Freedom 1/9/16 review

We had a wonderful 7 days on the Carnival Freedom. There were 7 of us my husband and my 2 daughters ages 23 & 20 and my best friend and her daughters ages 23 & 21. We flew in from Los Angeles the day before and we stayed at a Marriott near Bush Airport. We used Super Shuttle to get to the port on Saturday morning. Our driver stopped at Wal-Mart and we bought wine soda and assorted toiletries and of course Power Ball tickets. We purchased Faster To The Fun and I am so glad we did. The line to get into the terminal was ridiculous with FTTF we were able to be on the ship within 20 minutes of arrival at the port.

When we got our sail and sign cards we noticed that our families were put in different dining rooms. We booked this cruise together in June and we wanted early seating at a large table, apparently this did not happen. We went to the dining room and told them our situation they told us to come back at 6:15 when we did they seated us at a temporary table. The next day we were told to come to the other dining room at 6:00 and they would have a table for us. We waited for about 15 minutes and gave us a really nice table for 8 in the your time dining room. We were the only people in there with an assigned table for every night. Our waiter Christopher was wonderful. Food was eh.

We were in balcony cabin 8249 and our friends were next door in 8253 and they opened the divider so we had an extra-large balcony. Our cabin steward was Valter and he wasn’t very good. I would like to pose a question, why can you order Pellegrino from Carnival to be in your room but not have a bottle opener in said room. When you call and let them know that you need an opener they don’t let you keep it. I ordered 8 bottles and had to find new and special ways to open them. My favorite was to use the opening on the metal tissue holder in the bathroom. Some of the ships have bottle openers on the wall next to the bathroom or in the bathroom not this ship.

The first 2 days at sea were really fun lots of things to do, but it was raining the whole day on the second sea day. We only saw one production show and it was very fun and in 3D for a portion of it, glasses and all. We mostly went to all the comedy shows. Mid cruise they changed comedians and old ones left in Belize and new ones came on. Get to the comedy shows early if you want a decent seat without a pole in your line of site.

I really enjoyed the Sea Day Brunch and the Dr. Seuss breakfast. Dr. Seuss was worth the $5.00 so much fun and they let you take pictures with your own camera so you don’t have to buy the ships pictures.

Our first port was Mahogany Bay Roatan Honduras. My daughters and my friend’s daughters went with my husband scuba diving through Carnival to Anthony’s Key Resort, they had a great time. My friend and I did the 2fer snorkeling and beach. We got to the beach with a ski lift it was really cool. We rented our gear when we got to the beach and we were given 2 chairs under a cabana in the first row facing the ocean, it was beautiful. We had a really good time. I wanted to shop before we went back to the ship and I was disappointed to find out that we could not get out the gates to shop in the city we were relegated to the cruise ship built shopping area. Bought a couple of souvenir crap stuff and went back to the ship.

Port 2 was Belize, My friend and I went on the Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventure. On Carnival’s website it says that this is an easy excursion. There is hiking up hills that are slippery with mud while wearing water shoes. It is not easy for older people who are not used to doing exercise. But I didn’t have any problems and it was great. We hiked for about 45 minutes before we got to the tube area. We got in our tubes and they were all latched together and were pulled along by our guide the caves were breathtaking and beautiful we saw so many great rock and crystal formations. We were hard hats with lights on them to see in the dark. I have never done this type of activity before and I will definitely do it again. My husband and the girls went zip lining and cave tubing. They were at a different site than we were but they had a great time as well. Next time I would like to try zip lining as well.

Our last port was Cozumel. I love Cozumel it is one of my very favorite places ever. We did a land vacation there for 8 days a couple of years ago. We planned our own day in Cozumel. I booked a manatee encounter at Chakaanab. 5 of us did this and the other 2 went scuba diving from the beach in Chakaanab. The manatee encounter was $59 per person and the diving was $45 for 1st dive with all the equipment and $20 for each additional dive. When we finished with our manatee encounter which was phenomenal it was so much fun they are such gentle animals and cuddly, the girls went on another dive with my husband. We were also able to rent snorkel gear there for $10. If you are not doing an encounter with manatees sea lions or dolphins the admission is $21 if you do book an encounter admission is included.

Things to know if you have a lot of clothes that need to be on hangers bring some old wire hangers that you don’t have to take home with you. Bring a jacket or coat because the first night out of Galveston is cold, bring a bottle opener and a cork screw. If you bring your bottle of wine to the dining room they will want to charge a corkage fee we just opened it in our cabin and filled up glasses and took them with us to the dining room. Don’t forget there is a fish & chips restaurant in the buffet area near the back and up the stairs. This is the first ship that I have ever had good pizza on don’t miss it it is in the back by the adults pool. You can get Carnival playing cards for free at the guest services desk. During the Dive In Movies they serve popcorn!

For all those people that dropped this cruise because it was a “Tejano Legends Cruise” and thought that the people in this group would take over the ship and cause things to get cancelled or public rooms not to be available, you were wrong this group didn’t make any impact on anyone’s fun!

If anyone has any question, just ask.

Hkmom

Cheryl

This is the ship/itinerary we are sailing in April. Can't wait! Four of us going, all with different cruise xperience and personalities. We have to get our heads together on the excursions - I'm likely to be the person who wants to walk a different path....

Thanks so much for your review. I'm glad you had a very good time!

Thanks for the review! It sounds like you had a good time :)

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for the review! I'm thinking of "jumping ship" from another line and yours was the first review I read, nice way to start off my "research". :)

This is my families 6th new years eve cruise and it did not disappoint. The crew was very friendly and put us in a festive mood. The ship was decorated nicely with a holiday theme throughout. The free champagne when embarking the ship was an added bonus, it has been 3 in a row with complimentary champagne on the first day of the cruise and on New Years Eve.

Tell me more about check in. You mention the long lines waiting to get into the terminal, yet with FTTF you went right in. Did you have to "cut" in the lines to get up front or was it clearly marked for priority boarding?

Thank You for your Review, and also the Galveston Port staggefed check-in Information! Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We'll be sailing on her in October.

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks so much for your review! I will be cruising with my family in just a few weeks so it's great to read about your experiences. :)

I have a question about the Marriott near Bush airport. (My dad made all the arrangements and he doesn't research things like I do.) I read online that there is a underground walkway that leads from the airport to the hotel. Did you use that? If so was it relatively easy with luggage or should we get a cab?

Also, I'm wondering if there are any stores nearby (walking distance) where I can buy wine, sodas, etc.?

I see that you took the Super Shuttle to the cruise port. Do you remember how much that costs? My dad booked the Carnival transfers and I'm sure he paid an arm & a leg for it. (I'm not even sure if it's possible to cancel that at this point but I'm just curious.)

It sounds like you did ship's excursions except in Cozumel. Did you take a cab to visit the manatees or was that part of the price you quoted?

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your review!

Pam

We are sailing April 2nd..our 2nd time on her..my husband says the magic is just to big..I tend to agree..

There was a specific line for fttf that was differed from the staggered check in line.

The Marriott we stayed at was a good 10 minute ride from the airport. They sent a shuttle for us. I don't know about any underground tunnel.

Super shuttle was around $40 pp, I think the carnival transfers are $35. The super shuttle driver took us to Walmart where we bought our stuff, the driver said he had to charge $10 for each stop. This was still cheaper than buying wine in the ship. $6 for barefoot pink moscato in Walmart the same wine on the ship was $28. We also bought a 12 pack of soda.

I am pretty sure you can call and cancel your carnival transfer reservation and book transfers elsewhere.

We did cab it to chakanaab, it was $24 for 7 of us in a mini van...very cheap! The ride to chakanaab took about 5 minutes but it was definitely not walkable.

Hkmom

We are sailing on the Carnival Freedom April 30th for our wedding! Thanks for the review! We have been on several Carnival ships but not the freedom. How were the rooms. Were they new and updated or still old? We sailed on the Triumph last year and the mattresses that were pushed together to make a king were old and sagging in the middle so it was much less than comfy :(