Review - Liberty Southern Carribean - June 20 - 28

[waynedog]

Just got off the Liberty 8 day cruise out of Port Canaveral to Aruba, Grand Turk, Curacao. Me, wife, 2 sons (20 and 22) and girlfriend. We have cruised ~15 times on Carnival, RCCL, Princess, etc. Here are some highlights:

 

Embarkation - we stayed in Titusville (up the road) after driving down from SC the day before. Went to the boat around 11 am and got right on. Got in cabin around 1 pm.

 

Cabins - had 2 balcony cabins (floor 6 and 7) in rear of boat. Both were fine and clean. Room stewards did their job but were not overly friendly. Only issue with the cabins is there were on the right side of the boat and at each port the left side faced the island and the right side faced the ocean. We like to be on our balcony as we are arriving at islands and when docked there so I would highly recommend left side balcony cabins on this itinerary.

 

Food - lido buffet was good along with Fish and Chips and Guys Burgers. Ate in the dining room for breakfast a few times and it was fine - typically breakfast menu. We had 6 pm seating at a table for 6 next to a window. Our servers - Alphonso and Jun were outstanding - among the best we have had in 15 cruises. The menu was the new American Table version. Most of the appetizers and soups were quite good - like in the past. The entrees were hit and miss - some were good, some were pretty bad. Desserts overall were average at best. Overall, I would say the new menu items are worse than in the past although some were as good. It does appear Carnival is trying to cut costs on meals by reducing selection and some quality. Also ate the the fancy Steak restaurant one night - appetizers were great. Steaks were good but for example several of us go the Cowboy rib eye and it was quite fatty. Desserts were excellent. We have eaten at the specialty restaurants on all our cruises for the last 10 years and I would rate this lower than previous ones. And the cost is now $35 each so in the future I would really question if it is worth it.

 

Casino - all our group spent a lot of time there. This cruise was a "Premier" member cruise so there were a lot of high level gamblers (spending several $1,000 per night) so the casino was always packed. Overall enjoyed being around all the gamblers who knew what they were doing and were very friendly. The dealers on the other hand were like robots - zero personality and no fun. We go to Vegas often the dealers there are for the most part very friendly and helpful. When I asked dealers on this cruise for advice they would just stare at me. Got the distinct feeling they hated their jobs and could not wait for their shift to end. Carnival needs to address this.

 

Aruba - was there on vacation for a week a couple of years ago so had no need to see the island. Went to Bugaloe's bar on the beach for a couple of hours and then took the Jolly Pirates sunset cruise which was 2 hours of crusing around and swining off their famous "rope swing". Had a great time.

 

Curacao - took the Indie Tours 3 hour tour of the island on an open air bus which was great. Very nice island and beaches. Would highly recommend their tours.

 

Grand Turk - got off and headed down to Jack's Shack where we rented chairs/umbrellas for a few hours and had a few drinks and played with Topher there dog. Had a good time. On the way back stopped and Margaritaville where the US world cup game was on. Place was packed (2 ships in dock that day). Found a table and ordered nachos and 3 watered down margaritas. Bill was $60. Will never go back there - food and drinks were very poor and way overpriced. Jimmy Buffet has a good brand but it will decline after gouging customers at this place.

 

Debarkation - we did walk off and they said it would not start until 8 am. Went down to exit point around 7:15 to get in line and they let us off starting at 7:20. We had a 10 hour drive ahead of us so that was great. But - we parked at Terminal 6 and arrived at Terminal 10 so we had to take a bus over to Terminal 10. They were large buses so had to wait 20 mins for it to fill up. All luggage was loaded under the bus. When we got to Terminal 6 parking lot, the driver told us to stay on the bus until the luggage was unloaded. There were 8 people (workers) in the parking lot when we arrived and they all stood there while this poor bus driver unloaded all the luggage himself which took a while. I got off and asked the group why they did not help him and the answer was "he don't need no help". Very poorly managed system by the port authority.

 

Drive home was long as it was a Saturday and lots of vacation traffic (start of July 4th week).

 

Overall, Liberty is a great boat and the crew overall was very friendly (except the casino dealers). Itineray was also great. Would definitely take the cruise again. Hopefully Carnival will address their new menu and fix the problems.

[FireEater]

Thanks for the insight. I am going on her for that route in August.

 

Wife rides scooter. All ports birth dockside?

[618mom]

Thanks for the review! We get on the Liberty in a week!!

[waynedog]

Yes, all ports the ship is a the dock - no tender boats.

[golfadj]

We are also just off the Liberty

 

All was good but our balcony deck 10 invery front of ship either faced ocean at ports or was way to windy while at sea.

 

Didnt get much use out of it but will know better for next time.

 

Steward was find and food was good. Head waiter (actually waittress) struggled as her two asst's seemed to be semi useless and she had to go to galley on a regular basis leaving nobody to refill beverages for long time.

 

Most nights we ordered at 6 and first got apps about 6 45 and were among the last few tables to leave. Had nice tablemates so the time didnt bother me but have never seen this before in 23 previous cruises.

 

Cory the CD was one of the best we have had.

 

First two comedians (dont remember their names we didnt care for but last two were outstanding especially Jim Brick who was probably the funniest ever seen by us.

 

We got in an hour early due to a passenger needing medical attention and lucky for us the shuttle bus from the Radaisson was waiting on us when we left the ship about 7 10.

 

Had 12 hour drive going home and it took about 13 due to some very heavy traffic in SC.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Wants to be rich]

You mentioned Guys Burgers and Fish and Chips were available. Did you notice if the Mongolian Wok and/or the Indian Tandoor were available?

 

Thanks:)

[golfadj]

You mentioned Guys Burgers and Fish and Chips were available. Did you notice if the Mongolian Wok and/or the Indian Tandoor were available?

 

Thanks:)

 

Has the mongolian but no Indian. Can get vegetarian Indian dinner in DR in the evening. Had it once and was surprisingly bland except for one dish of a "relish" type thing which was call the fire dept hot.

[jjdmom8]

What were your cabin numbers? If you don't mind me asking.

[8335GOULR]

We had a wonderful time aboard the Liberty. We sailed on the Liberty last summer so it is easier to make comparisons to this sailing.

 

Cabin: We had a balcony mid-ship on Deck 7. I did not know to ask which side of the ship will face the ports-we were starboard. I didn't mind, but I will know to ask in the future. (I always thought it was the Captain's preference and was dictated by weather and port conditions.) We had the same cabin steward as last year (Dennis). He is very attentive to detail and looked after our every need. No complaints here. Not even a grumble.

 

Main Dining Room: I didn't mind the menu changes. I have to agree with an earlier review- there were some great hits and some real misses. Overall, high marks for the chef. I was disappointed with the dining room service as well. The food came out slowly, we had no bar service most of the week, and had to ask for water and tea way too often. The nightly waiter shows are gone. I didn't feel a bond to our wait staff this time- a first for me. We had the 6 pm seating in the Silver Dining Room and left the dining room about 7:30 most nights. My observation is that the staff is still adjusting to the American Table changes and hasn't found a good rhythm. (Hope they figure it out before taking it fleet wide.)

 

Everyone at our dining table was a member of our Cruise Critic Roll Call.... the company was excellent so the wait was filled with plenty of happy cruise chatter. Definitely helped.

 

Entertainment Staff: I can't say enough great things about Cory Rogers, our cruise director. We remember him from the Fascination. To quote Cory "I can make anything fun". He didn't lie. Activities around the ship were always packed. He was always visible and very friendly. This cruise had 4 sea days- I was never bored. Great games and contests all week.

 

Ports: All ports were new to us. No complaints about our activity choices. I spoke to several members of our roll call (all choosing different excursions). No bad reports there. Choose what you like and enjoy. Yes- most definitely- Margaritaville was expensive, but I didn't pay for an excursion that day, so I actually saved money using the free pool and beach.

 

I would sail this itinerary and this ship again.

[Wants to be rich]

Thanks for the info Stu.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your review/report.

 

Keith