Review of Carnival Freedom Med on April 19

Review of Carnival Freedom April 19/ 2007

This is going to be a fairly comprehensive review for all those people

sailing the Freedom soon.

Just a little background. DH and I are both 38, have cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess and have never had a bad cruise. Some things are better than others but on the whole, we have enjoyed all of our cruises, but if we HAD to choose, our favorite is Carnival. Yes Carnival!! The food overall is better, more food venues, fun atmosphere and decor, more affordable, more daytime non alcoholic drinks available, and great shows.

First off we booked an inside room on Deck 1 the Riviera deck. Our room was great, not huge of course but perfectly fine for our needs. I specifically booked room 1369 because it was a couple of doors down from the Laundry room which proved invaluable to us since this was a 12 day cruise and we had a 3 day stay in Venice before the cruise.

We were close to midship, just towards the aft a little and found this to be a great area. We were close to 2 sets of stairs and elevators, and we would use whatever one was closer to where we were going.

The night before the cruise we stayed at the Best Bed and Breakfast Pantheon in Rome and we quite happy with the location and the place itself. Breakfast was huge and we didn’t even order any of the extras that we could have for free. The staff was very nice and the location was very good, we walked to Trevi Fountian, the Colloseum, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona from here.

On embarkation day we shared transport with 2 other couples from our roll call here on cruise critic who stayed at the Best as well. We were at the ship by 11:00 and on the ship within 10 minutes. It was the fastest embarkation I have ever had. Some people from our group did mention that when they arrived later after 1:00 it did take almost an hour to get onto the ship. One thing that added to the time it took to process everyone was that they took your passport and had to mark down the numbers and give you a receipt for it, so that may be why it takes a bit longer.

I actually liked the ship. I have no problem with the decor, I have been on other Carnival ships and found the dining rooms on the Freedom to be quite toned down and very elegant. There was nothing gaudy about the dining room. The layout is very similar in that you have one of the restaurants midship and you either have to go up or down one floor to get around it, but that was nothing new for us. Our dining room, the Posh is located totally aft and was the larger of the two dining rooms.

Our wait staff, Santiago and Micheal were very good. We were always greeted by name and Santiago was always singing and very well too. They always asked us what we did that day in Port too. They were both efficient and friendly. We had a table for 10 but there was only 8 of us from our Cruise critic group sitting there. We were originally told that tables for 8 were the largest but there are a few tables of 10 as well.

Now for the food. We thought the food was great. There was so many options for food. I was on the new Crown Princess in December and we did love it and have a good time but I must admit that the many food options and free juice all day was nice on the Freedom.

For food there is the Grand buffet, around the one side there is the Oriental counter, around the other side there is the Deli counter and all the way around the other side is the “taste of the nations” buffet with 2 sides meeting in the middle. Each side would have a different nationality for that day such as “Mexican” or “Italian” and in the middle there would be a “make your own soup” section too, which I thought was cool.

Across from the Taste of the Nations buffet there was the “Mongolian” where you had fresh vegetables and raw chicken, pork and beef and you pick your own veggies, meat and noodles and they would either stir fry it for you right there with your choice of 3 different sauces or make a soup with them. It was very good, loved the Thai stir fry. This was also an omlette station in the morning along with another omlette station where the 2 Taste of the Nations buffets meet. Don’t look for the omlette station around the other side on the Grand Buffet, they aren’t there, you have to go around the other side.

There was also the Fish and Chips which was very good, but as other posters have mentioned the hours they were open were very short.

There was also the 24 hr Pizzeria, the pizza is awesome. We especially LOVED the calzones. They make them fresh and they take 8 minutes but are SO worth it. They really DO have good pizza.

As always there is the grill which had hamburgers, sausages, salads and the usual. We didn’t eat here so can’t comment.

There was also this little area just like the grill that was near the center pool and they had chili, chili wraps, chicken wings, onion rings, nacho chips, salsa, cheese sauce and sour cream and all the fixins. The wings were good here too.

There was so many options for lunch that we didn’t actually get to try all of them because we had so many full days ashore but we thought the food was good overall and the dining room was great. The food was always hot and well prepared. I also read about small portions but we had the prime rib and it was HUGE and well prepared and we had the filet mignon and wanted it medium and we got it exactly that way. I think our tablemates were also quite happy with all of their food as well

There was ribs on the “alternative menu” which is what is on the menu every night such as shrimp cocktail, ceasar salad. Steak, grilled chicken, but the ribs were only on there 2 of the nights so watch for them. They were VERY good and tender. I wished they were on the menu more. I did read that someone else said they had them on a day when they weren’t listed on the menu..

Our room Steward Paulus was so nice and kind. We only asked for a few extra hangers the first day and never really asked for anything else. We are fairly easy to please, fresh towels and ice and we’re good to go, but he called us by name everyday and was very nice.

Now for entertainment. This is a VERY port intensive trip and we thought we might skip some of the entertainment but after past reviews we made sure we didn’t skip the 3 big shows, Ticket to Ride, Jump, Jive and Wail and the New Orleans tribute. They were all great, especially the New Orleans one. Very well done and I would say do not miss. We also saw the juggler but missed one of the lady singers who are tablemates said was absolutely fantastic. So even though there are a lot of Port days, there is also lots of entertainment available.

Many late evening DH and I would go soak in the hot tubs all the way aft. They are covered at night with the retractable roof so it’s warm and quiet. Only 1 other night was there another couple in one of the tubs, they turned out to be fellow Canadians so we had a nice chat. These hot tubs are HOT, we read that they were only lukewarm on previous cruises but they were HOT, and the aft ones were open until midnight, in fact we were in later than midnight one night and nobody said anything. There is staff around that area cleaning and once the hot tubs are empty, they put the net over. We loved our evening soak, it’s like we had the whole place to ourselves. There would be a handful of people maybe coming back there to get a slice of Pizza but that’s about it. Such a quiet place for a ship full of over 3000 people.

We spent an evening in the piano bar with our friends and had an absolute blast. Ron was fantastic. We sat right up at the round fake piano and Ron rotated in the center and was just so much fun. We sang and drank and drank and sang. It is a lot of fun. We also spent some time with Mouna in the Kareoke lounge and had lots of fun there too.

I can’t comment on the Carnival excursions because we did all of them with our group of new friends from Cruise critic and had great experiences for the most part. We did have a driver/guide from Athens named Paul that we felt could have listened to what WE wanted to do a little better and I think in part it’s because he did the driving and was our guide too which resulted in a little less personal service.

We had some really great tours though. I don’t know if I can mention e-mail address for them or not so I will just give their names and if any further info is wanted from anybody, just post and I’ll send it.

For Izmir and Istanbul we had Kagan Kosogan and I fully recommend him. He was a great guide. He had a diver for us in both cities and he guided us when out of the van, which made for a great trip. He is a very knowledgable person and very passionate about Turkey and their history.

For the Amalfi coast we had Salvatore from Drive Amalfi and I would recommend him as well. He kept up a dialogue all the way down the Amalfi coast. He has great knowledge of the area and was a very skilled driver which was comforting on the very narrow Amalfi drive.

For Florence we had Tuscan by Taxi who did make it clear to us that they were not guides just taxi’s but our driver Gabriel was very polite and spoke English well and answered any questions as well. He brought us right into the Accademia and bought our tickets for us. They had also reserved the tickets for us for the Accademia and for the Uffizi Gallery, which worked out fine except it was SO busy at the Uffizi that day, it was a holiday weekend in Italy. We were very happy with their service.

We flew Lufhtansa and we very happy with their service and even though we had short connection times, just over an hour both ways, we made all of our flights and so did our luggage.

We used Stephano with Driver in Rome for our 6 am pick up from the ship to take us to the airiport, we were at the airport by 6:50 am and were in the ticket line 10 minutes before the first of Carnival’s busse started to arrive. I would reccomend Stephano as well. Our driver was on time and it was so convenient.

Debarking the ship was a breeze. We were on floor one so we took the nearest elevator down to 0 and simply walked off, we saw maybe 10 other people doing the same thing. We were in our van and off to the airport pretty quickly. There was no lineups or waiting or anything. Many people got off the day before and many just carried their own luggage as we did and walked off. I was a little worried with having a 10:10 am flight but it was no problem. We were at our gate by 8 am waiting for our flight. There was some problems AFTER us in the ticket line. It was a holiday weekend in Italy and apparently many of the ticket agents didn’t show up for work, so the lines were long and slow. They did hold the planes though so that people could make their flights. Our plane was 30 minutes late taking off but Lufthansa radioed ahead and 3 separate groups connecting in Frankfurt were met at the plane and escorted either through the airport or in our case for the group of 20 or so heading to Toronto, we were bussed to the terminal for passport control and then bussed back out to the tarmac to get on our plane. We left 30 minutes late but landed on time. We were very happy with Lufthansa and would not hesitate to fly them again. The flight attendants were great and always offering drinks and water continuously throughout the long flights.

So thats about it. I may add a second half with reviews of the ports when I get a minute.

We had a fantastic trip. We are a fairly young couple just 38 and were the youngest in our cruise critic group but boy you couldn’t ask for a better group of people. We made some very good friends on this cruise that made it just that much more special.

IF anyone is considering joining others from your roll call to share tours and stuff, do it, it’s a great way to meet new people, and our group of 12 are all getting ready to book the Splendor for August 2008 so that we can all cruise together again. That is how much we all clicked and how much we all want to cruise together again.

This was in many ways a dream trip for DH and I and Carnival did not disappoint. I loved the ship, the itinerary, the food, John Heald, the amazing ports, our new friends, what can I say, just about everything.

I can’t wait to do the Baltics in 2008!!

One thing that added to the time it took to process everyone was that they took your passport and had to mark down the numbers and give you a receipt for it, so that may be why it takes a bit longer.

Is that because you were from Canada or did they do that for everyone? They didn't do that in '05.

Is that because you were from Canada or did they do that for everyone? They didn't do that in '05.

As I understand it, it's for everybody because of the ports in Turkey. I was on the pre-inagural cruise and they didn't take our passports until right before the Turkey port, but I understand now they take the passports at check-in.

Thank you so much for a great review! I saved it for reference for my upcoming Freedom cruise and also sent it to friends who are also going but don't do cruisecritic.

I'm also looking into a Baltics cruise next summer, but the Carnival site doesn't list the Splendor going there yet, well actually it does, but you have to dig a bit. So far I was considering RCCL for next year's Baltics, but I'd rather go Carnival as well. Gotta be July however for us so that would be the ship's innaugural or the one right after it, not sure if I like that idea...

Thanks again for taking the time to write a useful review!

I was also on this cruise, they took everyone's passports when you got on because of entering Turkey, you received it back which was a piece of cake later in the cruise.

We were on this cruise as well & loved it!

Tara,

Thanks for the review & I enjoyed getting to meet you. I have my travel agent all set to book me for a Splendor Baltic cruise when Carnival starts accepting reservations tomorrow. Since I'll be traveling solo, I told her to book me on whatever date was the least expensive.

Florence

Florence - we were thinking of booking the Splendor for next year also, just waiting to see what the group rates are going to be (their supposed to be out tomorrow, 5/10)

Is that because you were from Canada or did they do that for everyone? They didn't do that in '05.

Hi Pineview

Unfortunately it was for everyone this time. Because we had 2 ports in Turkey they take everybody's passport, issue you a receipt and return the passport the day after you finish in Turkey. They need the passport for Turkish officails to check and issue a blanket Visa for the whole ship.

As a Canadian I am used to having my passport held so I just make a photocopy of the picture and info page for me and DH and keep it on me when off the ship, I also keep a copy of it on my computer so that I can access it if I need to from any computer.

Hope this helps.

Tara

We were on this cruise as well & loved it!

 

Tara,

Thanks for the review & I enjoyed getting to meet you. I have my travel agent all set to book me for a Splendor Baltic cruise when Carnival starts accepting reservations tomorrow. Since I'll be traveling solo, I told her to book me on whatever date was the least expensive.

 

Florence

Hello again FLorence

Our group, well at least 10 of us are set to book tomorrow and we are all booking the August 30th date, so if you have no preference and if it isn't the more expensive one, you might want to consider booking with us, we're lots of fun. lol I have a feeling the summer Baltic dates like July and early August will be a little more expensive than the last one just because they are prime time and more warm for the Baltics.

Either way we're ready to go again. We had a great time on the Freedom.

Tara

Tara: What a great review! It's so much fun to read other's thoughts. We had the best time, also. I think it says a lot that we're all ready to book the Splendor next summer. Wish we could join you on the 30th, but we're looking at the 8/18 sailing because of school schedules. The Freedom was just such an excellent adventure! Thanks for taking the time to write the review.

Review of Carnival Freedom April 19/ 2007

 

This is going to be a fairly comprehensive review for all those people

sailing the Freedom soon.

 

Just a little background. DH and I are both 38, have cruised Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess and have never had a bad cruise. Some things are better than others but on the whole, we have enjoyed all of our cruises, but if we HAD to choose, our favorite is Carnival. Yes Carnival!! The food overall is better, more food venues, fun atmosphere and decor, more affordable, more daytime non alcoholic drinks available, and great shows.

 

First off we booked an inside room on Deck 1 the Riviera deck. Our room was great, not huge of course but perfectly fine for our needs. I specifically booked room 1369 because it was a couple of doors down from the Laundry room which proved invaluable to us since this was a 12 day cruise and we had a 3 day stay in Venice before the cruise.

 

We were close to midship, just towards the aft a little and found this to be a great area. We were close to 2 sets of stairs and elevators, and we would use whatever one was closer to where we were going.

 

The night before the cruise we stayed at the Best Bed and Breakfast Pantheon in Rome and we quite happy with the location and the place itself. Breakfast was huge and we didn’t even order any of the extras that we could have for free. The staff was very nice and the location was very good, we walked to Trevi Fountian, the Colloseum, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona from here.

 

On embarkation day we shared transport with 2 other couples from our roll call here on cruise critic who stayed at the Best as well. We were at the ship by 11:00 and on the ship within 10 minutes. It was the fastest embarkation I have ever had. Some people from our group did mention that when they arrived later after 1:00 it did take almost an hour to get onto the ship. One thing that added to the time it took to process everyone was that they took your passport and had to mark down the numbers and give you a receipt for it, so that may be why it takes a bit longer.

 

I actually liked the ship. I have no problem with the decor, I have been on other Carnival ships and found the dining rooms on the Freedom to be quite toned down and very elegant. There was nothing gaudy about the dining room. The layout is very similar in that you have one of the restaurants midship and you either have to go up or down one floor to get around it, but that was nothing new for us. Our dining room, the Posh is located totally aft and was the larger of the two dining rooms.

 

Our wait staff, Santiago and Micheal were very good. We were always greeted by name and Santiago was always singing and very well too. They always asked us what we did that day in Port too. They were both efficient and friendly. We had a table for 10 but there was only 8 of us from our Cruise critic group sitting there. We were originally told that tables for 8 were the largest but there are a few tables of 10 as well.

 

Now for the food. We thought the food was great. There was so many options for food. I was on the new Crown Princess in December and we did love it and have a good time but I must admit that the many food options and free juice all day was nice on the Freedom.

 

For food there is the Grand buffet, around the one side there is the Oriental counter, around the other side there is the Deli counter and all the way around the other side is the “taste of the nations” buffet with 2 sides meeting in the middle. Each side would have a different nationality for that day such as “Mexican” or “Italian” and in the middle there would be a “make your own soup” section too, which I thought was cool.

 

Across from the Taste of the Nations buffet there was the “Mongolian” where you had fresh vegetables and raw chicken, pork and beef and you pick your own veggies, meat and noodles and they would either stir fry it for you right there with your choice of 3 different sauces or make a soup with them. It was very good, loved the Thai stir fry. This was also an omlette station in the morning along with another omlette station where the 2 Taste of the Nations buffets meet. Don’t look for the omlette station around the other side on the Grand Buffet, they aren’t there, you have to go around the other side.

 

There was also the Fish and Chips which was very good, but as other posters have mentioned the hours they were open were very short.

 

There was also the 24 hr Pizzeria, the pizza is awesome. We especially LOVED the calzones. They make them fresh and they take 8 minutes but are SO worth it. They really DO have good pizza.

 

As always there is the grill which had hamburgers, sausages, salads and the usual. We didn’t eat here so can’t comment.

 

There was also this little area just like the grill that was near the center pool and they had chili, chili wraps, chicken wings, onion rings, nacho chips, salsa, cheese sauce and sour cream and all the fixins. The wings were good here too.

 

There was so many options for lunch that we didn’t actually get to try all of them because we had so many full days ashore but we thought the food was good overall and the dining room was great. The food was always hot and well prepared. I also read about small portions but we had the prime rib and it was HUGE and well prepared and we had the filet mignon and wanted it medium and we got it exactly that way. I think our tablemates were also quite happy with all of their food as well

There was ribs on the “alternative menu” which is what is on the menu every night such as shrimp cocktail, ceasar salad. Steak, grilled chicken, but the ribs were only on there 2 of the nights so watch for them. They were VERY good and tender. I wished they were on the menu more. I did read that someone else said they had them on a day when they weren’t listed on the menu..

 

Our room Steward Paulus was so nice and kind. We only asked for a few extra hangers the first day and never really asked for anything else. We are fairly easy to please, fresh towels and ice and we’re good to go, but he called us by name everyday and was very nice.

 

Now for entertainment. This is a VERY port intensive trip and we thought we might skip some of the entertainment but after past reviews we made sure we didn’t skip the 3 big shows, Ticket to Ride, Jump, Jive and Wail and the New Orleans tribute. They were all great, especially the New Orleans one. Very well done and I would say do not miss. We also saw the juggler but missed one of the lady singers who are tablemates said was absolutely fantastic. So even though there are a lot of Port days, there is also lots of entertainment available.

 

Many late evening DH and I would go soak in the hot tubs all the way aft. They are covered at night with the retractable roof so it’s warm and quiet. Only 1 other night was there another couple in one of the tubs, they turned out to be fellow Canadians so we had a nice chat. These hot tubs are HOT, we read that they were only lukewarm on previous cruises but they were HOT, and the aft ones were open until midnight, in fact we were in later than midnight one night and nobody said anything. There is staff around that area cleaning and once the hot tubs are empty, they put the net over. We loved our evening soak, it’s like we had the whole place to ourselves. There would be a handful of people maybe coming back there to get a slice of Pizza but that’s about it. Such a quiet place for a ship full of over 3000 people.

 

We spent an evening in the piano bar with our friends and had an absolute blast. Ron was fantastic. We sat right up at the round fake piano and Ron rotated in the center and was just so much fun. We sang and drank and drank and sang. It is a lot of fun. We also spent some time with Mouna in the Kareoke lounge and had lots of fun there too.

 

I can’t comment on the Carnival excursions because we did all of them with our group of new friends from Cruise critic and had great experiences for the most part. We did have a driver/guide from Athens named Paul that we felt could have listened to what WE wanted to do a little better and I think in part it’s because he did the driving and was our guide too which resulted in a little less personal service.

 

We had some really great tours though. I don’t know if I can mention e-mail address for them or not so I will just give their names and if any further info is wanted from anybody, just post and I’ll send it.

 

For Izmir and Istanbul we had Kagan Kosogan and I fully recommend him. He was a great guide. He had a diver for us in both cities and he guided us when out of the van, which made for a great trip. He is a very knowledgable person and very passionate about Turkey and their history.

 

For the Amalfi coast we had Salvatore from Drive Amalfi and I would recommend him as well. He kept up a dialogue all the way down the Amalfi coast. He has great knowledge of the area and was a very skilled driver which was comforting on the very narrow Amalfi drive.

 

For Florence we had Tuscan by Taxi who did make it clear to us that they were not guides just taxi’s but our driver Gabriel was very polite and spoke English well and answered any questions as well. He brought us right into the Accademia and bought our tickets for us. They had also reserved the tickets for us for the Accademia and for the Uffizi Gallery, which worked out fine except it was SO busy at the Uffizi that day, it was a holiday weekend in Italy. We were very happy with their service.

 

We flew Lufhtansa and we very happy with their service and even though we had short connection times, just over an hour both ways, we made all of our flights and so did our luggage.

 

We used Stephano with Driver in Rome for our 6 am pick up from the ship to take us to the airiport, we were at the airport by 6:50 am and were in the ticket line 10 minutes before the first of Carnival’s busse started to arrive. I would reccomend Stephano as well. Our driver was on time and it was so convenient.

 

Debarking the ship was a breeze. We were on floor one so we took the nearest elevator down to 0 and simply walked off, we saw maybe 10 other people doing the same thing. We were in our van and off to the airport pretty quickly. There was no lineups or waiting or anything. Many people got off the day before and many just carried their own luggage as we did and walked off. I was a little worried with having a 10:10 am flight but it was no problem. We were at our gate by 8 am waiting for our flight. There was some problems AFTER us in the ticket line. It was a holiday weekend in Italy and apparently many of the ticket agents didn’t show up for work, so the lines were long and slow. They did hold the planes though so that people could make their flights. Our plane was 30 minutes late taking off but Lufthansa radioed ahead and 3 separate groups connecting in Frankfurt were met at the plane and escorted either through the airport or in our case for the group of 20 or so heading to Toronto, we were bussed to the terminal for passport control and then bussed back out to the tarmac to get on our plane. We left 30 minutes late but landed on time. We were very happy with Lufthansa and would not hesitate to fly them again. The flight attendants were great and always offering drinks and water continuously throughout the long flights.

 

So thats about it. I may add a second half with reviews of the ports when I get a minute.

 

We had a fantastic trip. We are a fairly young couple just 38 and were the youngest in our cruise critic group but boy you couldn’t ask for a better group of people. We made some very good friends on this cruise that made it just that much more special.

 

IF anyone is considering joining others from your roll call to share tours and stuff, do it, it’s a great way to meet new people, and our group of 12 are all getting ready to book the Splendor for August 2008 so that we can all cruise together again. That is how much we all clicked and how much we all want to cruise together again.

 

This was in many ways a dream trip for DH and I and Carnival did not disappoint. I loved the ship, the itinerary, the food, John Heald, the amazing ports, our new friends, what can I say, just about everything.

 

I can’t wait to do the Baltics in 2008!!

Thanks for your review - I can't wait to be on the Freedom this August

Sounds like you had a great time. - DH and I have not signed up for any tours - on all of our other cruises (7) we just "wing it" we have found this to work in previous cruises - my question is do you think this will work on this cruise? Did you notice if there were taxi/buses lined up when you got off the ship - ready to take cruisers where ever they wanted to go? In Greece - could you recommend something to see in each stop over? Thanks for your information.

Tara: What a great review! It's so much fun to read other's thoughts. We had the best time, also. I think it says a lot that we're all ready to book the Splendor next summer. Wish we could join you on the 30th, but we're looking at the 8/18 sailing because of school schedules. The Freedom was just such an excellent adventure! Thanks for taking the time to write the review.

Hi

Im glad you guys had such a good time too. It's too bad that you can't join us on the 30th but with your kids you must consider school too. I can't wait to book the Baltics tomorrow.

Tara

Mary Margaret - let us know if you decide to put a group together!!

Thanks for your review - I can't wait to be on the Freedom this August

Sounds like you had a great time. - DH and I have not signed up for any tours - on all of our other cruises (7) we just "wing it" we have found this to work in previous cruises - my question is do you think this will work on this cruise? Did you notice if there were taxi/buses lined up when you got off the ship - ready to take cruisers where ever they wanted to go? In Greece - could you recommend something to see in each stop over? Thanks for your information.

Hello Rainer

There did seem to be taxi's in most ports but if you want my honest opinion this is going to cost you ALOT more than pre booking some tours would. I also feel strongly that on this type of cruise some preplanning and research is the best way to go, not only to maximize your time in port but to make it the most cost efficient as well. Everything is in Euro so it can get expensive.

Here is an example. On the day in Rhodes Greece many people had decided to just spend the day in Old Town Rhodes, which is what we did, it is RIGHT there as you get off the ship, no taxi or anything needed and it's got lots of cafe's and shops, we loved this port, but tablemates of ours decided at last minute to grab a cab and go the 35 minutes to Lindos to see the Acropolis there. The cabs were charging 120 E for the ride there, to wait the hour or so and drive you back to Rhodes, this couple just happened to meet up with another couple they knew so they split the cab at 60E each. This is reasonable when split but for a single couple 120 E is pretty steep. 3 of our day tours booked with other cruise critic members cost us only $40 US per person in Istanbul and $50 US for Izmir and 50 E pp for the day in Floence and 50 E pp in Athens. These are for the whole day with a diver or driver and guide all booked privately. The most people we had was 10. So we had very small groups with tours tailored to what we wanted and a vehicle and guide at our disposal. As you can see the prices were very reasonable too.

So I guess there are a couple of port where you could wing it, but on the whole, you will be paying more, for less time. You can take the train from Livorno to Florence, this is doable and spend the day there, you can also take the train from Civitavecchia to Rome, which we did for 9 E return and giving us free use of the busses and Metro in Rome, You could also take the Metro in Athens to the Plaka area and walk up to the Acropolis, this was done by lots of people and was cheap and easy.

So again it depends on your sense of adventure and what you want to spend and what you want to see. We just felt that in certan places it was worth the small price to be taken around the city to see the things we wanted to see, especially in Istanbul and Athens and Izmir. The ruins of Ephesus are almost an hour from the Port and so much more interesting with a guide telling you what you are seeing. In Florence we had a taxi service reserve our tickets and take us to the 2 museums first and then by 11:00 am we were on our own for the remainder of the day, we all went in different directions and met back with our driver at the end of the day, it was the best of both worlds and very convenient and maximized our time in Florence.

I know that other people say, just take the train it's so much cheaper and it is, but in some ports that doesn't work so well or factoring in getting TO the train station, waiting for the train, changing trains sometimes and then making sure you take an early enough train to get back to the ship was just more hassle than we wanted, but if you're on a budget or just like to wing it then it is doable.

Okay for Greece, as I mentioned in Rhodes there is the Acropolis at Lindos about 40 minutes away, we didn't do this but others did and enjoyed it.

In Katakolon, Greece there is the Olympic ruins site which is 35 minutes or so away again we didn't do this, these were the 2 ports we decided to just hang around and enjoy and we did. In Rhodes we walked all over the Old Town and shopped and sat in a cafe and walked to the Palace of the Grand Masters. In Katakolon, you are docked right on the beach, we walked quite a ways down the beach and stopped at a beach front cafe and had a coke and a water for a total of 1.50 since it wasn't right by the ships. It was a fantastic view out over the bay and a lovely walk. Once we walked back closer to the little town we took the very back street (there's only 2 or 3 streets) and saw the loveliest back yards with flowers and lemon trees and orange trees, it was really nice to see how the locals lived. It was quiet day for us but we truly enjoyed it.

We saved a couple of ports to just sit and enjoy and unwind. We had tours in all the rest with the Museums and ruins too, so we tried to balance it out and loved how it turned out.

For Athens, we saw the changing of the guard and went all the way out to the Temple of Poseidon an hour down the coast, it was beautiful but for time contraint reasons I probably would not do this next time. We wandered the touristy area of the Plaka, and ate Donairs that cost 1.60 and were delicious and then we visited the Acropolis with the Parthenon and it was the best view over the whole city. Here we had a driver so it was easy to get from place to place. He did not guide us but stayed with the van.

If you have any other specific question, just ask. I hope I have helped you some. It's really hard to answer but the best thing I could say is to do some research, even if you ARE going to wing it and take a train instead of a tour, you still need to have some vital info on hand before doing this. Scour the ports of call boards here and you'll get all the info you need on what to see, how to see it and anything else you need. These boards proved invaluable to us, we had a perfect vacation with no snags at all and it came from planning and research. I made sure we had down time and wandering time but also made sure it wasn't accidentally in a Port where I would be missing something wonderful that I would regret later. We specifically picked the ports that we chose to do on our own and it worked out really well.

Good luck and I know you will enjoy this cruise, it really was wonderful.

Tara

Thanks for the review. Can't wait to sail her in October.

Enjoyed your review. I would like to avoid the Turkey ship excursions and the Florence ones and do my own. Let me know what you suggest? Someone I met on CC said she is booking both Turkey ports with the ship because there is so much to see. I don't know? Thanks Julie

Thank you for your review

Enjoyed your review. I would like to avoid the Turkey ship excursions and the Florence ones and do my own. Let me know what you suggest? Someone I met on CC said she is booking both Turkey ports with the ship because there is so much to see. I don't know? Thanks Julie

Hi there

There is alot to see in Istanbul but there were people who took a taxi into the main center and the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque were within walking distance of this area.

We had a private guide who comes highly recommended on this site and were very very happy with him. We had him for Izmir and went to the ancient site of Ephesus and to the Virgin Mary's House and we had him the next day in Istanbul and he took us to a palace, NOT Topkapi Palace because it was closed that day but to a beautiful Sultan's Palace that is only 150 yrs old, and to the Blue Mosque, the Cistern, The Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Spice Market and the local shopping area, which is call the Taxim area. We had a very long wonderful day.

I can't give tour operator names due to site rules unless specifically requested by someone wanting the information.

As for Florence we used a Taxi service booked ahead of time and it worked out well, but many others took the train here. The main areas of interest in Florence are all very close too, so it's doable on your own.

I think for Turkey I would try to put together a group of 8 or 10 people, maybe from your roll call and book a private guide like we did. The price was quite small and in US dollars and so so worth it. It was just so convenient and we got to see alot in a short amount of time and our guide was wonderful.

Let me know if you would like any specifics.

Tara

Great review :) We are also staying at Best and using 3 of the guides you mentioned on our up coming Freedom Cruise in Sept.

Great review :) We are also staying at Best and using 3 of the guides you mentioned on our up coming Freedom Cruise in Sept.

Hello AllenF

I was originally on YOUR roll call for the Sept 22 sailing of the Freedom too, but decided early on that this April would be better time wise for us.

I still follow your thread, you guys are just so organized:D

I know it's still seems like a long way off to you, but time flies by, especially the summer, and I'm sure you guys will have a great time, you have some really great people on your roll call.

There was 12 of that just hit it off and as of today and tomorrow, all 12 have just booked the Baltics on the Splendor for August 2008, for a reunion. Meeting and making friends before a cruise is such fun and you really can make some lifelong friends that way too.

You're in for a treat, I loved the Freedom and the Ports.

Tara

We would love to join you on the Baltic's cruise but we just cant swing it in Aug. 08 :( We have two cruises planned for 08 then we are doing a land based stay in St Lucia. We hit it off so good there with the person who did our tour there he invited us back for a week to show us the entire Island all we have to do is pay airfare to get there so late fall 08 we will be going back. I am so glad you guys had a great cruise on the Freedom. You are correct the folks we are cruising with in Sept. are excellent planners we met a few of them when were were on the Liberty so cant wait to see them all again and also make new friends. The CC group crusies are always a blast :D

Thanks for the Great review.

We are leaving in 27 days, can't wait.

We had Drive Amalfi last year and booked them again for this years cruise.

Glad you enjoyed Kagan's tour. We have booked him for our Sept 08 Freedom cruise.

I'm just trying to figure out how I can swing a cruise on the Splendor. I've ran out of vacation time to be able to use as it's used up with the 6 cruises I've already booked for 2007 and 2008. :( I need to just quit work :D

Anyone have any idea when the 2009 Splendor Itinerary is coming out?

Thanks

Hi! DH and I are part of the Freedom 12 that Tara mentioned in her wonderful review. We agree with everything she says. In reading some of the questions regarding tours or doing your own thing, I felt that I needed to tell you all about one glitch someone had on our April 19th cruise.

These folks were not part of our group, nor did we meet them, but we heard about what happened to them. They took a taxi to Ephesus on their own and set their watches back instead of forward. (Carnival is very good about telling you when to do this, and which direction to set your watches.) As a result they returned to the dock in Izmir after the ship had left. I believe the ship did wait awhile for them, but then left. Anyway, it was just a matter of setting their watches incorrectly, so keep that in mind.

We did a combination of private tours, Carnival tours, and ports on our own and all worked out fine. The private deals are definitely worthwhile exploring as they are less expensive and, as Tara said, you get much more personalized service. Plus, you can have them make little changes if the group wants. For instance, we were on a private tour to Ancient Olympia with other cruise critic friends and during our tour, we requested to return to Katatalon to have more time to shop rather than touring the town of Olympia. We had plenty of time at the site of the ancient Olympics and the nearby museum, but then we were ready to go back to the port. There was no problem with our guide and driver to do this.

This is such a wonderful itinerary that will be enjoyed no matter how you experience it. Have fun! Marilyn

I enjoyed your review immensely. We are cruising on the Freedom on the 18th of June and we need a bit of help. If you could give us the email addresses/websites of the tour companies you used during your trip that would be great.

I also need some help getting thru this website. How do you hook up with other Cruise Critic people who might be on this cruise?

Thanks a lot!

Alterna 001

I enjoyed your review immensely. We are cruising on the Freedom on the 18th of June and we need a bit of help. If you could give us the email addresses/websites of the tour companies you used during your trip that would be great.

 

I also need some help getting thru this website. How do you hook up with other Cruise Critic people who might be on this cruise?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Alterna 001

Hi there.

I'm glad you enjoyed my review, you'll have a great time I'm sure.

Okay, first of all, to hook up with other Cruise Critic people you go to the home page of cruise critics, go to the boards, click on that, then you see all the forums, go down to the fourth main section it's called "ROLL CALLS, Members onlly". This is where all the roll calls for all different sailings are. Click on Carnival, and then you will see threads with dates that people are sailing. I've already done that, and there is a roll call for you date. Here is a link to that particular thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=324190&highlight=June

There may be people on there that have tours set up or that are looking for people to join them on tours.

Secondly, I will give you the names and sites of the people we used.

Naples, for the Amalfi coast we used, Salvatore Lucibello at Drive Amalfi. I don't think he has a website but his e-mail is ***** He also arranged a guide to meet us a Pompeii for a great tour. His name was Franco or Francesco. He was great as well.

In Turkey, both for Istanbul and Izmir, we used Kagan Kosagan and I highly recommend him. His name is pronounced Kon. His website is

http://www.tourguidesinturkey.com/ He admittedly doesn't keep his website up too much, he said he's too busy out with people on tours, but he is fantastic. His wife Lale is a licenced guide to and they work together but I think she is off until September, they just had a baby the day before our Izmir tour in April.:D

Other people in our group used Gemma for Katakolon and Olympia and really liked her, we werent on that tour, but if you google her name and Olympia I'm sure it'll come up.

We used a taxi service for Florence Tuscany by Taxi and they reserved tickets for us at the Accademia and the Uffizi, be sure to do this if you want to go there, the lines are very long. If you aren't using a guide, you can still contact both museums and for a small 3 Euro fee, do it your self. It's SOOOo worth it, you walk right past the lines.

I hope this helps you out some. If you go to the "Ports of call" board, it's just further down, about the 8th section of forums on the main board page, and click on Europe, you can to searches on any of the guides names and get info that way too.

Also just go to the Europe area and read any threads that have info on the ports you are going to. The info you can get is invaluable. If there is something specific you want to know and cant find any info after you do a search, just start a new thread and ask. It's where I do ALOT of my research before a cruise, it's info from people who have been there.

Good luck and have fun, Im jelous, I loved the Freedom.

Tara