Carnival Freedom March 8-16 - Just Back

[ColKlink]

Hi all,

 

Just back from the Carnival Freedom on Sunday. It was fantastic!

Let me start by saying that this was my 8th cruise (5th on Carnival) and it was by far the best. Carnival has really stepped up their game and placed thought into many areas.

All my pics are on a you-tube video folks. Here is the link

 

Here we go:

 

Carnival Freedom - Great ship! It will be even better with the upgrades coming next month.

I had no problem navigating around the ship. Many people have complained that they get lost because of the design. In no way was it hard to navigate around the ship (use deck 5 or 9). No Problem! Our cabin was 9240 on the Lido deck, the interior cabins are basically the same on all ships so I had no problems at all with our cabin. Being on the Lido deck was great!

 

Staff - Awesome. All of the staff were fantastic. Room Steward great! Special shout out to Dody (waiter on the Lido Deck) and Vladimir (in the Piano Bar) to awesome waiters.

 

Food- Great never had an issue with any of the food. Always great selection and fresh. Mongolian Wok was very good, Pizza was very good and the Deli was great. Posh Dining room waiters were friendly, helpful and entertaining. They always asked if we wanted more. I particularly liked the extra plate of Lobster! I didn't have to ask they asked me.

 

We had FTTF so it literally took 10 minutes to get on board at 12 noon. FTTF was worth the 50 bucks. The only place that was really smoky was the casino. Other than that we stayed on our side of the ship and was not bothered by it. 8 days on board was great 4 days at sea and 4 in port. I would definitely do another 8 day cruise, I really liked having the extra day.

Punchliner Comedy club was very good. I am so glad they upgraded the comedy on their ships. We had a great time in the comedy club. Scott's Piano Bar was lots of fun and the on deck parties were great. I do not know why people complain about this ship or their cruise. It was all around fantastic, no complaints here.

 

Grand Turk - Margaritaville and Flow Rider. Great beach day lots of fun.

Dominican Republic - Seavis Saona island tour - Awesome - Big up to Ingrid our guide

Aruba - Palm Beach by cab. Rented umbrellas, chairs, big mable and parasailing from fun4every1.com - I recommend them they are true professionals. Aruba was breathtaking.

Curacao - Rented a van from Avis and drove to Playa Lagun. Snorkelling of the beach was great. Some of the best snorkelling I have ever done.

 

That is it folks short and sweet. I would be happy to answer any of your questions. It was an awesome cruise, I would definitely go on the Freedom again. Haters please do not ask questions as I have nothing but great answers for the cruise critic members. No complainers please!

 

Make sure you check out my video on you tube.

Cant Wait till March Break next year on the Valor.

Klink

[lara_lox]

Great YouTube video, thanks for posting, it really made me excited for my upcoming cruise :D

[Bobkat26]

Great Video..... Good Job!

 

Kathy

[Lovetwocruz2009]

Great video. Thank you for posting.

 

May I ask how much your Avis rental was for the day in Curacao. Is the Avis close to port? We love to snorkel from the beach. Your pics look wonderful. I believe the taxi cost may be cost prohibitive.

 

Thanks again.

[ColKlink]

Great video. Thank you for posting.

 

May I ask how much your Avis rental was for the day in Curacao. Is the Avis close to port? We love to snorkel from the beach. Your pics look wonderful. I believe the taxi cost may be cost prohibitive.

 

Thanks again.

 

Avis is right at the pier. It costs about $55 for a small car for the day. Definitely worth it because there is little else to do there. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up snacks and a case of beer on our way to playa Lagun. The grocery store Centrum is very North American. I totally recommend Playa Lagun it was great.

Klink

[sjn911]

Well it was fun family in the sun!!! thank you...Sarah

[tammi0916]

Do you remember who your CD was? Was he/she any good?

 

Also, did anyone have any insights into what the upgrades will be? They seem to be the best kept secret!

 

thanks and loved the video!

 

Tammi

[Lulu01]

Great review & video , thanks , going on the freedom in june for our first cruise , can't wait .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[cruzkitty]

Loved your Video and Review! Going on the Freedom in Sept. Thanks for posting!!:D

[092306]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[ColKlink]

Do you remember who your CD was? Was he/she any good?

 

Also, did anyone have any insights into what the upgrades will be? They seem to be the best kept secret!

 

thanks and loved the video!

 

Tammi

 

Thanks for the compliments on the video.

CD was Brad and he was great. The whole staff was outstanding.

They released the full upgrades to us.

-moving the hottubs to make the Lido more open with a bigger pool

-guys burger joint

-new water slides etc

Some pretty significant changes

[KPfromCT]

Thank you for the video!!! It was awesome!:D:D

 

Ok, so now I have a few questions for you.......:rolleyes:

 

1. Where did you guys do those side by side tubes being pulled? Looks like SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

2. How was the Seavis tour to the island? Nice beach? We don't snorkel.

3. On Palm Beach, did you go to a specific hotel?

 

We are doing this itinerary on the Breeze, in July, and I am really struggling with shore excursions. We are pretty much just beach people.

Turks and Caicos, we are fine with, as we've been there, and just planning on splitting our day between Margaritaville and Jack's Shack.

Everything else? Throwing me for a loop:confused::confused:

 

Thank you!!!!!

[tango55]

Love your video - and have to ask - did you have a monopod and what type of camera was it? Would love to take video like that!

 

We're sailing on her in December so she'll have all the new upgrades!

 

Terry

[ColKlink]

Thank you for the video!!! It was awesome!:D:D

 

Ok, so now I have a few questions for you.......:rolleyes:

 

1. Where did you guys do those side by side tubes being pulled? Looks like SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

2. How was the Seavis tour to the island? Nice beach? We don't snorkel.

3. On Palm Beach, did you go to a specific hotel?

 

We are doing this itinerary on the Breeze, in July, and I am really struggling with shore excursions. We are pretty much just beach people.

Turks and Caicos, we are fine with, as we've been there, and just planning on splitting our day between Margaritaville and Jack's Shack.

Everything else? Throwing me for a loop:confused::confused:

 

Thank you!!!!!

 

Here are your answers:

Big Mable tubes were awesome. You will love them. We used fun4every1 on Palm Beach in Aruba. They are located beside the Pier on the beach in front of the Riu Resort.

 

Seavis Tour was excellent. Well worth the money. You do not need to snorkel. Enjoy the beach/food/and all you can drink. Ingrid was fantastic, I hope you get her as a guide.

 

No hotel on Palm beach. Take a cab to the Pier in front of the Riu on palm beach. It is a public beach so just go and enjoy. The Pier has a bar so you can buy beers and drink them on the beach. $14.00 for the cab on way (total not per person).

 

I totally recommend what we did on our excursions. It was amazing. Playa Lagun in Curaçao is incredible.

 

Thanks for the kudos on the video folks. I loved shooting it.

Klink.

[jchris1230]

Nice. We will be on Freedom at end of Oct.

[ColKlink]

Love your video - and have to ask - did you have a monopod and what type of camera was it? Would love to take video like that!

 

We're sailing on her in December so she'll have all the new upgrades!

 

Terry

 

We used a GoPro Hero 3 Silver. Check out the videos being shot on you tube with this camera they are incredible. You can buy a hand held pole for it. It allows you to take video up and close. I the pole I had was very close to that iguana in Curaçao. He was mad and actually whipping his tail with great accuracy hitting the camera. I could not have gotten that close without a pole without getting hurt.

Glad you liked it.

Klink

[KPfromCT]

Here are your answers:

Big Mable tubes were awesome. You will love them. We used fun4every1 on Palm Beach in Aruba. They are located beside the Pier on the beach in front of the Riu Resort.

 

Seavis Tour was excellent. Well worth the money. You do not need to snorkel. Enjoy the beach/food/and all you can drink. Ingrid was fantastic, I hope you get her as a guide.

 

No hotel on Palm beach. Take a cab to the Pier in front of the Riu on palm beach. It is a public beach so just go and enjoy. The Pier has a bar so you can buy beers and drink them on the beach. $14.00 for the cab on way (total not per person).

 

I totally recommend what we did on our excursions. It was amazing. Playa Lagun in Curaçao is incredible.

 

Thanks for the kudos on the video folks. I loved shooting it.

Klink.

 

Thank you SO much for this information.

I think we may just do a carbon copy of your itinerary.

Your kind of fun, looks like OUR kind of fun!!!:D:D:D

[bmdz412]

Thanks for the compliments on the video.

CD was Brad and he was great. The whole staff was outstanding.

They released the full upgrades to us.

-moving the hottubs to make the Lido more open with a bigger pool

-guys burger joint

-new water slides etc

Some pretty significant changes

 

 

Love the video, great family memories!

Just curious who was it that told you what the upgrades will be? I will on the Freedom after the dry dock in May. I can't wait, I want to try Guys Burgers! :D

[JustMeandTheSea]

AWESOME video!!

Any idea as to if ship will get redecorated or get ropes course or waterslide in drydock?

[ColKlink]

Love the video, great family memories!

Just curious who was it that told you what the upgrades will be? I will on the Freedom after the dry dock in May. I can't wait, I want to try Guys Burgers! :D

 

The cruise director answered many questions about it in a Q and A session. They also announced the upgrades to all the cruisers on board. The upgrades will be extensive. Enjoy it because it is a great ship. Try and track down Dody on the Lido deck and Vladimir in the piano bar. Awesome waiters they really went out of their way for us. You will see them in the video right at the end.

Klink

[ColKlink]

AWESOME video!!

Any idea as to if ship will get redecorated or get ropes course or waterslide in drydock?

 

I believe just new water slides. I know for sure they are moving the hot tubes from the middle of the Lido deck and moving them to where the chess board is just above the Lido Deck. It should open up the Lido deck big time.

Klink

[JustMeandTheSea]

They also announced the upgrades to all the cruisers on board.

Klink

 

They did!?!?! Can you tell us what the upgrades will be? Pretty pwease.

[ColKlink]

They did!?!?! Can you tell us what the upgrades will be? Pretty pwease.

 

Have a look at the posts from this thread. I think I mentioned most of what I could remember, the only other thing that I missed was the blue iguana and red frog pubs.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention was the taste bar was excellent. We used it a couple of times.

 

Klink

[cellalot]

Thanks for the review.... We are leaving tomorrow on the Freedom and we have the same room as you. Slightly different itinerary but still 8 days. We love this class of ship with the tiered decks.

[ColKlink]

Thanks for the review.... We are leaving tomorrow on the Freedom and we have the same room as you. Slightly different itinerary but still 8 days. We love this class of ship with the tiered decks.

 

You will love the room. Your room steward is great. She cleaned out our fridge and had the ice bucket filled everyday. She also made us towel animals everyday.

 

Track down Dody on the Lido deck he will take care of you all week.

Have a great cruise you will love it.

Klink