Freedom - Western Carb. review

[DaveOKC]

Just back from the 6 day Western Carb. cruise on the Freedom out of FLL, so here is my mini-review:

We have been on 7 Holland cruises prior to this one so our perceptions are a bit "tainted". Also, we are 60 years old and travel without children (althought we have 3 grown ones and two grandchildren), so keep this in mind. Further, we were in a Category 11 suite.

 

Embarkation - Fairly smooth process, but the check-in clerks did not know about the VIP area upstairs and we had to hunt around for someone who did. Grade - B-.

 

We had a group of 23 people in various cabin types from inside to suite. We all met on deck 10 Aft in the Fish and Chips area. Great idea (from this board) as you can eaisily find tables to spread out while waiting for you room to be readied plus two stairways give you easy access to the Lido buffet one floor below. Also, the Fish and Chips were really good, if a bit greasy.

 

In the cabins at 1:30 PM as expected. Our suite was very nicely appointed and the bathroom was great! Large jacuzzi tub (but a bit narrow) and dual sinks. Couch a bit spartan and not very comfortable. Room size larger than the other cabins, but definately smaller than we experienced on Holland. Balcony was a disappointment - very narrow and no lounge type chairs (one of the three chairs did recline though). Had a small, low table on the balcony - it definately was not large enough to dine off of.

 

The others mostly had inside rooms and I was impressed on how large they were. Very good value for your money on these - but we are a bit spoiled and "had" to have a balcony.

 

First day comment - Carnival was a bit unorganized. Several items in the Capers (daily newsletter in your cabin) had the wrong times posted. On the first day you are busy enough and you do not need to be chasing around only to find you need to come back later or you completely missed the event. Also, Carnival needs to better plan their events. For example, the Poker instructional event was at 6 PM the first day - exactly the time of early dining, so half of the ship could not attend it (most folks will do the formal dinner the first night) - and no other time. Same was true for the Spa raffle, whcih you had to be present at to win - 6 PM. Why not do these at 5:30??? We found this same situation throughout the cruise, but the first day was the worst.

 

More coming......

[Payd]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[DaveOKC]

Continued....

 

Ports - At Key West we did parasailing with Sebago. Cost with taxes was $41 per person if booked on-line. Carnival offered parasailing for $90! We had a great time and I would recommend Sebago. Only negative was that their 12 person boat was not working so we had to take the 6 person (we had 8 in our group) and had to split up. Afterwards had a GREAT piece of chocolate covered, frozen key lime pie on a stick at Kermits, about one block back towards the ship from the parasailing. You cannot miss the shop - look for the old man outside with the baker's hat on. Some of our group did the train/tram around town and enjoyed it alot. Just be sure to get the one that lets you hop off and on at various locations. Everyone in our group enjoyed Key West.

 

At Grand Cayman most of the group went snokeling at Eden Rock, about 1/2 mile to the right from the tender dock. Look for the blue building (you can see it from the ship even). They rent you equipment, but if you have your own it is free. The area is rocky (coral), no beach here. Also, the current is a bit strong, so be sure to keep an eye on everyone and "buddy up". Definately use your floating vests. Good reports on this "on your own" excursion, especially for the money. Others in our group went on an island bus tour from Carnival and reported it was a wast of the $52 per person they spent. Unfortunately, it was a windy day and all ship tours to Sting Ray City were canceled. It is a great experience (we did it last trip).

 

At Ocho Rios we stayed on the ship (we previously spent a week here at an all inclusive resort). Our group enjoyed Dunns River Falls (ship tour), but thought the Bobsled and Canopy rides were not worth the money. Everyone complained about the hassling they got from the locals. Even the folks on the Carnival tours were mad since their guides "disappeared" when they got to the top of the falls and some locals guided them through the straw market were they were harranged all the way through. At the end of the one-way market the Carnival guides magically reappeared! It had to be a bad situation since it ticked off even my very good natured brother-in-law, who I never have seen mad before! Others who just walked the area reported constantly being hassled by the locals to buy something or to take a cab ride. We sure were glad we stayed on the ship for a nice relaxing day without crowds - even at the pool.

 

Speaking of the pool, I was really surprised how crowded the main pool area was on sea days. You had to search in remote areas to find one in the middle of the day. The chair hogs were out in full force on this trip! On Holland, we never experienced this, but of course the passengers are generally older and not as interested in sun-bathing.

 

Kids - there were over 300 kids on the cruise, since this was Spring break week for some northern cities. However, we never experienced problems with them and Carnival seemed to do a great job of keeping them occupied with Camp Carnival and other activities. We had 7 kids in our group and they all loved crusing with Carnival. Score a big point for Carnival on this one.

 

More coming........

[DaveOKC]

More ....

 

Shows - we personally only made it to two - Ticket to Ride (Beatles tribute) and the Not so Newlywed Game. I thought Ticket to Ride was a bit slow for the first 30-40 minutes, but it really picked up for the final 15 or so minutes when the band came out. The Newlywed Game show is always a good one and so was this one. Reports from our group on the other shows was mixed. They enjoyed them but they basically rated them - "OK".

 

Casino - our group made alot of use of this area. Good variety of machine types and denominations. Table games were busy but not packed. The Poker Pro table was empty most of the time and I never saw more than 5-6 players at any one time.

 

Muster Drill - this was far less organized than what we are used to on Holland. Also, they did not "check you off" a list as on Holland. It took almost 30 minutes for a simple minded instruction and being 5 deep and packed in close was very uncomfortable for those of use in the back row. Carnival needs work in this area.

 

More coming.....

[DaveOKC]

More.....

 

Food - we dined at the formal (Chic) rest. for dinner and most breakfasts. Lido for most lunches and some breakfasts. Overall the food quality IMO was just "average", inferior to Holland definately. Breakfast was fine, since they had an omlet (or eggs) station in Lido. For lunch I recommended the Mexican or Sandwich stations. The most disappointed meal was dinner in the formal dining room. Soup was often cold and the quality of the beef items was sub-par. The lobster tail was small and they treid to make up for this by including a few shrimp. The waiters (unlike on Holland) never mentioned that you could have more than one tail. The service was fairly good, but rushed. They seemed to be more interested in getting you in and out then anything else. Average dining time was about 1 hour 15 minutes. Dinner is one area Holland far exceeds Carnival on.

 

Room service - basically you could only order lunch type items. They just added hot sandwiches, so this helped a bit, but on Holland you could get the normal dinner menu sent to your room. For breakfast you had to put out a card on your door by 5 AM, I do not think you could order it otherwise. Also, only cold items. On Holland you could order hot items for breakfast and get it anytime as I recall. Service was on-time and friendly.

 

Activities - Carnival far exceeds Holland in this area. They had a 9 hole Putt-Putt, basketball and voleyball courts, an outdoor large scale chess set, bean bag tossing and other things to keep you busy. There also were alot of other activites posted in the Capers - too many to mention here.

 

Photos - they seemed to be everywhere taking your picture, but somehow we avoided them all. They were not pushy about it and I appreciated that. Better experience than on Holland were they seemed to insist they get your picture everywhere.

 

Captain's reception - held the first sea day. GREAT reception - far superior to Holland's. Drinks were flowing quickly and you could order whatever you wanted (with reason) or you could go to the bar and get it yourself. A $2 tip to the bartender got me great service! Nver did see the Captain, but after a few drinks no one really cared!

 

Past passenger reception - I guess I got invited to this since I was in a suite, since I had never sailed on Carnival. Quite a disappointment compared to the Captain's reception. Only drinks were white wine and champaign. Less than 100 people showed up, compared to hundreds on every Holland cruise I have been on. We got a brief talk on the new Carnival ship Dream and on booking benefits for your next cruise. Waste of time! Holland wins on this one.

 

Debarkation - Carnival really has it act together now. The self-disembarkation ran from a few minutes before 7 AM until 8 AM. They they moved the ramps from Level 0 to Level 3 and started calling numbers in order. This made everything go alot easier and you did not have to listen for each number or color, you pretty well knew when your turn would be. We we off the ship by 8:15 AM, got a taxi to the airport and were at the Delta counter by 8:45. However, the airline would not check your bags in prior to 3 hours before you flight in FLL, so keep this in mind. Only negative to Carnival's process is that you have to vacate your cabin by 8:30 AM. At Holland you can stay in your cabin. Overall, Carnival wins this area by far.

 

New baggage program - Freedom three weeks ago started a program where for a $20 fee you can have your bags sent directly to your final destination right from your cabin! No picking up your bags in the baggage area, no lugging them through customs, to a cab and again to the ticket counter. The folks in our group who used this loved the process and reported that their bags actually got to their home airport before they did. This saved time waiting for the airline to unload the bags. They also get your boarding pass for you and send it to your cabin the night before departure.

 

Overall - It really depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. The younger passengers likely will prefer Carnival while the older ones would chose Holland. Both do a good job IMO for their target groups.

 

Ok - I think I covered everything. If you have questions, please feel free to ask.

[nybumpkin]

Nice review - Thanks for sharing! One of the cruises we're thinking about for next February is Freedom. I was surprised by the past guest party, since we've never had one with just white wine or champagne. (I had three blue margaritas on Glory 2 weeks ago.:o) Our past guest party was in the aft lounge - two parties actually, one before each dinner - and it was mobbed.

[Izzy'smom]

I was on this same cruise - There were actually 2 past guest parties - one at 4:00 and another at 5:15. We went to the 4:00 party - and I was surprised that there weren't more people there - but this was a port day (Ocho Rios). I suspect more people showed for the second party.

 

They were serving the usual drinks - you know them - the blue ones, the pink ones, the yellow ones, the green ones, ;) and wine and champagne as well as canapes.

[jbroons]

Just back from the 6 day Western Carb. cruise on the Freedom out of FLL, so here is my mini-review:

We have been on 7 Holland cruises prior to this one so our perceptions are a bit "tainted". Also, we are 60 years old and travel without children (althought we have 3 grown ones and two grandchildren), so keep this in mind. Further, we were in a Category 11 suite.

 

Embarkation - Fairly smooth process, but the check-in clerks did not know about the VIP area upstairs and we had to hunt around for someone who did. Grade - B-.

 

We had a group of 23 people in various cabin types from inside to suite. We all met on deck 10 Aft in the Fish and Chips area. Great idea (from this board) as you can eaisily find tables to spread out while waiting for you room to be readied plus two stairways give you easy access to the Lido buffet one floor below. Also, the Fish and Chips were really good, if a bit greasy.

 

In the cabins at 1:30 PM as expected. Our suite was very nicely appointed and the bathroom was great! Large jacuzzi tub (but a bit narrow) and dual sinks. Couch a bit spartan and not very comfortable. Room size larger than the other cabins, but definately smaller than we experienced on Holland. Balcony was a disappointment - very narrow and no lounge type chairs (one of the three chairs did recline though). Had a small, low table on the balcony - it definately was not large enough to dine off of.

 

The others mostly had inside rooms and I was impressed on how large they were. Very good value for your money on these - but we are a bit spoiled and "had" to have a balcony.

 

First day comment - Carnival was a bit unorganized. Several items in the Capers (daily newsletter in your cabin) had the wrong times posted. On the first day you are busy enough and you do not need to be chasing around only to find you need to come back later or you completely missed the event. Also, Carnival needs to better plan their events. For example, the Poker instructional event was at 6 PM the first day - exactly the time of early dining, so half of the ship could not attend it (most folks will do the formal dinner the first night) - and no other time. Same was true for the Spa raffle, whcih you had to be present at to win - 6 PM. Why not do these at 5:30??? We found this same situation throughout the cruise, but the first day was the worst.

 

More coming......

 

Dave...thanks for the review. I'll be doing same cruise with my daughters 15 & 17 in April. I also have a cat.11 on Empress...what was your room #??

[cccer]

Great review, we will be going on her in three weeks for the same itinerary. good tip about the parasailing in Key West, we did that in Coco last year and really enjoyed it. I will have to check it out.

Thanks

[cruisegal58]

u were probably invited to the parties b/c carnival owns holland america too! how about that, we have wanted to sail hcl for a few yrs, our travel gal told us the casinos close up b4 midnight and not much action. not that r looking for alot of action, but we do stay up late and gamble and have drinks. we have sailied mostly with ccl and last yr with rccl.

sailing the freedom in may on her 8nt, love the sea! cruisegal

[lolitaray]

Thanks for posting such a detailed review of your cruise. My husband and I are heading out on this cruise in Sept and it's nice to hear what things are like. Also thanks for the heads up on the bobsled excursion....maybe we will plan something else.

[bguppies]

At the past guest party on our Freedom Western 3 weeks ago, they brought around a tray of white or red wine or champagne.

 

All you had to do was ask for ANY other drink and they went and brought it back for you.

 

I think all 4 at our table requested a different libation.

 

Bill

[letsgocruz1]

More.....

 

Food - we dined at the formal (Chic) rest. for dinner and most breakfasts. Lido for most lunches and some breakfasts. Overall the food quality IMO was just "average", inferior to Holland definately. Breakfast was fine, since they had an omlet (or eggs) station in Lido. For lunch I recommended the Mexican or Sandwich stations. The most disappointed meal was dinner in the formal dining room. Soup was often cold and the quality of the beef items was sub-par. The lobster tail was small and they treid to make up for this by including a few shrimp. The waiters (unlike on Holland) never mentioned that you could have more than one tail. The service was fairly good, but rushed. They seemed to be more interested in getting you in and out then anything else. Average dining time was about 1 hour 15 minutes. Dinner is one area Holland far exceeds Carnival on. I was on this cruise as well. Ours lasted nearly 2 hrs! We were in the Posh dining room. I actually would have preferred about 1.5 hrs but really enjoyed the table conversation so it was fine.

 

Room service - basically you could only order lunch type items. They just added hot sandwiches, so this helped a bit, but on Holland you could get the normal dinner menu sent to your room. For breakfast you had to put out a card on your door by 5 AM, I do not think you could order it otherwise. Also, only cold items. On Holland you could order hot items for breakfast and get it anytime as I recall. Service was on-time and friendly. You can order any time of day, even without putting the card out. The card just lets you pre-order, so breakfast is there when you want it to be. It's a great "wake up" call IMO.

 

Activities - Carnival far exceeds Holland in this area. They had a 9 hole Putt-Putt, basketball and voleyball courts, an outdoor large scale chess set, bean bag tossing and other things to keep you busy. There also were alot of other activites posted in the Capers - too many to mention here.

 

Photos - they seemed to be everywhere taking your picture, but somehow we avoided them all. They were not pushy about it and I appreciated that. Better experience than on Holland were they seemed to insist they get your picture everywhere. The one thing I didn't like is that they were set up in the middle of the promenade and held up traffic.

 

Captain's reception - held the first sea day. GREAT reception - far superior to Holland's. Drinks were flowing quickly and you could order whatever you wanted (with reason) or you could go to the bar and get it yourself. A $2 tip to the bartender got me great service! Nver did see the Captain, but after a few drinks no one really cared!

 

Past passenger reception - I guess I got invited to this since I was in a suite, since I had never sailed on Carnival. Quite a disappointment compared to the Captain's reception. Only drinks were white wine and champaign. Less than 100 people showed up, compared to hundreds on every Holland cruise I have been on. We got a brief talk on the new Carnival ship Dream and on booking benefits for your next cruise. Waste of time! Holland wins on this one. Sorry, but you are mistaken about this. You did NOT go to the past guest reception, you went to the reception that tried to sell you cruise certificates for your next cruise. We got the same invite, and our tablemates also confused it w/the past guest party, which was held later in the week. Drinks at the Past guest party were the same as those served at the Captain's party. They played a video that showed the creator of Carnival, and pics of all the ships, and encouraged you to clap for the ships you have been on. And 100's showed up.

 

Debarkation - Carnival really has it act together now. The self-disembarkation ran from a few minutes before 7 AM until 8 AM. They they moved the ramps from Level 0 to Level 3 and started calling numbers in order. This made everything go alot easier and you did not have to listen for each number or color, you pretty well knew when your turn would be. We we off the ship by 8:15 AM, got a taxi to the airport and were at the Delta counter by 8:45. However, the airline would not check your bags in prior to 3 hours before you flight in FLL, so keep this in mind. Only negative to Carnival's process is that you have to vacate your cabin by 8:30 AM. At Holland you can stay in your cabin. Overall, Carnival wins this area by far. I was the 4th person off the ship, we left before they even announced it to start (early flights so made sure we were on deck 3 at 6:45)

 

New baggage program - Freedom three weeks ago started a program where for a $20 fee you can have your bags sent directly to your final destination right from your cabin! No picking up your bags in the baggage area, no lugging them through customs, to a cab and again to the ticket counter. The folks in our group who used this loved the process and reported that their bags actually got to their home airport before they did. This saved time waiting for the airline to unload the bags. They also get your boarding pass for you and send it to your cabin the night before departure.

 

Overall - It really depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. The younger passengers likely will prefer Carnival while the older ones would chose Holland. Both do a good job IMO for their target groups.

 

Ok - I think I covered everything. If you have questions, please feel free to ask.

 

Thanks for the great review!

[letsgocruz1]

I was on this same cruise - There were actually 2 past guest parties - one at 4:00 and another at 5:15. We went to the 4:00 party - and I was surprised that there weren't more people there - but this was a port day (Ocho Rios). I suspect more people showed for the second party.

 

They were serving the usual drinks - you know them - the blue ones' date=' the pink ones, the yellow ones, the green ones, ;) and wine and champagne as well as canapes.[/quote']

 

I went to the 5:15 and it was packed!

[jbroons]

Anyone done or are doing the Supper Club/Sun King?? I think the formal nights are first night @ sea and the Ocho Rios day. I was thinking that the last night (second night @ sea) might be the best night for the Supper Club....Any thoughts??

[GatorGirl13]

We too were on that sailing.........your review was pretty comparable to what we experienced as well. I didn't realize that there were 300 kids on the ship.....interesting (we had 1 of those 300).

 

As for those in your group who went to Dunn's River Falls, we read a tip on here that suggested you go back out through the entrance to avoid the market hassle, which we did. Although I felt our guides did okay (my 65 year old Mom fell under the bridge and they were quick to help and get her out of the falls) I did sense a decent amount of pressure to tip anyone and everyone including "big momma" who supposedly guarded our stuff while we were climibing.

 

We too enjoyed the Captain's reception, tea, putt putt, wine tasting, and the cooking demo in the supper club and all were good to great. BIL was drinking double crown and cokes at the captain's reception (some he requested from the waiter and some we went up the bar and got for him) while Dad and DH were enjoying scotch's neat so the drinks were available you just had to ask. We missed the past guest party but it sounded pretty lame from what you said. The art auction was also a waste of time. My sister and her DH did well in the casino a couple of times (they won over $2k) and we thought the comedian was okay to good. We missed the hypnotist and several people have said he was excellent.

 

I am wishing I was enjoying a cocktail or two on the deck right now!

[CarribbeanTina271]

I too was on this cruise, and feel total opposite of your review..but of course we all have our opinion.. But before one of the shows I believe it was Todd that annouce that there were less than 100 kids on board.. However many they were all well behaved... And I didn't have any kiddos with me this time..

 

I felt Pier 19 to be fine, of course this may be due to the fact that we were there early and had VIP..

[AJeray4TN]

We will be on this same cruise in May. I know that there are 2 formal nights, but can anyone tell me for sure which days they are? Are they set in stone? We are trying to book the supper club, but are not sure which evening to book. Some folks in our group do want to miss lobster night in the main dining room.:)