Just off the Freedom

[sassafrass]

It is a nice ship and I got sick of hearing people compare it to the Magic LOL. If you have sailed the Magic obviously it is better in most people's eyes.

 

Cruise director Malcolm. Very entertaining.

 

Activities: Seemed limited. Especially on Port day evenings. Why would you have the main show, comedy acts and piano bar all off on the same night. This would be my main complaint. Port evenings it was DEAD for activities.

 

Food: I liked the American dining table Menu. Thought it was good. Loved the steakhouse though! Worth every cent.

 

Pools were nice but not big enough. Hot tubs always full. Serenity deck made me mad cause people still brought their kids up there!

[seannyice81]

Malcolm Burn? He's one of the "woohoo" guys (Felipe being the other).

 

We had that one night on Liberty, where there wasn't much going on. No show, piano bar, etc... and I thought it was nice to just have a chill evening on the ship. Multiple evenings like that raise questions though.

 

We were very lucky that we had attentive staff at the adults only pool, aft, and in Serenity. No kids.

[tejanokid]

Thanks We leave on Monday.

[Joyannb]

Had a great time. A little different venue when sailing out of Galveston. If you r into dancing this ship is a little lacking. A great Motown band. But u have to dance on a marble floor in the middle of the casino. Visit the Alchemy bar and say Hi to Dr D. Food good. Shows ok

[thedispatcher]

We just got off the Freedom too.. Malcolm was hilarious! This was our first cruise, loved it! I did notice a lack of activities on port days too, but we did enjoy just hanging out on those days..

 

Had a great time, can't imagine another ship being significantly better!

[dhaza]

First trip with Carnival but we are going on the Freedom from Saturday to a Saturday then from Sunday to Sunday on the Magic with just one day in between sailings.

[freedomcruiser891]

First trip with Carnival but we are going on the Freedom from Saturday to a Saturday then from Sunday to Sunday on the Magic with just one day in between sailings.

 

 

If you could compare the two when you return I'd really appreciate it! We usually book freedom out of Galveston but we're looking at the magic for a January cruise before she leaves

[HollandAvery]

Wait, so there was no show or comedy in the evenings on port days?

That seems really odd to me...

 

Does anyone have the FunTimes?

We are leaving in two weeks and the lack of evening activities is really worrisome since we look forward to evening things, considering we know they are often lacking for activities during the day on Sea Days (we just plan to read books, and studying for finals for me).

 

But no night shows or comedy on port evenings? Seems crazy to me!

[Swampbaby]

We had a duo on the Freedom in April 2013 who kept the lobby busy with dancing and drinking,. Dance area was heavily used nightly, EXCEPT for the one night they were off. Left John Heald a note and mentioned he might wish to get the VP Entertainment (who came across as rather stuck up in her video interview with him) to see about getting them at least for the Bloggers 9 cruise and gave him the name.

[Joyannb]

There r shows every night and a late night comedy show. The port days are a little lacking but night time there is always something going on

[HollandAvery]

There r shows every night and a late night comedy show. The port days are a little lacking but night time there is always something going on

 

Thank you for your reply, that is definitely comforting to hear! :)

We always get off the ship during port days, we were only worried about the evenings since the OP mentioned it seemed to be lacking...glad to hear that doesn't actually seem to be the case

[GalFitness19]

I've cruised both ships and honestly think Freedom is better with more public space per passenger. Newer & bigger isn't always better. Bigger only means that Carnival is shoving more cabins on the ship without adding other space for passengers. The only thing Magic has that Freedom doesn't is the Italian restaurant. I'm not complaining, though. I had fun on every cruise [emoji6]

[watermelonqueen99]

We're going on the Freedom in January, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous about it because all we know is the Magic! We aren't show people, in the evenings we like to drink and dance and listen to the live music. This post makes me a little more nervous. LOL The one thing I am looking forward to is sailing on a ship with the 2.0 upgrades. :)

[lgbteacher]

We sailed on the Freedom the first week of November. I loved it. I have sailed on the Magic also. I thought if felt less crowded. We danced on the Lido, in the 70's bar and in the Atrium. I thought they needed more comedy shows but it did not ruin my cruise. We booked the wrap aft balcony. If you ever get the chance book it. It was awesome!😍

[cajun-crazy]

Just off the Freedom also. There were three things Magic has that I missed on the Freedom. It didn't make or break my Freedom cruise, just things I observed.

 

I think the Serenity decks were a little bigger on Magic. Especially more clam shells and hammocks.

 

Magic has a level around the lido deck that was undercover and had the tables and loungers. Many people used these both to watch dive in movies or lido deck activities. This is on Breeze, Dream and Magic. On Freedom, I never had a problem with chair hogs during daytime, but found a lot of chairs saved for the night time movies poolside.

 

Magic has two slides and a small splash area for little ones. I don't do the slides, but my little ones would've loved the splash pad area provided for younger kids.

 

As far as activities go, look at your fun times each day and mark the things you want to see.or participate in. Do it that day, because those events may not be offered the next day.

 

Yes, the magic is bigger, but this trip a 5 day cruise worked best for us. I never said, "gee I wish I was on the Magic."

[IPlayWithString]

So how was it for daytime activities on sea days?

 

That was the ONE complaint I had on our last cruise on the Freedom..there weren't nearly enough daytime activities (and this during Spring Break, when it was crowded as heck) to keep us occupied since swimming/sunning aren't my husband and son's favorite things.

[gfh77665]

We have sailed 3X on the Triumph, but now Freedom is out of Galveston. We are booked for 1-30-16. How does the Freedom and Triumph experiences compare? I know Triumph is a bit larger, but thats all.

[cruzelover55]

We have sailed 3X on the Triumph, but now Freedom is out of Galveston. We are booked for 1-30-16. How does the Freedom and Triumph experiences compare? I know Triumph is a bit larger, but thats all.

 

Actually Triumph is a bit smaller. If you go to carnival.com click on the, explore our ships drop down menu, it lets you compare up to 3 ships side by side. Shows tonnage, length, crew on board, passengers,etc.. Then you can click on activities, bars, dining, etc.. and it will show you which ship has what and which doesn't. I was surprised myself as have never been on anything smaller than Magic or Conquest, and thought Freedom was way bigger than Triumph, but not so much. Guess I will find out, as next cruise is on Freedom. It is supposed to have the 2.0 upgrades, whatever that means. Hope this helps, Happy cruising!

[cruizinisthebest]

Loved the Freedom when we sailed her last year. We have the Magic booked for next year and do not plan to compare. Different ships. I know people complain about lack of activities on the Freedom. I dunno. We always found something to do, but that sailing I spent more time in my cabin than ever before having booked a grand scenic oceanview.

 

Looking most forward to Dr. E on the Magic. We had Jen Baxter on the Freedom. She was o.k. And Chris "Donkey" Salazar on the Sunshine this year. He was pretty good!

[gfh77665]

Actually Triumph is a bit smaller. If you go to carnival.com click on the, explore our ships drop down menu, it lets you compare up to 3 ships side by side. Shows tonnage, length, crew on board, passengers,etc..

 

Thanks, 55! That was a great suggestion. My wife normally deals with the bookings, so I don't have much experience with the Carnival website, so I didn't know the comparisons were there. I saw something on wiki, and it mislead me.

[PAPERBKWRITER]

My complaint of Freedom is the casino doesn't have a no smoking side. The ventilation is poor and the smoke made me sick. Otherwise the cruise was great.

[Martini Mom]

Although I haven't sailed on the Magic yet, I really liked the Freedom. We were never bored. If anything, there were too many things to do and we couldn't do them all. We're also happy to just grab a drink and people watch, check out the sea, meet new people or listen to music. You can see my whole review of the Freedom in my signature line. :) Bon voyage!

[watermelonqueen99]

Looking most forward to Dr. E on the Magic.

 

Dr. E was our CD on the Magic last month, and he is absolutely fan-freakin-tastic! Make sure you attend his Motown sing-a-long/trivia in the Ocean Plaza....so much fun! By far the best CD we've had across 3 cruises on the Magic. And enjoy "my girl," she's very special to me. :D

[cruzelover55]

Although I haven't sailed on the Magic yet, I really liked the Freedom. We were never bored. If anything, there were too many things to do and we couldn't do them all. We're also happy to just grab a drink and people watch, check out the sea, meet new people or listen to music. You can see my whole review of the Freedom in my signature line. :) Bon voyage!

 

Great and very helpful review! I started it a day or so ago, I'm at page 11. My index finger got numb, so will finish later. :) Lots of great pics, hope that the food is not as greasy as it appears to be. Thanks for posting it, I'm enjoying it a lot!

[cruizinisthebest]

Dr. E was our CD on the Magic last month, and he is absolutely fan-freakin-tastic! Make sure you attend his Motown sing-a-long/trivia in the Ocean Plaza....so much fun! By far the best CD we've had across 3 cruises on the Magic. And enjoy "my girl," she's very special to me. :D

I'm so excited! First time for all of us on a Dream class ship. Big group going although a few flakes have already backed out. Their loss. I told everyone that my family will be going whether all or none of them go. Lol.

 

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