Carnival Liberty 12/07/13 Review

[AZmike480]

Since I get a ton of information from reading other peoples reviews. I thought I'd take a few minutes or hours, and write a short review about our cruise on the Carnival Liberty a few weeks ago. This is a one page short and sweet review with no pictures, sorry picture lovers:D

 

Day one: We arrived in Miami the morning of the cruise after taking a red eye from Phoenix, AZ. We choose American Airlines for the air travel and it was the standard no frills plane ride we're all used to. We got plenty of sleep on the plane and landed at the airport at 6 am. We picked up our luggage. Then hung out at the airport and had breakfast since we paid for the carnival shuttle from the airport to cruise terminal. This also gave me time to go out and buy some new sunglasses since mine managed to break during the security check point at home. Tip #1: Don't buy expensive sunglasses at the airport. There overly priced and you can get them on the ship for cheaper with no tax. I was afraid they wouldn't have the sunglasses I wanted on the ship so I payed big time at the airport. 8:30 am finally rolled around and there was a huge line at the carnival check in desk. We got in line a waited about 30 minutes till we finally got to the counter. The check in at the airport is identical to checking in at the port, they give you your room cards and set everything up so you don't have to check in at the cruise terminal. Tip #2: If you purchased FTTF you can get into the priority line with the diamond club cruisers, or those booked in suites. You don't have to wait in the long overcrowded check in line. We got on the bus, fell back asleep and arrived at the cruise terminal. Since we did FTTF we were one of the first groups to board the ship around 11:00 or 11:30. We went straight out to the lido deck and got in line at guys burgers, and had a drink. I paid for the bottomless soda deal which is like 50 dollars and went to check out our room and take a nap. Our room was a standard interior room on the 7th floor (7321) and it was ready with one or our bags was already there. After the 2 hour nap all or our bags were there so we changed some or our clothes and decided to check out the ship. We hung out on the serenity deck for the sail away party. We sailed out a little late, probably because there we're a bunch of ships sailing off at the same time. We made it to the muster drill which was better than the one we did last year. It seemed to go by pretty quick this time. We went back to our room and cleaned up for dinner. We where assigned to the golden Olympian dining room. We chose anytime dining since it works best for our schedule. We had no problems or wait to get seating for 6 people. Tip #3: We had head waiter Yaco, his assistant Salgie and David the bar waiter. The guys seriously kick ass!! There was never an empty glass, dirty plate, or issues with food it was awesome service and great food. After dinner we played bingo:mad:, don't bother its only one game. We watched game show mania and the welcome aboard show which introduces most of the ship staff, and then went to bed.

 

Day two: We arrived at half moon cay, carnivals privately owned island. This stop requires a tender service to get off the ship. The line can be a pain but not when you have FTTF, you get priority boarding on the tender. We got on the the first or second tender and hit island running. We decided to get some beach chairs since I read the chairs fill up fast. We actually paid 20 dollars for beach chairs with the clam-shell canopy. This was nice if you wanted to get out of the sun. We settled in and went up to the ship wreck bar, ordered a bucket of beers and a pitcher of vodka lemonade. Tip #4: The bucket of beers and pitcher was a great deal on drinks for the day. I don't remember the exact price but I thought it was cheaper then buying a bunch of drink of days and beer. We hung out all day on the beach. The sand is like nothing I've ever felt or seen before it's amazing. I brought my snorkel gear but the water sucked for snorkeling so don't bother. We had the BBQ lunch on the island and it was alright. We got back on the ship in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day by the pool in the spa until it was time for dinner. We tried to have dinner everyday at 6:00 pm since my parents and our neighbors were also along on the cruise with us. It gave us a chance to check in with each other and hang out. We returned to the dining room and requested Yaco and his crew which wasn't a problem for Ivan the assistant maitre d. Tip #5 if you have anytime dining you can request the same wait staff making it feel more like assigned dining. You may have to wait a few minutes but its worth it. I didn't know this on our last cruise. After dinner we went to the EA sports bar watched some football which was crazy in there. I've never seen so many sea hawks fans in one place. Then went to bed.

 

Day three: Sea Day was really windy, we tried the burrito bar for breakfast and it was good food just wish it was hot. I got my burrito and it felt like it wasn't even cooked. We hung out by the pool pretty much all day. We had guys burgers for lunch which is fantastic :D. We caught the ice carving show, the drink mixing show and pool games. Spent the afternoon in spa with new friends and had a few drinks. We had a 5:30 steakhouse reservation so we got ready and went to dinner. The food and service was excellent and worth the extra money they charge for the experience.

 

Day four: St. Thomas. Woke and had an omelet for breakfast which was good. We got off the ship and caught what I thought was a cab until the driver lead us to her car. The car wasn't marked as cab and she wasn't parked in the cab area, but I thought what the hell live dangerously. We asked to go to magens bay which cost us 8 dollars a person which is the standard cab rate. She was a crazy driver but we got there quick and payed the 3 dollar a person beach fee since its a state park. The beach is very nice but very popular and had a lot people there. It was cool to see iguanas walking around the beach. If your a snorkeler don't bother going there, I heard the snorkeling at coki beach is awesome. We caught a cab back to the port and spent the rest of day shopping. If your shopping for jewelry or watches this is the place to buy. You can get 50 to 60 percent off retail and no sales tax. We had lunch at the shipwreck bar and grill which was good and then went back to the ship. We spent the rest of day by the pool as usual. We did dinner in the golden Olympian again with Yaco and his crew. After dinner we went out and watched the movies by the pool.

 

Day five: San Juan. We tried the breakfast in the silver dining room which was good then headed off the ship to wonder around old San Juan. We hit all the shops but spent the majority of our time at the coach store getting gifts for friends back home. The prices are crazy cheap compared to the states, which meant DW spent hours checking out purses and other woman stuff!:eek:. We walked around by the forts but didn't go into them. We went back to the ship for lunch. This meant another burger from guys:D. We spent the rest of the day hanging out by pool. For dinner we did the usual in the dining room, after dinner we watched Josh the guitar player in the main bar. Josh is amazing, if he's on the ship go check him out its worth the time. We caught the world show that evening which was pretty boring in my opinion so we left early and went to bed.

 

Day six: Grand Turk. We decided to have breakfast in the buffet. This was the first time we had the buffet and it was pretty good. We went up to the serenity deck and watched the ship pull into GT. Once we docked we got off and went straight to margarita-ville and got some chairs by the pool. This is a cool place to relax and enjoy the pool and beach. If you like to snorkel bring your gear. The snorkeling is awesome right in front of the ship. There's a bunch of fish and coral with some cool surprises near the ship. After snorkeling I decided to spend the rest of day drinking at the pool which was nice. The bummer of this stop was our bar and food tab!! Oh well we're on vacation. We got back on the ship late in the day and decided to grab a burger at guys for early dinner. Day six was elegant night and we don't like dressing up on vacation.

 

Day seven: Sea day. We woke up had breakfast in silver dinning room, then hung out by the pool all day. We had lunch at the taco shop which is delicious. We ended up going back to room to packing up since we used luggage express. We packed our bags up and went to golden Olympian for the last dinner with our family, friends and favorite wait staff. Dinner and service was excellent as usual. We decided to give Yaco and his crew some extra cash since his team was fantastic, which he appreciated greatly! After dinner we went and had massages. The massage was good and worth the money. We went back to our room to close our bags and put them out for luggage express pickup

 

Saturday: Going home. We had same day flights scheduled back home so we too a cab to south beach and shopped at some open air market. I wasn't impressed with Miami. It reminds me of home in California, and there a reason I dont live there anymore;). We got to the airport and made it home with no problems.

 

Small conclusion for those who don't like reviews:

 

1. FTTF is worth every penny, priority everything is included for 50 dollars a cabin

2. Guys Burgers, simply awesome!

3. Taco Bar, excellent

4. Yaco, Salgie and the golden Olympian dining room shocked the hell out of me! I've never liked Carnival dining rooms on the past ships I've been on. The service has always sucked and the food was OK at best.

5. DaDang our room steward was outstanding that room was never dirty, everything was dialed in from start to finish. I've never received that kind of service on other carnival ships. Dadang took care of our extra requests, and he was stoked when I handed him a bunch of extra cash!

6. Big sexy the cruise director from Chicago was fun, and entertaining.

7. Luggage express made getting of the ship super easy, it cost extra money but i didnt have to touch my bag until I picked it up at my home airport. It's nice to have all your boarding passes printed and ready to go before you get off the ship.

 

We booked this cruise on carnival because we purchased a voucher for a future cruise last year. Up until this cruise I wasn't that impressed with Carnival, but this cruise really changed my opinion of carnival which will make it difficult to pick a cruise next year!

 

AZmike480

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write this very well written review/report.

 

Keith

[AZmike480]

Thank you for taking the time to write this very well written review/report.

 

Keith

 

 

Your welcome it was nice to write a positive review!

 

AZmike480

[Elaine515]

Thanks Mike for this to-the-point review.. loved it.. Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself and just totally relaxed.. My turn is 2/1 and I think I want to do what you did...

 

 

BTW, did you go to any of the shows?

 

Was the Serenity Deck crowded? Thats where I hope to spend most of my time :)

 

I believe Big Sexy will still be on the ship in February... do you happen to remember him mentioning anything that he is really fond of that perhaps I can surprise him with?

 

Although we are having record high temperature here in Florida I still can't wait to get on the Liberty.. have been on her twice but not since they upgraded her...

[kona_wahine]

Hi mike, great review,

 

Question, when you tendered to HMC with FTTF, did you go to guest services? This is the port I'm most looking forward to and can't wait to get off the ship. :)

 

I'm glad you mentioned luggage express. We have an 12:40 AA flight so plan to use it also.

[audreybella]

Thanks Mike for this to-the-point review.. loved it.. Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself and just totally relaxed.. My turn is 2/1 and I think I want to do what you did...

 

 

BTW, did you go to any of the shows?

 

Was the Serenity Deck crowded? Thats where I hope to spend most of my time :)

 

I believe Big Sexy will still be on the ship in February... do you happen to remember him mentioning anything that he is really fond of that perhaps I can surprise him with?

 

Although we are having record high temperature here in Florida I still can't wait to get on the Liberty.. have been on her twice but not since they upgraded her...

 

 

We loved Big Sexy. He was so much fun and so personable!

I think he mentioned that he was a big Knight Rider fan growing up. Just in case you wanted to surprise him with something.

[SKosto]

Hi mike, great review,

 

Question, when you tendered to HMC with FTTF, did you go to guest services? This is the port I'm most looking forward to and can't wait to get off the ship. :)

 

I'm glad you mentioned luggage express. We have an 12:40 AA flight so plan to use it also.

 

 

I'm not Mike, but was on the same cruise as him with FTTF as well. Yes, you go to guest services, and they'll just point you to some tables to your right with reserved cards on top of them, then you just wait for a Carnival employee to come and take you to the gangway.

[bills blasters]

We were on the same cruise, second part of a b2b. Have to agree 100% with Mike. Great Cruise. Loved the food, and the employees.

We really love Carnival.

Claudia

[AZmike480]

Thanks Mike for this to-the-point review.. loved it.. Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself and just totally relaxed.. My turn is 2/1 and I think I want to do what you did...

 

 

BTW, did you go to any of the shows?

 

Was the Serenity Deck crowded? Thats where I hope to spend most of my time :)

 

I believe Big Sexy will still be on the ship in February... do you happen to remember him mentioning anything that he is really fond of that perhaps I can surprise him with?

 

Although we are having record high temperature here in Florida I still can't wait to get on the Liberty.. have been on her twice but not since they upgraded her...

 

 

We did the welcome aboard show, game show mania and the world show. The shows where alright.

 

Elaine,

 

I don't remember anything personal about big sexy other than he was from Chicago.

 

We didn't spend much time on the serenity deck. The times we walked by it seemed to be full of people sleeping everywhere.

 

Quick tip if you like relaxing in the jacuzzi. The water temperature on all the tubs seemed to differ quite a bit but I found the hottest tub to be the one underneath the water slide next to the pool!

[AZmike480]

Hi mike, great review,

 

Question, when you tendered to HMC with FTTF, did you go to guest services? This is the port I'm most looking forward to and can't wait to get off the ship. :)

 

I'm glad you mentioned luggage express. We have an 12:40 AA flight so plan to use it also.

 

 

Kona,

 

Skosto is correct on the tender question, thats exactly what we did. They take you on a private elavator down to the tender.

[AZmike480]

I'm not Mike, but was on the same cruise as him with FTTF as well. Yes, you go to guest services, and they'll just point you to some tables to your right with reserved cards on top of them, then you just wait for a Carnival employee to come and take you to the gangway.

 

We were on the same cruise, second part of a b2b. Have to agree 100% with Mike. Great Cruise. Loved the food, and the employees.

We really love Carnival.

Claudia

 

 

I bummed I missed the roll call meet and greet, I met a couple of people from the roll that was hanging out with Fritz but thats it!!

 

I was planning on trying another cruise line next year, but the service on this cruise makes me wonder why I'd change cruise lines. :D

[mirglip69]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

[2 cruzen]

SO excited for our Liberty cruise and we have FTTF also.

Do you get priority on any other stop or just for tenders? Didn't know if you could jump to the front to get off the boat. I Imagine you may get some dirty looks??

[Engineerstar]

Hello Mike.

Thank you for the great review. Was it quiet around your cabin? Would you book the same again?

[AZmike480]

Hello Mike.

Thank you for the great review. Was it quiet around your cabin? Would you book the same again?

 

Sorry engineerstar,

 

I just saw this question, the cabin was very quiet and I would book the same again.

 

AZmike480

[Mizzouaholic]

Thanks for the review! We'll be sailing her June 7!