Carnival has started cutting back on several things.

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

EdMurray

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

Western Caribbean

Sail date: April 09, 2016

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8284

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

You know how when you go to McDonalds and your Egg McMuffin looks smaller than it used to? Well Carnival appears to be following suit, they are cutting back or eliminating several things that they used to have. Here is a short list of my complaints.

---No more chocolates on your pillow at night.

---No more Carnival Legends show (where the passengers perform).

---No more Welcome Back Captain's party. (Only Diamond & Platinum now)

---The service in the dining room is slow, especially on Formal nights.

(Also, I wish they would enforce the formal dining room dress code! It ticks me off when my group dresses in suits and tuxedos and formal dresses and we see people with jeans on formal night.)

---Most shows are amateurish and not near as good as they used to be.

In my opinion the only thing that Carnival has that most ships don't is the big movie screen on the top deck. If most other cruise lines had the big screen I probably wouldn't sail on Carnival much anymore. Carnival is the "trailer park" of the industry and you even notice that by looking around at the passengers with all the tattoos and body piercings and bad behavior. Cruising used to be a special kind of thing but it's really not on Carnival anymore. It's like comparing a business class flight to a trip on a greyhound bus. I give them 3 stars because a mediocre cruise beats being at home any day! I have been on NCL, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America and I am going to start cruising with them again. This was my 6th Carnival Cruise and my 13th cruise overall.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

It was good to sometimes average. Feeding 4,000 people is tough. All cruises leaving from Texas or the Gulf coast should offer BISCUITS & GRAVY for breakfast!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

The deck party was fun but too short (less than an hour). Malcolm is a good cruise director.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Most shows seemed not as good as they used to be. My high school's musicals were just as good.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Took 2 hours for dinner in Posh dining room on most nights. We were late to shows because of slow service and we had 6pm dining! 15 minutes faster makes a BIG difference!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Needs little things like a digital clock in the room. We had to turn the TV on and tune to a certain channel to see what time it was. The map channel on the TV did not work at all during our cruise. I like to see exactly where we are during the cruise. No more chocolates on the pillows at night, really? How much money is Carnival saving by cutting out the chocolates? :)

Ship tip

Any cruise is better than staying at home but Carnival is not as good as they used to be. If you get a REALLY good deal on a Carnival cruise, take it but if the money is close to the same, I prefer Royal Caribbean, NCL or Holland America. (I haven't tried Princess or Disney yet but I plan to soon).

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5

Cozumel is becoming too crowded, auto traffic on the main street leading to downtown is a nightmare, might as well be in L.A.

Thumbs Up 3

Belize City, Belize

5 out of 5

Prettiest, clearest water I have EVER seen. Even better than Hawaii !

Thumbs Up 1

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

3 out of 5

Like many Caribbean island ports, the port area is a nice clean tourist shopping area but if you venture into town it is pretty poor and rough.

Thumbs Up 5

16 Comments

EdMurray 8 years ago

JusMe, NO. I have never seen the words "cruise fancy" at all on the ship. The daily Carnival Fun Times paper calls it "Cruise Elegant" and it describes the evenings suggested attire as Formal. Go to Carnival's website. It says jeans are NOT permitted in the main dining rooms on "Cruise Elegant" evenings.

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JusMe 8 years ago

People...........it is not "FORMAL NIGHT" it is "Cruise Fancy night" I wore a suite and tie choking me for a decade at the office. I'm now retired and do not have to wear a suite (I keep 2 in my closet for weddings or funerals).

On my upcoming Carnival Cruise I will be in nice Jeans and a nice long sleeve shirt for fancy night, jean and polo shirts the rest of the nights. When I cruised Celebrity in Europe I packed a tux, but for Carnival in the islands......relax

P.S.....I do not have any tattoo's or piercings nor do I live in a trailer park. Im a university grad, semi retired in my 30's and fully retired now so much for the OP suggestions of social economic standing of people who wear jeans on Fancy night.

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jkgetz 8 years ago

Mike, you can wear whatever you'd like. I live in San Antonio and I'm not sure there's any restaurant here you can't go to in jeans and not feel comfortable. I'm not the fashion police, I'm just saying its formal night. Wear a nice pair of jeans if that's what you want to wear. More to my point. Don't walk into the dining room on a non-formal night with a bathing suit on and expect to get seated.

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jkgetz 8 years ago

I do agree with the OP's complaint about dress in the dining rooms. On our last Carnival cruise we saw people trying to walk in straight from the pool. Dripping bathing suits and all. Show a little bit of decorum. I don't really have an issue with people not wearing suits to the formal nights, everyone's idea of formal differs. Shorts? No. Jeans, probably not.

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dinkyis1 8 years ago

I love Carnival. I've been on NCL & Royal Caribbean as well and they're great cruises too. But Carnival is known to be a fun ship and more relaxed plus much more reasonable. I'm glad they do not require you to be dressed to the nines on elegant night. Sometimes we do and other times we go more casual, and how other people dress has never affected my cruise. Each person has paid for their cruise and need to enjoy it as they wish as vacations come and go so quickly. Midnight buffets, Shows, chocolates on my pillow, lobster dinners no longer on 5 days n less cruises are not how I base my cruise enjoyment. Time with my husband, kids n grandkids n friends while cruising now that's enjoyment. The crew always going out of their way to make each cruise day fabulous. ....now that's enjoyment. The size of the food no problem. ....I just order 2 entrées instead of one....plus order a dessert to take back to my room later. The peacefulness of the Serenity Deck + a good book listening to the ocean....well that's priceless to. But each person needs to decide which cruise lines meet their needs. For this old platinum 62 yoa lady, well, Carnival meets & exceeds my expectations every time. I honestly cannot say I've ever had a bad cruise.

Thumbs Up 3

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maddieallin 8 years ago

It is what u make it!! I will make it fun!!!!

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hodge52 8 years ago

Good stay home!!!!

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cela2015 8 years ago

bye!!

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msdrpepper 8 years ago

wow, I have only been on one carnival cruise and can't wait for my next one in June, taking my kids this time, I had so much fun, relax, your on vacation, let it go.. you can't enjoy life with so much complaining and high expectations, (your not the only one on the ship you know)why talk down anyone? go get a tattoo! !!! :-)

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crystalmaldonado 8 years ago

WOW!!!!! I think maybe someone mms needs to purchase their own ship

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debbmike 8 years ago

I can't believe people are still crying about the stupid little chocolates.

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ctblake 8 years ago

I have tattoos and surely gross more income than OP and don't live in a trailer. I also don't eat McDonald's. We could cruise any line we want and choose carnival. Your class shows when you talk of cruising other lines as well, and yet after a carnival cruise you swear off cruising completely. Good bye, you won't be missed!

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shelleyyjordancoxnet 8 years ago

If I wear a formal and someone else wears jeans it won't effect my good time at all!

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debbmike 8 years ago

Yep, Royal Caribbean is taking Carnival, the #1 cruise lines lead and installing big screens.

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MalPal 8 years ago

I'm gonna just follow this post to see how many tattooed pierced bad behaving people get bent out of shape about this post 😄

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hayley76 8 years ago

👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻 BYE

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