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We have been on both, most recently Liberty last month. We much prefer Liberty. As loyal RCI cruisers for years we were skeptical of Carnival but have been very pleasantly surprised with all of our Carnival cruises. Liberty is a very large ship for short cruises and is well laid out. It might just be my favorite ship to date. Enchantment is also really nice and you would not be disappointed there either.

We often stay on board at the private islands and there are things to do but not as much as on a sea day. The ship is not completely empty but nothing is really crowded and it can be very pleasant. On the other hand, we have not booked any shore excursions in years and usually go ashore at most ports and just wing it. There are also excursions and activities available to book online outside the cruise line that can be much cheaper. Just don't book anything that might make you late for sail away - they will not wait for you. My advice would be to research your ports online before hand and find some things that you might want to see or do that fit your budget or are free. You can always do a combo of getting off at your leisure, sight seeing, and then re board early to enjoy the ship. Things usually start to crank up before actual sail away as people come back from the port. We are often on a budget and always manage to have a good time. Enjoy!

We have not had any problems getting off early without it, but that would be FFTF "Faster From The Fun" would it not? :-)

Seriously, if we have an early flight to make we show them our tickets and they let us roll. We are doing self debarkation. Again, my point is that if you are looking at it solely on the basis of boarding earlier it did not seem to make much difference. For those of you who use it and feel like it is a good value, I am not knocking you. We just do not see it adding much value for us given our preferences.

I did not try the sushi or the seafood shack, but I'd be interested in other's opinions of those places.

We will do the steakhouse for sure next time. I'd rather pay more money for a meal that I'm truly happy with than try to pick through multiple different plates to find enough decent food to compile a meal.

We do not like sushi but we did try seafood shack a couple of times. First time I got oysters which were advertised as raw but they will steam them which is what I had. They were good. My wife got steamed shrimp which was very good. The second time I ordered the fried shrimp & clam combo. Big mistake. The shrimp was all breading and it was all a bit greasy. I would stay with the non fried selections.

We went on the second day to book the steakhouse and it was sold out for the cruise. The man said that it always sells out so book early.

I totally agree that Port Canaveral gets everyone boarded quickly but there is one other advantage....The priority wait line at customer service. That can come in handy too :-)

Good point. I overlooked it probably because we breezed right in with no wait. I can see where that might not always be the case though.

Saint Greg, first of all thanks for taking the time to help us out of towners. We just booked the Le Richelieu for our January cruise. How did we do? Thanks.

Have to chime in here. We always liked the Royal Caribbean decor but over the years it became apparent that all of their ships look essentially the same with minor variations. We used to think that Carnival ships were "gaudy" before we actually sailed on one. We have been on 3 now (Sunshine, Ecstasy, and Liberty) and we now really like the decor. I believe Liberty is my favorite ever in this department. Those color changing lights just mesmerize me. :D and the style, which I liken to a Greco-Roman motif is nice. I think it is cool that each ship has a "personality". Does the decor make or break a cruise? Absolutely not. I do find that it makes things interesting though.

We have not purchased FTTF but have considered it. We have been diamond on RCI for several years and got used to the priority boarding but it will be a while before we get to that level on Carnival. I have seen that FTTF has been sold out on most of our bookings anyway. On our Oct. 15 Liberty cruise we had an 11:00 check in time and this is our experience.

We were at the Radisson and were assigned to the first shuttle for Liberty. We rolled right through check in with usual efficiency at Port Canaveral. They had the waiting area segmented in to sections and they told us to have a seat in section 4. The first three sections were already filled. While we waited there were multiple announcements about boarding status and progress. Eventually they began boarding with a couple who had 130+ cruises on Carnival - wow!. They got the VIP treatment and a lot of cheers from the crowd. Next were suite guests and then the diamond and platinum. After the at came the FTTF crowd and there seemed to be a large number of them. As soon as they were through, the sections began boarding in sequence. I would say that we were moving about 15 minutes or less after the FTTF.

My conclusion: If you have an early check in time you will not get aboard much earlier with FTTF. If having your cabin available is important, then that might be a reason to purchase it. Over the years we have learned to travel light by checking most everything with the porters. I carry a backpack and my wife carries one f those over the shoulder over-sized Vera Bradley type thingys. We do not find that too inconvenient and we can carry everything that we might need upon boarding and any valuables that we want to keep with us.

I am not necessarily recommending against FTTF; I am just saying that if you get an early check in time you probably will not save a lot of time in the actual boarding process, at least at Port Canaveral. Hopefully someone will find this helpful.

We are just off Liberty a couple of weeks ago and I have to say that I really like this ship. I find your MDR comments very interesting since I had similar impressions on the food. In all of our cruises on all lines I had never been served food that I considered "bad" until this cruise. Not everything was bad, but some of the items should not have been brought out of the kitchen. The two that stood out were the calamari and the scallops. My calamari was over cooked, burnt really, and was swimming in a pool of grease. I pointed it out to the waiter and he said "it must have been the bottom of the bowl". I declined a replacement since the main course had arrived. Similarly, the scallops were tiny and rubbery (but no grease). I talked to some others who had no issues with either so I chalked it up to bad luck. It is interesting to see that I am not alone in finding the MDR a little below standard compared to other ships. Nothing stood out as really great but we did not go hungry in any case. I would sail Liberty again in a heartbeat but hopefully things in the MDR will improve a little next time around.

It was there on Liberty a couple of weeks ago but not open very much. Ditto on Sunshine in June. We like the location on Sunshine right next to alchemy bar where you can walk over and snag a bite while at the bar before dinner.

It does seem like a waste of prime real estate when it is unused the majority of the time. We are not sushi fans but it would make sense to put something there that would get more use, fee or not.

We have not been on Vista, but sunshine was our first Carnival cruise after many with RCI and converted us to Carnival fans. We just sailed on Liberty which I proclaimed to be my favorite ship ever. Something about it just struck a note with me. However, my wife still says sunshine is her favorite. When asked she said:

Havana bar- we went there a lot with our food from the buffet and they also have a mini buffet in Havana that is very good. It is just a very nice area to be in.

Serenity - Really nice and we did not notice a noise issue as reported by some. It does have an area that faces the main pool which is handy if you do want to check out the pool activities but also has some quieter areas as well.

Cabin - We booked a balcony guarantee and lucked out with a Spa balcony. A very good location and nice room.

Food selection - Sunshine has the the 2.0 features such as Guys and Blue Iguana but also has the El Capitano which is free at lunch and fee in the evening. Likewise with Ji Ji which is Mongolian wok at lunch and fee in the evening. By far the best "no charge" food options we have ever had.

Decor - We both liked it a lot, but it is a matter of taste.

We never noticed an unusual problem with lines with the exception of the Wok at lunch time which seems to be consistent among all ships that have it. Everything is crowded at peak times which we have found to always be the case and we work around that. some people criticize the layout but we had no issues with it once we got adjusted to the ship on the first day.

Cons

Main dining (YTD) was extremely slow to the point that we went to the buffet and Havana most nights

Comedy club has a very strange layout and is not as large as some other ships. Some of the seats are around the corner and have no view of the stage at all.

I agree that there is probably not a bad choice either way but we would not hesitate to sail on sunshine again.

Are those future cruise promotions at the desk often a surefire deal?

We have been using the deals that show up under your VIFP login when we get back. They have the future cruise rate, OBC of at least $50, and half off the deposit. We have also called a TA and combined the future cruise deal with whatever the TA offered to sweeten the deal. We have never used the desk on the ship although we talked about it. There was either a line or we had something else to do.

Well, we have been enjoying our Carnival cruises and just got back from Liberty a couple of weeks back. I think Carnival did it right in allowing the future cruise promotion to stay in place for a few weeks after you get back. Having that post cruise blues feeling and seeing those reduced fares, deposit, and OBC hanging out there is a deadly combination. We canceled a couple of paid for cruises back in August with the hurricane Harvey situation and we have the refund money in reserve. We used part of it for the Liberty cruise and I just yielded to temptation and booked the Triumph for Jan 20, 2018. We also had some airline credits from the cancellations so we got airfare covered. We have never been to NOLA so this will be a new adventure. I do not see a roll call for this one so if anyone out there is with us please chime in. Also, any tips & tricks for NOLA and Triumph are appreciated. I booked the Le Richelieu Hotel in the French quarter which appears to be a nice little boutique hotel and has good trip advisor reviews. We will only be there for one night before sailing and plan to walk around. Again, advice is welcomed.

Consider staying the night before in Port Canaveral. We have been staying at the Radisson for 13 years and it has only gotten better. They have a shuttle or if you have a rental car you can just turn it in (most of the majors are in PC) and they will shuttle you to the port. If you stay in PC try Grills for dinner and for pre-cruise breakfast.

We returned from a cruise on Liberty a couple of weeks ago. This just might be our favorite ship thus far. We really like the decor and layout. We thought the ship was clean and well kept. If they are still on board, do not miss the violin trio in the atrium. They are there a lot and they are tremendously talented. I never thought much of violin music being a rock & roll child of the 60's but these young people changed my mind. Until you have heard the Rolling Stones "Angie" and the legendary Led Zepplin "Stairway to Heaven" on violin you are culturally deprived :D.

Guys was great as usual and we never waited for a burger. Pizza is always a wait. Find the barbecue joint above the buffet. Breakfast burritos are great as is the omelette station. Deli was never very crowded. Beware the fried seafood baskets at Seafood Shack but the steamed seafood is very good. We did not have good luck in the MDR with food or service (surprising) but talked to others who found it to be just fine. If you want to go to the steakhouse book early since it books up fast.

We were always able to find a good spot on Serenity. On port days you can have a hot tub to yourself or use the water slide with no wait. Comedy club was great but get there early as most shows become standing room only. We sprung for the hot stones massages and they were awesome. They were different than any we ever had and were pricey but worth it. Go to the Motown night in the atrium; it's a hoot. Try out the two chaise lounges about half way down the promenade. At alchemy bar find a drink on the menu and ask the bartender to make it special. Let them do their magic and enjoy.

Hi, we had a similar problem last year. We wound up booking with a company called "Travel Sanford Airport" or "Sanford Airport Shuttle". DO NOT use these people. We waited around for over two hours while they shifted us from one van to then next and never did leave. Major disorganization. We eventually had to pay someone else to take us and I had to file a dispute on my card to get a refund for our prepayment. I have talked to others who had similar experience and the port employees knew about this guy and wondered how he was still allowed to do business in the port. He does not apparently own any vehicles and just negotiates with other owners to cram his customers in their rides. They also have websites under other names as well.

The safest bet is to do a rental. It is not that much farther than MCO, but very few companies go there because of the lower volume of passengers. If we ever use Sanford again I will look into a rental car.

Well, not always, in my experience. The last muster drill I did on the Indy was long as all get-out and we were packed in like crazy (ship was at max berth capacity, too), but at least it was on the shaded side of the ship. For the second-to-last drill, we weren't so lucky; blazing heat and sunlight. The announcements were made in English, Spanish and German due to the prevalent origins of the passengers. And no, this wasn't in Europe, this was at Port Everglades.

It was torture.

Point taken. I made a generalization which is not fair since it is based on my relatively small sample. I do remember years ago on RCI when we had to wear the life vests and stand in the sun while the instructions were given in multiple languages. It was super hot and frustrating. My comments were based upon the last several years since the life vests were left in the cabin and we often had inside musters - not everyone did. It does seem to me that recent RCI musters tend to be shorter and more to the point compared to our three Carnival cruises. It has been a while since we have heard the multiple language drills but apparently that still happens sometimes. In any case, it would seem that the cruise lines could streamline the process so that it gets the important information communicated as quickly and efficiently as possible. People lose their attention span and I am not sure how effective it all is when they are forced to endure uncomfortable conditions for more than a few minutes. The major hold up with Carnival seems to be waiting around for no shows that were not scanned yet. We were talking among ourselves at the last drill and several had the same idea. Make one announcement for the no shows to report, then deactivate the S&S cards of those who did not report to muster. Proceed with the drill and afterwards make a general announcement that those who were not at muster would not be able to use their cards to purchase or enter their cabins until they reported to guest services for muster instructions.

We had an inside cabin on deck 7 and we had to keep the A/C turned all the way down. It never really got as cool as we would like but it was not intolerable. I suspect that maybe it varies from cabin to cabin. We have not had an issue on other ships or cabins. We also talked about a small fan in the future just in case. For the record, we did not complain since the room was not uncomfortably warm, just not as cool as we like it at night.

We just returned from Liberty and the muster drill was a nightmare. We have now been on 26 cruises and this was the worst muster ever. For those who say the cruise line has nothing to do with it are incorrect. We have been on 22 Royal Caribbean cruises and they do a much better job with the muster drill. It is shorter and it complies with all regulations. All three of our Carnival muster drills have been too long and disorganized. Two of them were inside so there was no heat issue, just the aggravation factor. The outside area used for Liberty muster has very little air flow and it was unbearably hot. They spent 20+ minutes trying to locate no shows while everyone stood in the heat and fumes. They did let people with small children go inside. Just because a person has never seen anyone pass out doesn't mean it does not happen. We saw one elderly person near us have to be helped inside by the crew after feeling faint and almost falling over. The person next to him caught him. Carnival tends to make a lot of unnecessary announcements during muster that could be done another time. There is no excuse for the muster drills being so long since other cruise lines can do it. We enjoy our Carnival cruises but muster drill is a weak spot that needs improvement.

We got back last week. Liberty was our favorite ship so far. We loved the layout and decor. We were not impressed at all with the main dining but everything else was great. Do not miss the violin trio in the atrium lobby. You have to hear it to believe it. If you want to eat at the steakhouse book early since it sells out. We sprung for the hot stones massages; it was the best we have ever had and we have had a lot. It is pricey but worth it. My wife has had hot stone massages before but says this one is different and much better. The only time we saw a line of more than a couple of people at Guys was on boarding day just after it opened. The deli was never very crowded and very good. Expect a wait at Pizza Pirate. Find the barbecue place above the buffet. Early on there was hardly anyone in there but it got more crowded as more people found it. Pretty good stuff. We did not go to any production shows but the comedy shows were very good. Go a little early as it gets very full at showtime. The Serenity area is two levels and is very nice. We always found a clam shell or hammock. Look for the two chaise loungers on the promenade; best seats inside the ship. Alchemy was outstanding. Consider staying on board at one of the ports or coming back early. The ship is mostly empty and it is a good time to try the pools, hot tubs, and water slide. We will definitely do Liberty again.

LOL! I followed your Harvey/RCL/Carnival drama and I was so happy you were able to get on a cruise after all you went through!

 

I really enjoyed your Ecstasy trip report, I hope you will do one for the Liberty as well! We leave in a couple weeks to sail the Sunshine out of Charleston, it will be my first time parking/departing from Charleston. Any parking tips!

We went down to Charleston a day early and stayed at the Hampton Inn West Ashley. It is about 10-15 min from the port and there are closer hotels. BUT, it is a very nice hotel and they are very cruise friendly in that they will let you park there for no charge and seem to take good care of their cruise guests. They have a shuttle (extra charge) which we did not use, but used Uber instead. The port itself is right at the end of the downtown market. We got a fairly early Uber ride - around 9 or so - and were able to check our luggage with the porters and then walk around the market area until boarding time. On our cruise they did not enforce the check in time so you could board when you wanted to. Not sure how consistent this is. There are a lot of hotels that have free parking for cruisers and if you offset the cost of port parking you are almost getting a free stay. Note that most of the downtown "boutique" do not do the free cruise parking.

I will chime is since we are also in NC and have also sailed Majesty many times. We will be on Liberty on the 5th and we were on the Ecstasy around Labor day. We really enjoyed the Ecstasy and would do it again without hesitation. We can let you know about Liberty in a couple of weeks, but I expect it will be a good report.

SO what you are saying is that if you plan on parking at the port even though you are Platinum and have handicapped tags your chances of getting into the terminal are before 10- 10:30 are zero to none. If you uber, get dropped off or shuttle, you get in earlier. Correct??

Not sure about the parking since we parked at the hotel. They will check your bags earlier. We were not over there when boarding started since we were wandering around the market, but once it started they seemed to board everyone. Maybe they enforce the check in times on some days, but on our cruise they were not checking.

It would be easy enough to drop by and check your bags and then go park & walk back if you can find a place. There are some lots within walking distance that are $15-16 per day.

An employee at the hotel old me about a secret free parking area that a buddy of his uses but I am leery about posting it on here since it might get someone in trouble. It is a couple of blocks away from the terminal. We did not use it since the hotel parking was free.

For whatever it is worth, we booked last minute on Ecstasy a couple of weeks back. We had a 2:30 time. We wandered over there around 11:45 and they put us right on the ship. It moved very fast. They did not examine our boarding time at any point. One lady behind us said something about having a later check in time and we heard the Carnival employee say "don't worry about the appointment time, just go on through". No idea if they always do this in Chucktown.

Also, we had left our car at the hotel and used Uber to get there early, like 9:30AM, since we wanted to visit the market before boarding. They checked our luggage at 9:30 and were happy to do it.

This was the best embarkation and debarkation we have ever had at any port.

I can't give any pointers yet, but I set sail Sunday 9/17 and I will be posting a review when I return!

Have a great cruise and we look forward to your report.