Carnival Freedom Review 8 day Eastern Nov 3-11

[kait17]

11/2 Day one: Early flight out of Chicago on Southwest

 

We prefer to fly out a day early. Our 6:20 am flight left on time and arrived in Tampa early. Our connecting flight landed in Ft. Lauderdale by 12:00. We took a cab to the Extended Stay Port Everglades, (the hotel has a free shuttle from the airport, but we didn't find out until we were already there)and were checked in by 12:30.It was a beautiful , sunny day. We walked to the store to get drinks and snacks to take on board, took a short nap, and went to Duffy's Sports Bar for some food and drinks.

 

11/3 Day two : Embarkation

 

We took the hotel shuttle (included) about 11:00. Embarkation was extremely fast and we were checked in and on board in about 1/2 an hour. Hanging by the lido pool and having lunch by 12:30.

 

We put our luggage in our room at 1:30 and went exploring the ship. The ship is in good condition, with a fairly dark decor (lots of brown, red, and orange) with neon colored lights throughout. It's a bit gaudy, but decor is not really an issue for us. The lido movie screen is in need of some repairs, but other than checking the football games on Sunday and Monday, we didn't spend anytime watching it.

 

We enjoyed the ship, and my husband's only complaint (to which I agree) is that you can't walk through on deck three or four because the dining room is mid-ship.

 

We spent some time just sitting at the adults only pool. We witnessed a staff member, on separate occasions, tell a couple of teens and a family who were putting water wings on their daughter, that the pool was adults only. We were very pleased to see them enforcing the.

 

We met our room steward Jay who was very nice. We requested an ice bucket for the room, which he kept filled for us.

 

We choose anytime dining and enjoy being able to go at our convenience. We also get to meet a lot of fun people this way. We had dinner in the main dining room and were seated in Carlos, Laureano, and Alejando's section. Service was great and I loved the sweet and sour panko tiger shrimp (my favorite by far).

[kait17]

11/4 Day three: At Sea

The weather was beautiful . We had breakfast in MDR, and my husband liked the corned beef hash, which is only offered in the dining room. The food was good, and we enjoyed talking with some other experienced cruisers.

Hung out near the aft adults only pool , as the lido was far to noisy. I didn't mind the style of music, just how loud it was. After a couple hours in the sun we went to read in the loungers on the promenade. It was always quiet and never crowded.

 

We had our cruise critic meet and greet at 5:00 in the International Lounge. Our group had about 100 people listed but I would say only about 40 showed. We met some nice people and were glad went. It was a very simple meeting, no food or drinks from Carnival, not complaining, just mentioning.

 

It was elegant night, and in the MDR they served prime rib and lobster.

 

We spent our night in the Habana lounge watching Music Highlights (the rock and roll band).They were our favorite entertainment on board, and we saw them every night that they performed.

The first two nights in the lounge the waiter was very attentive, but by the third he was just walking through and obviously not working the lounge. Most of the time the Habana was near empty, even while the music was playing, so that may be why. We even left the lounge to get our own drinks because the bartender there didn't seem to be bar-tending, just working in the back room.

If we had any complaints on this cruise, it would be that.

 

Shows aren't a huge deal for us and since they were the same as our trip last year, we didn't feel they were worth repeating. We also saw the first comedian on the Legend, so we passed on that too.

[kait17]

11/5 Day four: Second at sea day

Our day was pretty much the same as the first. A little lounging in the sun, reading, relaxing. Another picture perfect day.

 

We went to dinner a little after seven this night and it was the only time we had to wait. We were a party of two and requested first available, and only waited about ten minutes. It was the only time we ate in the MDR and didn't sit in Carlos' section. We requested his section every other night we ate there.

Dinner was good and afterwards we had a few drinks and walked around ship.

 

 

11/6 Day five : St. Thomas

Took a cab to Sapphire Beach for $10 a person. We had read that the cab drivers try to persuade you to go to Coki beach instead, which he did, but we told him to keep going. It was a beautiful little beach that was not crowded at all. There are loungers along the beach but they belong to the condo resort and you aren't allowed to use them (signs are posted). We just laid our towels out under a shaded tree. We did a little snorkeling but didn't go far enough to the reef, although we did hear a number of people mention how nice it was. There is no restaurant, but there is a snack bar with drinks, and a small building with restrooms. It was very clean.

 

We grabbed a cab back and stopped at Señor Frogs, but after being seated outside (directly in the sun, in the heat ), by the very green pool (eew), and then forgotten by the waitstaff, we left and had lunch on the ship.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[4hunters]

Appreciate the review - thanks!

[kait17]

11/7 Day six: Antigua

 

We went on Carnival's See Antigua by Sea excursion. They take you on a forty minute ride by catamaran, that goes into the Atlantic (which can be a bit bumpy and wet, especially if you sit outside)and to a secluded beach. They put the boat right up on the beach where you can get on and off at your leisure. We followed a guide and did some snorkeling. I had some trouble with my own mask, so I missed a few things, but my husband saw an octopus and jellyfish and there was a lot to see at the reef.

After snorkeling, we relaxed in the water and on the beach while drinks were served (beer, rum punch, juice, soda, water and others). They also served lunch (grilled chicken and fish, rice and salads). Arguably some of the best chicken we've ever had. We spent some time with a family from our meet and greet and had a blast. We really enjoyed this excursion and would highly recommend it.

 

After we got back, we took a short nap, then decided to have sandwiches on the lido for dinner. Aside from breakfast, we didn't enjoy the buffet too much, but the deli was great. The band had the night off and there was no comedian or show, so after walking around for a bit, we decided to turn in early.

All the sun, fun,and beer wore us out. :D

[kait17]

Thanks. Going to try to add a few pictures, too.

[Lovefuninthesun]

Thanks for your review!

 

We were on the same sailing and had a great cruise, as well.

 

Our room steward was wonderful, as was our MDR staff (our head waiter was Todor in the Chic DR, upper level, late seating)

 

We loved the fish and chips restaurant and ate there 3 times, including embarkation day.

 

We loved the ship -- it is our favorite ship to date.

 

Our only realy complaints:

1.)"Music" on Lido (annoying club stuff) was WAY too loud -- I mean ear-bleeding!

2.) Embarkation was a nightmare! getting off the ship was easy, but that "goat rodeo" in the terminal was awful!!

[dane225]

Thank you for posting this review! We are going on this same itinerary in March. Looking forward to the rest of your review!:)

[kait17]

@lovefuninthesun

I agree that the fish and chips are really good. Had them a few times for lunch.

 

We disembarked before they started calling zones, which must have been the right time. We had no lines getting off the ship and customs was minimal. Although we watched them load the luggage into the "zones" and I can only imagine how much of a mess that was.

[kait17]

11/8 Days seven: Tortola

We booked the Virgin Gorda & The Baths tour through Carnival which had an early departure time of 7:30. We took a 20 minute ferry ride to the island of Virgin Gorda where we hopped on a bus for a 5 minute ride to the top of the Baths. At the top there is a restaurant and gift shop. We had about 2-2 1/2 hours to hike down to the beach and explore the Baths. The beach was beautiful and the boulders and caves were amazing. I have read complaints about not having enough time at the baths but we felt that the amount of time we had was perfect. Plus, with such a short port time we felt that booking with Carnival was the safer choice. Didn't want to risk missing the ship. At 11:00 we hiked back up to the top for our free rum punch and a couple of beers at the bar before heading on back to the ship. We really enjoyed this excursion and would definitely recommend it.

 

We were back on the ship again for lunch, and when we returned to our room I was pleasantly surprised to see that even though we had gone to bed before turn down the previous night, Jay gave us our towel animal in the morning. After cleaning up we spent a little time relaxing and reading on the promenade until it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

I believe this was the night of the past guest party. Went to the show lounge before dinner and had a couple drinks and tried a few appetizers. The first floor of the lounge was filled with past guests. There were three couples on our cruise with over 200 + days , although none of them attended.

 

The rock and roll band played in the lobby and there was a bit of a crowd, which was good to see. We had dinner then went back out to listen to the music.

[kait17]

11/9 Day seven: At sea

Our last at sea day was a bit rainy and windy so we didn't get to enjoy being outside. We had breakfast in the MDR, then spent time in the lobby talking with our meet and greet friends, playing a bit of trivia, and listening to the ship Q&A with our cruise director. This was one of the only times we actually saw him all week. He wasn't bad, just didn't seem to be around as much as others we've had. Although, he did say he was a little under the weather.

 

We went to lunch for the first time in the MDR just to use our past guest drink coupon. Had some nice table mates, but was less than impressed with the menu. Enjoyed our drink, then went to find a quiet place to read inside.

Not too easy, as they play music everywhere, and some of the lounges were quite cold. Spent a bit of time in the International and then back in our room.

 

This was the second elegant night and prime rib was on the menu again, but no lobster.

Husband was excited as tonight was the show he wanted to see, The "Ticket to Ride " Beatles show. The music was good, but the lead singing was just so-so.The Music Highlights did a great job as the Beatles for the finale.

 

We went to see the comedian and he was just ok. We were a bit

disappointed, as we have really enjoyed the comedians on our other cruises.

Had a drink at the casino bar and called it a night.

[tracyvansmith]

Great review, thanks for sharing.

[kait17]

11/10 Day 8: Nassau

The weather was overcast and cool and we had a late port time of 1-7. We'd been there before so we decided to just go have lunch at Johnny Rockets at Atlantis. We caught a cab outside the port for $4 per person, but had to wait a bit as they tried to find more people, although we ended up in the cab by ourselves. We did stop to pick up three people who were attempting to walk there. We had a nice lunch and even found a free wi-fi spot we could use to check in for our flights. We headed back to the the ship about 4:00 and finished packing.

 

Went to dinner and said good bye to Carlos and the rest of our waitstaff. Had the panko shrimp again with a different sauce this time. Liked the sweet and sour better. I forgot to mention I had the chicken tender appetizer and it was really good, I think it was on the first night.

 

Went to see the newest comedian for his all ages show and again it was just so-so. We did get to talk with our meet and greet friends one more time before we left. We walked the ship,picked up our pictures, had a drink, and said goodbye to the band.

[kait17]

11/11 Debarkation:

Our flight was not until 3:30 and we do self assist so we weren't in a rush. They started letting self assist off floor by floor at 6:30 and about 7:30 we decided to go down. There was no wait at the elevator or to get off the ship. There is some construction, so there was a bit of a walk to the terminal to get to customs. The lines at customs took about 15 minutes and after catching a cab, we were at the airport by 8:00. Unfortunately, because we had a promotional fare they wouldn't move us to an earlier flight unless we paid the fare difference and since prices went way up after we bought our tickets, that was not an option. We found some comfy seats near outlets for the iPad, used the free wifi and read. The 7 hours went by pretty quick and we arrived home safely just after 9:00.

 

 

All in all, we had a wonderful trip. The ship was great, the food was good, the weather was wonderful and we got to meet some very nice people. It was one of the best cruises we've ever taken. :)

[Tyrone Jackson]

Thanks for the review. I am looking forward to booking a cruise on the Freedom.

[kait17]

You'll have a great time!!

[chipq]

Thanks for sharing. Great review.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[mom22tinks]

Great review! Thanks!