Carnival Freedom Cruise Reviews - Reviews

 This was our first time to cruise with Carnival and we were Pleasantly surprised.The ship was very clean and the staff were very helpful and friendly.We were impressed with the Quality of the food in the dining room and the Lido deck. overall this was a good experience and a great vacation

The ship wasn't not as pretty; the decor was boring. There wasn't a lot of fun activities or good productions going on most of the day compared to my trips on previous Carnival Ships.

This was our first cruise and we had been hearing for years how wonderful the food is on cruises. Well, unfortunately we found this not really to be the case. Though the food was abundant throughout the ship with many different places to eat, overall the quality was just not there. First, shouldn't hot foods be served hot? I am somewhat surprised there isn't some sort of health code violations or something here. Not lukewarm to cold. And bland would be the best word I could use without being profane. There were a couple of exceptions. The Mongolian Wok was very good as was Guys burger joint and the Blue Iguana,(a made to order burrito bar) But let's be honest, how tough is it to screw up asian, burgers, and burritos?

On the other hand, our room stewards were absolutely fabulous. Always a smile and a friendly greeting by name in the hallways at all hours of the day.(Do these people never sleep?) And if we had any requests, they bent over backwards to fill our needs in a speedy fashion.

Another thing, if there are rules aboard ship, shouldn't they be enforced if not followed. Several times overly buff gentlemen strutted through the dining halls shirtless, mocking the posted signs to the contrary. And, if the teen club is supposed to be 15 to 17 year olds only, why were 12, 13, and 14 year olds and up to 20 year olds allowed to join in this supposed teen club? Not cool in the least. We trust our children to the cruise line and this is how they protect them?

 We had a most relaxing time on the Freedom ship .  We relaxed at the serenity hot tub area, it was much quieter, ( no kids).  We ate whenever we wanted, it was easier for us, so as we could catch more shows, movies at the drive-in. Love that you had a popcorn for the movies.  The Punchline comedy show were great, only thing is that you need more shows, it got over crowded and couldn't get in. The food was great, Loved Guy Ferris burger joint.  Had an inside cabin, which was fine for us, we've traveled a bit , but our room steward was great . Jomar  always greeted us by name & a smile gave us information of which way to go when we were looking for theaters or food.  All in all great time, thanks again Carnival.

Gloria

this cruise was amazing! we were celebrating 2 high school graduations...2 college graduations and a 25th wedding anniversary!!! the itinerary was fantastic all the ports of call were new for us and beautiful. Only wish is the ports of call had more time. Always feel like we were rushing to get off the ship and enjoy the island and when you were relaxing off  the ship it was time to get back on! We did learn that the southern carribbean in July is very rough and choppy, some in our party felt sea sick others did not get bothered at all. Guys burgers is amazing! if you are thinking of doing this cruise i would tell everyone to go ATVing in Curacao. We booked our excursion privately thru Prins ATV and car rental... it was the most wonderful excursion we have ever done...you will not be disappointed. Would defineately recommend this cruise

My daughter and myself sailed on the Carnival Freedom July13-21 for an 8 day Southern Caribbean Cruise.  I purchased the "Faster to Fun" package, so we could board early and our bags would be delivered quickly.  The boarding process went smoothly without any issues.  The faster to fun advertises that your room is available right away, but that wasn't the case, though I just walked right to our room and put our things down.  They had signs up saying that the rooms weren't available.  I had already booked our excursions at every Port prior to sailing.  I compared prices for the excursions prior to buying, both from Carnival and outside vendors.  I am pleased to say that Carnival has finally woken up and their prices were right in line with the outside vendors.  We Power Snorkeled in Grand Turk, great excursion.  Indian Caves in Dominican Republic, another great excusion, I didn't even mind the stop downtown to do some shopping.  Mini-Jeeps in Curacao, the actual Jeep tour was great!  The beach portion was a waste of time, I didn't want to get all wet and salty and then get dirty on the Jeeps.  The drinks at the beach were just as expensive as they were on the boat!  We did the submarine in Aruba, that was another great excursion!  This was the first time I experienced the art auctions onboard and really enjoyed them!  I won  2 prints at the raffles and bought 2 prints.  We like the Anytime Dining, as we can go whenever we want.  We also like to share a table with others to meet new people.  My daughter participated in the 02 teen group and had fun with that.  The Guy's Burgers are fantastic!!!!  I found it strange that the pizza place would not make pizza to order, you have to select from the pizzas on the menu.  I wanted pepperoni and mushroom and couldn't get it even though I could get a mushroom or pepperoni pizza?????  We had one great waiter in the Chic dining room, the others were just average and didn't even bother to introduce themselves before taking our order.  Food is good in the dining room with a good selection.  For those that have never cruised before, you can order anything you want, even ordering several appetizers and entrees.  The deserts........ this is where I feel Carnival is REALLY lacking.  Their deserts are frankly, boring.  They really need to step up to the plate and get some pastry chefs on board as that was a huge let down!  Room service is very limited.  I had the bottomless bubbles plan, which is unlimited soda, and they wouldn't bring me soda with room service.  Frankly, the breakfast buffet is pretty poor with the same things over and over, every day.  By the time you get to your table your food is cold.  I like the fact that even on these larger ships, you don't feel over crowded while on board.  They have the disembarking at Port down good, so there wasn't any problem getting off or on the boat.  Rooms were nice and service there very good.  All employees are friendly and helpful.  I rented the small video camera that they have for $60 for the week.  It comes with a 16g card you keep.  I always bring my laptop, so it worked well for me downloading the videos every day and recharging the unit.  The drawback with it that you can't "view" what you are filming, it is just a point and shoot camera.  But, it is waterproof down to 30ft, they provide you with a floating wrist strap and a headstrap system for hands-free operations. Disembarkation is a slow tedious procedure, no where near the efficiency of all the other disembarkations at the other ports.  It could use some improvements.  

When comparing Carnival to other cruiselines I have been on, none of them could compare with what they provide for the price.  If you are looking for a highend experience, this isn't it.  But if you want a fun, reasonably priced vacation, this is it.

Really enjoyed the cruise. The food was great,the service was great and enjoyed the ports of call. Not to crazy about the Dominican Republic. Would have rather spent 2 days in Aruba.Thanks for a fun cruise!

We have been on a dozen or so cruises in the past, half of them with carnival. Although we enjoyed this cruise, we noticed some problems with consistencies of service levels. While our cabin Steward, Marco, gave us the attention we have come to expect on cruises, we had issues with the consistency of the food and service in the dining area.My wife returned the pasta entrees 2 night in a row, the lasagna was soupy and the pasta was undercooked the next night. We had a private table for dining betweeen 3 very large groups and practically disappeared to the wait staff. Disappointing. Loved the greasy Guys'  Burgers and toppings on the Lido deck and the bar staff was very friendly escpecially Latoya in the Red Frog bar.Overall a good experience but we are considering cruising with a different cruiseline for our next cruise to get a current comparison.

We loved this cruise and did some fantastic excursions!  Seas were a little rough down south but not too bad!   Had a great cabin Stewart that pleasantly greeted me every day!  Edy was our waiter at dinner and he was fabulous!!!  and Allen made sure we had great drinks by the pool!!  My only suggestions for carnival would be better food selections for dinner, and have it again.  Sometimes you would get something and like it but couldn't get it again.  Loved the ship!  Activities sometimes seemed thrown together.  Jennifer was great and fun, but Ashley was a grump and sometimes short with people.  I am single and they only had one singles activity but had gay and lesbian activities nightly.  Great cruise and would love to go again!!!!

Our cruise to the Southern Caribbean was enjoyable.  The weather was great, the ports were beautiful, and the ship was nice.  We especially enjoyed Curacao with its beautiful, colorful, quaint buildings.  We would have liked to have had more time in port for exploring.  My one big concern with the ship Freedom was the strong nicotine smell in the hallways and stairs near the casino area.  It's a shame passengers had to give up clean air to cater to the smokers who frequented the casino.  I think Carnival should take a very strong look at their policy regarding smoking in various areas of the ship.  Food was good and plentiful.

I really enjoyed my cruise!  The entertainment, service, and food were great! The ship was clean and every facet of the cruise was well organized, and communication to the passengers was timely.  I would definitely take another Carnival cruise.

Room steward " Jomar" was outstanding. Food was well prepared and served at the proper temperature, but service was very slow. We had two nights that took a full two hours to complete dinner service in the main dinning room "Chic".  Entertainment was poor overall. Aft balcony was very nice, other than the inconsiderate neighbors slamming the door every time they opened it.   Stops we're nice other than Grand Turk. 

Dining room staff and room steward were fine.  Biggest complaints were dining room menu and very average quality of food, small portion sizes.  Also lack of entertainment only a few shows after dinner.  Port of call in La Romana should be changed almost nothing to do there except for flea market--long ride to Santo Domingo.

  Room temperature was warmer than we liked, housekeeping checked and said it was ok.

  Charging for soft drinks is irritating, nothing but coke products. 

  VIP checkin was great--took about 10 minutes.  All in all ok.l

Since we were Vegetarian and did not have a much choice Indian dishes. We went daily sit down dinner. We were not happy with manu. We requested waiter but chef would not make any indian food we requested. Only one choice we had to eat everyday. Even American vegetarian dish was not good

all. In our table there were 5 indian families, they had same problems. Most of the time we could not

eat American and/or Indian vegetarian dishes was not good at all. We end up eating buffet dinner.

I heard so manytimes that you request chef to make indian bread or different varities. This cruise did not have. This was bad dinner we ever eat.

House keeping don't change the sheet, when needed or replace the soda. Conquest last year was on top of things pertain to room service. The shower at one point water stop running. This area was the only place I was a little disappointed. Freedom need to correct the way they transport to private island as Half Moon. Need a better system, when it comes to been transported back to the ship. It would be great to have something to help form a line. I still enjoy myself

great experience,time is flying,lot to do.

ship is in great condition.services are the best.

private islans Half Moon Cay clean,nice beach and you have barbeque.

I had nothing but problems with the start of booking this cruise! Nothing was delivered that was promised even after several calls including one right from the cruise ship trying to get the stateroom credit that was promised to us for the two cabins that were booked. The price we paid for the cruise was much higher through Cheap cruises that if you booked with the cruise company directly. I would NEVER book a cruise though them again!!

Loved the ports on this cruise, only problem was visiting all the ports one after another. Starting off with two sea days was a bit much, then four ports right in a row.  The ports were beautiful, not long enough for any of them especially in San Juan.  Food on board at breakfast and dinner was very average, really need to improve on the quality of the food.  Sure missed your old fries and old pizza!!!!

FOOD ,POOR SELECTION AND NOT VERY GOOD VERY BLAND,DINNING SERVICE SLOW,

LOUD MUSIC AT DINER,VERY SMALL BALONY,

BEST PART OF THE TRIP GUY'S HAMBER JOINT AND GRAND TURK.

My wife and I spent eight great days on the Freedom.  The newly updated ship was outstanding.  Allison loved the new Blue Iguana Taco Bar and Guy's Burgers was great addition.  The ship as clean and our cabin steward, Jomar, was outstanding.  We have been on other ships, but we are die hard Carnival cruisers.  Can't wait til our next voyage.  We will then be Platinum cruisers and hope to set sail on the Sunshine, Breeze, or upcoming Vista.  We will return to the Freedom soon!