Liberty review Feb 8th -15th

[ThirstyFrog203]

I just thought i'd share a quick review on our Liberty cruise last week.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. There was no line and we were on the ship right away. We went straight to Lido to grab lunch and we had Guy's burgers which is amazing and that would be the first of many trips there.

 

Before sail away, we figured we'd go check out our room and our luggage was already at the door. So glad we didn't cough up the money for FTTF. We had an interior room on level 6 (room# 6290). It was first time in an interior and although small. It's served it's purpose and was great for sleeping. I would do an interior again.

 

The new dining room menu was on the Liberty and i have to say, it was amazing. They have a "Rare Finds" appetizer that is different every night. I stepped out of my comfort zone to try these items because i figured if i didn't like it, i'd just order something else. I tried snails, alligator fritters and frog legs. All very tasty but i probably will never order frogs legs again. The entrees i had were all good with the exception being the Jerked Pork Loin on last night, too much seasoning.

 

I had Braised Lamb shank which was fall of the bone excellent, grilled mahi mahi, plantain encrusted red snapper and prime rib. All delicious. I ended each night with a chocolate melting cake.

 

Now onto the entertainment. On the first night, we saw the show "Just Rock". The female singer has a great voice. Didn't care for the guy and overall the show wasn't great. It should be called "Just Pop" as there wasn't much rock music to it but when there was, it was over the top poppy vocalization. The only other show we would see in the main theater was Thien Fu, the comedian/juggler who was very entertaining and got the crowd involved. The entertainment highlight for the wife and I was the comedy club. 4 comedians on the cruise all together and only one was sub par (Can't remember his name). Cowboy Bill Martin was the best. Very funny.

 

The crew overall was very good. Our personal favorite was Muppet who was the comedy club manager and also hosted many other functions, trivia, etc.

 

Onto the ports of call:

 

Cozumel, Mexico had by far the most beautiful tourist section. Palm trees everywhere. Our excursion was the Deluxe snorkel and beach day. We enjoyed this very much. Probably because the beer and margaritas were included. If you didn't have a cup in both hands they'd bring a frsh one of to you. So needless to say, the sail back to the pier was a little rowdy with everyone dancing on the boat. Also, the beach was private and quiet. The only way to access this beach is through the company our excursion went through.

 

Belize : We did not have an excursion on Belize. We were on a tight budget. We stayed in the toutisty part and had a couple local beers. If you're a beer lover like me, try the Belikin Stout at one of the dock bars.

 

Roatan, Honduras : I loved it here. Very beautiful. We did the Mahogany Beach excursion, which i will advise not to do. It is a public beach and you can just go there for the small price of a ski lift ticket. Yes, we got extras, like snorkeling gear and a cabana but not worth the price we paid.

 

Also, be sure to snap some pictures of the shipwrecks near the shoreline

 

Grand Cayman Island: No excursion here either but we wanted to get our feet on land so we tendered over anyway. Before we went to land, we noticed what looked like a huge brush fire on the island. Nobody seemed to know what it was. We found out later that it's the landfill and they burn their trash. Not a very pleasant sight for tourists to see. Overall, Cayman was a dump. I'm sure they have nice places to go on excursions but the tourist section was just a couple over priced bars and jewelry stores. Jewelry stores literally every 15 feet. I was disappointed in Cayman but got try a Cayman beer called Ironshore Bock which was good.

 

Now to sum up with some pros and cons...

 

Pros:

1. The Liberty is beautiful. Well Laid out deck plans and very clean. It made every other ship we were docked next to look ancient and dirty.

 

2. The crew was outstanding. Like i mentioned above, Muppet was our favorite. If you're sailing on the Liberty soon, tell her the Thirsty Frogs say hello.

 

3. The new dining room menus are outstanding in our opinion. Try the rare finds. If you don't like it, you can always order something else. It's free!

 

4. The comedy club was great

 

5. The alchemy bar is expensive but they make great drinks and it's cool watching it being made.

 

6. The piano man was solid. Great skills and a nice voice. A little too heavy on the country music.

 

7. EA Sports bar was a nice quiet place to catch up on what was going on in the world of sports.

 

Cons:

 

1. The serenity decks clam shells and hammocks were ALWAYS taken, and not by people. It was by towels and other possessions for hours at a time. I stopped trying by day 3. There was no employee up there to keep the chair hogs in check. Also, the Serenity is a little too close to the very loud Lido pool area. Adults looking for quiet may have a better time at the adults only aft pool area which also features 2 jacuzzi's.

 

2. Repetitive songs by the DJ on Lido and the accoutic guitar guy throughout the ship. I can't tell you how many times i heard Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" on accoustic guitar. The guy was talented but needs to add to his song list.

 

That about covers it for now. If i think of anything else, i'll add to it. Or oif anyone has any questions, i'll be happy to answer.

 

Overall, this was a 5 star vacation for us on what just may be the best ship in Carnival's fleet.

[fourkittys]

Thank you so much for your review. Your descriptions were excellent and to the point. Liberty is on our bucket list if the reviews remain as good as they have been. Thanks for describing why and what food you liked instead of just saying "the food was good", etc.. I also agree with your assesment of Grand Cayman. Wish they wouldn't go there as often as they do. We loved Half Moon Cay. The most beautiful beach we have been to.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Grand Cayman has WONDERFUL Sting Ray Snorkeling that almost no where else has. They are wild and friendly, and we enjoyed 7 Mile Beach too. In most places, if you don't have much of a plan, you will only see the immediate pier and tour traps. We know how well that normally works out... Surprised to hear GC sounding like a 'dump'. I think its one of the richest islands, is under British control, and is definitely more expensive than most of the islands...

[ThirstyFrog203]

Grand Cayman has WONDERFUL Sting Ray Snorkeling that almost no where else has. They are wild and friendly, and we enjoyed 7 Mile Beach too. In most places, if you don't have much of a plan, you will only see the immediate pier and tour traps. We know how well that normally works out... Surprised to hear GC sounding like a 'dump'. I think its one of the richest islands, is under British control, and is definitely more expensive than most of the islands...

 

 

Like i said, i'm sure there are very beautiful parts of Grand Cayman that we didn't get to see. We stayed in the tourist area. The view from the ship looked the island was mostly industrial, Kind of like Freeport, Bahamas. We booked this cruise kinda last minute to celebrate the great 2013 we had ( bought a house, got a better job) but we were working on a very tight budget. Had we booked an excursion i probably would have had a different take on the island, but the huge trash fire was a turn off.

[kona_wahine]

We had same issue with serenity last month. People are rude. We mainly hung out on our own balcony. We didn't lay out in a lounge chair the whole week. I just hate the crowds.

[KPfromCT]

Welcome back, and thanks for the review!!!:D:D

Lady Liberty has been getting stellar reviews lately and is definitely on our list of ships for this spring/summer......

Betcha wish you were back on that ship right now.....after the nice 6" Mother Nature decided to give us here in CT.

I am just outside of Hartford........And I. AM. DONE. WITH. THE. SNOW!!!!!:mad:

[ThirstyFrog203]

We had same issue with serenity last month. People are rude. We mainly hung out on our own balcony. We didn't lay out in a lounge chair the whole week. I just hate the crowds.

 

We were on the Miracle last year and we saw crew members tagging chairs, waiting about 45 minutes and then removing the items over by the towel hut to free up chairs. We got clam shells and hammocks quite a few time because of that. On the Liberty, there was nobody from the crew in the Serenity area to police things. I debated moving people's stuff myself but didn't want to deal with angry people shouting at me when they returned.

Edited February 18, 2014 by ThirstyFrog203

[ThirstyFrog203]

Welcome back, and thanks for the review!!!:D:D

Lady Liberty has been getting stellar reviews lately and is definitely on our list of ships for this spring/summer......

Betcha wish you were back on that ship right now.....after the nice 6" Mother Nature decided to give us here in CT.

I am just outside of Hartford........And I. AM. DONE. WITH. THE. SNOW!!!!!:mad:

 

Tell me about it... We flew back in on saturday just after it started snowing. sloppy drive home from Bradley. What a nice welcome back gift from Mother Nature. We are crazy for living here. I like the change of seasons we get but take winter out of the equation. At least January and February. I'm ok with a little light snow and somewhat chilly temps in December but thats it.

[Idahoan58]

we were on the Liberty with you last week. We LOVED Muppet as well! Grand Cayman was our favorite port despite the weather. We did a native ways stingray tour and it was amazing.

[2 cruzen]

Thank you for the great review, especially the MDR menu items. We are doing Liberty for the first time in 6 weeks, but going on the Eastern itinerary.

 

I usually like Serenity but since we have an aft cabin, may just go there. Unless I'm up at 6 am. :eek: