Very disappointing

Item: Carnival Freedom
Rating: 2
Author: reedfam465

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

reedfam465

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

Western Caribbean

Sail date: March 12, 2016

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8264

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The only positives on our cruise were our stateroom attendant, Jeffrey, and the pizza available to eat at The Pizza Pirate. Food available at formal dining room and the Lido cafeteria was mediocre at best....never very fresh or hot. All desserts except self-serve ice cream were stale and without flavor. Unlimited Bubbles drink option is a joke when you have to fight your way through the lines at "bar" to get a soda. Bartenders were not responsive to people who just wanted a soda. They were looking for big bar orders and tips. Lingering smoke from the casino and other smoke approved areas made many areas of the ship that were NON-SMOKING very unpleasant and stinky. Open air atrium and bar area on 3rd floor was a CONSTANT source of noise at night in our cabin...EVERY single night, the loud booming music and hollering of partying guests made our evenings almost unbearable. The whole tender ticket / transfer fiasco to get off of the boat in Cayman is unforgivable and so poorly planned, you all should be embarrassed....to make all of those passengers line up like cattle to get a "tender" sticker to get off of the boat. You could have easily ran it like you do disembarking instead. Shame on Carnival! Why not dismiss people by deck? Finally, you ABSOLUTELY should not let anyone who cannot speak clearly make announcements. The heavy accents and intelligibility of the spoken word was ridiculous. I was hoping for a nice, memorable vacation gift for my graduating Senior daughter...my only hope is that her impression of it all is not a poor as mine. NEVER AGAIN!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Always clean.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Montego Bay, Jamaica

5 out of 5

9 Comments

rzdoucet 8 years ago

I do agree about the noise from the Atrium at night. I will take a fan for white noise next time. But it wasn't enough to ruin my vacation. I don't smoke either, but since I also don't gamble, it didn't bother me. Lol. It WAS fun to sit on the promenade by the casino and watch the old man get busted by security for punching the machines. People watching was an activity for me! Lol.

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bigdaddynalley 8 years ago

Sounds like you need to stay at your home and watch episodes of Love Boat. Lol. I've never had a bad experience and will be going on my 8th in two tears next week.

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davethesailor 8 years ago

Part of traveling anywhere is being flexible and making the best situations. Entitled Americans don't impress.

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debbmike 8 years ago

Lol regidear

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debbmike 8 years ago

Don't cruise during spring break. I've never witnessed any obnoxious drunk on a cruise yet on Carnival. I wouldn't cruise RC during spring break either.

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Krcruiser 8 years ago

I agree that the buffet food is just ok but Carnival is known as the fun ship. We were on the 8th floor fwd and didn't have any problem with noise. I don't smoke but I do spend a good amount of time in the casino. A lot of players asked me if I minded if they smoked next to me which I didn't. Royal Caribbean or Holland America might be a better fit for you.

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rekfan 8 years ago

I have been on 5 cruises and all were wonderful. 2 more coming up. Can't wait!

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MrsOneal 8 years ago

That's the spirit sbox!!!! And if you cruise during spring break there are bound to be alot of partying college kids.

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sbox 8 years ago

I've never cruised and have three Carnival trips booked. Sounds like you prefer dry land. Thanks for the post. I will try to keep an open mind that it is a party atmospheres. Even at 50 I might have been one of the culprits late at night. My girlfriend smokes, I hate it BTW and don't like cigarette smoke but c'mon....I've looked at the smoking areas she will have available and they are very few. Stay away from the smokers in the future if they bother you so much. I intend to have a good time no matter what!!

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Other reviews of this sailing

First and last Carnival Cruise -where is the "meh" star rating?

First Cruise

Great cruise