Just back from 8 day Freedom cruise

[arf2005]

Just returned from the 8 day Western Caribbean on the Carnival Freedom. Beautiful ship - had a great time and would recommend the ship to anyone considering her.

[sewut]

What excursions did you do?

 

Sewut

[lhall85917]

Are you planning on posting a review? We are interested in this itinerary and would love to hear more!!

[Claybrook Punch]

We are heading out on the Freedom in April, would really like to hear about your cruise. There will be a group of 8 of us some past cruisers and some new ones.

[JMA]

I want to know....how is the air conditioning onboard, especially in the public rooms, such as dining room and theatres?? I like it cool!!

 

Thanks,

Jane

[lds26]

We sail the Freedom in November for 8 days but do the Eastern Carribean itinerary. I am hoping that you post a review would love to see your highlights.

[WAcruisers]

Would love to hear more. Thinking about this ship for next year.

[amcjeep4life]

OK arf, that was a tease and exceedingly CRUEL! WE NEED A REVIEW! One with lots of details and tons of pics! :p We have 7 months to wait for our 8 day and I need to live vicariously through everyone else's cruises! PLEASE, I'm begging, write a review! :D

[arf2005]

I will try and answer a few questions that were asked, and then will do a full review this evening. We did Nachi Cocum in Cozumel, white water rafting and ziplining in Costa Rica and the Indian Village and Panama Canal in Panama. We arranged all of them privately.

 

As for the air conditioning, I found it to be very cold in some parts of the ship. In fact, a sweater was needed at times. In your room, you can control the temperature.

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th Street prior to the cruise. Great location! We used Quality Limo Service for the trip to the hotel and then to the cruise port. They were there early each time and were in contact prior to their arrival by phone to make sure we were ready. I would definately recommend them. If you are staying in that area, the best selection for alchohol in the Total Wine store in the shopping center behind the hotel (trust me, we checked them all out!). We ate at Carlos and ?? on Friday and for all the raves we heard before hand, we thought it was just ok (and I LOVE Mexican food). In fact, a little pricy for what you get. They also don't open for lunch except on Saturday and Sunday. The hotel had a free breakfast buffett and free cocktail hour. We took advantage of both!

 

A suggestion for large groups (ours numbered 23). Do a loud colored tshirt. We were able to find each other immediately by looking for the orange shirts!

 

I will do more tonight.

[john970]

Hi,

 

Quick question:

 

There has been some talk about the pool bands, and I was wondering how the entertainment was. How were the shows, the bands, and the fly-on entertainers? How was the pool reggae band (quality and hours)?

 

Thanks.

[campers3]

Anxious for your review. Crusing in 33 days and can hardly wait. Glad to hear that you had a great time.

[dclark]

The 8 day itenery really makes this cruise special. The ports are awesome. We are a bit tired of cozumel, but Costa Rica and Panama are neat- you really feel like you are far off the beaten path.

I too, did river rafting in CR (loved it!) and we did tour of the canal and the area in Colon. The forest is neat too! We even got to hear the clicking of the ants!

Colon is also pretty cheap too. I have what I call the "beer index". You can tell how pricey an area is by the price of a beer. In some areas of Carr, it can be $2-$3. In Colon, it is $0.47 for a beer!

[arf2005]

The 8 day itenery really makes this cruise special. The ports are awesome. We are a bit tired of cozumel, but Costa Rica and Panama are neat- you really feel like you are far off the beaten path.

I too, did river rafting in CR (loved it!) and we did tour of the canal and the area in Colon. The forest is neat too! We even got to hear the clicking of the ants!

Colon is also pretty cheap too. I have what I call the "beer index". You can tell how pricey an area is by the price of a beer. In some areas of Carr, it can be $2-$3. In Colon, it is $0.47 for a beer!

 

I agree - we saw the cheap beer too! I also agree that the 8 days makes it special. I loved those extra sea days. Very relaxing. You don't feel as though you are rushing from excursion to excursion like some other cruises I've been on.

[arf2005]

Hi,

 

Quick question:

 

There has been some talk about the pool bands, and I was wondering how the entertainment was. How were the shows, the bands, and the fly-on entertainers? How was the pool reggae band (quality and hours)?

 

Thanks.

 

We had cabin 7445 (with the extra long balcony), so we didn't spend as much time on deck this cruise. When I was there, the bands seemed to be on par with other cruises I've been on. The Beatles show was wonderful. The special effects are amazing. We saw one comedian that was R rated and he was good (not exceptional but good) and another that was more family oriented and he was also good. I did't catch his R rated show. Todd Whitmer (sp) the cruise director is very good. He is there (with announcements, envolvement, etc.) just enough. I like that he didn't make announcements all day long. We were on the last voyage of the Capt. before he went on vacation - he will be the new captain of the Dream (and I think Todd W. is going with him). By the way, I loved the piano bar. Vince was excellent!

[cruisincarnival]

Can't wait to hear your review.. The Freedom was great and I have to agree with you on Todd.. My fav CD so far!

[rubeus]

I agree todd and staff were great.

 

We did paradise beach in cozumel (just took a taxi)

Did a tour with JJ in Costa Rica. (Zip lining and canals)

And just took the taxi to Gatun Locks in Panama.

 

It was cold thoughout the ship. (Too cold for my wife)

[arf2005]

Pre-cruise we stayed at the Embassy Suites in FLL. Rooms are ok but I wouldn't pay the rate they asked for if it were based solely on the room). What is great about this hotel is the location. If you need something prior to your cruise you should be able to find it within several blocks of the hotel. Their atrium is beautiful and as I mentioned before, free breakfeast and a free cocktail hour (5:30 - 7:30 pm). The overnight desk employees left a lot to be desired, but the day shift was awesome!

 

We left the hotel about 10 am for the port and arrived several minutes later. Believe it or not, there was alredy a line! We made it through pretty quickly and took our seats to wait for boarding. People going on a cruise are always in great moods, so the wait was a fun one. I will say the terminal in FLL is not nearly as nice as Miami, but then again, I was going on an 8 day cruise - I didn't really care what the terminal looked like! Boarding began right around 11:30 with zones being called. Our group was in zone 4 and 5 so we were on board within a few minutes.

[SNL4]

Hi,

 

Quick question:

 

There has been some talk about the pool bands, and I was wondering how the entertainment was. How were the shows, the bands, and the fly-on entertainers? How was the pool reggae band (quality and hours)?

 

Thanks.

 

 

I was just on the Freedom two weeks ago (3/8 - 3/14). The two production shows were great - probably two of the best I've seen after 18 cruises. The pool/lido band was eh. They hardly performed and when they did, it was just alright. Two guys, pre-mixed music. The trio, Music Connection, which played in the main show once, on deck once, and in various lounges, were great. The piano bar with Vince was also great. As for the fly-ons, we had a comedian who did two shows (main and r-rated), both which were pretty funny. We had a big-band singer who was "one of the top rated in the UK." He was fine, nothing amazing. And we had a ventriliquist who did a main show and R rate show, both of which I'd seen on a previous cruise at least 5 years ago (same exact material too) but he was still good. The staff is good, when they're around. I felt like I didn't see too much of them.

[surmy555]

Rebus. Could you fill us in on the Taxi to the locks in Panama. How did you arrange? How long was the round trip and how long did you spend at the locks? How much did you pay?

 

We are going in May and I think this is what I want to do but have ready so many cautions about Colon I'm a little hesitant.

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[PJames]

We did the Eastern Caribbean on Freedom and wrote up this "diary":

http://www.gummy-stuff.org/cruise2.htm

[AryMay]

Trying to find out which pier the Freedom docks in Panama. Is it Colon 2000? (Apparently there is more than one pier?)

[LPLRN]

We are doing the 8 night on May 9, can't wait!! Keep the info coming

[arf2005]

Trying to find out which pier the Freedom docks in Panama. Is it Colon 2000? (Apparently there is more than one pier?)

 

There did appear to be two piers. We were docked at the one on the left hand side as you approach Colon. The other pier could be seen from the viewing area at the Panama Canal. When we were there, we were the only ship docked at our location. There were two ships docked at the other location. Our dock appeared to be a container port.

[arf2005]

The Freedom is a beautiful ship. Of all the ships I've been on, the Victory was my favorite color scheme, but you just can't beat a ship that is as new as the Freedom! The lights weren't what I would call the most attractive, but again, just being new made it beautiful.

 

We ate lunch and explored the ship while waiting for our rooms to be ready. At 1:30 we were in our rooms and completely thrilled with our 9A balcony (7445)! For those who will ask, no there is no couch - but you don't really need one! There's also no couch in 7449 next door. We had the 9A and 5 balconies next to it. We were able to open the dividers betwen 7445, 7447, 7449 and 7451. There is no way to open between 7451 and the next room, but the two rooms in the middle can be opened to each other.

 

We also had several inside rooms on 7. All rooms had fridges (take items out and store them and then put them back before the cruise ends - I wonder how many times those bottles have been moved?!). All of the rooms had flat screen tv's, bathrobes, razors and toothpaste, shower gel and shampoo as well as a hair dryer. I bring my own hair dryer because the one on the ship is a pain to use. There is plenty of storage room. The 9A had a DVD player. The other rooms did not.

[arf2005]

Of course our luggage wasn't there when we first arrived in the room, so we explored each other's cabins, took pictures and drank champagne toasts! When it was time for the muster drill, we took the crew stairs right next to our room (we never heard any noise from the stairs during the cruise). The drill was over before we set sail (yeah), and most of our group watched the sail away from our balconies instead of going upstairs. Our luggage arrived soon after and we were all set!

 

We met for dinner at 8 in the Posh dining room. We had some issues with our tables before hand, but that was with the Carnival office, not with the ships staff (although I have had better maitre d's). Of our 3 tables, 2 had great service all week, 1 was so-so. My complaint here was that we all had different teams waiting on us, therefore we were done at different times. I really think groups should, when possible, be given the same wait staff. The first night was my granddaughters 1st birthday, so we had a cake delivered to the table. She promptly smeared icing all over herself!