Carnival Freedom Review

CARNIVAL FREEDOM WAS BETTER THAN EXPECTED

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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kstoley
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Feb 2012

My sister and I decided to take our mother for a cruise for her 80th birthday. we arrived at Port Everglades around 1:00 p.m. Our departure time was set for 4 p.m. Parking was a bit hectic and we ended up on the roof of the parking structure at mid-terminal. The Carnival Freedom was docked in slip 19 so it was a quick walk across the loading area to the building. Luckily, my mother had her wheelchair so we did not have to stand in the lines snaking around the ropes and were on the ship in a matter of 15 minutes. If not, I estimate the wait time would have been anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Our cabin was ready so we dropped off our carry-on and checked out the view from the balcony before proceeding to the Lido deck for lunch. The ship itself wasn't esthetically pleasing, but it was clean and the crew was pleasant. The layout of the Freedom makes it difficult to go from one end to the other without having to go up to deck 5 to cross over. Deck and 3 and 4 were blocked by the galley. Fortunately, we were slightly aft and our dinning room was three decks below us, so we didn't have to take any extra elevator rides. As expected on the first day, the elevators were jammed and it was hard to get a wheelchair into one with alot of people. After the first couple of days, finding an open elevator got easier. The safety drill was hot and had us standing for a bit as late comers (who were forced to leave the bars) finally showed up. We didn't have to bring our life jackets so that made it a bit more comfortable.

The first two days were at sea and the weather was nice with a little wind. Deck 12 where the putt-putt was closed as was the water slide due to the wind on the first day. People as usual were hogging chairs with towels from early morning and not arriving until mid-morning to early afternoon to use the chairs. I'm not much of a sun worshiper, however, I found this to be as rude as the people who do it. I heard one couple saying their friends get up and 5 a.m. just to put a towel on a chair and then go back to their cabin to sleep some more before going to breakfast.

This cruise had alot more elder than I normally see and they filled the adult pool and jacuzzi. Most of them were so tanned they looked like leathery creatures. There were some kids but not as many as normal due to the time of year. As with all cruises, there are basically just rude people and this was no exception. Two women almost knocked my mother down in the Lido Buffet as she went to sit at an open table. They promptly sat down at the table and ignored her. My mother has more patience than me because they would have been sitting on the floor if I had been there.

Cabin Review

We had cabin 7385 on the Empress deck. It was a balcony cabin on the aft side. The cabin itself was very clean and always keep up. Our room steward did a great job in taking care of us and always calling us by our name. Next time I would probably go for a cabin on the Port side to see more of the water and less of the docks.

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