Carnival Freedom Review
Nice Surprise, Very Relaxing, Great Food, Exceptional Ports of Call
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Additional details
Embarking at Fort Lauderdale is far easier than most other ports. For starters the airport and area hotels are all very close to Port Everglades. As well, the port itself is divided into distinct areas where you go for your cruise ship. So only you and your fellow passengers are in the area for your ship. Be sure to select hotels that offer cheap or free transfers to the cruise port. Not many do this for free, and often the per person charge is, in total, more than if you kep your rental car for one extra day and dropped it off at the cruise ship terminal location. (Thrifty offers a free shuttle to the port).
Carnival sent an email in the weeks prior to the departure advising us to show up around 1:30pm to avoid the crowds. Reading this in past reviews also told us that our cabin would be available at that time. So we asked our hotel for a slightly later checkout allowing us to sleep in, go for breakfast and make for a relaxing morning. We also took our luggage with us, from the car rental shuttle, through security and check in, and into the ship.
Check in was a breeze without much of a wait. Once we had our cabin keys and the obligatory embarkation photo, we were on the decks of the Carnival Freedom. Let's get one thing over and done now - yes the color palettes and decorations are somewhat gaudy but at no time did it ever detract from our enjoyment of the ship. The color choices are certainly more lively than other ships we've been on but so what - it goes hardly noticed at the cruise went on.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Our cabin was a spacious 285 square feet, A king bed (or two twins), a couch, three closets, four drawers and lots of other space for storage makes for a roomy, comfortable place to stay. The central air is adjustable in the cabin but don't expect the room to get overly cool when in port in hot destinations. Also beware of your windows facing the sun - your windows will get hot and this heat will radiate into the room. Some nights you have no choice but to sleep with no covers on.Cabins are not sound proof. You will hear your neighbours and the hallway. Best advise we read years ago was bring a fan (or two) and a long extension cord so that you have ambient white noise to sleep to. You'll thank this even more if your partner snores or if you have the room next to the Johnson's and their three children. Our balcony was well used but sadly we had smokers on either side of us. When one of them was out, we had to go back in. Makes you wonder why Carnival wouldn't put all the smokers on the same side, or even better, at the back of the ship.