Carnival Freedom Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,367 reviews

A Romantic Tour of the Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Freedom
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Howard Bison
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Embarkation
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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2011
Cabin: Interior

A year ago my wife and I were minding our own business, when my father gave us a cruise as a wedding anniversary present. Through his sweat and frequent flyer miles, he booked us on the Carnival Freedom for six days from Fort Lauderdale to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. He paid almost everything, save some of the travel insurance and incidentals. Thus, I cannot assess the cruise on its value but I did not feel that things were overpriced.

We were booked in an inside stateroom and, this being our first cruise, were nervous about motion sickness and other unknowns of the sea. After arranging for the boys and our dog to be watched for the week, we flew in to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport without incident. We purchased the ground transfer from the airport to the dock through Carnival, although the distance was about five miles total. It did eliminate some concerns and I recommend purchasing this extra. We were greeted by a Carnival clipboard-toting receptionist at the luggage carousel who brought us to the point where the air conditioned shuttle motorcoach would pick us up (greatly appreciated at the airport). The bus arrived within minutes and we were soon at Port Everglades.

The first snag was the embarkation/immigration process. It was a series of lines, with the Homeland Security portion in the unair-conditioned basement of the port terminal. We were moved briskly along and up to Carnival's boarding process (and another line, called by sections). Then the boarding where we were directed to the main set of elevators (with virtually everyone else). In retrospect, we should have stopped in the bar-lounge as the crowd thinned. Disembarking was much better organized with people departing by deck level or whether they made special arrangements or not. There probably should be parts of embarkation that could be done in advance, but I cannot think of what more could be done before you arrive at the dock.

Cabin Review

Interior

Ample closet space for careful packers. Watch step in and out of bath.

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