Freedom Review 8/1- Western Carribean

[pinglefty]

As I sit in the Fort Lauderdale Airport I will begin to post my review our of cruise on the freedom that just ended today.

Day 1

The big day has finally arrived. We woke up and ate the continental breakfast at the Hyatt Place. This was the biggest disappointment of the hotel. We stay at a lot of Hotels that have free breakfasts due to having three boys. The only warm food on the buffet was bagels and toast, however this being said it is hard to complain with free and it's better than fast food. We took the shuttle from the hotel over to the cruise terminal. We left the hotel at 10:00 am (I know you are all going to say that is way to early) but I really hate lines. The shuttle was ready at 10:00 as promised. We were dropped off at the front of the terminal and within 10 minutes we were inside the terminal and past security. Within another 15 minutes we were all signed in and had our sail and sign cards. It is now 10:45 am. We were on the ship by 11:40.
This is where we made our first mistake. We were instructed to head to the lido deck for lunch. We stopped and ate at the first food buffet we saw. After we ate we walked around inside the lido deck and found many more food choices. The hamburgers were not bad for mass-produced and the kids enjoyed them. We purchased the drink cards and off we went.

The Muster drill was completed right at 3:30. Everyone lines up outside in the heat and listens to the captain on the Intercom system. It is not fun but a necessary evil I believe. It would just make more sense if people would listen and follow the directions. It does concern me slightly if we really had to evacuate the ship in a real emergency. There is no reason to show up first to this drill, like we did, because once all of the late comers show up you will be backed up into the wall with little ability to see anything if you are not over six feet.

My family has two cabins, 6347 balcony for my Wife and myself and 6353 inside for the boys. 6347 is a very quite cabin, the boys however said that they can hear the casino music and speaker in their room.

We ate dinner in the posh dinning room, early seating. Our group of sixteen is divided into two tables. The food was very good. Everyone enjoyed his or her meal except for the one steak that had to be sent back due to being under cooked. At 10:30 pm we went to the Welcome aboard show that was put on by John Heald. He did a great job and everyone seemed to enjoy the show, it was a little PG13 but I think a lot of the jokes went over the kids’ head. He did advise us that out of 3000 guests that we have 913 of them are under 18 years of age. It appears carnival has tuned into the family ship, which is fine with us. The show was very entertaining and lasted about 60 minutes.

PS we found the secret door to the deck at the front of the ship.

[celticd1]

We'll be doing this same cruise in 160 days! Can't wait for the rest of your review!

[Nanatravel]

Thanks. We are doing the 6 night cruise, staying at the Hyatt Place also, and I too hate lines so plan to shuttle to the port early as well.

I'll check in for more news later.

Nanatravel

[pinglefty]

Here is a link to my Hyatt Place Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1033663

[deannasch]

I was glad to see that you put the rooms on there. We are in 6354 in 6 weeks and was kind of concerned about the casino. Most said don't worry after midnight you won't hear it. Did your boys hear the music all night?

[chacha813]

We're leaving in 7 weeks. Can't wait to hear how the ports are. I'm so excited!! Oh well, keep it coming.

[pinglefty]

In boys room they said they could hear the casino until around midnight. After that it got pretty quite

[deannasch]

Thanks... I am a night owl and so is the gal going with me so we should be fine then... I had previously heard that the band plays until 12 - 12:30 so nice to have it confirmed. Can't wait to go, 41 days.

[cjkumbaya]

Great start - looking forward to more. Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with everyone!

[pinglefty]

Day 2
Day at Sea
Today was our first of three days at sea. My wife and I along with others in our party had appointments at the Spa. I was getting the Shave, facial and scalp massage; my wife received the Ionithermie therapy and a pedicure. The staff is very friendly and accommodating at the spa, however, be ready for a large sale pitch at the end of your appointment. My gal was very laid back about selling the lotions, however some of our people in our group were given the “sale pitch” in full steam. I don’t know about most people but to us the spa is a time to relax. I do not have any issue with the tipping but let’s relax on the sales pitch. All and all it was an enjoyable appointment.

We learned the hard way today that you do not want to be out on the deck during the day when the sun is out and not wearing deck shoes. My feet are still trying to cool off. We watched the hairy chest contest today on the lido deck, it was rated PG13 but the entire family watched and thought that it was hilarious. The three boys loved the water slide and could have spent the entire afternoon on it. I also went to the casino and attended the learn to play craps seminar. It was very informative and entertaining. At the end of the seminar all guest that attend receive a five-dollar play card from the casino.

We ate dinner in the posh dinning room. Tonight was one of the two formal nights during our trip. I know that the dress code is a very debated topic on the board however I can tell you from first hand experience 95% of all the families that were in the Posh dinning room for the 6:15 seating were dressed up. Majority of the men had on Ties and jackets and the women had on dresses. Had you shown up in shorts you would have stuck out like a sore thumb, but that is your choice. The performance that was put on by the wait staff I felt was lacking. They played two songs that they wanted to get us all to sing with but beyond that not much happened. On our past cruise the wait staff was out dancing around.

We went to the “Big Easy” show at 8:30. The show was very well done with great special effects. The dancers in the show are very talented in the singing and dancing arena, but the show just did not tickle my fancy. I left thinking that it was not a total waste of time but for some reason it did not give me the wow effect. At the end of the day it was a very fun and enjoyable first day at sea.

[pinglefty]

Day 3
Cozumel

Today can be summed up into one word “wow”. This was our first port of call and everyone was excited about our day ahead. We booked our party at Nachi Cocum. We ate breakfast on the ship due to Nachi not opening until 10:00AM. We left the ship around nine and walked through the shops that were at the port. Due to the Freedom being the only ship there it was not crowed in the least. Around 9:30 we headed to the taxi stand to get a ride to Nachi. They had Passenger vans large enough to hold our entire party of 16. We paid $10 per person for the entire round trip. I do not know if this seems high but our group had no problem paying $5 each way. The drive was approx 10 minute. Our taxi driver informed us that we did not have to pay when he dropped us off, we would pay him when he drove us back. We asked him to be back around 3:00 pm. He informed our group that he was going to sit and wait in the parking lot for us, just in the event that we wanted to go someplace else during the day. This seemed strange to us Americans, but things are done differently in Mexico I guess.

I will start of by noting that we were the first party to arrive. We were shown to our cabana huts and given enough chairs for the entire group. Our drinks were ordered and the gentleman that had all of the extra excursions came over with our waiter and explained our options. They were not pushy in the least. We had the option to snorkel, banana boat, and parasail. Five of us decided to do the snorkeling trip. The cost was $38 per adult and $30 per child. We were taken out to two different reefs and spent about 30 minutes at each one. We had a young gentleman with us that was our guide and he swam right in the water with us. He would feed the fish along with going down to the bottom to show us his diving abilities. We saw many colorful fishes along with a turtle, stingray and an assortment of other large fish that I am unable to name. Two people in our group did the parasailing; the cost was only $65, which is cheaper than anywhere we had looked. They enjoyed the view that had of Nachi while up in the air.

After the snorkeling we had lunch in the restaurant, we were the only people eating lunch at that tine. The Nachos and guacamole were out of this world. The rest of the food was good; it is just that the nachos were unbelievable. We never had an empty glass during the entire day. The wait staff was unbelievable and very accommodating. They have a little store where you can buy and rent different water items, everything from a floating mat to a jet ski. Our oldest son purchased a Cuban Cigar at the stand and passed it around for the other adults to try. For some reason it seems that parents get more lax when in Mexico.

We counted and during the busiest time there were no more then 35 people at this beach resort and I think that everyone there found it on cruise critic. I know that there are many other resorts to go to, some that have large water toys for the kids, but if you want a very relaxing day, then Nachi Cocum is the place. We cannot wait until we can come back and spend another day there. When it was time to head back to the ship our drive had the van up at the entrance and the air conditioner already on. Back to the ship we headed

I took my 18 year-old son and his 18-year-old cousin to the casino. It was a good time to teach them the fundamentals of playing Blackjack. The dealers were very patient in teaching them the game. We picked a table that was empty and I was surprised at how much time the dealer spent explaining the rules and etiquette of the casino.

PS try the white chocolate bread pudding for dessert.

FYI Our cruise director did tell us that they left a couple on the island that did not make it back to the ship due to there jeep breaking down.

Another Perfect Day!!!!

[pinglefty]

I need help in posting my photo's any advice

[pinglefty]

Day 4
Full day at Sea

This was our second full day at sea. We Ate breakfast in the Main dinning room and then decided to head out to the lido deck 9. The deck was full of people swimming and having a good time. We hung out and let the boys swim for a while and do the water slide.

Today was my first negative experience that I had with the ship. We decided to eat on the lido deck and do the buffet because some of our group wanted to try the Mongolian buffet. Up until this point we have been eating all three meals every day in the main dinning room. The buffet area did not impress me. It was jammed packed with people. The lines were long and whole environment was just a turn off for me. I possibly may be classified as a snob but I prefer to eat my food in a dinning room. The party’s in our group that did eat at the Mongolian buffet did say that it was very good and they would get it again. They had a wait less then 10 minutes. This being said if you like buffet food you will be in heaven because there are many options for you.

We spent the majority of the afternoon going to different trivia games. The boys entered the beanbag toss on deck 3.

During the afternoon we played bingo in the Victorian Lounge. I have realized that as the cruise progresses the bingo cards get cheaper. After bingo we stayed around and watched the marriage game that was hosted by John Herald. This was one of the funniest shows that we have seen.

We spent the remainder of the evening in the casino and just hanging out.

[yankeegirl152]

We were on the same cruise - in cabin 6341 - I agree with the noise from the casino - honestly I was more bothered by the kids running in the hallways in the morning than the casino at night. Can't wait to hear another person's opinion of our cruise!

[danixbanani]

thanks for the great review so far! I'm going on this cruise in just 18 days! I LOVE NACHI COCOM!! I went there in March and it was just amazing. I can't wait to visit again at the end of this month!

Keep the review coming!

[collfosh]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. It helps narrow down all the choices we'll have in January when we're on the Freedom. Appreciate it!

[Snorkel2Much]

The driver waited because you hired him for the day @ $160.00

A pure taxi ride price is regulated (last I checked) at $15 one-way from Puerta Maya to Nachi for a group of 4, (splitting your group into 4 cabs) or $30 for a group of eight = $60 each way. You were happy because your group rode together at a price you could live with, he was happy to get paid to just hang out, win-win.

[JulieAndTim2009]

Originally Posted by pinglefty

Day 4
Full day at Sea

This was our second full day at sea. We Ate breakfast in the Main dinning room and then decided to head out to the lido deck 9. The deck was full of people swimming and having a good time. We hung out and let the boys swim for a while and do the water slide.

Today was my first negative experience that I had with the ship. We decided to eat on the lido deck and do the buffet because some of our group wanted to try the Mongolian buffet. Up until this point we have been eating all three meals every day in the main dinning room. The buffet area did not impress me. It was jammed packed with people. The lines were long and whole environment was just a turn off for me. I possibly may be classified as a snob but I prefer to eat my food in a dinning room. The party’s in our group that did eat at the Mongolian buffet did say that it was very good and they would get it again. They had a wait less then 10 minutes. This being said if you like buffet food you will be in heaven because there are many options for you.

We spent the majority of the afternoon going to different trivia games. The boys entered the beanbag toss on deck 3.

During the afternoon we played bingo in the Victorian Lounge. I have realized that as the cruise progresses the bingo cards get cheaper. After bingo we stayed around and watched the marriage game that was hosted by John Herald. This was one of the funniest shows that we have seen.

We spent the remainder of the evening in the casino and just hanging out.

We were on this cruise as well in cabin 6228. Everything you have said so far has been very accurate to our experience as well. I would like to expand on the buffet a bit. It was, at times, crowded but the food was FAR better than what one would describe as "buffet food". I don't eat at buffets at home as they always made me sick. The food on board was fantastic and not at all "buffet food".

[pinglefty]

I should add that I did eat at the fish and chip during the Panama port and it was very good. I am like you when at home I never eat buffett food. The boys did snack there and they also liked the food.

[JulieAndTim2009]

Originally Posted by pinglefty

I should add that I did eat at the fish and chip during the Panama port and it was very good. I am like you when at home I never eat buffett food. The boys did snack there and they also liked the food.

I never made it to the fish and chips...one of the things I wish I would have tried...that and the reuben from the deli looked REALLY good!!