Super27

We are doing the August 24 ABC cruise on Beyond, and it will be our first time on this itinerary. I generally only get off the ship at ports where there is a beach right there (e.g. Grand Turk, Bimini, private islands), and spend most port days enjoying the quiet ship. On my solo cruises I actually never get off the ship...I know, I'm weird 🤣. But, since this is new to us my S/O talked me into booking excursions at all 3 ports. Wondering if anyone has done these through Celebrity recently and can give me any feedback on whether we made good choices! Aruba: Bonaire: Curacao: Any reviews/opinions/better suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I will say I generally default to Celebrity's "small group" excursions, as I'm not big on group travel in general and usually find those more tolerable. Also just wondering if there are any of these ports where it's not worth it to do pay for an organized excursion or even get off the ship? Thanks in advance for advice!!!

We are doing our first Edge-class cruise on Beyond in late August. It's an 8-day ABC itinerary, and we want to do two specialty dining nights. We really liked the menu for the steakhouse, so I'm thinking that's a must-do. I also booked Dinner on the Edge because it would be a new experience for us (and only available on that class of ship), but now I'm second-guessing myself and eyeing Le Voyage. I'm definitely a foodie and very intrigued by the menu...my S/O however, is a little less adventurous (although I'm working on expanding her culinary horizons 😁), and I feel like she'd probably end up just getting a filet. Prices are fairly comparable...any strong recommendations between these two? I'm thinking Dinner on the Edge sounds like an amazing experience, but maybe I'm just buying into the hype. Would love to hear from anyone who has tried either or both!

Good job Princess! Hopefully some of the other lines will follow suit.

Thank you!

As a party of 2, do they typically seat you at your own table in Luminae or do they seat you at a larger shared table with other guests?

I wouldn't pay more than $100-200 extra for Concierge class.

If you're Onyx or higher I believe those fees are waived

I was on the Summit in December and didn't notice any of those issues, except perhaps some rust on exterior surfaces. Definitely didn't come across any unhappy-seeming crew.

I'm sailing on the Reflection next month and this will be my first time in a Retreat cabin. Can someone explain to me how the priority boarding works? During check-in it still made us select an arrival appointment in the app, but from what I've heard we can show up earlier than that...is that correct? If so, what time should we plan to get to the terminal at Ft. Lauderdale? Any insight from folks who've done suites before is greatly appreciated...I just want to be sure we maximize our time onboard!

From reading some of the casino groups on FB, it's sounding like maybe they are removing and then eventually replacing some of the video poker machines. I'm really hoping that's the case...but last week there were definitely no VP machines. I did ask at one point while onboard and the dealer just kind of rolled her eyes and was like yeah everybody is asking.

There were no video poker machines at all.

I did not have wi-fi, but my fiance did and she used it throughout the cruise without any issues. She wasn't streaming full TV shows or movies, but was able to stream videos on social media and news sites and things like that.

Yeah I thought she was crazy when she said that...I won't tell her that though since I have to live with her 🤣

Yes, we saw the Soundtrack show in the main theatre, and I was really impressed with it! The cast was very talented and I love the fact that Celebrity still does live music for their stage shows. We had intended to go to some of the other performances, but lost track of time at the blackjack table...oops.

Before I start into the review, I'll share a little background. For this cruise, it was me and my fiancé traveling. We are both in our late 30s and overall just look for a relaxing experience on vacation. I've been cruising since 2018, and this was my 2nd cruise on Celebrity, the first being on Equinox earlier this year. Before that, I have 11 Carnival cruises under my belt, so I'll offer a few comparisons to Carnival throughout the review. I booked this cruise on a casino offer for a COMP interior cabin. About 3 weeks before the cruise I put in several MoveUp bids, and we were awarded the upgrade to a veranda cabin for $430 ($215/person). The sailing was a 5-night out of Miami, with scheduled stops in Key West, Bimini, and Nassau. We were unable to port in Bimini due to weather, so it ended up being Key West - Sea Day - Nassau - Sea Day. Embarkation Embarkation at Port Miami was BY FAR the smoothest embarkation process I've ever experienced. I've always said that Port Miami has embarkation down to a science, and they certainly didn't disappoint this time. We had an 11:00-11:30am arrival appointment. We arrived at about 11:10, and were on the ship by about 11:20. We literally never stopped walking once we entered the terminal - security was a breeze, check-in was just a quick scan of our passport and Xpress Pass on our phones, and then one more scan of the Xpress Pass and a facial recognition scan just prior to stepping on the ship. The only thing I noticed different about the embarkation this time was that they had crewmembers checking the Xpress Pass as soon as we stepped onto the ship and directing everyone straight to their muster stations. While that created a bit of a traffic jam in the gangway because people had already put their passes away, I think it makes a ton of sense to just get everyone to go get muster done. Of course the muster process was painless as usual - we had watched the life jacket video and listened to the emergency signal in the app, so all we had to do was go scan in at our muster station - once the gentleman did the scan and asked if we had any questions, we were on our way. Bottom line is I can't say enough good things about Celebrity's embarkation and muster process. While Carnival has made some significant improvements in their process in recent years as well, Celebrity still has the edge not only for efficiency of the process, but also for the fact that Celebrity allows all passengers to immediately go to the cabins and drop off bags - that is something that Carnival (and some other cruise lines) charge extra for unless you are in a suite. Cabin (Veranda 1022) Getting this cabin was truly luck of the draw since it was a MoveUp offer, but I have to say I think we really lucked out. There is only one small area of cabins on Deck 10, immediately across from the entrance to the spa. So the hallway was never crowded or noisy. Once you walk out of that hallway, you are right at the entrance to the Solarium and also the stairs and elevators are right there, so the location was extremely convenient. I was initially concerned about noise, but that was not at all an issue. The cabin itself was a standard veranda cabin. It was clean, well-appointed, and everything was in good working order. One area that Celebrity wins in terms of cabins comparing it to Carnival is the bathrooms, and specifically the fact that the showers have glass doors instead of curtains. It did feel like the bathroom on this ship was maybe a bit smaller than in other cabins I've had, but the space in terms of shelving and storage is so well designed that the size didn't feel like an issue. My only complaint on the cabin is that the sliding balcony door was extremely difficult to open; it seemed like something in the lock wasn't quite releasing right. If the weather had been nicer and we wanted to use the balcony more, I'm sure we would've called and had them fix it, but it didn't bother us that much. Also, it wasn't a complaint for me since we don't really use electronics much onboard, but there are only 2 outlets in the cabin, and both are over by the desk. They do not have outlets or USB ports near the bed like some of the newer ships do. Ship in General Overall, I really liked the Summit. She's definitely an older ship and shows her age here and there, but I found the ship in general to be very well maintained and extremely clean. Although there are not nearly as many food/drink/activity venues as there are on some of the newer ships, the public areas are well laid out and nothing ever felt insanely crowded despite this being a sold out sailing with lots of indoor time due to weather. I did find it strange that this ship does not really have a true "lobby" area like many other ships do. Guest services and shore excursions are down on Deck 3, but there's no lobby bar or really anything else going on down there. The Tuscan Grille is also on Deck 3, but it's in kind of a strange location down a random hallway with cabins. There are a few things noticeably missing that Equinox had. First, there is no dedicated area for the art auctions - there is an "art gallery" on Deck 4, but the auctions actually take place in one of the bars. That made made it a little crowded if you were trying to walk through that area when they were setting up or taking down the auction. Second, there is no library on this ship, which I did find disappointing. It's my understanding that there used to be one, but they took it out a couple years ago (I could be wrong on that, but that's what I was told). I do enjoy going to the library to read or play cards - that could certainly be done in other areas on Deck 4 or 5, but definitely not nearly as quiet. Food One of the main reasons I enjoy cruising so much is the wide variety of quality dining options, and the Summit did not disappoint at all in that regard. Overall, I thought the food was above average. Oceanview Cafe - My first comment on the buffet is on the space itself - I really liked the layout of this buffet. All of the stations were small, so there really were never any long lines. VERY different experience from the buffets on Carnival, and I even liked this layout better than the one on Equinox. Food quality was overall very good for a buffet. I tried something from the Indian station each day, and was always impressed. The create-your-own pasta station was also a highlight for me, although that station can get a bit of a line because it is all made to order. It was worth the wait though! They also had a made to order panini station but I did not try that. Pizza was solid, although I have to say I do like Carnival's pizza slightly better both for taste and variety of options. While everything I had from the buffet was good, I will say that as is typical with buffet food, other than the Indian station some of the items were a bit bland. I also probably wouldn't do the carved roast beef again - it was very dry. Might have been more tolerable if they served it with some au jus, but all they had was horseradish. I'm not a huge dessert person, but what I tried was hit or miss - some items like the chocolate mousse pot were very good; others like the red velvet cake were very mediocre. My only other minor complaint with the buffet was that drink service could be slow if you ordered something from the bar, because the waitstaff had to go get it from the Sunset bar outside; there was no dedicated bar inside the buffet itself. MDR - We had anytime dining, which is served on the lower level (Deck 4) of the Cosmopolitan Restaurant. We typically went to dinner between 7 and 8, and never had to wait for a table. I will say if you go early (like right when they open) be prepared to wait - a LOT of people were lined up all down the hall waiting to get in right at 5:30pm. We ate in the MDR 3 times, and overall I was quite pleased with the food. Starting with appetizers, the Wedge Salad and Escargot were both highlights for me. I actually had the Escargot all 3 nights and it was excellent all 3 times. The shrimp cocktail is typical cruise line shrimp cocktail, aka very small shrimp. But it was good, and they will happily bring more if you want it. The only disappointment in appetizers were the soups. The chilled Thai coconut soup I had high hopes for, but it just missed the mark for me, very bland in my opinion. The French onion soup was just okay; I really appreciated how generous they were with the melted cheese (which was delicious), but the broth itself just really lacked flavor. Entrees they were batting 2 out of 3 for me this time. The prime rib (night 1) and slow braised lamb wrapped in phylo (night 3) were excellent. The steak Dianne (night 4) was not that great - the steak was very tough, and the sauce again lacked in flavor. I will say that the haricot verts, which usually seem like an afterthought, were actually extremely well seasoned and perfectly cooked - still just a bit of crunch, not at all mushy like I've seen on past cruises. For desserts, I had the chilled strawberry soup and the chocolate lava cake. Both were absolutely delicious. While they are very different, I think the lava cake on Celebrity definitely gives Carnival's famous melting cake a run for its money. Sushi on Five - I had sushi twice on this cruise, and it was excellent both times. The first time was actually at the Cellar Masters bar, where they serve a (very) limited menu from Sushi on Five. I had salmon and tuna nigiri, which were very good. The second visit I sat down for lunch with the full menu. I tried the Alaskan California Roll (snow crab instead of imitation crab stick) and the Temaki Trio (spicy salmon, tuna, and yellowtail), and both rolls were exceptional. The Temaki Trio was probably the best sushi roll I've had in quite some time. Oh, and if you like your cocktails a little spicy, try the Agave Sunrise. It's made with jalapeno infused vodka, and had a great kick to it but was not at all overpowering and still refreshing. Tuscan Grille - We did Tuscan Grille twice, once on night 2 and once on night 5. We had really enjoyed it on Equinox, and found it to be equally good this time around on Summit, at least in terms of food quality. For the first dinner, I did a filet mignon with a side of the lobster rigatoni. The filet was tender and perfectly cooked (rare). The pasta was excellent as well, although just know that their alfredo sauce is VERY rich; I'm not a super heavy eater so I don't think I could handle a full order of that particular dish. My only comment on that meal is that for the filet they literally just bring out a piece of meat on a plate. Obviously you can order sides, but to me there should be at least some kind of garnish to enhance the presentation. For instance Carnival's steakhouse does I believe some roasted garlic, a rosemary sprig, and maybe a tomato or lemon - just something to add a little pizzazz! Our second dinner I did two half orders of pasta. Which, by the way, is something I really like about Tuscan - they will literally do any combination of items you want - meat and pasta, meat and sides, two pastas, etc. But anyway, I did the Short Rib Pappardelle and the Ricotta Gnocchi. The gnocchi was excellent, and the pappardelle was good, but VERY salty to the point that it overpowered the flavors in the sauce. All of the appetizers that we tried at Tuscan were good as well - the house meatballs, the crab cake, the beef carpaccio, and the bruschetta (which, by the way, is not really at all "typical" bruschetta; it's good, but I hope you really like olives because it's very heavy on the kalamata flavor). I will say that while the food and service (more on that later) were both very good, the ambience did not feel nearly as upscale as on Equinox. While that didn't really affect our experience, I probably wouldn't have been thrilled if I had paid extra for a special occasion and expected a significantly more upscale atmosphere than the MDR, because that just wasn't the case here. Pool Grill - Not much to say about this; burgers were solid, buns were fresh, and lines moved quickly. I really do appreciate that Celebrity still has the sauteed mushrooms and onions, which Carnival removed from Guy's Burger Joint. Speaking of Guy's Burgers, one can't help but compare any cruise ship burger to Guy's, and after two cruises on Celebrity it's a split decision between me and my fiance - I still think Guy's are a little better, but she liked Celebrity's better. Spa Cafe - If there was one disappointing food venue on the ship, this was it. The small plates that we tried were not nearly as good as what we had on Equinox a few months ago. Probably the worst single item I had on this cruise was the pesto pasta salad - it was completely flavorless (for comparison, on Equinox, it had actually been my favorite lunch of the entire cruise). I did get one of the smoothies as well - this is included in the premium package, but otherwise is extra $$$. I don't remember the name, but it was essentially kale, coconut water, and mango. The problem is, they put way too much coconut water, and it ended up being more of a juice with some ground up ice - not at all a smoothie consistency. Because of the excess water, that also killed the flavor - I got very little of the kale and zero of the mango flavor. Room Service - We did room service for breakfast each morning, and it was always delivered on time. The continental breakfast pastries were always nice and fresh, and the coffee was good and hot. One morning we opted for the "premium" breakfast, which is a $10 delivery fee per order (not per person or per item). I thought it was WELL worth it, the omelette I got was hot and fresh, with a nice side of bacon and hash browns. Bars We had the premium drink package, and I'd definitely say we got our money's worth out of it. We probably spent the most time at the Rendezvous Lounge. They almost always had live music in there during the evenings, and it was a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. There is a small dance floor which several people took advantage of. It's all more mellow music though - no rock or party music here! Service at the bar and from waitstaff was generally pretty quick even when they got crowded. If you go on Summit anytime soon, Geneva was my favorite bartender onboard - she does Cafe al Bacio during the day and Rendezvous and the Casino Bar in the evenings. We also tried the Martini Bar, and I was actually much more impressed with it on this ship than I was on Equinox. It does get VERY crowded though, so if you want a seat at the bar you'd better get there early. Cellar Masters, on the other hand, never seemed crowded at all, but also didn't have as much entertainment in terms of live music as the Rendezvous did. All of that said, the single best drink I had onboard didn't even come from a "bar" per say - it was the salted caramel martini from Cafe al Bacio! If you're at all into boozy coffee drinks, you MUST give that one a try! Casino Other than the food, the other main reason I cruise is to gamble. And while I certainly enjoyed my time in the casino on Summit, I have to say that after two Celebrity cruises I just find their overall casino experience to be rather disappointing. First of all, the casino on Summit is TINY. The variety of slot machines is utterly unimpressive, and there are absolutely no video poker machines of any kind. I've NEVER been in a land-based or cruise casino with NO video poker, so that was a real eye-opener (and not in a good way). Second, while the casinos on Carnival always have different events going on, that wasn't the case on Summit (or Equinox for that matter). They had a blackjack tournament one day (which just created a huge crowd around the ONE table they used in the tiny casino), and a drawing for free play another night. I actually was one of the lucky winners of that and got $25 in promotional chips. The hostess, She, was really nice and very approachable, but it just doesn't seem like Celebrity encourages them to do as much interaction as Carnival does. The hours of the casino were also very strange. I'm well aware that they have to be in international waters to open, and I'm not sure if they have different types of licenses or anything like that between cruise lines, but I can state with certainty that Carnival opens their casinos WAY earlier after leaving a port than they did on this ship. They also had tables that were rarely open the entire cruise, for instance the $25 blackjack table didn't open until very late, and even more bizarrely the craps table didn't open until 7:30pm even on sea days, which was a huge disappointment to me. The positive about the casino was definitely the staff. Dealers were all very good and very friendly, which honestly is part of what really makes or breaks the experience. Oh, and for the record the entire casino is no smoking and no vaping. Service As with our previous Celebrity cruise, I really can't say anything but good things about the service on Summit. Every crewmember we encountered was friendly and attentive towards guests' needs. Our room stewardess did a great job keeping everything neat and tidy, and was incredibly efficient about getting the room made up while we were out even if we were only gone for a brief period of time. We also really like the twice-daily service with the evening turndown and chocolates on the pillows - something like that really doesn't seem like a big deal in the scheme of things, but it just makes the experience feel more "special." Service in the restaurants was consistently good. Our MDR team was pleasant enough, very efficient, and attentive without being overbearing, but it seemed like they maybe were a little overwhelmed with the number of tables they had, as they really didn't make any attempt at conversation beyond the most basic of pleasantries, nor did they address us by name on subsequent nights (I feel a snob even typing that, but maybe I've just lucked out with great waitstaff on cruises in the past because it's now something I'm used to!). Our waiters at Tuscan Grille and Sushi on Five were much more friendly and outgoing, and both really made those dining experiences feel just a bit more elevated. Debarkation The debarkation process was also a breeze. We did self-assist, but didn't rush to get off. We had a leisurely breakfast in the MDR (which was very tasty), and then just walked right off. Port Miami uses the facial recognition so if you have a passport you don't have to go through customs. Overall Impressions (and other random comments) Long story short, we really enjoyed the Summit and I would absolutely recommend sailing on her if you're looking for a relaxing vacation. There are definitely limited activities compared to the larger and newer ships, so if you're someone who always likes to have something to do or somewhere to go, you may get bored on this ship. It also doesn't seem like much of a family-friendly ship to me; they do have kids' clubs, but that's about it. There were VERY few children on this sailing anyway. Notice that I didn't comment on ports; the reason is that we missed port in Bimini due to storms, I don't get off the ship in Nassau (been there, done that a million times), and all we did in Key West was walk through some souvenir shops. So we did not do any excursions or activities worthy of discussion. We also didn't get to enjoy as much pool or hot tub time as usual because of the wind and rain - it was just not a nice week at all. A lot of time spent inside, hence my comment above about this ship being a little boring if you prefer constant activities. I'll admit, I would have been going a little crazy if I wasn't the type that could just sit and read a book all day. Finally, I'll comment on the crowd onboard. Like I said, very few kids, and the few that I saw were all well-behaved. Overall the crowd very much skewed older, but we did not feel like we were "too young" or in any way out of place, there were a lot of 30s and 40s couples onboard. Folks definitely seemed like they were having a good time, and there was none of the belligerent and at times violent behavior that we routinely saw on Carnival (the reason we gave up on them). I will say that I unfortunately saw far more rude and just plain inconsiderate behavior than I expected, particularly directed towards the crew. I know that folks were disappointed with the weather, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe that just soured their mood, but that's still no excuse to take that out on the crew. I worked in the travel industry for many years, so I'm probably more observant/sensitive to this than most...my message is just even if you're having a bad day and the weather is lousy, just remember the crew is doing their best so please be kind to them! Two cruises in, and two more booked with Celebrity, and I think we've found our new go-to cruise line. I was slightly concerned after previous comments I saw about "cutbacks" on Celebrity, but I frankly didn't feel that anything was really lacking in our experience - it still very much felt like an elevated experience compared to other vacation options, and it's obvious that the crewmembers on Summit work very hard to create an upscale experience. We are trying Retreat for the first time in February on Reflection, so very excited to see what new experiences await us there! Thanks for coming along on the review, and feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer them!

This is exactly why I'm doing Celebrity for my next cruise. Carnival wants to pretend to have rules, but they openly cater to the "it's my vacation and I'll do what I want" clientele that ignores them.

I'm a little behind in posting this, but I thought I'd share a quick review of my recent cruise on the Freedom. I did the 5-night itinerary out of Port Canaveral on February 13th. Ports were Amber Cove and Grand Turk. For perspective, it was me and my girlfriend cruising, this was my 10th cruise (all Carnival) and her 3rd cruise (also all Carnival). Here we go! Embarkation We had a 10:00am-10:30am arrival appointment, and arrived at Port Canaveral by Lyft at about 10:10am. The line was not very long and moved pretty quickly. Check-in was very fast, followed by the standard security check, and then they had everyone line up along a wall and walked a drug dog up and down to sniff luggage. After that it was hurry up and wait. We had to sit for probably 30-40 minutes before they started boarding. Once the boarding process actually started though, it was pretty quick. We were probably on the ship within a little over an hour of arriving at port. Port Canaveral is definitely not as efficient as Miami, but overall I have no major complaints with the embarkation process. Ship in General The Freedom is certainly not the newest ship around, but she looks good for her age. Public areas were all very clean, and everything seemed well-maintained and in good working order. The Atrium lobby is noticeably smaller than on the newer ships, but there was still a decent amount of seating. The Lido deck is also a different layout than on newer ships. The main pool deck isn't as large and there aren't as many loungers right by the pool; instead there are several "tiers" of seating areas. Personally, I like this layout better - it doesn't feel quite as crowded to me. There are also hot tubs by the main pool, which many of the new ships don't have, so that's a nice plus. The aft pool area is pretty typical for Carnival - pool, Tides Bar, Seafood Shack, Pizza, and two hot tubs. Like other ships in this class, the aft pool area has a retractable roof, and the pool and hot tubs are adults only, which they actively enforced. This was a sold-out cruise, so the pools got pretty crowded, but we always were able to find loungers on the deck above the pool level. I usually preferred to sit at the back right outside the entrance to the BBQ place, that way I could just walk inside and refill my water cup. Serenity was crowded as well, but we also always found loungers there. My only complaint about Serenity was that the service at the bar was very slow (usually only 1 bartender working) and lines got LONG. Speaking of bars, in general bar service was fast and friendly. The Alchemy Bar was always crowded, as were the two bars at the main pool. The aft pool bar was never insanely crowded when I was out there. The Freedom does have a Red Frog Pub inside on deck 5, which was never super crowded, and they often have live music, so that's a good place to hang out. Food One of the main reasons I've stuck with Carnival is the food. I have always had great meals on my cruises. However, in my opinion the food in general on Carnival has gone downhill recently. Overall, I was disappointed with the food on this cruise... MDR: We had late dining in the Posh restaurant. I would describe the food at dinner as perfectly mediocre. Some of my usual favorites were just not as good as they have been in the past. The prime rib for instance - normally I think Carnival has excellent prime rib, but this time it was just not that good, kind of dry and flavorless. The short ribs were also not as good as I've had in the past, much more fatty and pretty bland. That said, there were some high points. The spaghetti carbonara was very good...not quite as good as what they serve in the Cucina on ships that have it, but still very good. Penne Mariscos was also excellent as always. Appetizers in general were also very good...the highlight of the trip definitely being the alligator beignets...they were so good we ordered a second order! Desserts were good, although the melting cakes were way overdone (i.e. not at all "melting") one of the nights. MDR Breakfast: I don't bother with Sea Day Brunch anymore because the new menu is awful, but I did do the regular port day breakfast in the MDR. The food was good (highly recommend the broken egg sandwich), and the service was quick. Guy's: Burgers were excellent as always. Fries are disappointing since they took away the fresh hand-cut fries and replaced them with generic frozen ones. There are also a lot less options on the toppings bar than there used to be, and they didn't keep the trays full with what was there. I never used the toppings bar much, but I do miss the sauteed mushrooms they used to have. Buffet: I did lunch a couple days in the buffet, and thought it was decent. Nothing remarkable, but not bad. Breakfast, on the other hand, was extremely disappointing. They seem to have less and less variety for breakfast. Also, none of the hot items really even looked appetizing. They had a few different kinds of benedict (which are decent when they first put them out but not so great after sitting there under the heat lamps forever), different sausages each day, scrambled eggs, and occasionally bacon. I stuck with the continental breakfast (that station never had a line) and the pastries were fine. The omelet station always had a huge line, but one thing that I thought was smart, they used the sushi bar as a second omelet station during breakfast, and there was hardly ever much of a line there. Deli: I had a caprese sandwich from the deli, and it was good. The fries were not hot but tasted okay - they are the same generic frozen fries they serve at Guy's now. They no longer serve the truffle fries, but they do have a truffle aioli that you can get to dip them in. BBQ: Upstairs from the buffet is the BBQ place, which is one of the best kept secrets on the ship. It's never very crowded and there is plenty of seating up there. The food was decent; meats were nicely cooked and flavorful, and the sides were pretty good too. My only complaint was that the "house made" slaw was very bland, almost completely flavorless. Steakhouse: We did the steakhouse to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday. For appetizers, I got the tuna tartare and a caesar salad. The tuna tartare was probably the best single food item I had on this cruise, it was absolutely delicious, and the presentation is very nice as well. My girlfriend got the french onion soup, which she said was good, but they serve it so insanely hot that she couldn't really eat much/any of it until after her entree had arrived. I had the same experience on Conquest on my last cruise too. For entrees we both had the surf and turf. The lobster was decent, but I was pretty disappointed with my filet. It was cooked exactly as I ordered, but it was just not tender at all. Desserts were good, but nothing to write home about - I had the "hazelnut" cheesecake (it was fine, but I couldn't taste any hazelnut) and my girlfriend had the apple tart, which they decorated nicely for her birthday. We did do the wine pairings with our meal, which was fun and an excellent value! Room Service: We ordered a late lunch from room service one day, and actually really enjoyed it! We had pepperoni pizza and chicken tenders. I love Carnival pizza, and this one did not disappoint. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the chicken tenders too...they were very lightly breaded, not at all greasy, and nicely seasoned. Service was fast, and in my opinion the price is very reasonable for the amount of food you get. Cabin We had an oceanview cabin on Deck 2 (2309). Everything in the cabin was clean and in good working order. One thing to know - there is only ONE electrical outlet in the entire cabin, over by the desk area. I guess technically there are two - there is also one above the vanity in the bathroom - but that one isn't useful for much. I really liked this cabin location; it was just forward of the mid-ship elevators, so easy access to everything, but also nice and QUIET. Casino I always spend a lot of time in the casino on my cruises, and this was no exception. For a smaller ship, the Freedom has a decent size casino. They have all the usual table games, and a decent variety of slots. Half of the slot area is non-smoking, and some of the tables are non-smoking as well. Dealers were generally friendly. That said, I was disappointed in the lack of energy and interaction from the casino hosts. Usually the hosts are out and about wandering around, particularly near the higher limit tables, and they also usually run several drawings/events in the casino. None of that happened on this cruise. I never saw any of the hosts or pit bosses interacting with any of the players, which I found very unusual for a Carnival casino. They did comp me a bottle of wine with dinner on the last night, so that was something. Service As always, the service from the crew was excellent. Our dining room team was by the best waitstaff I've ever had on a cruise. The headwaiter, Andrew, has been with Carnival for over 25 years, and it shows - he was one of the best servers I've ever had anywhere. Even on nights when we didn't love the food, we thoroughly enjoyed every dinner experience because of Andrew and his team. One thing I did notice - they did not do "showtime" every night, I think we only saw it twice during the cruise. Our room steward was also great; super friendly and did a great job keeping the room clean throughout the cruise. All around the ship, every crewmember I encountered was friendly and outgoing...I literally can't say anything negative about the crew on Freedom! Entertainment We really didn't attend a lot of shows or anything like that on this cruise, so I don't have a lot to comment on. A highlight of the cruise was the violin trio; they were really good! Although the first night they had a lot of difficulty getting their sound system set up, but once that was resolved their shows went off without a hitch. I wasn't impressed with the choices of shows offered in the main theatre. I think they changed the show rotation when the new cruise director, Gabe, took over, and none of them were very appealing to me. I did attend the 80's pop show for a bit. Keep in mind it is no longer "80's pop to the max"...it is now "Playlist in Concert: 80's pop." The difference is they no longer use any of the backdrops or props or effects - they just sing the songs and dance...pretty boring overall. It was disappointing because the 80's pop show was a lot of fun, but they had a LOT of technical issues with it on multiple ships, so I guess they've given up on it. I am not someone who chooses cruises based on the cruise director, but if I were I would probably not choose one with Gabe again. I never saw him out and about on the ship, and he just didn't come across as very genuine or enthusiastic. Debarkation The debarkation was an absolute disaster. It started late and was totally disorganized. The stairwells were so jammed with people it was insane. Once off the ship the terminal staff moved everyone along pretty quickly, but on the ship it was by far the worst debarkation process I've experienced. Overall, I will say I did enjoy my time on the Freedom. It's a beautiful ship despite not having all the bells and whistles of the newer ships. I would absolutely cruise on Freedom or another Conquest-class ship again. That said, based on this cruise and my last couple on Carnival, I've decided it's time to venture out and try another line, so my next cruise is booked on Celebrity. I'm not giving up completely on Carnival (I do have an Ultra booked on Jubilee next January), but between the cutbacks in quality and variety of food, the lackluster casino experience, and the worsening behavior I've seen lately from Carnival guests, I think I'm ready for a different experience.

This is sounding right up my alley. The party crowd on Carnival has become a little too much for me when I want to really relax. Haven't given up completely on Carnival, I have an Ultra offer booked for next January, but at this point to me Carnival is just a gambling junket, the rest of the experience leaves a lot to be desired.

It was less than $100 difference so I decided to splurge for the first cruise. Definitely doesn't sound like it would be worth paying a ton more for though.

Good to know! I don't typically drink enough to hit the 15 on Carnival but I also don't like feeling like I have to finish a drink I don't really enjoy just because I'm limited.

Definitely looking forward to cruising with a less obnoxious clientele...I was shocked how rude people were on my last Carnival cruise, and the cruise before that the level of obnoxious and even violent behavior I witnessed was unbelievable. Ports are Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Bimini. Probably will stay on the ship in Cozumel (been there done that) but Bimini is a new one for me so that's always exciting!

Do you have to earn a certain number of points or anything to get the free drinks? Or is it like Vegas where they just give them to all gamblers?

The title pretty much says it all. I took my first cruise in late 2018 on Carnival, and got addicted. I just got off my 10th Carnival cruise, and although I still enjoy Carnival, I've decided it's time to try something else. So, I just booked a 7-night on the Equinox for August in a Concierge Class balcony guarantee cabin. So...for anyone who has done both Carnival and Celebrity...what do I need to know? Any must-do's as far as specialty restaurants? Are the drink packages worth it? And most importantly, how is the casino??? Any advice for a first time Celebrity cruiser would be greatly appreciated!!!

They will have multiple singles mixers listed in the Fun Times. Usually they are at the Alchemy Bar. They are not "hosted" organized events though, it's more like just "hey single people go here at this time and maybe run into each other." That said, if you're on the prowl, the Alchemy Bar is probably the place to be anyway, it draws a good crowd pretty much any night. Oh, and the nightclub of course.

I'd be even more put out if I paid $2k for the cabana and then realized that Loft 19 isn't even adults only. I do not understand what Carnival was thinking with that...