Atmosphere on Freedom

[Jules215]

Am interested in how those of you who have recently been on the Freedom find the nightlife on board??...My partner and I last cruised on the Liberty in 11 and we both came away feeling the atmosphere at night left a lot to be desire...Sometimes no one in the nightclub ( whatever it's called) and once or twice we were the only ones in the piano bar too...Not much happening on the Lido deck either...We mainly cruise to chill in the daytime and have a few drinks/laughs at night...Ports and excursions are no big deal to us...And we don't do the production shows as he can't sit still that long and finds them "boring".

 

After that experience, my partner basically wrote Carnival off, however he's given the go-ahead to perhaps plan another cruise...Am looking at NCL, but the price on the Freedom is fantastic in comparison and if I can get any reassurance as to the general atmosphere on the ship I might be able to convince him to give Carnival one more try...If it comes up a dud I'll be probably go overboard. :) ( He's also a smoker, so with the restrictions on that, I need him happy with other things).

 

Anyway, am open to all opinions and observations...TIA

[michelle1836]

just off the Freedom in July. the piano bar was the best and packed every night. However, Seth Gibson just left and they have someone else. the Alchemy bar is right outside and the 3 bar tenders were great and always people there. the disco was not packed but not empty either. hope this helps a little

[Jules215]

Thanks!!...Appreciate your input.

 

Feel if I don't get this cruise "right" we won't be cruising again...Lol

[TxStacey]

Honestly it just depends on the mix of passengers for that week. As you can see from my signature, I have been on many Carnival cruises as well as RCCL and NCL. From my experience, Carnival has had the best nightlife out of the 3, but each cruise has been different depending on the time of year. What time of year are you planning to cruise? I am sailing on the Freedom in 9 days..but who is counting..lol

Edited August 6, 2014 by TxStacey

[Jules215]

Dec. 7...( I've actually just put a cabin on hold)...We're been looking at 3 different cruises...2 NCL and then I found this one...The Freedom is $700 less than the Epic and $1000 less than the Getaway...We've been talking and at that price difference even he said he thinks it'll be fine and if we have to we'll make our own nightlife!! :)

[winddawn]

Dec. 7...( I've actually just put a cabin on hold)...We're been looking at 3 different cruises...2 NCL and then I found this one...The Freedom is $700 less than the Epic and $1000 less than the Getaway...We've been talking and at that price difference even he said he thinks it'll be fine and if we have to we'll make our own nightlife!! :)

I've read a lot of reviews recently that say that the Freedom piano bar rocks. I don't leave for Freedom this time for about 3 more weeks though. If you drink adult beverages, also be aware that Carnival has just lowered the price for its Cheers beverage package. Carnival also has fewer food venues that cost extra.....if those things are important to you. $700 to $1000 is a BIG difference!

 

Have a great cruise!

[chathamman]

We were on the Freedom on an 8 night in June. As a previous poster mentioned, Seth was in the Piano Bar, he was great and it was full every night. We enjoyed the Red Frog Rum Bar and they had two different guitarists/singers that alternated every night. One was David Lazarus and the other's name was James, don't remember last name. Both were good, but we especially enjoyed David. Most nights this bar was 1/2 to completely full. A lot of fun. The comedy shows were standing room only. We did not go to the disco, but my impression was that was really NOT happening. Lastly, Alchemy Bar was fantastic. Awesome Martinis, awesome bartenders. There were 10 of us on this cruise and we had a blast. If entertainers are different and make up of passengers are different, who knows, but the Freedom is a really nice ship and I bet you'll enjoy. HAPPY CRUISING:):).

[cb at sea]

Nightlife is totally dependant on the passenger mix....some cruises will be all "early to bed" folks.. others will be nightowls....really can't predict future experience by past performance.

[cruisinqt]

I've noticed that carnival and Royal Caribbean have more night life than anyone. ;) But sailing off season when the ship isn't full can result in a slower nightlife and unusually older set of passengers. The younger crowd that likes nightclubs and nightlife tend to be baby boomers or college students. And they are stuck with cruising during holidays, summer time, and spring break. And older folks that like to go to bed early tend to prefer to cruise during off season times when there are no kids. This results in off season cruising being a little quieter and dead on some nights, even on the young fun cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean. That being said, we've cruised Carnival in September and October and had a blast in the clubs with lots going on until the wee hours of the night. We've cruised the a freedom once already and liked it so much that we're going on her again next week. :) I would sail her in a heartbeat regardless.

[Jules215]

I understand about the passenger mix, time of year, etc...We're going to go for it and with what we're paying will feel we've gotten a good deal regardless...I think what spoiled him was that his first cruise was over New Years!!...A little hard to duplicate that atmosphere in May or Sept...Or early December probably. Lol

[MrBanana1240]

Freedom is my absolute favorite ship. You'll love it. Everyone onboard, passengers and crew, are beyond amazing and happy and excited. Great people in one great place. Really hope you chose freedom, you'll love it.

 

 

 

Future cruises:

 

•Carnival Glory- 11/22/14- Eastern Caribbean

•Enchantment of the Seas- 08/10/15- Bahamas

 

Past Cruises:

 

•Carnival Pride- 11/20/10- Bahamas

•Carnival Pride- 11/21/11- Bahamas

•Enchantment of the Seas- 11/17/12- Bahamas

•Carnival Glory- 08/10/13- Canada

•Carnival Glory- 11/24/14- Western Caribbean

•Carnival Freedom- 04/13/14- Western Caribbean

[momof3cruisers]

I understand about the passenger mix, time of year, etc...We're going to go for it and with what we're paying will feel we've gotten a good deal regardless...I think what spoiled him was that his first cruise was over New Years!!...A little hard to duplicate that atmosphere in May or Sept...Or early December probably. Lol

 

We've got a roll call going and a few folks already booked on the Cozumel bar hop. You might want to check that out...sounds like a fun group.

[Jules215]

Thanks!!...Will check it out. :)

[TxStacey]

I've noticed that carnival and Royal Caribbean have more night life than anyone. ;) But sailing off season when the ship isn't full can result in a slower nightlife and unusually older set of passengers. The younger crowd that likes nightclubs and nightlife tend to be baby boomers or college students. And they are stuck with cruising during holidays, summer time, and spring break. And older folks that like to go to bed early tend to prefer to cruise during off season times when there are no kids. This results in off season cruising being a little quieter and dead on some nights, even on the young fun cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean. That being said, we've cruised Carnival in September and October and had a blast in the clubs with lots going on until the wee hours of the night. We've cruised the a freedom once already and liked it so much that we're going on her again next week. :) I would sail her in a heartbeat regardless.

 

This is exactly what I was eluding to regarding the time of year. Most of the younger party crowd tend to sail in the summer or holidays when they are either on school break or can get off work. We sailed last year in early September on Norwegian and the ship was dead at night. We are in our late 40's/early 50's and Im pretty sure we were among the youngest on the ship. The upside is that there were hardly any kids.

[tncap]

We've got a roll call going and a few folks already booked on the Cozumel bar hop. You might want to check that out...sounds like a fun group.

 

It will be a fun group, promise! :D

[Jules215]

It will be a fun group, promise! :D

 

I'm counting on you!! Lol