My Liberty Review: Feb. 15-22 Eastern

[OntCruise]

We just returned from our cruise on the Carnival Liberty February 15th – 22nd departing from Miami and visiting Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk.

 

This was an all girls trip including myself, my sister, my daughter and 3 of her university friends all on Ontario University reading week. We pulled an “all-nighter” and left home at 3:00 AM to catch our 6:30 am flight from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale. No traffic at the border at that time of the day and the weather cooperated so we were at the airport in plenty of time. I flew Spirit Air before and swore I never would again, but they were the lowest non-stop flight I could find. Five out of the 6 of us were over the 40 pound checked baggage limit but the lady didn’t charge us (score!). We weren’t so lucky on the way home!

 

We arrived in FLL to bright sunshine, got our baggage and called our hotel “Sleep Inn and Suites Dania” for the shuttle. Despite being told it wouldn’t be too long, we waited over an hour. Called back a few times only to be told they went to the wrong terminal? Arrived at the hotel and was not impressed at all. We paid a hefty premium because everything was sold or more expensive. I was worried about booking a cheaper hotel on Hotwire and wanted to ensure I booked a hotel that SAS Transportation would pick us up at. The hotel is old and dated. We checked in and one of the rooms was so damp that the sheets actually felt wet to the touch. The other room was supposed to be made up but when we got in the room there was no comforter on the bed and no pillow cases on the pillows. The entire hotel smelled of a combination of musty dampness and strong air freshener. The pool was OK, breakfast was fine. Location was perfect though. It’s right beside a Walgreens and across the street from Publix which made it really convenient for buying our wine and snacks and other last minute items for the cruise. If I had paid around $89 per night I wouldn’t have cared at all, but we paid over $200 per room with a corporate rate and it wasn’t worth half that amount.

 

I booked SAS Transportation to pick us up Saturday. Have used them before and find them very reliable. My confirmation email said hotel pick up’s begin at 11:00 am and the driver would call on his way. We got a call from the front desk that the driver was waiting outside at 10:50 am. We weren’t quite ready so we had to rush. We stopped at one other hotel to pick up a family and then off to Miami we went. For $13 per person SAS is a great deal.

Carnival had emailed us earlier in the week to say don’t arrive at the port until after 1:30 pm but we got there a little after noon. There was hardly any line and despite a little credit card issue at check in (I forgot to call my credit card company to tell them I was travelling so they declined my card), we were on board a little after 12:30 pm. Let the vacation begin!

 

I have been on the Glory and Valor twice each and the Liberty is pretty much the same ship, except for a bit different decor and the addition of some of the 2.0 upgrades that we’ve experienced on the Breeze, so I knew what to expect. The ship is in great condition. Everything was super clean and the crew was all very friendly.

 

We had balcony 6380 for my sister and I and the girls had 2 inside cabins across the hall. We had great room stewards. Both were very friendly and called us by our first names all week. Cruise Director Josh was OK but didn’t leave a lasting impression on me (like Butch has for us in the past). Comedy shows were great with the exception of “Muppet” the Comedy Club Manager who is a stand-up comedian “wannabe” and is really, really bad and super annoying. I did a review of our cruise on the Breeze last year and mentioned how bad the entertainment was. I was pleasantly surprised to see there was an actual live band on the Liberty (there wasn’t one on the Breeze), but the entertainment wasn’t much better. The singers and dancers were way better than what we saw on the Breeze, but that’s not saying much. The Hypnotist show was good but we didn’t go to the Sinatra or the Legends Show. The Olympics were on so we found ourselves going back to the cabin to catch the highlights each night after dinner and before heading back out. We contributed a small amount to the casino but never won a darn thing.

 

Now about the dining experience and those new menus! We had the late seating in the Silver Dining room. I personally feel the dining experience can make or break your cruise. One of the reasons why we love Carnival is because dining is FUN. Yes, we are that family who enjoys the napkin swinging and the singing and dancing! We were very lucky to have exceptional waiters. Rando, Regan and Godofreedo all from the Philippines were excellent, fun and took great care of us. The first night was a bit off but I think that was a combination of us not understanding the format of the new menu and us getting used to them and vice versa. The new American Feast menu is definitely different. The food was all very good and we certainly didn’t go hungry, but here are a few comments. The “For the Table” items are Caesar salad, Calamari and Flatbread. We wrongly assumed on the first night they would bring these to us automatically, but they didn’t. You have to ask for them if you want them. I can’t say that I really missed anything specifically from the old menus, because there are still lots of choices but here is what I REALLY didn’t like. They bring all your “sides” out separately and sometimes not very quickly. So you are sitting there with a huge plate with a little piece of meat on it waiting patiently for them to bring you another dish with your potato and yet another dish with your veggies. If you pick 2 or 3 sides, that’s a lot of little dishes surrounding your plate. So we just put our sides on the plate with our entree and stacked up all the other little bowls from the sides but that’s a lot of dishes for a table of 6 people and there’s not much room on the table if you’ve already ordered the “for the table” items too. Plus I found that the sides weren’t always very hot and that we had to wait even longer for the sour cream, or the au jus for the beef etc. I personally prefer ONE plate with all my food on it – all at the same time. It’s a little thing, but it was kind of annoying. Our waiters were great about offering seconds of anything we liked or even bringing out something we didn’t order just to try. If there was a pasta item, he would bring it out in a big bowl and give all of us a portion. We appreciated that. I loved the flatbread with the mushrooms and onions. The girls loved the Calamari too. I love Caesar salad normally, but find the dressing on Carnival fleet too “fishy” for my liking. Oh and YES we did have table cloths in case you are wondering!

We saw every type of dress code imaginable.*

 

Very few people really dress up on the elegant evenings.* I find I don't dress up as much as I used to anymore either.* I think 1 elegant evening per cruise is plenty.

 

As for other dining venues, nothing much has changed. The buffet is pretty much exactly the same as our previous 5 Carnival cruises. Lots of good choices and a nice salad bar. We did breakfast once in the dining room once and it was good. Deli is always a great option for lunch and the line was never really long. We had the fish & chips and they were great. Didn’t even try the Mongolian on this trip, but the line was pretty long so must have been good. Guy’s burgers were yummy (could have been hotter), and the girls enjoyed the tacos and burritos but they need to keep that place open longer. I enjoyed the thin crust pizza much more this time—maybe they changed the cheese or the sauce? Sushi would have been nice, but no Bonsai on the Liberty yet.

 

My sister and I both purchased the soda package. I’m not sure I got my money’s worth but it’s convenient. They don’t accept the soda package at Half Moon Cay which I think is dumb. What’s the difference it’s still a can of soda from the bar? I think in future I’ll stick to water and lemonade.

 

I will do a review of the ports soon, but in the meantime if you have any questions I’d be happy to answer for you if I can.

[jym613]

Good review, we are sailing on the Liberty in May. Appreciate the info especially on the new menus.

[JuJuBee32]

Thanks for posting this!

I'll be on the Liberty next year, so I've been curious as to what the ship looks like and such.

If you have pictures, would you mind posting a few?

[shanet60]

Do they have orange juice in the mornings ...it helps with my little girls restless legs...but I mean like real orange juice..

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks for the review. We're looking forward to getting back on Liberty in May. She's our favorite.

 

You didn't mention desserts. That's one of the things I'm most disappointed with. Have they change the menus at all to bring back some dessert favorites?

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. I've always wanted to do a girls cruise, just could never arrange it.

[OntCruise]

Thanks for posting this!

I'll be on the Liberty next year, so I've been curious as to what the ship looks like and such.

If you have pictures, would you mind posting a few?

 

I honestly didn't take many pictures of the ship itself. I took a ton of pictures on the islands and will post them soon.

 

Here's one of my favorite pics though .... chair hogs were in full force. This row of chairs was empty for HOURS on end!

[OntCruise]

Do they have orange juice in the mornings ...it helps with my little girls restless legs...but I mean like real orange juice..

 

They have concentrated orange juice at the buffet. I also had OJ in the dining room for breakfast, but I think it was the same.

[JuJuBee32]

Ahh yes, the chair hogs! I remember those from the Sensation. Very irritating :mad: I mean really, I can understand being at the pool for a couple of hours, but ALL day?? No way! I have to eat, and the Bahama Mamas are calling to fill up my cup! :p

[OntCruise]

Thanks for the review. We're looking forward to getting back on Liberty in May. She's our favorite.

 

You didn't mention desserts. That's one of the things I'm most disappointed with. Have they change the menus at all to bring back some dessert favorites?

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. I've always wanted to do a girls cruise, just could never arrange it.

 

I agree the dessert menu is pretty small. BUT when my daughter said one night she didn't want dessert the waiter brought her a banana split... so nice! I also asked for sherbet one night (it's not on the menu but I used to order it all the time) and he brought me bowl with 3 huge scoops one of each flavor. My sister had the pie a few nights and said it was good. There are a couple of new items we tried ... the one with the popcorn on top, didn't like that at all. The no sugar desserts weren't very good either. I don't like the melting cake personally, but the rest of the girls enjoyed it and they give you it with 2 ice cream sides now. That new Sticky Toffee Brioche they bring you "for the table" was really good, and comes with 3 sauces you can pour over it. I did miss the crème brule but there is another desert just like it (can't remember the name) that tastes the same minus the crunchy top.

[Midwestgal]

It's funny , we sailed the same in December and people were very dressed up in gowns and even tuxes.....it was really nice. We also were in the silver room , late seating.

[2 cruzen]

Do they have orange juice in the mornings ...it helps with my little girls restless legs...but I mean like real orange juice..

 

I know they have very good OJ in the MDR. Not sure about the buffet area.

[Jeafl]

Nice review, thanks for sharing! Only 23 more days until we board!

[afreetdragon]

Awww No Creme Brulee? Please...say it isn't so.