My Review of Carnival Freedom 9/19-9/25 with Pics

[cuted126]

I am enjoying your pictures! We are also Virginians (Northern VA) but have a daughter living in Richmond. (VCU Grad)

 

We sail on the Freedom Oct 31st, so your review and pics are most welcome.

 

Oliver

Thanks! Congrats to your daughter!! I didn't know there wer so many Virginians on this board:)

 

I am really enjoying your review, especially all of the pictures. We have no plans for the Freedom, but it does look lovely. We were on the Legend in Feb. and will be on the Miracle in Jan. which are both the perfect size for us. We are 'mature,' OLD and both have some mobility challenges so the Spirit class works well. LOL

 

I love your chattiness. My review of the Legend it also chatty !

 

We have never sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale. Our son lives in the FLL area so we are excited that the Miracle will be sailing out of there. By the way, the drive from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale is about 4 + hours and very DULL. Our first cruise was out of Port Canaveral so we left the ship, went to Disney World for three days, then to FLL to visit our son.

 

OOPS, this is a reply to YOUR post, not a review..LOL, sorry, told you I was a chatty one, too. Can't wait to read and SEE more.

I wanna try the Legend really soon! I've never done the Spirit class and would love to see the differences. I read your review and it was great! Oopps,I thought the drive from Orlando was shorter,but I think it cause by the times we got to Florida we were excited to finally make it.

 

We live about 45 minutes west of Richmond in Cumberland County. Only 1 hour and 45 minutes, that is not bad at all. I am now more excited now after seeing your pictures. Your room was huge, was it a standard balcony? We are in a balcony room.

Yeah you are not that far away from richmond. The previous poster says that FLL is actually more like 4 hours away from orlando. Sorry I gave misinformation. Forgive me:o

[cuted126]

OOPS, I forgot to congratulate you on your anniversary!

Thanks so much :)

 

The address is Best Western Fort Lauderdale Airport South

1900 Stirling Rd.

Dania Beach FL 33004

 

There is not much in walking distance from the hotel. I would say the walk to the shopping area maybe about one mile and even longer if you wanted to go the restuarants. They do have shuttle,but i'm not sure if it will take you certain places or not

 

Thank you so much, you are a dear! We will be driving down from NY so will have our own car to get around.

 

We love Key West also. I'm glad you got there :)

 

We are doing the Freedom 12/11 so I'm looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures!!! You're doing a wonderful job.

 

JoAnn

Thanks for the compliments! You will enjoy FLL,Cambria, and the Freedom.

 

Great review!! You and your husband are a cute couple! How did you prefer anytime dinning over traditional? What time did you usually go to MDR so that you where able to see the staff sing and dance?

Thanks! I LOVED anytime dining! I won't do it any other way from now one. I loved being able to put dinner in with our schedule. I saw them sing twice. It was about 9:21 the first time and I wanna say 7:15 the second time. The only thing is if you are not in the booth,you will have to stand to see them.

[cuted126]

Im from Virginia also. Im like you I hate to fly and would have loved to drive, but my husband was so against that so we took the train and he is now so against that. lol Im loving your review keep it coming. :D

Hey fellow Virginian! Oh boy,the train:p We did that for our first cruise and it seemed longer then the drive!! Tell your dh it's not that bad,it really isn't!

 

I'm loving the pics. You're showing stuff I haven't seen before, like the gym. I'm been looking for gym pics but most people never tend to step foot in there. ;)

LOL,the only reason I went in there was to take pics for my cruise critic friends. I shoulda took a pic of the pool that was in there but I never made it back there either LOL The Gym is a decent size,nice and spacious.

 

I'm still loving this review! I've even got my Hubby reading

it with me every night! :D

Thanks for letting us be a part of your memories!

Aaaawww,thanks so much for reading along! You and your hubby!:o

[cuted126]

Thank you so much for posting, you have been very helpful! We sail 10/31/10!!! 15 year anniversary! Cannot wait, and your pictures are making me even more excited to go! I should be working but I am reading your reviews and looking at your pictures!! LOL!:rolleyes:

You're welcome and thanks for reading! Happy way early anniversary and congrats on 15 years of marriage! You are gonna have a good time,just like we did!

 

In just a few short days I hope to be spending a lot of time here!! :D:D

You'll love it! make sure you have a Carribean Breeze and Goombay Smash for me!

 

This is really nice with all of the pics and personality thrown together. We will be sailing the Freedom in April '11 and we will drive from NE Ohio, 21 hours. Thanks for the mention of Cambria. You have an adorable personality and great vitality that shows from your presentation. So glad to have a post full of positives instead of all of the negatives we so often get bombarded with. Thank you!

Thanks,you are too sweet! I appreciate the compliments.

[Ivy1908]

OP,

 

I was on the Freedom in March on the same itin as you and had a ball! Yes, they do have the lil potatoe rounds in the MDR for breakfast :p had them often and they were good!

 

I'll be goin back on the Freedom next May doing the Eastern Itin hopefully :D

 

Thanks for the review!!!!! (I didnt get to write one and took over 1000 pics too) LOL

[BarJen]

Nice pics, ship looks very good thx for posting. Got more? :D

[cuted126]

This would be my second trip to GC and the hubby's first. The last time I came,we went on the a tour around the island. This time I wanted to go to Seven Mile Beach. Of course the vibration in our room woke me in time enough for me to get pics of the sunrise. I left dh in the room sleeing while I went to the "secret door" to take pics. I almost cried when I tried to take a pic and saw the dreaded camera fog. I waited about 10 minutes patiently and hoping the sun wouldn't fully rise by then. I managed to get quite a few shots!

 

 

The secret door locations are Deck 6 and 7. Just go all the way forward till you can't go anymore and there will be a door,it will probably have a sign on it that says strong wind or something of that nature. Go through the first door,there will be a second door. Go through that one and you've arrived! it's a great spot for taking pics. There are benches for you to sit out there if you like.

 

 

I walked up to the Deck 14 to see if the other ships were coming and they were. I'd done a ton of research before the cruise so I knew that we wouldn't be alone today. I love seeing other ships! So of course I stayed for awhile taking pics of the Carnival Inspiration and The Grandeur of The Seas. The Inspiration looked so small compared to the Freedom,wow. The water looked like glass as these two ships made their way in and the clouds were so puffy and beautiful!

 

Inspiration with the GOS trailing behind her

[Odelay77]

I've had a blast today reading your review and getting no work done. Oh well. Thanks for all the detail and pictures! I've seen a lot of reviews of the Freedom, but most are for the Eastern or Southern itineraries. I'll be on the same Western itinerary this December w/ my GF and some friends and family. I can't wait!!!

 

I doubt that we're going to do any planned excursions... we're just going to find the beach at each port, grab some drinks and chill. So any pics or recommendations of any beaches would be awesome. Thanks to you, I'm already planning on hitting the Whistle Bar... place looks great!

[Delta Dear]

Each day's pictures are more spectacular than the day before. I LOVE those clouds in the Grand Cayman approach. You need to appy to Nat'l Geographic as a photographer !

 

Glad you enjoyed my review. Yes, try the Legend, or Miracle, the size and layout are great. The Pride goes out of Baltimore, but I don't want to spend several days just getting TO FL. I'd rather fly to FL to board a ship.

 

Can't wait for more. I'm so glad I decided to start reading random reviews even though I do not have specific plans for those ships. Landing on yours review was pure luck. I am really anxious for the next post.

[Name Of The Game]

I love your review and photos....please continue! :)

[Tajma]

Cuted126 - STILL loving your review! Look forward to reading/seeing every night. BTW - you're right, lots of Virginian's on here. We're from the Hampton Roads, Yorktown Area. Small world huh?! :D

[AQW]

Loving this review, thanks! Most Freedom reviews I've seen cover the 8-day itinerary; we leave on the 6-day 10/17 so I'm thrilled to see your detailed review.

 

Just found your review, cant wait to read more. We are on the freedom in March. BTW love all the pics!!! keep'em coming.

 

*AHEM* Gee Drea, you coulda shot me a Facebook message to let me know you'd found a great Freedom review. WELL. ;)

[tamirpr]

Loving this review, thanks! Most Freedom reviews I've seen cover the 8-day itinerary; we leave on the 6-day 10/17 so I'm thrilled to see your detailed review.

 

Come join our roll call! We are on the same cruise you are.:)

[cuted126]

Okay i'm ready to continue. I had an issue on photobucket with my pics. I really think photobucket hates me or maybe I just can't work the site correctly,lol

 

Anyway after that Dh got up and we went to breakfast. We weren't rushing to get off the ship cause we decided we would just take a taxi over to the beach. When we finally went down to deck zero there was no wait for a tender boat,we got right on and after about 5 minutes we were on our way. Grand Cayman has such pretty and clear water.You could lean right over from the tender boat and see the fish swimming when we were about to get off.

 

There are fish in the water on this pic,they have black stripes. Can you see them?

 

Freedom sitting there by her lonesome

 

There were people everywhere,none prepaid and prepaid tours. We saw a lady holding up a sign for a taxi to take you to Royal Palms $4,Sea Grape$5 so we talked with her and she pointed to the "taxi". We hopped in with others and waited til it was full. The taxi's are actually little vans and they will pack as many people as possible in them. They even have the fold out sits in the aisle. Can we say sardines?!?!

 

Anyway,we were ready after about 20 minutes of waiting. Our driver was very nice and told us a little about the beaches. She told us Sea Grape was better because it was bigger,but Royal Palms was nice too. Of course,both beaches had bars she said,lol. We opted for the Sea Grape area. It was maybe a 12 minute ride from the port. On the way,she did stop to drop off at Royal Palms and we saw a bunch of iguanas:eek: in the grass. Just like the rooster in Key West,they were making themselves at home everywhere,lol.

 

[cuted126]

She dropped us off at Sea Grape and told us to come back to that spot when we were ready to go back to the ship. She dropped us off at a very crowded area which had a shopping area,bathrooms and a bar I believe. We decided to walk down the beach a little. They had chairs and umbrellas you could rent,I am not sure of the price. Also they had water toys that you could use for a price as well.

 

We ended walking down as far as we could without passing into private property. We had a nice view of the ships to the left and a view of the water toys the right and paradise in front of us!! Eventhough the sun kept going in and we spotted a rain cloud over our ship,it never reached us. I have to say Seven Mile Beach is beautiful.

 

 

We really enjoyed ourselves here. We got in the water for awhile and talk with other cruisers. It was great!

 

A shell DH found

[cuted126]

Dh enjoying himself

 

 

 

Just Beautiful!

 

Uh oh storm approaching

 

[obx_fintoo]

A fellow Virginian! What part of you from,we are in Richmond

 

I didn't know there wer so many Virginians on this board:)

 

Hey neighbor! Yes, there are a bunch of us VA folks hiding on here! :cool:

 

DH and I are looking at this itin on the Freedom for next Dec for my **th b-day! :eek: and yes, that's blank on purpose! so I am really loving your review and tons of pics! Keep it coming!

[cuted126]

Beautiful Clouds

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the different pic sizes,it seems that photobucket is making some of my pics darker then they really are. So I am usuing shutterfly as well.

[cuted126]

Me enjoying the water

Seven Mile Beach is just gorgeous,it really is. We had our towels underneath some beautiful palm trees. While walking from the water,dh noticed one of the iguanas just chiling in the sand. As soon as I got close enough to get a good shot he ran.

Hey...stay still. I walked up on the private property area to take this pic,lol.

 

Then another one appeared

Since they both ran up in the trees that we were sitting under,I was ready to move. We ended up leaving around this time. I got a few more shots and then we went over to change. Sea Grape does have changing rooms and pretty clean bathrooms! Bye Bye Sea Grape

 

 

We didn't go back to the same area we were dropped off at,because there were a ton of "taxi's" waiting right in this area. In GC,they drive on the"wrong" side of the road and this almost gave me heart attack. I could barely look out the window. LOL He dropped us off in the shopping area,but we had so much sand still on us,that we wanted to shower.

Back to the ship! Bye bye Grand Cayman

[cuted126]

I was amazed at how much sand was in our room! Sand is still in my beach bag as I type,lol. After we showered,of course we went to lido for lunch,then we watched the Inspiration sail away.

 

 

Let's talk about the dessert bar. I loved it and as small as it is,there was never a line when I was there. Maybe I just got lucky. Okay,today's taste of the nation was southwestern and the drink of the day was Yellow Bird.

 

I digress :) Yeah,the Inspiration was sailing away.

 

We went up to Serenity and about the time we got comfortable,it started raining.

 

Waiting for the rain to end

 

The rain was short lived. After a trip to the photo gallery,we went back up to Serenity. We had already started moving at this point,but there was a medical emergency with one of the passengers on the ship and we went back to GC and they were tender off. I hoped they are much better now.

 

After that it was back to Serenity and into open waters! We spent the majority of the day here and we managed to snag a clamshell after awhile! I was a happy girl.

This cup says RELAXATION:Great to see you again :) I couldn't have been more relaxed if I tried!!!

[cuted126]

So we stayed in the clamshell for awhile. It was great! We saw a rain cloud up ahead,so we decided to leave before we caught up to it. We got ready for dinner. Tonight we had a booth again:D There was no singing tonight or either we were not there at the right time.

 

Does the waiters sing/dance everynight?

 

Anyway tonight I started with a salad(my usual) and my entree was Penne,tossed in tomato creme. Dh had a salad and for his entree,he had Salmon and the grilled chicken. My penne was good and dh said his chicken was dry. He didn't say anything about the salmon,but he left none on his plate,so that speaks for itself,lol.

 

For dessert,we both had the oh so good old fashioned apple pie with ice cream. It was so good. The show tonight featured the vocals of Jamie Frasier. Dh didn't wanna stay for the whole thing,because he wanted to find a seat for the deck party tonight. We left and went out to lido,sat at the bar and talked about different drinks with another couple. Not long after that the line dances started. I had so much fun!! I love to dance,dh not so much,but he did end up joining in the conga line. Everyone say YAY for Demetris!!! He never joins in the various line dances/conga lines done on cruises! The fun patrol then throw out some beads and good thing dh was right there or I would've had zero:p I can't catch (or throw) worth a nothing! I think after this we went to the disco and then to bed.

 

Shoney the bear,that is a bear right?!?!

[cuted126]

There were also a few other activite we attended that I left out. The Freedom had good activities in the Victoriana Lounge that were good for laughs Like The Minute Challenge. Not too many people attended,but it was funny. They also stuff like the Ulitmate Mind Game,Sea Feud and the Liars Club(last sea day) Check these things out.

 

Another thing that I like was the find the fun patrol hints in the fun times each day and the murder mystery cryptogram.

 

We had so much fun I really miss the Freedom so much!

 

 

Jamaica & last fun day at sea:( coming up later today

[cuted126]

Did I ever post my 24kt ship on a stick and champagne I won for being in the Welcome Aboard show:p

 

[Name Of The Game]

I'm anxious to see/hear about Jamaica!

[cuted126]

OP,

 

I was on the Freedom in March on the same itin as you and had a ball! Yes, they do have the lil potatoe rounds in the MDR for breakfast :p had them often and they were good!

 

I'll be goin back on the Freedom next May doing the Eastern Itin hopefully :D

 

Thanks for the review!!!!! (I didnt get to write one and took over 1000 pics too) LOL

OH man,I missed the potatoes?!! I knew they probablyhad them somewhere! Thanks for reading along!

 

Nice pics, ship looks very good thx for posting. Got more? :D

Thanks,I have two more days worth of pics!

 

I've had a blast today reading your review and getting no work done. Oh well. Thanks for all the detail and pictures! I've seen a lot of reviews of the Freedom, but most are for the Eastern or Southern itineraries. I'll be on the same Western itinerary this December w/ my GF and some friends and family. I can't wait!!!

 

I doubt that we're going to do any planned excursions... we're just going to find the beach at each port, grab some drinks and chill. So any pics or recommendations of any beaches would be awesome. Thanks to you, I'm already planning on hitting the Whistle Bar... place looks great!

I am glad you are enjoying my review! As far as beaches,Key West has

that small beach called South Beach and it's the southernmost beach in the USA. Just walk all the way down Duval until you can't go anymore and there it is. The beach chairs are $5.00 to rent there

 

In Grand Cayman,you should definitely visit Seven Mile Beach! I am not sure about Jamaica,but I think the Margaritaville has a beach,somebody correct me if I am wrong. You are gonna have a great time!