Carnival Freedom Review- Eastern Caribbean

[dizneydawn]

Wow, thanks for all the details! Can't wait for more!

[4kidsplusty]

keep it coming. I look foward to receiving messages saying there's another post. it's making so excited for our 1st cruise in aug. your pic are great

[jrmende63]

Paul,

The cabin you refer to that had the bad noise problem, would you happen to know the cabin number? Hubster and I have cabin 6438 port. I am worried that this might be the same cabin you are refering to.

We have late dinner and usually go to the shows but I don't want to be kept up later due to lounge music.

Thanks for the pics and your review. I am anxious for ours to get here!

Julie

[PaulMedik]

We had our boys booked in a 4C interior room just down the hall (6444);

 

 

 

They really enjoyed the room and said they could hear the lounge music, but it wasn't as loud and didn't vibrate like in the balcony room across from them.

 

Here's a pic of what they were watching (I have no idea what it was);

 

 

This pic shows there room on the left and our room at the end of the hall. On the deck plan it looks farther than what it really is as you can see;

 

 

Here's a pic of the deck cam shown on our TV (I wish the internet cam was updated like the TV cam)

 

 

Before we went to our room I nearly went to sleep floating in the midship pool on Lido;

 

 

Karen was sound asleep on our balcony when the Celebrity Galaxy sounded it's horn for sail away. She nearly flew off the ship and came running in the door asking what that was. I was laughing way to hard to take pictures of her;

 

[jrmende63]

I guess we could always use a 300 OBC if it is the same cabin.

[jrmende63]

Since you posted the cabin your boys were in...I deduced that we are the next cabin up..so I guess we are in for some noise. I could move but I love the aft cabins.

[PaulMedik]

Since you posted the cabin your boys were in...I deduced that we are the next cabin up..so I guess we are in for some noise. I could move but I love the aft cabins.

 

jrmende63,

 

6442 was the noisy cabin. It's an 8A with an extra long balcony. The noise wasn't so bad as the vibration that went along with it. My boys room had no vibration and the noise was considerably less than 6442. The noise in my boys cabin didn't warrant asking for an OBC.

 

My guess is that the stairwell adjacent to 6442 allowed the noise and vibration to permeate more. The folks next to us in 6450 didn't mention it so their's must have been better insulated.

 

The next cabin up may be over a different area and may be less noisy.

 

 

[cruisebie]

Paul, I'm really enjoying your review and pictures. I can't wait to read the rest! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!:)

[PaulMedik]

Here's my first picture of sail away. What's wrong with this picture?

 

 

What's wrong is that we were stuck in Muster drill during sailaway! The muster was nearly over and I noticed we were moving. I told the crew member in front of me that we were moving and she shook her head no and said we don't do muster drill during sail away. I said 'well we're moving so...'

 

She waited a minute or so then apparently felt the movement and looked out side and she turned back around and said 'we are moving!' I said 'I know we are, we are half way out now.' She then had my youngest son move up to the lifeboat boarding area and look out to see the sights. He hadn't made any issue with the sail away so it was an extra nice gesture on her part to allow him to see out. A fellow crew member came back and asked why he was up there and she said we're moving and the other crew member looked out too and realized we were moving. It's frustrating to miss that part of a cruise, but it's gratifying to see the crew share our feeling when we weren't making a big issue of it. Their empathy in that regard is commendable.

 

After muster we made our way back to our cabin to return the vests. We had planned on going up on deck nine above the bridge where we always go but instead we stayed on our own deck. It was the begining of many times we stayed on our deck instead of on the main decks.

 

Here's some more pics of sailaway;

 

 

The coast guard boats circled us more than normal;

 

 

 

 

Other folks on the aft section also stayed on their balconies;

 

[PaulMedik]

The Fisher Island Ferry launched after we went by and followed us out of the Cut;

 

 

We passed the ruturn Ferry going the opposite direction;

 

 

 

We also missed Triumph sailing away and I was hoping for some good pics of that from the top of the bridge. They were docked in front of us;

 

 

Here's a pic of the ongoing contruction at the port mouth. I hope they have it done soon as it will be beautiful;

 

 

The clouds in this picture are deceiving because it was a beautiful day to sail;

 

[PaulMedik]

More pics of the port mouth construction;

 

 

View up South Beach from the ship. We'll be there tomorrow taking pics of Valor and the other ships;

 

 

 

Triumph sill leading us out to sea;

 

 

 

It looks like Bryson has been to the grill again;

 

[PaulMedik]

One last pic of the port and then we were off to the CC meet & greet (was supposed to meet after sailaway)

 

 

We met on Panorama outside of the fish and chips area on the open deck. Can you tell it was windy?

 

 

After the meet & greet we went back down to the room and found bags two, three, and four had arrived;

 

We had no choice but to go to dinner in our boarding clothes which were also swimsuits so I didn't take any pictures other than of our dessert which we had EVERY evening;

 

 

After dinner we made our way up on deck nine above the bridge where we had planned to be during sail away. The first pic here is of the secret door which is on the port side of deck nine;

 

 

And once through the secret door you can see the door to the deck;

 

[PaulMedik]

I got one pic down the port side then we went to the starboard side and nearly got blown off the ship. I weigh 230lb and I had to get down on my hands and crab walk back to the other side of the deck it was so windy. My youngest was with me and he was a bit freaked out over the whole ordeal. Luckily with his height he didn't really feel the wind as bad, but I assure you I did feel it and I didn't like that feeling!

 

 

We promptly left the forward deck and made our way back to main Lido area;

 

 

Britt asked to stop by and pose by the Statue of Liberty;

 

After the busy day with boarding and touring the ship we turned in around midnight. Prior to turning in I made my customary donation to the BlackJack dealers.

 

I'm also going to turn in for tonight. We're staying at the Intercontinental in Miami tonight and at the Royal Palm on South Beach tomorrow night. We had a great day today eating at the Bayside Market and catching the sights in this area. I'll get those pics uploaded and posted ASAP.

 

Good night all and thanks for reading and viewing! :)

[bubbles1209]

Quench,

 

We didn't have any problems. It didn't all fit in the trunk, but Victor put some up front and we had one in the back with us I think.

 

When we booked they offered an upgrade to a 7 pax SUV so the luggage would fit. I declined the upgrade and told them we wanted the stretch limo only. There was a note on the confirmation online that stated stretch limo only, no SUV upgrade. I told them it was for my boys and I wanted them to experience a limo and they understood.

 

My wife's Ford Expedition EL is nine pax with all the options and my boys ride it every day so an SUV wouldn't have been an upgrade for us.

Dang, doesn't look like we'll be able to do the stretch, there will be 8 of us, and I know the 4 of us will have 6 or 7 bags between us, that's not counting the other 4 in the family we are meeting up with at the airport in Atlanta.:(

This will be the 1st time my SO has seen his DD in over 10 years, was hoping to surprise them with that, doesn't look like the luggage thing will let us.

[Wennfred]

Good Job Paul, totally loving it.

 

Thanks for the awesome pictures. They bring me back the ship.

 

 

 

Fred

[Hurricane Girl]

We will be sailing in May out of Miami on Triumph. This is the first time out of this port. Where would you suggest the perfect place to be during sailaway for the best view of Miami?

 

Did they do the chocolate buffet during one of the days on this cruise? When we went on the Glory they had it and I loved it!!

 

Thanks for doing this review and posting all of the pics.!!!

[seaweed5]

I love your review and pictures! I am shocked by the porter's behavior at the Miami cruise terminal. Did the rest of your luggage arrive intact? I think I will just wheel the luggage on myself if I get that kind of attitude when I board the Freedom next week.

[Wennfred]

We will be sailing in May out of Miami on Triumph. This is the first time out of this port. Where would you suggest the perfect place to be during sailaway for the best view of Miami?

 

Did they do the chocolate buffet during one of the days on this cruise? When we went on the Glory they had it and I loved it!!

 

You will love Miami, if you can get there a day or 2 ahead, check out South Beach and also Bayside Market.

 

To me the best spot to see the beautiful homes as the ship leaves and also South Beach is the Port side, extreme aft on Deck 10. So go way back on Lido Deck and then take the stairs up on the left side.

 

They had the Chocolate Buffet on Saturday around 3pm or so, it was right next to the Mongolian Grill.

 

 

Fred

[Hurricane Girl]

You will love Miami, if you can get there a day or 2 ahead, check out South Beach and also Bayside Market.

 

To me the best spot to see the beautiful homes as the ship leaves and also South Beach is the Port side, extreme aft on Deck 10. So go way back on Lido Deck and then take the stairs up on the left side.

 

They had the Chocolate Buffet on Saturday around 3pm or so, it was right next to the Mongolian Grill.

 

 

Fred

 

Thank you!!!

We will be getting there on Fri. morning. Me and my DH have been to Miami before for a vac. without the kids and we love it there. The rest that is going with us have never been.

 

I am so HAPPY to know that the Choc. buffet is still there!!!

 

Thanks again!! I am watching for your pics. to be posted on here too. I truely loved your live review!!

[bguppies]

Thanks for the extremely detailed review and great pictures.

It is greatly appreciated by all of us awaiting our upcoming Freedom cruises.

 

Bill

[gail811]

We have been on cruises with fellow CC members that booked 9A cabins who were active in the roll call before the cruise and then we never saw them at all. We now know why we never saw them! The wrap balcony is too hard to stay away from. We normally book balcony cabins on Panorama because it's convenient to everything, but with our aft wrap, we didn't go to nearly as many things as we used to. Our balcony made this cruise totally different from our other cruises.

 

We had no noise at all from the lounge downstairs nor from our neighbors. On the last night I talked with folks in the 8A two doors down from us on the side and their room was very loud. I went in and listened to the lounge music from below and it was so loud it vibrated their room. They received a $300 OBC due to the noise and I'd say they were owed more. I would have had to sleep on my balcony if it was that loud in my room.

 

We had no trash on our balcony from the open decks above nor did we have any soot or ash from the engines.

 

It was really a little too nice back there; so nice that we spent most of our time back there instead of on the ship like normal!

 

 

HA HA! Are you talking about us Paul ;) Glad you loved the cabin. The noise issue in the cabins down from us on the Glory last year is the reason we moved up a deck this year. The noise did not bother us at all, but my girlfriend experience the same thing you described and she was only two doors down! This year we had a total of 7 cabins so the Empress deck worked well; no noise issues.

 

I am loving your review....you do such an amazing job! It is fun seeing how much your boys have grown too! Can't wait for the rest of it!

[pe4all]

Paul -

Thanks so much for this thread. Between you and Fred, I am jumping out of my skin to board on Saturday! We loved the Freedom, and your pictures are wonderful. Keep those posts coming...

[cruiser82]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. I have my first Carnival cruise on the Freedom in June so I'm really enjoying seeing your pictures and reading the review at the same time. It looks like everyone had lots of fun. Looking forward to reading more!

[sheri18]

great review...cant wait to read more.....we have 3 DS's too....and now to DIL....boy does time fly....

[gypsyrose]

Paul, thank you so much. I LOVE picture reviews. They are the BEST. We always stay on the panorama deck in a balcony and some folks from our roll call have a 9a and someone else has one of those rooms next to it, whatever it is called. The bigger balcony and cabin for the same price of a balcony. I am thinking we may be booking 1 of those for our next cruise. Couple of ????? How private was your deck? When you took a pic of the others on their aft balcony it looked like you were hanging out there for the whole world to see:confused: I like to sit out there after a shower w/ robe on or whatever and would hate if people could see. What about vibration from the thrusters? Was this ever a problem? I LOVE to watch the wake and can see why w/ that view and that huge balcony you never went anywhere else. But, I guess you get your $$$ worth that way.