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My Freedom Review - Kinda "Live" but not really with lots of pics


sayvan
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Let me start off by welcoming you to yet another (ok I have only ever written one prior but just the same) semi-live review of our journey on Carnival's Freedom.

 

Of course this review isn't really live but I say semi-live because I kept very good track of what we were doing during our 8 day trip to the sunny and most importantly warm Caribbean. I say warm because well... you know that Polar Vortex thing... or should I say this never ending winter we seem to be having in most of the north.

 

I (we) hail from Canada. Southwestern Ontario actually, in a quant little city known as Stratford. So by this point, I am sure you are starting to understand the need for us to get out of dodge and into the sunshine and warmth.

 

As a little bit of background, my wife Vanda (who you shall meet during this review) and I have cruised quite a bit over the last few years. The majority of those cruises have been with Carnival but we have also sailed with Celebrity and Holland America. In 2013, we spent 34 days aboard the Celebrity Solstice as we cruised around Australia , the South Pacific and Hawaii. That review is still to come, albeit extremely late!

 

We are both 49 years of age, have professional occupations and although we usually cruise with family or friends and sometimes both, this time we decided to go it alone. The cruise itself was a last minute decision and we managed to find a great deal.

 

We don't spend a lot of time in our room (because you just have to enjoy every second possible) so although we have had balcony's in the past we often book an inside room and use the savings on other things such as .... well.... drinks of the day! Thus, on this trip we booked an inside room, aft location and on the seventh floor of Freedom known as the Empress Deck. Our room was #7407.

 

As for the pace of this review, bare with me. Sometimes life gets in the way and I need to well, actually work so I can get to my next cruise :rolleyes:. I will try to get to it everyday until she is done however you know the drill.

 

A few points, the opinions and what is expressed during the review are mine and although I can respect others may have a different view of things and I don't mind hearing what others may say I will not engage those negative type of posts....after all this is my vacation and well... you get to share it with me!

 

I also do not have any "food porn" pics... sorry about that but the food was great and I was busy eating it and never got around to taking a picture of it. I do however, have lots of shots of many of the shenanigans we got into during this trip and some tasty drink shots as well. You will not find any complaints from me during this review either. Like I said before, I was on vacation and complaining only creates negative energy. Now that's not to say we never ran into any issues cause life always throws ya a curve ball, but I try to simply catch that ball and move on!

 

So on that note...lets get on with the review...

 

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Edited by sayvan
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Ok... so here we go.

 

One of the reasons I wanted to do this review was because prior to our departure I couldn't find that many Freedom Reviews. Although, we had sailed eight times with Carnival in the past this was our first time on Freedom. The ship would be new for us but the set up was very familiar as our previous cruises were on the Valor, Liberty and Spirit. So two of the three we had been on were the same class. It's always nice to read what others have to say about the ship you are about to embark on.

 

First, a little about the cruise itinerary. This was an eight (8) day cruise that would offer us four (4) ports of call. We would also enjoy three (3) sea day's that in my opinion were placed very nicely. Our first day would be at sea and then we would visit Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Marteen and St. Thomas. This would then be followed by two sea days to close things out. The cruise was from January 25 - February 2.

 

Our journey began with a 1.5 hr drive from where we live to the Toronto airport. We would be staying overnight at the Toronto Delta West Airport hotel where they offered a shuttle to the airport and a pick up to get your car. We were able to use our Delta points for the overnight and parking for 9 days and thus my costs were the taxes only. All in all, our first night and parking cost about $21.

 

We flew on Canjet nonstop to Ft. Lauderdale on January 24th. The flight was uneventful (thus my ability to be here and write this) and before we knew it we were making our way around noon to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. interesting note, the person sitting beside Vanda on the plane happened to be going on the same cruise! their room was actually just around the corner from ours... what are the chances!

 

I had booked the Cambria Suites at Dania Beach. I managed to get a very good rate and they offered a shuttle both from the airport and to the port the following day. When we arrived at the hotel our rooms were not yet ready so we had to wait around for about an hour and half but that was not really that bad because the hotel has a very large sitting area in the hotel lobby area (actually a restaurant) and they also offered free wifi so that allowed us to get caught up on things with friends and family back home.

 

After our wait, we were called to the front desk and off to our room, which was a suite located on the second floor with a view of the pool. While Vanda rested up a bit and dug into one of her books, I decided to head down to the fitness room and have a short workout.

 

There is not much around the hotel but a short 10-15 minute walk takes you to an area where there is lots of shopping, a Kmart and a few restaurant choices. Overall, the area is nice, the hotel very clean and they also offered a buffet breakfast for a small fee. I thought it was worth it.

 

Here are a few shots of our room:

 

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After a restful night after a day of travel it was time to get ready for embarkation. I had scheduled our shuttle from the hotel for 11 am. The hotel was fully booked and all the guest seemed to be using the shuttle it seemed. We packed our bags up, attached our ship tags and made our way down to the lobby.

 

Vanda was ready to go with her fun hat already on!

 

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We arrived in the hotel lobby around 10:45 and the a shuttle was just leaving but was full. The weather was great so we decided to move outside and enjoy the warmth while we waited for the next shuttle to arrive. Within around 20 minutes the next shuttle was there and packed up and we were on our way to the port.

 

Now I had heard a lot about the FTTF pass everyone has been talking about and I wondered whether it was really worth it. In our case, from the time we left the hotel we were at the port, through security, signed for our room keys and on the ship within an hour. We encountered no lines at the port and moved right on through. Just after noon we were walking the Lido deck and sipping on our very first drink of the day!

 

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Here you can see the Oasis in the background:

 

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To be continued folks.....

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The first day is always so exciting... and of course this was a 'fun ship' so we started to enjoy the fun right away...The couple behind Vanda, although we didn't know them at the time would soon become a large part of our cruise!

 

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Of all our cruises, we have only ever left from Ft. Lauderdale once so I had only heard about the magnitude of the Oasis. I was looking forward to seeing this ship alongside the Freedom. My Son and Daughter had sailed her just last year and they loved the ship. I have heard it's a ship you either love or hate... I was very impressed by how big it truly is....

 

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Holland America was moored on the other side of us.

 

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A little panorama shot as well...

 

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That must be a really nice camera... love the last shot! Anyone ever tell your wife she looks like a young Barbara Streisand?

 

Thanks... I will let her know that.... I use a Nikon DSLR and then stitch the shots together and I use a Fugi camera for my underwater and panorama shots.

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So after walking around the ship for about another hour or so we decided to see if our room was ready yet and sure enough it was ready and waiting. We had been on the ship for just over an hour and we were in our room not long after 1 pm. I am glad I didn't waste the money on the FTTF pass... although I am sure it was just fine for those who did...I mean after all we were still waiting for our luggage to arrive ;)

 

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More than enough space for the two of us... I think I did mention this but in case you forgot this was an inside room on the Empress Deck, #7407. The room was located right at the corner to the hallway leading to the elevators. This was a category 4F.

 

The room itself was spacious and had ample storage and our suitcases fit perfectly under the bed and out of the way. The bathroom was the standard... all of them look the same so I didn't take any pictures of it.

 

As I mentioned above, the room was located around the corner from the staircase and elevators. However, noise was minimal. Occasionally we would hear folks running or chatting in the hallway but no bother really. It was perfect for us to get around the ship whether we were heading to the Lido or to the dining room. We avoided the elevators as much as possible.

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After dropping off our bags we decided to head back up to the Lido and grab a bite to eat. We had a big breakfast back at the hotel so we were not that hungry but hey we were on a cruise! So we headed up to grab some salad!

 

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then back out for another Drink of the day....

 

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With a full belly and feeling all refreshed from our drink of the day we decided it was time to explore this beautiful ship known as Freedom..

 

We made our way to the dining room first to scout out our dinner table location. We like to meet people when on vacation so we always ask for a large table. This time we had a table for 10. We were in the Posh dining room, table #441. We always ask for the late seating so on Freedom this was at 8:15pm

 

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The Posh Dining room viewed from our table location.

 

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After our visit in the Dining room we were headed back up to the Promenade deck to check out the sites. We made our first stop into Scott's Piano Bar. This is always a popular spot on a Carnival cruise but for some reason we never seem to make it to the Piano bar at night.... The décor in this bar was pretty cool..

 

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Loved the ceiling...

 

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We then headed into the night club...

 

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More from the Players Sports Bar

 

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We then stepped into the Victoriana Main Theatre

 

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and then it was getting close to the time when we had to head for the Muster Drill. Vanda headed back to the room to see if any of our luggage had arrived and one suitcase had so she decided to start unpacking and I decided I needed to get back up to the Lido .... well you know why!

 

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After the Muster it would be time for sailaway.... but for now I need to take a break! I'll be back tomorrow for the sailaway!

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Looking forward to your review. We're on the 12-13-14 sailing. It will be our first time on the Freedom and our first cabin on the Lido Deck. Great photos.

 

Thanks... well perhaps I can get you on her sooner with my review and pics!

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