BlondeCruiser24

Hi there!

We just returned last weekend from the Carnival Liberty, and it was amazing. This was my first cruise, so I really do not have anything to compare it to, but I was not the slightest bit disappointed. The ship is very large and there are a lot of things to do. I saw kids running around all over the place having a blast, they even had a fun "Create your Own Teddy" workshop which I thought was cute. I am sure there aren't major differences between the two ships, besides the Breeze is larger of course, but the Liberty was perfect in my eyes. The shows were fantastic and Karl with a K has to be the best cruise director ever. If/when we go again, I would like to try the Breeze but would defiantly go with the Liberty again.

Hi there everyone! I'm back!

It has been a couple of days since I updated...been a hectic week going back to work after a FABULOUS vacation and all ha ha!

Ok so where did we leave off....

Day 4: First Sea Day

We decided to take advantage of nothing to do on a sea day and sleep in this day. Hubby and I also wanted to try room service for the first time. So we put the door hanger on our door the night before and breakfast arrived right on time! Room service breakfast was pretty simple. We just ordered some milk, cereal, fruit and juice. The juice was not as good as downstairs...kind of watery. But I loved my Lucky Charms!

After breakfast we decided to go back to bed for a little while, we had plans to go to brunch at the Punchliner Comedy Brunch a little later. When we finally got up, my husband realized he was not feeling too good at all. He had a really hard time adjusting to the ship. We had bought some less drowsy Dramamine...but that didn't seem to do the trick. He wanted to try and eat brunch so we got dressed and met up with our friends.

I thought the Punchliner Brunch was fantastic! By far my favorite breakfast experience on the ship. I was kind of disappointed that the comedians didn't really do much of a show....they only gave you like a 5 minute sample of their evening shows. The food was great though, and I was really bummed out when my husband couldn't enjoy it. We both ordered our favorite, Eggs Benedict, and I scarfed mine up like a little piggy...but hubby just couldn't even eat. He got up and went to the gift shop and picked up some Sea Bands and we had the waiter bring him some Ginger Ale, but that just didn't work. Eventually he had to just go back to the room and lay down while we finished our breakfast. I felt so so bad for him : (

After brunch, I went with our friends upstairs to look at the pictures that had been taken so far. I wanted to take a look at our elegant photos from the night before. I really like the set up for looking at photos. I didn't think it was too hard to find them.

After looking at photos for a bit I didn't want to miss the Hairy Chest Contest on the Lido Deck. I had heard that this was a must see for a great laugh....and it sure was! The men they selected were hilarious! There was one guy that was even wearing red tassels...bahaha!

After laughing until I cried, I decided to explore the ship on my own for a bit and check out the Tea Party in the Golden Olympian room. This was really a memorable experience for me. I met some wonderful ladies and I thought the treats they passed out were delicious! It was so fun. The ship was very rocky that day (thus why my husband was miserable) and it really showed in this part of the ship. Luckily it did not bother me one bit.

After the Tea Party I went back to the room and checked on my husband. He still wasn't doing well, but he had managed to order a sandwich from room service for lunch. I was hoping he would get to feeling better so we could go to our reservations at Diamonds.

I decided to let him rest for a little while and I grabbed my book for some reading on the Serenity deck. It was super windy and choppy this day...but I managed to find a comfy, quiet spot and read my book. I love the patio furniture on this deck! After doing some reading, I went downstairs and grabbed some ice cream. I must say I LOVE the 24 hour ice cream service!! You must take full advantage of this! I then headed back to the room to see if hubby was feeling better so we could go to Diamonds. He said he was doing a bit better and wanted to go to dinner. So we got all fixed up and headed to dinner.

Diamonds Steakhouse was wonderful! It is for sure worth the extra money to go. I actually thought it was cheap considering the quality and amount of food you get. I tried Escargot for the first time...and it was delicious! The steaks are gigantic! I stuck with the Filet Mingon and Lobster tail. I love how the decorate the plates. The only part of the meal that wasn't that great was the cheesecake...it looks delicious and it is huge, but not much flavor.

After dinner we wanted to try and make the Red Frog Caribbean Beach Party. Hubby tried to join in the fun...but started not feeling good again so he tucked in early. The beach party was so much fun! Lots of Caribbean style music, glow sticks, whistles and more! We danced our butts off and then decided to go and check out the final comedy show of the night.

I can't remember the name of the featured comedian that night, but he was pretty funny. He put on a good show and it wasn't too inappropriate.

It was pretty late so I headed up stairs to take care of my sick husband and turn in for the night. I felt bad that he didn't really get to enjoy this day..but I am glad he found some medicine on the ship that worked better for him and he was able to enjoy the rest of the ship.

Had a great first day at sea and we were excited to see St. Thomas the next day! Check in soon!

Great review so far! We are also booked to spend the precruise night at Springhill Marriott Suites did you stay at the one near the hospital or the airport? We are at the one near the hospital and i have read its a "shady"area. If this is the same hotel, did they have a breakfast? was there anywhere nearby to grab dinner? also how much $$ was the taxi to the port.

 

Thank you

Yes we stayed at the one near the hospital...and it is in a very shady area. The hotel itself was nice, but the area not so much. They do have a continental breakfast. Try and get down as early as possible...it gets crazy if you wait until later we learned. Rooms were pretty spacious and beds were very comfy. There is no restaurant that are close enough to walk. There is a little restaurant there though that we ate at and was actually very good. They have a limited menu, but good sandwiches and wraps. The taxi driver that took us to the port was very fair...only charged us $12 and that was for four people. The taxi the night before charged us $20!! And it was almost the same distance from the airport as it was to the port.

It will be a blast you guys will love it!! Let me know if you need any tips : )

You are doing a great job on your review!!

We went on the same ship in November.... isn't Karl with a K the best??!!

 

Thanks for sharing your journey!

Catrin

I actually read your review before we left and LOVED IT! You were kind of my inspiration for putting together this review. Karl with a K was amazing...I don't think I could have another cruise director.

Hello again!!

Thank you all for your positive feedback so far. I have been excited to get on here and keep the updates flowing.

So where were we....

Day 3: Nassau, Bahamas & Elegant Night

So we were scheduled to arrive at our very first port at about 7:00 am. We had decided we were going to sleep in a little bit...but I must say I had a hard time doing that considering this was my first time leaving the country and I was pretty excited.

When we finally got up and around we made our way downstairs to grab a bite to eat before venturing in to port. The view was gorgeous...and we could see the Atlantis resort right from the ship! I would love to go and see that place someday.

The MDR and such were already closed for the morning...so we decided to check out Emilies buffet for the first time. It wasn't too bad and I really liked all the choices....nothing like the MDR or Punchliner brunch we had later on in the week.

After a quick breakfast we made our way down to the Gangway. I highly recommend just taking the stairs down to Deck 0. The elevators are way clogged up on port days we discovered and you will make it down to the line in half the time by taking the stairs.

As mentioned before this was hubbys and I's first time every leaving the United States...so walking out in to the tropical feeling of the island was amazing. We were not the only ship docked in port that day so there were quite a few people making their way to the island.

There is a little bit of a walk after you get off the ship and you make your way to "The Festival Place". There is a really neat photo op place along the walkway that has the name of all the Bahama islands. We made our way towards the entry/exit to the island and you have to start off by going through the Festival Place. The building itself was pretty neat looking...but it was so crammed inside! The combination of all the people and shopkeepers pouncing on you to take pictures with their props and buy there products made me pretty uncomfortable.

When we finally made our way out....and got passed the guy trying to convince us to rent a scooter....we started to walk along the port. We were not quite sure what we wanted to do and there wasn't a whole lot to do in the port. There are a few shops and a Senor Frogs, but that is about it. We really wanted to get to a beach.

As we walked a long we came across a cute little taxi driver that said he could take us to the beach and the "nicer" part of town. He offered us a good rate so we hopped right in. I LOVED this taxi driver. He gave us kind of a tour of the island as he took us to the beach and told us all about the city and some of the old buildings. He even told us of a cheap bus we could catch when we were ready to head back to port. He also dropped us off at one of the motels that he knew would give us free beach access.

So we arrived at Cable Beach and went through the Sheraton resort to get to the beach. It had a really nice beach access and it wasn't too crowded. After spending some time at the beach we decided to walk across the street to the straw market. We heard that this was a must see when visiting Nassau. It wasn't very big...and there were not too many people there considering it was a Sunday. In fact, we couldn't really figure out why there were not a lot of people anywhere in this area...and then we realized it was Sunday. We wandered around the market for a bit and my husband bartered with several of the shop ladies to get us some good deals on some prizes. They really do have some neat knick nacks and such here, but are kind of steep on prices on some things. They will happily go down on most things if you offer them a fair deal.

We went back to the beach for awhile and then we grabbed the Number #10 bust that the taxi driver had suggested. I highly recommend you grab this bus...it is only $1.25 a person! It took us all the way back to port and after wandering around a few of the shops we headed back to the ship.

In all honesty...I wasn't overly impressed with Nassau. I had heard that it was kind of a run down port and dirty and I felt that was true. I really did like Cable Beach that was several miles away...but the port wasn't anything fantastic. I highly recommend you either check out the Atlantis resort or make your way to the nicer part of town at Cable Beach.

After getting back on the ship we decided to go and grab some lunch...I believe this is the day I tried Fish & Chips for the first time. I loved Fish & Chips!! The fried oysters and kalamari were amazing!! I probably could of ate here almost every day.

After lunch we checked our little schedule and there wasn't a whole lot going on...so we decided to go back to our rooms and take a little nap before getting all fancied up for dinner.

I had really been looking forward to elegant night and hubby and I getting all fixed up. We got ourselves around and then starting making our way downstairs to the dining room. There were a ton of photography areas set up to capture our formal nights. I actually really liked stopping to take pictures...the photographers were super friendly and made us laugh. I had one guy that kept telling me to pop my leg and be "sassy" ha ha.

It was pretty hectic in the atrium and lobby that night...and I think everyone chose the same time to go to dinner. But we didn't mind waiting for dinner and listening to the Captain's speech. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. It was interesting to see how some people got super dressed up and others were a bit more casual...but everyone looked fantastic!

Dinner was to die for!! We had prime rib and lobster this night and ate to our hearts content. I think this was probably one of my favorite dinners of the whole trip.

After dinner we had just enough time to head over to the Venetian Palace to see the "Wonderful World" show. Oh man how I loved the shows!! This show was so fantastic..the costuming was amazing and the dancers are so talented. I loved how they went through all the areas of the world, my favorite part was when they represented Japan. Super cute costumes!

After the show we went and snagged some ice cream before heading back to our rooms to tuck in for the night. Loved walking in to our room to find a cute towel buddy....and having our beds all tucked back.

It was an amazing first port day! Though Nassau wasn't my favorite of the stops...I still really had a great day and evening. Luckily my vacation was going by slowly so far...I didn't want it to end!

I will be back tomorrow with a report on our first Sea Day! Bye for now!

Hi there my fellow cruisers!

So...hubby and I just returned from our fabulous FIRST cruise and it was everything I dreamed of and more. I can honestly say that this will probably be my preferred way of vacationing from now on. We set sail on the Carnival Liberty and can honestly say we had a very enjoyable experience.

Hubby and I are a young married couple and we were looking for a ship that would offer a lot of fun activities and a crowd more our age. I believe we really found this with Carnival and there was a great variety of people and activities. We also traveled with another married couple our age and I strongly recommend this to other cruisers. It is so much more fun to go with a group or others!

Ok...so just as a warning...I am super chatty even when it comes to typing! So be prepared to read ALOT! I promise to try and keep in interesting....but don't feel bad if you quit reading and have had enough ha ha. Hopefully this review can help some other cruisers out there new and old...and maybe inspire you to check out the Liberty and Eastern Caribbean (if you haven't already).

Alright...ready....set....here we go!

Day 1: Pre-Embarkation Day

So we had heard from a lot of people that January is the best time to visit the Caribbean...now once again this is my first cruise so I have nothing to compare to...but I totally agree with this! It is freezing where we are from in Idaho and all our ports were the perfect temp. It wasn't painfully hot...but perfect weather from shorts, tank tops and flip flops. Loved it! Our next cruise will probably be in January too...you get to skip all the nasty hurricanes and weather you hear about too.

So we flew in to Miami a day early just to be super safe and to make sure if we hit any travel hiccups we wouldn't miss our cruise. Luckily it was a smooth (and loooong) day of travel and hit the sack as soon as we got to the motel. We stayed at the Springhill Marriott Suites...and it is not in the best location at all, but was a pretty nice motel. We weren't too picky considering we just needed a place to sleep before heading out the next day. It was very clean and I liked the modern decor. The lady at the front desk wasn't super friendly when we asked for a taxi the next day...but it all worked out. Apparently ALOT of Saturday cruisers were staying there and almost all the shuttles were booked. She told us she didn't even know if she could get us one that would get us to the port on time. We decided to call a taxi service ourselves, and when we went down the next day we had a lot friendlier front desk lady that called and got us a taxi instantly.

The night before we had kind of a shady taxi driver...that we believe really ripped us off (acted like he was lost). Our taxi driver that took us to port was sooo much better and was very fair when it came to charging us. He got us to Port of Miami super quick.

Day 2: Embarkation Day

You still with me? Hopefully....ha ha. So as mentioned above we were able to get a taxi easier then we thought to take us to port. They picked us up around noon. We wanted to get to the port fairly early because we weren't sure if it was going to be crazy or not. Taxi driver got us there really quick and the porters were ready to take our luggage. We tipped our porter a few bucks...we were told that was a good thing to do. Not sure if it made a big difference or not, but they were friendly and loaded things up quickly.

Seeing all the ships in port was so neat! The Carnival Breeze, Disney Wonder and a Celebrity ship were all in port at the same time. We found where we needed to go and got in line. The line was not long at all when we got there. To get through security we hardly had to wait. They checked our boarding pass and scanned our passports (have this ready) and we were scanned right through. We went through the security screening and headed in to the next room. We got in another line (started to get used to that on this trip) and our stomachs were filled with butterflies....we were so close! We saw the Liberty through the window and party music filled the room.

It wasn't too long and we were ushered up to a friendly lady who equipped us with our Sail & Sign cards and wished us a happy trip. We went up the escalator....me dancing away with excitement...and were greeted by photographers ready to take our first photo of the trip.

It was now time to board the Liberty!

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We were told our rooms would not be ready until around 1:30. Since the line moved super fast...we were on the ship by 12:45 or so. We decided to explore the ship a little bit and find where everything was. FYI the ship is gorgeous! I loved the decor and the way the lights changed colors. We were kind of hungry...so we decided to search for lunch. We went out to the Lido deck and Guy's Burger Joint was up and running. I was super stoked to try this out...and luckily my crew was too. The burgers smelled delicious...and looked as good as they smell! The toppings bar had a lot of choices and I loved the sauted mushrooms...mmmmm! The seating was pretty crowded so we found a spot in Emiles to enjoy lunch.

After lunch we walked around on the top decks for a bit and then it was time to go see if our rooms were ready. Sure enough they were...and some of our luggage had already made it to the doors as well. We stayed on the Empress Deck which is Deck 7 and I must say we were pretty spoiled...don't think we can downgrade after that. We had an interior room...and I was kind of sketchy on how I would handle that because I am claustrophobic. But I did great...and the room was great. We had them make the beds in to king and we still had plenty of room. Lots of closet space! Our room steward met up with us right away....I can't remember his name, but he was awesome! Always had a big smile on his face and was willing to get us whatever we needed.

We unpacked our stuff and then decided to go hang out on the Lido deck and get ready to set sail. We found a comfy spot at the Red Frog Rum Bar (and yes I am a Red Frog fan!). A bartender came by and we snagged our first drinks...which we later discovered actually came from the Blue Iguana Tequila bar ha ha, but they were yummy! We headed up to the top deck with our drinks and checked out the view of Miami. Loved the awesome warm weather! We of course got our candid shots by the signature Carnival Fin as well. It was almost time for the Sail Away Party!

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The Sail Away Party was awesome! We were introduced to our Cruise Director Karl with a K...and he was a hoot! We met the other fun crew too and the music was bumping. It was fun watching everyone dance and go crazy on the deck. Hubby didn't want to venture in to the crowd...but we had fun watching it from above and even got in to the YMCA! It took me a bit to get used to the feeling of the moving ship...but it was fun to wave goodbye to the other ships in port. The Liberty and Breeze even had a horn honking contest...which scared me to death at first! Ha! So LOUD!

After the sail away party it was time for more ship exploring....and then we decided to go to a fairly early dinner. We chose the "Anytime Dining" option...which wasn't horrible but we will for sure be going with the set time dining next time. The service just wasn't as great with the anytime dining...and we ended up eating at almost the same time every night anyway.

We had a very yummy first dinner...and I was loving all the fun options! I ate more then I have in a loooong time. I would later discover I gained 7 POUNDS on this trip! AHHH!

We finished dinner in time to play some Bingo and get catch the showing of the "Welcome Aboard" show. I LOVED THE SHOWS! This first one we were introduced to Trent and Shelly the singers and the Liberty dancers. Karl with a K put on a little show too...and it was fun. The performers are so talented and I loved the costumes!

After the show we decided to hit the sack....we were arriving in Nassau early the next morning!

Alrighty....its pretty late here so I am going to say ta ta for now! But I will continue with our first port day soon!

Your review just keeps getting better! Love the pictures! As I mentioned before we sail out on the Liberty this weekend...woo hoo! We unfortunately will not be visiting Half Moon Cay, we are going to Nassau instead...but hopefully I can visit HMC another time because it looks wonderful! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for this review! We sail on the Liberty this coming Saturday!! Wheels up in 5 days!! So excited....can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for this! I have been searching for a perfect packing list and this one is great. I just printed it off. Thanks for sharing!

Hey everyone! New cruiser here! Cruising on the Carnival Liberty Jan. 5th, 2013!! Can't wait!