A Fun Family Vacation!

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

JasonGegg

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 55

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 08, 2017

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1110

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Overall, we enjoyed our first cruise and had a really good family vacation! Below are a few feedback to Carnival Cruise that can improve ours and other guests experience even more. Hope the feedback can be provided to Carnival Cruiseline. Thanks! 1. Carnival should consider providing coupons to reach family for the activities so everyone / kids get a chance to experience them, i.e. basketball, volleyball courts are alway so full and our kids never had a chance to play. 2. Provide gourmet coffee to guests without additional charges as that seems to be provided at all inclusive resorts and it’s not costly for Carnival to provide. 3. For the Carnival photos, the cost per photo is too expensive, ie. one 5 x 7 @ $15 and one 8x7 @ $22. Carnival should consider putting up screen for guests to review pictures and then select and print only the ones they want to purchase with out wasting ink and papers and not helping the environments. Also with the digital age today, Carnival should consider provide an affordable digital copy purchase combo so guests can purchase entire photos and print on their own when return home. I bet the guests are more willing to purchase the digital options and at the same time, Carnival can help save the environments without wasting all the printed pictures and guests not purchasing them at such a high price. 4. For the snacks area, provide a little more variety for dessert thru out the day other than just ice cream. There are many folks who are lactose intolerance. 5. Provide more varieties to the buffet as they seems to the same everyday and lack of variety on fruits options too. Fruits are cheap. 6. Provide better mandatory safety muster station training with smaller groups. Waiting for everyone for role call is effective and can post medical issues to elderly and people with disabilities waiting so long and in the heat. 7. Provide long time at each port so guests can enjoy the country 8. Provide more clarity for excursion for each port as we were not aware for the 'Barrier Reef Snorkel' excursion would take us directory to the snorkel site and no visit onto Belize at all. We wouldn't have booked this if we would have the details from Carnival. 9. Would like to have better clarity upfront from when customer would receive the 'on board credit for use'. We were not clear on that until we spoke 'guest services' on the ship.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

The process and experience was a little long waiting however not bad. We wish we were informed early on about the 'FAST to FUN' purchase which we try to purchase later but it was sold out.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Our balcony room was great on the spa deck and our housekeeping crew was wonderful! Our restaurant dining experience was great with 'our time' dining. Our waiter (Joy) and Waitress (Chen) were awesome in accomodating us and celebrated our son's 12th year old birthday surprise for him :) Our buffet experience during breakfast and lunch were okay as it seems to be always crowded most of time and not enough seatings for folks. The buffet, Mongolian Wok and Guys' Burger lines were always so long. There is also not enough variety on the buffet and seems to have only ice cream dessert offer after a certain hour when buffet is closed. Provide more varieties to the buffet as they seems to the same everyday and lack of variety on fruits options too. Fruits are cheap. For the snacks area, provide a little more variety for dessert thru out the day other than just ice cream. There are many folks who are lactose intolerance. Also recommend to provide gourmet coffee to guests without additional charges as that seems to be provided at all inclusive resorts and it’s not costly for Carnival to provide.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

The seating around the pool area is always so full and crowded. There seems to be lots to do though. Carnival should consider providing coupons to reach family for the activities so everyone / kids get a chance to experience them, i.e. basketball, volleyball courts are alway so full and our kids never had a chance to play.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Good musicians and DJs and movies night on Lido deck. The big screen did have resolution issue one movie night that should be look into.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Kids and Teens zone: Kids should have timeframe when they can get onto the video game console. It seems some kid stayed on the console for a long time not allowing other kids to use. Also the children should be allowed to stay inside if they choose not to go for the pool / outdoor activities. It doesn't seem that the kids have the option to choose.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The only issue we had was the noise around 2 or 3am when the Carnival employees are cleaning and moving chairs around above our balcony. That should not be done during the night.

Ship tip

1. If you get a chance, do purchase the 'Faster to Fun' pass for fast checkin, getting off ship and on. 2. Check on your location of your cabin to ensure you are long above a noisy public location as it can get loud at night. 3. There is only one outlet in the cabin so do bring a power cord. 4. There is plenty of storage in the cabin however it was so helpful for us to have the shoes storage to organize all our items. 5. Bring a few water bottles so you can fill up with drinks at the buffet so you have thru out the day and on excursions

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

4 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

we took a taxi ($30/for family of 8 in a van) and went directly to Paradise Beach where we met with our photographer, Tania Nacif, for our 15th years anniversary and family photo session. She is an amazing photographer! We enjoyed Paradise Beach after our family photos and our kids love the waterpark with all the inflatables in the ocean, kayaking, padding boarding and snorkeling. Admission is $3/person to get in to use the pool and beach and additional $18/person for fun on the inflatable in ocean, kayaking, etc. Price was very reasonable. It was a blast, relaxing for adults for all of us!

Thumbs Up 13

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5

Provide more clarity for excursion for each port as we were not aware for the 'Barrier Reef Snorkel' excursion would take us directly to the snorkel site and no visit onto Belize at all. We wouldn't have booked this if we would have the details from Carnival. For the 'Barrier Reef and Starfish Island Snorkel' excursion thru Carnival, we were given life survival vest versus real life vest for snorkel which was extremely uncomfortable to all us ( The Gegg's and Wong's families which we can booked together). Our kids didn't like the vest and complained it hurted their neck. Our wife didn't snorkel at all as the vest nearly choke them and didn't feel safe for okay swimmers. Also someone on the excursion group took our friend's son's snorkel gear and water shoes which was report to Carnival Shore Excursion Team. The feedback was provide to Carnival Shore Excursion Team which they took the feedback and didn't provide any follow up after and didn't seem like they care.

Thumbs Up 0

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

4 out of 5

We booked the 'Beach Horseback Riding and Swim in ocean' and thoroughly enjoyed it. The only feedback we had was about viewing the pictures from our excursion. There was no instructions about that while we were there. With the heavy rain after our horseback ride, we didn't remember to check on where we can view our pictures. Fortunately, We were able to obtain an email to the excursion vendor and purchase the pictures after when we returned home. The price for the pictures thru the Caribbean Adventure Tour was reasonable.

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

The disembarkation process can be a bit confusing and long. Would like to see better clarity for each port via flyer and announcements.

Traveler Photos

Belize Barrier Reef and Starfish Island snorkel

Beach Horseback Riding and Swim in Roatan Honduras

8 Comments

Timmie 7 years ago

Sounds like you didn't do your research after booking your cruise. All answers are provided on the Carnival website. I think Carnival does a great job with providing thorough explanations and resources to educate their guests. It's up to you to take advantage of what's provided to you. Hope your next vacation goes smoother.

Thumbs Up 0

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JusMe 7 years ago

Welcome to Cruising, Carnival is pretty standard for the industry for what is and is not included in the cruise price. Before your next cruise you may want to look at the Carnival website to read up on all the excursions and read reviews by prior guest. You can also find out you can take a 12 pack of can soda or water on at the start of the cruise and a 750 ML bottle or box of wine per person. Also feel free to ask any questions in the "Forum" section here on Cruiseline.com.

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jimverunac 7 years ago

Sounds like Cruising is not for you.

Thumbs Up 2

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19yvonne52 7 years ago

I cruised on the Vista in December. This ship has moved to digital photos. All pictures taken throughout the day are uploaded to the tv in your room. You can choose your pictures and digital purchases in the comfort of your room.

Thumbs Up 2

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rokwldr 7 years ago

Maybe you should try another type of vacation. Oh you missed something, you didn't complain about the color of the ship!

Thumbs Up 4

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Shsutxgal14 7 years ago

Carnival is moving towards digital prints as it's offered on a few boats now. They also have packages for photos. What would you need coupons for? The courts are free to use.

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lmajel 7 years ago

Thumbs Up 1

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Katievp 7 years ago

There's an entire desert section in the buffet area. On board credit can be used for anything on board. The excursions have very descriptive information listed online. Did you do any research at all on your own?

Thumbs Up 1

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