Carnival Liberty Photo Review

[EdmundXXIII]

So I've really enjoyed some of the photo reviews on here, so I decided to write one myself! This is a bit belated. The cruise was an 8-Day Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival Liberty on August 22 of 2014. I had planned to write something sooner, but haven't had the time.

 

I (James) cruised with my best friend and former roommate from college, Andrew.

 

We left out of Port Canaveral, and went to St. Thomas, USVI; St. Martin; San Juan; and Grand Turk.

 

To start us off, I'm going to post a video I made which highlights the ship and each of the four ports. [YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

I've posted this video before as a separate thread, but it was several months ago so I'll just include it here for reference.

[EdmundXXIII]

When we booked, I was living in Raleigh, NC. Andrew is from New Jersey.

 

So he bought tickets to fly down to Raleigh, and we were planning to drive from there to Port Canaveral.

 

After booking, plans changed. I got a new job and moved to Virginia, but Andrew already had his plane tickets. We figured I could drive there and meet up with him.

 

But we made one more change. We decided to leave my car in Raleigh with some friends, and take Amtrak to Orlando.

 

We met up in Raleigh on the 20th (2 days before the cruise). After hanging out with friends and dinner on the town, we made our way to the Amtrak station.

 

Here's a shot of downtown Raleigh:

 

Waiting for the train:

 

And here's Andrew waiting inside the train station:

 

Me on the train: (Terrible Picture!)

 

And getting off the train in Orlando:

 

If you haven't taken Amtrak before, I have to say it was awesome. So much more relaxing than driving or flying. We had a "Viewliner Roomette" with bunkbeds. It wasn't much larger than a closet, but it was quiet and comfortable. Our train departed around 9:00 PM, and it was about a 13 or 14 hour ride. We slept through most of it and had breakfast the next morning on the train.

 

Once we got off, we caught a cab to our hotel. It was operated by Mears Taxi. I had reserved it ahead of time, and everything went smoothly. Driver was at the train station within 10 minutes of our arrival. We did have a bad experience with them later, using their iPhone app but more on that later.

Edited June 29, 2015 by EdmundXXIII
Fixed Photo Links.

[EdmundXXIII]

We stayed at the Days Inn Orlando FL at 9301 South Orange Blossom Trail. It was only $45 for the night, but I have to say it was pretty bad.

 

First of all, when we arrived, we couldn't open our room. The key card didn't work. We went back and forth to the lobby 3 times (long walk) and they kept on making us try again with new cards. Finally, they said the lock was broken, and they'd send someone. It took 45 minutes for him to arrive and let us in. They refused to just put us in a different room.

 

Here's the view from our room:

 

We went down to the pool, so Andrew could learn to snorkel. (I brought my own gear.)

 

Here's the pool:

 

The pool was filthy, and had giant wads of hair floating around like jellyfish. Gross! :eek:

 

We decided to go to Olive Garden for dinner, because we had gift cards. There was one about a mile and a half away. We took another Mears Taxi.

 

After dinner, we planned to take a taxi back. This time, I had used the Mears Taxi iPhone App to arrange for the taxi ahead of time. I don't recommend using the app! Very bad interface, and I selected 10 PM for pickup. Unfortunately, what actually happened was that at 10 PM the app notified Mears we needed a driver. It wasn't actually a reservation. No driver was available, and the restaurant was closed, so we walked back to the hotel.

 

And our door lock was broken again. Waited another 45 minutes and got back in our room.

 

After a somewhat unpleasant day at the Days Inn, it was bedtime.

 

I at least had this to console me:

 

The morning of the cruise, we took a shuttle to the airport. This was the one thing that went perfectly with the hotel. They offered a free airport shuttle, and we had booked transfers from the airport to the cruise terminal through Carnival.

 

As a side note, to those who are curious, the Carnival website indicated that if we didn't provide flight information our transfers would be cancelled. I had not flight information to provide, and left it blank. My PVP said it would be fine, but I was a little nervous. Anyhow, it was fine. We got on the bus at the airport and were off to the ship!

 

And after about a 50 minute ride, as we pulled into port, we got our first look at the magnificent Carnival Liberty:

 

I was super pumped. The year before, my wife and I went on the Glory and I had LOVED the Conquest-Class design and the FunShip 2.0 upgrades. I was also excited to try the new "American Table / American Feast" menus which were being featured on the Liberty.

 

We got to the port on the first transfer, and had a smooth checkin process. We were on the ship by noon.

[crucero]

Hi, I can't wait to see all of your pictures. We are going on Liberty in January for our 15 year anniversary!

 

Would you mind providing the link to your video? I can't seem to get the imbedded one to work properly.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to do a review!

[EdmundXXIII]

Once onboard, I was blown away by the atrium. It was spectacular. Definitely my favorite Carnival design, with the gardens visual theme.

 

 

We went to guest services to book the Behind the Fun Tour, and then headed up top.

 

Here we are squinting in the Florida sun:

 

We started off with some Guy's Burgers and Thirsty Frog Red beer, and then I treated myself to some ceviche from Fish & Chips on Deck 10:

 

 

On the Glory, my wife had tried the Ceviche, but I didn't. She swore it was amazing, so I wasn't gonna miss is this time! It was definitely a treat, and I ended up going back for more all week.

 

After lunch, we went down to the aft dining room to scope out our table. I had e-mailed the Maître D' ahead of time requesting a table for two, with a view if possible. I had just recently quit a job under difficult circumstances and started a new job with no break at all in-between. I was burnt out, I just didn't feel like sitting at a large table with people I didn't know. A quiet week at sea was just what I needed, and boy did they deliver:

 

 

We had the best seats in the house! And our headwaiter, German (pronounced Herman), was SPECTACULAR. (More on him, later!)

 

After a bit more exploring, the cabins were opened to us, so we went to check it out. We were in 9222, which is a category 8D balcony on the Lido Deck. It was great!

 

[EdmundXXIII]

I snapped a quick picture of the port from our balcony before the muster drill:

 

 

And after the drill, we were out to sea!

 

 

And one more from our balcony:

 

 

And with that, I'm singing off. Will continue thread later tonight!

[EdmundXXIII]

Hi, I can't wait to see all of your pictures. We are going on Liberty in January for our 15 year anniversary!

 

Would you mind providing the link to your video? I can't seem to get the imbedded one to work properly.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to do a review!

 

 

Here is the direct link: "http://youtu.be/y2nV82XYeaY"

 

You'll love the liberty. It is my favorite ship. Congratulations on the 15th anniversary coming up!

Edited June 29, 2015 by EdmundXXIII

[crucero]

Thanks so much for the direct link! I got that to work. We haven't cruised in 10 years and now have 2 booked for next year. I've been bitten by the cruise bug yet again!

 

I hope you are enjoying your new job.

[singbluesilver1]

I'm not surprised you didn't like your hotel, sobt in Orlando is where the hookers troll for customers!! It's not a nice area of Orlando at all

[EdmundXXIII]

Edited July 1, 2015 by EdmundXXIII

[EdmundXXIII]

Thanks so much for the direct link! I got that to work. We haven't cruised in 10 years and now have 2 booked for next year. I've been bitten by the cruise bug yet again!

 

I hope you are enjoying your new job.

 

I'm loving it! Thanks!

[EdmundXXIII]

Our cruise was during Hurricane Season, and I was obsessively following the weather in the Atlantic in the days leading up to our cruise.

 

There was a "tropical wave" that had blown off the coast of Africa and was making its way across the Atlantic that had a chance of becoming a Tropical Storm and its track was right in our path.

 

Our itinerary had us sailing East, making stops along the way in Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Martin.

 

Sure enough, the storm formed into Tropical Storm (later Hurricane) Cristobal! It was a safe bet that our cruise would be impacted.

 

Mid-afternoon, the Captain made an announcement about the storm and our changed itinerary. But I couldn't understand him over the din of the Lido, and with his thick Italian accent. :) But later that night, we got this letter:

 

 

Thankfully, our itinerary change let us keep all the same ports! Just a different order. We were no going to be headed South to avoid the storm, then sailing East to St. Thomas; then we'd hit each port on our way back west.

 

Shortly after sailaway, I put my phone into "Airplane" mode. No one would be able to reach me for 8 days. Here I am doing it. Can you tell I'm happy?

 

[EdmundXXIII]

A little while later, I went down to the Alchemy Bar. The year before on the Glory, I never went to Alchemy. Later on, when I was reading reviews from fellow passengers, I regretted it so this time I wouldn't be making the same mistake!

 

Alchemy Bar became my favorite spot onboard. The two bartenders were Anna and Tetyana, and they were both spectacular.

 

Here's a video of Anna making my first Alchemy drink, the Martini Seduction. I had seen a video of a drink with an orange peel that was flamed, and I asked her to make me one of those!

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

My second drink was the Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini:

 

By the way, I got the recipes for both. I'll include them at the bottom of this post.

 

After that first day, I ended up dropping by Alchemy Bar every day in the late afternoon for a before-dinner drink. I was determined to try everything on the menu. That ended up being about 3 drinks a day, which is more than I usually have been I figured it was vacation, so why not?

 

Part of the fun of going the same time every day was making some friends.

 

Here we are with Sonny, one of the guys we sat with pretty often:

 

 

We also hit it off with another guy named Peter, but didn't get a picture together.

 

Andrew, who before this cruise was a teetotaler, even started trying things!

 

 

I don't think he could resist after seeing the artistry with which Anna and Tetyana made the cocktails!

 

Here's a pic of us with our favorite bartenders, Anna and Tetyana:

 

 

Aside from being amazing at making drinks, they were a lot of fun to talk to! On the last sea day, I took the Alchemy Bartending Class, which was taught by Tetyana. It was excellent, and I learned a lot. If you enjoy making drinks, definitely sign up for this on any ship that has Alchemy Bar. You'll also get to try a lot of things during the class.

 

On the last day, I had finished the menu and then let Tetyana make me a few off-menu drinks. I think that was probably the one time in my life I've been rip-roaring drunk. When it was time to head back to our cabin to get changed for dinner, I don't think I wouldn't have found my way home if I hadn't been following Andrew through the crowds! :D

 

One final note on Alchemy Bar: It's a great place to go when you're leaving a port. There are huge windows right by the bar, and it won't be crowded then.

 

Martini Seduction

 

2 ounces Stoli Orange Vodka or Skyy Blood Orange Vodka

1 ounce Monin Red Passion Fruit syrup

.75 ounces fresh lime juice

1 ounce orange juice

 

Add all ingredients in a shaker, fill with ice. Shake for at least 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass. Hold an orange peel over a flame for several seconds and then squeeze. The oils in the peel will cause a poof of flame. Rub the rim of the glass with the burnt orange peel and then drop it in.

 

Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini

 

2 ounces Vodka

1 once Monin Chipotle Pineapple Syrup

1 ounce pineapple juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

6-8 mint leaves

 

Muddle mint leaves in a glass. Add other ingredients. Shake and strain into Martini glass. Garnish with one mint leaf.

Edited July 2, 2015 by EdmundXXIII
Grammar

[EdmundXXIII]

On our first sea day we were off the coast of Cuba. From what I understand, we were closer than they normally would go due to Cristobal.

 

We passed a raft of people who were apparently fleeing Cuba, and the ship came to a stop and turned around to rescue them.

 

I got some video, but it didn't turn out well so I am going to include a video I found on YouTube by someone else on the same sailing who uploaded it.

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

Later that night, during our late-seating dinner the ship rendezvoused with a Coast Guard vessel to transfer the refugees.

 

Our cruise director, Cory Rogers, kept us well informed through the hold process.

 

Speaking of Cory, he was my favorite CD so far from any cruise! He did a great job with the onboard activities.

 

I got a picture with him giving me a Ship on a Stick for winning the "Star Wars" trivia game. And I've got to brag, not only did I win but I got a record high score. :D

 

 

On Sea Day 2, I had the Sushi delivered which I had preordered on the Fun Shops on Carnival.com.

 

 

It was pretty awful. I can't recommend it to anyone. I'll be on the Sunshine in 2016, and am looking forward to trying the Sushi at the dedicated Sushi Bar onboard. I've heard it's much better!

 

And just because I love them (and I know lots of you do too) here's another towel animal:

 

 

As you can see from our FunTimes, the next day we'd be in St. Thomas! I was very excited to get there, since it was my first time. All the other ports were repeats.

 

That day, we had gotten a notice that the excursion we booked in St. Martin (high speed boat ride) was cancelled due to low numbers. We couldn't find another one in St. Martin that looked interesting, so we decided to book one in St. Thomas. We quickly purchased the tickets for a Snorkel & Beach Day excursion and went to bed.

 

More about St. Thomas and our excursion in the next few posts!

[adamt]

I've taken a lot of cruises, and this may be a rookie question, but how did you get the email address for the Maitre D'?

[EdmundXXIII]

I've taken a lot of cruises, and this may be a rookie question, but how did you get the email address for the Maitre D'?

 

 

Each ship has a two letter email code. Type those letters followed by "maitred@carnival.com"

 

 

Maitre d' - xxmaitred@carnival.com

 

 

Steakhouse - xxsteakhouse@carnival.com (for ships with a steakhouse)

 

 

The codes are:

 

 

BR Breeze

 

 

CQ Conquest

 

 

DR Dream

 

 

EC Ecstacy

 

 

EL Elation

 

 

FA Fantasy

 

 

FD Freedom

 

 

FS Fascination

 

 

GL Glory

 

 

IM Imagination

 

 

IS Inspiration

 

 

LE Legend

 

 

LI Liberty

 

 

MC Magic

 

 

MI Miracle

 

 

PA Paradise

 

 

PR Pride

 

 

SE Sensation

 

 

SL Splendor

 

 

SP Spirit

 

 

SH Sunshine

 

 

TI Triumph

 

 

VA Valor

 

 

VI Victory

 

 

VS Vista

 

And an unrelated note: I should be able to continue the review with more pictures this weekend!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your video.

 

Keith

[EdmundXXIII]

Thanks for your video.

 

Keith

 

Glad you liked it!

[EdmundXXIII]

Sorry it has taken so long to continue this! Between a busy couple of weeks at work and some beautiful weather on my days off, I haven't had a chance to sit down and pick out photos and type.

 

So, here we go with the beautiful island of St. Thomas, USVI!

 

This is our very first view of the island, and it's the first time here for both me and Andrew. We were both super excited to reach our first destination. Hurricane Cristobal was now to our West, and headed away from us.

 

 

As we got closer, we saw an airplane flying above.

 

 

A couple pictures as we are getting closer to St. Thomas:

 

 

 

And pulling up to port there was another Carnival ship. Either the Valor or the Victory. (I can't remember now!)

 

[EdmundXXIII]

We had a few hours before our excursion, so we took a taxi into Charlotte Amalie for some sight-seeing and shopping.

 

Lutheran (?) Church in Charlotte Amalie:

 

 

Town Square area:

 

 

Bell in the square:

 

 

Description under the bell about the landing of the Virginia Settlers. (I was very interested in this as a Virginia native!)

 

 

Heading down the street into town:

 

[EdmundXXIII]

A lovely little alley, filled with palms & shops! We got some coffee there to take home as gifts. I bought my Father-in-Law a Caribbean Rum Coffee in one of the shops.

 

 

We walked down to the waterfront. Here's a panoramic shot:

 

 

But now we were out of time for exploring, so we took a taxi back to the ship to get ready for our excursion.

 

Here's a view from the port area:

 

[EdmundXXIII]

We did the "Two Island Snorkel & Beach Safari by Fastcat" Excursion. It's here on Carnival's site if you're considering trying it: http://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/st-thomas-usvi/two-island-snorkel-and-beach-safari-by-fastcat-434078

 

It was an EXCELLENT excursion. The crew was friendly, knowledgeable, and experienced. The "Breeze" Fast Catamaran was a real thrill ride! The water was choppy on the way out, and we went airborne more than once.

 

Here we are departing on the catamaran. Andrew's head in foreground. Liberty in background. :)

 

 

Soon we were at our first snorkel spot.

 

Reefs:

 

 

Andrew's first time snorkeling!

 

 

I love this shot, because you can see a fish below water and a bird above!

 

[EdmundXXIII]

After about an hour of snorkeling, we were off to the second location: a secluded beach on Water Island, one of the other U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

On the ride over:

 

 

Here's me on our catamaran:

 

 

A very cool tall ship that was docked at Water Island:

 

 

The beach they took us to was absolutely stunning. We got about an hour there t just hang out and have a good time. I snorkeled a little off the beach, but not much to see there. But it was so beautiful and peaceful!

 

 

Selfie on the beach: :cool:

 

[EdmundXXIII]

After a great day of snorkeling and the beach, it was time to board the catamaran and head home to the Liberty.

 

Andrew looks a little tired from the adventure. :D

 

 

Pulling away from Water Island:

 

 

Drink in hand and feeling a bit more chipper!

 

 

Almost back to the Liberty!

 

[EdmundXXIII]

One last pic from our Catamaran:

 

 

A shot of the harbor area with the other Carnival ship. It is the Valor.

 

 

And a view from the top of the Liberty, looking down the water slide.