Ship: Carnival Freedom | Sail Date: 08/02/08 | Destination: Europe

My husband and I sailed on the Freedom this past summer to Europe, and we had a wonderful time overall. Our stateroom was spacious compared to the staterooms we have had on past cruises, and since the ship is fairly new, everything was very clean and in good condition. There was plenty to do on the ship, and the food was decent. Since it was such a long cruise and it was extremely hot, we needed at least 2 changes of clothes per day-- bring quarters to do some laundry! Also, there was a really long wait to use the washing machines and dryers on the at-sea days, so you might want to plan accordingly. Our one issue with the cruise was that the itinerary we took stops at some ports where there isn't a lot to do, which basically forces you to take a shore excursion. While the excursions we took were great, they were pretty pricey, and we didn't really like that we were stuck in a situation where we has to spend another $200 (on top of the thousands already spent) to go do something, or waste the day at a port with limited options. At the ports where you could walk around and sight see without an excursion, the cruise ship definitely exaggerated distances, walking time, difficulty to navigate etc. so that people were paying to go on excursions they could have done themselves for a lot less money (i.e. some people paid $79 per person to see the Old City in Dubrovnik, something that only cost us $5 to take the bus to the Old City). Venice, Barcelona, Cannes, and Rome are all amazing cities that can all be seen on your own as well-- no need to take a short excursion unless you don't want to buy a $4 map and figure it out yourself. But whatever you do, be prepared to walk a lot, and be prepared for the heat! Overall, this was a wonderful cruise and an amazing experience we will never forget-- if you can afford it, I would definitely recommend that you sail on the Freedom when it is in Europe!