Carnival Freedom Review

Carnival Freedom 10/13/2014 -- Skirtin' the edge of Hurricane Gonzalo!

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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Pellaz
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Oct 2014
Cabin: Interior

This was my fourth cruise on Carnival and fifth overall; I sailed with my sister, who is retired due to medical issues. We drove down from Atlanta before the cruise and used a "stay-cruise-park free" option at the Quality Inn FLL South in Dania Beach. As promised, parking and the port shuttle were free (BOTH directions) with one night's stay...a great deal!

We were both pleased with the ship and its crew, and our only problems with this cruise stemmed from issues related to the embarkation port, Ft. Lauderdale. We had Carnival's Faster to the Fun (FTTF) program, and it worked fine EXCEPT that the luggage porters failed to place the orange FTTF Priority tags on our luggage...so they arrived after muster drill at 4 pm when they are supposed to be expedited to the cabin. I mentioned the missing luggage to Guest Services and, to their credit, they refunded the cost of the FTTF program ($50 per stateroom), unasked, even though it wasn't Carnival's fault. VERY cool.

The other "port" problem was at debark, which took over an hour waiting in lines both on the ship and then shoreside to process through Customs. Various reasons have been proposed online including additional scrutiny caused by drugs found in luggage, but the process took almost two hours. Then the layout of Port Everglades took its toll, since shuttle buses have to drop off passengers first, then circle back around to pick up departing passengers. A true disaster, but again, not of Carnival's making.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 4G

A small cabin, but adequate for our needs. The room got a lot more navigable AFTER we stowed the luggage under the beds. As usual, Carnival had ignored our request to have the beds separated and we found them together, but the steward (Allan, whose service was good) had them separated before bedtime the first night. Ventilation was adequate and the room was comfortable. Great location, on Lido Deck just past the atrium lobby, nice and close to pools, good food and (for my sister) the smoking area on Panorama Deck 10.

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