1st timers loved the Freedom! Jan.24-30/10

[ruby2sday13]

We have never cruised before, and curiosity finally got the better of us, so we decided to try a cruise for vacation this winter. We sailed on the Carnival Freedom, departing Fort Lauderdale on Sun. January 24, 2010 - the 6 night itinerary with stops in Key West, Grand Cayman Island, and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We are a couple with a 13 year old son. We stayed in a category 6B cabin - oceanview, mid-ship - on the Riviera deck, cabin #1371.

 

I will be posting more in detail as I have more time tomorrow, but I will say that our time on the Carnival Freedom was a very enjoyable vacation. The ship is so well maintained, there is so much to see and do, the service was wonderful, and so was the entertainment and all the dining options, too!

 

If you have any questions about the Freedom, the new Serenity deck, the current cruise director Felipe (Woo-Hoo!) Couto, or the Circle C club for 12 to 14 year olds, please ask away!

[mom2two2]

PLEASE do come back and give all the details - and pics if you can. We have cruised before but RCL and never with the kids. We want to take them and are considering Freedom for next winter. I am dying to see what you have to say....:D

[hartskys]

We are going in May with my 80 year old mother in law and can't wait! Did you have any problem getting chairs at the Serenity?

[dan-o 1]

We'll be on the Freedom on Feb. 13th. I thought Wee Jimmy was the CD.

[ruby2sday13]

To mom2two2: I will be posting pics. What ages are your kids? I know my 13 year old LOVED this cruise!

 

To hartskys: We visited the Serenity deck twice - the first time was on the very first day right after we ate lunch - so around 12:45 pm. We were able to score one of the big round clam-shell beds. So, if you are quick about it, on Day 1, you can pretty much have your pick of where you want to sit on the Serenity Deck. On Day 2, after our day in Key West, we tried to use the hot tubs on the Serenity Deck, at around 4:30 in the afternoon, but it was packed up there. Most of the loungers at that time were taken, but there was lots of seating available on the large sofas that are set back in the shade.

[hartskys]

Great thanks! Do you happen to know if anyone had magnets hanging on the cabin doors? We are thinking about taking magnets to put up and have heard some ships they don't stick.

 

Also, where was your favorite place to eat (breakfast,lunch,dinner)?

 

Thanks again

[ruby2sday13]

Day 1 (Jan. 24) - Embarkation

 

Before we left our Fort Lauderdale hotel (Holiday Inn Express on 17th Causeway) in the morning, we were able to see the top of the Carnival Freedom behind industrial structures from a window at the end of the 5th floor hallway. It was an overcast day, but it was mild in the high 70s, which feels like vacation to us (we're from Ontario, Canada).

 

We were ready to check out of our hotel shortly after 10:00 a.m. I asked the clerk at the front desk to call us a cab, but my husband called over to me that a taxi was just pulling in to drop off other passengers. He asked him to wait for us. The four of us got ready to leave our hotel at about 10:15 a.m.

 

Before getting in the cab, I asked the driver how much the fare would be to the cruise terminal. He said it would be "$7.70, maybe a bit more". We did have to wait a few minutes to turn left at a stop light, so the meter was a bit higher at $9.30 when we were dropped off at Terminal 21 (I think it was 21) for the Carnival Freedom. It took less than 10 minutes to get to there.

 

I am glad we arrived early at the cruiseport, but it was definitely a scene of confusion because there were crowds of passengers just debarking the ship at that time. We were not sure for a few minutes where to go through the crowds. We eventually located the area where the porters will take your luggage. (For those of you who are also first-time cruisers, the porters were to the left of the crowds, just beyond a sign that said "VIP passengers") A friendly porter took our bags, and instructed us where to go to enter the cruise terminal.

[ruby2sday13]

To hartskys: We brought some door decorations, but used tape loops to stick them to the door. I am not sure if magnets would have worked. I only noticed three doors decorated, and two of those were ours (our room plus my sister-in-law's).

 

Favourite place to eat? There were so many - the main dining room for dinner, for sure. We also loved the fish & chips on Deck 10, the Mongolian Grill on Lido Deck 9, and there's a lot to be said for a peaceful and relaxing lunch or breakfast from room service.

[ruby2sday13]

To dan-o 1: Wee Jimmy's last week on the Freedom was the cruise just before ours. Our cruise was Felipe Couto's first week as the Freedom's cruise director. I believe he will be there until March 21, when Ryan Fitzgerald will take over as cruise director.

 

We enjoyed Felipe - he was young, funny, and energetic. His signature shout out is "Woo Hoo", with a little hand motion (thumb and baby finger extended, then shake the hand back and forth) that is popular in Hawaii (Felipe is from Brazil).

[cins240]

Can't wait to hear more! Our first cruise with CCL will be on Freedom in April...(eastern itinerary) Can you tell me what time they have the muster drill?

Cins :)

[Krissta]

To dan-o 1: Wee Jimmy's last week on the Freedom was the cruise just before ours. Our cruise was Felipe Couto's first week as the Freedom's cruise director. I believe he will be there until March 21, when Ryan Fitzgerald will take over as cruise director.

 

We enjoyed Felipe - he was young, funny, and energetic. His signature shout out is "Woo Hoo", with a little hand motion (thumb and baby finger extended, then shake the hand back and forth) that is popular in Hawaii (Felipe is from Brazil).

 

I'm really glad to hear you liked Felipe! :) I'll be on the Freedom in less than a month. Eeeeee!!! :D

[reno3]

To dan-o 1: Wee Jimmy's last week on the Freedom was the cruise just before ours. Our cruise was Felipe Couto's first week as the Freedom's cruise director. I believe he will be there until March 21, when Ryan Fitzgerald will take over as cruise director.

 

We enjoyed Felipe - he was young, funny, and energetic. His signature shout out is "Woo Hoo", with a little hand motion (thumb and baby finger extended, then shake the hand back and forth) that is popular in Hawaii (Felipe is from Brazil).

 

I see Ryan Fitzgerald will be the cruise director when I am on the Freedom in April. How do you find out about the cruise director:confused: Anyone been on a ship with this CD?

[loperella]

Another cruise virgin here & trying to decide if we want to take the plunge and give cruising a try. Basically clueless to everything cruise related so trying to get as much info as possible. Glad to see your post.

[billfish]

Glad you enjoyed your Cruise . We were on the Freedom the week before you ahd had an absolute BLAST. Not a big fan of WEE Jimmy. Sounds like the New director is an upgrade.

 

A couple of answers to questions

 

Doors don't accomodate magnets

 

Muster drill was shortly after 3 and was over quickly

 

Check out our site on facebook "Freedom Rockers" for some nice pics

[golfadj]

I see Ryan Fitzgerald will be the cruise director when I am on the Freedom in April. How do you find out about the cruise director:confused: Anyone been on a ship with this CD?

 

We have sailed with him before. One of the better CD's IMHO.

[kruise66]

To mom2two2: I will be posting pics. What ages are your kids? I know my 13 year old LOVED this cruise!

 

Any further info. on the Circle C program would be great! What kind of events did your child like? Do you happen to have any Capers for the kids' events? We will be going in June with a 12 and a 13 year old. Thanks!

[golfadj]

What did you think of the piano bar guy Greg G?

[ruby2sday13]

To cins240: Muster drill began at about 3:45 pm, ended around 4:00 pm. About 15 minutes after the end of muster drill, we noticed the ship was moving.

 

To reno3: John Heald's blog has a link to a 2010 Cruise Director Schedule. Here's the link: http://johnheald.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/2010-cd-schedule-january-june.pdf

 

To loperella: I would recommend cruising to everyone, at least once. We like to go on all different types of vacation. In the past few years, we have rented a condo at the beach in Maui, gone to all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, took a two-week road trip through the Maritime Provinces of Canada, did a theme park week at Disney World, and rented a cottage with a fishing dock on a lake in Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Going on a cruise was something I really wanted to try, and I'm really glad we did.

 

To kruse66: The Circle C program for the 12 to 14 year olds provides the opportunity for kids of that age to connect with each other. Within the actual lounge itself, there were computers, TVs, video game systems. The Circle C program director was a very nice young woman (Renee) from Australia. My son registered on the very first night, and quickly made friends with about a dozen kids his own age - boys and girls from all over the U.S. He was the only kid from Canada. Once they got to know each other, they roamed the ship in a pack of young teens, hopefully behaving themselves. I know they frequently visited the ice cream machines, and also went to the sports deck to play basketball. He would say the best part was when they got the 70's Disco to themselves every night from 9:00 to 9:45 p.m. I will be posting a link to a copy of the Circle C Capers later in the week.

 

To golfadj: loved, Loved, LOVED going to the piano bar. I think we were there 4 out of 6 nights. Greg is a very talented, super nice guy. He has a great rapport with the audience, who he makes feel like they're friends at a party. I was amazed at how he can fulfill those requests. One night we requested a song that gets a lot of airplay on an alternative radio station out of Toronto, but Greg (even though he is from Ontario) didn't know the song. He listened to the song on my son's I-pod, searched in his database for a few minutes, then before we knew it, he was playing and singing our request. We were very impressed. We didn't know we were "piano bar fans" until this cruise, but now we know we are!

[ruby2sday13]

Day 1 (Jan. 24) - Embarkation - continued

 

We got in a short line to enter the cruise terminal. We were given a health screening form to fill out (just a couple of flu symptom questions) before passing through security. Just a minute or two later, we entered the waiting room/check in area. We were given a Zone 2 boarding card, and got in line to wait to check in. Since we were there early, it didn't take long to reach the customer service rep who checked us in, and gave us our Sail & Sign cards. I would estimate that it took about 20 minutes from dropping off our luggage to sitting down after checking in. Just before 11:30 a.m., they called for VIP boarding, then Zone 1, then by 11:35 a.m. they called Zone 2, and we were on our way, finally up the gangway to our cruise vacation!

[ruby2sday13]

 

[Mary49]

Did you by chance catch Music Boardwalk? I hope to cruise the Freedom in July. Can't wait to see them. Mary49

[ruby2sday13]

To Mary49: Yes, we saw Music Boardwalk a few times - once in the Ticket to Ride show, the other times we saw them when they were playing along the Promenade deck opposite the Casino Bar. They are very talented. They always had people up dancing.

[sixy-six]

Welcome to Cruising.

Thanks for answering some questions I had, but hadn't asked. I fly out Saturday to go on Freedom. Sounds like I will be checking out the piano bar for sure. Also happy to hear we will have a good CD.

 

I can't wait to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the weekend seems so far away.:rolleyes::D

[siryn]

Great review! We are sailing the Freedom in 40 days for Spring Break, glad to hear the Circle C program is good we have a 14 year old and a 10 year old.

 

Can't wait to hear more!

[manonreal]

I can't wait to hear more of your Review...Leaving in less then a month!!!!!