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Freedom Review Exotic Western Thanksgiving

nothomeonacruise

By nothomeonacruise,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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nothomeonacruise

nothomeonacruise

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Carnival Freedom 11-22-08 to 11-30-08 Departure from Ft. Lauderdale, Port Everglades 8 days.

 

Our cruise was terrific. The Freedom is a beautiful ship. I was very impressed with it. We had no trouble navigating this ship, as it’s the same layout as the Triumph. There were just a few glitches which I’ll explain a bit later.

 

We live in Florida, so I’ll start with our arrival at the port. The trip consisted of my husband, our daughter, my mother, and myself. My family arrived at the port around 11:00 am. It was fairly busy, as there were buses arriving at the same time. There was a line outside of the building, so we waited approximately 10 minutes into another line inside. This next line was about a 30 minute wait. We missed the nice Miami port with the waiting area. After a quick check in through with passports, we boarded the ship. There weren’t too many people on board, which made it nice. Our family made it to the Lido and had a nice lunch. After lunch, my mother and I went to the Chic restaurant to check our table location. (Late seating) By accident, we went to the wrong floor and waited about 20 minutes before someone told us to go down to 3rd deck. There was a line formed there, but we managed to check our reservation. It turned out they gave us the perfect location for us. It was located on the lower level, in a booth, not far from the central stairs. (170) Our next destination was the excursion desk to find out about Panama. The efficient and friendly Tomislav soon had us booked for Panama and Costa Rica tours.

 

It wasn’t long before our cabins were ready. We were located n the Spa Deck (deck 11) in the Family Staterooms. I cannot describe how much we LOVED these rooms. We never closed the blinds the entire trip, except for port days for privacy. My mother and daughter were in the cabin next to ours, and both of our cabins were spacious and comfortable with very little noise.

 

We had a ball on the sea days with Todd Wittmer, who was fantastic. I think he is by far my favorite!! He organized wonderful activities, including a deck party that started with three groups and then everyone met on deck. It was very rainy all day, and Todd told us the deck party would be moved to the disco if it was too rainy. We ended up staying on deck, as the rain had stopped. It was hilarious. We laughed and danced the whole time. It was my husband’s birthday, and he said it was the best ever! It started raining at one point, but the entertainment staff, TJ (who was wonderful) and Noorje ( also wonderful) kept the party going with Todd. Todd said the energy on the ship was amazing! The Karaoke bar was fun, and I met a fellow Cruise Critic member LHP, who has a great singing voice by the way.

 

The food on the ship was delicious. I can’t complain, except to say we much preferred the Chic Dining room, as the Posh seemed to have a lot of vibration. We ate all suppers in the Chic and other meals in the Posh and Lido buffets. The food on the Lido was good, but the dining room meals were better. Our Maitre’d was great. The service was terrific. We had Ramona, who was quietly efficient. She warmed up to us after a few days, and we enjoyed talking to her.

 

Our first port was Cozumel. We took a private taxi from the port and received a terrific tour of the island. We talked the driver into a 3 hour tour for the same price, as the 2 ½ tour. He kept us laughing and gave us terrific hints, such as bargaining with every merchant. Some of the highlights were Punta Sur, Sanchos, and a small town with a Mayan ruin. He stopped along the way for us to take several pictures. He dropped us back in Cozumel at the end. We ate lunch at Pancho’s Backyard. It was wonderful. I had the tamales which were to die for! This restaurant is located right on the main street and was easy to find. The tables all face an inward courtyard with a tinkling wall fountain.

 

Our next stop was Limon, Costa Rica. We received word that our excursion was cancelled due to mud slides. (Train ride and bus). After cancelling another excursion due to the weather, my family decided to stay around the port. We enjoyed the small flea market, as there were very nice crafts located there. One merchant told us he made the silver bracelets that were displayed. We told him that we’d like to look around and then come back to buy. It turned out we saw those same silver bracelets at several shops and a few merchants told us they made them, too. It was funny, but all the bracelets looked exactly the same. I did buy a few things along the way. After the flea market, we ventured into the very poor town. There were stores, but they were crowded and small. I did buy a t-shirt from a street vendor who was very nice. She gave us her newspaper, after we asked her where to buy one. There were armored guards and police everywhere in this town.

 

After Limon, we docked in Colon, Panama. Our bus picked us up at the dock for a tour of Portobello and Gatun Locks. It was raining, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. Prior to leaving Colon, our guide explained about the buses, which he called, Red Devils, as they were very dangerous on the roads. They’re converted school buses that may or may not have seats, and may be overcrowded with people standing in the aisles. The locks were very interesting, as we saw a huge barge loaded with goods going through. After watching from the bottom level, we climbed to the next level to see from another angle. After leaving the locks, we listened to a terrific history and monologue of the area from our guide Nicholas. We then headed to Portobello. This is a very rustic town. The church, which impressed my family, was quaint. There’s a historical Black Christ inside. Outside the church, we moved on to a small vendor area and then a customs house. This is a historical building with a museum inside. Further on, we saw local dancers from the school. They performed a Calypso/Congo dance. Beyond this point, we walked to a small fort. The view from this fort is lovely. We took many photos!!

 

The glitches on the ship had to do with the Guest Relations Desk. I won’t go into details, but they were very difficult to deal with. We had a few questions during the cruise and each one seemed to be a problem for them to answer.

 

As you can tell, we had a wonderful time. I spoke to a Holland America guest in Costa Rica, who told us he didn’t have much to do on the Holland. I told him we were having a fun time on our trip with all the activities. The eight days were a bonus, as we loved the sea days the most. I’m already missing being on the ship!!

 

You can view pictures from our slideshow at Photobucket:

http://s438.photobucket.com/albums/qq109/onvacation2008/?albumview=slideshow

 

Here's a terrific picture my husband took of the sisters!!

1481737397_Picture149.jpg.89290fc49cbc50e8b029b62c52c9e318.jpg

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cbreit

cbreit

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Great review.. Thanks. Seems like we've been waiting forever to get some new reviews. Couple of questions.. Did they have roast beef in the deli, and did you make it to the fish & chips? If you did, how was it?

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stlrboo

stlrboo

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Many thanks for the review! We do the 6 day to Key West, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios on December 14th!!:)

 

Glad Todd Whittmer is still the CD.. altho' I hear his ass't is good when filling in for Todd!:D

 

We sailed the Liberty to Colon and Limon + Costa Maya in 2007... Can't go wrong with the 'sister ship', right..:p

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nothomeonacruise

nothomeonacruise

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Great review.. Thanks. Seems like we've been waiting forever to get some new reviews. Couple of questions.. Did they have roast beef in the deli, and did you make it to the fish & chips? If you did, how was it?

 

We didn't get to have fish and chips, but I know there was roast beef on the Lido. I"m not sure if it was in the deli, as I didn't get there, either. There were so many choices of places to eat.

 

My daughter said the pizza was great. She had that several times. My husband had the best hamburgers on the Lido, too!!

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bigdawg86

bigdawg86

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Great pix and review......approx how long was the bus ride for the tour you did in panama( to the locks and protobello)? Me and my wife are doing that trip in may and are interested in that tour. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you

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nothomeonacruise

nothomeonacruise

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The bus ride was about an hour to Portobello, but very short ride to the Locks. It's an interesting ride, as the bus had to navigate some obstacles. We passed a man walking a horse and several crazy drivers. The driver took us to the locks first and then Portobello. Our guide said we were doing the locks first due to the rainy weather. It was sunny in Portobello and didn't rain again until we were on the road.

 

Also, they passed out muffins and water on the bus, so eat before you leave, as that's the only food served on the tour.

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ackmom

ackmom

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Many thanks for the review! We do the 6 day to Key West, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios on December 14th!!:)

 

Glad Todd Whittmer is still the CD.. altho' I hear his ass't is good when filling in for Todd!:D

 

We sailed the Liberty to Colon and Limon + Costa Maya in 2007... Can't go wrong with the 'sister ship', right..:p

 

 

 

As we got off the ship yesterday, Todd told us he would be in California in a couple of weeks. So, it may possibly be during your cruise.

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wayne_trisha

wayne_trisha

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Great review.. Thanks. Seems like we've been waiting forever to get some new reviews. Couple of questions.. Did they have roast beef in the deli, and did you make it to the fish & chips? If you did, how was it?

 

Freedom just returned from Europe. I was also on this cruise and I ate at the fish and chips 3 times. the soup is great, the fried fish is good, fried oysters ok, and conch fritter is a grease ball and not good. They have the same menu everyday. The seared Ahi tuna is also good as was the octopus salad. I'm pretty sure they had roast beef in the deli but I never ordered it. I had Rubens or cornbeef & pastrami (both were great!)

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DGP1111

DGP1111

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The glitches on the ship had to do with the Guest Relations Desk. I won’t go into details, but they were very difficult to deal with. We had a few questions during the cruise and each one seemed to be a problem for them to answer.

 

Well, I can easily tell you that the same group of crew members at the desk are having continued issues this next week well. I'm aboard Freedom right now, and all passengers are on their third Sail & Sign card. . . and still not all of them are working right. Todd has apologized for the issue over and over (and really sincere) but some people are still having to depend on the purser/info team to assist with important details about finances. The crew there seems more than a wee bit cluelesss, and the answers vary from person to person. Amazing!!

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nothomeonacruise

nothomeonacruise

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Well, I can easily tell you that the same group of crew members at the desk are having continued issues this next week well. I'm aboard Freedom right now, and all passengers are on their third Sail & Sign card. . . and still not all of them are working right. Todd has apologized for the issue over and over (and really sincere) but some people are still having to depend on the purser/info team to assist with important details about finances. The crew there seems more than a wee bit cluelesss, and the answers vary from person to person. Amazing!!

 

It's surprising that a ship like the Freedom has this problem. I can only hope they resolve it. I am going to write a letter about the problems we had with Guest Relations/Pursers Desk to Carnival's headquarters. I did write about it on the comment card that we left, as well.

I really hope you all have a good trip despite the problems with them.

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CCLgoddess

CCLgoddess

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I'm looking at my capers to see the names. I think the groups I saw were good. The one band with island sounds was called, Eclipse 1, and the other played Salsa (which I love) was called, Salsa Nights. It seemed Eclipse 1 played the most, as I saw them many times. :)

 

 

the caribbean band is what i was looking for so thanks a bunch for getting back to me!!

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