Fresh off the Freedom 7/26-8-4

[waitingpatiently]

First a little bit about what type of cruisers we are. We are a family of 4 with 2 boys (13 & 16). We go on cruises to get away from our little world and busy schedules. When we board the ship everyone turns their phone off and they are not turned back on until the cruise is over. Having said that, we are not overly critical and I could not tell you what the décor of any ship we have ever been on was. I have never met a cruise I didn’t like.

We drove down from middle Georgia the night before departure. We had booked a room for the night at a Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale. We are big into baseball and decided while being this close to take in a Miami Marlins game. Knowing the crowds that the Marlins draw, we knew finding a ticket would not be a problem. We made the 30 minute drive, paid to park, and bought 4 lower level seats from a guy on the street all for just over $100. We had a great time. By the way, if you are in the Ft. Lauderdale area and want a good burger find Roc Burgers. Best burger I ever ate.

I received an email during the game stating that our itinerary had changed. Due to the storm we would basically be sailing our original route in reverse. Curacao had been scratched but we would now be in Aruba overnight.

Embarkation

We arrived at Park & Ride between 11 and 11:30. With-in 15 minutes we were unloading at the port. After clearing security, we proceeded to Carnival check in. We were placed in Zone 10 for boarding. The boarding area was not very full but quickly began filling up. Finally we were told that ship had computer issues and that we would resume boarding shortly. My S&S deposit receipt was printing at 12:02 and we finally boarded the ship around 2:30. On the bright side, our room was ready and our luggage actually beat us there.

Food

Overall the food was good. We have dinner in the main dining room every night. Our wait staff was very attentive. We ordered sodas on the first night that never showed up. Every night after that they arrived very shortly after we did. The food was very good with a good variety every night. The buffets were the typical items but always seem to hit the spot. On previous cruises, I thought there was more options than pizza after the late shows. There was a Mexican buffet one night but all other nights only pizza. The FunTimes said good eats from 11:30 to 1:00 a.m. but we could never find anything else.

Shows & Entertainment

We attend the shows every night whatever they are and always enjoy ourselves. The night that they were to perform The Big Easy we were again hit with technical problems and the show had to be postponed to another night. I thought the vocalists and performers were all very good. Since the ship would now be docked in Aruba overnight, Carnival booked a group named Tsunami. They are a local 12 piece band. I appreciated the effort by Carnival to provide a little extra. We also had shows by soul singer Marcus Anthony (not Marc Anthony) and magician Bobby Borgia. Both were excellent. The comedians were good through out the week.

Excursions

Aruba – We booked the Natural Pool Off-road Adventure. Adventure is NOT an overstatement. We are fairly adventurous and teen-age boys love going fast and bouncing around. Prepare yourself and you should be fine but this is a wild ride. Aruba is full of natural beauty and that is what you will see on this tour.

La Romana – We did the zip-lining tour. There were a lot of people on this excursion but they were able to run us through fairly quickly. We always felt safe and well instructed. The 7 lines were not very long or fast. Our sons had never zip-lined so we had a good time but the ride in Aruba was a bigger rush.

Grand Turk – Walked off the ship and straight to the public beach in the cruise center. Chairs are free and the beach is great. When we arrived I walked down the beach and booked four 30 minute beach front massages for later in the day. When we arrived at our reserved time we had to wait a few minutes. Us 3 guys had never had a massage. It wasn’t a quiet or secluded beach but still very relaxing.

Debarkation

We arrived early to Ft. Lauderdale during the night due to a medical emergency (never heard exactly what). We decided to carry our own luggage off. Lido deck was scheduled to be called at 7:30. We went to breakfast around 6:45 and decided after breakfast to go ahead and get an elevator and wait on deck 3. When we came off the elevator we kept walking and didn’t stop until we reached the customs check point. We were there a couple of minutes and walked out to find our Park & Go bus already there. From the time we headed to the 3rd floor to the time we arrived at our car could not have been over 15 minutes.

We had a great time. I will be glad to answer any questions about our trip.

[Lovefuninthesun]

Thanks for the review!

Sounds as if you had a good time -- Freedom is our favorite ship to date. :)

[mz Miami]

We will be on her come Saturday .which sea days are the formal nights ?we are doing the 8days itinerary..

[MIZZ_K]

We will be on her come Saturday .which sea days are the formal nights ?we are doing the 8days itinerary..

 

I'm on this cruise also :)

[deanswife1990]

Can you tell me where in Grand Turk you booked the massages and how much they were?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[waitingpatiently]

We will be on her come Saturday .which sea days are the formal nights ?we are doing the 8days itinerary..

 

 

We did the 8 day also. Our formal nights were Sunday and Friday but I do not know if the changed itinerary effected it.

[waitingpatiently]

Can you tell me where in Grand Turk you booked the massages and how much they were?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

 

The name of it is Seascapes Spa. You can look them up on trip advisor. I did not reserve in advance. It was $20 for 15 min. $40 for 30 min. and $60 for 45 min.