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FREEDOM recap 3/5-3/12

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freedomcruiser891

freedomcruiser891

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Meant to post this earlier but it's been a hectic week. Also if there's any formatting issues lemme know because I typed this on a computer but posted from my phone because I forgot my password....

 

Freedom Review 3/5/16-3/12/16

We stayed in springhill suites in webster, tx. Total was around $110ish I think. Nice hotel really big room for the price. Pretty near hobby airport so if you’re flying in I would definitely recommend this hotel.

Time for this cruise was great. There were very few kids because nobody else had this spring break so it was a good price and a great time.

Boarding: we had 10am check-in and the staggered embarkation really made the process a lot faster. We didn’t wait in a single line the entire process. We were zone one and had to wait around 20 minutes for boarding to begin. The terminal seemed chaotic outside, not because of people who arrived too early, but people waiting for shuttles to get to hobby airport or parking lots. We always park at Galveston park n cruise. It was 70$ for the 7 day duration of the cruise. Directly across from the terminal and its just walking distance. Highly Highly recommend them. Anyways, boarding was great.

Day one: We never cruise during this season and we will definitely cruise this time again. Ship seemed empty everywhere and very few kids so we knew it was going to be a good cruise. We lounged around a while before going to the room around 1:30.

Room: we had 7287 it’s a standard interior. Cabin temperature was cold. I don’t know if we’ve just lucked out or what but we have NEVER had a hot cabin. The cabin was cold in about an hour and we had to turn the air a lot warmer. It was probably around 68 degrees in our room which was very comfortable to sleep. Steward was great. We weren’t asked if we wanted cabin serviced once a day or what it was just serviced twice a day and we loved it. Cabin was kept tidy by Jose and crew.

**The main thing we noticed in this cabin as compared to the cabin we were in last spring was the temperature of the mini bar. We think it’s a different brand of fridge or replacement or something of that sorts but the drinks were insanely cold. Like actually cold for once…just a note.

Side note: if you order anything from fun shops, due to Texas taxes, it won’t be delivered until the second day of the cruise around noonish or so. Also any “duty free” purchases on alcohol and tobacco aren’t really duty free because in Texas you have to pay taxes. Nothing extreme just a few dollars max but still. We didn’t buy any alcohol or tobacco but if you do I know you had to go pick it up very early the morning of debarkation then wait in a line at the end of the terminal to pay taxes (nobody made sure you paid them so I honestly don’t think you really had to. I am NOT saying we did this or we saw anybody do this, but I would bet money that somebody did this.

American table: we were trying to be more optimistic this cruise and not be so judgmental of American table. I know it was a menu very similar to last years on the freedom but we enjoyed it a lot more (not sure if it was the mindset or what). No tablecloths meant table was soaked from water by end of meal but service was finished very efficiently and great. Food was good as expected. Some nights it was harder to find an entrée than others but there was always something good to choose. I know our waiter’s name but I can’t remember it to save my life so hopefully I’ll remember and update this review soon. I wish I knew his name because we received fantastic service throughout the cruise.

We did steakhouse last year and loved it, but it was SO MUCH FOOD! We didn’t do it this go around because we didn’t want to be in a food coma again like last time LOL we will do it on Liberty in May.

Days 2-6 ran together and went by way too quickly sadly. Belize was skipped because of bad weather conditions and looking out at the waves its completely understandable. Food during these days was great. Buffet food was sometimes lacking but Guy’s and Blue Iguana and Deli and Pizza and Mongolian Wok are always fantastic. We never went to taste bar sadly. We did notice new furniture along promenade (more seats!!). This was great for the live music there throughout the cruise. They also fixed permanent stages to Lido and Main Atrium live music places. Very nice.

(If you can’t tell by now this review is really scattered and unorganized so oops oh well)

Movies were shown for dive in movies. We only went to one (don’t even remember which movie it was LOL) but it was great. Popcorn wasn’t the best I’ve had but its still decent and something to snack on.

We hit really rough seas throughout the cruise IMHO. We’ve been through a worse storm on the freedom before but I feel like this was a lot longer duration of bad seas than before. Just large waves making us sway a lot. Didn’t bother me but my mom did get sick twice (not norovirus don’t worry the freedom is spotless from tip to whale tale (see what I did there)).

Don’t know where I left off but Ports were great. Had to miss belize but Roatan was AMAZING!!! Best beach we’ve ever been to and its right by the port and we rode the little chair lift thing to get there it was just hands down the best port we’ve ever been to. We did jolly rogers snorkeling tour and loved it. Never thought we would enjoy snorkeling but we were gladly surprised. They were a little generous on the rum and punch but nobody fell off the boat LOL. Cozumel was same old same old. Every itinerary out of Galveston goes to Cozumel so it was nothing new. We just went to the shops and bought the same stuff as always. But still a nice port. Weather was dreary today and was pretty crappy (pardon my French) so we just sat around the ship where it wasn’t too windy/cloudy.

*Side story we were watching pier runners and a lady was so drunk and only had her drivers license. She didn’t know which ship she was on (there were five in port!!!!). They finally figured it out and it wasn’t our ship but the breeze. We thought she was going to fall off the pier several times however it was kinda scary.

Also, medical debarkation in Belize even though we couldn’t tender. Prayers go out to whomever was in need of emergency medical attention. Also saw an elderly man fall boarding in Cozumel. He boarded and seemed to be fine but my thoughts and prayers go out to him and his wife as well. I hope everyone is doing fine if you’re reading this by chance.

Weather sucked the last sea day. Outdoors stuff was moved inside which was nice, but still a bummer that we had a bad weather day (I’m not blaming carnival for this LOL). They did a good job with new fun times, announcements, etc.

I have no idea if I mentioned this or not, but we got the social internet package. It was great for the most part. Imessage wasn’t supposed to work but 90% of the time it worked fine. Couldn’t send pictures via imessage but we could via Instagram direct message so no big deal. What made me really upset however, was the fact that carnivals website wouldn’t load….I was going to look at shore excursions for our cruise in May but after waiting 3-4 minutes for the page to load I gave up. We had to login once a day but the day we were in Cozumel I had to login at least 10 times (not exaggerating at all. Literally 10 times). That got on my nerves but still for $25 for the entire cruise, you can’t beat the price. It was a lot quicker than it was on our previous cruise last year on the freedom.

Oh I forgot to mention cruise director. Malcolm was cruise director and he was awesome. He could have been one of our comedians he was so personable and funny. The past three cruises we’ve had Jen on both the triumph and then freedom. She wasn’t a bad cruise director by any means, but the same jokes lose their strength after time. Malcom was awesome and we really enjoyed having him as a cruise director.

Shows were okay. Exactly the same as previous cruises, but with a different cast. Not my favorite I loved the older shows and am looking forward to seeing them on the Liberty when she gets moved to Galveston (we’re on one of her first sailings in May so hopefully they don’t update shows before then because we loved having the live bands).

Oh another thing I forgot to mention was one night for about an hour our cabin had brown water in the sink and shower. Meant to take a picture but I forgot. I heard about this happening on the sunshine so we didn’t worry too much. About an hour later we rant the water and it got a lot worse but then was crystal clear so we didn’t worry about it. It was probably just something in the filtration system or something I have no idea.

Debarkation wasn’t as perfect as embarkation, (there are lines so if you’re traveling with somebody who has mobility issues, ask for a wheelchair or bring a scooter, contact special needs team, etc). Probably took about 30-40 minutes waiting in line (we did self assist, never done the relaxed debarkation). Customs was the only reason this took so long. Someone told us to go to line 9 then another lady yelled at us for going to line 9 it was just kind of unorganized on their part (the person directing people to different customs lines was obviously confused/not paying attention but no big deal).

All in all it was a fantastic cruise. Freedom is in amazing condition and her staff is attentive and great. We’ll definitely cruise her again after we try out the Liberty in May. We might sail the Breeze next just to say we did but freedom is fantastic. If you’re thinking about booking a cruise on freedom rest assured you’ll love it (unless you’re extremely pessimistic then you might hate it just like every other cruise).

Don’t understand why carnival is getting all the hate from cutbacks its nothing that drastic that would keep us from sailing. I miss mints but hey we brought twix and twix are 400x better IMHO J.

Absolutely loved the cruise and I can’t think of anything else to post. I’m sure I’ll remember something talking about this cruise at work this coming week so I’ll probably revise/edit/post more then.

If anyone wants to see fun times, lemme know and I’ll post them.

If you have ANY questions, I absolutely loved the cruise and would love to revisit it by giving you the best possible answers I can. Just lemme know!

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