First time cruiser review Freedom

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 6

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5
Carnival Freedom

5 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 14, 2023

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1108

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

As a first time it wasn’t terrible at all! I’d totally do it again knowing what I know now and knowing what to ask the guiders.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
It was fast and easy! We did the late arrival at 1:30 and it was virtually empty! Perfect!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Pizza is hands down the best food! Guys burgers were fine! The deli was great with the BLT and the Reuben! Sushi was great too but added cost! Never really had the buffet since we aren’t buffet people! Did get the wok food but the line was always really really long!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Lots of activities going on mostly for adults. Also there are many things going on at the same time so you often have to miss one thing to do the other or cut something short to do both!

Pool

1 out of 5

Small! They have adult only pools but they are rarely used because those pools aren’t where the entertainment is! They need to have kid only pools! The adults consumed the pool and the kids were often left with no pool!

Hot Tubs

1 out of 5

Gross! Just gross!

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
All the staff get to know the names of your family and all the things your enjoy! They really are very outgoing!

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Overall it was a clean ship! Saw people always wiping things down the rails and elevator buttons! This was impressive to me as a first time cruiser! Saw folks moping and sweeping always cleaning going on!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Great cabin! On the spa floor! Loved the balcony and the location! The only thing is that you may hear some folks above you at night if that are ( pool tables) are open and the folks decided to party! I think security should do a better job at this but I get it, we are all on vacation.

Ship tip

Get a balcony room! More sunlight and more places to sit without the crowds

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

3 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5
It’s a fine little Port! Lots of rocks and seaweed! Many beach chairs for a FEE! There are only a few free ones! If you want seaweed free water you need to walk along the beach line for about half a mile!

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

1 out of 5
Horrible! I’ll never go back there and will tell everyone to not sail here. It’s all standard American things besides the handmade shops which are only a few. There is no place to beach! None! Rocks rocks rocks and more rocks! The pool there is small and gets paaaaaacked!

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
We thought we would go late since most people were in a rush to get off but the elevators were shut down and folks had to use the stairs from floor 11 with luggage some people! Like this wasn’t an easy process nor was it quick! This needs to be streamlined much more! Then folks that didn’t have their key card or documents to get off the ship got to security, it would be a huge discussion and a hold up! No! Put those people aside or on another line and keep the line moving!
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