Carnival Freedom Review

Fantastic Med Cruise

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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gelateria
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2008
Traveled with children

Great company, fantastic private tours, superb cabins, perfect itinerary, sunny skies ... what more could you ask for? Three families were celebrating the high school graduation of their sons who had spent 4 years together on their high school debate team. The 10 of us consisted of 6 adults, 3 18-year old boys, and 1 16-yr old girl. The trip provided something for everyone, and a perfect memory to the boys before they went off to university. Excuse me for this stream of consciousness rambling and the grammatical errors. I'm getting ready for the holidays but wanted to finish this before I forgot the details, so I'm writing this fast ... Let me first say that I am not at all related to any of the hotels, restaurants, or tour guides/transportation companies listed in this review. I live near San Francisco. Happy holidays, everyone.

FOOD/PRICE: We had traveled on two Princess Cruises (Grand Mediterranean & Baltic)previously. The cuisine on the Princess Cruises greatly surpassed that of the Carnival Freedom. However, the cost of the Princess Cruises were also twice as much. Food on the Freedom was slightly above average. Nothing special except for some chocolate molten cake that was to die for. We did not reserve at any of the specialty restaurants. BTW, this Carnival Cruises was very affordable. All 3 families have to somehow pay for private college, and we were thankful to be able to have a Mediterranean cruise at such a great price! My family of 3 booked our frequent flier flights as soon as the flights opened up (about 330 days in advance) so we were able to save approximately $4500 on air. The euro was at approx. 1.61 to the dollar when we traveled so we did not purchase very many things, particularly since the itinerary was very port-intensive and we were saving our money for the tours.

CABINS: Our group booked 4 cabins. We were able to upgrade about 1 month before departure for 3 balcony cabins at the rear of the ship. These were incredibly spacious. It was worth the extra expense, particularly when entering Dubrovnik (wake up early to see the entrance into the bay) & Venice (start watching around 11:00am). The views were spectacular. The rear cabins, which allowed for a 180 degree view, were 7442 (Empress at corner), 6485 & 6487 (Upper). Cabins 6485 & 6487 were adjacent and accommodated 3 from one family and next door were the 3 teenage boys. (Note: when registering, "officially" one adult had to be registered in the same room as the boys; you have to go to the pursers desk later to figure out the card keys for the real people staying in the cabin). The balcony exterior door between the 2 cabins on the upper deck could be opened to pass through. What a highlight for all 10 of us to enter Venice together viewing it from the upper balcony rear deck. The balcony accommodated all 10 of us and the views were spectacular. We had lunch (not very good) delivered to the cabin. I was confined to my cabin for >24 hours due to suspected "norovirus" because I asked for immodium. Always travel with immodium. It helped to have the balcony.

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