HORRIBLE SERVICE!!!

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 31

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Freedom

4 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 04, 2016

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9284

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This is the second cruise I have been on Carnival and I have to say that the service that Carnival offers is HORRIBLE!!!!! From calling customer service and getting wrong information to the service on the ship. You need to wake up and get it together.

Sixteen of us went on this cruise to celebrate two friends 40th birthdays and I have to say there were some in our group who this was the first cruise they had ever been on and after our experience, they will probably never go on another one!

I was trying to coordinate everyone and the customer service gave us wrong information saying that there would be no alcohol on the ship on the first day due to Texas law which was not true. They also could not help us with getting the same dinner time which was something important to us and my travel agent was saying that it showed the late seating wide open. So when we got on the ship, I had to go take time to coordinate that while my friends were enjoying the boat.

The drink package was ridiculous that you had to wait 5 minutes to order multiple drinks and that there was a 15 drink minimum. I have been on other cruises and there are no restrictions like that. You needed to be able to order more drinks due to the SLOW, did I mention SLOW service that we encountered at the bars.

The bars were understaffed and we had to continue to wait for sometimes up to 30 minutes for a drink which is completely unacceptable! There were people on the boat that were walking away to go see if they could get service at a different place. The servers were also rude and did not seem to be happy to be there. The night club was understaffed and the music was horrible. Someone broke into the DJ booth while we were there to try to change the music until the DJ showed up.

It is very disappointing because the first impression you left on our group was horrible. The only way I will go on another Carnival Cruise is if it is dirt cheap and it is something I would take my kids on so that I would not have to worry about service or the quality of the food. With the new Houston port open, you have nicer cruises that you will need to compete with and unfortunately unless you are just looking for a cheap ride, you will not be able to compete with Royal Caribbean, Princess or Norwegian.

Very disappointed.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The server was not happy when I sent my fish entrée back that was over cooked.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Magician was horrible! 80's music contest was good! Night club music was no current, no DJ. Amanda and John the singers were awesome!

Children's Programs

NA

Service and Staff

1 out of 5
Not enough staff, it took up to 30 minutes to get a drink at times, not friendly either.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin was very clean and our staff took good care of us. The bed was lumpy.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 31

20 Comments

rjmcdowell    8 years ago

You can purchase the cheers pkg online before your cruise. It's cheaper. It doesn't start until 6 am on the second day. Texas law.

RailHugger    8 years ago

They do not sell the drink package on the first day, Texas law, but you can buy drinks on the first day.

shelenac    8 years ago

We had a bad experience on this ship. The magic was wonderful. I wrote a lengthy review in a tasteful manner explaining our issues and gave 2 stars and it was deleted in 30 mins. Guess we should just hide the fact that the staff on this boats sucks so people can leave disappointed based on good reviews they read. Very sad

rjmcdowell    8 years ago

We did drink the limit a few times! Slow moving the next morning!

Kissmissy71    8 years ago

Went last month, loved it!

ttimberlake14    8 years ago

My husband and I went in 2015 and we are also booked for January 2017 we had a blast loved the staff

sassi    8 years ago

Jan 2017 i know its a long way to go I'm always excited to go

michelledmell    8 years ago

When is your cruise?

sassi    8 years ago

Now I'm smiling now I'm smiling time to get to work to make the money

michelledmell    8 years ago

Oh yes, one person I have read said to preorder liquor from the fun shop to he delivered to your room! So there is that...

sassi    8 years ago

I guess I'll be okay if there's a refrigerator in the balcony room that has shooters to by

sassi    8 years ago

michelledmell    8 years ago

Lol honestly if you really think you will break that limit every single day, then I would not buy it...

sassi    8 years ago

Ok thanks @michelledmell my main concern is the drinking package and you could only have 15 drinks me and my people we r really thirsty people

michelledmell    8 years ago

Sassi, give it a chance it might not be so bad, I always try to go with an open mind, it just might be getting a little harder to lol

sassi    8 years ago

Omg im goin on that same Cruise but not for a while I am so nervous about the drink package and reading your reviews I'm so not wanting to do that I usually cruise with NCL

michelledmell    8 years ago

Sadly the cruise ships in Houston are leaving

ctblake    8 years ago

lidomiddeck    8 years ago

Love carnival, they are the best. Never had a problem.

chuckchilla78    8 years ago

Yep, Carnival is very sucky! Royal Caribbean does it right and will have my business for life.

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