Carnival Freedom Cruise Reviews - Reviews

First let me tell you what was good.  By far, the majority of the employees working on the cruise were great.

The waiters and waitresses were awesome. Our head waiter was Nilson, and he was great.  We really enjoyed when they danced. 

The employees who took care of our room did a great job and were friendly, polite and professional.  

When my Mom and I went to the spa and had our hair done, a young man from South Africa did both our hair and both of us were pleased with how it turned out.  He was very good.  I wasn't really sure what I wanted and he was able to suggest a style I liked a lot.  He was also friendly and polite and professional.

Now the bad.  I made arrangements to have two wheelchairs available for myself and my Mom as we are both disabled.  We waited in the heat for about an hour and the wheelchairs only arrived after I hunted someone down and asked repeatedly about them.  Why did I make arrangements ahead of time if those arrangements weren't going to be honored?

When Mom and I went to get out hair done, we expected to use the$50 gift card we had.  When we went to pay, we were told these gift card were only good for signature services.  This was not shown anywhere on the card.  If it was restricted, it should have been mentioned on the card.  Also,  I went to the spa area to ask about the special of two services for $69, three for $79 etc.  When I said I had a question about the special I was quoted $79 for 2 services.  This could have been a mistake, but when I asked if a blow dry was included with the 2 service (which I mentioned by name of the service) the first girl said it was included, but a heavy set woman with dark hair said it wasn't.   I said, OK, then how much is it to also get a blow dry.  She was very rude and quoted me $45 like "you can't afford it".  $45 is more than I paid for the shampoo and blow dry I had done the day before.  I said "$45?"  and she again said $45 with the "you can't afford it" attitude.  I had been planning on having the two or three services option with a blow dry, but I was so offended by this woman I just left and did not purchase these services.  I don't think it is unreasonable to want to know the price of something before purchasing it.

The food was not good.  It made me sick.  I was not able to make it through one complete dinner.  Each night I had to leave early and go lay down.  I was not able to eat a complete dinner during the entire cruise.  

The cruise didn't live up to my expectations.  Cindy  

The 7 days cruise started out to be a little rough, the first 3 days, on the boat because of a mechanical problem. It was fixed in Freeport and smooth sail from that point on. Key West, we did the Old Town Trolly which was a great excursion and low price. The driver was so funny and dropped us off blocks from Margaritaville. Was such a great time. Freeport we went on the Catamaran, it wasn't that great but when we got back, we shopped and had a good time.

Nassau we walked to the beach, 10 minute walk and it was great. Don't buy your drinks from Fat Tuesday, they are so expensive. The people working the beach provided drinks and a good price and lounge chairs. All around a great trip. Loved it!!! 

Cruised on the Carnival Freedom , booked the guarantee balcony room and got an awesome room forward in the ship with balcony. Cruise.com had a $100 credit issued to our account when we boarded as advertised . We took the Jeep Tour in the Bahamas and would recommend that to anyone who wants to see more of the island .We stopped at Sloppy Joes in Key West and it was cool to see but I recommend the Sands Bar across the street for drink Specials.  

On board the  Ship check out the Alchemy Bar and try the Perfect Storm martini , you will not be disappointed. Had a great Cruise and would do again . 

Thanks Cruise.com

I picked the cruise for its itinerary. The weather was perfect and the balcony cabin was worth the $ for this route. The sit down meals were very good, but tge service in the dining room was off on a couple of nights. ?staff in training? The entertainment was very good with lots of variety. Carnival has built shopping areas right near the dock in Cozumel and Roatan, Honduras, so you can walk to the shops. We only did one excursion on Roatan to Gumbalimba Park and the experience was excellent with monkeys sitting on your shoulder.

Driving to Galveston seemed to be the norm, but we flew to Houston and took the Carnival shuttle to the port. Wheelchair assistance was available getting on and off the ship.

The cruise was fantastic. The rooms were nice, the food was good, the ship was very clean and well kept.  The staff was fantastic. Everyone had a smile and treated us very nicely.  All of the staff did what they could to see to it that everyone had a good time. The shows were fun and Malcom the program director was so funny and did a great job.  It was well organized and I would recommend it.

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.

We loved the cruise for the most part. The cabins were always extra clean. The staff were the best. We wanted to take them all home with us because they were so awesome. But our family of four has allergies and we don't smoke or are even ever around people who smoke. So while on the cruise we all felt awful because of it. There are 2 areas were everyone is suppose to smoke. But the casino is pretty much in the middle of the ship and completely open to all surrounding areas. Including the middle lobby/staircase/elevators that go through the middle of all floors and is an open area. Will totally miss the crew, but glad to be able to breathe fresh air again.

A very special thank you to Kristy for taking care of every detail ensuring that we had a wonderful cruise!  I highly recommend her services and expertise in planning your dream vacation and or cruise! 

This was one spectacular cruise.  We enjoy the Carnival Freedom, one of the best ships in the fleet.  Our Cruise Director Malcolm kept the energy high and the fun coming!  We did our first Chef’s Table and it was beyond amazing!  As alway Varnival delivered the best fun!

I am sorry to say that my cruise was not what I anticipated. My mother fell disembarking the ship on Tuesday March 29 and that was the end of the cruise from there. She was in a wheelchair for the remainder of the cruise and I took care of her.

Also Montego Bay was a HUGE disappointment. I found out from our shopping expert that we got taken for a ride by our drivers as they did not take us to the designated shops that we were told they would.

It was extremely relaxing and stress-free. Carnival is organized effectively and efficiently. Everything was taken care of and the instructions and information given out prior to the cruise was useful and specific. Service was stellar as our rooms were cleaned twice a day and/or to our discretion. Food was decent and always available. 

My husband and spent our Spring break on the Carnival Freedom and had a great time.  The cruise director Malcom is amazing and so... much fun!!  The ports of call were great, we booked out excursions independent of Carnival with Viator.com for a tour in Roatan for about 1/2 the price, we were met close to the Port and were basically given a tour of the island just the two of us.  It was great we got to stop wherever we wanted, get out and shop and just sight see. Our driver waited patiently for us and told us the day was about us so whatever and wherever we wanted to go was totally up to us.  He took us the West Bay, very cool, where we walked and saw the unique shops and visited with some of the locals, all in all it was a great day.  In Belize we booked with cavetubing.com and again were picked up at the port in an air conditioned bus (very nice) and given a brief city tour before being bused to the caves.  The caves are awesome and the guide was great (you have to have a guide to cave, no one is allowed without a guide) the caving was awesome, they provide the tubes and the helmets with headlamps.  You have to hike about 1/2 hour to get to the caves but they carried your tubes so they were waiting for us when we got there.  It is a slow tubing experience and the water was very comfortable.  The caving tour takes about an hour which can vary with water currents.  After caving we loaded the bus and were taken back to the office area where lunch was served, yummy local food, chicken, rice and beans and coleslaw along with rum punch.  After lunch we were driven back to port with about an hour to spare before the ship left.  In Cozumel since we had been before we decided to just hoof it.  We took a cab to the city area and walked around to do some shopping before heading back to the ship.  This is our 8th cruise being our 5th with Carnival and our first in a balcony cabin.  We usually get an inside just because we aren't in the cabin much, but with 3 days at sea we sprung for the balcony.  We loved it and sat out on the balcony for our early morning coffee which was delivered by room service each morning.  We also would open the door each night to hear the ocean, great sleeping.  The Freedom is a beautiful ship with tons to do, we watched a movie under the stars one night.  The shows were good, singing and dancing with very well done props and digital backgrounds, quite amazing actually.  The final night the Flying Scotsman is a must see.  This man is amazing and quite a talent we totally enjoyed his show.  We also did several comedy shows which were all very different but very entertaining.  As for the food on the ship, as usual it was very good as far as we were concerned, we ate in the buffet for breakfast each day as opposed to going to the dining room, we just like getting food and going on about our day, for lunch we did the buffet as well, also tried the Deli which was great and the pizza which was good.  The dining room meals were great a very good selection each night so trying foods you have never had is always a treat.  The staff in the dining room were fun and entertaining as they dance and sing too.  Our cabin was 6403 and was quite a lot larger than what we have had before being inside.  It had a queen size bed and a couch that would open to sleep 2 additional people. The bathroom was the same as any cabin but adequate for showering and such.  The storage was pretty large, it has 3 closet areas two for hanging clothes and a 3rd with shelves.  A mini-bar and a safe also are in the cabin which are very nice additions.  The balcony has 2 chairs and a table which is very nice for just hanging out.  All in all we would do this cruise again.  The one negative is it was Spring break and to be quite honest the Ship was filled with breakers from Arkansas.  We have done spring break cruises a number of times and didn't experience any sort of problems however this cruise the kids seemed to be out of control, the captain even announced that parents needed to know where their children were due to so many complaints.  We spoke to a couple the last day of the cruise who were attempting to go to their cabin after a show and when the elevator opened it was filled with youngsters sitting on the floor who refused to allow them to enter.  We heard kids running up and down the hallways at 2;30 AM 3 of our 7 nights.  Also talked to some friends who's daughters North Face jackets were stolen.  All in all I think it is safe to say that these kids were disrespectful and their parents did nothing to control them. Maybe children in this day and age believe they are entitled to more than they should be allowed to experience.  Working and earning a fun filled vacation might be a possible solution parents. 

We had a great trip with our kids (ages 9 and 6).  They LOVED Camp Ocean- we had no intentions of putting them there, as this was a "family" vacation.  But, they begged to try it once they talked to over kids that had been there.  It was fantastic, just drop in here and there for a bit of time- great deal.

The movies at night were fun.  Maybe a bit much for little kids, with the PG-13, but we just took our kids out for those.

The shore excursions we books through Carnival, and they were smooth with no issues.  Fun times.

Negatives: long wait to get off the ship.  Do the "self assist" option, you'll get off faster.

Our waiter for the sit-down meal was super boring not personable at all.  He gave us a menu, handed us food, and that was it.   Other waiters seemed far more exciting (chatting, dancing, laughing, asking questions about where people are from and what they did for the day).  It was crumby with ours.

We are Carnival VIFP Gold members.  We like Carnival for the consistency of the cruise expectation.  The stateroom we had was larger that we thought it would be.  The dining room food was Very Good and we had multiple choices.  The Steak House was excellent we highly recommend at least one dinner there.  The entertainment was very good and the cruise director was great.  The Lido dining area was also very good, clean and lots to choose from.  The Serenity deck for adults was very nice we used it on all the sea days.  For a consistent high quality cruise experience you can not go wrong with Carnival.

The only positives on our cruise were our stateroom attendant, Jeffrey, and the pizza available to eat at The Pizza Pirate. Food available at formal dining room and the Lido cafeteria was mediocre at best....never very fresh or hot. All desserts except self-serve ice cream were stale and without flavor. Unlimited Bubbles drink option is a joke when you have to fight your way through the lines at "bar" to get a soda. Bartenders were not responsive to people who just wanted a soda. They were looking for big bar orders and tips. Lingering smoke from the casino and other smoke approved areas made many areas of the ship that were NON-SMOKING very unpleasant and stinky. Open air atrium and bar area on 3rd floor was a CONSTANT source of noise at night in our cabin...EVERY single night, the loud booming music and hollering of partying guests made our evenings almost unbearable. The whole tender ticket / transfer fiasco to get off of the boat in Cayman is unforgivable and so poorly planned, you all should be embarrassed....to make all of those passengers line up like cattle to get a "tender" sticker to get off of the boat. You could have easily ran it like you do disembarking instead. Shame on Carnival! Why not dismiss people by deck? Finally, you ABSOLUTELY should not let anyone who cannot speak clearly make announcements. The heavy accents and intelligibility of the spoken word was ridiculous. I was hoping for a nice, memorable vacation gift for my graduating Senior daughter...my only hope is that her impression of it all is not a poor as mine. NEVER AGAIN!

Our room was AWESOME!! Only gave it a 4 star due to not caring for the dinner menu.. buffets were better.  Had a great time and looking forward to booking our next cruise!

They consistently do their jobs. The steward was vey considerate and good about getting things we needed and knowing our movement patterns. When we left the room regardless of the day or port when we got back our room was clean and ice was there. What I there to say about Chubby"s team! Great Our second time with him! We never missed dinner! The Food was good and they make sure you are happy and well fed. Carnival is always on our vacation plan ledger.

As this was my first cruise my expectations we high as well as unknown for comparison. We had fairly perfect weather the entire cruise so the boat sailed smoothly. Our oversized aft deck was great when we wanted

to avoid the upper tanning decks. Aside from the adult comedy the shows were a bit cheesy. The Chef's table was truly amazing! The seated dining was nice, however we did feel a bit neglected. The buffet was what one would expect of a buffet. 

Overall the cruise was good,this was my 4th cruise with Carnival.  I don't like to complain I normal complement, but I have 4 issues that I was not happy about;

1. The room temperature was very hot, I put in a complaint and 2 days later they checked the a/c, it was 77 degrees, I asked for a fan they said they didn't have any more and the temperature was up to their standards.

2. The beds were extremely uncomfortable for my husband and I, he woke up with horrible back pain everyday.

3. Formal or elegant night - there were several people allowed in the dining room in shorts,jeans,flip flops, tee shirts..etc While majority was dressed properly as per the itinerary, I understand if you don't want to dress up, you can go to another place on the ship to eat.. several options to choose from! Other cruise lines enforce dress code. Very disappointed in those nights, just expected more.

4. Casino should never close, other than taking off to get into international waters. Don't understand that. 

I would say over all it was good not great,  but for the money spent for 2 rooms for 4 people + all the extras we could have done almost anything else for the money. We spent about $7k for everything including excursions and a hotel the night before the cruise ( cruise price doubled for spring break). We drove in our own car to Galveston, didn't fly.   

The staff was great as always! 

My husband and I are in our 40's and our 2 older children 22 & 18 went with us. Our 18 year old had a blast, he said it was his 2nd best vacation ever, he met lots of friends his age to hang out with. 

As our 1st experience on a cruise it was ok. We have 4 children and always try to plan something special for their spring break.  As this was a little pricy option it was something different and gave us time to pay out.  We had a good time but there were some disappointments. We were excited to go to Belize and that did not get to happen because the ship could not port do to high winds. It would have been nice to be compensated for that other then the $16.25 in taxes to use in a future cruise. We changed our cruise from royal Caribbean to carnival freedom because it was going to Belize and then we didn't get to go and all we pretty much got was a sorry. There could have also been more live shows and change up food options on the buffets. Could have been a much better experience but we still had some fun.