RyG's Cruise Guide
Please Like Us On Facebook!
  • Home
  • Cruise Tips
  • Cruise Resources
    • Cruise Schedules
    • Carnival Drydock Schedule
    • Carnival Cruise Director Schedule
    • Carnival Dive In Movies Schedule
    • Galveston Cruises
    • General Cruise Blog
    • Cruise Ship Webcams
    • Just For Fun
  • Carnival Cruise Food
  • My Cruise Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
Carnival Freedom 2017 7-Day Caribbean Cruise Review
Day 1   Part 2         July 8, 2017                        Galveston, Texas                                      
Scheduled Departure:  4:00pm                
​Click Any Photo To Make It Larger!       
                     My previous part of Day 1's review left off with me walking around the Carnival Freedom's Promenade Deck (5). The Carnival Freedom's Promenade Deck is home to several of the ship's main public areas. At the front of the Promenade Deck is the uppermost level of the Victoriana Theater. The theater was used for production shows, bingo, and other high profile events that took place during the cruise.  The Promenade Deck is also home to places such as the Fun Shops, casino, Cherry On Top, Skybox Sports Bar, Shopping Desk, 70's Disco, Taste Bar, Alchemy Bar, and the International Lounge. 
                      It was slightly raining outside, so many people were hanging out inside the Promenade Deck (5). Due to the seating areas and lounges in the Promenade being crowded I was unable to get good pictures of these areas. Day 2's review and several other parts of the review will include numerous pictures of the Promenade Deck (5). 

Carnival Freedom Atrium
Atrium - View From Deck 5
Carnival Freedom Promenade
Sitting On The Promenade Deck - Looking At Arcade's Entrance
Carnival Freedom Fun Finds Shopping Desk
Fun Finds Shopping Desk Located On Deck 5
Carnival Freedom Victoriana Theater
Victoriana Theater - Deck 5 Level
Carnival Freedom Theater
Seating Along The Sides Of The Victoriana Theater's Deck 5 Level
Carnival Freedom Atrium
Atrium Elevators - View From Deck 5
                      After walking around the Promenade Deck (5) I walked down one deck to the Atlantic Deck (4). This deck has the mid-level of the Victoriana Theater, upper level of the Chic Dining Room, upper level of the Posh Dining Room, the Habana Bar, Circle C, and Club 02.  
                       As I walked around Deck 4, I saw Club 02 was open for touring. I walked in to take a few pictures. Club 02 is the youth program for 15-17 year olds. The Club 02 lounge is located around the middle of the Atlantic Deck between the middle elevator area and the Habana Bar. The Club 02 lounge had a dance floor, screens for video games, and several areas to sit. 
Carnival Freedom Club 02
Club 02
Carnival Freedom Club 02
Seating In Club 02
Carnival Freedom Club 02
Seating Area By The Windows In Club 02
                         After peeking in Club 02, I walked through the upper level of the Chic Dining Room and came across Circle C. For those that do not know, Circle C is the youth program for 12-14 year olds. Circle C is located before the entrance to the Chic Dining Room by the Pixels Photo Gallery. The lounge for Circle C is not as large as Club 02, but there are several video game stations, a mini dance floor, and places to sit. 
Carnival Freedom Circle C
Circle C - View Of Video Games & Dance Floor
Carnival Freedom Circle C
Circle C
Circle C
Booth In Circle C
                        The Carnival Freedom's library, known as the Monticello Library, is also located on Deck 4. The library mainly had board games and very few books available (that I saw). 
Carnival Freedom Monticello Library
Monticello Library
Carnival Freedom Monticello Library
Monticello Library
Carnival Freedom Monticello Library
Two Seats In The Monticello Library
My Stateroom:   
                  My stateroom was an Interior room located close to the front of the Upper Deck (Deck 6). The stateroom was located midway between the front elevator area and the very front of the ship. Most of the staterooms on Deck 6 were balcony or interior staterooms. I do not think any suites were located on our deck, but I could be mistaken. When I first entered my stateroom, our steward had messed up and left the beds together from the previous cruise. He came within 60 seconds of us coming to our stateroom and we asked him to move the beds apart. By dinnertime, our beds were moved apart.  
              The stateroom contained two twin beds, a flat screen TV, small vanity area, trash can, three closed closet spaces, and a fridge. The room was a good size and had plenty of floor space.  
Here are a few photos of our stateroom and bathroom:
Carnival Freedom Stateroom
Stateroom - View Before Beds Got Separated
Carnival Freedom Stateroom
Stateroom Vanity Area - The Safe Was In The Cabinet
Carnival Freedom Stateroom TV
View Of The Stateroom's TV
                  Our travel agent sent our stateroom a jar of cookies from Cherry On Top. Other staterooms in our group received chocolate covered strawberries. This was a nice gesture from the travel agent to show her appreciation for using her!
Carnival Freedom Cherry On Top
Cookies From Cherry On Top
Carnival Freedom Stateroom
Refrigerator Located In Cabinet In Our Stateroom
Carnival Freedom Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
                    The stateroom's bathroom was the exact same as almost every other Triumph and Conquest Class ship that I have sailed on. The bathroom contained a toliet, shower, sink, two bars of soap, 4 large towels, 2 washrags, and 2 hand towels. Extra toliet paper and tissues were stored under the counter. 
Carnival Freedom Stateroom Bathroom
Stateroom Bathroom - View As You Step In
Carnival Freedom Stateroom Bathroom
Sink In Stateroom Bathroom
Carnival Freedom Stateroom Shower
Shower Area In The Stateroom Bathroom
                   Others traveling with my family stayed in balcony staterooms that were also located on Deck 6. I went over and took a look at one of the balconies. Their balcony contained two chairs and a mini outside table. In the interior of the balcony stateroom, the room also had additional cabinet storage and a sofa that could be made into a bed. 
Galveston
View Of Galveston From A Deck 6 Balcony
Carnival Freedom
View Of The Gangway From Deck 6 Balcony
Carnival Freedom Stateroom Balcony
Two Chairs & A Table On The Balcony
                   After touring my stateroom and a balcony stateroom, I decided I wanted to step outside on Deck 6's front area. However, when I opened the door it was raining hard. I immediately went back inside. Instead, I walked down one deck the Promenade Deck (5). I took a few pictures of areas that were not crowded. 
Carnival Freedom Atrium
Atrium - View From Deck 5
Carnival Freedom Atrium
Looking Up At The Higher Levels of The Atrium
Carnival Freedom Skybox Sports Bar Entrance
View Of The Skybox Sports Bar's Entrance
Carnival Freedom Promenade Stage
Promenade Mini Stage - Located Near The Casino Bar
Carnival Freedom International Lounge
International Lounge
Carnival Freedom International Lounge
International Lounge - View From The Stage
After The Rain -  Walking Up To Deck 10's Observation Deck Area:
                  Thankfully, the rain moved through quickly and the sun came back out for the rest of the afternoon. After spending some time inside, I walked from the back of the Promenade Deck (5) to the very front of the Panorama Deck (10).  At the very front of the Panorama Deck (10) is an area of the ship that allows you to look down at the front, but also down each side of the ship. This area was one of my favorite outside areas on the ship because it was never too crowded. Here are a few pictures I took from this area:
Carnival Freedom Docked In Galveston
View Of The Terminal & Galveston From Deck 10
Carnival Freedom Front
View Of The Ship's Front
Carnival Freedom
View Of The Ship's Side & Harbor Area
Touring The SPA & Gym: 
                 After looking outside, I headed up one deck to the SPA Deck (11). The Carnival Freedom's SPA is located at the very front of Deck 11. ​SPA staff members were standing around the entrance to give guided tours and discuss different services the SPA offered. Instead of taking a guided tour, I walked back to the gym to have a look. On the Carnival Freedom, in order to get to the gym you have to walk through locker rooms. The locker rooms are gender specific, so men and women must walk on separate sides to get to the gym. I came back to the gym a few times throughout the cruise during port of call days in the late afternoon. In the early mornings and late evenings, the gym would be a crowded place. Here are a few pictures of the gym: 
Carnival Freedom's Gym
Gym
Carnival Freedom's Gym
Gym
Carnival Freedom's Gym
Gym
Carnival Freedom's Gym
Gym
Carnival Freedom's Gym
Gym
Carnival Freedom Hottub in SPA
Hottub Area Located By the Gym
              As I was walking out, I saw the men's steam room and sauna. Here are two pictures:
Carnival Freedom Steam Room
Steam Room
Carnival Freedom Sauna
Sauna
                After spending some time touring the gym, it was almost time for the required Safety Briefing (muster station drill). I had just enough time to walk up one more deck to the Sun Deck (12). At the very front of this deck is the Camp Ocean youth club facilities. The Carnival Freedom's Dr. Seuss Bookville is located right by the entrance to Camp Ocean. Here are some pictures of Dr. Suess Bookville:
Carnival Freedom Dr. Seuss Bookville
Dr. Seuss Bookville
Carnival Freedom Dr. Seuss Bookville
Tons Of Sitting Area For Kids
Carnival Freedom Dr. Seuss Bookville
Entrance To The Dr. Seuss Bookville
                 I entered the Camp Ocean facility to take a quick look. Camp Ocean divides young cruisers into three groups by age: Penguins (2-5 yr. olds), Stringrays (6-8 yr. olds), and Sharks (9-11 yr. olds). Here are a few pictures of Camp Ocean:
Carnival Freedom Camp Ocean
Looking Inside Camp Ocean
Carnival Freedom Camp Ocean
Looking Inside Camp Ocean
Carnival Freedom Camp Ocean
Looking Inside Camp Ocean
Carnival Freedom Camp Ocean
Looking Inside Camp Ocean
Carnival Freedom Camp Ocean
Looking Inside Camp Ocean
Carnival Freedom
Low Level Lighting Turned On For Safety Briefing
Muster Station Drill / Safety Briefing:  
            The Muster Station drill is always a required event for every passenger on the cruise ship. My muster station was "B" which was located on the starboard side of Deck 4. The drill was scheduled to begin at 3:30pm and began nearly on-time. Announcements were made prior to the start of the drill to inform guests and crew what would happen when it was time for the drill to begin. 
           All muster stations are located on the ship's outside areas on Deck 4. Each muster station has 3 or 4 lines of cruisers packed facing the lifeboats. For this muster station drill, we were told to bring our Sail & Sign cards so the cards could be scanned. During the drill, crew members walked around with tablets to scan cards.  During the drill we learned about wearing lifejackets, what to do in an emergency, and received some other general information about onboard safety.  Typically, guests do not make much effort to listen during the drill. That was no different for this cruise. However, crew members did not try as hard to get guests quiet like on other ships. When people were told to be quiet, they almost immediately continued talking. 
Sail-A-Way From Galveston:
                When the muster station drill ended the port side was allowed to go back inside first. Unfortunately, I was on the starboard side so I had to wait. When my side was allowed to go back inside, I immediately headed up to the Panorama Deck (10) and went to the back of the ship. By the time I reached the Panorama Deck the Carnival Freedom was already pulling away from the cruise terminal. I was shocked that we began moving so quickly. Here are some pictures of sail-a-way:
Galveston Cruise Terminal #2
Looking At Cruise Terminal #2
Galveston Cruise Terminal #1
Looking At Terminal #1 As We Sailed Away
Galveston Cruise Terminal #1 Pier
Zoomed In View Of The Pier
Carnival Freedom Sailing From Galveston
View Of Terminal 1 and 2 With Coast Guard Boat In Front
Cruise Terminal Gangway in Galveston
View Of Terminal 1's Gangway
Galveston Cruise Terminal
Tip of Cruise Terminal
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
Off-Shore Oil Rig Museum
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston Texas Sail-a-way
Looking Back At Where We Had Just Left
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
View Of Galveston As We Sailed Away
Galveston
View Of Tractors On A Pier
Galveston Texas
UTMB Galveston In the Background
Galveston Pilot Boat
Pilot Boat
Galveston
Galveston
Pelican Island
View Of The Pelican Island Side
Pelican Island
Looking Back At Pelican Island
Galveston Marina
Marina
Galveston
Two Coast Guard Ships Escorting Us From The Back
Galveston Ferry
Ferry Leaving The Galveston Side To Head To Bolivar
Galveston Ferry Dock Area
Passing The Galveston Ferry Dock
Ferry
Ferry Returning To The Galveston Side
Seawolf Park
Seawolf Park
Seawolf Park
Seawolf Park
Galveston
View Of The Galveston Side - Near A Coast Guard Station
Galveston
Looking Back As We Began To Enter Galveston Bay
Picture
Getting Closer To The Tip of Galveston
Galveston
Galveston
Carnival Freedom Buffet
Deck 10 Level Of The Buffet
Carnival Freedom Drink Station
Drink Station On The Buffet's Second Level
Carnival Freedom buffet
Looking Down From The Deck 10 Level Of The Buffet
Carnival Freedom Buffet
View Of The Buffet From Deck 10
Carnival Freedom
Looking Down The Stairs To Deck 9
Carnival Freedom
Statue Of Liberty In The Buffet's Center
Carnival Freedom Dining Room Table
Table Setup For The First Night's Dinner
Dinner #1 In The Chic Dining Room:
            I had Your-Time Dining which means I could dine in a specific dining room from 5:45pm until about 9:00pm. My assigned dining room was the Deck 3 level of the Chic Dining Room. The Carnival Freedom's Chic Dining Room was located around the middle of Deck 4. The entrance for cruisers with Your-Time Dining was in the Carnival Freedom's atrium.
             Around 5:45pm, the doors to the dining room opened. Prior to being officially open for dinner, a hostess took our stateroom numbers and asked how many would be seated at our table. When the doors opened we were lead by a waiter to our table for the night. 
              Since I was on the Carnival Valor only two weeks earlier, I remembered what food items were good from that cruise. The food and service were excellent for this evening's dinner! 
​ Here are pictures of the menus for the night. My camera does not like taking pictures of text, so some fonts may be a little hard to read. 
​
To read the menus, click any of the photos to make it larger.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Here are some pictures from the first night's dinner:
Picture
Bread Basket
Carnival Freedom Corn Chowder Maryland
Appetizer - Corn Chowder Maryland
Carnival Freedom Smoked Chicken Quesadilla
Appetizer - Smoked Chicken Quesadilla
Carnival Freedom Shrimp Cocktail
Appetizer - Shrimp Cocktail
Carnival Freedom Strawberry Bisque
Appetizer - Strawberry Bisque
Carnival Freedom Caesar Salad
Appetizer - Caesar Salad
Picture
Main Course - Honey Glazed Pork Loin?
Carnival Freedom Mahi Mahi
Main Course - Grilled Mahi Mahi
Carnival Freedom BBQ Beef Brisket
Main Course - Barbequed Beef Brisket
Carnival Freedom Grilled Chicken Breast
Main Course - Grilled Chicken Breast
Picture
Main Course - Fried Shrimp
Carnival Freedom Warm Chocolate Melting Cake
Dessert - Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake
Carnival Freedom Pie A La Mode
Dessert - Pie A La Mode (Peach Was The Night's Flavor)
Picture
Dessert - Chilled Strawberry Parfait
                   When dinner was over, we headed to the Victoriana Theater for the Welcome Aboard Show. Since it was too early before the show, the theater's doors were closed. About 30 minutes prior to the show, the doors opened and we were allowed to get seats. As the show approached, the screens played clips of towel animals talking as pre-show entertainment. 
Carnival Freedom
Doors To The Victoriana Theater Closed
Victoriana Theater Stage
Victoriana Theater Stage
Towel Animal
Towel Animal On The Screen
Carnival Freedom Welcome Aboard Show Set
Welcome Aboard Show Set
Welcome Aboard Show:
​                The Welcome Aboard Show began promptly at 7:30pm. The show began with the dancers coming up to the front of the stage to lead a mini-dance class. This lasted a few minutes and then our cruise director, Malcolm, took the stage. He talked about the cruise, entertainment highlights, and got some people from the audience up on the stage for a game. After Malcolm's portion was over, the dancers performed to several modern songs. Following the dancers' portion, the Welcome Aboard Show was over.
                 I enjoyed the Welcome Aboard Show. This was the first time I had seen the show performed like this. 
                   After the Welcome Aboard Show, I headed up to the Sun Deck (14) to try to get a glimpse of the sunset. After having to wait a few minutes for my camera lenses to unfog, I was able to get a few good sunset pictures. 
Carnival Freedom Sunset
Sunset - View From Deck 14
Carnival Freedom
Waterslide Entrance - Sunset In The Background
Carnival Freedom Deck 14
Deck 14
                       Before the evening got too late, I wanted to head down to my stateroom to make sure the beds were separated. Our steward had come by and he separated the beds. He left a towel animal, Fun-Times Activity Newsletter for Day #2, two bottles of water that were complimentary from the VIFP Club, and two VIFP Gold Level pins. 
Carnival Freedom Stateroom
Towel Animal & Fun-Times Left In Stateroom
Carnival Freedom
Beds Turned Down For The Evening
Carnival Freedom Bottled Water & Gold Level Pins
Bottled Water & VIFP Gold Level Pins
                     After visiting my stateroom, I went up to the jogging track on Deck 11.  I walked for a little while, but since I was tired I did not stay out too late. 
Carnival Freedom
Looking Up From Deck 10
Carnival Freedom Funnel
Ship's Funnel
Picture
Deck 11 - Jogging Track
                      Following my jogging track walk, I headed down to Deck 6 to go to my stateroom. The first day of the cruise was busy, but most importantly very fun and enjoyable. I slept well on this night of the cruise, but was woken up a few times from noisy hallway neighbors. 
Please Like RyG's Cruise Guide On Facebook!  
 Click Here For Our Facebook Page
I will be sharing review updates, cruise tips, and more!  
You can also like us using this button provided by Facebook:
​Day 2's Cruise Review Is Ready...
​Day 2's cruise review includes several pictures around the ship, the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, food pictures, and more! This part of the review will be in one part.
Click Here For Day 2's Cruise Review! 
​Click Here To Return To The Review's Main Page
Home        About Us        Contact Us        Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

www.embarkandaway.com     Thank you for visiting RyG's Cruise Guide!
RyG's Cruise Guide is not affiliated with any cruise line or travel organization. Any information is subject to change at any time given that the cruise industry is always changing. Due to the Covid pandemic, crew staffing shortages, and supply chain issues information could change without updates being made here. I always recommend checking with your cruise line for the latest information related to onboard amenities and Covid protocols. 

Connect With Us!