Carnival Freedom Review

Carnival Management: First (& last) impressions count!

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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Boomer47
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: May 2009
Traveled with children

This was my 7th cruise, the 1st with Carnival.  I traveled with my daughter and 2 grandchildren.  We chose Carnival because my daughter had read good things about their kid's club and when you're traveling with a 6 & 10 yr. old, it's important to have something to occupy their busy hands and minds!  We drove from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale the day before and stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66.  Room was on the 11th floor, plenty of space with 2 queen beds and a balcony with a great view of the intercoastal and the Gulf of Mexico.  If I had to do it over, I would request a garden marina room, as they are around the pool (a beautiful area) and would be much easier with kids who want to use the pool all the time.  But absolutely no complaints about the hotel.  Got up Sun. morning, took the kids to breakfast and headed for Port Everglades.  We arrived around 12:30, dropped off our luggage and parked the car at the adjoining garageeasy.  Then the hard stuff began:  when we saw the line for embarkation, I knew we were in trouble.  We walked and walked to find the end of the line.  Why Carnival gives a 2 hour window (12:30-2:30) for the embarkation of 3,400 people is beyond my comprehension.  Other cruise lines get it right (& they even own them!), why can't they?  We waited over 2 hours to get on the ship, outside in 85+ degree heat, with threatening rain clouds.  First, I have never waited 2 hours to get on any ship; second, if I had to wait it was inside a terminal with air conditioning.  Let's get Carnival's Board of Directors to wait in line 2 hours outside in the heat like a bunch of cattle and see if there aren't some changes made.  I've read that cruise management reads these critiques.  Listen up, Carnival management:  there has to be some serious improvements made regarding embarkation or no one with any sense will ever come back.Once that complete indignity was over with, we were on the ship and went straight to our cabin.  We had a balcony cabin on deck 6, quite comfortable with 3 twin beds and a bunk that pulled out of the wall.  My grandson (6) opted for the bunk, and we were all very happy to let him have it!  The ship is the biggest I have ever been on and we ran into the "you can't get there from here" dilemma more than several times, but after a couple of days it became easier to find our way around.  I still prefer the ambience of a smaller ship, but this was all about the kids and if they were happy, so was I.  The Freedom is still new enough to be in great shape a little gaudy but what the heck, Carnival caters to families with kids, and kids like colorful!  Food was totally satisfactory.  I don't expect a chef who has to cook for 3,400 people to give us gourmet.  Just make it tasty, and it was.  My grandson gave an A+ to the pizza in the dining room, but not to the pizza on the Lido deck.  My daughter and I did visit the Sun King specialty restaurant one night, and it was good but not great.  A suggestion to the chef:  if a little sherry makes the lobster bisque good, a lot of sherry does not make it better.  Service in the dining room was excellent, and our waiters (Allan & Sean) made an effort every time to entertain the kids and make sure they had everything they wanted.  Good job guys!We only saw one show and it was a Beatles tributethe kids loved it and that's all that matters.  We didn't take any ship excursions, preferring to explore on our own.  In Key West, we rented an electric car ($110 for 5 hours) and went all over the placekids loved it and so did we.  In Grand Cayman, we got a cab to Royal Palm Beach and it was beautiful, but a little crowded since there were 6 ships in port.  Next time, I might look into a hotel day pass.  In Ocho Rios, we went tubing on the White River and the kids told us it was the most fun they had on the whole trip, although the Carnival pool slide was a close second!On the last day, docking in Ft. Lauderdale was the noisiest I have ever experienced.  We were awakened at 5:50 a.m., so we all got ready and went up to the Lido deck to get coffee and breakfast around 7.  Came back to the cabin and sat waiting to get called to disembark.  Around 7:30, they called all with "self assist" luggage to begin disembarking on 0 deck (yes, there is a 0 deck!).  About 45 min. later they announced that 0 deck was closed and everyone with "self assist" luggage should go to deck 3 and the gangway.  At 9:00 a.m. we were still in our room waiting to be called.  Try this with 2 children who have been awake since 6:00 a.m.  We made a command decision to go down to deck 3 and see what was happening.  Everyone on the ship who wasn't "self assist" was therea complete zoo!  I did a little reconnaissance and found out where the "self assist" people were getting off and we immediately became "self assist".  In 15 minutes, we were off the ship, got our luggage and a porter to take us to the parking garage.  I'm not encouraging ignoring the rules, but listen again Carnival management:  you have the same problem getting off the ship as you do getting on.  In summary, I would say that if you are a family with children and don't mind waiting in line, this is a good cruise.  If you are adults without children, don't even consider this.  The adult pool has children running around all over the placebut they aren't in the pool!  One last suggestion to Carnival management:  If you advertise an adult pool, make it an adult pool.  All in all, I loved being with my daughter and grandkids and we had a good time.  Will I be back?  Not likely.

Cabin Review

Nice balcony stateroom on deck 6.  Picture window and glass door let lots of light into cabin.  Enough storage for 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids).  Balcony a little narrow, but we loved it and used it a lot.

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