Carnival Freedom Review w/ Pictures (January 2014)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Thanks for posting all the great pics! Only 1 more week for us.

[navybaby1113]

I was trying to post more, but Cruise Critic seems to be having some issues today. If it starts cooperating I'll get the rest of Grand Turk up tonight.

[2 cruzen]

Friday, January 24th (Pre-Cruise)

 

DH and I both had to work today, so we didn’t get on the road until about 5pm. I had already gotten a mani and pedi the night before and packed up the car, so we were all ready to go.

 

Instead of driving all the way to Ft. Lauderdale after a long day at work, we reserved a hotel in Stuart, FL. Stuart is about a 6 hour drive from Tallahassee. Plus, the hotels are drastically cheaper. Only $100 a night with our military discount.

 

We arrived in Stuart around 11pm. We were booked at the Courtyard Marriot, which is right off exit 101 on I-95. There is also a Holiday Inn Express at this exit, which is where we stayed last time we cruise. The Courtyard Marriot is way nicer than the Holiday Inn Express. As long as the price is about the same, we'll stay at that one from now on. If you’re driving to port and don’t want to stay in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, Stuart is a convenient and inexpensive place to stop.

 

All of the rooms at the Courtyard Marriot are inside. There is a nice lobby with seating, a gaming area, and a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee and breakfast. There is also a McDonalds and Cracker Barrel within walking distance.

 

Because of our late check-in, the only available room was a handicapped suite. We still got it at the same price as a standard room though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Omg..I'm laying here in a Marriott Courtyard hotel in Missoula Montana reading this review and our room is EXACTLY like this one, same drapes, wallpaper, and pussywillow plant on shelf. Too funny. I didn't like their breakfast set up either.

[Mrs.C05]

Subscribing! We'll be on Freedom in October 2014 and February 2015. Can't wait. We seem to like this ship. Loving your review.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Mrs.C05

[navybaby1113]

Omg..I'm laying here in a Marriott Courtyard hotel in Missoula Montana reading this review and our room is EXACTLY like this one, same drapes, wallpaper, and pussywillow plant on shelf. Too funny. I didn't like their breakfast set up either.

 

That's funny. I really enjoyed the hotel, so if they're all the same, I would definitely stay at another Courtyard Marriot again!

[2 cruzen]

That's funny. I really enjoyed the hotel, so if they're all the same, I would definitely stay at another Courtyard Marriot again!

 

Yes, I loved the room too, very spacious. Luckily, the conference I was attending had a great breakfast set up for us. Looking forward to the rest of your review. I think I read your last years review, as we are going on Liberty in 48 days. :)

[Jeansfanatic]

Such an awesome review so far! Thanks so much!!!!! :D

[SweetpeaOne]

Wonderful review. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[navybaby1113]

Yay, Cruise Critic seems to be working better now, so time to get some more of this review done!

 

After we got back to the ship, we showered and then headed to a trivia game. After trivia, it was lunch time. I wasn't too hungry since I swallowed so much salt water, so I just grabbed a couple slices of pizza and then some fries from Fish & Chips. Neither was busy, but they both took forever to get me my food. DH got Mongolian and finished eating his food before I even got my two items.

 

 

 

We decided to share a couple dessert items.

 

 

After lunch, we did a couple more trivia games and scattergories.

[navybaby1113]

We started sailing away, so went out to my favorite deck to take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[navybaby1113]

The past guest party was scheduled for 4:30 this afternoon in the Victoriana Theater. People started lining up at 4pm! The people on this cruise really liked to be on time!

 

We got into line at 4:30pm and were still able to get a seat in the front of the lounge even though everyone was lined up before us. As soon as someone took a seat, the waiters immediately came to the table to get you a drink. The first waitress who saw us didn't have anything I wanted, so she tracked down another waiter with Funship Specials for us. Throughout the party, there were different appetizers being served around the lounge as well. The little sandwiches that were going around were delicious.

 

 

 

After we were finished with our drinks, a waiter immediately gave us second ones. This time DH got a beer instead of a Funship.

 

They played the video where you cheer for the ships and then Brad introduced the senior officers on the ship. He asked each category of VIFPs to stand up. When it came to the diamond guests, they called each name out individually and asked them to stand up. There were 22 diamond guests on the ship! The diamond guest that had sailed the longest had over 550 days at sea! Brad said that was one of the largest number he had ever seen.

 

As always, they did a great job with the past guest party.

[navybaby1113]

After the past guest party, we went up to the Taste Bar for another snack before dinner. Tonight was based on the Red Frog Pub. There was Fried Malanga Sweet Potatoes and Pepper Pot. Very tasty!

 

 

We decided to go to dinner right when they opened tonight at 5:45pm. There was a line again tonight! Got to the front and was told there were no two tops available. They gave us a buzzer and told us it would be about 20 minutes. I was a little confused about how there were no tables available at that time, but there would be one available in 20 minutes, since dinner just started. I've never seen a dinner service only take 20 minutes before!

 

Finally our buzzer went off and they took us to a table for two. When we looked around, we were shocked to see multiple tables for twos that were completely empty! So we sat in the lobby for 20 minutes for absolutely no reason because there were a ton of tables available. I was extremely annoyed at this point and told DH I was going to complain to guest services after we left dinner.

 

Again tonight, we had extremely slow service. These past two nights in the dining room were some of the worst we had ever seen in all of our Carnival cruises.

 

For appetizers tonight, I ordered a Ceasar salad and DH ordered the chicken quesadilla. Both were very good. After we were finished though, our empty plates sat in front of us for at least 20 minutes before a waiter bothered clearing them.

 

 

 

Sorry, these are the last pictures I had from dinner that night. I was so annoyed that I didn't take anymore. I will tell you about the rest of our dinner experience though.

 

For entrees, we both ordered the jerked pork loin. I took a bite and was not a fan at all. I tried to find a waiter to get something else, but none were to be found. A waiter finally came by our table about 30 minutes later, but by that time, I didn't want to wait for another dish to come out. When he cleared off our plates, he didn't even bother to ask if there was a problem since I didn't eat any of my meal.

 

For dessert, I ordered the WCMC and DH ordered the strawberry cheesecake. DH's food was delicious. Sadly, my WCMC was way underdone. :(

 

It was an absolutely horrible experience for dinner. Even worse than the night before.

[navybaby1113]

After dinner, DH went and got us seats for Jump, Jive, and Wail and I went to Guest Services to complain about our horrible dining experiences. There was no way I was going to deal with 5 more nights of this cruise with that kind of dining.

 

Guest services was very professional and took down my complaint. While I was there, there was a couple more people complaining about their horrible experience as well. After they were finished typing up my complaint, they said the Maitre D would follow up with us tomorrow.

 

Jump, Jive, and Wail was packed! Thankfully DH got us seats or we would have had no where to sit. The ladies in the row behind us were saving like 6 seats. One woman came up to them and asked to sit there and they got in a huge argument about how you weren't supposed to save seats. Security ended up coming up to them and saying something because they got so loud.

 

The show was very good! Really enjoyed it.

 

After the show was over, we went to Punchliner to enjoy some comedy. The guy we saw was absolutely horrible during the Welcome Aboard show, so we weren't sure how it was going to be. Thankfully he was a lot funnier than he was that first night.

 

 

I was starving since I didn't really eat dinner, so I grabbed a couple slice of pizza and took it back to our room for a late night snack. We were greeted by a friendly bear.

 

[cruiser1961]

navybaby, love the detailed review!! We sail the same itinerary on April 5th so I'm taking notes...

 

Cheers,

 

Leets

[navybaby1113]

navybaby, love the detailed review!! We sail the same itinerary on April 5th so I'm taking notes...

 

Cheers,

 

Leets

 

I love the itinerary. Also check out my Liberty review if you're interested. We went to 3 of the same ports on that cruise as well.

[lovestocruise19]

I ordered WCMC on my recent Conquest cruise a couple times and both times mine was underdone too. This did, however, force me to "eat outside my box" and I tried the tiramisu one night and really enjoyed that.

 

I remember poring over your first Freedom review because DH and I went on the Freedom for our honeymoon in May 2012 on that same 6-day itinerary. We are eyeballing an 8-day cruise on the Freedom next year. By then, I'm sure she will have her 2.0 upgrades, which is good because DH is obsessed with Guy's burgers!

[navybaby1113]

I ordered WCMC on my recent Conquest cruise a couple times and both times mine was underdone too. This did, however, force me to "eat outside my box" and I tried the tiramisu one night and really enjoyed that.

 

I remember poring over your first Freedom review because DH and I went on the Freedom for our honeymoon in May 2012 on that same 6-day itinerary. We are eyeballing an 8-day cruise on the Freedom next year. By then, I'm sure she will have her 2.0 upgrades, which is good because DH is obsessed with Guy's burgers!

 

I really, really missed the Guy's burgers on this cruise.

[Island Crazed]

Great Report. Loved our time on The Freedom

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Cinedan]

Great review! I was on the same cruise and took the same snorkeling tour! I will post some pics later.

[navybaby1113]

Great review! I was on the same cruise and took the same snorkeling tour! I will post some pics later.

 

Very cool! I look forward to your pictures!

[Sparky2]

 

Everything we ate in the Steakhouse was delicious and it was well worth the money. I'm not sure if we would do it again because DH is picky, but I'm very glad we did it once.

 

My SO is the same way. I don't think he'd appreciate anything in the steakhouse.

[Sparky2]

We did a B2B on Freedom last year and had 6:00 Early Dining. We had an excellent waitstaff with excellent service. Had the same 2-top table (requested in advance thru Maitre'd) and same waitstaff for both weeks.

 

I wonder if the problem for you (& others) was ATD?

[navybaby1113]

We did a B2B on Freedom last year and had 6:00 Early Dining. We had an excellent waitstaff with excellent service. Had the same 2-top table (requested in advance thru Maitre'd) and same waitstaff for both weeks.

 

I wonder if the problem for you (& others) was ATD?

 

I really do think the problem was ATD. It did get better later in the week thankfully!

[navybaby1113]

I'm feeling icky tonight, so probably won't get anything written. I'll try to be back on here tomorrow though.

[LKYGSR]

Hi, which Dining Room on Freedom had the anytime dining and do you recall where the taste bar was located? Thanks

Edited February 11, 2014 by LKYGSR