Freedom trip report with pictures - 6/16/22 4-day cruise

[CruisinCrow]

We were on the June 16 cruise, the second cruise after the funnel fire.  Here is a link to my review:

http://susancrow.blogspot.com/2022/07/carnival-freedom.html

 

There isn't much information about Freedom, so I hope it will be helpful/enjoyable for someone.  It took me a while to write it because we had just gotten back to Port Canaveral when we found out that my mother-in-law had a stroke.  We've been really busy, stressed and preoccupied since then, but we did have a good cruise and I wanted to share it.

 

A few additional comments:

Cutbacks were evident, especially in cabin service and food.  We only had one cabin service a day, which was fine because our cabin steward was very good so we always had ice, towels and even towel animals.  All the other cruise lines still have two services a day though, so I don't know why Carnival can't do it.

 

The food was really inconsistent.  My husband and I sometimes ordered the same thing and they weren't cooked the same way.  Several times the plates came out with food splashed all over them.  I don't think I've ever seen that on any cruise.  It doesn't seem like anyone was checking the plates before they came out of the galley.  It didn't ruin our cruise or anything, but it was noticeable.

 

The Hub app is used for everything now.  I liked it for some things but not for others.  The new muster process is much better and I hope they keep doing it that way.  Using the app to check in at the restaurants was also a good change.  However, I did not like using the app for the dinner menus and I missed having a daily printed activities schedule.  I found I missed a lot of activities because it was hard to read everything scrolling down the phone.  I wish there was still a printed option for the menus and schedules.

 

I heard people complaining about lines but I didn't find them any worse than they were pre-pandemic.  I think people just haven't gotten used to crowds and full ships yet.  Yes, the lines were long at the breakfast buffet and at Guy's Burgers and at Blue Iguana and at the Pizza Pirate.  We managed to avoid the worst of the lines by going during quieter times and eating breakfast in the dining room. 

 

All the bars and bartenders were great.  Zora and Zoran at the Alchemy Bar were awesome.

 

Elegant night was the third night of the cruise (after the day in Princess Cays).

 

You can't use the drink package at Princess Cays and drinks are very expensive ($10 for a beer).  I think they add on the Bahamas VAT.  Save your drinking for when you get back on the ship.  

 

Debarkation was probably the worst we've ever experienced on any ship.  We did the "express" walk-off and we stood in the hallway for an hour and a half after we got kicked out of the cabin.  We didn't get off the ship until 10:30.  Carnival needs to work on this!

 

I loved the wine blending class we took at Bahama Barrels in Nassau.  We booked it directly through their website.  Highly recommended!

 

If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.  Unfortunately, I don't have the daily schedules to refer to since they did away with them, but I'll do my best from memory. 🙂

[CruisinCrow]

Here are a few more pictures that I didn't include in the original review.

 

our oceanview cabin on Deck 2

 

 

 

Swingtime Jazz Club - I never saw it open but it looked nice

 

Habana Bar

[CruisinCrow]

Freedom Restaurant (buffet)

 

Scott's Piano Bar

 

 

Tiramisu martini at the Millennium Bar

 

Posh Restaurant

[Batman5924]

Great pictures. We were on Freedom 2 weeks ago.  The Havana Bar is very beautiful but I never saw it open and it was almost hidden within the ship.  We got lost one day and walked through a random hallway and there was the Havana Bar.  It looked cool but nothing going on there.

 

My other complaint would be that I never saw the little bar on the serenity deck open.

 

overall, I like the setup of the Conquest Class ships.

[CruisinCrow]

Two Royal Caribbean ships anchored at Coco Cay

[quattrohead]

Thanks for the review, going on Freedom in a month with my kids.

[CruisinCrow]

3 minutes ago, Batman5924 said:

Great pictures. We were on Freedom 2 weeks ago.  The Havana Bar is very beautiful but I never saw it open and it was almost hidden within the ship.  We got lost one day and walked through a random hallway and there was the Havana Bar.  It looked cool but nothing going on there.

 

 

Yes, it's hard to find.  We were doing a "drink around the ship" challenge (having a drink at every bar) so when we accidentally found it, we went in and got our drink right away. 🙂  They have karaoke there and it's just opposite the Posh Restaurant entrance, which is also hard to find.  We ended up having to go up to go down on that ship a lot.  

[CruisinCrow]

4 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

Thanks for the review, going on Freedom in a month with my kids.

 

Have a great time!  There were lots of kids of all ages on our cruise.

[quattrohead]

There should be less in mid August because the local kids will be back in school, my northern kids are still on vacation !!!

Did you see the disco/nightclub ?

[Batman5924]

3 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Yes, it's hard to find.  We were doing a "drink around the ship" challenge (having a drink at every bar) so when we accidentally found it, we went in and got our drink right away. 🙂  They have karaoke there and it's just opposite the Posh Restaurant entrance, which is also hard to find.  We ended up having to go up to go down on that ship a lot.  

Exactly.  “Go up to go down”. I didn’t know they had karaoke there.  We’ll have to try it out next time.  We found out pretty quick that the 5th floor is the I-95 of the ship.

[CruisinCrow]

32 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

There should be less in mid August because the local kids will be back in school, my northern kids are still on vacation !!!

Did you see the disco/nightclub ?

 

I only saw it walking by.  We didn't go in but some of the people in my cruise Facebook group looked like they had fun there.  

[ProgRockCruiser]

59 minutes ago, Batman5924 said:

The Havana Bar is very beautiful but I never saw it open and it was almost hidden within the ship.  We got lost one day and walked through a random hallway and there was the Havana Bar.  It looked cool but nothing going on there.

 

52 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

Yes, it's hard to find.  We were doing a "drink around the ship" challenge (having a drink at every bar) so when we accidentally found it, we went in and got our drink right away. 🙂  They have karaoke there and it's just opposite the Posh Restaurant entrance, which is also hard to find.  We ended up having to go up to go down on that ship a lot.  

The Liberty has "the same" bar, the Cabinet Bar, and we found it by accident on our first night of our first cruise - also empty except for the two of us, so we got great bartender service!  And they did indeed do karaoke there at times.

 

It is a nice little gem of a bar, that "should" have more of a crowd from the pre- and post-dinner guests, but never did.  I guess because you can't really walk past it casually like you do on the Promenade deck - the (slightly hidden) side hallway takes you to the other dining room or Club O2 (on Freedom) or a random conference room (on Liberty).  And restrooms.  I assume similar layout on the other Conquest class ships...just checked, yup.

 

Hmph, now I want to book a cruise on that class of ship just so I can explore it again!

 

btw, it is the "Habana Bar" on Freedom, in case anyone is doing a text search.

[hapytobehr]

The Hub app is used for everything now.  I liked it for some things but not for others.  The new muster process is much better and I hope they keep doing it that way.  Using the app to check in at the restaurants was also a good change.  However, I did not like using the app for the dinner menus and I missed having a daily printed activities schedule.  I found I missed a lot of activities because it was hard to read everything scrolling down the phone.  I wish there was still a printed option for the menus and schedules.

 

 

On our last cruise if you wanted a printed menu they brought it to you if you asked.  Also, there were areas around the ship that have the printed schedule, i.e. , guest services, coffee bar, etc.

 

Did you ask?

[CruisinCrow]

11 minutes ago, hapytobehr said:

On our last cruise if you wanted a printed menu they brought it to you if you asked.  Also, there were areas around the ship that have the printed schedule, i.e. , guest services, coffee bar, etc.

 

Did you ask?

 

I did not see any at guest services and didn't want to stand in line to ask.  But next time I will ask the cabin steward.  I really missed the printed schedules.  I always scan and post them.  I'm sure it saves a ton a paper waste though.

[Knights on the Beach]

Thanks for posting your review - there's lots of great info and I'm only up to Nassau.  🙂  The wine blending class sounds like a fun thing to do!

[phoneman69]

So Enjoying your review to this point. Sailing the Freedom in Sept. With 60 days to go nice to hear about the ship. Decor seem to be all over the place but so looking forward to getting on a ship again with the multi level atrium and the glass elevators.

 

[mz-s]

I love the Conquest class of ships. I was on Freedom last year over Thanksgiving for a wonderful cruise to Aruba, Curacao, La Romana, and Amber Cove.

[TeresaJ]

We just got off Freedom this past Thursday, and I agree the debarkation process is a nightmare. I don't ever recall it being so bad on any other cruise. 

[2wheelin]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:39 AM, CruisinCrow said:

 

I did not see any at guest services and didn't want to stand in line to ask.  But next time I will ask the cabin steward.  I really missed the printed schedules.  I always scan and post them.  I'm sure it saves a ton a paper waste though.

Just to the left of GS is a ledge with the schedules. No need to stand in line.

Cabin service has been once a day for several years and is fine with us. Just need change of towels and make the bed.

Yes, debarkation on Carnival has become a mess. Express walk-off is not express but mixed in with all others. I can see how that may be more efficient for Carnival but most people who take their own bags expect to get off sooner that they can.

[CruisinCrow]

33 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Just to the left of GS is a ledge with the schedules. No need to stand in line.

Cabin service has been once a day for several years and is fine with us. Just need change of towels and make the bed.

Yes, debarkation on Carnival has become a mess. Express walk-off is not express but mixed in with all others. I can see how that may be more efficient for Carnival but most people who take their own bags expect to get off sooner that they can.

 

Our last cruise on Carnival was in 2018 so I'm sure some things have changed.  Post-pandemic, we've been on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.  There were supply chain issues and staff issues on the other cruises too.  On Celebrity, they had to keep shutting down the casino because all the dealers got quarantined. 🙂 But this was the only cruise where debarkation was such a fiasco and we only had one cabin service a day.  It was our first full ship though (the other two were about 60% full) so I'm sure that affected things.  Hopefully Carnival will work on these problems and get more staff back.

 

I'll check guest services for the schedules next time.

[CruisinCrow]

1 hour ago, TeresaJ said:

We just got off Freedom this past Thursday, and I agree the debarkation process is a nightmare. I don't ever recall it being so bad on any other cruise. 

 

Right?  I thought maybe there was a TSA agent shortage but Port Canaveral has facial recognition kiosks.  I have no idea why it took 2 hours to get us off the ship.

[CruisinCrow]

On 7/15/2022 at 11:49 AM, cruisemom2 said:

Thanks for posting your review - there's lots of great info and I'm only up to Nassau.  🙂  The wine blending class sounds like a fun thing to do!

 

We really enjoyed the wine blending.  It would be a blast to do with a group of friends but it was nice having the class to ourselves too.  You can try as many blends as you want and the instructor even offered to bring some more wines to taste and blend, but we were happy with our two attempts.

 

The only disadvantage is that when you get back on the ship, they confiscate your wine and you have to pick it up on the last morning.

[jcsarette]

Did they throw a White Hot Night Party on the 4 day cruise?