Carnival Freedom Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We booked this cruise for our honeymoon and there wasn't much romantic about it at all. Timing may have been an issue because there were a lot of kids in all of the pools and even in the adult area. We couldn't find a good time of the day to get in at all. My husband asked if there was anything special they had that we could do for our honeymoon, they didnt have a complimentary anything for us. We were over charged on several things that had to be removed from our bill but it was like we didn't have an issue removing them because they were not supposed to be there at all. We did not attend the captains dinner not even once because my husbands pants were considered jeans so we couldn't go. Most of the food on the buffet was cold so you couldn't enjoy that, children were running through the lines and tables where you eat. We couldn't even get flamless candles for our room to make it more romantic. There was a guy urinating on the hammock in the adult area because he was so drunk. There should be staff around to remove the people that drink to much because there were so many that could barley walk and bumped into you as they walked by. There was a group of guys that were on the 2nd floor and they kept up commotion every single night and they were drunk beyond limits most of the time. It just is not a cruise for newly weds, the night time movies were accommodating to some but not most. It was horrible and the only thing I enjoyed was going to the islands because it was a break away from the ship and what was going on on it. 

Seriously, one of the best vacations I have ever taken! It took absolutely no effort on my part - the staff, crew and excursion companies took care of everything. The crew of the Freedom is extremely friendly and excited to be there. They love to stop and chat and will tell you anything you want to know about life on a boat! Special shoutout to Keishia at the Millennium Bar and Kerch at the Redfrog Pub - y'all seriously helped make our trip! I was also extremely impressed with the entertainment staff - Sabrina, Michelle and Malcolm. I have never seen a team that can orchestrate such large groups of people so well, all while keeping the experience fun! Only part we didn't like about the entire experience was the experience at the port. The staff there wasn't very helpful and never gave clear instructions. But once we got on the boat, everything was perfect!

Our stateroom (balcony) on level 7 - the bathroom had a constant pee smell (must be a leak somewhere) - doesn't matter how often they clean it.

The balcony walls cannot be opened when you book 3 rooms together - this would have earned more starts.

The favorite parts are the 3 ports that it stopped at - that's where you want to swim, not on the ship - pools are small and always overcrowded. The serenity area for 21 and over had a handful of POD stations and people just outright take them early morning so everyone else miss out. They *SHOULD* enforce a rule of a max 30 minutes per use to give other people a chance to use. Should enforce with a check-in/check-out pass or similar.

Food is average - filet mignon are not even near comparison with TX Roadhouse; breakfast is all the same for all 7 days. Desserts at the main dining halls are probably the best. The 2 hours per night in the main dining room is a torture when you have young kids traveling, and especially for late dining. They fall asleep sometimes before the main entree comes out - this alone should lose a star.

Shows are okay but since we had to wait so long for our dinner, we usually miss part of the start of the shows, and most of the time we just give up and not go to the shows.

This was our family's first cruise....best vacation ever!! We really loved how the staff always made it a point to make us feel part of the Carnival Family. With fabulous food and entertainment as well!

Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel are all awesome, but when combined together on a cruise it was fantastic. The staff and entertainers were awesome! Our cruise director Malcolm couldn't be any funnier, entertaining, or make us feel like we were part of the carnival family. The only thing I didn't like was the buffet food was tired and repetitive after 7 days. It didn't change hardly between each day and the nicer restaurants were booked. Please change out the dated Motel 6 and 1970s Las Vegas look for something resembling the 21st century.

the housekeeping and cleanliness was unacceptable to me. This was my first cruise and I don't know if I'd do another carnival freedom again or recommend it either.

This cruise exceeded our expectations as well as every employee we encountered. You can be sure that if you need anything any one of the employees will help you out or find someone who will all with a smile on their faces. The amazing thing is that if you encounter these wonderful people more than once not only will they remember you but address you by your name as well. With so many people on the ships this is very impressive. These ships have EVERYTHING! There is always something to do for everyone. Also the food is amazing whether your eating in the main dinning room or the cafeteria style dinning room which is more casual. My son, who is a very picky eater, loved it so much he actually ate 3 meals a day and always cleaned his plate. This was our first cruise and we can't wait to book our next one. Would definitely recommend carnival cruise lines to anyone looking to book a cruise. 

Very disapointed in the entertainment and the director.  I have seen many shows through the years and all of theirs were BAD   Wait staff in Restaurant all GREAT!! 

I'm an Okie I like having my feet on dry land and my one experience with the ocean was while in high school and I spend the whole fishing trip running to and from the bathroom sea sick. With that said I promised my wife at around our 8th anniversary if she put up with me for 20yrs I would consider going on a cruise. So the date came and I planned this trip without her knowing dreading it a bit in the back of my mind. Now for my experience paying for this trip the excursions and the automatic gratuity added up pretty quick but it was worth it in the end. Once we boarded I was still apprehensive and they put you though the worst part of the cruise right off the bat the safety portion where you line up in the head 4 rows deep and go over the life jackets and boats etc. Once that bit of hell was over the vacation started. I don't relax easily so it took me a good 2 days to really get into the groove but once it started it was heaven. I didn't have to worry about anything. I had payed for the excursions and gratuity so we just went through the process we ate when we wanted as much as we wanted, we watched at least 3 comedy shows a night, I learned about a few new artists and purchased a few pieces for the house as memory triggers. I'm not a gambler but I entered every free raffles I came across and won a bottle of win and one piece of art a relaxing scene of a beach chair a glass of wine and the ocean that will remind me of this trip til my dying day. The crew is AMAZING the cleaning staff are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen in action. You finish your "free" meal get up to go do you next "free" event and they're already cleaning up your table for the next couple. I actually find myself grading this crew on extra effort because I cant name a shortcoming. Baby B (Bianca), Samantha (Art Gallery Employees), and Wayan (Steward) new me by name after the first day. If you go to the Chic the waiters call you by name and they make even a blue collar normal joe shmo like myself feel important. I purchased the facebook internet package to keep track with my family at home and I'll note it wasn't to great.  After 2 days I mentioned it to guest services and they reimbursed me the cost and upgraded the package with no argument (not sure the guys name but he was the only guy in guest services on my cruise). The excursions are a blast we did the catamaran/snorkel (Jamaica), Dolphin/Stingray (Cayman), and Mexican Fiesta/Tequila/Shopping (Cozumel). My seasickness snuck up on me with the snorkeling but once I got back onto the boat I was good. After the excursion we diverged from Mararitavile and walked the shops which was a "fun" experience but I would not advise it for those with children. The Stingrays were AWESOME and the water was crystal clear. The dolphin encounter was fun although the water was a bit stinky. The fiesta was a good deal and a nice calm final excursion by then my wife and I were roasted like a couple of lobsters so a day without water wasn't horrible, lol. Looking at it as a whole this trip was expensive it adds up but your treated like a king/queen on the ship and it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. I stepped on this cruise apprehensive but by the end of it I was already looking to plan another one.

Taking a cruise is something I have never really considered. I definitely appreciate "genuine" experiences more than heavily produced and scheduled ones. I have always considered a cruise the epitome of not having any control and being spoon fed (lots and lots of feeding) the experience. 

Overall, It was a positive experience. 

I have a 2 and a 5 year old, if you were to ask them- this was the best vacation in the world. If you look at it from that perspective, it was a total success. The kids club is great, the people are nice, the kids do high quality crafts and activities. It's really A+. 

From a parent perspective, it was tough. My little guy wakes up at 5:00 and they don't really serve a hot breakfast until 7:00 (but you can order room service continental stuff) Chasing 2 kids around a ship is exhausting. I will leave it there. 

As for us. We were able to have some quality time, but not nearly enough. The schedule made sure that there was always something to be doing, but sometimes, that's not what you need. 

I probably wouldn't cruise again, but this was a good experience. Definitely worth doing once and particularly if you have enough United Mileage Plus points to do it for free. 

my favorite part was the waterslide.  

Breakfast buffet with a window seat was also nice.

The worst was so much and so loud amplified noise around the pool....the whole middle of deck 9.

It was bad enough that that deck 9 was always so noisy, but that noise (BOOM BOOM) at times carries all the way down and forward to my balcony...almost the front of deck 8!

Information about excursions was minimal....i wish I had waited until on board to decide excursions so I could get info from other travelers about best stuff to do.  Way too much time on other boats and buses, and it turns out there was no discount for booking early.

I wish I had paid more attention to what was available on the TV as far as boat activities.  I found out the last day that you show the dinner menu....so I could decide choices (dining room or buffet luck) before standing in line.  The phone app was pretty...expand on that.

More shore time would have been nice.  More info on the ports too

May is probably too HOT for this cruise.

Embarkation could have gone better.  Getting on the shuttle was chaos, with shuttles dropping people off but not picking any up.  After we got onboard though, everything was good to go.  Now that we know what to expect, we a looking forward to another.

I enjoyed everything about the cruise.  We have sailed on the Carnival Freedom before and it continues to get better and better.  The Cruise Director is awesome and the staff is courteous and professional.  We are looking forward to next year!!!

My family loved the relaxed atmosphere aboard the Carnival Freedom!  From the Serenity Deck to the many places to go and enjoy some peace and quiet-- there are an abundance of places to chill.  The food was amazing and bountiful...so plan on putting on a few pounds!  The pools, hot tubs, walking court, putt-putt golf are great places to play and relax too.  My family truly enjoyed the movie nights on the big screen, lounging in the deck chairs with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate...it doesn't get much better than that.  The service aboard the Carnival Freedom was amazing...and every waiter, waitress, even those going around cleaning up 3,000 people's messes were very gracious and friendly.  Thank you to the staff of 1,500 who worked tirelessly to make this cruise an absolutely incredible experience for my family and me.

The best part is leaving from Galveston.

Every body in the cruise did a perfect job.

This was our 20 cruise. We always recommended.

We went this time 15 in our group, for some of them was the first time experience been on a cruise and every body love it.

We had so much fun the Freedom!  We stayed is our favorite room, 9201 and if you ever have a chance to stay a the grand scenic view room, grab the chance.  The view from this room is amazing!   We love Guy's Burgers, The Blue Iguana and the Red Frog or having a wonderful dinner in the Steakhouse.  We also experienced the Chef's Table and the food was truly amazing.  Jamaica,  George Town and Cozumel are great ports to visit.

This was our first cruise.  It was the most relaxing we have ever done, we loved every single thing about it. Our kids loved the camp ocean.  We are already looking into booking another cruise.

The cruise was great. Food was good, which is what you should expect feeding 3000 people that often.  Entertainment was good, mostly just comedians and karaoke.  It was fun to shoot hoops and play miniature golf as well.  I liked the outdoor movies each night. Overall, you can't go wrong with this cruise. The ship is great and well kept, the destinations were awesome!

This was our first cruise.  It was the most relaxing we have ever done, we loved every single thing about it. Our kids loved the camp ocean.  We are already looking into booking another cruise.

Everything about the cruise was great, guess the only thing that could use some improvement would be the TV to get better reception. Enjoyed my cruise.