Carnival Freedom Jan 31-Feb 7, 2010 **Newbie Review!**

[beachchick24]

I am currently writing out my review(yes its long!!) ahead of time before posting on here, but I am going to wait to start posting until I have access to adding pictures! This was my first cruise ever, and went with my boyfriend and 2 other couples(in our 20's). I had been learning on these boards for the last couple months leading up to departure and just want to say a general thank you for all the tips! We had an absolute blast on this trip and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Hopefully Ill be posting shortly !

[airlink diva]

Glad to hear that your first cruise was a great one beachchick24!

I love reading reviews on this board! It let me live the cruise also!

I look forward to seeing it!!

[MinnesotaCruiser423]

You must really be working hard on that review! I can't wait to read it! Actually you are probably just busy with all of the local Olympic action I suppose. Either way, don't forget us and leave us with a review cliff hanger!

[serene56]

I am waiting patiently -- (tap tap tap)

 

 

By chance did you keep your capers? Looking for spa specials they had during the week

[beachchick24]

Thanks for being patient !!

No Im sorry i didnt keep the capers.

And Yes I AM busy writing my review ! So far it is 5 pages long on Microsoft Word and I still have a couple days left to write ! I am just needing to upload pics to photobucket and then I can start posting. I have never used photobucket before, so hopefully it'll be easy!

Lots IS going on with the Olympics(and work BLAH!) but I hope to start posting by this weekend. For now, check out the Freedom review posted by goodtoglow ...She was in my group and shes started her review with pics already! ...Just dont forget to come back and read mine after hehe.

:p

[goodtoglow]

I am waiting patiently -- (tap tap tap)

 

 

By chance did you keep your capers? Looking for spa specials they had during the week

 

I kept mine.... anything specific you want to know?

[gypsyrose]

Well hurry, your friend is already on day 3;) But it doesn't have to be a race to the finish, the longer the better, esp w/ pictures.

[bamaphotopro]

Well hurry, your friend is already on day 3;) But it doesn't have to be a race to the finish, the longer the better, esp w/ pictures.

 

Gypsyrose,

 

Hi! So you want pictures? <grin> My wife and I just got off the Freedom last Saturday after visits to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. Not many pics of the interior of the Freedom, but lots from the ports of call here:

 

http://www.pbase.com/rommaker/cruise_2010

 

Enjoy!

[mlzangel78]

I kept mine.... anything specific you want to know?

 

can you post them?? we are aboard her in october :) whooohooo

[serene56]

I kept mine.... anything specific you want to know?

 

Yes, looking for spa specials for massages. What day and how much.

 

In the capers on a small corner they usually advertise a special happening in the spa for each day. Port days have even better specials. If you could check and see if any massages were offered it would be great.

[mlzangel78]

serene56... when are you going??? im double stacked for the first time in a long time!!! WHOOOHOOO

[goodtoglow]

Yes, looking for spa specials for massages. What day and how much.

 

In the capers on a small corner they usually advertise a special happening in the spa for each day. Port days have even better specials. If you could check and see if any massages were offered it would be great.

 

Day 1 - Travelers Tension $79 Unwind with an atomatherapy scalp, neck and shoulder massage and a pressure point foot massage. 45 minutes. Normally $99

 

Day 2 - Sea Day - Girls night out $75 your choice or hair up OR wash & blow dry, rejuvenating eye spa, sunglow makeup application + free gift

Ionithermie $159 - slimming body countouring for stomach hips thighs and buttocks

Oxydermy Facial $169

 

Day 3 - San Juan - Massage on the rocks - $159 for 75 mins - back massage with hot stones, hydrating spa facial, foot massage, scalp massage

Salon Sampler - 3 for $65 or 4 for $75 - mini facial, collagen eye spa, hair treatment, hand and arm massage, foot massage, scalp massage

San Juan Special - book between 5-10pm for $99 - well being full body massage, aroma flex massage, spa taster massage, deep cleanse or anti aging facial

 

Day 4 - St Thomas - Top 2 Toe $129 - 75 mins inc full body massage, soothing foot massage, scalp massage and aromatherapy facial

Salon Sampler $59 for 3

 

Day 5 - Antigua - Cloud 9 Massage $119 - Back and neck, shoulder massage, hydrating facial, foot massage, exotic frangipani scalp massage, steam/sauna

Ionithermie $125

Magic Massage - Book between 6-10pm $99 - Body Blitz Massage -Seaweed Wrap and Foot Massage - Well Being Massage - Deep Cleanse or Anti Aging Facial

 

Day 6 - Tortola - Spa Heaven 3 for $99 or 4 for $129 massages: hot stones, scalp, foot. Hydrating spa facial, seadweed wrap, body exfoliation, back massage

Salon Sampler 3 for $65 or 4 for $75 mini facial, collagen eye spa, hair treatment, paraffin hand spa, foot massage, scalp massage

Oxidermy Facial $139

 

Day 7 - Sea Day - Elegant evening hair $75 with eye spa and makeup

Teens Spa Party $50

20-20-20 3 for $99 4 for $129 - Body blitz massage, spa taster, acupuncture, well being full body massage, hydrating radiant facial

 

Day 8 - Nassau - Perfect Tips & Toes $65 - Sole Delight pedicure and free basic manicure

Book any one of these between 5-10pm for $99 - Body blitz massage, spa taster, acupuncture, well being full body massage, deep cleanse or anti aging facial

[beachchick24]

Thanks for being patient all !

I will begin to post my review:

 

I just love reading other people’s reviews on CC, and since I gained a ton of valuable information from this forum, the only logical thing would be to write my own review ! WARNING: This may get long J

 

Background on me: 24yr old traveling with boyfriend, and 4 friends(one of whom is goodtoglow on here) This was mine and J’s (boyfriend) first cruise, so we didn’t really know what to expect.

First things first: Drop off the doggie at our friends place! We have such wonderful friends that offered to take care of our husky/border collie (aka not a small dog!!) for our entire 12 day vacation and we were thrilled to take them up on the offer! This couple already has a dog of their own – A Great Dane, and live in a small downtown Vancouver apartment, so them taking our Bentley was amazing!

 

After saying a tearful(for me – it’s the first time we’ve left the little guy!!)goodbye, we started our trek 2 days pre-cruise driving to Seattle from Vancouver area and stayed at a little motel for the night to prepare for our early morning flight into FLL. The motel included parking, so it was a great deal at $85/night! It was a little place called The Marina Inn about a 15 minute drive from the Seattle Seatac Airport.

We arrived after 7 long hours in FLL at about 7pm and took a taxi to our motel.(20 mins, and about $25USD) We stayed at the Birch Patio Motel which was great !! We loved the room, and the location was only 2 blocks from the FLL beach. With a pricetag of 110/night, it was a fabulous deal, especially since we were in FLL over the Superbowl. The room had 2 queen beds and a full kitchen, views of the pool, and was very peaceful.

The front desk staff were very helpful and accommodating (I had even ordered a package off the internet to be delivered to the hotel because it was cheaper shipping there than to Canada, and they had no problems with holding it till we arrived!) The other 4 people in our group were going to be joining us the next day.

Right away we changed into shorts, t-shirts,and flip flops to truly begin our vacation! We were pretty hungry so we decided to take a walk down to this restaurant Casablancas, which the motel staff recommended to us. We had such a good time, and enjoyed our walk(er, stumble) of 20 mins back to the motel that night.

The next day the other 4 people in our group joined us and we went for lunch at the restaurant Coconuts just a 5 minute drive from our motel which had THE best coconut shrimp and conch fritters! I ordered the spinach dip (my stomach was not ready to handle anything else besides that, due to our evening prior haha)and everything was pretty reasonably priced. We ate on the patio and had a great view of the marina there, and the all the massive yachts coming in.

Later, all 6 of us piled into the rental SUV and headed out to Sawgrass Mills shopping center for some quick shopping and to a liquor store to stock up on Liquids with which to fill our rumrunners (the ‘package’ I had shipped to the motel!) The prices were unbelievable compared to Canadian prices. Liquor that sells for $25+ in Canada was going for $10 !! Needless to say, we were 6 kids in a candy store and got fully stocked up for our cruise!

 

[beachchick24]

We went to SuperTarget as well and made probably our best purchase there.. BUBBA KEGS ! These are large insulated mugs that we filled with our mixed drinks. They were a lot more convenient to use than Carnivals tiny drink cups, and our drinks were always ice cold ! They were about $9 each and came in Pink and Black. They even had built-in bottle openers in the handles. Such a great design!!

 

We all decided to "name" our Bubba Keg !!

 

Now on to CRUISE DAY 1:

We got to the terminal about 10:30am. We didn’t know about luggage tags, but saw a porter handing them out and got ours from him pretty easily. He then took our bags, told us to stand in line and wait to get in, which took about another 30 mins or so. Once the line started moving, we got inside the building quickly and went from one stop to the next, to the next and waited for our Zone to be called to board the ship.

 

Everything moved pretty swiftly, and next thing we knew, our Zone was being called! Yess! Walking down the gangway to the ship was so exciting(for me…J is a play-it-cool type of guy, but aren’t they all?)

We quickly got on the ship, and immediately were awestruck … The decor was like Vegas overload !

 

I kinda knew that cruise ships were over the top and kind of tacky, but this was a new level haha.

We headed straight to the Deli for my REUBEN ! Honestly, I was pretty disappointed in it. Ive never had a reuben before but after many on CC have praised it, I thought Id try it. Oh well, it filled my stomach anyhow. J went thru the buffet and got his lunch. We sat down and people-watched for a while. There were guys walking around with trays of DOD’s so we got a couple of them with souvenier cups (I found out later that you could save the $2.50 from a DOD if you ask for it in a regular cup!)

 

 

After a while we decided to check if our luggage had arrived yet, but it hadn’t. Then we just wandered around the ship a bit to somewhat learn the layout. The rest of our group joined us later around 2 or 3 and when we all finally received our luggage we celebrated ! We were so happy that all of our rumrunners made it ! Between the 6 of us, we had about 12 large rumrunners and a bunch of small ones to carry around in beach bags. We had a pretty impressive hard bar J We had our luggage locked by the way, and everything came to us just as we had left it.

[goodtoglow]

More more more! I love reading your take on it!

[serene56]

Thanks so much for the spa specials- it will make it easier for me to decide.

[Krissta]

Awesome! Thanks so much for posting all those spa specials!!!

 

I am *so* tempted to do the hot stone in San Juan... But it's so expensive!!! *whines*

[michelle1836]

So far so good. funny about the kids in the candy store. Did you do the western or eastern Carribean?

[luv2gonow]

keep it coming.....did you notice anyones booze being taken away when you went through security??

thanks

K

[jeluthadamaja]

Great Review!! Keep it coming!

[beachchick24]

michelle1836: We did the 8 night Eastern itinerary and it was awesome!

 

luv2gonow: I did not notice anyones booze being taken away from them...In fact, others in our group walked back on the ship in San Juan with a couple bottles and didn't get stopped!

[beachchick24]

The 6 of us filled up the BubbaKegs and wandered around the ship together and to the pursers desk to load up our S&S cards with cash. While I and 2 friends waited on a nearby couch, an older couple probably in their 50’s walked past us, and whispered “You aren’t allowed those mugs on here ya know” while at the same time holding up their own Bubba’s to cheers us ! It was awesome to see that we weren’t the only ones on board with that idea!

 

 

At this point I must mention that the average passenger age must have been around 45-50, with at LEAST two 100+ groups of 70-80 year olds. At least the evenings outside on the deck were quiet because everyone was sleeping? Teheehee!

 

Dinner was great that night. I ordered a Caesar salad to start and the Sweet & Sour shrimp as my main. The Shrimp dish was amazing! I had heard such good things about this main, and they were all true! Crème Brule for dessert – YUM

 

This is goodtoglow doing my makeup for dinner

 

 

After dinner we wandered around on the outside deck, and the hottubs looked so appealing we tried them out. They were luke warm at best and we dried off quickly. We were all pretty bummed that they had turned off the heat to the hottubs around 11pm!! I forget what we did the rest of the night, but we probably got a bit rowdy with our BubbaKegs ;)

 

We were 'caught' on surveillance camera

[beachchick24]

Day 2: FUN day at Sea

 

We all slept in this morning, and myself and J woke up to the wonderful sunshine! I kept the curtains open at night so that we would wake up naturally by the sun and not by an annoying phone wake-up call.

 

We grabbed the buffet breakfast of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, omelets, sausages, milk,juice, pastries etc and then walked around the ship a bit more.

After meeting up with the rest of our group,I’m pretty sure all 6 of us just lounged around in the sun all day on “OUR” special secret deck (The deck behind the big TV screen on the main Lido Pool Deck, above the sports courts, but shhhh!) It was a great little deck, never more than 4 other people up there!

 

View from OUR deck:

 

I made sure to fill my BubbaKeg with a mixed drink that is SO good, it is actually named after me *wink*. If you’d like to try it, just mix the ship’s lemonade with tEqUiLa and voila ! Ridiculously thirst quenching; just what you need on a hot day cruising thru the Caribbean!

 

J, Jess, and I

 

Rich doing a handstand!

 

[Mary49]

Beachchick24, great pictures. The Freedom really looks great. Wow that Atrium. I always ask this question. Did you see the band "Music Boardwalk" They play 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and some 90s. They also do the Beatle tribute. How was the new keyboard player??? Thanks Mary49

[beachchick24]

Beachchick24, great pictures. The Freedom really looks great. Wow that Atrium. I always ask this question. Did you see the band "Music Boardwalk" They play 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and some 90s. They also do the Beatle tribute. How was the new keyboard player??? Thanks Mary49

 

Sorry Mary, I did not see this band. There WAS a band that played live music along a hallway near the casino, but we arent gamblers and only passed by once or twice but not enough to notice anything.