|
Based on reviews I read here, I pre-booked parking at Park n Go. Great location to the port, and easy to find, even though the 595 was under heavy construction. It was affordable and after our trip they gave us water bottles as we pulled out to leave - nice touch.
The boarding process went very quickly - no lines. We even missed the "boarding photos" which was fine. We just made the lunch buffet on the Lido deck.
Rooms were ready and luggage was delivered by the time we got back from Muster. Rooms were clean and the stewards were always responsive and helpful.
Ship had very strange (UGLY) decor. Very gaudy and not at all relaxing. The worst might have been the scary statue of liberty floating heads in the Lido restaurant. Or maybe the horrible fake orange/black wood grain paneling. Or maybe the awful, awful fake red/black snake skin wallpaper in the Posh dining room. Every room had a different theme and every room was ugly.
The layout of the ship was awkward - with the Posh & Chic dining rooms closing off 1/2 the ship - often you had to go up/down floors to get forward or aft.
The food in the Posh was so-so, steak was not good quality, the cold soups all tasted liked smoothies and the seafood was meh. The service was exceptional. The vegetarian options were sparse - but our picky vegetarian made due and our service team worked very hard to accommodate her. Food in Lido was pretty good. We enjoyed the Tandoor and the Wok a lot.
We went to one show - a Beatles review - it was odd. Very sexy costumes and dancing. But the singing was okay. We also enjoyed one night in the comedy club.
Had two appointments in the spa, Mother/Daughter pedicure and a deep tissue massage. The pedicure was fine. The massage was okay - the treatment room was way too small. The spa was not relaxing. The atmosphere was stark and shiny - trying to be cutting edge with bad euro-pop music and hard edges.
We participated in many trivia's and other inside activities - they were fun and well run. The entertainment staff was friendly and funny.
Our favorite thing to do was to sit in the hot tub after dinner and watch the 10pm movie on the big screen on the lido deck. Ice Cream, popcorn, pina coladas, and movies - it was awesome.
Getting off the boat took forever due to some issues with customs. Many people missed their flights.
Overall a great trip. We would book Carnival again - just for the affordable cost alone, especially if we were taking the kids. I wouldn't go on the Freedom again, it was so ugly, I couldn't stand it.
|
