sunexpress

I was on the Freedom Jan 11-15. My mom, sister and daughter were also on this cruise. None of us returned sick. I did have a case of the Flu about a month before we sailed.

My grandfather worked/retired from Coca-Cola. I grew up drinking Coke products, so I am partial to Coke. I guess my parents/grandparents didn't see anything wrong with giving us a Coke as kids (especially if we had an upset stomach lol). My grandmother also always had Tab in the fridge lol. We were never allowed to refer to Pepsi Products around my grandfather. 😆

I was on the Freedom this past week with my daughter. She is not vegan, but gluten free and dairy free. She often ordered items from the vegan menu (especially the desserts) without any problems. The dining staff was very helpful in that regard. The only issue with the vegan menu was during sea day brunch when my sister tried to order an item- they told her they could do it, but it would be a longer wait. So FYI- if you want items off the vegan menu for Sea Day brunch they like you to order the day before (although I am not sure how you would know that). Any other time, she had no trouble ordering off the vegan menu.They also had gluten free bread available in the dining room for breakfast- and we also saw it in the buffett. Hopefully this information is helpful 🙂 I know it may be different on other ships, but we had a good experience with the vegan menu.

Have fun! We went on the freedom last December, and are going again this January. We were on the Mardi Gras this past July. My sister is actually on the Mardi gras right now 🙂

I have been trying to keep up with this story, but there is a lot of missing/ inaccurate information, as well as theories and speculations floating around on social media. I do agree that some of the statements/information released by the family seems to be missing vital information, which makes it hard to come up with an explanation of what actually could have happened. Carnival may be doing a behind the scenes investigation, and has not commented or released any information right now possibly for that reason. It reminds me of when RC was quiet during their investigation into the grandfather that ultimately was charged in the death of his granddaughter. My opinion is that he went overboard somewhere where it was not detected - whether it was involuntary or voluntary is the question. I do hope for the family's sake they get some answers.

There are 2 hot tubs on Serenity deck 14. We were on the Freedom this past December. The hot tubs didn't get very warm then, hopefully that has changed. If you get there fairly early in the day, you could potentially have the hot tub to yourself for awhile. We noticed they didn't get busy until later in the day.

Thanks 🙂 It has been awhile since I have done it, so my memory may be sketchy lol - I do remember when I signed up they couldn't tell me at that time when it would occur, maybe it was just the person working at the excursion desk at the time - he said they would contact me -but makes sense it is on a sea day. And I do remember no cell phones/cameras now - if we went to the restroom during the tour, we had to get scanned by the wand again.

Enjoy! We just sailed on the Freedom and had a great time! 🙂

This is what we did, on the Conquest a few years ago. I am not sure about the process now, as I don't think then it was an advertised tour/excursion that showed up on the excursion list. Go to the excursion desk once onboard and ask about it -They only take a small number ( usually less than 20). Sometimes they will not know exactly the day/time the tour will occur, but should write down your information and get back with you asap. I think we paid 75.00 a person. The tour took about 3 hours, and you have to wear closed toe shoes - they will not let you attend with sandals/flip flops. We did walk down a few steeper staircases also. we really enjoyed it.

Thank-you - I knew it was towards the end of the cruise when I saw it, so It must have been Grand Turk Port, right before the sea day.

I just had FTTF on my Freedom cruise. My arrival time was 10:30-11:00. They started boarding about 11 am, so with FTTF you were called to board after the Platinum/Diamond. The way they called was Weddings (if any), Platinum/Diamond, FTTF, then suites.

Thank-you all for the information - I am on the fence about this particular class, but would like to do at least one - just not sure which one yet.

It was offered on the Freedom on embarkation day - that is the only time I saw it (and ate it)- Sailed Dec. 28-Jan. 2.

There was a happy hour in Red Frog Pub on my recent Freedom cruise. I know it was at 3 pm, and I believe it may have been on sea day. I saw it listed in the Hub App. I only remember seeing it once, so I think it may have only been offered one day.

Thank you so much for the info!

Thank-you! I was just wondering what meat they used, and if they just had individual grills for each person? Sorry to sound so clueless, but just trying to envision how it is done on a cruise ship 🙂

Ok thank-you!

Has anyone attended this? I am thinking of getting it for my husband for our Mardi Gras cruise in July. Thank-you for any information 🙂

Yes he made the ice cream reference 🙂 Thank -you for reading!

Background Information: I am a long time lurker/reader. This is my 11th cruise -7 on Carnival- 3 on RCL, and one on Disney. This is our first cruise post pandemic. We will be on the Mardi Gras in July. My husband and I (early 50's) prefer to cruise on Carnival. We live outside of Orlando and typically cruise out of Port Canaveral. We cruised on the Freedom Dec. 28-Jan. 2. The cruise was at full capacity. Embarkation: I purchased FTTF and had an arrival time of 10:30-11:00. We arrived at just about 10:30- parked in the designated parking garage, got in the FTTF line and proceeded inside the terminal. Just a note about the parking garage - there are signs that say you have to have your parking ticket with you and pay before you depart (at machines), which caused some confusion. You do not have to have your ticket with you to pay at a machine - you can just pay when you leave. We went thru security quickly and upon entering the waiting area prior to boarding we were lined up beside our luggage (we carried on), and stood there while a K9 walked around the passengers luggage. I later found out it was for bombs/explosive devices. We sat in the waiting area about 5 minutes, and then we were called to board. We were on the ship by 11 am. The rooms were ready at 1:30. Previously when I had FTTF, rooms were ready upon boarding. We went to Lido which was not crowded yet and had a quick bite to eat - which included Funfetti cheesecake :). Embarkation went smoothly. We had Muster Station D located on the 4th deck- we went straight there, took less than 5 minutes. There were a few calls before sail away "reminding" people to go to their muster station. We sailed away on time - I believe it was 4:30. Dining: We had my time dining (Chic Restaurant) and sat at the same table every night. We had an exceptional wait staff, and dinner took about 40 minutes every night. I used the Hub App to check in and had no issues. No complaints about the food. I always found something to eat. The food came out quickly and was hot. We ate at the Steakhouse on the second night, and thought the food was well prepared. We ate in the MDR (Posh Restaurant) for breakfast a few times, and service was slower than dinner, but still in a timely manner for us. No complaints about the food. We didn't really eat at the buffet, but it appeared to have a good variety. We had a burrito, guys burger and pizza - we went at less than busy times, so we didn't have to wait long - but I did notice longer lines at peak times, especially on the sea day. We didn't have the drink package - I am not a big drinker, so it wouldn't have been worth it for us. There seemed to be adequate bar/wait staff when we did order drinks. We spent a lot of time on Serenity, and never had to wait long for someone to come by to take drink order. Room: We had a balcony room 9294 (Lido Deck). I have mixed feelings about this room. We loved the location - it was at the end of the hall, 30 second walk to lido deck. We could occasionally hear music/activities on the Lido, which didn't really bother us, but there was some kind of periodic banging noise in the middle of the night that would come and go. We could never figure out exactly what it was. It wasn't enough to keep me from booking this room again, but it may bother someone else. Our room steward was Matthew - he did a great job. No complaints. He did mention he had both sides of the hall, and usually did the rooms between 8 am - 1 pm. He stated he usually didn't start at 8, but more like 9 - and to contact him if we needed anything. He didn't really give a choice with am/pm service - which didn't matter to us, but it may to someone else. The room itself was a typical conquest class balcony room- I did notice some wear and tear and some rust on the balcony, but overall the room was in good condition. Ports: Nassau - we have been many times, did not get off the ship. Half Moon Cay - Having FTTF we had priority tender boarding. We did not have an excursion, just enjoyed the beach. We did not eat the lunch provided - just went back to the ship for lunch. Grand Turk- Did not have an excursion, just walked around and ate/drank at Margaritaville and sat by the pool. We had beautiful weather the whole cruise. Debarkation: Having FTTF we had priority Debarkation. We had to wait in the theater until time to Debark, which was about 7:30 am. We were off the ship by 7:45 - did facial recognition - took about 10 minutes total to walk off. We paid 109 dollars for parking. Random Thoughts: The ship was full, but honestly did not seem overly crowded. There were a ton of kids/teens - they all seemed well behaved, did not notice any bad behavior. We did see kids in the hot tubs. There was always a line at guest services. The one time I went, I used the FTTF line which took less than 2 minutes. We saw the 3 shows - thought the singing was above average for a cruise ship - of course its cruise ship entertainment, so we know what to expect - but felt the singing was not too bad lol . We enjoyed the violin players and Acoustic sounds with Morgan. We went to one Comedy Show, and didn't really care for it, so we didn't go back. We have enjoyed the comedy shows on previous cruises. Technical difficulties for Deal/No Deal, so that did not occur. In its place was some audience participation games, which turned out to be fun. Also went to Love and Marriage. Cruise Director - James Love - he was OK. There were tons of activities on board and the ship seemed well staffed. The ship is older, but was clean, and I saw crew constantly cleaning. We did not attend the NYE deck party on Lido - but could hear it from our room. I am not one that likes to be in overly crowded places. I did hear it was really crowded and not much room to move around, so am glad we didn't go. We mainly used this cruise to relax, (we slept more than at home lol) to spend time together and to get back into cruising. We had a wonderful time - it was a great cruise, and I would cruise on the Freedom again. Of course not everything was perfect,, but we had a great time. The staff certainly worked hard.