wifi! Question about the deck layout: I understand that you can walk from bow to stern on deck five but there are other decks that don't "cut through" -- can you give more info on how to best navigate? On what floors will you always have to go down to 5 or up to (I guess?) Lido?

 

How was the entertainment in the comedy club? Do you need to be there an hour early to get a seat? I don't want to wait that long if the performers aren't really good!

 

I haven't heard anyone talking about karaoke, my favorite indoor pastime on the ship (just watching and cheering on, not singing myself -- a humpback whale would think it was a mating call and knock a hole in the side of the ship!). Do they do karaoke at all on the Freedom?

[ABQrobin]

Most of the decks you can walk without a problem, a few have weird detours... but we found that was true with the Magic, also.

 

The Comedy Club is fantastic. Do it at least once, as long as you are good with really raunchy jokes, do the Adult shows. We got there 30 min before showtime and it was already 1/2 full.

 

I never once saw Karaoke or Trivia games on the ship. Not saying they didn't have them somewhere, but we didn't see it. When we were on the Magic last Oct, we saw both every day in one bar or another. Maybe it is the different CD or maybe it was just we missed it. Not sure.

 

Dinner was American Table menu and it is obvious they have adapted it according to criticism and complaints. It really is basically the same food as the old menu, just some changes, additions and subtractions. The best addition was the Port of Call section. The worst, IMHO, was the fact that a regular old salad was not offered as appetizer each night. Caesar salad was offered every night... yuck, not my thing. Waiters seemed a bit confused with some entrees, too, not knowing what came with them or if you needed to order the side dishes. I think that will be true for a least a few months while they get used to it.

Edited March 21, 2015 by ABQrobin

[train460]

I'm going to 2 different ports than you did. Mine goes to Roatan, Belize and Coz

we did these same ports last year on Navigator.

Belize we did cave tubing with charlies.

roatan we did little french key and in cozumel we just taxied to The money bar and snorkled and had lunch.

all three were awesome times

michael

[TheTexans]

I got the premium package. It was great. The internet was a little faster this time. I would buy it again.

 

 

Did you sign up for Internet once you were aboard or is this in the excursions? (Never used it due to complaints of speed... But I'm thinking of trying it in July.)

 

This trivia thing has gotten out of hand. The cruise director needs to realize that some of us save our "fun in the sun and boiling heat" for port days.

 

Having sailed the Magic three times... Does Freedom's lido deck get as slick by the pool (as the Magic.)

 

Thanks in advance!

[cruiser fanatic]

Did you sign up for Internet once you were aboard or is this in the excursions? (Never used it due to complaints of speed... But I'm thinking of trying it in July.)

 

This trivia thing has gotten out of hand. The cruise director needs to realize that some of us save our "fun in the sun and boiling heat" for port days.

 

Having sailed the Magic three times... Does Freedom's lido deck get as slick by the pool (as the Magic.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You can only sign up for the internet onboard. The internet was much faster this time. When I talked to Jen the Cruise Director about the trivia she said that she would pass along my suggestion to the Entertainment Director onboard. She does not create the schedules. As for the lido deck I did not find it slick.

[cruiser fanatic]

Thanks so much to the recent passengers for posting here! Great intel on wifi! Question about the deck layout: I understand that you can walk from bow to stern on deck five but there are other decks that don't "cut through" -- can you give more info on how to best navigate? On what floors will you always have to go down to 5 or up to (I guess?) Lido?

 

How was the entertainment in the comedy club? Do you need to be there an hour early to get a seat? I don't want to wait that long if the performers aren't really good!

 

I haven't heard anyone talking about karaoke, my favorite indoor pastime on the ship (just watching and cheering on, not singing myself -- a humpback whale would think it was a mating call and knock a hole in the side of the ship!). Do they do karaoke at all on the Freedom?

 

The only deck that you cannot go bow to stern is deck 3 and 4. I did not go to the comedy club. Yes, they do karaoke on the Freedom. However, I did notice a cutback on how often it was.

[Martini Mom]

we did these same ports last year on Navigator.

Belize we did cave tubing with charlies.

roatan we did little french key and in cozumel we just taxied to The money bar and snorkled and had lunch.

all three were awesome times

michael

 

Thanks :) We plan to go cavetubing in Belize, LFK in Roatan, and maybe Nachi in Coz.

[cruiser fanatic]

Thanks :) We plan to go cavetubing in Belize, LFK in Roatan, and maybe Nachi in Coz.

 

You will love cavetubing and Nachi. I guess I am one of the few that didn't care for LFK. It was pretty and such but I have been to better beaches in Roatan. Tabyana Beach and Maya Key were beautiful.

Edited March 29, 2015 by cruiser fanatic

[dsg560]

which nights were the formal nights?

[train460]

Thanks :) We plan to go cavetubing in Belize, LFK in Roatan, and maybe Nachi in Coz.

we booked both of our off ship excursions thru the internet, not thru ship.

Charlies was awesome. there were 4 of us on the cave tubing trip along with 2 guides. they carried the tubes and got to see and do much more than the massive groups we passed. try the termites, they taste like pepper corns:)

same with LFK, just reserved a spot. no money changed hands until we show up. ZERO issues getting back to the ship when we wanted to.

if you get the guided snorkle trip at LFK ask to see the "drop off"

pretty cool.

Michael

[Martini Mom]

we booked both of our off ship excursions thru the internet, not thru ship.

Charlies was awesome. there were 4 of us on the cave tubing trip along with 2 guides. they carried the tubes and got to see and do much more than the massive groups we passed. try the termites, they taste like pepper corns:)

same with LFK, just reserved a spot. no money changed hands until we show up. ZERO issues getting back to the ship when we wanted to.

if you get the guided snorkle trip at LFK ask to see the "drop off"

pretty cool.

Michael

 

Thanks :) We love booking through outside parties vs the ship too. Just officially booked our LFK visit (since numbers are limited, I didn't want to miss out), cavetubing through cavetubing dot biz ;) and Nachi Cocom all-inclusive.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Martini Mom