My Liberty Med Cruise Review--10/12/2005-10/24/2005

[CruisefromNY]

Hi all,

Just arrived back last night. Finally got some sleep, my chores done and finally a chance to sit and write down my impressions both negative and postive of the my last two weeks.

All of our arrangements were made through Carnival. Not a glitch, very smooth.

We flew into Rome the Day of the cruise. We flew Delta from JFK to Rome. No delays and we actually arrive into Rome about 30 minutes early. Arrival about 8:30 AM. Customs a breeze and on the bus within 45 minutes. We arrived to the pier to one of the most organized embarkations I have ever experienced. My Embarkation picure has a clock in it and it reads 10:37AM!! Two hours from landing in Rome to Embarkation. We were not allowed to the Rooms until 12:30 but the Buffets were already open and serving.

 

The ship is Great. Though I know the layout of the Ship I still find myself going all the way to the third floor and realizing that you can't get there from here! This cruise was not as active in the evenings because alot of the excursusions left very early in the morning. We were up by six most mornings for tours.

 

The Ports were very nice. We did all our excursions through Carnival. Carnival had it all worked out and is very organized. Each excursion is given a color and as you arrive in the Venetian Lounge they give out sticker with the color and a number corresponding to a bus number. However, here is the area I find Carnival lacking. They really do not enforce the "please wait until you color and number are called" . Fellow Cruisers as the 12 days progressed became less and less cooperative when they realized that no one was really paying attention to the order in which we were called. As each day went by, those of us that waited to be called more often than not would arrived outside to an already filled bus. It was terrible to see the civility of people deteriorate. I actually had a man push my 81 year old mother and me out of the way on the gangway in Barcelona because we had the nerve to stop and get our debarkation photo taken. He was deternmined to get that front seat on the bus. Forget it if you were on a cane, crutches or in a wheelchair!

 

We did:

Sorrenti and the Amalfi Coast. We loved it

 

Best Of Dubrovnik. Loved it! This city definitely needs a further visit sometime in the future.

 

We did not do a tour until the second day in Venice. The trip into Venice on the Ship was incredible.

 

The second Day we did Murano, St Georges Island and the Gondala tour.

The stay in Murano was extremely short, We did not get to St Georges Island because we were running late and the Gondola tour was short and they really did not go anywhere and the ten gondolas stayed together so it was very crowded.

 

Messina City tour was short but very comprehensive.

 

Panoramic Barcelona was nice that was the day I encountered the man in a hurry on the gangway and that put a damper on the day.

 

Monaco and Monte Carlo was a very crowded tour. There were over 1000 people just from Carnival on that tour in addition to 7 other crusie ships in Port in Cannes that day!

It was not organized very well. Though we loved Monaco, we did not get enough time there and too much time in the Casino at Monte Carlo.

The Bus Pickup afterwards was terrible. People running all over the place, no crowd control and alot of impatient people trying to get out of the same place at the same time.

 

The highlight of the excusrsions was the Essence of Tuscany out of Livorno. Instead of 50 person coaches we ended up on 15 person minibuses. What a pleasure. No rush, no pushing, and what a beautiful place! The tour guide was delightful and the trip from start to finish was excellent.

 

All the horror stories you heard about Rome Airport are true. We were dropped at the airport at about 7:30 for a 12:10 Flight. There were five other cruise ships in Rome dropping there folks off. Though I found it had improved some from my visit last year, it was an adventure to say the least!

 

The food was great. We really enjoyed the pasta saute station set up on Lido for lunch. The desserts were terrific and often I was sorry I had not just eaten dessert first!

 

Our Room Stewards Parabowa and Monica were outstanding and our Waiters Ina and Fullton was too!

 

Our table mates were another Mother and Daughter (also another Cruise Critic member and just a coincidence that we were seated together)and two other women who had traveled extensively and were extremely interesting to speak with. Two other women left our table after the first night because they were disappointed there were no men at this table. We did not miss them! We had a great ime together and lot of laughs.

 

I am looking forward to another cruise aboard the Liberty in January and then again in April with Jeff.

 

I am happy to answer any questions if you have them.

 

Anna and her Mom