Our Review of August 25, 2005 Sailing of Carnival's Liberty

[JHUNTGOLF]

Our August 25, 2005, Mediterranean Cruise on Carnival’s Liberty

 



 

This is going to be a very long review covering my 12-day cruise on Carnival’s new ship—the Liberty—as well as pre-cruise and post-cruise time in Rome, Italy. I’ll be highlighting each day’s activities from the time my wife and I departed for the Atlanta airport on August 22, 2005, until we returned home on September 7, 2005.

 

 

My wife and I were part of an eight couple group going on this cruise. Three couples were from Georgia, three from Florida, and one each from North Carolina and Tennessee. Most of the couples had cruised together previously. If you have any questions, just drop me an e-mail at jhuntgolf@earthlink.net.

 

 

 

Flight from Atlanta to Rome and First Full Day in Rome – August 22 and 23

 

 

On August 22, we took MARTA (the local subway) to the airport and arrived at 2:50pm; breezed through check in and security; and were at the gate at 3:30pm for the 5:20pm Delta #70 flight to Rome. This was a direct flight. We were flying with two other couples from the Atlanta area. We flew on a Boeing 767 and each of the couples was able to reserve the two seat (window and aisle) combination. Our flight left about ½ hour late and took about 9 hours. Some of us were able to sleep more than others on the plane. We arrived at Rome’s FCO airport at 8:50am on August 23 about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Rome is 6 hours ahead of Easter Daylight Time. It was a sunny day in Rome. We then taxied for what seemed like 15 minutes before arriving at the gate. We had no problems at the Rome airport. After getting off the plane and taking the rail system and walking to baggage claim, our luggage showed up within a couple of minutes.

 

 

After getting our luggage, we hit the ATM (called Bancomat in Italy) in the baggage claim area. Two of us were easily able to get 500 euros with no problem, but one of my friends—Mick—couldn’t get his ATM card to work. He was able to borrow some euros until he could call his bank to figure out what was wrong (ultimately, he couldn’t figure out what happened because he was able to later use the same ATM card at many other machines; in fact, he seemed to use it so much that someone in our group started calling him “Mickomat”). You need to make sure that you have a four digit pin for your ATM card, and it’s also a good idea to notify your bank about the period of time that you’ll be using your ATM card. If you don’t notify your bank, they could put a hold on your account because of unusual activity involving overseas transactions. We also found that if any of the Bancomats don’t want to dispense a large amount of euros, such as 300 euros, just change the amount to something smaller, such as 240 euros, and the machine will probably work.

 

 

We caught the hotel shuttle (6 euros per person) and arrived at our hotel (Marriott Courtyard at the Rome Airport) at about 10:45am. Two of the three couples were able to get their rooms early. I was the unlucky one so I put my luggage in one of the other rooms. The three guys then went to a local grocery store (a short walk from the hotel) to buy some water. To our surprise, this store also sold wine, and the wine was very inexpensive. Our best buy was a red table wine at 1.89 euros for a 1.5 liter bottle. Each of us bought at least one 1.5 liter bottle.

 

 

About 45 minutes after we arrived at our hotel, two of the other couples in our eight couple group arrived. They were flying Northwest Airlines out of Detroit and were very worried about flying Northwest because the Northwest mechanics had gone out on strike on August 20. As it turned out, the two couples arrived about 45 minutes ahead of schedule and Northwest served complimentary alcoholic beverages during the flight.

 

 

I had previously arranged with all five couples to try to pack as much as we could into this first full day in Rome to help us with the potential consequences of jet lag. I had e-mailed Roma Shuttle (romashuttle@yahoo.it) to have a van pick the 10 of us up at the hotel at 12:30pm to take us to the Vatican (100 euros for the group). Another person in our group had arranged via fax and e-mail for a 2:00pm reserved Vatican tour of the museums and the Sistine Chapel (21.5 euros per person). We had a Vatican guide for the 20 or so people in our tour group. We didn’t have to wait in any lines. Our confirmation had told us to go in the exit door at 1:45pm to show it to the guard. We were then allowed to enter through a side corridor to purchase our tickets and begin the tour. The Vatican was unbelievable and breathtaking in the enormity of the art treasures and history contained in it. The Sistine Chapel was our last stop. You are awestruck by its beauty and just thinking about how it was created.

 

 

We had an early dinner at a restaurant near the Vatican. In my view, this turned out to be a big mistake because the food and beverages—although very good—were overpriced (mostly pizza and some wine and beer). We spent about 50 euros per couple. We took two taxis back to the hotel—about 45 euros per taxi.

 

 

Before heading off to bed, we decided to meet in one of the hotel rooms for a glass of wine. We opened up one of the 1.5 liter bottles and 7 of us quickly polished it off. We then opened a second 1.5 liter bottle, and then the third 1.5 liter bottle. Before we knew it, all three bottles were gone. Finally, we all headed to our rooms and crashed from the jet lag and the wine.

 

 

Second Day in Rome

 

 

It was another sunny day in Rome. I had previously arranged via e-mail to have Roma Shuttle pick 8 of us up at the hotel at 8:30am to take us to the Vatican (70 euros for the group). We wanted to attend the Papal Audience that is held at 10:30am on Wednesday’s. We had initially been led to believe that you needed tickets for this audience, but we were later told that you didn’t need tickets. You just needed to arrive about an hour before the audience was to begin. We arrived at the Vatican at 9:10am and immediately got in a very long unorganized line for the Papal Audience. We eventually got through the metal detectors and x-ray machines and through another gate heading that put us in a very large courtyard just outside toward the Vatican building where the Papal Audience would be held. We were about 5 rows back from a barricaded entrance before guards stopped the crowd from going any further. We didn’t move after that and the crowd behind us just got larger and larger while everyone started pressing closer and closer to each other. At that point, you could quickly tell that personal hygiene practices were very different among those in the crowd. We heard the St. Peter’s clock strike every 15 minutes at 9:45am, 10:00am, and 10:15am. At that point, one of the women in our group decided the crowded conditions were too much so she and her husband worked their way through the crowd to get back to some fresh air. At about 10:30am, we then heard someone say that the Pope’s helicopter was landing. Then, about 5 minutes later, everyone in the crowd started looking to the right and the Pope appeared riding some type of open air vehicle. He rode right in front of the barricade waving and blessing the crowd. We were probably no further than 10 or 15 feet away from the Pope. We all held our cameras high in the air and started snapping pictures. We got several pictures of the Pope. Within a few minutes, the Pope entered the building to hold the audience. The crowd we were in then started to disperse. In St. Peter’s Square, there were two video screens left and right in the Square that showed the entire Papal Audience.

 

 

We next got into another long line that was constantly moving to go into St. Peter’s Basilica. We passed through another metal detector and x-ray machine and were into St. Peter’s Basilica in a very short amount of time. We did confront some people trying to break into the line. These persons pretended to not understand English. I told them that if they had the nerve to try to break into a line to go into St. Peter’s Basilica that they would definitely be going to hell as I gestured downward. I think they understood the tone and nature of my comments. We made sure that they wouldn’t get in front of us.

 

 

The mammoth nature of St. Peter’s Basilica is so difficult to describe. Your jaw just remains in the open position. It truly is something you have to experience on your own. For example, there are permanent markers in the floor of St. Peter’s naming all of the other large churches in the world and also showing the length of each church. These markers show the distance as measured from St. Peter’s alter to that point in the floor. Then, the distance from that point in the floor to the other end of St. Peter’s shows how much larger St. Peter’s is compared to all the other churches in the world. Again, the enormous size of St. Peter’s is simply amazing. We then took a quick tour of the catacombs in St. Peter’s to see the burial places of the past Pope’s, including taking a picture of Pope John Paul II’s tomb.

 

 

I had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello of Drive Amalfi (*****) for a Highlights of Rome tour to begin at about 12:30pm near the Vatican. Our driver/guide—Fabio—picked the 8 of us up at about 12:20pm. He had an air conditioned Mercedes van. We had a great time with Fabio and saw everything we could possibly see in one long afternoon. This ranged from the Coliseum to the Roman Forum to the Pantheon, to the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps to St. Paul’s Church to the Catacombs of Domitilla. St. Paul’s Church was very interesting. The interior of the Church has portraits of every Pope that has ever lived. The Portrait of Pope John Paul II was illuminated, and the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hasn’t been painted, yet. When I last visited this Church in 1969, the legend that I recall was that the earth would come to an end when there was no longer space for a Pope’s portrait. In 1969, I think there was space for 15 more Pope’s portraits. Today, there are only 8 spaces left and one of those spaces is for Pope Benedict XVI.

 

 

Fabio also took us to a small café for a quick and inexpensive lunch before starting the tour. Fabio dropped us off at the Marriott Courtyard at about 7:15pm. The tour with Fabio cost 650 euros for the 8 of us plus 10 euros per person for Coliseum tickets and 5 euros per person for the tour of the Catacombs of Domitilla.

 

 

Day 2 was a long day, but we saw and did so much. If you’re taking a tour of Rome’s major attractions, I’d recommend that you do the Vatican and St. Peter’s separately on your own. There is just so much to do and see at the Vatican and St. Peter’s. You can’t do it in a couple of hours. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant in the town of Fiumcino and with wine and tip, we spent 40 euros per couple. The restaurant was unusual in that it had a ceiling comprised of grape vines and leaves that were full of mature grapes.

 

 

Third Day—Getting Ready for Embarkation

 

 

Once again, it was another sunny day in Rome. We all got up late (two more couples flew in the day before and the last couple in our 8 couple group flew in this morning). After breakfast, we headed to the Bancomat for more euros. We also went back to the grocery store to resupply our wine stock to take on the ship (Carnival allows you to bring wine on board the ship during embarkation only—see the paragraph in your ticket under the heading of “liquor and beverage policy”). Each couple bought from 3 to 12 bottles to take on board the Liberty.

 

 

I had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for the transfer of 16 of us from the Marriott Courtyard to the port city of Civitavecchia, where the Liberty is docked. I asked to be picked up at 1:30pm, and the driver arrived with a 55 seat bus at 1:15pm. The 16 of us looked lost on this big bus. The cost of the transfer for the 16 of us was 300 euros, or about 18.75 euros per person. Carnival was charging $65 per person for a one-way transfer.

 

 

We arrived at the Carnival Liberty in just under one hour. We never had to wait to get on the ship. It was fantastic. We’ve taken a lot of cruises and this was by far the quickest and easiest embarkation we’ve ever had. Our dinner reservations were perfect—late sitting with two side-by-side rectangular tables (sitting 8 each) for 8:00pm in the lower level of the Golden Olympian Restaurant. We had an ocean view category 6A cabin (cabin 2375) on the Main Deck. All of the other couples, except two that were in inside cabins, had similar ocean view cabins on the Main Deck. As soon as we checked out our cabin, we hit the buffet lunch on the Lido Deck. Next, we checked out the ship and some of the new features, such as the huge outdoor video screen just above the Lido Deck pool and the Fish & Chips Bar on Deck 10 just above the Lido Deck buffet. The sports bar was a disappointment because it didn’t get ESPN. I was hoping to catch some college football on Saturday, September 3.

 

 

After the muster drill, I headed for the pizza bar at the aft area on the Lido Deck. I had previously agreed to meet my fellow Cruise Critic members that had posted over 700 messages to the thread for the August 25, 2005, sailing of the Liberty. It was so nice to put a face with so many screen names. This included not only Richard from Scotland that started the thread over a year before the cruise was to begin, but also Jim from California that had provided the thread with a wealth of valuable information.

 

 

Fourth Day—Naples, Italy

 

 

It was another sunny day in Italy. We had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for an all day tour of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. The 16 of us met Anna, our guide, and her driver, Agastino, shortly after 8:00am. Our first stop was the ruins of Pompeii. The entrance fee was 10 euros per person. Anna then took us on a guided 2 hour tour of the ruins. It was fascinating standing among the ruins and just trying to imagine what it looked like before disaster struck. The consensus in our group was that 2 hours was about the right amount of time for Pompeii. We then got back on air conditioned bus and headed for the Amalfi Coast. We passed through or saw many towns, such as Sorrento, Positono, and Amalfi. The views along this scenic and very winding road were just spectacular. The homes and villas just seemed to be cut into or away from the sides of extremely steep slopes. I have to say it again—the views were spectacular!!!! We stopped for lunch in an out of the way restaurant in Ravello. Tomato and cheese pizza was 3.5 euros and a 1 liter carafe of the local red wine was 6.2 euros. We had a great day with Anna. The cost of our tour for 16 was 1,100 euros (68.75 euros per person), excluding lunch and the Pompeii entrance fee. A similar tour with Carnival was $165 per person. There is one note of caution to mention about the drive along the Amalfi Coast. It is a very curvy road and two guys got very queasy stomachs from the ride. They were both very happy we stopped for lunch so that their queasy stomachs could get a rest. Also, if you want the best views, make sure you sit at the window on the right side of the bus.

 

 

The Welcome Aboard Show, with Cruise Director John Heald, was very funny. He did the standard get passengers from the audience to come up on stage to participate in the “spoon tied to twine” game where the passengers pass the spoon underneath their clothes to the next person where the process is repeated until you get to the last person. The game was funny, but the best part was the Cruise Director’s interaction with introducing each passenger and finding out a little about them. The funniest was a passenger that said his name was “Willie.” The Cruise Director played around with the “Willie” name for a while and said something while looking down about not seeing his “Willie” for quite some time. The Cruise Director has a very large girth. He was by far the fattest cruise director we had ever seen. Also, through the course of the entire cruise, he ended up being the best cruise director we had ever had. The funniest part of the Cruise Director’s banter with Willie came when he asked Willie what his last name was. It was “Willie Banger.” This was then followed up with Willie saying that his wife’s name was “Anita Banger.” The Cruise Director, in his British accent, said the wife’s name as “I need a banger.” The audience just roared. It was so funny!!!!

 

 

Fifth Day—Day at Sea

 

 

It was a sunny day again. Also, it was finally a day with absolutely nothing planned. It seemed like we had done so much during the first four days of our trip. We got up late and had the buffet breakfast on the Lido Deck. Most of the day was spent out on deck, with some people opting for lunch in the dining room while others went to the buffet on the Lido Deck or just got pizza or hamburgers and hot dogs. Some couples went to the afternoon art auction or the wine tasting. Those that went to the art auction on this day, and some other days during the cruise, were very disappointed with the auctioneer. They all thought he was the worst they had seen on any cruise ship.

 

 

It was a very relaxing day at sea. Tonight was the Captain’s welcome aboard cocktail party, and it was the first formal night. The ladies looked beautiful and the guys, mostly with tuxedos, sure did clean up well!!! The show tonight was “Wonderful World” by the Carnival dancers and singers. It was extremely good and involved an unbelievable number of costume changes. There also was an “R” rated comedy show at 12:15pm. Somehow, I managed to stay up for it. The comedian was really funny and did about a one hour show.

 

 

Sixth Day—Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

 

It was a sunny day. Dubrovnik was very clean and surprised us in how pretty and quaint it is. We took the shuttle from the ship to the old walled city ($10 per person round trip). You could walk it, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The bus drops you right at the old walled city. Once in the walled city, you are surprised by the narrow streets with shops on both sides. Again, we were pleasantly surprised with how picturesque this walled city was. You can also get a ticket (for the equivalent of about $6) to walk along the top of the walls encircling the city. We didn’t walk the wall. However, those in our group that did said the views were just spectacular. We spent a couple hours in the walled city and along some streets outside the walled city. We took some great photos within the walled city and the surrounding area, including from the sea wall where the ship was docked looking out over the water to the homes on the other side.

 

 

Once back on the ship, I decided it was time to do a load of white clothes in the on board self-service laundry. We basically packed for a 7-day cruise and decided that we would end up doing white clothes twice and dark clothes once. The washers and dryers cost $2 each (in quarters) and you can buy laundry detergent for $1. We just put some laundry detergent in zip-lock bags and brought it with us. The self-service laundry facilities are located opposite cabins 1359, 2367, 6387, 7339, 8351, and 9270. Each location has 3 washers and 6 dryers. There also is an ironing board and iron at each location. In addition, your stateroom steward offers laundry service for a fee. Two of the couples in our group used this service. The cost was $15 per bag. Doing laundry was a good decision. I hate to imagine how much more luggage we would have had if we had packed for a 12-day cruise and 3 more nights in Rome.

 

 

The show tonight was Marcus Anthony highlighting Motown tunes. He was great.

 

 

Seventh Day—Venice, Italy

 

 

It was sunny, and Venice is so beautiful. Sailing on a huge cruise ship—what a way to arrive in Venice. I think the Liberty is the largest cruise ship to dock in Venice. The Liberty just towers over the buildings we were sailing by. You definitely need to be on one of the upper decks when the Liberty is coming into Venice. The views are spectacular. This would also be a great time to have a balcony cabin on the right, or starboard, side of the ship. You sail past St. Mark’s Square on the way to the Liberty’s dock. Once docked, you can take a couple minute walk to catch an express “vaporetto,” or public water bus (5 euros one way), to St. Mark’s Square. You can also walk about 15 minutes from the ship to catch the local “vaporetto” that will make several stops before getting to St. Mark’s Square (the cost is the same—5 euros one way). You can also walk back to the ship from St. Mark’s Square. We were told that it would take about one hour to walk back. The Liberty’s ship stack funnel should be easy to spot from a distance. We were sailing into Venice at about 12:30pm. We were going very slowly. By the time we got to the cruise terminal area and docked, it was closer to 2:00pm. We ate a quick lunch and took the express “vaporetto” to St. Mark’s Square. We decided to get a one way ticket because we wanted to walk back to the ship. Once in St. Mark’s Square, we spent a lot of time just piddling within the square and a couple of blocks surrounding the square. There were numerous shops for window shopping. We also went into St. Mark’s Church in the square. There were pigeons everywhere. We saw people with pigeons on their hands, arms, shoulders, and even on top of their heads. Knowing how filthy pigeons are, we could only shake our heads and wonder why people were doing this. We took tons of pictures, especially looking down the quaint canals with gondolas gliding by. We stopped at a sidewalk café and had a small tomato and cheese pizza, one diet coke, one glass of wine, and four Lowenbrau draft beers for 44 euros. We saw street vendors everywhere selling “knock-off” handbags and other leather goods. When these vendors would see the police coming, they would quickly pack their goods and disappear. As soon as the police were gone, the street vendors reappeared. There were signs on the street warning tourists not to buy these “knock-off” goods. If caught, there would be a huge fine. The Cruise Director had also warned us about this situation. He said that 5 passengers on the previous cruise had been fined 3,000 euros each for buying these “knock-off” goods.

 

 

By the time 7:30pm rolled around, no one in our 6 person group wanted to walk back to the ship. We tried to get the express “vaporetto,” but the ticket window near St. Mark’s Square closed at 6:30pm. We had to take the local water bus. We took the #4 route and it made 5 stops before we got to the closest stop to where the Liberty was docked (about a 15 minute walk to the ship). On the local water bus, our group had its only experience (during our entire time in Europe) with a pick pocket attempt. The water bus was crowded and one of the guys in our group reached into his back pocket and was surprised to find someone else’s hand in his pocket. He tried to confront the pick pocket person, but that person quickly turned and went to a different part of the water bus before getting off at the next stop. The guy in our group was wearing a money belt under his shirt so the pick pocket came up empty handed. [i had purchased a money belt for the trip, but I found it to be somewhat of a hassle to take money out of it and to put money back in. Plus the money belt would get damp with perspiration. Ultimately, I found it best to just put my wallet in my left front pocket and then keep my hand in my pocket when we were in any type of crowd. This seemed to work just fine.] We were back on board the Liberty by 9:15pm, but it was too late for make our 8:45pm sitting for dinner. We opted for the buffet on the Lido deck.

 

 

Eighth Day—Venice, Italy

 

 

Again, it was a sunny day. Six of us left the ship at about 9:00am and took the express “vaporetto” to St. Mark’s Square. We bought round trip tickets (10 euros per person) this time. Once in St. Mark’s Square, one of the guys started negotiating to get a gondola ride for the six of us. The price started at 120 euros for all 6 of us, but he got it down to 100 euros. We all liked the gondola ride and took lots of pictures. After all, you couldn’t come to Venice and not take a gondola ride. Afterwards, we walked along the waterfront away from St. Mark’s Square and did more window shopping. We got the express “vaporetto” and were back on the Liberty at about 1:00pm. The Liberty set sail from Venice about 5:30pm. It was ½ hour late because one of the passengers had to be taken off the ship by ambulance. Leaving Venice was just as beautiful as when we arrived yesterday. The Liberty is just so huge. Seeing the Liberty from shore must be a special sight given the ship’s enormous size. Tonight’s show was “Singin’ With the Big Band” starring Christopher Alan Graves and the Liberty dancers. The show was excellent, and it was a tribute to Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.

 

 

Ninth Day—Day at Sea

 

 

Once again, it was great to have a sunny and relaxing day at sea. Today was the first day I heard some complaints from members in our group. The first dealt with the Internet Café. There were far too few computer terminals for the number of passengers on the ship wanting to use the Internet to check or send e-mail. The second dealt with the fitness facility. On this day, there were quite a few pieces of equipment out of order. For a ship beginning just its fourth sailing, this appeared to be highly unusual. One member of the group was upset with this situation, especially when told that the representative of the equipment manufacturer would have to come on board to fix the equipment. The Carnival employee didn’t know when this would take place. To compound this problem, it appeared that the Carnival dancers were being given priority to use the equipment over the paying Carnival passengers. Another member of our group that used the fitness facility later in the day, and he said that there were just a couple pieces of equipment out of order at that time. As the cruise worn on, I didn’t hear much more in terms of complaints about the fitness facility.

 

 

I had to do another load of white clothes and colored clothes this afternoon. One of the women in our group got lucky and won $150 dollars at bingo this afternoon. Later in the cruise this same woman won nearly $400 in a poker game. She was pretty lucky!!! Another woman in our group won a raffle for a piece of art work at this afternoon’s art auction. Turned out later that when she went to pick up the art work, it was a piece she already had. Somehow, I didn’t picture my doing laundry this afternoon as winning anything!!!!

 

 

Tonight’s show was Jac Rene, a hypnotist. The show was excellent. If fact, I was one of the participants in the show. I was told that I was the big hit of the show. I paraded about the stage doing my best imitation of a muscle builder showing off his muscles, a ballerina in a white “tutu,” and a runway model. The hypnotist even had me dance with him and pinch his read end. There were lots of laughs and lots of pictures. It was a fun evening.

 

 

Tenth Day—Messina, Italy

 

 

It was a sunny day again. I had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello to have a private tour of Taormina and Mt. Etna. Our guide, Gaetano, and driver, Sebastian, picked us up at 8:00am at the pier. We headed off for Taormina first. We spent some time walking through the city, taking pictures and walking into one of the churches. We ended up at the Greek Theatre (entrance was 6 euros per person). The views were just spectacular from the seats of the theatre looking at the stage and to the sea beyond. We were told that Elton John and Diana Ross had just had a concert here about a week ago. We had lunch at a small café in Taormina. We then headed for Mt. Etna. It was a long ride, and it started to rain the closer we got to Mt. Etna. When we got out of the bus, it was very cool because we were about 6,000 feet above sea level. It had started raining a little harder at that point. We just took a few photos before heading into a restaurant. I also did pick up a couple lava rocks to give to my daughter who teaches 2nd grade. I thought her students might find it interesting, when they have a lesson on volcanoes, to see and touch some real lava rocks from an active volcano in Sicily. We were all disappointed with the adverse weather and would have liked to have been able to spend more time at Mt. Etna. As it turned out, this was the only rain we had during our entire stay in Europe so there wasn’t much we could complain about at all. It took about an hour to get back to the ship, and we arrived at about 4:05pm. The cost for the 16 passengers was 1,000 euros, or 62.5 euros per person. We set sail for Barcelona at 5:20pm. The Captain sailed by the island of Strombolli at about 7:45pm. Strombolli has an active volcano, and you can see steam/smoke rising from it. We took pictures, and it reminded me of the island in the original “King Kong” movie. All you needed was just a little fog and a huge ape. One of the members in our group actually saw what I would call a “volcano burp.” He said there was a puff of smoke and you could see some fire balls go up in the air.

 

 

Tonight was the guest talent show. It was what I view as the typical guest talent show with the talent being so so. After the talent show, John Heald did a very good audience participation show. The audience really liked the show.

 

 

Eleventh Day—Day at Sea

 

 

To no one’s surprise, it was sunny again. Today was our last full day at sea. Most in our group slept in and just spent a lazy day lounging on deck in the deck chairs. As was the case with all of the other days at sea, we didn’t have any problems finding a deck chair. However, we tended to sit on either side of the ship and not near the pool areas or outdoor video screen where there were more crowds. Tonight was the last formal night. Once again, everyone looked fabulous. We took lots of pictures and tried to capture our entire 16 member group by taking a picture with all of us staggered on the stairs leading to the second floor of the dining room.

 

 

Tonight’s show was “Rock Down Broadway” with the Liberty dancers and singers Karina Wright and Jassen Allen. I didn’t go to the show, but those in my group that did said that the show was very good. I opted to watch the James Bond movie, “Tomorrow Never Dies,” on the giant outdoor video screen on the Lido Deck. This was a unique experience. The Grand Gala Buffet was also at 11:30pm tonight. Finally, I went to the adult comedy show at 12:15am. The comedian, Lowell Sanders, missed his plane in Messina. As a result, they had another person, Marc Rubben, substitute for him. Mark is a comedian/ventriloquist. He had one of his dummies, Max, with him. He was very funny.

 

 

Twelfth Day—Barcelona, Spain

 

 

It was sunny in Spain. Barcelona is a beautiful city. We were all so impressed with this cosmopolitan city. We left the ship via a shuttle (4 euros round trip) for the short ride to the area near the very tall Christopher Columbus Monument. We then got on the “Bus Turistic.” It has three routes—red, blue, and green—and the cost is 17 euros for an all day ticket. You can get on and off the bus as many times as you want. We found that these double-decker open air buses were a great way to see the city. We just rode the bus for the entire “blue line,” which started and ended at the Christopher Columbus Monument. One of the couples in our group also got on the “red line” to see some of the other sights. We then ended up walking up Las Ramblas, which is a wide boulevard street with street vendors and cafes set up in a very wide median area. There were so many people walking in this area. We dropped in at a Burger King to make a restroom stop and to our surprise found that Burger King was selling large draft beer at 2.25 euros per draft. On our way back to the shuttle bus, we stopped at a café for some more beer and some Sangria. We bought a couple bottles of Sangria and were able to bring it back on board the ship. We made it back to the ship for a very late lunch and got ready for the special reception for Carnival’s Past Guests. We had to go to the early reception (5:00pm) since 14 members in my group had made a 7:00pm reservation to go to Harry’s Supper Club. My group treated my wife and me to dinner and drinks at Harry’s as a thank you for the planning that went into this cruise. They didn’t have to do this, but what a nice gesture on their part. Everyone thought the $30 per person charge was very reasonable because the service was outstanding, the atmosphere (with a duet playing the piano and singing while you could dance to their music) was perfect, and the food and presentation was exceptional. For example, one of the servers brought this huge tray to our table. It had all of the meat selections, and she described each one. The meats were unbelievable, ranging from a 14 ounce lobster tail to a 9 ounce fillet mignon to a 24 ounce Porterhouse steak. If you got Caesar’s salad, they made it right at your table. The desserts were absolutely delicious and decadent, especially the chocolate tart (it came as three separate desserts). We all had a wonderful meal.

 

 

Tonight’s show comedian and ventriloquist Marc Rubben and comedian Lowell Sanders were very good. The audience was very happy with their performances. Then, at 11:30pm, there was a special outdoor show on the Lido Deck starring singer Marcus Anthony. This was the first time this type of show was done live on the Lido deck with it also being shown on the huge outdoor video screen. The crowd was very appreciative of his performance. I thought he was much better with the up tempo songs compared to the slower love songs he sang.

 

 

Thirteenth Day—Cannes, France

 

 

It was another beautiful sunny day. We got to Cannes early. It is the only port where you have to use tenders to leave the ship. Today started out great after I heard from one of the members in my group that the University of Georgia’s football team beat Boise State in its opening game by a score of 48 to 13. It sounded like it was a terrific beginning to the Georgia Bulldogs football season!!! We got on a tender shortly after 10:00am. We took a leisurely walk in town and through an area that had artists selling their paintings, as well as others selling a wide range of what I would call “flea market” merchandise. We also walked down to one of the public beaches where some topless sunbathing was taking place. Cannes had numerous sidewalk cafes. Also, there were several dogs, and, on occasion, you had to carefully watch where you stepped. We were back on the ship by 1:00pm. After lunch, it was time to sit in the shade in deck chairs with the entire coastline of Cannes sitting in front of you. It is an awesome sight. We were the only cruise ship in Cannes today. Late in the day, I did one final load of white clothes to get us through the remaining days of our trip.

 

 

Tonight’s show was “Carnival Legends” starring fellow passengers as James Brown, Elton John, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to name a few. Some of the acts were so so, but there was a woman that did James Brown that was very good. The same could be said about a woman that did Gloria Estevan and the man that did Frank Sinatra. The man that did Elvis Presley must have had some stage fright because he was reading some of the words from a note card. Overall, it was a pretty good show.

 

 

Fourteenth Day—Livorno, Italy

 

 

Today is our last full day on the cruise ship. It was sunny again. We docked at about 6:30am. Livorno is an industrial port, and if you don’t plan some type of tour, there really isn’t anything to do. We previously arranged with Salvatore Lucibello for a tour for 16 passengers to go to both Pisa and Florence at a cost of 1,310 euros. Our drivers, Kenny and Michael, picked us up at the dock at 9:00am. We had two 8 passenger vans. This was the only tour in which our entire group couldn’t be seated together. As it turned out, our driver, Michael, was not the tour guide and his English was not as good as the other driver (Kenny), who was also the tour guide. We didn’t have any problems with Michael other than his English just wasn’t as good as Kenny’s. Our driver did compensate some, however, by having two DVD players in his van where he put in a DVD about Pisa and Florence. It provided some very useful information to pass the time during the drive to Pisa.

 

 

We were all very surprised by the leaning tower of Pisa. It was much more massive than we anticipated. Also, every time we’ve ever seen a picture of the leaning tower, it always appeared to be by itself. This isn’t the case. There is a Baptistery and a Duomo. It is very pretty. We all took the posed photo of each of us trying to push the leaning tower back in place. You can walk to the top of the leaning tower. No one in our group opted to do this. We collectively decided that a ½ in Pisa was sufficient. We then headed for Florence. Our first stop was at an area that overlooked the entire city. We took some great pictures and headed into the city. We stopped at all of the key tourist spots, such as Brunelleschi’s Duomo, the Campanile, the Plaza Vecchio, and the Piazza della Signoria, and got out and took many pictures. We also walked across and did some quick window shopping along the Ponte Vecchio Bridge that has gold shops and boutiques connected to the bridge. The biggest problem we had was that most of the museums were closed because it was a Monday. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to drive back to the ship. We arrived at 5:20pm. Overall, those in my van thought it would have been better to have all 16 passengers in one van so we could have heard everything that Kenny, the tour guide, was saying. We did realize that it would have been difficult to get a large van or bus down some of the narrow streets. We left Livorno at about 7:20pm and headed for Civitavecchia. We ate our final dinner and then went back to the room to pack up our luggage. We put the suitcases out in the hallway at about 11:00pm and then watched a movie on TV before heading to bed.

 

 

Fifteenth Day—Civitavecchia, Italy for Debarkation

 

 

I think the Liberty was docked before 6:00am. It was a sunny day once again. We got up late because our transportation was due to depart at 9:00am. We had a final big breakfast this morning. Some in our group had breakfast in the dining room while others opted for the buffet on the Lido Deck. We even had two of the guys in our group—and I wasn’t one of them—do breakfast in both the dining room and Lido Deck. Our color for debarkation (Red #5) was called at about 8:05am. We finished our last cups of coffee and then went back to the room to get our carry on luggage and make that last stop in the bathroom to hear that loud, sucking flushing sound one more time.

 

 

Getting off the ship was just as easy as it was when we boarded 12 days earlier. There were no problems at all. We quickly collected our luggage and then proceeded to find our transportation. I had previously arranged with Salvatore Lucibello for our transfer from the ship back to the Marriott Courtyard for 10 of us and to have another 8 passengers dropped off at a bed and breakfast hotel and the Crowne Plaza near the Vatican. These 8 passengers were going to spend a few more days in Rome before heading home. The other 10 were spending the night at the Marriott Courtyard in Fiumicino because we were worried about whether we had enough time to make morning flights leaving from Rome. One couple had a 10:20am flight, three couples had a 10:55am flight, and one couple had a 1:30pm flight. We did this because our Carnival tickets said we would arrive in Civitavecchia at 8:00am. As it turned out with the Liberty arriving at 6:00am, we could have made the morning flights.

 

 

We met our driver and got on the large bus and were headed away from the port at 8:45am. We arrived at the Marriott Courtyard at 9:50am. Total cost for the 18 passengers was 300 euros, or about 34 euros per couple. We couldn’t check in until 2:00pm so we just stored our luggage at the hotel. At about 11:00am, we all decided to walk down to the waterfront area in Fiumicino. Some of us (5) decided to stop at a little café for some beer and wine. The others walked back to the hotel. The beers were 2.5 euros for large 2/3 liter bottles and the red wine was 1.5 euros per glass with refills for 1 euro. We stayed at this café for probably 3 hours or so. Eventually, some in our group ordered some sandwiches. Once we left this café, we started walking back to the hotel. We got about half way when a bathroom break was needed. We stopped at another café, went to the bathroom, and naturally had some more beer and wine. We got back to the hotel at about 5:00pm. Turns out my wife wasn’t too happy with me since she had decided to go back to the hotel early and not partake in the late morning/afternoon of beer and wine drinking. Since I had our passports, she couldn’t check into the hotel. Oops!!!!

 

 

Our group of 10 decided to head out for an early dinner in Fiumicino. However, before we left the hotel two of the couples decided not to go out with us and opted to stay at the hotel. The restaurants didn’t open for dinner until 7:30pm. To pass the time, we stopped at a sidewalk café for some beer and wine. We ate at the same restaurant as we had on our second day in Fiumicino—the one with grape vines, leaves, and mature grapes as the ceiling. We had fettuccini alfredo, spaghetti, and some more wine. One of the couples bought dinner for all of us. This was a very nice gesture for our last night in Italy.

 

 

Sixteenth Day—Leaving Rome for Atlanta

 

 

It was September 7, and we had another sunny day in Italy. We took the 8:00am shuttle (6 euros per person) from the hotel to the airport. Six of us were on the same direct Delta flight #71 due to leave Rome at 10:55am with a scheduled arrival in Atlanta at 3:55pm (10 hour flight). It took us longer than the other couples to check in and go thru security. First, we naturally picked the check in line that wasn’t moving. Next, we got selected for the random search of the luggage we were checking on the plane. One of the bags I packed on the cruise ship was so full that I had quite some difficulty in getting it closed and zipped up. It was an effort to get this bag not only unzipped for the check, but to also get it zipped up again. I thought my hassles were over. However, there were more problems at the x-ray machine. They kept sending my back pack thru the machine because some type of unusual metal object kept showing up. We took out the fold up umbrella, the camera, and the lave rocks from Mt. Etna. Finally, I emptied the entire back pack. The unusual object was a roll of quarters.

 

 

After getting through security, it was off to the duty free store. We had just over 44 euros left to spend. The best buy for us was a one liter bottle of Bombay Gin in a decorative metal container for 12 euros. We bought two bottles along with some miniature liquors. We then stopped at the snack bar and after purchasing a sandwich, 3 bottles of water, ice cream, and some mints, I had 27 euro cents left. I’ll give these to my daughter for her 2nd grade class.

 

 

We got on the plane and took off about 20 minutes late (11:15am). The pilot estimated that we would actually arrive in Atlanta about 15 minutes early (3:40pm). Our flight wasn’t full so my wife and I were able to have our own two seat areas. She was in seats 24F & G and I had 22 F & G. This made the expected 10 hour flight much more comfortable for both of us. We arrived in Atlanta about 10 minutes early (3:45pm). After getting our luggage and proceeding through immigration and security, we boarded MARTA and headed for the North Springs Station at about 5:00pm. We got to North Springs at 5:45pm and picked up our car that our daughter had left the night before. We got home at about 6:30pm.

 

 

The weather during our entire trip was as close to perfect as anyone could have ever asked for. To think we were gone for so many days and to only have rain for the very brief period that we were at Mt. Etna. The weather was an absolute 10!!!

 

 

Other Items of Interest

 

 

1. This was the Liberty’s fourth sailing. Our experience was that the service area still has some growing pains. For example, our room steward just couldn’t quite remember to leave us wine glasses each day even though we had unopened wine bottles sitting out. Similarly, the assistant waiter had problems remembering to give us coffee or tea and to offer us refills after dinner. He got better towards the end of the cruise and our group recognized this improvement by giving him an extra tip. On a highly positive note, our waiter was outstanding. Her English was exceptional. She always made every attempt to meet our desires if there was something unusual that we wanted. For example, I had a delicious banana split for dessert one evening when it wasn’t on the menu. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinners with her. Our final disappointment with the service involved the Maitre’de. During the entire 12-day cruise, he never stopped by our table to ask how we were doing. This was the first time we can ever recall this happening. Given the length of this cruise, I would have expected him to have dropped by our table on at least two occasions. I don’t want to sound too negative. Overall, we had a great time on the Liberty and the service, other than the things I mentioned, was very good. We attribute the service problems we encountered to the learning curve for a new ship. I’m sure it’ll be better for future cruisers.

 

 

2. There are ATM machines everywhere in Europe. Just make sure you have a 4 digit pin and notify your bank about the time period that you’ll be traveling in Europe. If you don’t, they could cancel your card because it has had some very unusual overseas activity on it.

 

 

3. We found that because we had arranged for many private tours and transfers that we went to ATMs many times. Also, the ATM machines varied greatly in terms of the maximum amount of euros that would be dispensed. For example, we could get 500 euros from the airport ATM, but not from others. We tried 300 euros from several machines but weren’t allowed to get that much. When we changed the amount requested to 240 euros, the euros were dispensed. I used the ATM machines for nearly 1,400 euros. When I got home and checked to see what I was actually charged per euro, it worked out to about a 1.241 exchange rate. I thought that was pretty good.

 

 

4. You can save a great deal of money by booking private transfers and tours prior to your trip. The Internet and e-mail makes this easy. Make sure you do your research and find operators that have been highly recommended by others. Also, any reputable operator will not require any deposit whatsoever to confirm your reservation. Our private tour operator—Drive Amalfi—with Salvatore Lucibello as my principal contact, had great recommendations and was a real pleasure to deal with. We ultimately booked the transfers to and from the ship and the four private tours that totaled nearly 4,400 euros, or about $5,500 at a 1.25 exchange rate. Everything was all confirmed with Salvatore before Thanksgiving. Salvatore promptly responded to all of my e-mails and didn’t have any problems making changes to accommodate changes in my group’s plans. Salvatore was never our specific tour guide. Other than my numerous e-mail contacts, I only met Salvatore once in a restaurant during our Amalfi Coast tour. He had another tour group in the same restaurant. He came over to our table to introduce himself. He is the classic good looking Italian male. All of the women in my group wanted to pack Salvatore in their suitcases and take him back to the U.S. In the end, however, they were stuck with their old American husbands!!!!

 

 

5. My wife had to use the ship’s doctor during this cruise. It was the first time for either of us. She was pleasantly surprised that there was no price gouging by Carnival. It cost $60 to see the doctor and then there was $38.40 charge for the prescription (had my wife not opted for the higher price prescription, the total cost would have been less). To get out of there for less than $100—we didn’t think this was bad at all.

 

 

6. One of the couples in our group had a pretty good idea about how to remember all of the places we visited. As opposed to just having photos, they decided to buy pieces of art (showing the places they had visited) from street vendors at every port of call. This art included oil paintings on canvas, water colors, and etchings. They were always able to negotiate a reasonable price, especially if they decided to buy two from the same artist. I can’t wait to see this art displayed in their Tennessee home. I’m sure they’ll put it in the “European Wing” of the house.

 

 

Well that’s it. I told you it was going to be a very long review. My wife and I greatly enjoyed this trip. We relied on a great deal of information from previous cruisers in planning this trip. I hope that in some small way my review not only captures the things we did on this fantastic cruise, but also helps others as they plan future cruises.

 

 

John and Pat Hunt

 

 

[mamawg]

Thank you for the great review. I am on the September 30th sailing and looking forward to having as great a time as you.

 

 

 

Gail

[winewanderer]

John and Pat,

 

Thanks so much for this very informative review. Appreciate all the details.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks for posting your review. Sounds like a great trip and we can't wait to try it ourselves.

[midwestsunshine]

John and Pat,

Thanks for a great review. We'll be on RCI's Brillance of the Seas in Oct and will be at many of the same stops. Since there's only two of us we opted for the ship tours.

 

We did our first cruise with Carnival about 6 years ago and had John Heald as our Cruise Director. 6 cruises later he's still our favorite.

 

Thanks again!

[Gamby]

Pat and John......a big thank you for the review we're on the same cruise with mamawg (whom we've met on the CC's board)..... wish we had gone with you (especially the wine parts!!)...we'll try to make our own memories..

 

Some great ideas...Grazie

 

Tony G.

[seacrystal]

I much enjoyed your review. We are not hitting the Med/Greek Isles until September of next year but reading your review made me very anxious. I truly appreciated your firsthand opinions of some of the places we intend to see. We also have booked Drive Amalfi for a Pompeii, Amalfi coast tour and loved reading what we can look forward to.

 

Thanks for a great job!;)

[PoohUnderstands]

Thanks so much for such a wonderful review of your cruise. Not only does it have valuable information, it even excites me more for our cruise in September, 2006!!

 

I am especially happy to hear about Salvatore as I have already booked him to do our Amalfi Drive/Pompeii visit. There will be 4 of us, and we have asked and reserved Salvatore himself. So thanks for the information on his company too.

 

May our cruise have as great weather as yours!! Again thanks so much for taking your time to write your review. I hope many others will too!!!

 

 

 

Pooh

[Takmecruzn]

Great review, I really enjoyed reading it...thanks for all the time spent typing, you gave us alot of useful information, can't wait to sail June 2006

 

Annie

[cawhite]

Thanks for the great review.

 

We are considering this cruise (along with 2 others) for July of 2006. We are still deciding whether to do a land vacation, or to do a combo. cruise / land vacation with a few nights spent on land before and after the cruise.

 

Do you think this is a good cruise and itinerary for kids (ours will be 15 and 11 by next summer)? Do you feel you had sufficient time to see things you wanted to see in each each? Did you get the "cattle car" feeling when stopping at each port (lines of people getting off the ship, lines getting onto buses, lines getting back on the ship)? My husband can't stand that feeling! We would be booking some smaller private tours so hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about this, however.

 

Thanks!

[lucyjohnz]

I have made numerous trips to Europe (and even a recent trip to Brazil) and found that my ATM card with a 6-digit PIN was accepted everywhere. Now, my husband had troubles using his VISA debit card for cash on a Med cruise in Spain and France but was able to get it to work in Italy. You might consider taking multiple credit and debit cards for cash withdrawals when travelling in Europe so that you don't have to depend on one and only one card for all your cash needs. And, just as for taking credit cards to buy stuff, in Brazil there were some places only took Master Card (no Visa) and other places that only took Visa (no Master Card) and I was told the only debit cards that worked were Master Card debit cards.

 

I ended up finding a big bank of ATM machines in a mall though that showed the PULSE symbol even though they called the ATM machines MASTER CARD ATM - they took my debit card and I was able to get cash. That really helped because on that trip, I only took a Company Visa card, my own personal Master Card (with no cash withdrawel PIN number) and my Debit card. Before we found an ATM machine that worked, I had to cash in $20 at the hotel at a rate of 2 Rials/dollar. The ATM rate was actually $.43/Rials so they really got me on exchanging cash at the hotel but I was stuck. Luckily, I found the ATM machine soon after with the 43 cent rate.

 

Moral to the story: take a variety of credit cards with you on out-of-the-US trips, more than one card to withdraw cash with and at least $100 in cash in case nothing else works. Oh, and don't forget your $1000 in traveller's checks like I did on my last Med cruise - I realized I'd left them in my other purse at the airport and really depended on my ATM/debit card during that trip.

[Cruzluvin]

Thanks for the review. Made me feel like I was on the liberty again! Seemed like you had some different comedians and performers..

[harrodsfan]

great info..we saw your ship pull into Barcelona..it did a 180 turn before it docked that was amazing...(We were debarking Splendor of the Seas.)

We had Salvatore for our Amalphi tour and he was amazing. Very professional but not hard on the eyes at all...We loved the lunch spot..great Pizza.

[BCHappyGal]

Thank you for the wonderful review. We are booked for that cruise Sept 2006.

[bauer]

Wow! what a wonderful review.....thank you so very much. I will read and reread this many times before our 6/12/06 cruise.

[TWOFERTWO]

Although we are on a different cruise line, and not all the ports you stopped at, we will be in Rome (center)prior and post sailing. Appriciated you sharing your experiences. :)

 

Thank you

[JHUNTGOLF]

Hi Cawhite,

 

 

I haven’t ignored you. I’ve written you three times in response to your questions, only to have the Cruise Critic site freeze up on me so my answers weren’t sent. I’m typing my response in Word now so I can cut and paste it on the Cruise Critic site.

 

 

A July 2006 cruise should be fine for your kids. There should be other kids on board at that time. We didn’t have many kids on board for the Aug. 25 sailing because school was either back in session or just about in session. A good idea is to find the Cruise Critic “roll call” for your particular cruise sailing and then send out some messages trying to find out whether others going on the same cruise may have kids in the same age bracket. If so, they may be able to e-mail each other prior to the cruise to try to strike up a friendship. Also, on this 12-day cruise, you must remember that because there are seven ports of call, you’ll be off the ship for a great deal of the time. In fact, there are only 3 full days at sea; all other times you’re in a port, and in the case of Venice, actually spending the night at the port. There will be lots of sightseeing to do on shore so you need to make sure your kids are willing to do this.

 

 

You have a limited time in each port—less than 12 hours (except for the overnight stay in Venice). As a result, you need to have a well laid out plan as to what you want to accomplish in each port. We decided that we could do Barcelona, Cannes, Dubrovnik, and Venice on our own. We had a private tour operator for Rome, Naples, Messina, and Livorno. We felt that the private tour would maximize our time to see and do everything we wanted to do in those ports. The private tour for our large group (generally 16 of us) was much less expensive than what Carnival was offering. We never had the “cattle car” feeling either leaving the ship or returning to it.

 

 

I hope this info helps.

 

 

John

[happy46]

hello cawhite,

i was on the Aug 25 Liberty Med cruise with my 2 teenagers, ages 13 and 16 and with friends of ours who have 16 and 17 year olds. The kids had a ball! The 13 and 16 year old girls spent most of their time together, while the 16 & 17 boys found a group of other teens that they hung out with every night. We hired private drivers in 3 ports which we all loved. None of us would have had appreciated being hoarded onto a large bus of 40 plus people. Ther personalized service was wonderful, and for us, much less expensive (we were all in a van that sat our group of 8 plus the driver). If you decide to go, you may want to correspond with another group of similiar size with teens and jointly hire private tours.

Unfortunately, there was way too little time in each port. Even if you got off the ship at 8 in the morning, by the time you arrived at your final city destination, there was only a few hours to see the sights.If you or your children have not been to

the Mediterranean or Europe before, you will still have a fab time.

Whatever you decide to do, cruise it or do it on your own, it will be an experience your family will always remember.

[MAB]

Hey, John and Pat. Great review. I'll read it many times before we go next May. We live in Alpharetta, off Abbott's Bridge Rd.

[Mike Andrews]

A really great review.We also have used Salvatore of DriveAmalfi (*****) twice and he is a great guy to deal with.

[TedC]

Thanks very much for the comprehensive, informative and entertaining review.

 

 

Glad you had a wonderful time and great weather on that interesting itinerary.

[JHUNTGOLF]

Hi MAB,

 

Given we practically live down the street in Roswell, just e-mail me if you have any questions before you go on the Liberty next May.

 

John

[DinaK49]

That was an excellent review. I have forwarded this to my group to read. There are a couple who are uneasy about not using Carnival for shore excursions - so hopefully if they read it they will relax a little.

[gipper691]

Hey, John and Pat. Great review. I'll read it many times before we go next May. We live in Alpharetta, off Abbott's Bridge Rd.

 

MAB---

 

We are going with a group of 10 May 31 on Liberty. We are also in Alpharetta off Rucker Rd. Nice to see fellow Georgians going.

 

Gip

[gipper691]

Hi MAB,

 

Given we practically live down the street in Roswell, just e-mail me if you have any questions before you go on the Liberty next May.

 

John

 

John & Pat

 

The review was great and so relevant to us as we live in Alpharetta. Can't wait for May 31 to take off!!!

 

Gip