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Review - Solo on the Freedom - May 10, 2014


agp_mzk
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I just returned home last night from an 8 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the newly renovated Carnival Freedom.

 

Let me start off by saying that I took 151 photographs on this trip! Obviously, I won't be including all of them in this review, but I will try to pick out the ones that best describe the adventure that was this week.

 

This was my third cruise and my first solo trip of any kind. Coming into it, I was excited but a little nervous about how everything would go. I'll sum up just how wrong I was in the final portion of the review, but I'll just say now that the nerves were completely unnecessary.

 

 

Pre-Cruise: Knoxville to Fort Lauderdale

 

I flew down Thursday evening from Knoxville to Fort Lauderdale via Allegiant Air. For those who aren't familiar with Allegiant, it is a budget airline that focuses on short, often seasonal, itineraries. Fares are very low, but they do charge for both carry-on and checked baggage. For me, the total price still ended up being a great deal, but I did have to fly down two nights before the cruise due to Allegiant's schedule. The flight was uneventful - we had a brief delay before taking off due to a mechanical check, but we still landed on time.

 

Grabbing a cab was very easy, and my taxi driver even carried my checked bag all the way to the front desk of my hotel, which was much appreciated! When I arrived, there was a very unhappy guest at the desk who apparently didn't understand how hotel holds work and why you should NEVER use a debit card to pay for your room unless you maintain a significantly higher balance in your account than most of us! When she finally gave up, my check in process went very smoothly.

 

I stayed at the Comfort Suites Airport & Cruise Port North. The room was a good size, clean, and quiet. The location was convenient to both the airport and the cruise port, although I would have liked to have been a little closer to a water taxi stop - I walked down on Friday, but it was a bit of a hike (details coming below...).

 

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After checking in, I asked the front desk clerk for a dinner recommendation within walking distance, and he suggested Ernie's. Ernie's is a barbeque joint (not what I expected to find in south FL, I have to admit!) and is located almost directly across the street from the hotel. However, you have to cross a very busy street to get there. The area was well lit, and I felt perfectly safe going over to eat at around 8 pm, but I wouldn't have wanted to walk over much later than that. I thought the food was good but not great (sorry, FL, but you just can't top real southern BBQ!), although the bread was amazing. By the time I was finished eating, I was ready to head back to the hotel and crash.

 

I spent all of Friday riding around on the water taxi. It was a great way to wind down from what was a very stressful end of the semester at work. It was very warm outside, but the breeze kept everything very comfortable.

 

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I hopped off the water taxi at 15th Street Fisheries for lunch. The food was very good, and the margarita was STRONG! I loved the view from the dock. I did have a little trouble getting back on the water taxi - it doesn't always stop at that point - but I eventually made my way back on board and finished the loop off. By the end of the day, I was pleasantly exhausted and my feet were literally bleeding (I don't recommend multiple miles of walking in wooden-soled flip flops!), so I broke down and called a cab to take me back to the hotel from the Hilton water taxi stop. My roll call group was having a happy hour meet and greet that evening, but I didn't make it out with them. I was in bed and asleep before 9 pm.

 

Next up: Embarkation Day

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Great photos! I can't wait to finally see some photos from the newly renovated Freedom!

 

I love 15th Street Fisheries. It's the best place to eat on the water in Fort Lauderdale IMO.

 

Looking forward to your review. I'd like to know if Freedom has the American Table menus now.

Edited by winddawn
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Embarkation Day

 

I had sprung for FTTF on this trip, and I have to say that, for me, it was not worth the additional money, but I'm glad that I tried it out so that I know for sure now. I took my time in the morning and caught a cab from the hotel to the port around 10:30 am. The crowd was very thin that early, and check in was a breeze. We weren't called to board until noon, though. On my previous cruises, I've arrived at the port around 1:30 or 2 pm and been able to walk right onto the ship. I think I prefer that to sitting around the cruise terminal waiting to board.

 

I had cabin 8-416 for this cruise. It was my first balcony, and I have to say that I am definitely hooked! I really liked the location of this cabin as well. It is right next to the aft stairs/elevators, which made it very easy to find and convenient for getting to almost everywhere I wanted to be on the ship. There was some chair dragging noise occasionally from the Lido deck above, but I barely noticed it after the first day.

 

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After unpacking, I walked up to the Lido deck. I had to get my hands on a Guy's Burger after hearing so much about them. I have to say that, for me, the burger didn't exactly live up to the hype. It was very good, and definitely a huge improvement over what usually passes for a burger on cruise lines, but it was far from the best burger I've ever had. The best part of lunch was bumping into part of my roll call group for an impromptu meet and greet.

 

After lunch, I took a walk around the ship to get my bearings, and then our roll call had a meet and greet by the aft pool on the lido deck. We had a nice group of people, and I enjoyed getting to meet up with everyone. One couple and I were in the same muster group, so we spent a little more time hanging out together waiting on muster. This would end up being the only time I really spent with anyone from my roll call. For whatever reason, our schedules never matched up for the rest of the cruise I guess.

 

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Muster was a bit delayed; we were supposed to depart at 4 pm, but muster didn't start until 4:15 or so. On my previous cruises, we've done the majority of the drill inside the ship and then walked out to our lifeboats, but on this trip, the entire drill was held out by the lifeboats. I got stuck in the back, so I couldn't see anything (I'm 5' tall), and it was hot! Near the end of the drill, people off to my right started yelling for a doctor, and someone in the crowd ran down to assist. I couldn't really see or hear what was going on; I hope it was nothing major.

 

I headed up to the Serenity deck to grab a lounger for sailaway and snag my first DOD.

 

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I loved the Serenity deck on the Freedom. It was much larger and had more shade available than on the Fantasy class ships I've sailed on before, and it was much cooler, being located on the front of the ship instead of the back. A little of the Lido deck noise did filter up, but if you moved further forward on Serenity, it wasn't a problem.

 

We didn't sail until after 6 pm, so I got tired of being in the sun and ended up watching from my balcony instead. It was fun to see all the people who came out to see us off.

 

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Once we were finally away, it was time to clean up and head to dinner. I was crossing my fingers that I'd have a large table of friendly people. My expectations were so far exceeded that it still feels a bit surreal. We had the most amazing, eclectic group of people that I've ever encountered in one place. I can honestly say that I now count every single one of these people among my dearest friends, and we all plan to remain in close contact. We're already contemplating a reunion cruise! :D

 

After dinner, our dinner group attended the late night comedy show, and then it was time to get some rest before the adventure really began.

 

Next up: Two Sea Days and a Whole Lot of Fun!

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Great photos! I can't wait to finally see some photos from the newly renovated Freedom!

 

I love 15th Street Fisheries. It's the best place to eat on the water in Fort Lauderdale IMO.

 

Looking forward to your review. I'd like to know if Freedom has the American Table menus now.

 

 

The Freedom does not have the American Table menus now, but it will beginning in June, I believe.

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Sea Days 1 & 2

 

Unwinding was the name of the game on these two days. The last two weeks of the semester are always intense, and this year had been particularly difficult. I was in desperate need of some time away; this trip couldn't have come at a better moment!

 

I woke up on the first day to the sunshine flowing through my balcony window and ordered a room service BLT. It was a bit chilly and windy this day, but I was determined to finish my breakfast on the balcony before admitting defeat and heading back inside. I ran down to the Internet cafe (I had promised my mother that I'd check in on Facebook every day to confirm that I was still alive.), which proved kind of difficult to find - you have to go inside the Habana Bar to get to it. The Internet connection was decent (for a ship) for most of the cruise, but it was painfully slow on the final two days of the trip. After that, I parked myself on one of the Promenade couches outside the casino to read and people watch for a couple of hours. For lunch, I decided to check out the Fish n Chips offerings.

 

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I thought the ceviche (left) was great, but the Ahi and watermelon (right) was a little too heavy on the watermelon. Next up, I headed to Serenity for a few hours. It was still a little chilly outside, but it was warm enough to keep me up there for a while. I ran into one of my table mates there, and we hung out chatting about our various cruising experiences.

 

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By about 3 pm, I was ready to warm up, so I headed to my cabin for a bit. I laid down on the couch for "just a minute" and woke up to realize that it was 7:30 pm - I had 8:15 dining, and it was formal night! :eek: I don't think I've ever showered and gotten dressed so quickly! My hair wasn't completely dry and wasn't curled when I made it to dinner, but I did manage to make myself presentable. We had another fantastic dinner, and the wait staff brought a carnation and a chocolate tart to all the women on board for Mother's Day.

 

After dinner, about half our table headed down to the Red Frog Pub. We played foosball and shuffleboard until it was time for the "adult" trivia to begin. I am hopelessly uncoordinated, making me terrible at both of those games, but we had an absolute blast. Our trivia team, the War Kittens, finished 3rd; luckily, we befriended the winners and were invited to share in their beer tube prize. After that, it was time for bed.

 

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The second sea day went much the same way as the first. I slept pretty late and decided to check out the brunch, since I've never sailed on a ship that had it before. I ordered the steak and eggs, which was delicious. The ship was really rocking and rolling this day - the barf bags were out by the elevator banks and some of the hallways. I curled up on one of the Promenade couches again for more reading; the ship was very quiet all day long. After another late afternoon nap (I set an alarm this time!) and another great dinner, our dinner group headed to the late night comedy show. I turned in after the show; I wanted to be reasonably well rested for my excursion the next day.

 

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Next up: St. Maarten

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St. Maarten - Part 1

 

I took a ton of pictures this day, so I'll have to break this post into two parts to include all the ones I want to share.

 

The weather for our day in St. Maarten was absolutely perfect. I woke up in time to watch us sail into the docks on this gorgeous day.

 

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My excursion didn't meet until later in the morning, so I had a little time to walk around the port area and the duty free shops before meeting up. We were docked next to one of the Norwegian ships, which I have to admit had a much more interesting paint job than our ship.

 

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For this day, I had signed up for the America's Cup Regatta excursion through Carnival. Our group met up on the pier and then walked over to a nearby dock to meet our transfer boat - which consists of a flat platform with plastic lawn chairs bolted to it, but handled the water just fine, despite its appearance. ;) Our guides gave us a brief history of the America's Cup and the ships we'd be sailing before splitting us into two teams. I was on team Stars & Stripes, and we would challenge team True North in the upcoming race. We were able to watch the very close and exciting finish of the race before ours from the transfer boat while we waited to climb aboard our yachts.

 

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I was assigned as a "winch wench", which involved winding in and releasing the rope from one portion of the sail when commanded by our captain. The captain then handed me the wheel to steer us out to the starting point while he prepared us for the race to come. Then we each got some individual instruction on how to do our jobs before the race began. The crew had water, soda, and beer available for us before and after the race as well as during the quieter moments of the race itself.

 

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To be continued...

Edited by agp_mzk
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St. Maarten - Part 2

 

This excursion was a blast! It is quite physically demanding at times, so if you're looking for a relaxing sail around the island, look elsewhere. The yachts do list pretty significantly at times; if you have back or knee problems, this may not be the excursion for you. I found it absolutely exhilarating, even when it was taking everything I had just to keep myself upright! It was almost a photo finish, but team Stars & Stripes just edged out True North for the win!

 

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After the race, we enjoyed a quiet sail to the excursion company's yacht club. I don't usually purchase professional photos from excursion companies, but I couldn't resist buying this one. The photographer was pretty amazing to watch as he raced alongside us driving a speed boat while simultaneously standing up to take photos. At the yacht club, we were handed cups of very potent rum punch to celebrate our victory (or, for the other team, drown out the sorrows of a loss...). ;)

 

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The yacht club is right on the Phillipsburg waterfront, and quick and easy walk from the shops along Great Bay Beach. I wasn't impressed with the beach, but I enjoyed the shopping atmosphere as I walked along the boardwalk.

 

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When I finished my shopping, I rode the water taxi back to the ship for lunch. I enjoyed a Blue Iguana Cantina burrito on the very quiet Serenity deck, along with a tasty drink, courtesy of a very charming Romanian bartender. The view of the island from the top of the ship was breathtaking.

 

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I enjoyed sailaway from my balcony and then got ready for yet another wonderful dinner. One of the younger guys at our table, Andrew, had everyone around us dancing during the dinner entertainment. I haven't ever laughed so much in one week in my entire life. We were always the last table to finish dinner - we were usually there until after 10. On this night, I headed to bed right after dinner to get some sleep before my early morning snorkeling excursion.

 

Next up: St. Thomas

Edited by agp_mzk
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St. Thomas - Part 1

 

This will be another two-part post. We had yet another gorgeous view sailing into St. Thomas in the morning.

 

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For this day, I had signed up for Captain Nautica's Ultimate Snorkeling Excursion through Carnival. This isn't an excursion I've seen much information about here on CC, but I was looking for something to do that wasn't going to be packed with other cruise guests. This definitely fit that bill. There were 16 guests on our speed boat, along with our two fantastic guides, Kaylee and Max. We had a wild and bumpy 15 minute ride out to Buck Island. I loved the ride, but this is NOT an excursion for anyone with back, knee, or motion sickness issues! Our first snorkeling spot was Turtle Cove. We managed to get out there while only a couple of other excursion groups were there. It was raining lightly in the morning, and the visibility wasn't great as a result, but this was still a fun spot. I saw several large sea urchins, lots of fire choral, a few different varieties of fish, and two sea turtles (I'll share one turtle picture here - I couldn't get any good ones due to the murkiness, but this was the best I managed).

 

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After about an hour, we climbed back on board the speed boat and moved over to Shipwreck Cove. By this time the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and the visibility had improved markedly. I didn't find the shipwreck area of the cove to be very impressive, but I swam over to the coastline and found out why people describe the snorkeling in St. Thomas as gorgeous. The water became crystal clear, the coral formations were right along the surface, and the sea life was abundant and varied. (I also ran into some interesting human "sea life" as well - the little scooter things cracked me up...)

 

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To be continued...

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St. Thomas: Part 2

 

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All too soon, it was time to climb back onto the speed boat for our ride back to the pier. The way back was much smoother than our trip out. We were provided with drinks and melon slices both between stops and on the way back, along with fresh shrimp on the trip back. After getting back to the pier, I ran to my cabin to rinse off the saltwater and put on some dry clothes. Then, I made my way up to Paradise Point in the light drizzle that had returned. Due to the rain and clouds, my photos from the top weren't as impressive as some that I've seen shared here.

 

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I ordered a burger and a rum drink from the bar at Paradise Point. They are not stingy with the liquor there! The bartender also insisted that I sample the famous Bushwacker and their key lime daquiri before I rode back down. I don't normally like shake/milky type drinks, but the Bushwacker was fantastic! The key lime daquiri was even better.

 

I had more Serenity time before watching the sun set from my balcony as we sailed away from St. Thomas.

 

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After dinner, my new friends and I caught the hypnotist show (I was not impressed) and then decided to check out the disco. The DJ this night was truly terrible, and the crowd (or lack thereof) reflected that, but we hung out until the wee hours just chatting and drinking.

 

Next up: San Juan

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San Juan: Part 1

 

I had plans on this day to meet up with Rob, one of my table mates, to explore Old San Juan and then walk down to El Morro. I had pretty low expectations for this port, but I LOVED Old San Juan. It was such a beautiful city, and, aside from the cars, felt very much like a step back in time. We walked around and shopped a bit before making our way over to El Morro. The fort was absolutely amazing.

 

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To be continued...

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I am loving your review! Especially because I cruise solo these days, and also because I have previously enjoyed a wonderful cruise on the Freedom, and also because I eagerly awaiting my next cruise on the Freedom in November:)

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review and post your excellent photos.:)

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San Juan: Part 2

 

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We did A LOT of walking this day! I think we calculated that it was about 6 miles total. Visiting El Morro also required climbing some very steep and very high sets of stairs. I certainly felt like I earned my dinner that night!

 

One thing we discovered is that San Juan is apparently the stray cat capital of the world. They were literally EVERYWHERE as we walked back down into Old San Juan from El Morro. It was a little bit creepy feeling, but most of them were very friendly, especially the one we ran into inside the fort.

 

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We then did a little more shopping and stopped at Barrachina for pina coladas. It was packed, but a couple of very nice girls from Boston graciously offered to let us join their table. The waiter warned us to stir the drinks thoroughly, and he wasn't kidding! I thought I had stirred mine pretty well, but my first sip was nearly straight rum. Once I got the drink fully mixed, it was delicious - and I'm not even a big fan of coconut normally.

 

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On the way back to the ship, we stopped at CVS so I could pick up a bottle of local rum. I paid about $2 less than the same bottle was selling for in the duty free shop at the port, so I was pretty pleased with my purchase. I haven't sampled it yet to see how it tastes, but the bottle will look nice decorating my kitchen if nothing else. ;)

 

As we sailed away from Puerto Rico, I was finally on the correct side of the ship to capture a nice sunset picture from my balcony.

 

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During dinner, we had even more fun than usual - which I didn't think was possible before this point! One of my table mates, John, creates videos that he posts on YouTube as "crusiecrewtv". I can't wait until he gets the ones from our sailing posted! They are sure to be hilarious.

 

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We attended the Love and Marriage show that night, which was a lot funnier than I had anticipated. We went back to the nightclub after that, where the DJ was considerably better than the night before and the crowd was larger. This was the latest night of the cruise for me; I was glad the next day was a sea day!

 

Next up: One Last Sea Day

Edited by agp_mzk
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Final Day at Sea

 

I don't have a lot of photos of this day. It was our last chance to do a whole lot of nothing before our final island and journey home. After a very late night, I stayed in bed until almost 1:30 pm. I grabbed a quick lunch from the Mongolian Wok before I met up with my dinner companions. We had a cabin crawl scheduled for 3 pm. We spent the afternoon visiting the different cabin categories our group members (almost all of us were traveling solo) had booked. It was a nice, low key way to fill the time before getting dressed for dinner and our second formal night. The rain was moving in by now; this was a hint at how the last day of the cruise would go.

 

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This was my last night at the dinner table; Rob and I had reservations at the Sun King Steakhouse for the final night. Once again, we laughed and had a fantastic time at dinner. I have to take a minute now to mention how amazing our wait staff was on this cruise. Our assistant waiter, Dusan (on the right in the picture below) was incredibly funny and managed to handle our crazy group with grace and a wit. We all made sure he got lots of extra tips at the end of the week.

 

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We all headed to the comedy club after dinner and met up with several other people we had adopted into our group throughout the week. We planned to meet up the next day to enjoy a group beach adventure and then a few of us grabbed some late night pizza before bed.

 

Next up: Half Moon Cay

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Half Moon Cay

 

Our new family met up at the lobby bar at 10 am to head to the tender line. By this time, tickets weren't needed for the tenders; we just walked down to the line. It rained off and on all day long, but Half Moon Cay was every bit as beautiful as always. We hung out on the beach, enjoyed the delicious barbecue lunch, and played in the water like kids. None of us wanted to leave, but we finally and reluctantly made our way over to the final tender. Once we were back on board, we played around in the pool under the water slide for a bit, until the cold breeze finally drove us out of the water.

 

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I got cleaned up for dinner early this night and then made my way to the sports bar. I wanted to watch the Preakness Stakes and was hoping they'd be showing it on at least one television. To my delight, it was the main event of the evening, featured on almost every screen in the bar. Naturally, California Chrome romped to an easy and impressive victory - on a week like this, he was guaranteed to be triumphant. I celebrated the win with a drink at the Alchemy bar, along with Lee, another of my new friends.

 

Rob and I met up at the Steakhouse at 8 pm. The food was absolutely amazing! Although I wasn't able to eat it all, my ribeye was the best prepared steak I have ever eaten - and I'm a steak snob. After we finished, we made our way down to the dining room to catch up with our crew, who were just finishing dinner. We all picked up our bathrobes (it was "wear your bathrobe" night at the Red Frog Pub) and tried one more time to snag a win in the adult trivia. Sadly, it was not meant to be for us on this trip, but we still had a blast.

 

We made one last trip to the comedy club that night. The bathrobes attracted a lot of attention from our fellow cruisers. :D This next picture pretty well sums up the entire week with this crazy gang.

 

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Next up: Debarkation and Final Thoughts

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