Freedom Dec 12-17 Review

[texhockey]

We sailed on the Freedom for 5 days December 12-17. It was my 6th cruise with Carnival. We had 15 people ranging in age from 20 to 79. Two cabins purchased FTTF and a computer error on Carnival's part gave a third FTTF even though it was cancelled and refunded. We had 5 contiguous balcony cabins on deck 10, 1 balcony cabin on Lido(the same error that gave us the extra FTTF prevented us from having the 6th balcony on 10), and 2 interior cabins on deck 7. We all had the earliest check-in time and all arrived at the terminal by 10:45. Due to issues with the gangway we left from terminal 2 in Galveston. We did debark at terminal 1.

 

My poor nephew had his friend not be able to go after final payment so it looked like we were going to have a no show but another guest still hadn't made up his mind who is second was going to be yet so luckily he was able to invite an extra passenger and his brother so we sailed with the full complement with just a couple of name changes at the last minute.

 

To be honest this was probably my least favorite cruise of my 6 but it was nothing about the ship or Carnival. It was all because of my new medical realities and my limitations. I thought the crew was extremely friendly and courteous. The dining room staff was attentive and helpful every night. Our room steward mad sure our room was perfect. Our CD was friendly and outgoing, though to be honest I didn't have much interaction with him. The comedians were once again very good. They have been the entertainment hightlight of my last 2 cruises. I enjoyed the shows I made in the main lounge but I was too worn out to make the farewell show which was a big disappointment for me. I also missed the last comedy show for the same reason.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation

 

We all had the earliest check-in time and 2 had FTTF. Everything went very smoothly. I was impressed with how the staff took care of my mother and step-father. He needed wheelchair assistance and they met him at the door and let them right thru check in and security. The only complaint I had with the process is that with the change of no bottled drinks I thought the screening would be faster but I watched the guy tear open and remove the cans from unopened 12 packs of cans and I couldn't believe the unbelievable check of our wine bottles. It appeared that he was making sure we hadn't drilled a hole in the bottom of the bottle and replaced the wine and then plugged it back up. I was thinking my time is worth way more money than I would save by sneaking booze on in that way. I liked that they scanned our cards at the muster drill and it seemed to go faster than my previous cruises. I can understand why Carnival would want to change the embarkation procedure with sail and sign cards. We bought 2 FTTF's for our group so everyone could dump the carry ons in those cabins and I felt bad about telling our group to do that since we just got in the way of the stewards. She stopped and introduced herself to everyone. Next time I will make sure everyone buys it or not let the rest of the group use the cabins. The only real complaint I had on embarkation day is that the Welcome Aboard show was not conducive to the early or late dining times and since we had early dining we missed half of the show.

 

Day 2 - Sea Day

 

I woke up early and went and had a breakfast burrito. The lines for the buffet were so long and the burritos were so good I did not eat once at the buffet. After breakfast I went to the trivia of the cruise and won my ship on a stick. It has been 3 years since my last cruise and one of the biggest improvements is most of the trivia was in the Atrium lobby instead of by the casino bar. Lack of cigarette smoke was so nice. My sister and I won the NFL trivia later that day. Probably my favorite place on the ship was the Red Frog Pub. Went there for the bag toss and had one of the red frog ales. I wasn't expecting much but was very impressed by the beer and that was the only beer I drank the rest of the cruise. My wife, daugher and her boyfriend dressed up for elegant night. We had several pictures taken. I hate getting my picture taken but the photographers did an amazing job. At dinner I had a the New York strip from the Steakhouse selections. It was a good steak but I was not overly impressed. From what I had read I was expecting it to be similar to some of the nice steakhouses in Dallas and it definitely wasn't that good. Went to the 80's show after dinner and was very impressed by Omar who was the lead male singer. He was definitely the most talented of the group. The females were good but the guys were a different level overall. After the show we went to the R rated comedy shows. Can't say enough good things about the comedians.

 

Day 3 - Progreso

 

I like Progreso. The majority of us did the AI that AutoProgreso offers. It was nice and relaxing. The buffet was ok but nothing special. The waiter made sure we never had an empty cup in front of us, which was nice but I ended up drinking more that I wanted. After a wonderful dinner a group of us spent the evening at the pub playing cornhole and other pub games. Definitely my favorite place on the ship.

 

Day 4 - Cozumel

 

Cozumel is probably my favorite place in the Caribbean. However it is my favorite place to go on a scuba diving trip not on a cruise. I really had planned to go scuba diving on this trip when originally booked however I suffered a stroke in June which caused my plans to change a little. Though I was medically cleared to dive I promised my wife I would take a refresher course before the cruise if I intended to dive which my work schedule made impossible. Everyone did their own thing this trip and I went with a couple of people from our group to Chakanaab Park. Despite having made 2 trips a year diving for most of my single life I had never been. It was nice but all it did was make me wish I was diving. I came back to the boat very early and relaxed most of the rest of the day. After dinner I relaxed at the pub a little while then decided to play a little poker. Don't really care for the electonic tables. Action moves very slowly and the later the night goes and players get drunker it gets even slower. I was surprised that it seemed at least once an hout the house bought the table a round of drinks.

 

Day 5 - Sea Day

 

The saddest day of the trip. We had brunch in the dining room. It was very good. Played a little trivia. The country music trivia was fun. I sucked and my sister only missed 2 of the artists but had the song title right but that wasn't even close to winning as there were 2 groups who were perfect and had to go to sudden death. My highlight of the night was the last beer pong tournament. I was supposed to play with my daughters boyfriend and my darts partner was going to play with his brother but neither one of them was there in time so we played together. Which was a little disappointing because I had been trash talking my darts partner the whole cruise about beating him and I know he wanted to beat me so he was also a little disappointed. It worked out as we did win the tournament and I got a second ship on a stick. At dinner everyone at our table ordered to lobster off the steakhouse selections and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. That night I was so worn out from the week that I crashed at about 8:30 that night.

 

Debarkation

 

Debarkation was a breeze. Got a porter and breezed thru customs. Only drawback was I had to pull over just as we got out of Galveston to do a little work. Was home in Denton by 3:30 and my dogs were happy we were back.

 

Overall I had no complaints about anything on the cruise and would sail the Freedom again in a heartbeat. I'll just have to change my expectations next time.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[easyboy]

Glad that despite your medical limitations, you still enjoyed the cruise.

Thanks for your review.

[pcvtmom]

I appreciate the review. So sorry for your medical condition. May you continue to improve and get back to the diving you love to do!

[willdra]

Very nice review! Thanks for sharing! [emoji4]

 

 

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[cruzkitty]

Thanks for your review! We were on the Freedom in October for 7 days, and I really enjoyed the Ship.

[Jamericannn]

This is one of the ships I want to go on so I like to read reviews about it. Most people seem to enjoy this ship.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for sharing your trip. I hope you can return to diving soon.

[AussieOmni]

Thanks for this cruising on the Freedom next month.

 

 

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[Saint Greg]

Didn't like the Atrium Bar for Trivia change myself because it's always filled with people not playing Trivia. So I went from always playing trivia to only playing once.

[jst]

Going on Freedom in the near future, looking forward to seeing the Daily sheet, Thanks :)

[Texasl8dy]

Thanks for the review. Did they have Red Frog Pub trivia in the evenings?

 

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[texhockey]

Thanks for the review. Did they have Red Frog Pub trivia in the evenings?

 

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Don't remember trivia as they seemed to have cornhole and beer pong every night. The only thing I was disappointed about the pub is they had a plastic tip dart board but no darts.