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Showing results for 'freedom' in content posted in Carnival Cruise Lines.
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Hi all! Just thought I would share a couple things since I had so many questions answered on here prior to my cruise. We are in an inside cabin on deck nine. It is literally literally the size of a shoebox, 😂lol. But honestly, it’s pretty livable. And the room sure gets dark at night…we’ve been sleeping later than normal! I haven’t sailed in an inside cabin since I was 18, (I’m 47 now) and I would do it again, especially at the super cheap last-minute Casino rate that we got. Speaking of the casino, it was brutal in there last night. We play blackjack and we got wiped out pretty fast. But today is a new day! 🤑 The food. We are foodies. The decline in the quality of food in the dining room is noticeable, and that is putting it nicely. My husband got prime rib last night, and it was truly inedible. I got rack of lamb from the steakhouse selections. I ordered it medium rare. The first time it came out well done, the second time it came out literally baaing. It was raw. They took it off the bill. Crème brûlée awful, melting cake not melty but instead rather dense. A couple of items were actually pretty good. The crawfish pasta and the carpaccio, both off of the menu, I really enjoyed. Steakhouse. Generally good but everything was underseasoned. Tuna tartare and crab risotto were standouts. Husbands NY strip was thin and sad, especially when paying a $49 cover charge. My filet and lobster was also very good. We also hit up bonsai sushi yesterday. Yum! The sashimi was nice and fresh, and the shrimp tempura roll was delicious. Hoping to get to Seafood Shack and Seaday brunch over the next few days. Internet is generally good. Was able to make Skype calls and stream some shows. Side note.. it appears Hulu and Netflix are blocked. Any questions, let me know. I’ll be back to share more later in the cruise. 😎- 1 reply
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We sailed the 4 night, disembarked yesterday. It was by far the worst cruise ever. We last sailed carnival in 2009 and that was not very good either. We gave the line one more shot and will not cruise again on carnival. 1.The embarkation process makes no sense and takes forever. In the last 24 months we have sailed royal Caribbean, celebrity and Virgin. Their process is fast and streamlined. 2. The water on the ship smelled and tasted like sewage. It wasn’t bad but noticeable. Very annoying since I could not get more than 1 bottle of water or a drink at the same time. 3. Lines, lines, lines and more lines. What is the deal with lines for all food? We waited 45 minutes for pizza during dining hours. My daughter waited in line 3 times over a half hour for pizza. I wanted pizza more than once but I refused to wait in the line. Guys Burger joint? Forget about it. 4. Do they put the newbies in the my time dining room? It took 30 minutes before we placed an order for drinks on the first night. They fumbled our orders for food around. It was just a mess. The 2nd night our service was great then it was garbage again on the 3rd night. 5. why can’t I order a alcohol drink and a bottle of water at the same time? Some servers/bartenders were cool and let us do that but a majority did not. They received handsome tips and continued visits from us. 6. the elevators suck, why the long waits all the time? I used the stairs more than ever. It’s not always cool doing a ton of stairs with a 5 year old. 7. the wine list for the drink package is lousy, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon are available. 8. The food was not good, maybe ok. This seems to be a trend over all the lines. THE Short list of good stuff: 1. Our room steward Julius was probably the best we have had in years. 2. When the line for tacos wasn’t long they were good. Flame away or ask away.
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This look is so 2022: Carnival Ship Debuts New Funnel After Fire [PHOTOS] (cruiseradio.net)
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We sailed on the Carnival Freedom from March 16, 2024 though March 24, 2024. This trip was booked about three weeks before we sailed. We had airfare credits that needed to be used before April 1st so decided on a quick, inexpensive getaway. Grades are: A=Excellent; B = Good; C = Average; D= Below Average; F = Poor. Flight – Roundtrip on Delta. Uneventful, although the flights were completely full due to spring break. Didn’t cost anything due to flight credits. B Rental car – We did a one-way rental with Hertz. Hertz has an office right in Port Canaveral with a free shuttle to the ship. Super easy. Was $75 for the rental. A Hotel - We flew in the day before and stayed at the Quality Inn in Titusville, FL. $100 for the night and included free breakfast. There was a Cracker Barrel right across the street. Hotel was very clean, beds were comfortable, but it was very dated if that’s something that matters to you. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel and ended up going back there for breakfast the next morning as the breakfast area at the hotel is very small and it was super crowded. B Cruise – Overall we had a good time and thought what we got for what we paid it was a great value. $1,200 for an interior cabin on Deck 1. A Embarkation – We don’t like to wait in crowds so picked a later embarkation time. While we’ve sailed Carnival in the past, lately we’ve been sailing on Norwegian. We’ve found if we pick at time around noon, we can pretty much just walk through and walk on. When we arrived at the port there was a large group of people waiting outside, with some people being directed across the street. They were only allowing people with the correct boarding times to get in line to go into the building, so it looks like they are enforcing boarding time. The people being sent to line up across the street were people who arrived early. We got in line and once the line began to move we got through quickly and walked on the ship. We checked in at our muster station and then went to the Lido deck to get something to eat. Rooms were ready by 1:30 p.m. B Food – I think this is a very subjective category. Neither DH or I are picky eaters. For the complimentary dining we ate at the buffet, main dining room, Blue Iguana, and Mongolian Wok. We tried Guy’s Burgers on a previous cruise and didn’t care for them - - they were too greasy for us so we didn’t go there. I have a dairy allergy so we also didn’t get pizza (although it did look good). We also didn’t get anything from the Deli. The lines were always really long. One thing we found different from previous cruises was that if the menu in the main dining room didn’t appeal to you, you could go to the buffet and get something different. Here, the buffet was serving the exact same food. Overall, we both agreed the food was ok. There was nothing that we tried that was inedible, there were a few things that were really good (stuffed fried mushrooms, pot roast, vanilla French toast, prime rib, to name a few), but for the most part it was pretty average. C Sushi at Sea – We tried this on the night that we didn’t care for the dining room options and the same food was being served on the buffet. We both thought it was reasonably priced and very good. B (24 pieces for $25) Seafood Shack – We decided to try it for dinner one night and thought it was reasonably priced and very good. I had the fried clam strips with fries and DH had the combo (fried shrimp & clam strips with fries). B ($20) Service – Service on this ship was outstanding. Absolutely no complaints at all. Everyone we came in contact with was working very hard and still had a smile on their faces. Waitstaff remembered us by name, even if we only sat in their section once. Bar staff was attentive and we didn’t have to wait for drinks. A Cleanliness/State of the Ship – Another area where Carnival shined. Everything was super clean, and I didn’t see any areas that were in disrepair. A Entertainment – This is another category that can be very subjective. We saw the three shows with the singers/dancers and they were all good. We went to several comedy shows and while there were some jokes that fell flat, they were all funny. The electric violin players in the atrium were amazing. Rock band in the Red Frog Pub was good. We did not care for the singer in the piano bar. We went in a watched a bit of the karaoke, which was entertaining. We didn’t do any of the trivia, Deal or No Deal, Bingo, etc. so I can’t comment on those. B Turks & Caicos – We did a sail, snorkel, stingray trip that we booked through the ship. It was very good. Saw fish, coral and stingrays and the rum punch served after was really good. B ($180) Bimini – We took the free tram to get a bit of a look at the island and then just hung out on the beach at the end of the pier. Was a nice relaxing day. B Internet – Worked fine. No complaints from us. A ($95) Debarkation – Easily one of the fastest and easiest ones we’ve done. Literally just walked right off the ship. Never stopped walking. A Cruise ship shuttle back to the airport – Super easy. As soon as we exited the building it was right there to the right. Bus filled quickly and we were off. A While onboard we spent $361 (which included gratuities). We had about $100 in on-board credit which brought us down to $261. The rest was drinks, sushi, Seafood Shack and a pair of earrings I bought. Neither DH or I are big drinkers, but we drank what we wanted when we wanted. I didn’t buy the Cheers package as I know we would not have made full use of it. While the ship was full (spring break time), it didn’t really seem crowded to us. We hung out in the adults only area (Serenity) and really enjoyed it there. We were always able to find some shade and there’s a bar right there. Can’t comment on the spa or the kids club as we didn’t use either one. Overall, we had a good time and had a much needed break. We were happy with this cruise for the price we paid and felt it was a very good value for the money (total for the whole trip came to about ($2000, when adding in the meals at Cracker Barrel and the bus to/from our house to the airport and the Carnival). While onboard we did do a lot of comparing to Norwegian and it solidified for us that Norwegian is now our cruise line of choice for a variety of reasons. Would I sail Carnival again if the price and itinerary was right? Yes. -
Reports on Facebook say funnel is on fire again. Anyone on board can confirm?
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Does anyone have any experience with these handicap accessible cabins. They are called interior but still have a window (1001 and 1002). My wife and I are looking at booking one of them since they appear to be very reasonably priced. -
Hey y’all my friends are I are going on the cruise but non of us are 25 and we need someone to sponsor us. If anyone can it would be very much appreciated. We will not come in between you and your families time. Thanks and have a great day! ☺️
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We have "free" cabins on both ships, cruising in December. Not Christmas. Those that have been on both, help me decide. It's our 23 carnival cruise and have not been on either of these ships yet!! Freedom is a 5 day and Vista is a 6 day. Please advise, Thank you
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Hi fellow CCers!! Yes, it is time for another cruise with ninjacat123 and we (DH Craig and DDs Cat & Sky) are super excited about this upcoming five day cruise out of Port Canaveral. If the weather cooperates, we will go to a favorite place the night before embarkation, Rikki Tiki Tavern. Located at the end of Cocoa Beach pier it's a great place to have a drink and a nibble while you watch the surfers down below. Because this venue is open air the weather is a big factor. Craig and I tried last January before our cruise and it was closed due to wind.
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It's been far too long since I've cruised. How would I know what parties to expect on my 5 night cruise? I'd like to plan some outfits accordingly. Thank you!
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Hello, just got back from our first cruise on Carnival and thought I would share some thoughts on our trip. Background - we are a family of 4 with two teen daughters 19 and 13. We have cruised MSC and RCCL multiple times and once on HAL. This cruise fit our timeframe after Christmas and before having to head back to work and school and we thought we would give Carnival a try. Overall we had a great time and would definitely cruise with Carnival again. Below are the Good, Bad, Great, and Not So Good parts of our trip and a few questions. Great: - Cruise director Todd (T-O-DD). That guy has endless energy and works hard to make sure everyone is having a great time. Best cruise director we have had and we appreciate his efforts. - Room Attendant Achmad. He immediately explained when introducing himself that he was told (probably by corporate - more on that later) that he is to only clean and refresh the room once per day in the morning. However, he was always there to get us fresh bath and pool towels and came in a few times to vacuum on port days after we came back when we went to dinner. Outstanding service and attitude. - Waiter Fernando. He was working shorthanded most of the time (we didn't seem to have a full-time assistant waiter only "helpers") but still kept us served and remembered special requests. Very nice guy to talk to and knew a lot about the Carnival line in general. - Pizza Pirate - This was a pleasant surprise. Only MSC has better pizza than the Pizza Pirate. Very fresh thin crust and lots of varieties. - Guy's Burgers - Fresh and juicy. Excellent and tasty. - Mongolian Grill - Very good. Reminded me of BD's. Was always very busy - Ol Fashioned BBQ - What a hidden gem! The chicken was awful but the pulled pork and slow smoked brisket were awesome. - Water Slide, Mini Golf, and Games - These were a lot of fun. They had several different things to do outside and appealed to different groups and ages. Lived up to the "FUN" reputation. - Playlist Performers - 4 very talented vocalists and 4 skilled dancers. Great shows although some variety would have been nice as each show was not current music - 80s, 90s, and Motown mainly. My teens were a little lost but agreed the shows were solid and vocals on point. - Comedians - Family friendly shows and Adults Only gave something for everyone. Very funny and enjoyable - Grand Turk - A beautiful destination. Easy walk to the beach right off the ship. Lots of local options to sightsee - golf carts, ATVS, cars, etc. Good: - Dining Room Food - We had some exceptional dishes like the Filet Mignon and Chicken Parm and Garlic Shrimp. But there were a few duds like the Southern Fried Chicken - probably an insult to the South with overly fried dark meat served as an entree. Appetizers were just ok and didn't seem to go with the mains very cohesively and desserts were limited but very good in general. - Buffet Food - The remainder of the buffet food was pretty average and not very exciting. Breakfast was limited - They "rotated" breakfast meats, so no bacon on at least half the days which was just weird. (Again, corporate budgeting maybe?) - Gym - Small and limited but they did have a sauna and steam room and a decent amount of cardio machines. Need more free weights and an area to lift in. It was very crowded. Not So Good: Disembark at Ports and at the End - Lots of chaos. For some reason Carnival does not like to have many signs posted. It was hard to tell where to go unless you ask other guests or an employee if you could find one. There was an odd period between being rushed out of the cabin at 8:30 and not having our luggage available for pickup. We ended up fighting the carry off luggage and lines to grab a few bits of food at the packed buffet but this could have went better. Picture Deals - The photographers took more photos of us than on any cruise and printed out every single one, yet they had really crappy pricing on the pictures. We would have bought a lot more if they would have had some type of decent special. Not very good compared to other lines. Smoking - The casino and entire 5th floor into the theater and atrium reeked of terrible cigarette smoke. Carnival needs to work on this. Pools - They only had one small pool in the center and an adults only pool. It would have been nice to have another option to swim. Amber Cove - this is a manufactured port and felt like a money grab. They built this far away from a lot of attractions so we had to travel awhile to any excursion. No walkable beach. Just not really the "Caribbean experience" at all. Bad: TV Channels and Sports - There are more ad channels from Carnival than actual programs. The TV in the room was the size of a computer monitor circa 1995. The worst thing was that they had NO sports channels. You had to venture into the smoky casino or cramped Heroes bar to even check a score. They needed more areas to relax and watch a game. No excuse for this. Corporate Being Cheap - There was an overarching theme that Carnival tries to get by with the minimum in some areas. The room attendant being told clean only in the morning, no full time assistant waiter, No BACON lol, and the poor guys at the Pizza Pirate - all TWO of them due to a lack of staffing - working crazy hard to manage huge lines of people the entire cruise. Oh, and bread at dinner was only "by request" and not offered unless you asked. All seemed to be budget related and looked very bad to a customer who had been on other lines. Attitudes of Some Staff - We had a few run ins with staff who were very rude and unprofessional. Most were good to great and we appreciated them, but Carnival had way too many disrespectful employees sorry to say. We had a guy tell us rudely to read the program when we were confused about why the late buffet wasn't open. Thelma Morneau the hotel manager told me I couldn't use the handicapped restroom even though the mens room had an overflowing toilet and I have a medical condition which requires me to have restroom access because I wasn't "in a wheelchair". A guy at the Burger Joint refused to refill the mayonnaise for a lady and asked her why she didn't just use something else. My wife lost her jacket on the way off the ship and a lady with a walkie talkie "faked" reporting it over the radio (her coworker gave her up on this and said that no one could hear her and asked her who she was talking to) to get us out of the port and yelled at me when I tried to describe the jacket. Carnival needs some coaching here. Odd Times for Food - We found out that there are several times a day when food is not available or limited. It is very much a challenge to plan you day if you want to eat at a particular venue. For example, Guys and BBQ aren't available until 12, although the Blue Iguana is open for breakfast and through lunch. The entire buffet closes at certain points in the afternoon. You are limited to only the Deli, Pizza Pirate, and ice cream from 9:30 to 11:30. The Pizza Pirate is open almost all the time but you can't get something simple like cookies unless the buffet is open. This really took away from our vacation and we would have liked to see something like Cafe Promenade on RCCL or just a small section of the buffet always open like on MSC at all times. Questions from us: - Are all the ships this much fun? We felt like Todd was probably more the exception than the rule. - Are there usually this many "difficult" employees? We really don't see this on other lines in our experience and hope that we just ran into some people not having the bets day working with guests. - Do all of the ships have the odd dining times where venues are shut down? - Does Carnival typically limit things with corporate policies to save money? I would gladly pay a little to have bacon for breakfast or bread without asking. All in all, Carnival was a hit with our family. We always were entertained with Todd making even trivia a blast, food was great, and plenty of options for fun in the sun on the ship and Grand Turk. There were a few hiccups, but nothing is perfect and the good certainly outweighed the bad by a considerable margin. We will be back for sure and we are glad we went on our first Carnival cruise! -
Over a year ago in mid November , my family upon recommendation from me decided to book a Christmas cruise 2023. Seventeen people, six cabins on the 10th deck on Freedom. Yes, I realized Freedom was an older ship but I have sailed and enjoyed other sailings in the same class as Freedom and I also knew it was undergoing a quick refurbishment in October. I have used the same PVP for about six years and was in direct communication with him as did the rest of the group. On Black Friday ‘22 I did a ghost booking and the price for my cruise had gone down significantly so I called him and after some hesitation he agreed that I could indeed take advantage of the lower price. Regrettably I did not notice that the confirmation email of the new price also included a change of my cabin only to deck 7 on opposite ends of the ship. I take responsibility for not noticing. However, at no time did he mention anything about changing cabins. It was not until I printed documents that I realized this. I immediately called and confirmed my greatest fear. Ship was completely sold out, PVP apologized. I would have never, ever agreed to change cabins completely away from my children and grandchildren for the sake of saving money, We always stay on deck above lido no matter the ship. It certainly did not ruin my vacay but it did most definitely affect it. There are some other issues with this cruise I want to write about. I have read many reports that the quality of food and service overall has gone downhill significantly recently. Having sailed most recently in May with great satisfaction , I scoffed at those reviews. Sadly, overall the food was indeed disappointing. I do not expect 5 star cuisine but four entrees in the MDR were awful(strip loin, an entree salad, parpadelle with lamb and fried chicken, previously a favorite ). We have enjoyed the buffet at lunch in the past but the quality and drink service was very disappointing. In particular , the meal for Christmas was simply unacceptable.. We waited 45 minutes between our appetizer and entrees and then waited another 30 minutes after entree for dessert with no plates cleared or water refilled. One of us never received our entree during all that time with no explanation when we inquired several times.We spent two full hours in the MDR , resulting in arriving late to several Christmas evening festivities. The last item I want to address is the general feeling of safety. The cruise started off with an aura of yuletide cheer but as the week progressed the atmosphere digressed as entire groups of very rowdy unsupervised teens and young adults roamed the ship. They took delight in blocking hallways and stair landings, spitting on people in the atrium from above, etc. On the last night of the cruise they boldly escalated their behavior to a dangerous level. They were seen by my husband and others wearing ski masks while threatening people. At one am the “Charlie” call came over the intercom system twice for security as large fights broke out on 9th deck. I have been extremely loyal to Carnival for many years but I am ready to spend my vacations elsewhere. For all of the PR they are doing to improve their image, they are completely failing at implementation. The very heavy smell of weed at all hours of the day and night( so strong inside my cabin and on balcony and through out the ship) is proof that their heavily advertised announcements of intolerance is nothing short of a lie. Much more importantly, for the first time in 15 plus cruises, I and my family no longer feel safe while sailing with Carnival. We sailed with four beautiful , well behaved teenage granddaughters whose ability to enjoy the ship on their own was directly affected by this atmosphere. Freedom security needs a complete overhaul. They seemed to be very adept at catching those who took videos of the several fights as it was reported they commanded individuals to delete videos while they watched and verified. They were also very adept at commanding people in cabins nearby to stay in their rooms even though they were getting texts from family members trying to reach each other out of fear for their own safety. Their concern for public image greatly eclipses their actual attention to creating a safe , enjoyable family atmosphere for people to sail and spend their hard earned money to create lasting memories. My money can be spent elsewhere. My loyalty to Carnival has suffered a tremendous blow, quite possibly, fatal.
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Hi all! My husband and I are currently booked on the Freedom out of Port Canaveral for the last week of April for our 20th anniversary. We also looked at Breeze for the same dates out of Galveston. Had the Breeze been sailing out of a different port, we likely would have booked her instead. I’m getting more nervous about the freedom because of the terrible reviews (which I normally take with a grain of salt). The cruises are very close in price (breeze will be $100 more). Airfare is actually slightly less flying in Hobby. Seems like an easy choice to switch but I’m hesitating because we’ve sailed out of canaveral many times so we’re very familiar with flying into MCO, renting a car and driving to the port. Galveston I have no experience with. We currently have one of those balconies on freedom that is the last one before the aft wrap balcony. So it’s the different shape with the long balcony. We don’t care about the itineraries. We’ve done almost all of them in the Caribbean. Should we switch from freedom to breeze?? Or is the freedom really not as bad as the reviews say it is? Is Galveston easy to navigate? I think I would cancel cheers since we can’t use it the first day out of Galveston and we will have drinks in the casino for both of us (on freedom it would have just been for me which is why we bought cheers).
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It will be so nice to see the Carnival Freedom sporting her new whale tail in ports again. No more stumpy. Shes all polished up and ready to show off.
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Has anyone stayed in the Carnival Freedom Cabin 7220? We were wondering if the head of the bed faces the front of the ship.
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Has anyone seen her/on her/pictures since she came out of drydock?
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Which dining room is for anytime dining, and which is for set time dining? Thank you!
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Strange question but I read somewhere that the doors aren’t magnetic on this floor. I bought a bunch of magnetic decorations for our transatlantic Freedom and just need to know if I need to come up with another game plan. Thanks for the info!
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Has anyone stayed in this cabin, I am wondering if any noise form deck 9 above.
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Besides the new whale tail, does anyone know what other work may be done during the drydock in October? We're on her November 11th, and I love to know what we can expect! Thanks!
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Hello everybody. It will have been 137 days since my last cruise but finally a gangway is in my near future. And oh what an adventure this is going to be. It will span a total of 56 days, five different cruises over two cruise lines and two continents, plus five days in Barcelona. The first two segments are your basic five day Caribbean cruises on Carnival Freedom starting on September 11. Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and some stops in the Bahamas. It will be my first time in Nassau since the opening of the new port area so I plan to check that out. It will also be my first time in Princess Cay so I may check that out as well but will probably not do anything but wander in either of those ports. I am traveling with my mom on this trip and we have separate rooms for these first two legs. I have purchased Cheers! for the first five days and hope to get good use of it. I'm not a big drinker but it is my first vacation in a while so hope to let loose. If I make it to 15 drinks, you probably won't hear about it because I'll be to intoxicated to post about it 🙂 . During the second leg I will probably still enjoy a few nights of cocktails but will use my carryon bottles of wine, free casino drinks, maybe buy a small wine package at dinner, and purchase the rest as I go. I have $500 OBC on each of these first two legs but for the second leg I want to use it on some casino time. Cheers! and Wi-Fi ate almost the whole $500 for the first trip. Ouch. But at least it was house money, it is the only way I could justify the cost to myself. After that, the cruise, and review, will transition to a much slower pace as we move from short cruises to my first Transatlantic experience on September 21. A wonderful 13 day crossing to Barcelona with a stop in Bermuda along the way as well as a few stops in Portugal and Spain. I made an itinerary of the trip to print out to give to my mom for a nice visual. If I can find a way to post it on here I will do so since it will be easier than listing all the places we will be going. I will not have my own room for the remainder of the trip and my mom is an early riser so I will be turning in early most likely from here out. I suspect the whole ship will be shutting down earlier at this point 🙂 . I hope to continue the live for the crossing, but if Wi-Fi is inadequate I am going to have to request a refund and unplug. I truly hope that is not the case but when I was on this ship in January, it wasn't great. Fingers crossed. My mom has some mobility challenges so while I would like to do some exploring in Bermuda and Europe, we have nothing planned and will play it by ear on a day by day basis. I have researched each port and have many ideas in mind for some easy excursions and I may go off on my own in a couple ports I'm most excited about, like Florence and Rome, but we will see. -
Does Carnival have a date for when they are going to fix the whaletail?
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On Freedom, what deck is used for 'arrivals' at start of cruise? Thanks
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Anyone know which dining room?
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What's the best plan to be able to FaceTime? Last year I had the basic plan and was able to FT in public areas. In March I had the same plan but wasn't able to FT at all.
