Loved Freedom!!

[kcparrothead]

We booked Patouche for our stop in Tortola, so it's so good to hear great things about them!! We're still undecided about Antigua, but definitely want to go to a beach with a good beach bar - thank you so much for all of your input!! Keep it coming!!!!!

[falconfan]

we only have what until 3-3:30 on tortola, wondering about brewers bay? or should i go thru the ship for something? i go with the ship when time is short.

i really havent heard about many beaches on tortola, any info here? thanks..cruisegal

 

That is right, we are scheduled to leave at 3:30. I am going to do SCUBA diving through Carnival for this port. It is a 5 hour excursion and I did not want to take any chances at missing the ship.

 

Shellden,

 

Thanks for the info on the 12-14 kids club. We are hoping that the couple that is going with us will have their grandson with them when we go so our son will have someone he knows on the cruise.

[DollyJ]

Thanks for all the great info on the Eastern itinerary! We leave May 23, I can't wait!!!

 

Anyone have Capers they can post?

[falconfan]

Anyone have Capers they can post?

 

 

Ditto. I love to see the Capers, it makes me feel that I am that much closer to being there.

[jbroons]

Just back ourselves.

The ship is great, clean and decorated in the usual Carnival "anything and everything goes" manner. Once you get used to it, you start to like it. Food in the main dining room was excellent- they have improved the low fat deserts. Buffet food was very good as well, and anytime I went the lines were short-very little waiting. Our room stewad did a fine job as did the dining room wait staff. Overal we loved the ship and the staff with a couple of exceptions. The Cruise Director was much , much too talkative and tried to be a little to slick for my liking. I'm sure the 70+ whelchair crowd loved him, but I would think that that would be about it.( but Lord knows there were a lot of them- Holland America must have overbooked and sent some pax to Carnival ) The production shows were fairly good with the excetion of the Beatles tribute - it was awful. The female singer was terrible at trying to sing Beatle songs, and hte guy was not a lot better. The best part of the show was the Philipino house band- they could really do the Beatles! We were very dissapointed.

 

We did our own walking tour of Old San Juan as all of us (8) had been done a tour there in 2006.

St. Thomas - We did a shopping /beach tour and went to Coki Beach- its a dump-don't go there.

Antigua- Did a Island/Beach tour to Long Bay - beautiful beach- go there

Tortolla-Did an Island / Beach tour to Brewers Bay - another beautiful uncrowded beach- go there too. Tortolla is fantastic- much nicer than St. Thomas- I want to live there.

Nassau- Wlaked on our own to Ft. Fincastle via the "Queens Staircase:. Took a cab ($4)over to Atlantis to see the Aquarium. Walked thru the Casino and the convention centre then out the door of one of the towers to the the Riu Hotel- thur that lobby to the beach. nice beach. Walked to the other side of the Rui to an army of cabs waiting to tke us back to the ship for $4.

 

Hope this helps someone.

 

That's too bad...you must have caught them on a bad night. I saw it recently and thought that it was absolutely fantastic....and I have seen 100+ Broadway shows as well as LOVE, the Beatles Cirque de Soleil tribute. Don't miss "Ticket To Ride" if you have the chance to see it!!

[golfadj]

We were on the same cruise of April 25 and a few comments.

 

Tortola we went to the baths. Took a 10 minute stroll and booked direct with Speedy (same company used by Carnival) and paid half the Carnival cost. Took the 12 30 ferry back to Tortola and gave us two hours at the Baths which was plenty. Great trip and highly recommend it.

 

Piano bar was very good but Vince Strong begged repeatedly for tips by basically telling you that in order to do a request put some green stuff with it. Did this every 15 minutes or so and to me was a big turnoff. He played very well and his singing was good. As he put it he knows a lot of songs and does not know a lot of songs but on quite a few requests he did not know.

 

For the first time ever did not particularly care for the Phillipino band. Music unlimited was very good last year on the Triumph and this one was not close. Did good Beatles though.

 

CD was ok and he had good sense of humor. Was a bit over the top in trying to sell all kinds of stuff that Carnival pawns off on the unwarry but if you are experienced cruiser you will know better than to buy what he was selling. Social hosts running games were very good and had some nice long talks with a couple of them.

 

Food was excellent both in Posh DR and Lido. First experience with Mongolian and Indian and Mexican grills and very happy with it. Long wait for Mongolian but everything was made to order.

 

Entertainment was pretty good. Beatles show was the third time we have seen it. Would prefer an hour of the band playing songs but they insist on the dancers and production singers doing their thing. However since they did get a standing ovation one would think the crowd loved it. Hypnotist put on great show. Not sure how many "subjects" were really hypnotized but the crowd loved it.

 

Dining room servers were excellent and stateroom attendand probably best we have had. First platinum cruise and was nice sending out our laundry every few days and taking the least amount of clothes on board ever.

 

Overall a very nice cruise.

 

Stu

[Camelia-]

I will be on the Freedom in December and would love to see some menus (we will be on the 6 day Western)..also..can someone please tell me what drinks are available at no cost (during dinner)? Of course tap water and regular coffee or tea will be but what about juices, iced tea or specialty coffees like cappucino? Do you pay for those in the dining room? I know that PRincess and Costa charge for these and I've never been on Carnival...

 

Thanks!!

 

Camelia

[kcparrothead]

For the first time ever did not particularly care for the Phillipino band. Music unlimited was very good last year on the Triumph and this one was not close. Did good Beatles though.

Stu

 

When I first read this, I was thinking the band may be the one we heard on The Elation a couple years ago. Are there a few different bands from the Phillipines? I loved them, and Music Unlimited sounds familiar. Now I've read good and bad about the Ticket to Ride show - and that was the only one I was interested in seeing!!

[golfadj]

We have now seen 3 Phillipino bands on the last 3 cruises we have been on, so suspect there are more than 3.

 

Of the 3 Music Unlimited was by far the best.

 

Personally I think that if you are going to have a Beatles show why do you need a bunch of dancers and production singers changing what was already great.

 

Carnival had an imitation Beatles band a year or two ago that did a one hour show and they were great. For the first time in about 15 cruises skipped the dining room and had a quick dinner on the lido deck so we could see both shows.

 

Would rather see that than the production show but as I said before the audience was very happy with Ticket to Ride.

 

Golfadj

[jbroons]

We have now seen 3 Phillipino bands on the last 3 cruises we have been on, so suspect there are more than 3.

 

Of the 3 Music Unlimited was by far the best.

 

Personally I think that if you are going to have a Beatles show why do you need a bunch of dancers and production singers changing what was already great.

 

Carnival had an imitation Beatles band a year or two ago that did a one hour show and they were great. For the first time in about 15 cruises skipped the dining room and had a quick dinner on the lido deck so we could see both shows.

 

Would rather see that than the production show but as I said before the audience was very happy with Ticket to Ride.

 

Golfadj

 

Because the show isn't simply a tribute to The Beatles (my favorite band ever, btw) it is about the evolution of the times and how they affected it and responded to it. I thought it was fantastic!!

 

And, you are right. Music Unlimited was great...both in "Ticket To Ride" and when they played on Freedom's Lido. They played lots of Santana, Eagles, Clapton....but cleverly never any Beatles songs on Lido.

[kcparrothead]

So, Music Unlimited is the band on the Freedom? That would be great!!

[jbroons]

So, Music Unlimited is the band on the Freedom? That would be great!!

 

They played on Lido, under the BIG screen, only one afternoon as I remember. The other days had a bad reggae duo...they even drowned-out my iPod with their LOUD calypso/reggae stuff!!

 

M U was great...really great....during the Beatles' show in particular.

[golfadj]

So, Music Unlimited is the band on the Freedom? That would be great!!

 

Music Unlimited is not on the Freedom. The current band is something like Music Connection.

 

Golfadj

[jbroons]

Music Unlimited is not on the Freedom. The current band is something like Music Connection.

 

Golfadj

 

You are right....I just re-checked the capers and the band was Music Connection. They were very good.

[kcparrothead]

So, did they also play in the dance lounge at night?

[jbroons]

So, did they also play in the dance lounge at night?

 

They did...Swingtime Lounge at least one night that I know of. They played mostly on Lido under the big screen....3pm - 6pm and 10:30pm - late.

[DaisyGirl55]

Just back ourselves.

Antigua- Did a Island/Beach tour to Long Bay - beautiful beach- go there

 

Hope this helps someone.

 

 

Who did you book your Island?beach tour with? Antigua is the only port where I am not really sure what we want to do....

[Kerplode]

Our plans:

San Juan - Kayaking in Bio Bay

St. Thomas - Sunny Liston Tour

Antigua - Segway tour

 

But we've no idea of what to do in Tortola or Nassau.

 

Neither of us drink alcohol.

 

Any ideas?

[tor548]

Thanks everyone for the awesome reviews, tips, and info about the Freedom Eastern Itinerary! I've also been looking all over for info and can only seem to find Western reviews.

 

 

Regarding the "rougher seas" - was it just a fluke or did the crew say antyhing about it being common the route they took? Obviously, I know the seas change day to day, just curious if it seemed to be an isolated thing or not.

 

I'm cruising Freedom eastern in Feb -- so I have tons of time to decide, but you gave me some good excursion ideas already.

[JXR]

Thanks everyone for the awesome reviews, tips, and info about the Freedom Eastern Itinerary! I've also been looking all over for info and can only seem to find Western reviews.

 

 

Regarding the "rougher seas" - was it just a fluke or did the crew say antyhing about it being common the route they took? Obviously, I know the seas change day to day, just curious if it seemed to be an isolated thing or not.

 

I'm cruising Freedom eastern in Feb -- so I have tons of time to decide, but you gave me some good excursion ideas already.

 

This was my 10th cruise. 3rd on the Freedom, and never had rough weather. I think that it was just a fluke. Friends of mine that did the same itinerary 4 weeks prior, said that it was very smooth sailing.

 

Joanne

[JXR]

Who did you book your Island?beach tour with? Antigua is the only port where I am not really sure what we want to do....

 

I booked mine through Gordon of Antigua, and it was excellent. I would highly recommend him.

 

Joanne

[Cruiseaholichal]

Who did you book your Island?beach tour with? Antigua is the only port where I am not really sure what we want to do....

 

We booked with Sean of Senic tours His brother drove us. Antigua.http://www.scenictoursantigua.com/

[Calliope Pearl]

Can't wait to hear this, also!

[demos]

Thanks to all the recent eastern cruisers. Any more reviews?:)

 

Would love to hear about precruise stay info,

how smooth was embarkation,

did anyone use the vip?

what movies were playing at night on the big screen.

 

Does anyone have the CAPERS they can post??

 

Thank You so much for any info sure helps to get through the wait.:D Love reading reviews esp long ones.;)

[cruisegal58]

we r sailing the freedom on may 23rd. i will post a review when we get back. we r doing the blackbeards beach break on nassau thru carnival b/c we do not like the locals and just go thru the ship to get away from them.. i think brewers bay on tortola, saphire or cowpet on st thomas, nothing else yet. antigua we will wait to see what we feel like doing when we get there..hope others post reviews too!! cruisegal.