Carnival Freedom 4/16-4/23/16 Review

[Timbek2]

Loving your review so far! Keep it coming. [emoji3][emoji3]

[uprivermama]

 

Ha! We had the same guy check us in when we stayed there in January. Shockingly impersonal and unfriendly for such a public position. Thankfully, we too were able to shrug it off. Good job on the review!

[VitaminDLover]

I would love to see Jessica & Mike's view! My fiancé and I (at that time we will be husband and wife) have booked a Halloween/honeymoon cruise on Freedom. We are actually staying in the room (9261) next to them. I am also interested to know how the noise in that area was like. I'm sure their balcony room looks just like yours. We are so excited to go on another cruise! Hope all of y'all are having fun!!!

 

I will grab a few of her photos today! We visited their room several times and it wasn't ever noisy. Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!

[VitaminDLover]

Ha! We had the same guy check us in when we stayed there in January. Shockingly impersonal and unfriendly for such a public position. Thankfully, we too were able to shrug it off. Good job on the review!

 

Isn't that strange how they haven't caught onto that? Oh well, I guess they know most of us are on a pre-cruise high! Glad you had a good time as well! And thank you for your kind words!

[VitaminDLover]

In normal everyday life we are usually up early daily. So go figure, I can’t sleep in! You’d think having left the kids behind I’d be able to sleep in…NOPE. There were scattered thunderstorms in the gulf predicted for yesterday and today, but luckily we didn’t run into any (that we know of) but the water was a little rocky. We decided to get up and head up to the Freedom restaurant aka Lido to go get breakfast. By the time we got ready most of the group was up and ready to go. This is most of our group’s favorite meal of the day. Kevin, Shane, and I immediately head for the omelette station. Breakfast was good, but I didn’t feel like the chef that I got cooked the eggs long enough, I don’t care for my eggs to be runny at all.

 

After breakfast we decided to walk around the ship a bit and get a lay of the land. Jessica, Mike, Jay, and I have been on the Conquest, a sister ship to the Freedom, before but that was back in 2011. The fun times didn’t seem to hold anything too interesting today which was a little disappointing since we had heard so much hype on how fabulous Malcolm was. Again, this doesn't make or break the cruise for us, just figured there would be more going on.

 

After walking around for a bit a couple of the guys wandered back to the rooms to lay down for a nap, so the girls and I decided to go up and try to find a place on Serenity. I will say this before continuing on, last year on the Dream we were able to find a spot on Serenity no matter what time, day or night. This time…not so much. This particular day we got super lucky and someone was getting out of a clamshell right as we walked up so we snagged it. A few minutes later someone in the shell next to us got up and we snagged that one too. We laid out for a bit then decided to head back down to our rooms to check on the guys. They were resting peacefully and we decided to join them for a bit before dinner.

 

Once again we started getting ready right around 5 for dinner. Tonight was elegant night and we knew we would be dressing up and taking pictures. My husband hates having to go take the pictures, but thankfully he’s usually a good sport and I can get him to go on elegant night as we don’t get to get dressed up in our normal everyday life. We headed down to deck 3 for pictures and to check-in at the MDR.

 

TIP: Most of the photo props are on deck 5 on this ship. We didn’t figure this out until the second formal night.

 

Formal Night 1

 

Once again we were seated immediately and we requested Alex’s section. There must be two Alex’s since we did have to specify that he was from the Philippines. Dinner was fabulous as usual, we did like having the tablecloths back as used to be the norm. After dinner we all decided to go to the comedy show, but to our dismay it didn’t start until 11:30. We’ll sum it up to say that half of us didn’t make it! By now the ship was rocking pretty good and a couple of people in our group weren’t feeling too well either. One of them took motion sickness meds Friday and Saturday, but stopped on Sunday and then he started to feel ill. The other hadn’t taken anything at all and she wasn’t feeling well until almost 24 hours later. If you are prone to motion sickness at all you should start taking meds one day prior to boarding and not stop until you are back on dry land. Jay and I aren’t subject to this and oddly enough we actually enjoy the movement.

 

Next Up: Key West, Senor Frogs, and lost money…

[VitaminDLover]

So I forgot to mention that while taking pictures before dinner that Shane proposed to Brittney with her new wedding ring. She said yes!! He told her that they would be getting married today and for the longest time she didn’t believe him. It took me telling her all the details and planning that I’d done for it to finally sink in! Congrats you two!

[dapaddo]

We are booked on the Freedom in October, so I will be really interested in reading your review!

 

We are on the freedom with you....

[Anahita54]

I will grab a few of her photos today! We visited their room several times and it wasn't ever noisy. Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!

 

Perfect!!! I'm a visual person and have not been able to find anything current in that area, specifically reviews about noise. Thank you so much!! :)

 

Congratulations to Shane & Brittney!!

[reerun25]

Enjoying the review so far!

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoying your review!

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to, the rest.

[VitaminDLover]

The water was fairly rough throughout the night, but as I previously said this doesn’t bother us. We had never had a cabin at the front of the ship, but people were right when they said you feel more motion in the front and the higher up you are.

 

TIP: If you’re ever feeling sick, go to the lowest floor you can and towards the middle of the ship. This is the most stable of places to be.

 

There were several times last night while lying in bed it felt as though we were gaining air. We enjoyed it! Once again I was up early, but not quite as early. We were scheduled to dock in Key West at 10am. After getting ready I looked out the door and was pleasantly surprised to see the pilot coming our way already. It did seem a bit early for this, but oh well! We went up to Lido to grab breakfast and today I opted for Blue Iguana. It was amazing!!

 

Coming alongside

 

Off they go after making the drop

 

Today would hold Brittney and Shane’s wedding ceremony on the beach, parasailing, and shopping (or so we thought!)

 

Once I felt like we were close enough to land I got my cell phone out of the safe and turned it on. The first thing I got was a call from the taxi company asking where we were. I explained that we were just pulling in, but we weren’t scheduled to be off the ship for another 45 minutes. He advised me that he had been waiting for 15 minutes already. Oh no…trouble in paradise. I guess I made a big mistake in assuming that when the tour company asked what time our ship came in and I told them 10am, I figured they knew that we were operating on CST. I profusely apologized and asked if we could please have someone come back for us in an hour when we were to be docked and off the ship. He agreed and I was off to make my next calls. Shane called the vow renewal company because at this point we realized that every vendor was probably an hour earlier than we thought we were. The company wasn’t happy, but after dropping the kind of money he did they agreed that they would try to find another officiant and they would call us back. Next up was the parasailing company. I called and spoke with the same lady that I had spoken to numerous times and she stated that our group (9 people) were a group of our own and she could move us an hour later, but that was the last spot she had. I agreed and we were on our way. Not the best way to start the day, but alas we were all set and ready to go!

 

We promptly disembarked the ship and proceeded to our designated pick up location for the taxi. He was there within 10 minutes after our agreed time and we were on the way to Smathers Beach. We ran into some minor traffic, but the beach was gorgeous!

 

Key West

 

Jay and I waiting

 

The officiant was right on time, but the owner who also doubled as the photographer was about 10 minutes late. The renewal went off without a hitch. Shane even wrote his own vows…very impressive! We had already made arrangements for the taxi to pick us back up in 30 minutes so we were ready and waiting when he pulled up. We only had 10 minutes to get to the parasailing location.

 

We arrived 15 minutes later only to find they had left us. I called them several times with no response and no return call. I would never recommend this company to anyone. This was super disappointing, especially considering we were a group of our own and guaranteed money.

 

At this point our taxi had already left us so we decided we would just walk from here. Brittney and Shane pulled a quick change of wardrobe and we were on our way.

 

Jay and I have previously been to Key West and love Duval Street. We walked Duval St for a while, got our token souvenirs, and then decided to stop into Senor Frogs for lunch and drinks. This was by far one of the best choices we made this day. Ha ha! We all ordered the yard drinks, but upon their delivery they were all mixed up. We all got a good laugh out of trying to figure out who’s was whose. I had someone’s margarita and it was STRONG! I’m a rum drinker and come to find out Shane had mine. We asked prior to ordering if we could have the glasses refilled in Freeport and Nassau. We were assured we could so we were happy campers. Jay and I also ordered nachos to split and I’m glad we did since it was huge. If you’ve never been to Senor Frogs there is an entertainment host. This person is responsible for making the restaurant a fun, party atmosphere. While we were there we participated in several “contests” such as karaoke, a Tarzan yell, rapping, and a water competition. The best was probably the water one, and we’ll just sum it up to say that Shane got us all wet!

 

Tarzan yell

 

Jay and I...I still had Shane's drink at this point!

 

Next Up...Part 2

[VitaminDLover]

The group minus Jay

 

Shots for one of the contests...I lost track at which one

 

We left Senor Frogs with 2 hours to spare, walked a bit more then headed back to the ship. We stopped in Mallory Square to look around and a few of our group stopped in the terminal area to do a little more shopping. We were scheduled to leave here at 6pm and I believe our boarding time was 5:30. Our group got back around 4:30-5 and we were safely on the ship ready to watch for pier runners. Needless to say there weren’t any today as it was such a late departure time. Everyone was actually on early as we left port around 5:30 instead of 6.

 

Waiting on shoppers

 

View of the ship from the terminal

 

We had steakhouse reservations for dinner tonight, but upon our arrival back to the ship Jay wasn’t feeling too well. I called and asked everyone else if they still wanted to go and they all agreed. I called and changed the reservation from 8 to 6. About 30-45 minutes later I was getting ready to go up to Lido and get myself something to eat and the rest of the group decided they weren’t too thrilled about going to the Steakhouse after all and requested that I cancel the reservation. I was super disappointed as this was something I really wanted to do.

 

Today was just not a day for things to go in my favor. :( Oh well, life goes on. Everyone else decided to go eat in the MDR so I went with them. Dinner was wonderful yet again, and Alex even brought me some mashed potatoes at my request to take to Jay as something bland to eat in case he still wasn’t feeling well. After getting back to the room I found that Jay had just ordered room service and was feeling a bit better. I did go wander the ship for a bit with some of our group, but I was probably only gone for 30-45 minutes. I came back and Jay had eaten his Reuben but said that the Ceasar salad was not good. He said that it was swimming in dressing.

 

We would be in Freeport tomorrow so we were off to bed!

 

Next Up: Rumah, Paradise Cove, and shopping!

[cruisingsouth]

Loving your review. We stayed at the Harbor House and saw all of you in the parking lot loading your trucks. We left our car at the hotel and joined you on the cruise. Had a great time.

[cruisedarling]

Mason's Mom thank you so much for doing a FREEDOM review. You are doing a super job, can't wait for more. My daughter and I sail her in a few weeks.

[Catrin]

Great review so far!

 

In 16 cruises, we have never been to Key West....thanks for sharing those pics.. sure looks like a blast!!

[VitaminDLover]

Loving your review. We stayed at the Harbor House and saw all of you in the parking lot loading your trucks. We left our car at the hotel and joined you on the cruise. Had a great time.

 

Next time you should stop us and say hi! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!!

[cruisingsouth]

We had a great time. First time on Freedom. Will be on Liberty in Aug. and Freedom in Dec. Looking forward to both.

[VitaminDLover]

The seas have finally calmed down for the most part and everyone is ready to go. Once again I was up early, but today everyone else was up early too! We had an early day here in Freeport and we were excited to get going. We all headed up to Lido to grab breakfast, today I was back to the omelet station. Once again I had the same chef and my eggs didn’t seem quite cooked all the way, this would be the last time that happened.

 

After we all ate we went back to our rooms to grab our stuff for the day and started to make our way down to the gangway. Today our plans were to catch a taxi and head over to Paradise Cove beach. I had done lots of research on beaches, beach clubs, etc and found that this one was only $2 more per person for the taxi fare and that it was much less populated than the others that were mentioned more often and were closer to the terminal. Upon getting off the ship we decided to do some shopping in the terminal area. We were rather successful and didn’t get done there until around 10am. We found Senor Frogs and decided we would fill our yard cups before we left for the beach. Come to find out they didn’t open until 10:30, but we were good with that so we waited.

 

We entered promptly at 10:30 and headed to the bar. I promise we aren’t normally such big drinkers, I feel like that’s all I’m talking about. We actually rarely drink at home unless we are having a cookout or we go out somewhere (this hardly ever happens!) The venue here in Freeport was gorgeous, right on the water, and an open atmosphere. It filled quickly with other patrons and the fun got started. The girls and I had worn our “salty hair, don’t care” shirts today and that’s what we became known as by Rumah, the entertainment host. I must say that Rumah is one of the most energetic and friendly people we encountered this whole cruise.

 

Welcome to Freeport!

 

Entrance in Freeport

 

Salty hair, don't care

 

We ended up staying for about an hour. As we were trying to leave Rumah pulled Brittney up for a contest, she had to chug a frozen drink through a straw…she didn’t win, but that was okay since we were leaving.

 

I had previously read that there was a big board (which happened to be just across from Senor Frogs) that had all the taxi fares listed and this was where drivers hung out to grab riders. We made our way over and quickly found a driver. He led us to a waiting spot and left to grab his van. The ride to Paradise Cove took approximately 20-25 minutes. Upon our arrival our taxi driver took us up to the window and checked us in. They do this so that they can leave their info for the beach for our ride back to the terminal. We paid (sorry I forgot what the admission was, but no more than $10) and headed out. It was GORGEOUS here. Jessica and I grabbed our towels and went to go lay out while the rest of the group decided to hang out up on the deck and grab drinks and food. We did get in the water and walk out to the reef balls, but we opted not to snorkel today as we were doing that tomorrow.

 

Paradise Cove

 

Paradise Cove

 

Next Up: Part 2

[VitaminDLover]

Paradise Cove

 

Reef balls at Paradise Cove

 

We stayed at Paradise Cove for about 2 hours and decided that we were done (some more so than others.) The beach called our driver and he was back to get us within 15 minutes.

 

We arrived back at the terminal area with a couple hours still so some of the group decided to go back to Senor Frogs. I wanted to look for a couple of things for our kids since I wasn’t very successful in Key West and I didn’t want to wait for our last port day and be stuck in a jam. I did find some cute things at Sharkeez and I strolled back over to Senor Frogs. While at Sharkeez I saw Alex, our YTD waiter!

 

We chatted for a while with Rumah and had a great time. We decided to head back to the ship when Senor Frogs closed. It’s crazy to me how the terminal area shuts down so early when it’s cruisers they depend on to make their money. We still had about an hour and a half before our departure.

We were safely back on board and headed to our rooms to get ready for dinner. We weren’t really feeling like getting dressed up and going to dinner tonight so we opted for the Lido restaurant. To our surprise they actually had almost the same selections on Lido as they did on the MDR menu tonight. After dinner we were off to bed. This morning came early and tomorrow was another early day!

 

Forgot this guy at the beginning!

 

Next Up: Nassau, new experiences, and Curly!

[VitaminDLover]

Sorry for the delay...life got busy, but I'll finish the rest this week! Here's the next day!

[VitaminDLover]

Today we woke up with much of the same routine. Breakfast on Lido which consisted of Blue Iguana tacos for me and Freedom Restaurant Buffet for Jay. We were up early due to an early day in port. We were scheduled to meet in the theatre at 8:15am to meet for our Carnival based excursion, Underwater SUB adventure. We all ate breakfast, went back to our rooms to pack our bags for the day, then promptly met in the theatre at 8:10am.

 

Today’s excursion was Jay and myself, Shane, Brittney, Jessica, and Mike. There were probably 20-25 groups meeting in the theatre for excursions and needless to say we were the last ones to get to leave the ship thanks to some last minute bookers. Ugh, who waits until the morning of a port to book an excursion? Oh well…on we go! We disembark the ship and head to the van. We had about a 45 minute ride to the Stuarts Cove facility. Once we arrive we watched a brief instructional video of different hand signals, how to regulate the air in the SUB, and other things. The super exciting video was over and we were off to get in the little boat. Upon boarding the boat we took a short 10 minute ride out to where the larger boat that held the SUBS was already anchored off. After boarding the big boat we were split up into two groups since only a certain amount of people can go down at a time. While one group rides the SUBS the other group is allowed to swim and/or snorkel. We were group 1 on the SUBS so off we went. Jessica and I both have underwater cameras and were excited to put them to use. I was also excited that they had a professional photographer that was going down with us to take some photos. I likely cannot even explain how amazing this excursion was! The water is crystal clear, blue, and gorgeous! Being from Oklahoma doesn’t award us many of these experiences, hence the reason I love to cruise. We took tons of our own pictures, had pictures taken, and had a once in a lifetime experience.

 

Tip: The instructional video tells you to plug your nose and gently blow out your mouth to regulate your ears. This did not work for me. I was super uncomfortable when I got down to where everyone else was waiting. I motioned to Jay that my ears hurt and he motioned to me to yawn. I did this and immediate relief. Just a tip in case you ever find yourself in this situation.

 

Some of the fish we saw

 

Plane wreckage

 

A view of the SUBS

 

We were raised out of the water one by one and it was now our turn to swim and snorkel. Naturally I’m an adrenaline junkie and had asked if I could jump off the boat. To my surprise they were fine with this. This was the first thing I did once we re-boarded the boat. We snorkeled for a good 20 minutes while the other group was down and took some more pictures.

 

JUMP!!!

 

Jay and I snorkeling

 

Once they were done the smaller boat was back to pick us up and off we went. The bus driver was there and waiting for us and we left shortly after getting back. The driver explained that we would have the opportunity to get out at any of the stops and that we would be responsible for making our way back to the terminal after that.

 

I recently decided to start a sand project and collect sand from every port of call we visit. I was afraid I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so and Brittney asked the bus driver, as we’re driving down the road, to pull over so I can grab some sand. I was mortified! He pulls over, I hop out, grab sand in my baggie, and get back on. We continue on down the road like nothing happened. Ha ha ha! I was thankful, but rather embarrassed. Shane, Brittney, Jay, and I decided to get out at a market area that had restaurants because at this point we were hungry. Mike and Jessica decided to go back to the terminal to get their kids and more money. Upon getting out you are swarmed with restaurant workers trying to “bribe” you to eat at their establishment. We walked down a little ways and ran into Curly. He is the owner of Curly’s restaurant and promised us a Bahama Mama if we came in and ate there. He also proudly stated that he was the only restaurant with its own restroom. (I had no idea this was an issue!) We got our free drink and ordered. Service was slow, but we’re on vacation so we don’t care. Jay and I were both just a little bit hungry so we decided to split the Curly burger and fries. In the states when you order a burger at a restaurant it’s usually huge…not the case here. We split the order and needless to say we both wish we would’ve gotten our own! It was delicious! We all used the restroom prior to leaving not knowing how long it may be before we had access to another.

 

Took a picture so I wouldn't forget!

 

Next up: Part 2

[VitaminDLover]

Jay and I at Curly's

 

We decided to walk as far as we could and if it became too much we would get a taxi. We could barely see the cruise ships, but we’re all relatively healthy so off we went. There was tons to see on our walk back. We passed plenty of construction, Junkanoo beach, and lots of shops. We did a little bit of shopping once we were closer to the terminal. We also found Senor Frogs of Nassau. I will say that this was by far the best venue, but the most boring of all three stops. I was disappointed, but by this time we were tired and hot. Jay and I decided to go ahead and head back to the ship while Brittney and Shane decided to have a drink before they came back.

 

Further down Junkanoo beach...before we realized it was Junkanoo!

 

 

The three ships in port

 

Nassau seemed to have the most extensive screening process to get back to the ship out of the three stops, but I guess there were three ships in port that day so maybe that had something to do with it. We made our way back to the ship and to our room to relax. Jessica, Mike, Kevin, and Nicole were all already back on the ship. Shortly after we got back so did Shane and Brittney. We were 30 minutes late leaving port today because some idiots thought the ship would wait?! I do not understand people that do this. If they tell you to be back at a certain time, be back. We tried to convince the captain to leave them, but alas we waited. Of course there were tons of us out on our balconies waiting and we all cheered for their arrival back to the ship.

 

I was still disappointed about not being able to eat in the Steakhouse Monday evening so we decided we would see if they had any room this evening. We got lucky and they had room. Mike and Jessica decided to join us. The steakhouse was a great experience, but one I won’t say I would repeat again. The food in the dining room is good enough for us and I didn’t feel as though it was worth an additional $70 plus tip.

 

After dinner we went back to our cabins and had a relaxing evening watching a movie on our TV.

 

Welcome to Nassau

 

Next Up: Sea day, Serenity, and our last formal night!

[VitaminDLover]

This was our professional picture I purchased once we got home!

[VitaminDLover]

This morning was filled with much of the same…breakfast up on Lido with the whole crew. Once Camp Ocean opened the little one was off and we were headed to meet up with Mike and Jessica on Serenity. To our dismay the Serenity deck was blocked off due to high winds. We waited and waited, but never saw Mike and Jessica. We decided to lay out right where we were. After about 30-45 minutes Jessica yelled down at us from Serenity and asked what we were doing. We explained that they had it blocked off and asked how she got up there. Apparently they didn’t read the signs on the doors leading out to Serenity and made themselves right at home. At about that time the Carnival employee said that they were going to open it up. Britt and I grabbed our stuff and took off running! We got three clamshells in a row and made ourselves at home as well.

 

After relaxing up on Serenity for a couple of hours I headed back to our room to check on Jay who was napping or watching TV. Upon my return he was lounging in bed, I laid down beside him, and promptly fell asleep. Hello naptime! When we woke up we decided to go grab a small lunch up on Lido since tonight was formal night.

 

Today was by far the most relaxing day we’ve had. We started getting ready for formal night early and everyone kind of decided that we wanted to take pictures, but not necessarily go to dinner in the dining room. We got all glammed up and went down for pictures. I ended up buying several from tonight! We immediately went and changed out of our formal clothes, went to Lido to grab dinner, and decided that we would finally try to catch one of the shows tonight. Tonight’s show was 88 Keys and I had read multiple good reviews on it.

 

Formal Night

 

I would agree the show was great! Malcolm our cruise director was there after the show and Jessica and I got our picture taken. We had a couple of drinks after the show and headed back to the room. I’m starting to really feel old…we haven’t made one comedy show. This cruise was SO different than last year’s cruise where we were there almost every night. Off to our cabin to relax as a couple.

 

Jessica and I with Malcolm

 

Next Up: More relaxing, farewells, and our last dinner!