Freedom Review: 10/28/12 by FunInTheSun1964

[funinthesun1964]

Thanks for taking time to write such a great review!

 

You are welcome :-) Thanks for posting!

[funinthesun1964]

Great review! Always makes me "homesick" to see pics and read reviews of ships or itineraries we've been on. Keep up the nice work! Am enjoying it!

 

Thanks, and I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same way when I read a review of a ship that I have previously been on!

[funinthesun1964]

By this time, I'm not sure what we did. But I do know that I opened a bottle of wine that I brought on and took a glass to the dining room. We went to eat between 6-6:30. By the way, we never had a wait for the dining room. But we always went before 7. A couple of nights, we did see a line on our way out, so I think it gets busier as the night goes on.

 

We were seated with an older couple from Maryland. They were very nice and we had pleasant conversations. I saw the woman a couple of other times on the ship and she was always friendly and said hello. The service was excellent this night also. In fact, we only had two nights where the service was not excellent, good, but not excellent - and that was waiting for dessert to be brought out.

 

Also, the waiters did a dance tonight "low, low, low". I didn't take photos of food or the dancing waiters, but I think I did get a short video.

 

I think that tonight was the "Big Easy" show. Sorry if I am getting confused, it may have been another night. But it doesn't really matter. I would consider the show good, but not great. It was entertaining but not "WOW".

 

The only other photos I have from this day are just some photos from the atrium.

 

 

 

 

We were tired tonight, I think we were in bed by 10:30 :eek:

[funinthesun1964]

Somewhere along the Key West day, I also got a picture of the Sports Bar:

 

[franks1]

Great review,we were on this cruise with you and were at the meet and greet .Mike did a excellant job setting this up.We loved this cruise and ship.we were on this ship in May.We really liked Hollowean and dressing up.I hope you got some pictures of the costumes that night.Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[funinthesun1964]

We were happy to have a sea day. We love sea days.

This time, I actually got up and went to the gym with DH. We then went to breakfast in the MDR. We really enjoyed our MDR breakfasts this cruise. Excellent service for breakfast every time we went. We always sat with others, and liked our company every time too.

 

After breakfast, we went out to the Lido, to have a look around and see what was goin' on:

 

 

Chair hogs?

 

 

 

 

 

I did see various forms of chair hogging, as in the two towels covering four chairs in the above picture. However, I didn't stick around to actually time the hogging, so maybe it was less than the 40 minutes allowed. I did not see any of the "stickers" that others have reported that Carnival has started using to stop the hogging program. We did have to search for chairs on the last sea day, but we were always able to find some seats.

[funinthesun1964]

Great review,we were on this cruise with you and were at the meet and greet .Mike did a excellant job setting this up.We loved this cruise and ship.we were on this ship in May.We really liked Hollowean and dressing up.I hope you got some pictures of the costumes that night.Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Hi, I remember meeting you at the time that we got our name tags. You were standing beside us and talking to us for a bit.

And I did get pictures of some of the costumes, they were crazy!

Nice meeting you!

[TNDeb]

LOVING your review!

 

We'll be on the Freedom June of 2013, so I'm drinking in all your information and photos. One thing already on the Key West agenda is Hemmingway's house so I can get my 'cat fix.' ;)

 

Looking forward to more!

[luverly]

Hi Kristen! Tell Dave we said hello! We had a great time too. We enjoyed talking with you at the meet and greet and seeing you other places on the ship. I will anxiously wait for your review!

 

How's charlotte? We came home to 38 degrees :eek:

 

I will. It was nice in Charlotte on Sunday but it was 45 today. We also went to the Southernmost point and Hemingway House in Key West. We have the exact same kitty pictures too. Proof that those cats got their catnap time in that day. I'll admit ..I love literature but i was in it for the cats too. :D

[LOVECRUISING100%]

The plantation tour was nice, too bad it was raining so hard :(. I have lots of photos from that to post later in the review. Beautiful scenery, a great tour guide, and just interesting. If it would not have been raining, we would have had the opportunity to explore some of the grounds on foot, take a camel ride, see some of the animals up close, etc.

Now that sounds interesting .. We've never rode on a camel .. i'll have to check in out .. Thanks

[funinthesun1964]

So we decided to change into swimsuits and get to our favorite place - out on the Lido deck somewhere, taking in some festivities.

 

We settled on a place right above the main area, that way we could see. It was only 10:30 and the servers were pushing beer already!! Just a little too early for me. Each time one would stop and ask if we wanted something, I would say, "is it noon yet?" LOL

 

We finally gave in slightly before noon and ordered a bucket of beers. This is where we met I Made. He is a very nice person and enjoyed talking with him. If anyone is going on the Freedom anytime soon - this means you Mr. FunInTheSun - please look for I Made. You won't be disappointed and will have found a new friend.

 

 

 

Embarrassed to post because this is terrible of me :o I'm not very photogenic, lol

 

We enjoyed a few hours and witnessed the hairy chest contest.

I do have video.

 

For lunch DH went a grabbed some burgers for us, they were tasty! I like the burgers and fries on Carnival. Seems to taste the same on all ships.

 

While we were out on deck, we met Barbara and Mel, also from our roll call. They were sitting a few seats down, and I recognized a photo that Mel had posted of Barbara in a halloween costume, unbeknownst to Barbara. I asked her if she was Barbara, she said yes and then we started conversation from there. Got a few laughs out of that, as she knew nothing about the photo. Anyway, we agreed that we would meet to go to the beach in Grand Cayman the next day.

 

We went back to the cabin for a quick nap, and then went for dinner. We were seated quickly as usual and then we saw I Made again. He was friendly and came and said hello. He was working as the drink server in the dining room! (but I didnt get anything to drink)

 

Also - this was the night that we asked to be seated with others, but weren't. They seated us at a table for 4, so we took 2 seats, and we waited, but no one else came :( No one likes us :( LOL. I think that the folks who came in right after us either wanted to sit alone, or they were in a group already. So after some time passes, they wouldnt want to seat anyone else with us as we had already started our meal. It was a nice meal though with great service, again. Also, this was formal night. We did have a photographer take our photo, but didn't buy because of course of me! Un-Photogenic!

 

We saw one of the comedians - Rathbone. He was great, we had some good laughs. I would definitely recommend to go see him if he is on your ship.

 

I'm not sure what we did the rest of the evening to fill in the time, but time does pass quickly! We thorough enjoyed our sea day though.

 

When we went back to our cabin, we found this

 

[funinthesun1964]

Also our gold pins, which I was expecting on our last cruise, since we turned "gold" then, but here they were now:

 

 

 

 

Letting everyone know about the Halloween Festivities:

 

 

uh-oh, someone was still missing some luggage: (sorry upside down)

[funinthesun1964]

LOVING your review!

 

We'll be on the Freedom June of 2013, so I'm drinking in all your information and photos. One thing already on the Key West agenda is Hemmingway's house so I can get my 'cat fix.' ;)

 

Looking forward to more!

 

If you like cats, you will definitely enjoy the Hemmingway House. Have fun!!! Will look for YOUR review!

[DarB58]

SO was worried that the crowds would be too much and that he might get bored. IF those are your DH's concerns, he has nothing to worry about - there are ways to avoid the crowds and for us, just spending time together was an unbeleiveable luxury. Haviing a balcony was definitely a plus!

 

The time together is what I'm most looking forward to.... we have a pretty full house and it will be nice after this past year to just spend some time alone contemplating life as they say! And a balcony is a must for me. I've enjoyed that luxury on both my past cruises - it's a fabulous way to start the day and end it! I hope you have a fabulous time on The Legend... that was my trip last year and I loved every minute of it! If you have any questions about it let me know and I'll see if I can answer. I love reminiscing - lol.

[deedle7544]

I loved the Legend! I went on her twice, in 2004 & 2006, with the ex. Had a lot more fun in September on Destiny with SO!!!! We are hoping to go this spring sometime, and I am planning my 50th birthday cruise, which he does not know we are going on yet

[SeaHoliday]

Being on the 2nd deck, did you hear alot of noice from above since it was the Lobby floor?

Thanks!

Seaholiday:)

[TN Mom]

Thanks so much for posting this review -- it's awesome! I love your pictures. We are sailing the Freedom in 10 days!! (8 days; Southern Caribbean) Can't wait!

[qbanrican84]

Thanks so mch for your review I'm soooo excited to go now! W're booked for my 29th bday on the freedom 4/28/13.

What did you do in GC and Jamaica?

[mickide]

We'll be on her Feb 23rd. Really enjoying your review. Out of curosity, is the muster drill held by the lifeboats or inside the ship in lounges? On the Dream it was inside and you couldn't hear anything because of the people all talking around you during the drill.

 

My bestie & I will be on the Freedom on Feb. 23rd also :).

[mickide]

I am totally loving your review! Thank you so much for taking the time to post it!

[sweetcurves]

I was on the same itinerary, 2 weeks before you. It's making me so sad seeing your pics of the ship! Glad you had a good time! *sigh*

[LDR]

Great review! I'm glad someone else in Uniontown loves cruising as much as we do:) You don't live in Cricket Crossing do you? If you do we are neighbors!

[funinthesun1964]

Being on the 2nd deck, did you hear alot of noice from above since it was the Lobby floor?

Thanks!

Seaholiday:)

 

We were in the back corner, so the only noise we heard was when going into dock at Key West and Ocho Rios Jamaica. (we tendered at Grand Cayman) There is some noise just when going into port, or when the ship has to turn (you hear the thrusters). There was some vibration at time. But no noise at all from above.

[funinthesun1964]

Thanks so much for posting this review -- it's awesome! I love your pictures. We are sailing the Freedom in 10 days!! (8 days; Southern Caribbean) Can't wait!

 

Thank you, I hope you have a great time. Will look for your review = and pictures - when you return :)

[funinthesun1964]

Thanks so mch for your review I'm soooo excited to go now! W're booked for my 29th bday on the freedom 4/28/13.

What did you do in GC and Jamaica?

 

You are welcome! Hope you have a great time on your cruise.

In GC we went to 7 mile beach and in Jamaica we did the plantation tour/dolphin cove. More on that to come!