Carnival Freedom 6 Day Review with Pictures 01/22/2012

[navybaby1113]

Here are a few more pictures from sailaway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[navybaby1113]

After sailaway, we went up to the grill to grab a snack. Their chicken tenders are delicious!

 

 

 

[NHNEV2003]

Our 1st cruise was on the Freedom so that ship will always be special to us.

 

Love your review so far-- brings back great memories. :D

 

P.S.--I'm also a huge FSU fan--love Tallahassee!

[cruisegirl29]

Hello,

 

I'm so enjoying reading & looking at your pictures! I was suppose to be on the 1/28/12 sailing along with my family, however I ended up in the hospital last week for 6 days. :( Have to reschedule for March 10th!

 

Can you tell me if the cabins have mini refrigerators?

 

Thanks,

Sue

[SASA13]

Great review & pics, keep em coming :)

[navybaby1113]

Hello,

 

I'm so enjoying reading & looking at your pictures! I was suppose to be on the 1/28/12 sailing along with my family, however I ended up in the hospital last week for 6 days. :( Have to reschedule for March 10th!

 

Can you tell me if the cabins have mini refrigerators?

 

Thanks,

Sue

 

I hope you're feeling better! The cabins do have mini fridges.

 

 

 

Our 1st cruise was on the Freedom so that ship will always be special to us.

 

Love your review so far-- brings back great memories. :D

 

P.S.--I'm also a huge FSU fan--love Tallahassee!

 

Thank you! And go Noles!

[Texarribean Chick]

Thank you. We are considering the Freedom this summer - 8 day itinerary. Looking forward to more.

[LEAJIM]

Thanks for the review. Hubby and I are on the Freedom on April 29th.

[Bucknut613]

HAHAH!!! We saw those jetskiers and the boat go after them. What idiots!! Have not seen me in any of your pictures but still looking!!

 

Excellent review so far.

[Noreno]

Omg your review is the bomb! It feels like I'm actually living through your eyes! Awesome pictures keep the review going

[navybaby1113]

Thank you. We are considering the Freedom this summer - 8 day itinerary. Looking forward to more.

 

Thank you for your comments. We're actually looking at the 8 day itinerary for our next cruise as well. I think you'll love the ship.

 

 

Thanks for the review. Hubby and I are on the Freedom on April 29th.

 

You're welcome! I hope you have a great time.

 

 

HAHAH!!! We saw those jetskiers and the boat go after them. What idiots!! Have not seen me in any of your pictures but still looking!!

 

Excellent review so far.

 

Thank you for your kind comments. Maybe you'll see yourself in a future picture. I have a lot of pictures with other people on the ship in them.

 

 

Omg your review is the bomb! It feels like I'm actually living through your eyes! Awesome pictures keep the review going

 

 

Thank you!

[navybaby1113]

Went back to the room after sailaway so DH could finish watching the game and I could take a nap.

 

We decided on anytime dining again this cruise. We had it on the Inspiration and really enjoyed being able to eat whenever we wanted. Tonight we headed to dinner around 6:30pm. Anytime dining is held on the bottom floor of the Chic dining room.

 

We were shocked by how disorganized anytime dining was on the Freedom. They had a very long line of people waiting to check in and then they would tell them to stand on the side of the podium and wait for their table. There was always a huge group of people standing around the hostess stand waiting to be seated.

 

 

We were seated in Noel's section tonight. This was the worst service we had all cruise. We waited about 20 minutes before we even got drinks or bread. Then, food was delivered to the people next to use first, even though they got seated a good bit after us. We also ordered coffee and tea with dessert and received it after we were finished eating and getting ready to leave. Not sure whether it was because it was the first night or what, but we were glad not to be seated in this section again.

 

Someone earlier requested to see the menues, so I borrowed these from Zydeco Cruiser. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out his website for some delicious food pictures.

 

 

[navybaby1113]

For appetizers, we both ordered the tequila marinated fruit. It was good, but it didn't really taste much different than the fruit cocktail we ordered later in the week.

 

 

For our entrees, DH got the Linguini with Italian sausage. Be aware that there are mushrooms in this dish, just in case you don't like them. DH picked a good bit out of his.

 

Nothing on the menu looked good to me, so I ordered the mac n cheese off of the children's menu. The sauce was good as always, but the pasta they used was different. It was a very thick, dense pasta and just wasn't very appetizing.

 

 

 

For desserts, DH ordered the black forest gateau. He really liked it. He mentioned it got better after it sat on his plate for a couple minutes to warm up.

 

I ordered the creme brulee and it was not fully cooked. It was very liquidy and the top wasn't as caramelized as it should have been.

 

 

[cruisinsly]

Great review so far. Cant wait for the rest.

[navybaby1113]

Great review so far. Cant wait for the rest.

 

Thank you!

[ribbitt]

Finally, it was our turn to start sailing out. We went up to the secret deck on the lido deck. There were only about 15 other people up there.

 

Do tell, where is the "secret" deck ?

 

We are a military family also, my DH just retired Nov. 1, 2011 from the Army, 20 years active duty.

[cuted126]

I love the Freedom so much :) Enjoying your review so far and hoping you loved it just as much as we did!!

[navybaby1113]

Finally, it was our turn to start sailing out. We went up to the secret deck on the lido deck. There were only about 15 other people up there.

 

Do tell, where is the "secret" deck ?

 

We are a military family also, my DH just retired Nov. 1, 2011 from the Army, 20 years active duty.

 

Now if I told, it wouldn't be secret, would it?

 

Go all the way forward on deck 9 and go through the door at the very front of the ship.

[jmcancruise]

Really enjoying your review. We don't sail for 7 months, so need a little cruise shot in the arm now and then. This is just what the doctor ordered today.

[navybaby1113]

After dinner, we went to Game Show Mania, which was held in the Victoriana Theatre. They bring 3 people up on stage and they play against each other in a trivia competition. My husband actually won this while we were on the Inspiration. Neither of us got called up on stage this time.

 

After Game Show Mania, we went and hung out in the Piano Bar. This is the first cruise we've been able to enjoy the Piano Bar because it was always so smoky. Doug was the piano player and was very good. Now that the bar is non-smoking, I could see us spending a lot more time in there.

 

 

After a little while, we headed back to the Victoriana Theatre to watch the Welcome Aboard show. Show was the same as always. The one thing they didn't do this cruise that I've always enjoyed in the past was announce the entertainment staff. It's always nice to see who they are before the cruise starts. Brad, the cruise director, came up on stage and he was pretty funny.

 

Enjoyed the show as always.

 

 

 

 

 

After the show was done, I was a little hungry, so we checked the Fun Times to find out the location of the midnight snacks. In previous cruises, they have always opened up the grill from 11-1-ish and served food. On the Freedom though, they didn't do this. They used the sushi bar and had some small snacks down there. The choices were cheeses, olives, fruit, beef empanades, some shrimp cocktail thing, and a few dessert options. The shrimp thing was delicious! I prefer the grill midnight snacks, but it was nice to have another option than just pizza.

 

After we had a small snack, we headed to bed to get some sleep before Key West!

[navybaby1113]

Really enjoying your review. We don't sail for 7 months, so need a little cruise shot in the arm now and then. This is just what the doctor ordered today.

 

Glad you're enjoying the review! You'll love the Freedom.

[seacat66]

But on to my real question - is there someplace other than here in roll calls I can access all your photos of the Freedom?

 

But my grndkids are 10, 13 and 15, and I'd like to share your ship photos with them. Neither they nor their parents have ever cruised before, and I think seeing photos of the ship might be of interest to all of them.

 

 

At any rate, since I'm only on the roll call for the 3/10/12 sailing of the Freedom, would you email me at my regular email? It's kathitourist@hotmail.com

 

Thanks, Kathi

 

 

i sent you an email kathi with a link to my pictures.

[SMSACE6]

Enjoying your review! Your photos bring back memories of my cruise on the Freedom which I loved. Looking forward to more!:)

[navybaby1113]

Monday, January 23, 2012

 

We started pulling into Key West around 7:45am and I was woken up by the thrusters. The ship docked on the starboard side, so all I could see out our windows was a couple smaller islands.

 

 

 

While I was waiting for DH to wake up, I decided to head up to deck and take some pictures.

 

They had the news on the big screen and heard about all the tornadoes that came through the south. Definitely not something I like to hear about on vacation. I hate going up to deck to relax and then hear the news on TV.

 

While I was walking around, I went searching for the ship coin. I found it! I'm not going to post where it is so that other people can search for it on their own.

 

 

I got some pictures of Key West while up on deck.

 

 

 

[navybaby1113]

Enjoying your review! Your photos bring back memories of my cruise on the Freedom which I loved. Looking forward to more!:)

 

Thank you!