First leg of our Back to Back

Item: Carnival Freedom
Rating: 5
Author: AuntPinkie

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review

AuntPinkie

Contributor Level: Admiral

52 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 24

Helpful Votes: 1078

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 26, 2022

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7414

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

A great eight days. I found ducks and left them for others. We enjoyed our friends and some Shipmates (no longer imaginary friends). Great ports of call. The drawback was that masks were still necessary after March 1st.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Signed up for 11:00-11:30 and arrived a little early. No line so we proceeded in. Had all our paperwork ready and finished in minutes. Needed to wait as boarding hadn’t started yet. Maybe 30 minutes from arrival to completion of muster drill.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Enjoyed the buffet, deli, guys, blue iguana, main dining room. Remember you can order half portions. For those who say that the buffet is the same every day, you don’t look at both sections. Fantastic desserts

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Had fun in the casino. The means I didn’t win but still enjoyed myself. Played trivia and tried to play mini golf. It was too windy. There was a great towel folding class. The Military Appreciation was very well done.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Singer/dancers were great. They had a Q&A that made the shows more enjoyable because you felt like you knew them a bit more. The comedians were a mixed bag of okay, mediocre and great. Tim Kiminski was outstanding. The rest I didn’t need to see twice. The string trio in the atrium were stellar. The DJ on the Lido was too loud, but I did like the music.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All crew were top notch. The CD and fun squad are young and growing. The housekeeping staff are friendly and helpful. Our waitstaff was outstanding. The hostesses were understanding that not everyone works the HUB well.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

This is our favorite class of ship. It’s a nice size and easy to navigate. Housekeeping was everywhere cleaning. Fun decorations on several doors. Signs everywhere reminding us to wear our masks. We were required to for the whole cruise, even though March 1st was in the middle of it. Made for some interesting photos.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Standard wear and tear as expected. Edi kept it clean and filled the ice bucket twice a day. He left the towel animals to my delight and my DH’s frustration. We enjoy having a balcony.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

A nice place to spend the night.

Thumbs Up 1

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

A nice place to have a beverage, swim up bar, zip line and/or shop. There’s a special section set aside for the crew. WI-FI is available.

Thumbs Up 9

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

We enjoy this port of call. This particular time we just spent time in town helping their economy by shopping.

Thumbs Up 26

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

Enjoyed a bit a shopping.

Thumbs Up 12

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Walked up to the forts with friends. Note: if you have a National Park Parks membership, the Forts in San Juan are included.

Thumbs Up 13

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Didn’t! This was the first leg of the B2B. We were late in getting clearance so there wasn’t much time from when we logged back in and the next set of passengers arrived.

Traveler Photos

Fellow shipmates that are real. Forgot to remove mask for photo.

San Felipe del Morro Castle from the ship

When the casino was closed there was no smoking there either.

Actually the Crab Shack for additional $$

Posted around the ship and in the elevators.

20 Comments

Riannan 2 years ago

Thank You for a nice review! We are going on Freedom in August to Amber Cove and Grand Turk

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CarniCruiser 2 years ago

Thanks for the great, in depth review. Glad y’all enjoyed round 1 of your b2b. I like the sound of 30 min from arrival to muster completion. Didn’t know half portions were an option. I’ll put that info to good use I when there’s one than one menu choice I can’t decide between. Good tip about having a National Park membership. Lastly, is the hub app a necessity, or are physical menus and FunTimes still available upon request?

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Cruisiegal 2 years ago

Thank you for the wonderful review!! I am so glad you had a great time!! Your on a cruise with so many wonderful people from around the world so how could you not!! Lol

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MargieRita 2 years ago

Thanks for the 1st leg review and the reminder about the portions and looking at additional menu options at the buffet.

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BeachDiva 2 years ago

So glad to hear you enjoyed yourself, I was wondering how it went! Edi was our stateroom attendant too!! He was great with us too.

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

mireek, the muster drill is easy. You report to your muster station where a crew member shows you how to put on your life vest. They scan your S&S card to show that you did indeed show up. You go to your cabin and check to be sure you have enough vests for everyone in your party. Before sailing a briefing will come over the ship’s intercom explaining the procedures for the ship (bars and other services are stopped at this time). There is also information on your TV.

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sycamoregrill 2 years ago

Glad you guys enjoyed your b2b cruises and thanks for the detailed review. Good to hear passenger counts were below full. Spoiled from our last two cruises which were 40-50% full. We have 8 days to go!

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OldGreyWolf 2 years ago

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. Thanks for taking the time to give a very thorough review.

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natelorip 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

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mireek 2 years ago

What was the muster drill like?

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ElCaribe 2 years ago

Hey fellow cruisers. Finally, We are booked on Carnival Freedom April 9. This will be our first post pandemic cruise. We are veteran cruisers but need some advice on pre cruise testing. We will be in Miami the week prior and using the emed Binax monitored test versus trying to get one in Miami Beach. We’re very nervous we may make a mistake and screw up. I would really appreciate any advice on this matter. We are both boostered. I have also ordered the test kits already through Carnival site but the receipt said Celebrity Cruise. Thanks in advance. It’s very confusing reading so many comments on these matters with so many differences in information. 🛳😎

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partilover 2 years ago

I was so excited to sail on this ship, but now on the Spirit that has not had very good reviews. Your review makes me wish I was still on her more. So glad you had a good time!

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Because we boarded the ship on February 26th, the mask requirement remained in place for the whole cruise. We were reminded frequently to sip and cover and/or to wear them. The requirement was lifted for the next sailing.

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YvetteBobcruise 2 years ago

So glad you had a great time. Surprised you had to wear the mask though,we were on Royal and no more masks.

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jec115 2 years ago

Thank you for the review.

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walkingdeadcrz 2 years ago

Still had to wear a mask?

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missnotanlines 2 years ago

Thanks for your review enjoy!

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johnny059qn 2 years ago

Awesome! 17 days and we will be on the Freedom! Thanks for the review!

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CurlyCruiserYAY 2 years ago

Yay

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Glad you enjoyed yourselves. Thanks again and have fun. We need to try a b2b. Mrs. Bigdog is missing our dog and wants to get her garden going. Glad you guys liked everything ❤️.

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Amazing time!

All Aboard: Carnival Freedom 2022