Carnival Freedom Review
First Cruise Ever and Had the Times of our Lives
Rating by category
Additional details
This was the first cruise that my wife and I have ever been on. She is 52 and I am 54. Our travel agent suggested this cruise and ship based on what we were looking for and being first time cruisers.
We flew down from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale the day prior and stayed at the Bahia Mar, which is about a mile north of the port. Due to Tropical Storm Debby we had a lot of wind and it was overcast. Not much rain, but there were rain squalls the whole time we were in town. Hotel was nice for being on the beach and they had a nice walking bridge that went over the major road to get to the beach. It was nice to be able to leave your room and be on the beach in minutes. Highly recommend staying at this hotel due to this feature. They have a breakfast buffet that is very nice also.
Carnival delayed the boarding times from 12:00 to 1:30 and sent an email out the afternoon before, probably due to the weather. We got to the board before 2:00 and left our bags with the porter and started the boarding process. There were lines, but they went very quickly and we were so excited and it showed. Once you dropped your bags, you moved inside and did not have to go outside again, so this was very nice due to the storms. It was so windy that it blew one of the walkway covers clean off.
Cabin Review
Aft-View Extended Balcony
We stayed in 8457, which is an extended aft balcony cabin. It is on the corner and I believe we had a little more balcony as a result. The rooms were all the same size. More then enough room. Besides the king size bed, we had a couch, with two draws underneath. We stowed our suitcases under our beds. Two closets to hang clothes and they had lots of hangers already. One closet with shelves. We also had a little table to put things on as well as a sitting station to put makeup on with tons of drawers. We did not lack storage space. Bathroom was adequate. Single sink with full mirror and six shelves to put toiletries. Small toilet and single shower, but they were more the adequate for our needs. We will book this from now on.