PHOTO REVIEW~Freedom, the 4th, and my 40th!

[Cruisin4fun_vacationtime]

Loving your review so far. I have a quick question. Was there anything across from your room? We will be in 7338 in August. I know the laundry room is on the opposite side, but I'm a little concerned about a crew closet being across the hall and having noise in the early morning. Thank you so much!!

[Martini Mom]

Loving your review so far. I have a quick question. Was there anything across from your room? We will be in 7338 in August. I know the laundry room is on the opposite side, but I'm a little concerned about a crew closet being across the hall and having noise in the early morning. Thank you so much!!

 

Just rooms :)

[Martini Mom]

The only noise I ever heard in my room was balcony doors slamming at times or a big thud as people above us jumped out of their bunk bed (at least that's what I think it was).

[Rudyard]

Great review so far :) I love Dot's for breakfast. If you think the portions were big then, you should see lunch! To Go boxes are almost mandatory. I don't get there for lunch much as it gets crowded pretty quickly and I usually only try and stop if my job takes me out that way.

 

I love jalapeno poppers, but no way I could have eaten the ones in your pic. Looked like an oil slick hit your plate ;)

[Martini Mom]

Great review so far :) I love Dot's for breakfast. If you think the portions were big then, you should see lunch! To Go boxes are almost mandatory. I don't get there for lunch much as it gets crowded pretty quickly and I usually only try and stop if my job takes me out that way.

 

I love jalapeno poppers, but no way I could have eaten the ones in your pic. Looked like an oil slick hit your plate ;)

 

That's exactly what they tasted like too! I've had better jalapeno poppers from Jack n The Box. I'm from California. I can only imagine how unimpressed the Texans were, especially since they came from the part of the menu that was supposed to represent them.

[Martini Mom]

It's now early afternoon on the 1st sea day and it's time to grab a drink and head to the EA Sports Bar for the door decorating contest results/awards. Mike was excited that Carnival carries his favorite cider beer. He's been trying to watch his gluten since his MS diagnosis (although not so much on this trip ;)). This bar is really cool and would be a great place to catch a game. It was a ghost town when we were there and one father and son were playing a video game.

 

 

 

 

 

[Martini Mom]

We ended up getting honorable mention (I think it was 4th place) for this contest. Not bad for our first one :) The organizer gave us a ribbon and some other cute items she picked up. After the pic of the winners was taken, she came up to us and said she thought we should have placed higher and gave us her 1st place bottle of champagne. That was sweet :) We ended up drinking it on my birthday a few days later.

 

 

 

[cruiser fanatic]

Thanks for the review! Question, did you have any bad odor smells in your bathroom? Both times I have been on the Freedom we have had a terrible smell in our bathroom, both times were on Deck 8,

[rnoli32]

Thank you for sharing your vacation! Happy anniversary :)

[Martini Mom]

Thanks for the review! Question, did you have any bad odor smells in your bathroom? Both times I have been on the Freedom we have had a terrible smell in our bathroom, both times were on Deck 8,

 

Nope. No smells at all in our bathroom or any public restrooms I was in. The only time I smelled anything bad was in the hallway on deck 1, during our cabin crawl. It smelled like urine.

[Martini Mom]

Thank you for sharing your vacation! Happy anniversary :)

 

Thank you :)

[Martini Mom]

1st Elegant Night. What I'd read was true. Most people were not super dressed up, including myself. I didn't see a lot of suits or full length gowns. Most guys seemed to wear a button down shirt, polo, or at most a shirt and tie. Most ladies wore a sundress or church type outfit. Everyone that I saw was dressed nicely. Another thing I noticed is that a majority of people changed into casual clothes right after dinner or after the show. Very few stayed dressed up all night. I wore a blue dress that I wear to church and high heels and Mike wore a new blue dress shirt and tie, slacks, and dress shoes. I don't have a lot of great pics of us at the table because there was this little spotlight type light right above us that cast strange shadows on our faces in most pics.

 

They dressed up our tables for elegant night :). There were white tablecloths and pretty silver sea-themed table decorations. Our tiny table had one and the big tables had 3 or so. The dishes were also nicer. The bread plate didn't have brown artwork on it. Now it was a sleek white dish.

 

WINE! We decided to purchase the mid level wine package, since that's our evening drink of choice. It ended up being a great thing for us! They brought all 5 bottles out to us and asked if we wanted them stored there or what we preferred. We had him open one and we took the rest back to our cabin. Why? We were able to borrow a wine opener from our room steward and open them throughout the cruise. We could take the bottle to dinner and they would serve it to us or we could enjoy wine in our cabin or pour a "traveler" to take to the comedy shows (as you can see in my glow necklace pic I posted earlier). Although the wine was obviously marked up, it still saved us on buying it by the glass and gave us the freedom of having some when we wanted it, without going to a bar. I don't know why, but I didn't take any pics of that. Probably because I couldn't get Mike back to our room quick enough to drop off the wine. I thought it looked terrible to be carrying 4 bottles of wine. One was even in the metal wine bucket chiller thingy that he asked if he could borrow. He got lots of funny comments, but he didn't care. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Next.....Food Porn!! :)

[Martini Mom]

Ok, before the food pics, here's pic that shows us, the table set up, and the area right outside the dining room (we were right by the entrance).

 

 

 

The food pics will be a little bigger than the others. Hopefully they aren't too big. He had the fried oyster appetizer. I hate oysters, so I can't comment, but he said it was nasty. After my failed attempts to branch out with appetizers, I went for a simple Caesar salad and it was very good. For our entrees, I had my usual, lobster. It was the same as always. Good. He had the Seared Sea Bass AND the lobster. He liked the sea bass, but his lobster was overdone (a totally different color than mine), so he wasn't thrilled with that one. I guess it happens when you make so many meals at once.

 

 

 

 

[Martini Mom]

Dessert- Epic fail! We love creme brulee and it's always been great on other cruises, but this was nasty! It wasn't just our 2 desserts either. We talked to others later that night who had the same experience. It was this oily, separated mess. Just gross.

 

 

A view of the lower dining room from our table

 

After dinner I stayed in my dress, but had to ditch my heels for flats before I broke an ankle. I'm used to scrubs and tennis shoes. Mike ditched his tie later that evening. Time for the 80's Show.

 

 

We met up with our new friend Niki and convinced her to check out a show. She's a reader and a gambler and had never been to one on all of her cruises. We usually like to sit in the very back, but we sat pretty close to the front for her. It was a fun show if you grew up with 80's music. We were singing along, enjoying the "costumes", cringing when the male singers tried to hit the high notes, and having a great time. Carnival really stepped it up with the backgrounds/special effects. It really added to the show.

 

 

[Martini Mom]

2nd sea day- We had breakfast on the Lido (the usual fare), then I don't remember what we did. We're pretty content to walk around and check things out (and of course take pics). I knew we were going to be in the sun all 3 port days, so laying by the pool didn't really excite us. Besides, we can do that at home. As I mentioned before, Mike has MS and one of the very common side effects is heat intolerance. It caused his brain to kind of short circuit, so we avoid overheating him if possible. I did take pics of lunch though.

 

Mike LOVES fish and chips and we both love ceviche. We made sure we didn't miss the fish and chips station that day. It's only open for 2 hours per day and is located above the buffet. Even if you chose the regular buffet food, this area is a great place to grab a table. Plenty of available tables, an ocean view, and less noise. There are 3 types of grab-n-go items. The others take a few minutes to prepare.

 

 

Ready to go

 

All of the grab and go options. The ahi and the ceviche were our favs.

 

Fish and chips. They were ok.

 

Our friend got the soup and said it was good

[Martini Mom]

The fried oysters were horrible. Mike and Niki ate them and said they were raw on the inside and oily fried yuck on the outside. No pics because I was grossed out. This is when we finally pulled the plug on eating fried stuff on this ship (except the fries). Here are the sauces...

 

[naz022292]

How great is that for you to have found someone like Niki and her daughter! As great as it was to get a ride to the cruise ship, making a friend is a gift that keeps on giving! I'm always inspired by people like her that go out of their way for others without fear of 'getting involved' with strangers.

[Martini Mom]

How great is that for you to have found someone like Niki and her daughter! As great as it was to get a ride to the cruise ship, making a friend is a gift that keeps on giving! I'm always inspired by people like her that go out of their way for others without fear of 'getting involved' with strangers.

 

I totally agree! I was in a roll call group and asked for advice on the cheapest way to get from Houston to Galveston. She immediately offered to pick us up at our hotel and drive us. I was shocked! No offense to my fellow CA natives, but I think Texans are just so giving and friendly, especially her. Of course I was a little nervous, so I checked out her FB profile, lol. My mom was nervous too and kept calling us, asking us to take a pic of her license plate. We were so lucky to have met her and her family. Within minutes of meeting all of them and having breakfast together, we were fast friends. Her mom wants to go on an Alaskan cruise with us and Niki wants to cruise to Mexico or elsewhere and stay with us at our home too.

 

It was a great mix of alone time and friend time. She liked to read and gamble on her own and we like to do our thing, but we met up frequently for shows etc.

[Martini Mom]

Time for poolside cocktails and the hairy chest contest. It may be ridiculous, but it's always a fun time with new friends that we always meet along the way. Mike was hesitant, but ended up having a great time. We sat at the Red Frog Rum Bar and it wasn't too hot in the shade with a cold drink. Our bartender Suresh, who liked to be called Super Fresh, was great. I ordered the Rum Jumper, but when Mike ordered something else, he told him a different drink was much better. The one he recommended was cheaper and better, so it wasn't about the money. That's when we tip big :)

 

We chatted with the creator of Mumford's Place BBQ (he was very proud). You can see him and his wife in my second pic. He and I chatted about the contestants and he told me about the time when he won. Later I met another man, but I'm not sure if he was with them or not. He ordered the big yard of beer thing with the spigot and told me to have some because it was going to get hot. Again, I love Texans! I declined his offer and got a beer with a salted rim and watched the contest. Heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2015 by Martini Mom

[Martini Mom]

I took almost 800 pics on this cruise, but I'm only posting a small fraction. Please let me know if there are any questions you have or pics you'd like to see :)

[Martini Mom]

The Alchemy Bar!!What an awesome addition! Drazen from Bosnia was the master mixologist and Jade from Colorado was an excellent bartender. We ordered the martini sampler and it was a great deal! They were strong and made with TOP shelf liquors. We chose the ones we wanted, she mixed them all at the same time, very cool, then we had to guess which was which. I guessed them correctly and won a wine charm. It's not just a bar, it's an experience. It's a terrible analogy, but it's like Benihana's, a show. I wanted something with rosemary in it because it's unique. She then added freshly grated cinnamon to it and lit some orange zest/juice on fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kmarie10531]

Subscribed !! Loving your review so far ., and the pictures are great too . We sailed on the Freedom back in June 2014 and had an amazing time . Can't wait to read /see more !

[Martini Mom]

Mike, Niki and I also made a new friend. Mike is a former cop turned stay at home dad and we all had fun chatting with him. We asked Jade for swizzle sticks and we all sampled each others drinks. :)

 

 

They also give you a FREE really nice nut, cheese, and olive plate 2 when you drink there during peak hours. I forget which evening hours they are. Sorry.

 

[Martini Mom]

Subscribed !! Loving your review so far ., and the pictures are great too . We sailed on the Freedom back in June 2014 and had an amazing time . Can't wait to read /see more !

 

Thanks for saying so! :D I feel like I'm talking to myself on this review ;)

[nybumpkin]

Dessert- Epic fail! We love creme brulee and it's always been great on other cruises, but this was nasty! It wasn't just our 2 desserts either. We talked to others later that night who had the same experience. It was this oily, separated mess. Just gross.

 

 

 

Ugh, that looks simply awful. Creme brulee is my favorite dessert, one I missed on Breeze two weeks ago.

 

Thanks for sharing such a fun review!