We have just returned from a 6 day cruise aboard the Carnival Freedom, and overall we had a very nice time. Our ports of call were Key West, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The cruise director was John Heald, the senior cruise director for Carnival, and a very funny guy. The food was very good, as was the dining room service. The hostess for our dining area was outstanding, helping us with special dietary needs. The stage shows were terriffic, and the entertainers were great. We especially enjoyed the piano bar.
However, I thought I should share these things, most of which I put on my comment card.
Carnival issues you an all in one card that acts as a key, ID for boarding and shipboard changes. This is a nice touch as you only need to carry the one card. However, the shipboard safe requires a credit card — and if you use your “Sail and Sign Boarding Card”, then the safe quits working or the card quits working. So you must either carry your Sail and Sign card and your credit card, or you hide your credit card in your sock drawer, which really defeats the purpose of a room safe.
Many of us have taken to using our cell phones instead of a watch. And, although modern cruise ships such as the Freedom have a cell phone tower (and internet access), the cell equipment does not provide time synch data. As a result, my family’s Verizon phones were useless as a clock. There is no clock in the room. You can call guest services for the time, but that does not help much if you are trying to make an unannounced event without a watch. There is exactly one 120 volt electrical outlet in the room (and one in the bathroom), so if they were to provide a clock, you would not be able to use the outlet for any other purpose, such as re-charging your camera battery. My suggestion: bring a triple tap, a travel clock and wear a watch. Into the triple tap you should plug in a night light. The rooms can be very, very dark at night. One person with an inside cabin (no windows at all) said the room was a cave with the lights out.
Bring closed toe shoes. My wife had sport sandals which were insufficient for the gym rules, and she was not permitted to exercise at all during the trip.
Don’t bring a mature 14 year old child on a Carnival cruise. 14 year old children are lumped together with the 12 and 13 year old children without regard to their maturity. We learned that they could accommodate a child that was 14.5 years, but our son was two weeks short. We spent hours on our first day appealing this decision. He ended up “liberating” a sticker for his card to get into the O2 club for 15–17 year olds, where he had a great time. Note to Carnival: you should treat all 14 year olds who are about to enter High School on a probationary basis. If they fail to act properly then they should be sent back down to the younger children.
The telephone system on the Freedom is lousy. I could not tell the difference between a ring and a busy signal.
The shipboard Customer Service department was disappointing, too. We came back from an event to find that both of our keys had stopped working. These were keys carried by two different guests in separate pockets. So we walked half the length of the ship, stood in line for 5 minutes, then spoke with a woman who, instead of concluding that something was wrong with the lock, instead she re-keyed both keys. Back down to the room, where the keys failed to work. We went to my kid’s room to call Customer Service, but it was either busy or nobody answered. Remember the lousy phones? I could not tell the difference. So back to Customer Service another wait at which time they came to the shocking conclusion that the door needed a new battery. But wait, there’s more: when we got our final bill, it contained an error. We called to discuss this with the front desk who put us on hold, then disconnected us. So, instead of checking out, back to the Customer Service line to resolve the billing issue.
Finally, the recommended shops were overpriced and the shore excursions were inadequately examined. In particular, a portion of the Jamaica Dolphin Encounter & Dunn’s River Falls excursion was not as represented. The climb portion was was great, but at Dolphin Cover there was no education and no tour. The “… opportunity to caress and kiss these amazing creatures while standing in the shallows.” was a $20 additional charge. Despite the request of many on the bus to be returned to the directly to the pier because of the proximity to the departure time, instead we were returned to the Jamaica Hard Rock Cafe, a few blocks away. Between the Hard Rock and the pier are streets lined with folks trying to sell trinkets, or just asking for money. Running the gauntlet and very unpleasant.
So the answer is yes, the Carnival Cruises are fun. We did enjoy our vacation very much. If you are prepared, you will have a great time. Carnival does, however, need to make some changes to make things even more enjoyable.