Carnival Freedom 7/18 Sailing

[Warm Breezes]

We just got home from the Carnival Freedom 7/18 - 8 Day Eastern Caribbean Sailing. There was DH and I, DS(15) and DD(12). We had a blast. I never thought the cruise director made much of difference until this cruise. John Heald is the best. Here is a brief synopsis of our cruise:

 

Embarkation: Easy - Got there at 10:30 Zone 2. On board and eating lunch by Noon. No problems getting Sign and Sail cards with Birth Certificates and Drivers Licenses.

 

DOD Cards: On sale for $23.95. Very good deal for us.

 

Spa: DH had Deep Tissue Massage and loved it.

 

Food: We had dinner every night except one in the Chic Dining Room. Henry and Narin were our waiters. Excellant Service. We loved every meal. We rated the food right up with what we had on Disney. Better than what we had on our other Carnival and NCL Cruises. The only thing we did not care for was the pizza. We loved the Fish and Chips and the food in the buffet was all very good. DH and DD loved the Deli.

 

Kids clubs: Our kids refused to go to Club O2 and Circle C so I couldn't rate.

 

Chair Hogs: Not to be seen when we were looking.

 

Entertainment: DD is a dancer so we were a little more critical of the production numbers. The choreography seemed to be pretty simple in all of the numbers. We like the Disney and NCL production numbers better. John Heald made any of the shows he was in hilarious. He made the Welcome Aboard Show, the Talent Show and the Legend Show fun to be at. He was definately the best cruise director we have ever had. The comedian was ok. We didn't go to the see the singer. I won a bottle of Champaigne during the raffle drawing in Bingo.

 

Excursions: We did the Screaming Eagle Jet Boat Tour in St. Thomas. Our boat broke down after about 10 minutes in the water. A hose had come off. After a 10 minute stop to the repair shop, which we happened to be close to when it broke down, we were on our way again. We had fun and would have ranked this as a 7 out of 10 tour. We had done the jet boat in the Wisconsin Dells before and thought that the Dells tour was better.

 

DD and I did the Dolphin Experience in Tortola and had a blast. Definately a 10 out of 10 tour for us.

 

We did the 4x4 Jeep Adventure in Antigua. Again we had fun and would have rated this tour as a 8 out of 10. We were on the TAZ jeep with Trevor as a driver.

 

Debarkation - Easy. We were one of the last off the ship which was ok since we weren't in a hurry. The Customs officer didn't even look at our BC and DL's. He just took our declaration sheet and gave me a brief lecture on getting passports "since the law will change" and he handed everything back to me with out even looking at it. We were out in less than a minute.

 

Over All: The ship was very clean. Our room steward Chris did a fantastic job with our room. This was our 6th Cruise, 3rd on Carnival and we all agreed that it was our favorite to date.

 

I will try to answer any questions you may have.

[terri910]

Shows what I know. I thought the law already HAD changed, and you had to have passports!

 

And yup....you don't know how much a CD can affect your cruise until you've got the best (and you did).

[Warm Breezes]

Shows what I know. I thought the law already HAD changed, and you had to have passports!

 

And yup....you don't know how much a CD can affect your cruise until you've got the best (and you did).

 

There is the "Closed Loop Cruise" exception to the law if the cruise you are leaving and returning to are the same US port then you just need your Drivers License and Birth Certificate. And yes - John Heald is the best.

[Warm Breezes]

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this works.

[Warm Breezes]

 

 

 

 

[Warm Breezes]

 

 

 

 

[DaisyGirl55]

I am ging on this same itinerary very soon and cannot wait!

 

I was wondering what time you docked in San Juan. I have read may reviews where the ship arrived a little earlier, and people had some extra time in port.

[Warm Breezes]

I am ging on this same itinerary very soon and cannot wait!

 

I was wondering what time you docked in San Juan. I have read may reviews where the ship arrived a little earlier, and people had some extra time in port.

 

We came into San Juan around 4 pm. As we were coming into port we saw some dolphins along side the ship. This was the first time in 6 cruises that I saw some of them.

[reno3]

Glad you had a good time.

As for the Kids Clubs.

We had our DS email a few kids before the cruise that we meet on the Roll Call for our cruise so when the time came for the meet and greet they knew a little about each other (they also emailed photos to each other). It really helped to break the ice.

[Warm Breezes]

Glad you had a good time.

As for the Kids Clubs.

We had our DS email a few kids before the cruise that we meet on the Roll Call for our cruise so when the time came for the meet and greet they knew a little about each other (they also emailed photos to each other). It really helped to break the ice.

 

This was their 6th cruise. They tried the kids clubs before and really did not like going to them. I figure at 12 and 15 if they don't want to go, I'm not going to make them. They get along great together and spent time at the arcade, playing ping pong, mini-golfing, and getting ice cream together. They also liked to hang out with us at the pool, eating meals together, seeing the ports/doing excursions and seeing the shows as a family. To me - it makes great family time. We are so busy at home with both DH and I working full time, DS in basketball and soccer and DD in dance that it was nice being together for a change.

[reno3]

This was their 6th cruise. They tried the kids clubs before and really did not like going to them. I figure at 12 and 15 if they don't want to go, I'm not going to make them. They get along great together and spent time at the arcade, playing ping pong, mini-golfing, and getting ice cream together. They also liked to hang out with us at the pool, eating meals together, seeing the ports/doing excursions and seeing the shows as a family. To me - it makes great family time. We are so busy at home with both DH and I working full time, DS in basketball and soccer and DD in dance that it was nice being together for a change.

 

 

I know what you mean about busy home life. Our DS is the only one we have so this was the first time he actually spent time with other kids on the ship (he was 13 on our last cruise). He said this was the best cruise yet:D We do all of the island excursions together and dinner,etc. It was nice for him to have his time with new firends.