Lovefuninthesun

Going on Liberty in 25 days. Does anybody know if they have chips and salsa at Blue Iguana Cantina? Thanks

Yes -- chips & salsa, burritos and AWESOME tacos. JUst off Liberty -- BIC became my very favorite place! :D

This is our first experience with the new menus. For the most part we really liked the choices of appetizers, but not so much the entrees or desserts. For me, I am a strict land lover, I do not eat ANY seafood, there are more seafood choices on the menus than what I remember from the old menus.

We were on this cruise, too -- and we absolutely agreed about the menu!

Everything tasted fine, but it was the variety that was lacking -- we thought the choices were pathetic some nights! I am allergic to shellfish and fish, so my choices were really limited. There were virtually no chicken choices -- it was beef, fish or shellfish! :(

Your reive just goes to show what so many of us say "there's just something special and magical about Liberty" her sister ship are jot like her for some reason.

We also loved our Freedom cruise a couple of years ago.....Liberty was just a cut above, service-wise, IMO

I am the OP. And this is what I don't understand. I thought peak season or high season was in the Summer. I thought Hurricane Season and through the end of the year was low season for cruising? Which is it? Seems to me Carnival would lower the price for this time of the year to attract more adult-only cruisers. Or maybe the season doesn't have anything to do with it. :confused:

"Peak" cruising season is actually winter until spring break time -- the time of year when it is cold up north and people want an escape. If you look at cruise rate, it is when the cruise rates are the highest.

Summer is popular, especially with families, but that is because kids are out of school and rates are low. "Low season" is summer through early fall.

While we much prefer Anytime/Your Time Dining so we can have dinner when it suits us, some love Traditional Dining so they'll have the same waiter and tablemates each night. :) We lucked out the first night and had an awesome wait team, so we asked for/were seated in their section every night. Interestingly enough, it ended up being the same diners each night who had also asked for the wait team -- so we had the same dining friends every night! :)

LuLu

Is there a wait if u do anytime dinningWe only waited one night and that was the first elegant night -- waited about 30", but just sat in the Lobby having a cocktail and listening to the live music

 

Just back from Liberty where we did YTD for the first time -- loved it!! See my comments in red. Thx

Where were you able to get fountain soda?

I MUCH prefer fountain to a can.

This is great news.

Thanks for the review. We are looking at Liberty out of San Juan next summer.:D:D

Every bar had a soda gun-- and insisted that is what I could have with Cheers. (I much prefer cans, plus was wanting to taking one back and drink it on my balcony)

Please excuse me if this was already posted -- have to admit I did not read all 200+ posts.......:o

But, perhaps this increase is the "seasonality" mentioned in the policy, since it is now approaching peak season?

Just wondering

Who were the Alchemy Bar Mixologists?

Sorry, I am terrible with names -- Ukrainian or Russian gal and guy -- they were AWESOME!!

I always check immediately to see if it is available, and book it same day.

Just this morning I booked a Breeze cruise for October 2015, and purchased the FTTF immediately after booking! If you don't see it any shore excursions yet, call Carnival and sometimes they can see it and will sell it to you over the phone.

Good luck! :)

Wow -- just getting caught up on CC --

Just read that Cheers price went back up to $49 PPPD! Fail!

Sorry -- we only paid the $37.50, and thought it was a good deal at that price!:mad:

We returned a week ago from our 7-day cruise aboard Liberty -- in a nutshell, GREAT CRUISE! The ships is gorgeous -- beautifully clean and well-maintained. DH and I think it was the best service we have ever experienced on a cruise -- every crew member we encountered was delightful and very helpful. Our cabin was great -- lido balcony, port side; perfect location in our opinion.

It was supposed to be an eastern Caribbean itinerary -- Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten. St. Maarten is actually why we selected this cruise, since we hadn't been there for several years. Well, an unpleasant fellow named Gonzalo (literally) rained on our parade! Just as we departed Nassau on Day 2 the captain announced that we would have to reroute to the western Caribbean, since the hurricane was making a beeline for St. Maarten. :( We were very disappointed as we have been western so many times, but what can you do? Nobody wants to be in a hurricane situation, so western it was. We determined to have a great time anyway, which we did. And, consequently, we had glorious weather for the entire 7 days.

Now, I'm not into taking pictures of food and you've all seen a million pictures of the lido deck. So I thought I would respond to comments and threads that have been recurrent over the past several months as I have prepped for the cruise.

FTTF: We purchased, and again, we thought it was totally worth the $50! We were on the ship and in our (ready) cabin by 11:30. Our bags were there by 1:00, allowing us lots of unpacking time before safety drill. We were off the ship by 8:00 am. And since we (surprise!) ended up with a tender port (GC) we made good and speedy use of the priority tendering perk.

Noisy cabin: Not! :) There was a thread about how noisy this cabin was, especially on the balcony, because of a vent located above it -- it was a non-issue for us, as we never noticed any noise out of the ordinary.

Room temperature: Contrary to what some others have said, it was plenty cold for us -- in fact we could turn the temp down to the "meat locker" range (brrrrr) if we chose.

Bed: Our bed was very, very firm, but not uncomfortable, as some have reported. We didn't think that the mattress was quite as thick as in the past?

Cheers: It was total of $603.75 for the 2 of us for the duration (that's 37.50 per person/per day plus 15%). We bought it the second we boarded, but you could wait until Day 2, and only pay for 6 days. Tried it as an experiment (can we break even?) and will do it again -- win! I kept meticulous records and at the end of the week, we were $150 ahead. But, if the itinerary is port-intensive (we had 3 sea days) it might be a challenge. LESSONS LEARNED, contrary to what other posters reported or theorized: 1.) We were NOT allowed to get a can of soda -- on the program it was fountain, only, into a glass; 2.) The after-dinner shots in the dining room were NOT included, with or without the fancy shot glasses, so we paid extra for those.

Your Time Dining: We only waited one night, the first elegant night. The other nights we were seated immediately -- and that was with us asking for same waiters and a table for two. Definitely 2 thumbs up.

New Menu: Not a fan. The food was prepared well, and tasted fine, but we missed the variety from previous cruises. I realize that my choices are impacted by the fact that I am allergic to shellfish and fish, but DH can eat anything, and he thought the choices were boring, too.

Serenity: On decks 11 and 12, aft. We loved this area. We were a little surprised that many of the woman were sunbathing topless. It didn't bother us, just didn't expect it -- have not encountered that since the "olden days" of the topless deck up by the funnel.

Lido Deck music: In the mornings, the music was canned, was a lower level, and more to our taste. In the afternoon they had DJ music which was at a ridiculous ear-splitting, ear-bleeding level; it was impossible to even try and carry on a conversation. That's when we went in search of Serenity Deck.

I think those are the major points I wanted to address -- let me know if you have any questions. Bottom line -- highly recommend this ship!

Were you happy or glad you booked ES? In other words, after final payment did you get price reductions or not? Please post your experiences.

Sorry - late to the party! ( just saw this thread).

We always book ES. This cruise we've had 6 price drops, some before final payment (reduced amount owed) several after (OBC).

I'm very happy with ES!

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Cruise Critic App

I always wear good flip flops out and about, and have never had an issue (and I am certainly NOT very nimble, with my artificial knees! :o )

Just make sure whatever shoes you wear have good grips on the soles, and you'll be fine.

Today it is officially 9 days til we sail on Liberty, October 11! :D :D :D

I think bar service in the MDR is generally slow. I know each of the bar waiters has about 1/4 of the dining room to care for.

 

I too like wine with dinner and I get Cheers, so my sister and I order the wine package (25% discount) on the 1st night and as soon as we get to the dining room we give our waiter the coupon.

 

Wine packages are delivered and set up by your wait team, not the bar service team, so the service is much faster.

 

And yes, we always have our bottle before appetizers are served.

We always buy the wine package, and drink a bottle with dinner.

However, for us, that is one of the plusses for purchasing the Cheers program this time -- not having to pay extra for the wine package. We are just going to drink it by the glass this time.

Sad that you have to bribe the wait staff.

/QUOTE]

 

See, I don't look at it that way. I know I can ask for another drink, and get great service. I know servers and bar staff work very hard for their money, both my children have worked in the industry. However, I want to be treated extra-special, and I am willing to 'pay extra' for that privilege. If they know they will get a little something for themselves, perhaps they might just stop by my table first with their tray of drinks, not last.

 

well said

The porters are supposed to be on top of it, and most are.

However, last year in Tampa for the Legend we got a porter that was seriously 80 years old and cranky with a capital 'C'! :D

Gramps was relatively clueless, so I gently pointed out that we were FTTF and probably needed the orange tags, at which point he dug some out of his pocket and grudgingly attached them. :p

Nice black capris with dressy tops are my go-to for the MDR on regular nights!

This IS the Ports of Call board.

((FYI: when the thread was originally posted back in July it was posted on the main Carnival page; it has since been moved to the POC boards. )) :p

They have it everywhere -- but some of it is the cheaper variety that has Coumadin in it.

Be sure to look for the slightly more expensive variety without Coumadin -- we always get ours at Los Cinco Soles, which is at the end of the main street in town, Ave. Rafael Melgar.

It's such a personal decision, depending on what you like/want, etc. But, since you asked....

IMHO, prefer the Pride because:

- 2.0 upgrades (we are not spa people, so this would trump it for us)

- love the Spirit class ships for their layout and ambiance

- hate POM! Love Tampa as an easy port, plus it is closer

- per previous poster, I would prefer the "more sedate" crowd, but that's me

Either way, sounds as if you will have a great cruise!:)

You win the award for the best cruise review ever -- exactly the right amount of details and great pictures! :)

I have enjoyed every entry from both legs of your (almost)B2B -- thank you so much for taking the time and effort to provide this to all of us.

You have made me double excited for our Liberty cruise in 10 days! :D

It would make me happy and would greatly improve the quality of my Lido time if the Hairy Chest Contest were to go bye-bye.

It is ridiculous and has worn out any welcome it might have once had. Hate it.

I think Carnival's data-managing abilities are poor (at best!). I often think that there must not be any communication between various departments in the company, e.g., sales, promotions, loyalty/VIFP, etc.

I am constantly getting offers incorrectly directed to me: for first-time cruisers, people new to Carnival, because I haven't cruised in a while, etc. -- all wrong. But it seems as if the entities sending out those offers have no connection to the data elsewhere in the company that would tell them I cruise Carnival all the time, have cruises booked, am already a VIFP member, etc.

Maybe that is what happened to OP? He was sent the offer without them realizing that he was not eligible for it? Doesn't make it right, but might explain it.......?