Mini Review of Carnival Freedom 1-17-2009

[denisey]

Carnival Freedom January 17-25, 2009

 

Here is my review of our recent Carnival Freedom Exotic Western Caribbean cruise. This was our 13th cruise, the 11th on Carnival.

 

We did not go to any shows, art auctions, karaoke, the disco, piano bar, sushi or afternoon teas, so I can’t comment on those

 

Since we live on the West Coast, we decided to fly to Florida a couple of days early, just in case. Our flights were smooth and on time, so we spent a couple of days in Key West.

 

We left Key West at 7:30 on the day of the cruise and returned out rental car to the Fort Lauderdale airport. We grabbed a cab and were at the port by noon.

 

We are Platinum, so we had VIP embarkation. We heard after we got on the ship that there is a VIP line outside the terminal. We didn’t see any signs (and weren’t looking for them) so we waited in the regular line to enter the terminal. It went fairly quickly, so that wasn’t a problem. This was the first time since Carnival started the FunPass that we had to show it to anyone. Once we got in the terminal, we zipped through security and check in, then off for our embarkation photo and on the ship! We were onboard at about 12:30.

 

Our Cabin: We booked this trip over a year ago and got one of the coveted 9A wrap balcony cabins. We had cabin 8455. This was our fifth time in a wrap balcony, and we like the cabin and balcony better on deck 8 (we’ve been on deck 7 twice and deck 8 three times now). The balcony had 2 loungers, 2 reclining chairs, 2 regular chairs and 2 tables. There was room for more! We had a dozen people on our balcony at one point, with plenty of room. The room itself is triangle shaped and does not have a couch. It was plenty big enough for us.

 

After we got off the ship, we heard that they played a lot of the inauguration on the Lido deck and that there were a lot of rude/complaining passengers. This is one of the beauties of the 9A, we just hung out on our deck with the people we wanted to be around!

 

I’ve heard a lot of comments on the décor of this ship. I don’t think it is the prettiest Carnival ship (Liberty and Pride win that prize from me), but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There are Statue of Liberty Heads all over the Lido deck buffet, which is odd. There is also some odd red and orange snakeskin wallpaper and funny tri-colored paneling, but we got used to it, especially as this is our second time on the ship.

 

We had late dinner in the Chic dining room. Our Waiter, Sergio was great. Overall, the food was really good in the dining room. The lobster on formal night was perfect. Some of the beef dishes were a little tough, but overall, we enjoyed the food. We did most breakfasts and lunches on the lido deck. It was standard buffet food. They did have someone going around with a cart to refill drinks. That was a nice touch.

 

We did go to the Super Club once. I know I am in the minority, but I just wasn’t overly impressed. I think the staff was stretched too far. No one offered us cocktails. It took a while for them to give us menus an take our order. When we got our food, no one came back to check on us. My lobster in the Super Club was WAY overcooked. I would have sent it back, but by the time they collected our plates, I didn’t want another one. It was a fun experience because of the friends we went with, but I don’t think it is worth the extra money.

 

Our first stop was in Cozumel. We went to Paradise Beach in the morning. It is really nice, clean and we were well tended. The girls then caught a cab and did some shopping in the afternoon. There were only 2 ships in port, so the crowds were minimal. It was easy to catch a cab, but harder to avoid the hawkers in front of each store.

 

The last time we were in Cozumel was right after it was wiped out by a hurricane (Rita?) and it has really bounced back nicely.

 

Our stop in Costa Rica was cancelled due to a medical emergency. A man had a heart attack after we left Cozumel, and we had to divert to Roatan to drop him off. The captain tried to get permission for us to go to Roatan instead, but they already had a ship in port and couldn’t handle us. I feel the captain and staff did a good job of keeping us informed. Apparently the man who was evacuated is improving. I wish him the best on his recovery.

 

We then stopped in Colon Panama. Most of our group did the Panama Canal tour. We took a bus to the Canal and rode a ferry through 2 locks to the Pacific Ocean. We then took a bus back to the ship. The Panama Canal was amazing to see in person. A good thing to note on this tour is that the buses do not have bathrooms. It was close to a 2-hour drive each way, so be prepared.

 

There were 800 people who took this tour. We were supposed to meet at the Victoriana Lounge at 6:45. That was sheer pandemonium. There was no Carnival person directing traffic, and they wanted all the guest to use the port side doors. After about a half hour, we got our stickers and waited for our number to be called. This could have been handled better!

 

Because of the large number of passengers taking this tour, they had 3 ferries. We got the smallest ferry. The PA system didn’t work, the engine was loud and there were only 2 restrooms (with difficult doors to close). Even with these problems, we had a great tour and enjoyed our trip. The guides tried to make up for the broken PA system by going from group to group to give us information. We did have a representative from the Shore Excursion desk on our boat. He did not feel the circumstances were right, and took everyone’s name and cabin number. He did a fabulous job of keeping us posted and got the vendor to agree to give us half our money back.

 

We got back to the ship in time to do a little shopping at the stores in port. They were mostly souvenir shops, so we didn’t buy much.

 

Over all we had a great cruise. The staff was very friendly and greeted us every time we went by. I think the staff had been stretch pretty far, and we did not have time to talk to either our room steward or waiter much. It seemed that drink waiters were fewer, and we often went to the bar to get a drink. I actually left the gift shop once, because there was no one to assist me. The silver ware on the Lido deck is now in a stack at the front of the food lines. I actually like this better than when they used to keep it on the tables.

 

Since we are now Platinum, we did get our 2 thermoses. We also got a plate of unappetizers one night, they just didn’t appeal to us. We got a plate of cookies another night. We didn’t need anything from the pursers desk, so didn’t use the short line there. We waited with our friends to get off the ship, so didn’t bother with priority debarkation.

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed your review..........Sorry that you missed Costa Rica............:(

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

Our Cabin: We booked this trip over a year ago and got one of the coveted 9A wrap balcony cabins. We had cabin 8455. This was our fifth time in a wrap balcony, and we like the cabin and balcony better on deck 8 (we’ve been on deck 7 twice and deck 8 three times now). The balcony had 2 loungers, 2 reclining chairs, 2 regular chairs and 2 tables. There was room for more! We had a dozen people on our balcony at one point, with plenty of room. The room itself is triangle shaped and does not have a couch. It was plenty big enough for us.

 

...

 

Gotta love those aft corners! Deck 6 is our favorite :)

 

...

 

We did go to the Super Club once. I know I am in the minority, but I just wasn’t overly impressed. I think the staff was stretched too far. No one offered us cocktails. It took a while for them to give us menus an take our order. When we got our food, no one came back to check on us. My lobster in the Super Club was WAY overcooked. I would have sent it back, but by the time they collected our plates, I didn’t want another one. It was a fun experience because of the friends we went with, but I don’t think it is worth the extra money.

...

 

We have eaten in Carnival supper clubs dozens of times, for the most part - it's been great. There have been exceptions...

 

...

 

There were 800 people who took this tour. We were supposed to meet at the Victoriana Lounge at 6:45. That was sheer pandemonium. There was no Carnival person directing traffic, and they wanted all the guest to use the port side doors. After about a half hour, we got our stickers and waited for our number to be called. This could have been handled better!

 

...

 

How many times does Carnival have to do this before they LEARN how to handle the masses??? :rolleyes:

 

...

Since we are now Platinum, we did get our 2 thermoses. We also got a plate of unappetizers one night, they just didn’t appeal to us. We got a plate of cookies another night. We didn’t need anything from the pursers desk, so didn’t use the short line there. We waited with our friends to get off the ship, so didn’t bother with priority debarkation.

 

COOKIES??? Bring me COOKIES instead of the canapes and petits fours !!! I would love that!

 

Glad you had a good time - heading there next weekend - I hope we make it back to Costa Rica, it's at the top of our list for this sailing!

 

Tom

[denisey]

Glad you had a good time - heading there next weekend - I hope we make it back to Costa Rica, it's at the top of our list for this sailing!

 

Tom

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you make it to CR. Our gratious tour guide that we had to cancel with told me he knew God would bring me to Costa Rica soon!

 

Have a fun cruise!

[LizaMM]

Thanks for your review!

[cruisinbuddy]

We were on the same cruise. This was the second leg of a b2b for us. We were on deck 8 also, forward, 8244. Did you feel much vibration from the engines? I just looked at the deck plans, and that's one big a$$ balcony. We had a great time too. We were thinking of doing the supper club but decided that the food in the dining room was good enough. Actually none of the 6 of us had any complaints. Well except my brother, almost every meal he ordered had peas on the plate. :D

[denisey]

We were on the same cruise. This was the second leg of a b2b for us. We were on deck 8 also, forward, 8244. Did you feel much vibration from the engines? I just looked at the deck plans, and that's one big a$$ balcony. We had a great time too. We were thinking of doing the supper club but decided that the food in the dining room was good enough. Actually none of the 6 of us had any complaints. Well except my brother, almost every meal he ordered had peas on the plate. :D

 

Yup, big a$$ balcony!

 

When we were on the same ship in April for a TransAltantic cruise, the captain was at 22 knots almost the whole trip. I'm convinced he did power slides into each one of the ports. We felt a lot more movement and vibrations on that trip than any other time we've been in the back. It was especially noticeable when approaching port.

 

Our friends had the opposite corner and are trying to figure out how they are going to go back to a regular balcony for their next cruise.

 

This time, it wasn't bad at all. We knew we were on a moving ship, but it was more of a gentle rocking.

 

Now that you mention it, there were a lot of peas! Good thing I like them!

[cruising forever]

Denise:

 

Good to "see" you again!!!! Congrats on making Platinum..........btw, sometimes, we give our Platinum debark tags away (if one of our friends is in a particular hurry) and sometimes we get extras so we can all go together.....I didn't know if you knew that you could do that. I almost have a service for 12 in the Concierge Club thermos thingees; hope they change the gift soon!