Carnival Freedom Review

Carnival Freedom - Eastern Mediterranean

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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cruiser1991
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Mar 2007

My experience on this ship was primarily a negative one. A co-worker and I shared a interior cabin. She is in her late 20's I am in my early 40's. The medium age on this ship was close to 60. Although we requested two twin beds when we arrived we had a double bed. This was corrected immediately and I have to say that for the most part the service we received was good. Most of the staff was friendly and polite however since this was a new ship they really didn't know where anything was on the ship so we spent a great deal of time on the first day getting wrong directions or information. On the positive side the price we paid ($699) was good for a nine night cruise and the tours were comprehensive and interesting. On the negative side the food was horrible, the activities while in port were practically nonexistent, the spa overcharged for services, the purser refused to take American Express travelers check card and to get to the internet room you have to pass through the smoking room. I am not what you would call a picky eater but the food was just bad it was luke warm (never hot), bland, lacking in variety and tasted like it had been on the ship for awhile. For example the lamb chops were gray, the baked potato's chunky, steaks thin and tough, Caesar salad watery and the pate was wrapped in butter. I noticed that the deserts offered at the coffee bar (not included in meal package) were very good and there was plenty of variety but you had to pay for food at the coffee bar because it was not included in your cruise package. There were different prices charged for the same drink depending on where you purchased it. In the dinning room you didn't get much for your money. I purchased a glass of wine and was given a large glass that was filled only to about 1/3 of the glass. In the disco I got a least a half a glass of wine. By the end of the cruise I limited what I ate to boiled eggs and fruit in the morning and cold sandwiches at dinner. I lost weight on this cruise because the food was so bad I stopped eating it. The decor on the ship was bad (except in the staterooms) but the layout was even worse. You couldn't go from one end of the ship to other on some floors so if you were on one end of the ship you had to go up or down a level to get to the other end. To access the internet cafe you had to go through the cigar room or enter from the outside eitherway the room was always filled with smoke.

The spa prices were high for what you got and the jucuzzi inside the spa only sat 4 people. There were other jucuzzi's but they were outside or at the other end of the ship. The activities director pushed the most expensive tours and there didn't seem to be much thought into planning more (better) activities for port days. On the next to last day of the cruise I tried to pay my cruise tab with my AX travelers check card it is a prepaid card that is to be used like travelers checks. It looks like a credit card in every way except it does not have the owner's name embossed on the card although there is a place on the back for your signature. The pursers desk refused to take the card eventhough they could have called to verify authorization the same way they do for other credit cards. I was told that if I could get cash using the card from the atm (the atm charged $5.50 for usage) I could pay my bill that way.

The ship aside I enjoyed my trip to Europe. Venice and Rome were fantastic, Greece was great and I loved Ephesus in Turkey. I can't speak for Croatia because I didn't get off the ship. I took a tour at almost every port and I enjoyed them all. I would highly recommend spending the money to do the tours so that you get the most of your visit. I would never cruise on Carnival again however I am glad I took this cruise. There is just no comparison to Royal Caribbean in either the food, service, activities or layout. In fact this cruise made me appreciate RCL even more and realized that a low priced cruise doesn't equal value.

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