A great cruise for the family

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 35

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Freedom

6 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 30, 2010

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

The Carnival Freedom is a great ship, easy to navigate around, with a good variety of entertainment choices for the whole family. We went with our two teenage daughters and they rated the cruise a 9+ all around. They found a group of other teens and spent a large amount of time just walkiing around the ship, laughing, eating and having a good time. They weren't into the teen club (O2) saying that it was too structured and felt like they were being treated like little kids. We felt very safe overall both on the ship and in the ports (esp Jamaica, given the recent violence on the other side of the island, but there were no problems in Ocho Rios at all). We especially enjoyed the shore excursions (Stingray City and Rum Point in Grand Cayman) and (Dunns River Falls/White River Tubing in Jamaica). As is usual with Carnival, you can save a bundle by booking the shore excursions yourself and then just meeting their drivers right at the port. The ships decor is bizarre, especially in the buffet dining and formal dining rooms...it's almost like they couldn't figure out which theme to use for decorating, so they used them all at once, but somehow it works. But the cabins are tastefully decorated and very nice and spacious.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Good food overall, but the buffets get a bit old and repetitive after 6 days.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Great shows, especially the Beatles Tribute.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Smokey Stateroom - The prior guests were heavy smokers, and they couldn't deodorize it, still smelled heavily after 6 nights. Also, the cabin next door (upwind) was filled with smokers, so we were treated to their smoke on our balcony as well. This part was very disappointing as one would assume that all the staterooms are non-smoking unless designated otherwise.

Ports of call

Key West, Florida

3 out of 5
Skip the beach, rocky and filled with crushed shells. We heard it was manmade, and although the water was warm and fun to swim in, you definitely needed water sandles.
Don't Miss: Key Lime Pie - Either Kermit's or Blonde Giraffe (both excellent). We went on a Key Lime pie tasting tour.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5
Definitely Dunns River Falls and White River (combined shore excursion) My daughters loved bargaining in the open-air markets. Don't know what all the previous comments are regarding being hassled as the people were friendly and courteous.
Don't Miss: Dunns River Falls

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5
Stingray City and Rum Point excursions. Margaritaville was also pretty cool.
Don't Miss: StingRay City

Pros: Jamaica and Grand Cayman were great with lots of activities for all involved

Cons: Stateroom smelled like smoke (Carnival does not have designated non-smoking rooms on most of its ships)

Recommends Carnival Freedom? Yes!

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