Just got back from the Carnival Freedom and before I get started, I want to say we had a great time. I know people will say I just want to complain and some people can't have a good time, etc. Thant's not the case, despite the negatives, we really enjoyed ourselves.
Embarkation was quick and easy. We were on the boat in about 30 minutes. We didn't get any information about lunch, room availability, muster stations, room cards or anything. We were just told we could go board. We figured everything else out by asking once on board. Lunch was typical for embarkation day. Very crowded but good. It was the only time the entire cruise the deli line was short enough to bother waiting in. Our room was available at 1:30. We booked an inside stateroom and were shocked by how small it was. We are both gold VIFP members and have cruised several other cruise lines. This was the smallest room we have ever had, including other inside rooms. We were also shocked to find a dirty pair of underwear and a sock in the closet. We later found old candy under the bed. Not a stellar start. Next problem came when my wife went to a 5:00 massage she had booked in the spa. The spa was loud cheering people there for some sort of giveaway. When checking in, she asked if they would be there during her massage since the noise wasn't very relaxing and was told they would be leaving before she got started. They then sent her to wait for her masseuse and promptly forgot about her. About 20 minutes after her appointment time, she got someone's attention who tried to say they didn't know she was there. My wife told them to cancel her appointment due to it running late and the commotion still going on in the lobby. They were very resistant and tried to blame her. The rest of the night went well, we had a great dinner and evening around the ship.
Following day was a sea day. We got up early and got some decent chairs near the bottom of the slides. Breakfast was good as was the day. We did notice the lack of bar staff. We understand the staffing issues and had no problem going to the bars ourselves. The DJ and other entertainment was pretty good. The DJ talked through the music as much as he let it play. The cruise director was good and we saw him everywhere. Dinner was good again and afterwards we found the Red Frog Pub on the fifth floor. It is a hidden gem and where we spent a lot of time. It was never crowded and had lot of pub games to play. The ladies behind the bar were outstanding.
Our first stop was Amber Cove. The port was clean and nice with several of the usual shops. My wife picked up some amber/larimar jewelry and I got some rum. We booked the Ocean World VIP dolphin experience. Mixed feelings about this. We liked Ocean World and loved the dolphin experience. The VIP part.... not our favorite. We had a guide who walked a group of us around to difference shows and activities. It seemed somewhat unorganized. We walked in circles a lot and never really knew what we were doing. He took us to the sea lion show and it was already overcrowded with nowhere to sit. There wasn't even anywhere to stand where we could see and our guide didn't seem to have any thoughts about an alternative. So we all just figured out what we could do to get the best view possible. The bird area was nice but the bird show was nothing great, we would have rather skipped. We had about 20 minutes free time before we did the dolphin experience. This was our only free time all day. The dolphin experience was great and the photos/video were not a bad price. They were not at all pushy about selling them. After the show, we were taken to a buffet lunch. It was ok. If we went again, we would find out when out dolphin experience was and do our own thing until then. There was a lot of wasted time walking in circles, going to the lockers and doing shows we would have skipped. There were a couple things there we would have rather done instead.
Grand Turk was fun. We spent time in the pool and on the beach. It was really crowded since the Mardi Gras was there as well. We had a long wait for dinner. It wasn't a big deal but we were told 20 minutes and it ended up being an hour. This happened on the second night as well. Overall dining was pretty good. My wife is a vegetarian and had a little bit of a hard time. The Indian options at dinner were good but too spicy for her. It would have been nice if Guy's had a vegetarian burger.
The last day was a sea day. We started with seaday brunch. We sat for fifteen minutes before flagging down a waiter for service. The entire meal was really slow. My wife mentioned she was a vegetarian when ordering and did a build your own omelet. Her first bite had ham in it. I looked through it and found more. They made her another one and it was obviously rushed. We spent the day trying some things we don't normally do. The towel folding class and bingo were a lot of fun. We also went to a family game show. It was good but really crowded. That night we ate at the steakhouse. We were really disappointed. Service and food were both lacking. First thing we noticed were several item on the menu online were not on the menu. Of course they were items I was really looking forward to. When asked, the waiter insisted the items were not on the online menu. We had stopped by the steakhouse two days prior and let them know we had a vegetarian. They said no problem, the chef would be happy to make something. Her main course ended up being spaghetti with tomato sauce. For $42? Really? During dinner we waiting about 20 minutes each time we ordered something from the bar. We also had to remind our waitress of items we ordered that were not brought. I had the cowboy steak. It was okay but nothing impressive. We went to the Getaway Island show that night and enjoyed it. We wished we had made some of the other shows but always seemed busy.
Debarkation was slow. We were told we would be off the ship by 9:30 but it ended up being about 10:30.
Overall we had a good time but were really disappointed. During the cruise we learned it was the most crowded cruise the ship had ever had. It showed. Especially the lines at the deli, pizza, Guy's and the Blue Iguana. We left thinking our next cruise would be a different cruise line. I guess you do get what you pay for.
