My Carnival Freedom Review - March 22, 2009

[spideyfam]

We flew out of Boston into Fort Lauderdale Saturday night, this was the fourth cruise for DH and I. We had reservations at the Rodeway Inn and they provided us with free shuttle service from the airport to the hotel. They also provided us with a free breakfast in the morning; waffles, cereal, doughnuts, muffins, eggs and beverages. We got a good rate on this hotel when booking it online.

 

 

The hotel also offered us free shuttle service from the hotel to the cruise port, but DH and I decided that we would take a taxi so we didn't have to wait in line with the many cruisers at the hotel. It turned out to be the best thing we could have done. The taxi was $20 including tip, and we were at the cruise port in 10 minutes. We arrived about 10:30am and expected to see a line of people getting on the ship. To our surprise, we walked right into the building, went straight through security, and ended up in a line of about 10 people in front of us to get our sail and sign cards, all in about 10 minutes!! We were given a zone number of 3 and once we were checked in, we were asked to have a seat in the holding area with the other cruisers. 30 minutes later we were having our pictures taken and were headed to the Lido deck for burgers and fries. After filling our stomachs, we headed to the Chic dining room to see where we were seated for the late dinner. DH and I had sat at a table for two on another cruise and decided that we wanted to sit with other people. We were pleased when the dining room staff told us we were at a table for 8.

 

We booked our first balcony room on this cruise on the Panorama Deck and we were able to get into our room around 1:15pm.

 

 

 

 

Will post more tomorrow..........

[breezycruiser]

Can't wait to read more!

[cruisebie]

Great beginning and I love the pictures! Can't wait to read more!:)

[AryMay]

Looking forward to your report...and especially since you are including pictures! Yippee!

 

My DH and I just booked the Freedom last week for July so I'm in "research" mode now.

[megr1125]

awwwwwww, come on...don't tease us like that~!!:rolleyes::D:p

[amcjeep4life]

Oh spideyfam, that was just plain cruel! You barely got us on the ship. Get back here and post more! I have a little under 200 days, I need to live vicariously thru everyone else's reviews until it's my turn!

 

Good start tho. :p

[crazy cajun]

Come on we need more!

The crazy cajuns will be invading the freedom in 30 days.

Lets see some pics!

[WAcruisers]

Looking at this ship for the future........please please keep it coming.

[vacruizer]

Can't wait for more!!! Thank you!!!

 

15 1/2 long months to go....:(

[lhuggi1]

Luvin it so far ....keep it comin

[trvlqueen]

Thinking about booking Freedom for '10 ... so please keep it coming. Great start! I love FLL Port!

[spideyfam]

Once in our room we immediately checked out the balcony, there was a reclining chair, a regular chair and a small table. We had read here on Cruise Critic to bring a bungee cord about 12" long, which we did, we found that we could prop the door open with the table or use the bungee cord. We immediately noticed that the glass wall on our balcony was dirty and hard to see. Since this was our first balcony, my DH decided to clean it with a towel we had in the bathroom...

 

 

We later found out during the week that they routinely clean them during the week. LOL, It seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

After getting in a quick nap, it was time for the muster drill, DH and I grabbed our life jackets and hurried down to the 4th floor. This muster drill took us straight to the life boats, we were crammed up against the back wall with many people standing in front of us, it was a little uncomfortable. During the middle of the drill, my husband noticed that we were moving, which was very disappointing, I had wanted to be on our balcony when we set sail. Once the drill was over, we took all stairs back to the Panorama Deck, the elevators where very busy, and we wanted to get back as soon as we could. I thought my legs would fall off. LoL. The muster drill was over and we were now officially on VACATION!!

 

 

Once we were in open sea, we headed out to the Lido deck, which was right outside our door. We sat for a little while then decided to check out the ship.

 

 

 

 

When we had returned to our room, our luggage had arrived and we took the time to unpack. My DH had read on CC that our luggage would fit under the bed, I couldn't believe how much room there was.

 

We had the late seating for dinner in the Chic Dining Room, we had a table of 8. We had a great time during the week with the 3 other couples at our table, we also had the best wait staff, Tito and IWayan.

 

 

I am not sure how it all started that first night, but Tito would bring the table a different plate of hot peppers and/or hot sauce everynight. The men at our table added these peppers to their meals, and we had a great time watching them turn red and asking for more water. The food was, great, no complaints.

 

This was an early night for DH and I since it had been a very long day, when we returned to our room, we spent a few minutes on the balcony and headed to bed since tomorrow was Key West.

[RAVI360]

More....more..........:d:d

[spideyfam]

Monday morning and we were docked in Key West and not at the Naval Station, Yeah!!! This was the fourth time my DH and I have visited Key West in the past two years, so we knew what Key West had to offer. We decided to just walk this trip and enjoy our time in the sun. Unfortunately the sun was not showing itself and it was misting. We decided to walk down Duval Street and because it was early not all shops were open. We noticed a lot of homeless people and one asked my DH for money for a hot dog. We ended up walking all the way to the southern most point.

 

 

The sun finally decided to make a showing and we decided to head back to do some shopping. We stopped in front on Sloppy Joes live Camera on Duval Street, called our good friend at home, and he was able to see us on his computer waving (there was a delay) but it was still pretty cool.

We have a new granddaughter that was born 3 days before we left, so I was on a mission to buy her something at every port. I ended up buying her a onesie and bought myself a Key West sweatshirt. We then decided to walk to the pier to take in the beautiful blue water and our ship.

 

[71Corvette]

Great reveiw so far, I especially like the added pictures. I'll be on Freedom next year so I'm anxious to hear more.

 

I bet the hot peppers were a hoot! The waitstaff probably do it as entertainment for themselves. :)

[Chigirlcruzin]

Looking forward to reading the rest! I'm on this cruise in 10 days:)! Can you tell me what the production shows are - do they do "Ticket to Ride" on the 6 day?

[spideyfam]

We decided not to purchase the soda card on board, so my DH decided to buy a six pack of Coke at CVS. We then decided to head back to the ship for lunch, we were not sure if we would be allowed to bring the soda on board, but quickly noticed that other cruisers were doing the same thing. Security did question me on the soda, I told him it was soda, he asked to see it, and we were on our way to our room. We quickly ate lunch on the Lido deck and my DH decided he wanted to go back to CVS and get more soda. This time upon returning, security didn't question us and we went straight through.

 

Took a much needed nap in the afternoon and later went to dinner in the Chic Dining room. Tuesday was a day at sea so there was no hurry in getting up in the morning. We were told in our capers that we needed to turn our clocks back an hour, so an extra hours sleep!!!

 

We had a very lazy relaxing day on board the ship Tuesday. Went to the Lido Deck for Breakfast and then found a couple chairs on the Panorama Deck and the chair hogs were out in full force. Later in the afternoon we watched the ice carving,

 

 

The hairy chest contest followed shortly after. An eleven year old boy had entered the contest which was pretty hilarious, and of course the man that everyone knows on the cruise entered. He was the gentleman that was always the center of attention dancing. We then ran Steve and Ida, a couple that we met at dinner and played Trivia and Bingo on the Lido Deck. Dh and I were able to find a couple of the blue rocking chairs on the lido deck (I would love to put one on my deck at home). We noticed a gentleman that seemed to be by himself and was walking around talking to all of the women. It was quite entertaining watching him. We ate more than we should have throughout the day, but we are on VACATION!

 

Tomorrow was Grand Cayman, we had booked an excursion several months ago through Carnival, and we needed to be on the tender by 8:00 am.

[JoanK]

Looking forward to reading the rest! I'm on this cruise in 10 days:)! Can you tell me what the production shows are - do they do "Ticket to Ride" on the 6 day?

 

..check out capers .. Link below..

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/570816578XyZmYP

[Chigirlcruzin]

Thank you :)

[djhsolara]

Thank you so much for your review...and I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

 

If you don't mind me asking, why were you told to bring a bungee cord?

 

Thanks!!

[spideyfam]

This was our second visit to Grand Cayman and my DH booked the Pedro St. James and Botanical Park excursion. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but I quickly noticed that we were the youngest couple by far, and in my opinion, not worth the time or money. Very boring!

 

The Pedro St. James excursion had beautiful views of the ocean, but a long movie about the history of the Cayman Islands and a tour of the oldest standing building on the Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way to the Botanical Park, the bus driver stopped at the beach where we could get out and walk for about 10 minutes. I was amazed at the size of the shells that were on the beach! I did find a piece of coral shaped like a heart and gave it to my DH.

 

 

The botanical park had these amazing blue iguanas. They were free to roam the park at their leisure and we ran into one immediately on our way to buy water.

 

 

 

 

They were amazing creatures. We then took a tour of the garden with one of the gardeners. He was very informative, but I have to admit, I was bored to death. My highlight was watching this turtle.

 

 

We had a couple with us on our excursion that was on the Carnival Sensation. They were supposed to be back on their ship at 2:30pm. We were still on our bus at 3:00, and I could see how nervous they were. Luckily, their ship waited for them.

 

Once we were back at the pier, we had about an hour to shop, and off I went to find something for my new granddaughter. I love to shop, so this was a great end to my day in Grand Cayman.

 

There were about 5 ships in port that day, and the lines were looong to catch a tender and get back to your ship. For some reason, the Carnival Freedom was the only ship that didn't have a line and we were able to get right on and get back to eat. I managed to take a picture of the outside of our room while on the tender.

 

[spideyfam]

A bungee cord can be used to keep the balcony door open. We often kept it open just to hear the sound of the ocean.

[jellybeanOH]

I'm loving your review. Keep it coming. I'm booked on the Freedom in November. Your pics are great.:D

[JXR]

Thanks so much for the review. I will be sailing the Freedom this coming Saturday, and it's helping me with the anticipation.

 

Joanne

[Jeans*Fanatic]

What a great review so far! Love the pics!! Keep It coming!!! :D LOL! Was that a tracking device on the blue iguana? And where is the statue of liberty located on the ship? (I really loved that pic too)