freedomcruiser891

We used the atm once and of course our bank is cheap and didn't cover the atm fees......now we just bring extra cash. If you have too much you can always apply it to your s&s account to pay part of your final bill.

We had the social plan in March on the Freedom and it worked great. The only thing is you have to log out and log in every day or it might not work. Not sure if that problem was fixed by now. iMessage works great but some other photo heavy apps are kind of slow at times

If they're not comfortable sleeping on an upper bunk you can ask for a trundle bed. On the triumph they fit it under the other bed and just pulled it out when we went to dinner. It's about 6 inches off the ground and takes up floor space but it works

On conquest class ships we didn't see this problem at the aft pool since the aft pool is 18+. The adults were all nice and friendly folks from Texas on the freedom so no problems whatsoever last march

Galveston park and cruise!! Nice people and it's really close too. I suggest booking ahead of time online

When we sailed out of Texas they didn't have this new policy in place however Texas and Alaska require the taxes be paid on the liquor. The line for which was really small (let's be honest it was more of an honor system that wasn't enforced). People in Texas didn't want to pay the taxes on it anyhow so nobody bought liquor onboard

I know they sold them last year in the cartons and the giant box things. Don't remember the exact price though

We always drive to Galveston however Galveston is usually pretty quick with disembarkation UNLESS there are two carnival ships in port. When we were unloading at the same time as the triumph it took a lot longer but still not too long. You should be able to get off before 9 without a problem and then get to Houston within 40-45 minutes so you should be fine [emoji4]

Piano bar was awesome. I don't remember who the pianist was in March but he was phenomenal

We had social plan on the freedom last March and it worked as a basic plan. iMessage worked fine but sending pictures took FOREVER. It works as a basic plan to browse Facebook Twitter etc but it's slow when loading heavy data such as pictures. You had to re login every 24 hours and at some points it wouldn't let you log in. But for $25 you can't beat it. Being able to communicate back home is well worth $25-$100

The freedom is so much nicer than the triumph in my opinion. The rooms are newer and slightly different. The overall layout is the same except the freedom buffet on lido is HUGE. it's about twice the size of the triumphs. So there are short lines and happier people and a nicer staff. The ports are also nicer on longer cruises from galveston

We were on it last year and it is still in great shape. Don't let its age fool you! The water slide isn't the biggest and fastest but the crew that runs it is top notch. It has all of the 2.0 upgrades including guys and iguana. Personally I think deck 7 is the best deck for the ship because it is sandwiched between floors of just staterooms. I like the carnival triumph but I'm glad Galveston is getting the liberty! [emoji4]

Even for the liberty itineraries in 2017 they are still sailing to Cozumel and progreso from Galveston. Not complaining about Cozumel. But progreso is one of the worst ports we've been to....

Triumph is a really good ship. Slightly old but definitely not outdated! For the price of the navigator you could probably book the freedom/magic out of Galveston. Both are better than the triumph. But I've sailed triumph 3 times and loved it every time!

Outside but the staff understands how hot Texas can be. It's quick and easy!

On the freedom out of Texas a few weeks ago they sold beer in smaller cans instead of the pint aluminum bottles. They were the same price for a bucket but had the 8.25% sales tax. Not certain about other drinks though

Does anybody know when 2018 sailings will be available to book? Specifically Galveston sailings? I tend to plan really far in advance and was looking for some help.

Above is correct. One outlet. I believe there is also the one where the lights on the nightstand plug in as well. The dollar store has small splitters that work great for a cruise. They're super small and perfect!

Conquest class ships have 1a cabins that are actually bigger than standard interior cabins!

Oh we also ate at the steakhouse the first night. Got a free bottle of wine it was obviously a free tasting bottle of wine. The food was BEYOND PERFECT. 9/5 stars it was so perfect!

Yes apparently a pipe leaked beside our room. It wasn't from the bathroom but from the hallway walls apparently? It didn't bother us too much they put a big dryer thing in the room and we left it on the first sea day when we were out and about. Didn't bug us but our neighbors were beyond mad about being woken up at 6 am. Your room is flooding. Let them fix it then go back to sleep don't yell at the people doing their jobs....

Okay so this is a WAY overdo review of the freedom from MARCH! I know I'm way late but it's been crazy with two kids and life taking control of free time.

Okay anyways, we sailed on the freedom out of Galveston March 7 and I have to say first off it was by far THE BEST CRUISE ON CARNIVAL YET. Everybody who is degrading carnival can get out because this was a fantastic cruise. It was our fifth carnival cruise (our first four being on the triumph). After sailing on a conquest class ship I will never sail triumph again. The overall size of the lido restaurant made it 20x better. Twice the food and half the lines.

I'm gonna try to structure this review but I ramble a lot so I'm apologizing in advance!

Cabin:

We had cabin 7345 and I would EXTREMELY RECOMMEND THIS ROOM. It's considered a 1A however it was bigger than our friends interior cabin on the same deck! It has a great location and was perfect. We used to get a balcony on the triumph but after two cruises realized we were only in the room a few hours each night. The interiors are perfect so you can sleep at any second. There was one issue and I guess I have to bring it up. One morning we awoke around 5am to find the carpet wet. What?!? We called guest services and within 45 seconds people were in our room vacuuming up water and drying it. They were done within 10 minutes. Our stuff was fine and it wasn't a big deal to us we weren't going to let it ruin our vacation. Carnival handled it perfectly so kuddos to them! We also received $40 per person! It helped with the bar bill in the end [emoji14]. I would post a picture but it's on my camera. Go to cruise line rooms website and I put it on there!

Also all the rooms have small refrigerators. They keep drinks cold not like ice but defiantly cold.

Food:

Lido buffet was so much better than triumph!! The burgers and tacos are great but the wok was something I wasn't used to and really loved. The room service menu was the same in March so can't comment on that. I will say though we did any time dining on this cruise and I was not a fan. The American feast or table or whatever wasn't my favorite. It just didn't seem as formal. Next time will do early dining. With anytime I felt like we weren't obligated to go to dinner because we could just sleep instead!

Entertainment:

This is the only place I would say was about a 4/5. Jen was our cruise director again for the 3rd time but this time there was nothing to do before 3pm?! Most people didn't mind they read or listened to music but I of course left my headphones and kindle in the car!!! I was so mad at myself. The music in the aft area was too quiet to hear sadly and the midship lido was too loud. The aft pool was perfect because the employees actually enforced the 18+ areas! Thank you for that!

Shows were great! I loved the playlist productions shows. There was also a live singer they hired who was great. The comedians were also great.

We went to Montego Bay Jamaica, Grand Cayman, And Cozumel. Loved grand cayman the most. We did horse riding and swimming in Jamaica and would definitely recommend.

Overall this was a perfect getaway on the freedom. She is in great shape. For anyone thinking of leaving carnival you will be missed because she's doing great in my book!

Any questions and let me know and I'll do my best to remember. I'll also try and add photos tonight!