Our review: Freedom 6 night last cruise before dry dock

[rdevine10]

Review Carnival Freedom April 13 Cruise

 

6 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Key West, Grand Cayman & Ocho Rios

 

 

Here is my short review of our spring break cruise:

 

 

We ended up booking this cruise an impromptu change from another when the Freedom’s dry dock dates had changed. We got a GREAT rate for the cabin type we wanted (oceanview). We booked within 2 days of this sail date re-opening up. I would also like to note, as much as some people were scaring me pre-cruise on here, it did not appear anything we wanted to use was closed in preparation for the dry dock. All pools. waterslides, etc were open. YEAH!

 

 

 

Embarkation: We had Faster to the Fun for the 1st time and boy did we LOVE it! We got to the port around 10:45 and had to wait just a bit after a very quick check in process. We were onboard in no time, with an announcement that we would not be setting sail until 7pm for Key West (so they could load some materials they needed for the dry dock). It would not impact our time in Key West. It was a bit rainy/overcast anyways. We loved being able to put all of our stuff in the room as soon as we boarded. AMAZING! Yes, it takes little to make me happy! We headed out to eat something and explore.

 

 

Cabin: We were on the Main Deck (deck 2) in a midship oceanview cabin. We wanted to be low and midship for motion reasons (and enjoy the oceanview rooms more than the balcony- I know strange to some). And, we were pleasantly surprised that the room did feel nice a big compared to past rooms- I believe it was 220 sq ft. We had cabin 2351. Very quiet and we were very happy with the room. Our steward was nice. Met him once, but other than that he was scarce- but the room was always taken care of and we had no complaints!

 

 

Overall ship: Well, despite having a great vacation, I will be honest, I was not in love with the ship. Here are my reasons: I think I just don’t care for the conquest class of ship. By day 6 we were still getting lost trying to get from one side of the ship to the other- especially when we didn’t want to be near the casino (hate smoke). And, we were not a fan of the tiered sundeck area. It made it much more challenging to see your kids- and the hot tub placement on the lido blocked everything. I am also a shade girl and finding it was a bit more challenging on this ship than on the other Carnival cruise we went on (Legend). We like to be near the pools for our kids, but in the shade, as I am a paste white irish princess who burns quite easily in that Caribbean sun, even with spf 1000 on :) Another disappointment was to get to the mini golf you had to walk through the basketball court up to the mini golf. And, its over the steakhouse- so apparently it closes from 5 or 5:30 till 11 pm. Not knowing this, I had one very upset 8 year old who was promised a last game of mini golf after dinner the last night of the cruise, only to be denied (no worries- instead of being “free” we spent $55 on a mini golf game in Disney World to make up for it- which I will admit was a way better course anyways). Despite all of that, we loved the waterslide, pools were decent- there were a lot of kids on our sailing and my kids still got to swim. We really enjoyed the shows- we had a comedy hypnotist and a juggler/comedy act. We also liked the family comedy and saw one of the stage shows (which was ok, just not my thing). We tried to watch a movie under the stars, but the kids begged to go in the pool/hot tub, so it was a loss on watching the movie, as we were watching our kids!

 

 

Dinner: We did the early seating and were the restaurant in the aft of the ship (upper level). Food was good. Our wait staff was very friendly, however, they had very poor timing all week. Example: we would order a side of fries for youngest DD (who would order off adult menu, but perhaps not like the side) and they would come out 10-15 min late. Drinks were hard to order and would take forever to arrive; sometimes we would have to ask 2 or 3 times for them (after waiting 40 min). I am gluten free and I was thrilled by the items the chefs made for me. I ate some things I would never cook for myself at home gluten free. All of the food was great. My kids were very happy to order off the adult menu and not be stuck with chicken nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, etc. Our team was also very slow. Once we had to skip dessert to make it to the 7:30 family comedy, and a couple other nights we barely made it to entertainment as they were so slow. But, other teams were much quicker, as we saw several leaving quite a bit earlier than us.

 

Key West: Our 1st time there. We walked to see mile marker 0 of AIA, Southern Most Point, part of Duval Street (wow, some things here were so not kid appropriate) and then to Fort Zachary Taylor Park and Beach. Ill be honest- my family didn’t love Key West. I am certain its because we walked about 5 miles and got blisters! Hindsight, opt for some kind of transportation next time! The sights were interesting- although not super interesting for an 8 and 11 year old. The beach was very rocky (we had our water shoes). We were too tired and hungry to explore the fort and tried to take a short cut back to the ship, which made us walk a LOT longer than needed. We arrived back starving with blistered feet. It wasn’t the best start. BUT, things greatly improved from there!

 

 

Sea Day # 1: We found a spot on the Lido under the shade. It wasn’t close to the pool, but at least we had a main place to hang in the shade. We spent the day relaxing, using the pools, waterslide, playing mini golf, and playing cards. And, more importantly recuperating from the day before’s adventure!

 

 

 

Grand Cayman: We woke up to find out there had been 3 inches of snow at home. I was feeling sorry for my friends at home, but super excited to start our day out in Grand Cayman! This was our 2nd time here and this time we opted to go to the 7 mile beach. We got priority tender with FTF and were off! We took a taxi (aka van) for $5 pp. He was dropping off at 2 places- one cost 2.50 pp to get in and the other was free. I had done my homework and we wanted to go to Calico Jacks (aka Public Beach). So we walked from stop #2 about ¼ mile on the beach back to where we wanted to go. We found a slice of heaven and rented 2 chairs and an umbrella- I think we paid $20? We were right up front and the beach was not too crowded. A few hours of pure bliss on the beach. We did get 4 drinks from Calico Jacks- 2 virgin (for the kids) and 2 non for the parents. It cost $40. And, the 2 non might as well been virgin too- BUT- it was delightful and tasty none the less. Taxi back to the port for another $5pp and back to the ship. Excellent day in Grand Cayman!

 

 

 

Ocho Rios: This port was the whole reason we booked this cruise. And, we were most apprehensive about it, as we had heard such horror stories! Based on all the horror we decided to book an excursion through Carnival. We opted for the Bobsled & Dunns River. We headed over to Mystic Mountain 1st for the bobsled. We took the chair lift to the top (It was sprinkling the whole way up- but what a view and we will never forget it!). Up top we did the bobsled- wait was maybe 15 to 20 min. We did 2 and 2 (no solo riders). OMG- it was SO fun! The kids LOVED it, and so did Mom and Dad! Bought the pictures and headed to the pool with waterslide. Spent 45 min there (it was beautiful!!!!!) and then decided to head back to go to Dunns River Falls. Skyride back down and we waited maybe 10min for the bus to Dunns River, which was about 1 mile away. Dunns River was very fun as well. We got our watershoes out started the climbing. I was a bit concerned at first as the human link chain we were on was moving a BIT faster than our pace with kids, but it slowed quite a bit after the initial walk. Ok- here is where I need to add this: my youngest is 8 ½. She is very athletic, but she is on the small, and very light side. This was a challenge at times for her. She was a trooper though. I did skip one small section of the falls with her and then we hopped right back in with our group and finished it out. LOVED it! After the Falls, we did have to go through the market with the aggressive vendors to get back to our bus. We went quick and did not buy anything as they were too pushy. Back to the ship we went. We had the BEST day and it was the true highlight of the vacation for us!

 

 

Sea Day # 2: more relaxation and downtime- not to mention it was my birthday! Pools, waterslide, reading, etc. A great way to recharge after 2 busy but very nice days.

 

 

Debarkation: We did self assist. We were off the boat early (could have been earlier with FTF, but we chose to not get up quite that early). Only downside was the parking garage at Port everglades seemed to just have 1 elevator with a huge line. So, yes, we carried all of our luggage up 4 flights of stairs. I called it our extra calorie burning from eating so much junk on the ship! And then we headed off to Orlando and part 2 of our vacation (which I am not reviewing).

 

 

Overall: We had a FANTASTIC vacation. We got some much needed down time and family time. We lead very busy lives at home (hubby travels for work and kids are in multiple sports, and I work too!). My kids did not want to do camp Carnival- so no reviews on that. We spent our time on the ship together as a family and my kids did make a couple friends on their own by the pools. I would not hesitate to book another carnival cruise again, although I do not think it would be on the conquest class of ship. Pretty sure we would try for the spirit class again or spend some time looking at the dream class to see if it works better for us. Hubby on the other hand had indicated he did prefer Royal Caribbean. (sssshshhhhhh). So, we will see what next time brings us. I think he will like the price tag from Carnival better!

Edited April 24, 2014 by rdevine10

[Linerguy]

Thanks for the review. We're boarding the FREEDOM on May 18 and are looking forward to the changes.

[rccranbob]

I too was on this cruise and had a wonderful time. We were on deck 8 and could walk from one end of the ship to the other, no problem going where we wanted to go. We also had FTTF great experience. We used the parking service right outside the port for 50.00 on line, this too was great. We too walked to Higgs Beach but caught a cab back for $12.00 to Jimmy Buffets. Just shopped in Ocho Rios and back to Buffets place, nice beach and pool. In Cayman we did the turtle farm, fantastic! We left our room at 9 but left our docs in the cabin. Carnival retrieved them for us in 30 minutes.

[rdevine10]

I too was on this cruise and had a wonderful time. We were on deck 8 and could walk from one end of the ship to the other, no problem going where we wanted to go. We also had FTTF great experience. We used the parking service right outside the port for 50.00 on line, this too was great. We too walked to Higgs Beach but caught a cab back for $12.00 to Jimmy Buffets. Just shopped in Ocho Rios and back to Buffets place, nice beach and pool. In Cayman we did the turtle farm, fantastic! We left our room at 9 but left our docs in the cabin. Carnival retrieved them for us in 30 minutes.

 

We did the turtle farm in our last visit to Grand Cayman and it was great! Next time I would definetly opt for the cab :) And good tip with the parking. We thought it would be easier to park at port (although I knew it was expensive). Although Im not so sure now!

[Anjanu]

Glad all-in-all you had a great cruise!

I'm cruising on the Freedom on May 10th.

Can someone tell me if they have hair dryers in the room and does the safe use cards or codes.

Thanks!

[cruiser1961]

Can someone tell me if they have hair dryers in the room and does the safe use cards or codes.

We sailed on the Freedom on April 5th. They had a hairdryer in one of the vanity drawers just outside the bathroom. We used an old Sail & Sign card for the safe.

Edited April 27, 2014 by cruiser1961

[Kreader]

Sheryl, I am going on your cruise too. I believe there is a hair dryer in one of the drawers. I don't know about the safe. However,if the safe uses a card to open it up you don't have to use a credit card. I use a grocery store card. Kendra

[Anjanu]

Great! Thank you!

I always keep old gift cards in my suitcase anyway in case the safe uses cards. I just didn't want to pack a hairdryer if I didn't have too.

[092306]

We really enjoyed our cruise on the Freedom and would love to sail again especially with the upgrades. Thanks for posting your experience and glad you had a great cruise!

[MrBanana1240]

Great review! Glad you had fun! Ill be writing a review once my pictures are organized. I'm glad you enjoyed yourslef

[klaner64]

Do you have any pictures from the bobsled? That is where I want to go.