Long, Detailed Review with Photos of Carnival Freedom, 6/13/10

[pcrum]

DH also ordered the shrimp entrée:

 

 

Before dessert, the waiters, got up on the tables and danced:

 

 

For dessert, I had the baked Alaska, but the photo did not come out very well:

 

 

DD had the WCMC and DH had the amaretto cake:

 

 

DS skipped dessert.

 

The show tonight was the Beatles tribute, “Ticket to Ride”. We had seen the show previously on the Miracle in 3/09 and loved the show. DS insisted we get there early to get good seats.

 

When we arrived, the stage was set with a London phone booth:

 

 

There was also a large screen showing the Beatles in various appearances:

 

 

The show was fabulous and had all of the singers and dancers doing Beatles songs. Then, near the end of the show, the Music Boardwalk group appears dressed as the Beatles, complete with wigs and does a medley of Beatles tunes. Glow sticks are also passed out for people to hold up as they sing “Hey Jude.”

[pcrum]

I also took a photo of the ceiling of the theater because I thought it was so pretty:

 

 

The show was fabulous and had all of the singers and dancers doing Beatles songs. Then, near the end of the show, the Music Boardwalk group appears dressed as the Beatles, complete with wigs and does a medley of Beatles tunes. Glow sticks are also passed out for people to hold up as they sing “Hey Jude.”

 

We all enjoyed the show, but we were tired afterwards and went back to the cabins to find this waiting for us:

 

 

More to come…

[Quigley10]

Thanks for the kind comments. How did you like the FOS?

 

Yes, we are definitely cat lovers...the fact that Hemingway actually lived in the house was just gravy, so to speak, we were really there for the cats! In fact, it was not until I got home and downloaded the photos that I realized we had not taken a single photo of the inside of the home!! I guess that says where our focus was!!

 

It sounds just like us! We have pics of the Hemingway cats from our various trips...but the house? Maybe not?

 

We loved the Freedom of the Seas and are going back on her next year, same itinerary. Loved the extra amenities - rock climbing, skating and surfing. Of course, it helps for us that the ship is based in PC. (We are from N-Ctr Florida.)

 

We also didn't do any excursions in Ocho Rios, other than getting off the ship for the required "Welcome to Jamaica" photo for my husband. We agree - it was the perfect day to hang out by the pools!

[AryMay]

We walked out on the deck off from the Lobby Deck and it was empty. I do wish that Carnival would do as Princess does along their Promenade Deck and put some comfortable chairs along this deck. With some comfortable chairs, it would be a nice place to sit and relax!

 

 

 

When we were on the Freedom last summer this was our favorite place to sit. There were always many lounge chairs and rarely anyone around. You can see in this photo how many chairs are stacked up behind DH.

 

 

 

We will be on the Legend next month and I recently read that there are no chairs on the outside promenade deck which disappointed me. Based on the Freedom perhaps there used to be chairs on the Legend as well? Either way we will miss it...such a peaceful place to relax and watch the water.

 

Does anyone know if not putting lounges on the outside promenade deck is something that Carnival is doing fleet-wide?

[pcrum]

PCRUM...sorry we never met up after all of our posts on the roll call.

 

I'm loving your review. I did not do one.

 

We also LOVED music boardwalk. In fact we were probably in there at the same time on Monday night after the welcome aboard show. We closed down the Habana bar that night and we had a blast dancing to the band. Our youngest member of the group who is 8 had us laughing all night dancing to the band. They ended up letting him play the drums at the end of the night. (He takes lessons at home)

 

We had a great trip and agree with you...Key West was probably the hottest of them all.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

 

I think I saw the little boy in your group on the dance floor. He did look like he was having a great time, in fact, I was amazed at his stamina! Did I also notice some young ladies taking turns dancing with him? He seemed to be quite popular and very fun to watch!!

 

Yes, Key West would be much more enjoyable during the winter months. We certainly did the "sweat tour" there. Maybe we sweated off a few lbs?

 

 

It sounds just like us! We have pics of the Hemingway cats from our various trips...but the house? Maybe not?

 

We loved the Freedom of the Seas and are going back on her next year, same itinerary. Loved the extra amenities - rock climbing, skating and surfing. Of course, it helps for us that the ship is based in PC. (We are from N-Ctr Florida.)

 

We also didn't do any excursions in Ocho Rios, other than getting off the ship for the required "Welcome to Jamaica" photo for my husband. We agree - it was the perfect day to hang out by the pools!

 

I honestly don't think Hemingway's House would be such a popular attraction without the cats! They better treat those kitties well because they are the ones bringing in the tourists!!

 

I'm sure we will try RCL at some point. My kids love the flow rider in Grand Turk so would probably like the the one on the ship. We actually debated about doing Monarch of the Seas for our mother/daughter cruise in July, but the scheduling and embarkation port did not work for the mother/daughter who are traveling with us.

 

Yes, we enjoyed our day on the ship when it was docked in Ochos Rios!!

 

When we were on the Freedom last summer this was our favorite place to sit. There were always many lounge chairs and rarely anyone around. You can see in this photo how many chairs are stacked up behind DH.

 

We will be on the Legend next month and I recently read that there are no chairs on the outside promenade deck which disappointed me. Based on the Freedom perhaps there used to be chairs on the Legend as well? Either way we will miss it...such a peaceful place to relax and watch the water.

 

Does anyone know if not putting lounges on the outside promenade deck is something that Carnival is doing fleet-wide?

 

I wonder why this is...such a peaceful place to sit away from the crowds. We have enjoyed this space on both Princess and HAL cruises. It can't take much to bring a stack of chairs down there...Carnival, are you listening???

[azrayne]

NativeWay in Grand Caymans usually has someone on-board and in the water taking pics, especially when at the sandbar with the stingrays. I've gone twice and both times had great pics.

 

I love RumPoint. I wish there was an excursion that went just there so you could spend the day. I'd certainly take advantage of that!

[grest]

No chairs on the Promenade Deck??? This is very disappointing. Are there lounge chairs in shady areas elsewhere away from the pool area?

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and for sharing your photos. Im looking forward to my cruise on the Freedom in September. Im sorry to hear that there are no longer deck chairs on deck 3. It has always been one of my favorite places to hang out. Great review!:)

[pcrum]

NativeWay in Grand Caymans usually has someone on-board and in the water taking pics, especially when at the sandbar with the stingrays. I've gone twice and both times had great pics.

 

I love RumPoint. I wish there was an excursion that went just there so you could spend the day. I'd certainly take advantage of that!

 

I'm glad to hear that Native Way usually takes photos of people interacting with the rays. On our boat, we just had one crew member, Schister, who was in the water with us holding the rays, so there was no one to take photos. I think our case was different, since they put us on the smaller boat with only 6 people. We will be in GC again in Aug. on our mother/daughter cruise on the Inspiration. I e-mailed Native Way about doing the same tour, but unfortunately our ship is not in port long enough to do the Rum Point tour, so we are doing the Sting Ray, Coral Gardens and Star Fish tour. I hope they have someone taking photos that day. I may e-mail them ahead of time to find out. If not, I'll probably buy one of those cheap, disposable water proof cameras.

 

Yes, Rum Point is lovely. I wonder if you could just take a cab there on your own to spend the day?

 

No chairs on the Promenade Deck??? This is very disappointing. Are there lounge chairs in shady areas elsewhere away from the pool area?

 

Yes, we enjoyed Deck 10 where they had two rows of chaises, one row in the shade under an awning and one row in the sun. It was quiet and away from the pool area.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and for sharing your photos. Im looking forward to my cruise on the Freedom in September. Im sorry to hear that there are no longer deck chairs on deck 3. It has always been one of my favorite places to hang out. Great review!:)

 

Thanks for the kind words. I wonder why Carnival removed the chairs from the Promenade deck. It would be a wonderful and quiet place to sit and enjoy the water. I hope you enjoy your cruise in Sept!

 

I will post more later today. I have to go run some errands now!

[pcrum]

6/18/10 Final Day at Sea

 

DD, DH and I went to breakfast in the MDR leaving DS to sleep in. I had the eggs benedict, DD enjoyed a waffle with stewed bananas and half a grapefruit, and DH had the eggs benedict, corn beef hash and hash browns.

 

We then went back to the cabins to find DS awake. Instead of breakfast, he wanted to go get a chocolate milkshake at the Viennese Café. He really enjoyed the milk shakes there and had one almost every day. Both kids also enjoyed the pick a mix of candy in the Formalities shop and it was seemed to be very well priced.

 

So, DH went to the Lido deck with his book to read and the rest of us went to the Viennese Café for DS’s milkshake. DD also got a strawberry tuxedo. The prices at the Viennese Café are very reasonable although I did notice that the large cookies have increased in price from $1.00 last June to $1.25 now.

 

Viennese Café:

 

 

 

 

Next stop was the desk to purchase the Future Cruise Certificate. I have not seen these offered on any other cruises we have been on but after reading about them on Cruise Critic, I wanted to buy one. You pay $100, which is taken off the price of the next cruise you book and in addition you are given $100 OBC on the cruise if it is a 7 night cruise (the OBC is a bit less for shorter cruises). We have 3 more Carnival cruises booked, so I am hoping I can use it on one of those. If not, I’m sure we will book another within the next 5 years, before the certificate expires.

 

We then browsed the gift shops. They had two t-shirts for $20, but we did not find anything interesting. There was also a large sale in the Chic Dining Room. After finding such bargains during the dining room sale on the Emerald Princess, I was eager to check it out, but the sale was just in the center part of the dining room. It was very crowded in there and we did not see many bargains. They had the

Bijoux Terner stuff that is always $10. No bargain there…the same stuff is in on the island on the FL Turnpike and at the Saw Grass Mills Outlet Mall near Port Everglades.

 

 

Another shot of the sale:

 

 

We went back to the cabins to put on our swimsuits and went to the Lido Deck to find DH. DS had a burger and DH and I enjoyed a mimosa. There was a morning drink special each morning from 8 am to noon of bloody marys, screwdrivers and mimosas for $4.95 each. I know they were $3.95 last summer, another price increase.

 

[pcrum]

DD on Lido Deck:

 

 

DD, DS and I went to our normal chaises on Deck 10 and lay out a bit.

 

 

 

Then, it was time to try the slide. We always do it once every cruise. Yes, if you saw the slightly overweight, middle-aged woman on the slide, that was me. Don’t worry, I don’t have photos of that, thank goodness!

 

 

 

That was fun:

 

[pcrum]

DD took her turn:

 

 

 

The kids said the slide was slow and they got stuck. Funny, I didn’t have that problem…I guess a heavier weight load goes down faster!!

 

After humoring me on the slide, DS went back to the room to order room service. He really enjoyed lounging in the room and having his food delivered to him. He would typically order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the crème caramel each day!

 

DD and I sat out in the sun a while longer and when we wanted lunch, we got some food from the Lido buffet. They had a taco station, but it was very slow. Two lines converged onto the taco area and there was one server making the tacos, so it took forever. I can understand having a server make the tacos for sanitary reasons, but at least put two people on there if you are having two different lines converge!!

 

Today was also the Chocolate Extravaganza, with the chocolate fountain, cakes, etc., but we were too full to indulge. I knew DD wanted to go to tea later, so we had to pace ourselves!

 

DH said he had pizza for lunch. This was the first cruise that neither the kids nor myself had any pizza. We usually love the cruise pizza!

 

At 2:30 pm was The Game of Love. I assumed this is what used to be the Love and Marriage Game. I was surprised to see in the Fun Times though that “no question is off-limits, so leave the kids behind. Must be 18 or older.” The kids and I usually attend this every cruise and love it, so I was surprised to see the part about leaving the kids behind. After checking with DS and finding him happy to relax in the cabin, DD and I went and to the Game of Love and sat in the back, in case we had to make a quick exit.

 

We spotted other kids in the audience and once the show started we saw that it was the same, word for word, as on past cruises. So, I’m not sure why Carnival states to “leave the kids behind”. I guess someone must have complained, but to me, with all that young kids are exposed to these days, this was pretty mild stuff!

 

An example of a question: Which holiday did last night’s whoopee most resemble? Choices: A. 4th of July fireworks; B. Trick or treat at Halloween, or C. Thanksgiving, sleeping next to a dead turkey.

 

Of course, Ryan had to explain what “whoopee” was for the younger audience members. But, nothing too risqué about that, so I’m really not sure what the Fun Times warning was about. In fact, the older couple, who had been married for over 35 years stated that they had both their kids and grandkids in the audience!

 

After the Game of Love, DD and I went to tea time.

 

 

 

After all these activities, it was time for a nap and to begin the sad process of packing!

 

While in the midst of packing, I remembered the Farewell Party, which has replaced the Captain’s Cocktail Party as the venue for offering free drinks. I only knew about it from Cruise Critic and from CD Ryan mentioning it as he introduced the first show (although we did not attend this show, it played on the TV in the room). I checked the Fun Times and the Farewell Party was not shown in “Today’s Top Ten”. It was listed in the tear off time schedule under 5 pm, but the only other place it was shown was on the back cover near the bottom of the Fun Times in the section marked “Open Times” which gives the hours of various areas on the ship. I really think Carnival is hoping you don’t know about this. I would think it would at least be featured under “Today’s Top Ten”. I had scanned the Fun Times both last night and this morning as we planned our day, but unless you are really looking for this event, it is easy to miss. Since we had not really planned for this event, we skipped it, as by the time I realized it was happening, we were in the midst of packing. I do wish that Carnival would highlight this in the Fun Times. I would be interested to hear how well attended it was!

 

After completing our packing, we got ready for dinner. Before dinner, we went to the Karaoke Party in the International Lounge. They made DD a virgin mojito and she reluctantly let DS try it:

 

 

 

DD and I also went to get some sushi to bring back into the International Lounge:

 

[pcrum]

I’m not sure what it is, but it is some type of shrimp. DD liked it.

 

The Karaoke Party was run by Kim, who had a very good voice. I forgot the song, but one song had very high notes, ala Michael Jackson and Kim chimed in and really hit those notes. I think Kim is a frustrated performer. Carnival should give him a job as one of the featured singers!

 

At 8:15 pm, we went for our last dinner in the MDR. I don’t have any food photos from tonight, but the food was good.

 

We started with our cheese plates, and DD and I had the shrimp cocktail. DS had the cold mango soup and DH had the grilled chicken fettuccini as a starter. For our entrees, DH and I had the prime rib, DD enjoyed the salmon and DS had the flatiron steak. For dessert, DH and DD had the WCMC for the last time, and DS and I had the grand marnier soufflé.

 

The waiters all lined up on the staircase to sing “Leaving on a Fun Ship”. It is cheesy, I know, but good fun. After bidding goodbye to our waiters, we went to the theater for the Win a Cruise Raffle drawing. Sadly, we did not win, but the couple who were newlyweds from the Game of Love did win, so it was nice for them!!

 

The show tonight was The Comedy of Mark Hawkins. The kids went to the show and DH and I went to the piano bar. Ron, the piano player, who smoked, said that as of the next day, the piano bar on the Freedom would be non-smoking. Some patrons protested, and Ron seemed to agree with them that they needed more smoking places on the ships. DH is an ex-smoker who quit after smoking for 30 years, so he understands the plight of the smoker, but being a non-smoker, he is glad for the non-smoking areas. One of the reasons DH quit smoking is that if just became so inconvenient. The places where one can smoke are becoming far and few between. I’m afraid our opinion of Ron did not change much. He seems like a nice guy, but with a very limited repertoire

 

 

We stayed in the piano bar until the comedy show ended and met the kids to go back to the cabins. The kids said the comedy show was pretty bad!

 

Waiting in our cabins was a heart:

 

 

Oh, I will be missing this turn down service tomorrow night!!

 

More to come...

[mississauga]

pcrum, a brilliant review as always! Even though I am a seasoned cruiser, I applaud you for including all the details that will be so helpful to all...... newbies and even seasoned cruisers.:p

 

Thanks for sharing all your pictures........makes everything you write so much that more vivid. A job well done!:)

[pcrum]

pcrum, a brilliant review as always! Even though I am a seasoned cruiser, I applaud you for including all the details that will be so helpful to all...... newbies and even seasoned cruisers.:p

 

Thanks for sharing all your pictures........makes everything you write so much that more vivid. A job well done!:)

 

Thanks so much for the kind words!

[babyher]

Just finished reading your whole review LOVED IT!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing it.

 

I love a review with a lot of pics, and yours were just terrific.

 

 

You have a beautiful family and it is really nice to see how your kids get along so well. Mine are 21,18, and 17 and I am always telling them how important it is to have a close bond with your siblings. Friends are wonderful but they can come and go, but your brother and sister are there for life.

 

They do pretty good but sometimes GRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!! *LOL*

 

Thank you again for sharing your wonderful trip :)

[douglinc@msn.com]

Enjoying your review, really great pictures. Thanks.

 

Doug

[tradewinds traveler]

Your pics are great!! We are taking this same cruise in November. Your twins are adorable!

[pcrum]

6/19/10 Disembarkation Day

 

We had a wakeup call set for 7 am and got ready for breakfast. We had put our luggage outside the door last night, so just had a carry –on with our overnight essentials and headed to the MDR for our last breakfast. We certainly did not want to deal with the Lido Madness with everyone and their carry-on bags!!

 

Had a lovely last breakfast: an omelet for me, grapefruit half and a waffle for DD, eggs benedict for DS, and omelet, hash browns and sausage for DH.

 

We had been given number 28 to disembark. We heard announcements for disembarkation before breakfast, but then they seemed to stop. After breakfast we went to wait in the piano lounge. We would intermittently hear the crackle of an impending announcement and then hear nothing.

 

DS clowning around in the piano bar:

 

 

Close-up of the keys on the table at the bar:

 

 

Notice the detail on the chairs. That’s what I love about Carnival décor…there is so much attention to detail:

 

 

I should note that in my previous post, I posted the name of the piano player as Ron. That is an error, it is Rob. The Fun Times show “Sing Along with Rob” at the piano bar right below “Live and Unplugged Music with Ron” at the Habana bar, so that’s where the confusion lay. Also, I noticed in reading back through this that I sometimes referred to the Habana Bar as the Havana Bar…another mistake. Sorry…I mixed up my cuban cigar themes!

 

After about 30 minutes of hearing the crackle of an impending announcement and then nothing at all, we decided the intercom was faulty in the piano bar and went and sat outside the casino.

 

Here are DS and DD killing time:

 

 

I’ve never seen the casino bar so empty:

 

 

Again, we could not hear any announcements of which number was being called to disembark…just the cracking of the intercom. After about 10 minutes, we decide to just make our way to the disembarkation point. We asked a crew member what number they were up to for disembarkation and were told 35! Ok, so we had missed our call and it appeared a lot of others had as well, judging from the line of people waiting to disembark. We got in the line and waited a short time. During that time, the intercom started working and an announcement was made that there had been difficulty with it, but that it was working now. So, sadly, we pinged our Sail and Sign card for the last time and entered the terminal. We snagged a porter and began looking for where the luggage for no. 28 was located. It was nowhere to be found. The porter asked someone where no. 28 was and we were directed out to another room and sure enough, there were the no. 28 items. I’m not sure why they were separate from the rest of the luggage, but we quickly found our items and the porter loaded them on his cart for us and we went through the immigration line. For the first time ever, we had $0 to fill in the space for the amount spent on items purchased abroad. We did all of our souvenir shopping in Key West, as we had no time after our tour in Grand Cayman to shop and did not even get off the ship in Ochos Rios. We made it through the immigration line and the porter took our bags to the parking garage for us. We were parked on level 2, but unlike the porter we had in March, this one did not want to take the bags up in the elevator and had DH go and retrieve the car while the porter waited downstairs with the bags. I understand the porters are in a hurry to go and make their next tip, but we always tip well, so it would have been nice for this porter to take the trolley up in the elevator. Another porter was doing just that with a couple while we waited for DH to come down with the car.

 

We had lunch plans with a dear friend in Jupiter, but had some time to kill, so headed over to Saw Grass Mills Mall, in Sunrise, FL. The mall is about a 15 minute drive from Port Everglades and with it’s many stores and movie theaters, would be a good place to kill time if you had a late flight and had Carnival transport your bags directly to the airport.

 

Well, that’s it for the review. Just a few items in summary:

 

I’m not a big fan of the new Fun Times. To me, there is a lot less information than in the old Capers.

 

With its emphasis on customer service and “exceeding expectations” I think Carnival needs to talk to the breakfast servers in the MDR about attitude. Most servers really seemed unhappy and surly. It is such a marked contrast from the service received during dinner.

 

I’m not sure if ours was a one off experience or not, but being on the Riveria deck was not the most pleasant place to be. I would just encourage all passengers to think of your cabin neighbors and if you have dirty dishes from the Lido or room service, put them outside your own door, not a strangers’ cabin. And, there is a wonderful invention in your cabin called a telephone, which will call cabin to cabin for late night and early morning consultations. No need for long, lengthy discussions in the hallway!!

 

“Ticket to Ride” is an outstanding show and not to be missed. “The Big Easy” is a close second, but you have to like production type shows. I can see how someone who is not really into musical theater would find it boring.

 

The specialty restaurants on Carnival are good value for the price. After trying the specialty restaurants on three Carnival ships, we have not had a bad experience! One thing I will share with you is that on this visit to the Sun King, when it came time to order dessert, DS asked the server if instead of a dessert, he could have another serving of the ahi tuna appetizer, because he enjoyed it so much. She refused, saying he would have to choose something from the dessert menu! So, I guess Carnival is a bit strict about sticking to the appropriate courses!

 

As always, the food throughout the ship was outstanding and we probably ate way more than we should have. The excellent food is one reason why Carnival is our preferred cruise line. Yes, I preferred the pool layout on the Emerald Princess and the International Café and Movies under the Stars on Princess are wonderful perks, but for us, Carnival is still our favorite!

 

And, now dear readers, I leave you with one last photo: Charlie Chaplin from Hemingway’s house, or as we like to call him, Mr. Mistoffelees:

 

 

Happy Cruising!

[pcrum]

Just finished reading your whole review LOVED IT!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing it.

 

I love a review with a lot of pics, and yours were just terrific.

 

You have a beautiful family and it is really nice to see how your kids get along so well. Mine are 21,18, and 17 and I am always telling them how important it is to have a close bond with your siblings. Friends are wonderful but they can come and go, but your brother and sister are there for life.

 

They do pretty good but sometimes GRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!! *LOL*

 

Thank you again for sharing your wonderful trip :)

 

Thanks so much for the kind words. And, I know how it is with siblings...sometimes they are one another's best friends and other times they really annoy one another. But, I have to say, the good times far outweigh the bad!

 

Enjoying your review, really great pictures. Thanks.

 

Doug

 

Thanks so much. It was was to write!

 

Your pics are great!! We are taking this same cruise in November. Your twins are adorable!

 

Thanks so much. I know you will enjoy your cruise!! November should be much more pleasant in Key West!!:)

[IndyDenise]

Great review!We're going on the same trip 7/25.

 

As am I ..I love this review!!!!

[pcrum]

As am I ..I love this review!!!!

 

I hope you both have a wonderful time!!

[IndyDenise]

I hope you both have a wonderful time!!

 

 

Thank you so much for posting your review. I loved, loved. loved it !!!

 

I am a HUGE cat lover too, which is strange because I am allergic to them..except for the one I have. Loved the picts of Hemingway's house which I will probably pass on..otherwise Carnival may think I am bringing a virus back on board instead of my allergies. :eek:

 

Thanks again for a great review!

[pcrum]

Thank you so much for posting your review. I loved, loved. loved it !!!

 

I am a HUGE cat lover too, which is strange because I am allergic to them..except for the one I have. Loved the picts of Hemingway's house which I will probably pass on..otherwise Carnival may think I am bringing a virus back on board instead of my allergies. :eek:

 

Thanks again for a great review!

 

Thanks so much for the kind words!! Sorry you will have to skip Hemingway's house. It definitely was one of the highlights of our trip! Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[Elmo31]

Thank you for the super review. The pictures were awesome. The only downside to the review is that Im even more excited to get on the ship than before.:eek: I can hardly stand it.