*** Carnival Freedom Review 3/5 ***

[piscesbaby]

Your review has to be "The Best" review I've read in a long time. I seriously am now considering the Freedom for a future cruise thanks to your review.

[micro yaya 13]

thanks so much for your review. you know what they say one man's opinion:cool:

[The4Walls]

A couple of questions if I may:

 

Then our ride began from the cruise port to Rome - which is supposed to take at the longest about an hour and a half. Well... we had to stop at the aiport, at the Airport Hilton, the Airport Marriott and then we ran into horrible traffic in Rome and rather than taking an alternative route, we sat in traffic.

 

We are planning to hop the train from the port to Rome. Is the train station walkable? Are there shuttles? Are taxis available? Considering we will have luggage, I would consider anything between 1000-1500m walkable. Thoughts?

 

Our friends stayed at a 3 star hotel for $150 euro they booked themselves and it was a lot nicer with a balcony and view of a piazza.

 

 

I don't suppose you remember the name of the hotel your friends stayed at do you? We are looking for a reasonably priced hotel for 2 days after the cruise.

 

Thanks!!!

[terri910]

ckthomas -- thanks SO MUCH for your detailed review. I think almost anyone can gain some little bit of knowledge they might not have had before, after reading it...very, very hlepful! Thank you!

[PTC]

We had heard that the ship was getting into the ports late and causing some concern with passengers private tours. Was this an issue or just rumor?

 

 

PTC

[Snoopsmom]

Overall Impressions:

 

Food -

 

EXCELLENT in the main dinning room. The only bad entree I had was the Prime Rib - I asked for it medium and it came out well and dry. Everything else was spectacular!

 

The Buffet was so/so - the deli and the mexican dishes were the best. However, there was always a long line at the deli. Bob and I found the buffet to be very annoying because people acted like they were the only people on the boat. Cutting in front of you, bumping you in the back with their tray many times, etc. etc.

 

Unfortunately, we did not sample breakfast. We ordered room service every morning. Warning: they are not always on time and it can take up to an hour to get your food. And 5 out of 7 mornings they forgot something (ie: creamer for your coffee, milk for your cereal) even though you requested it. I called and it was immediately sent, but it became humerous to see what they forgot each morning.

 

Coffee was best at the Veniesse shop and they did have good desserts and pastries, but you had to pay extra for it.

 

Bob had Greek Tapas and Sushi at one of the afternoon speciality buffets and said it was very good.

 

Entertainment -

 

I really enjoyed the social hosts on the ship. I heard the Beatles show was excellent. We stopped by the Divo show (3 guys singing) but soon left because it was putting me to sleep. We also caught the end of the Comedy Act, which was pretty funny, although quirky. Many people enjoyed the New Orleans Show.

 

Bob and I became friends with Rakesh - the magician. He was amazing and a very funny guy. We would meet up with him every night.

 

Lounges -

 

Never went to the Piano Bar because it was very smoky. Did enjoy the entertainment at the Lobby Bar and International Lounge. Just Du-et was ok - our friends enjoyed ballroom dancing to their tunes. The 70's club was fun, but never crowded. The International Lounge had Karoke, which we aren't a big fan of.. so skipped. The BEST bar was the Habana Bar - which sold Cuban cigars. It was not smokey and was decorated very nice.

 

Service -

Oustanding! I couldn't tell that many of the staff were new, if they were. Although in some of the lounges, they were slow to serve drinks. In addition to the $90 per person, we tipped a little more to our waiters and waitresses in the main dining room.

 

Pros -

 

- Good way to travel through Europe - did not have to slep baggage from hotel to hotel.

- Food

- Met good friends from California we hope to stay friends with after the cruise

- The staff

- The ports were amazing

- Tours were pretty good

 

Cons -

 

- Cruisers could be very rude and would step in front of you, stop, bump into you, etc. etc. and never say excuse me. It was as if they were the only people on the ship.

 

- Didn't like all of the add-ons. Bob and I usually travel to all-inclusive resorts where bottled water, drinks, etc. were free. Did not like having to pay for everything over and over again including transportation. The cruise is a lot more expensive than an all-inclusive, but you got a lot less.

 

- Lines and waiting. By the end of the 9 days, we couldn't take any more. Waiting for people who were late to come back to the bus on a tour, waiting to get off the ship, waiting in security to get back on the ship, etc. etc.

 

Final Thoughts -

 

This was our first cruise and we had a great time. Although, I don't think we are truly cruisers. There are people that LOVE it and we just didn't feel that love :) If we were to do a cruise again, we would probably go with a group of friends and do a lot of the ports, hotels and transportation independently.

 

I did not feel like we were a "test" group and thought Carnival did a good job. Bob and I had a wonderful trip and tons of great pictures to prove it. I can't wait to show our family and friends.

Thank you for your informative review of the cruise. We could be your parents, agewise, and have the same thoughts about cruising as you. Our first cruise (1997) was on a Holland America liner and the older folks (in their 70's, 80's and 90s) had the same behavior as you mentioned. Some were wonderful and many were boorish (spoiled, etc.). We go for the itineraries, rather than the cruise lines. The extra expenses you incurred in Europe are the same we had in the Caribbean. Some guests watched every penny they spent and could find cruising a bargain. This was not the case for us. I guess we drink a lot of water. Of course, we buy too many pictures and other items. So cruising is not "cheap" for folk like us. Most of the "help" on cruises are wonderful. On one cruise, we had poor dining room help and said we would never go on that ship again. Two years later we went on the same ship (Panama Canal) and had wonderful service. I absolutely agree with you that the way to do cruising is with friends or family. That way you can blot out thinking about the rude people. I got tired of cruising (5 to date and thought one would be sufficient), then I saw the itinerary of this cruise and knowing my husband likes the convenience of not lugging luggage and driving, I decided to give it another try. Will try to blot out the crude experiences and people and focus on the highlights. Again thanks.

 

By the way, someone said that people in your age range tend to take the shorter (3-5 day trips). We older guys/gals have more time off to take the longer trips.

[ckthomas00]

The 4Walls:

 

- I really can't answer your question about transportation too well because I didn't even pay attention to trains, cabs, etc. because we had already secured Carnival transport. Our friends took the Carnival transfer into the center of Rome and then caught a cab. They were in the city by 9:30 am. I would do a little research on the CC board - I'm sure you'll find the information you need.

 

- Our friends stayed at the Fortyseven Hotel. Here's the link: http://www.summithotels.com/hotel_horizontal.cfm?id=FCOFS. It looks a lot nicer than our hotel and signficantly cheaper. Luckily, we were only in our room to sleep and then left the next day.

 

PTC:

 

- I didn't personally hear any concerns from passengers with private tours... we only arrived significantly late (1 hour+) in one port and I would hope the private drivers would have waited for those folks...?

[Miss Margaret]

Thanks for the info! Did they equip the Freedom cabins with the new flat screen t.v. like they did on the refurbished Fascination?

[Maryutah]

Fantastic review, CK, thank you for taking your time to give us the run-down of your cruise.

 

We are excited to experience the Freedom in April, and so are breathlessly searching for information you have provided, so thank you again!

[ckthomas00]

Miss Margaret - yes, the cabins have nice flat screen TV's. I enjoyed watching the information re: ship tours and John (cruise director)'s shows. He's a funny guy (sometimes!).

[fendere]

Thanks for the review, CK.

 

Question- what kind of shoes did you wear for your port days? I was planning on wearing my ballerina/ MaryJ style Sketchers, kind of like sneakers, but thought you might give me some insight. We're doing the grand med itinerary opposed to Greece so it may be a little different with the walking/climbing situation. We're in the 30-something age group and in pretty good shape, but i was hoping to skip actual sneakers.

[fendere]

HI! We are also on the June 6th sailing. We've got a fun thread going over with the role call for June 6th. Come on over and chat with us! :D

[ckthomas00]

Hey Fendere - I brought 3 pairs of shoes for excursions:

 

1. Cole Haan w/ Nike Air Technology Mary Janes - love them... and they aren't sneakers... kinda like what you are planning to wear.

2. Diesel sneakers - I saw lots of people in Europe wearing Puma, Diesels, etc. etc.

3. Leather Loafers (similiar to Tods) - these gave me the least support and I noticed my feet got tired walking around Rome.

 

There is a good amount of walking on excursions, but there is also a good amount of sitting on the bus unless you are at one particular place all day long. I think you will be fine with your Sketchers as long as they are broken in.

 

Have fun!!!

[I&MsMom]

CK: Thanks again for all the information you are providing. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond to our questions.

 

That said, I thought of more. None of the ports are tender ports are they? What is the procedure to get off the ship in the ports? Just go to the gangway and wait in line? Do you recall which deck(s) the gangways were on? Was it the Riviera, with passenger cabins, or lower?

 

Thanks for any response you are able to make!

[queenslander]

CKThomas-thank you so much for your detailed review.

We were on the Liberty in the Med in 2005 and are doing back to back cruises on the Freedom next month.

 

I agree with you about the rudeness of some cruisers in the buffet and for that reason we try to eat only in the dining room on Carnival. Like you we didn't find that a problem on Celebrity or Princess. We have found the main dining on Carnival very pleasant and the food is usually of a good standard. As we almost always do private tours with groups of 8 we have managed to avoid crowding and waiting for other passengers to turn up.

 

I think you have already learned - as we have -that it's better on Carnival to avoid the buffet if possible -and the Carnival tours -if you want to avoid the crowds and lining up.

 

Joyce

[Moo_Cruiser]

1st night on the boat/Dinner: Throughout the cruise, I noticed the attire - no one wore jeans. Men wore slacks with a collared shirt or nice sweater and women wore casual dresses/skirts or slacks with a nice top.

 

Thanks so much ckthomas for your detailed review...it really helps the rest of us who are agonising over the little things...like what to wear to dinner!!

 

Just a quick question, did you find that the dining room was warm enough to wear sleeveless or strappy type tops, or did you need something a bit warmer? Were the nites chilly? :confused:

 

Thanks for all your help. We are sailing on 13 May and can't wait!

 

Cheers

 

Amanda

[KCFlossy]

I'm sailing on the Freedom April 19th and found your report very infromative...especially the port excursion information. I was planning on doing most of the ports freestyle...maybe one or two excursion tours. Someone else had recommended renting mopeds, so was glad for those details.

 

One final question...do you have many singles on your cruise?

[Jayne315]

Thank you for your review.....I hope they keep coming!

[suzy671]

What time did they start self-disembarkation?

[winewanderer]

Thanks so much for the review.

 

For The4Walls,

 

The train station from the Civitivacchia port is fairly easy to get to. You take the port shuttle bus to the entrance. The walk to the station is about 15 minutes.

 

It may be difficult with large luggage. Hubby and I took the train last year but we only had a carryon size suitcase each.

 

You have to go down stairs. If you are going to the Termini station, it's a long walk from where you get off until you get out of the station. We found the escalators and elevators were never working.

 

It's not too bad but we saw people with large suitcases having one heck of a time. Also there is a high step up into the train. The morning we travelled the train was packed going into Rome, suitcases and peoples crap everywhere so we found ourselves carrying our suitcases through the cars until we found seats.

 

I definitely recommend train travel with only a carryon suitcase and maybe a small backpack or shoulder bag.

[ckthomas00]

KCFlossy - I didn't notice many singles on the cruise... but there were some that came in groups w/ friends.

 

Suzys - Sorry, can't help you. If you mean self-disembarkation in Rome after the cruise, I'm not sure.

 

I&MsMom - none of the ports we went to were tendered. If you had a Carnival excursion, you had to get a sticker and wait for your sticker to be called, go down the stairs to Deck 0 to get off the boat.

 

If you did not have a Carnival excursion, you were in a separate line (not terribly long) and got off on Deck 0 as well. Only in Naples did they use Deck 3.

 

The lines moved pretty quickly, but after day 7, I was tired of waiting in them. Also, they block off the elevators - you have to take the stairs down to Deck 0 unless you have a wheelchair.

 

Moo-Cruise - I am cold-natured and was able to wear sleeveless shirts and dresses without being cold in the dinning room (I was also drinking wine to keep me warm though:) I always brought along a light sweater but rarely put it on. The nights were chilly if you are planning on being outside - I was cold the night we were outside viewing the active volcano (which I forgot to put in my review!) from the deck.

 

Let me know if there are any other questions!

[Maryutah]

I'm sailing on the Freedom April 19th and found your report very infromative...especially the port excursion information. I was planning on doing most of the ports freestyle...maybe one or two excursion tours. Someone else had recommended renting mopeds, so was glad for those details.

 

One final question...do you have many singles on your cruise?

 

KC, check out the roll call for our April 19th Freedom cruise, and get to know some of your fellow passengers :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=323331

[Moo_Cruiser]

KCFlossy - I didn't notice many singles on the cruise... but there were some that came in groups w/ friends.

 

Moo-Cruise - I am cold-natured and was able to wear sleeveless shirts and dresses without being cold in the dinning room (I was also drinking wine to keep me warm though:) I always brought along a light sweater but rarely put it on. The nights were chilly if you are planning on being outside - I was cold the night we were outside viewing the active volcano (which I forgot to put in my review!) from the deck.

 

Thanx ckthomas! Guess I won't need to rug up for dinner then..yay - less to pack!!

 

And I agree, the wine definately helps take away the chill factor, ha, ha!!:p

 

Cheers

 

Amanda

[islandtr]

Thanks for review. We will be traveling on 4/19/07 and cabin is on lido deck too. Did you have problem with motion on ship being that high up? Not concerned for myself but BIL has problem with motion. How was the sea for most part not to rough?

[zentravler]

:p Hello, my husband and I are scheduled to be on that same cruise. I must admitt that we will be in the 55 to 60 year old age group, although I don't feel that should be a problem since we have never thought of ourselves as being old yet! I am glad to met someone who is going to be on the same ship at the same time. We will be arriving in Rome five days before departure and will be spending 28 days traveling to France, Germany, and Switzerland before returning home. I will be very glad to met you!

 

Thank you for your review.I just registered at this site while reading your review. My husband and I are counting down the days until we get on the Freedom on June 6th. I have been following this new ship since it came into service last week and am very excited to start reading all the reviews. Is there anyone else out there booked on the June 6th Carnival Freedom cruise?:) :) :) :)