Carnival Freedom Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,366 reviews

The ups and downs of very calm seas

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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rjl13666
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Sep 2009

I read countless reviews of the Freedom before our sail date. Not all of it good, but enough of it good that we figured it was worth a try. One of the ports that my wife and I really wanted to go to was Key West, and there weren't too many choices for the time of year that I had available. We also didnt want to go on the same exact itinerary that we did last year; we wanted a longer trip this time. We were celebrating and anniversary and a birthday, and thats a lot of celebrating to do. A full week seemed like just the thing. 4 days before sailing, we were contacted by Carnival and told that we could upgrade our room from Balcony to Penthouse Suite. The cost was next to nothing for the amount of space we had. Well worth it. Plus my wife gets a little overwhelmed with crowds after all the stress of packing, planning, airports and hotel the week/days/hours before the trip begins (as do I) so the VIP embarkation was really nice. The ship decore wasn't nearly as frightening as the pictures and reviews would have you believe. At least I thought so. I'll say that the food was good. In some respects it was REALLY good. The supper club was a highlight. The pool deck(s) were busy, but between the two we could always find some space. The weather was perfect. That goes a long way to making the trip worth it despite any minor things that may come up. Key West was just as fun as always. I could live there I think. Grand Cayman felt like a British Ft Lauderdale. Jamaica...one of the most beautiful places I've every been, and one of the most frightening at the same time. The only time it felt safe was when we were at the beach or within the gates of the port itself. But that's been Jamaica for as long as I've known people who go there, so we expected it. So overall it was a great experience. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and am very happy that we took the much needed break from work. The only thing that didn't seem right is the service. I've read plenty of reviews that have said this before about Freedom, but I went in with an open mind. It's just the two of us. That can always be a bit dicey on a vacation that is best when you're with a group. We're not rock stars, but in our early thirties with no kids; we like to have a good time. For the ammount of people who were clearly well past their limit on the ship, we couldn't figure out how that was. Ordering a drink meant waiting at least 15 minutes (longest I timed was 42) before the waiter/waitress would return. Eating dinner and staring at dirty plates after you finished for 20 minutes was a little silly too. It's not that the crew seemed to be that overwhelmed. it just felt like they couldn't care less. There are notable exceptions. On the main pool deck, you couldnt read a book for more than 30 seconds without someone right there to crack a joke and take an order. Hell of a good job then. But at night, it was like they were off duty and doing everyone a favor by taking an order. Strange. But that's really minor in the grand sceme of things. the trip itself was awesome. I don't know that we'd do Carnival again though. I think I'd rather pay a little more and know that I'd get the customer service I expect on RCL

Cabin Review

huge bathroom, huge balcony, closest space for 5

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