Review B2B Carnival Liberty and Celebrity Infinity

[jerseygirl3]

Below is my attempt at a comparison between our recent B2B cruises. I will warn you in advance, it is lengthy.

 

Background: Myself 50 years old, husband 46. Experienced cruisers on various lines (Carnival x 8, Royal Caribbean x 3, NCL x 1, Princess x 3 and first time on Celebrity).

 

We boarded the Celebrity Infinity with a group of friends on February 5, after spending a few precruise days in Ft. Lauderdale (stayed at our favorite hotel, Marriott Marina, which will be no longer after Feb. 24 as it’s been sold to a Private Equity firm and will be converted to a high end yacht center). We originally were booked on just the Celebrity Infinity, but when my parents and sister and BIL and their kids booked the Liberty on Feb. 12, our plans worked out beautifully to debark the Infinity and join them on the Liberty. We met up with some friends for the Sunset Special Dinner (i.e., Early Bird) at 15th Street Fisheries the night before sailing. It’s a great bargain for a 5 course meal for $18.95 pp.

 

EMBARKATION:

 

Celebrity Infinity “A+” – As we had never sailed Celebrity before, we had no idea what to expect. It was perhaps the easiest embarkation we’ve ever experienced. We had filled out our preboarding paperwork online. Marriott shuttled us over to the terminal (literally across the street) at 10:15 a.m. We entered the terminal, chatted for about 10 minutes with a few friends from previous group cruises, and then were called to board. The process took approximately 5 minutes at the desk. We were on the ship in no time, greeted by white gloved attendants and handed a glass of champagne. Since we were so early, they apologized that they could not escort us to our cabin as it wasn’t ready yet, but that was fine. We went to our cabin, dropped our bags off, and wandered around the ship exploring.

 

Carnival Liberty “C” – Lines, lines, lines….that was the theme of this ship. When we arrived at the port, it was wrapped around the building and moving very slow. And did I mention it was about 45 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale that morning? People were freezing standing outside in line. We arrived around 11:45, thinking that the crowds would have died down by noon time. Wrong! Then I remembered my sister was eligible for the Skipper’s Club since they had booked a suite and we were able to move into that line which moved just as slowly, but wasn’t nearly as long. I’d say we stood in line for approx. 1 hour before we boarded. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t time spent outside in the cold, windy weather. Of course, I knew Carnival doesn’t greet you when you board. You are handed a map of the ship and again, we were told our cabins weren’t yet ready (surprisingly, since it was almost 1 p.m. by now). But no big deal, we went to our cabins and dropped off our stuff. Met our cabin stewards who were a bit unsettled that we arrived before the cabins were completely finished, but we told them we understood, and we’d be out of their way momentarily. We really just wanted to drop off our bags. We met up with my parents and began exploring the ship.

 

SHIP DÉCOR:

 

Celebrity Infinity “A+”: Loved the décor of this ship. Elegant and soothing come to mind when describing it. The lobby area lacks the “ahhhh” of the atriums of Carnival that rise approximately 7 stories high, but was so tastefully done that it makes up for the fact that it doesn’t have that “wow” factor of a Carnival atrium. An elegant two story grand staircase in white marble-like stone with two story pillars of billowy ivory drapes is reminiscent of old time ocean liners. Lots of artwork all over the ship, some very quirky and some very stately. Fresh floral arrangements would have been nicer, but the silk arrangements were nice just the same. Lots of glass and woodtones dominate the ship. The lounges were also very elegant. We especially liked the Martini and Champagne Bars. Lots of choices for martinis! The Goose Kiss martini got my nod! The Constellation Lounge was lovely and that’s where Celebrity held the Super Bowl party (which took place the day we boarded, and being huge football fans, we weren’t about to miss it). They had a large projection screen set up near the stage, and a few more flat screen TV’s scattered around the lounge. We found an area to our liking and soon we had a large crowd of friends who joined us. Efficient bar service and a “football buffet” was set up in the room (hoagies, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, nachos, a carving station, etc.) And in the middle was an ice sculpture of a football with “Super Bowl XL” carved into it. The pool areas were okay, with the exception of the Aqua Spa area, which was absolutely stunning. We didn’t spend much time at the Aqua Spa because with the solarium roof, we found it got too warm in there. But we did try out the Thalossotherapy pool (very relaxing) and they have lovely wooden and padded chairs around the area. Some nice areas off to the sides of the Aqua Spa pool with padded loungers with excellent views of the ocean. The Aqua Spa also had healthy food fare offered that was very tasty. I was a bit underimpressed with the actual Lido pool areas. I think Princess has the prettiest pool areas, so this wasn’t outstanding on Celebrity’s part. Typical, but nothing that stood out. We didn’t have a problem getting a lounge chair, unless you wanted a primo area. Since it was an older crowd, most passengers weren’t sun worshippers, so finding a lounge chair in the sun wasn’t an issue. The public bathrooms were lovely and always fresh smelling, with glass vases filled with water and fresh rose petals. In addition to regular paper towels in the bathrooms, small, rolled up, terry cloth “wash clothes” were also offered. Pool towels were plentiful. Attendants were constantly bringing out lots of fresh towels, which were rolled up and placed in areas around the pool. Rolling them was a nice touch. It amazed me, though, that some people would grab 6-8 towels at a time. This seemed very wasteful and created a lot of work on the part of the staff to keep replenishing them…but replenish they did. Towels were never lacking.

 

Carnival Liberty “A”: While not as subtly decorated as the Infinity, I really did like the décor of the Liberty. It wasn’t as “over-the-top” as some of Joe Farcus’ other Carnival creations. It was a little “out there” in places, but overall I thought the ship was lovely. I didn’t expect it to look like the Infinity, and probably would have been disappointed if it had. I’ve come to expect “different” with Carnival, and this delivered that, but was a little easier on the eyes than some of Carnival’s other ships. It had a definite Mediterranean look to it and overall I found the ship to be very attractive.

 

Of course, the chair hogs abounded, which I’ve come to expect on a Carnival ship. The first sunny day was almost impossible to find a lounge chair. My sister and I scoured the entire ship, top to bottom, near and far from the pools, and couldn’t even find a place to put a lounge chair. We finally gave up. The next couple of days we were in port, so with most people getting off the ship (we didn’t), chairs weren’t as much of a problem. However, the last sea day everybody came out of the woodwork. I do not believe in leaving towels on chairs to save them, unless you are stepping away for a few minutes. We went to breakfast and afterward by 9:15 there was not a lounge chair to be found near any of the pools. My sister and BIL had their 5-year-old twins with them, so finding a chair near the aft pool was important to them so it was easier to keep a watch on them. Oh, which brings me to another point. Why, oh why, do people ignore the signs that request no diapered children to be in the pools? At one point I counted 6 children in the aft pool in either swim diapers, regular diapers, or no diapers at all (these children were all under the age of 2, so I am assuming none were toilet trained). We did take a peek at the Children’s Pool area up by Camp Carnival, and while the Camp Counselors were wonderful and very attentive to the children (my sister used the Camp sparingly, but was impressed), the pool was downright disgusting. I wouldn’t allow an animal to get into that pool. The water was murky and cloudy, and the pool walls were filthy. There was one child splashing around in there, and I had to bite my tongue not to ask the mother what in the world was she thinking allowing her child in that water.

 

Anyway, back to the chair hogs. When we arrived at the aft pool on our last morning approx. 9:15 a.m., almost every chair had a towel on it. Mind you, there were only about 6 people actually at the pool, but flip-flops, books, beach bags, towels, all left behind on chairs to save them. We didn’t touch them and found a place a little further from the pool, but still in view of the kids who were delighted with the aft pool. Well, one hour later, nobody showed up. Two hours later, still nobody showed up. After 3 hours, we asksed two security guards what was the deal with people leaving stuff on chairs just to save them. They said they weren’t supposed to do it. My sister asked if he would remove some of the stuff that had been left on a row of approximately 10 lounge chairs for over 3 hours, and he said he couldn’t. Huh? If he couldn’t, who could? He said we could! Okay, so we did, but only because we got tired of seeing people trying to find a spot in the sun only to be forced to go elsewhere because chairs were being saved. So after that, whenever somebody came looking for a chair and had a disappointed look on their face that there weren’t any, we told them these chairs have been vacant all day and they should feel free to move the stuff to another chair so they could use it. Finally, around 1 p.m., some of the chair hogs showed up and were furious that their stuff had all been piled onto one chair. Hello!!! Their stuff had been left there untouched for almost 4 hours and they were po’d that they had been moved? They didn’t have much of an argument so they left in a huff.

 

FOOD:

 

Celebrity Infinity “A” – There pretty much wasn’t anything I didn’t like all week. The pasta station became my favorite place (open until 1 a.m.). My husband said the pizza was great. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and I became addicted to the freshly made waffles with whipped cream and blueberries. The fresh fruit on the buffet abounded, as did the smoked salmon. We were going to do lunch in the dining room at least once, but found the food on the buffet so much to our liking that we never made it there. The dining room was elegant and comfortable, and we had perhaps the best waiter in all our years of cruising. Her name is “Carla from Portugal” and she was outstanding. Personable and knowledgeable. She went over every dish on the menu and how it was made and gave her recommendation. She asked if we had any objection to her selecting our dessert each evening, and then bringing one of each of the other desserts for the table to share. That was fine by us and she was right on the money with her recommendations. The room service menu was the most extensive I’ve ever seen, and since we had a Concierge Class cabin, the room service menu for breakfast was outstanding. We ordered a full breakfast almost every morning and ate it on our balcony. I’m not quite sure how they were able to keep the fried eggs warm and the toasted English muffin crisp, but they did. And the coffee was steaming hot. It was really nice having such an extensive breakfast room service menu and we made full use of it. There were yogurt parfaits and eggs made any way you want (egg beaters, egg whites,any type omelets), lots of different breakfast meats, etc.

 

We had reservations at the Supper Club one evening, and although I thought the food was very good and the service top notch (ever hear of a thing called the “Royal Drop”?), some in our group had a hard time picking something they thought they might like. The food was a little out of the norm, and people who aren’t as adventurous might find it a bit intimidating. I had grilled lamb chops that were probably the best I’ve ever tasted. And the goat cheese soufflé is not to be missed. I’m glad we did it, but I probably wouldn’t be inspired to do it again.

 

A really nice touch is that the buffet area has different seating areas, each one slightly different in décor but all equally comfortable. And there was outside dining as well. All trays were made up with linen place mats and carried to your table by a waiter. While eating breakfast in the buffet, servers come around and ask if you would like juice or coffee, etc. A nice touch.

 

On a few afternoons, the “sorbet parade” begins. Waiters dressed in white jackets parade down the Lido stairs carrying trays of tropical sorbets and hand them out. Again, a nice touch.

 

Carnival Liberty “D” – I have been a fan of Carnival for some years now. In the past, I’ve considered their food to be among the best. Probably almost equal to Princess and far better than Royal Caribbean. This was the worst food I’ve had on any cruise on any line. First of all, the lines at the buffets were ridiculous. We tried to go on “off times” to beat the crowds, but forget it. I waited for the grill line to go down so I could get a hot dog one day from 12 noon until 2:45 and the line was still at least 25-30 people long. After the first day attempting the buffet, we gave up and had all our meals (except for the occasional snack) in the dining rooms. The service was inept and at times downright surly. No bread kept on the table at dinner time. Okay, I can live with that, so long as they offer it to you. I can’t tell you how many times we had to ask for bread. And it was next to impossible to get them to pour water at breakfast or lunch. We always got it without asking at dinner, but never at breakfast or lunch. And if one person asked, one person got it. They never asked anybody else at the table if they would like some. Same thing with the Danish and croissants in the morning. I can’t tell you how many times my sister had to ask if they had any. The last morning my Mom was told they had no bananas and they were out of Fruit Loops for the kids. Not a big deal, but just something that I thought was odd to run out of bananas. Oh, and the popcorn machines at the pool. They charge $1/bag. It’s a bargain for that price, but why charge at all? Are they really making that much money at a buck a bag? Anyway, by the 5th day, they said they ran out of butter for the popcorn so they couldn’t make any more. Okay, I’ll have it without butter. Nope, they couldn’t do that either. We’ve come to notice that breakfast on the last morning is usually met with unsmiling faces by overworked waiters who are just looking to get this gang off the ship. Carnival held true to this. They were actually cranky. Now I have to preface this by saying we are not demanding people when it comes to service on a cruise. We are happy to be fortunate enough to take these kinds of vacations, so it takes somebody being really rude for me to get upset. The point is, if I am treating a staff member with respect and courtesy, I expect at least the same in return. I’m not saying they have to go over the top, but just simple courtesy would be nice. A “good morning” in return would be nice. Anyway, it would be an understatement to say how thoroughly disappointed I was with the food and service on this ship. Now there were a few exceptions here and there, but overall, the ship gets very low marks from me in this area.

 

CABIN:

 

Celebrity Infinity “A” – Very nice Concierge Class cabin. 191 sq. ft. and the balcony was 41 sq. ft. The balcony seemed smaller than the dimensions, but it worked fine for having breakfast. I liked that it had a regular height table and two padded chairs so you could eat breakfast out there, which we did on a regular basis. The room was nicely appointed and kept spotlessly clean. We asked the cabin steward to unlock the mini-bar, which he did. I asked for extra pillows (made my selection from the pillow menu) and these were brought in promptly. There were fresh flowers in the cabin and a long stem rose in the bathroom, which was changed mid-week. Fresh fruit was delivered daily to the cabin. A bottle of champagne awaits your arrival in Concierge Class cabins. Every day the linens in the bathroom are switched with alternating colors: one day pink, the next day mint green. The bathroom, while on the small side, was more than adequate. It had plenty of storage space and the shower was probably the largest standard shower we’ve ever had on a ship. There were two dryers; one mounted to the wall and one hand-held, both very powerful. Excellent water pressure and always hot water. Hors doerves were served to our cabin every day around 4 p.m. We were on Deck 9, which has a very large overhang, and at first I didn’t think I’d like that. But actually, it turned out to be very nice and I would probably request the same floor again. We didn’t mind the overhang and it was a good location. The bed, while a little hard, had comfortable linens that made up for it. There was a comfortable sofa and small table in the sitting area. There was personalized stationery. A leather keyholder. A leather writing pad. There were bathrobes, binoculars, a golf umbrella and several other amenities in the cabin for your use. One nice touch is a very large tote bag that Celebrity leaves for you at the end of the cruise. There is a smaller, less sturdy one in the cabin when you arrive that is good for the beach. But the other one, delivered I believe on our last night, was great for storing last minute items and clothes after your luggage is put out the night before the end of the cruise. All in all, no complaints at all with this cabin.

 

Carnival Liberty “A” – Carnival shines in this respect. Their standard balcony cabins are spacious and well appointed. There is a mini-bar, which your waiter will empty upon request. I had no problem getting extra pillows. The new bedding is fabulous. Of course, the ship is new, so one would expect the cabin to be in good shape and it was. However, upon entering the cabin for the first time, the smell of stale cigarette smoke was overwhelming. When I saw our cabin steward, I mentioned it to him and he said he had been trying to get rid of the odor for several hours. He said he would once again try to do it (they use some sort of machine that looks like a vacuum cleaner in reverse). After that next attempt, it got better, but never improved completely. I prefer the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony on Celebrity, but the window and glass door on Carnival is just fine. The bathroom, again, is on the small side, but the shower area is very spacious and the storage space more than adequate. Plenty of closet space and lots of hangers.

 

SERVICE:

 

Celebrity Infinity “A+” – Okay, here is where Celebrity shines. When they say they will treat you famously, they aren’t lying. The service was outstanding. Everybody smiling, happy, eager to please. It’s one thing to see happy staff members attending to passengers, but it’s quite another to see happy staff members interacting with each other. These were among the happiest cruise staffers I’ve seen on any ship. They truly seemed to be enjoying their jobs.

 

The Captain, at age 38, is probably the most handsome and definitely the youngest Master at Sea. He is Greek and has the best personality of any Captain I’ve ever come across. His announcements, while few, were always littered with funny statements, such as “the weather today is…well, let me look out my left window…yes, it’s sunny. My right window looks sunny, too. Ladies and gentleman, the weather today will be sunny.” Also, when announcing the depth of the water in which we were currently sailing, after announcing it to be a depth of 18,000 feet, he announced, “no diving, please.” The entire staff seemed to eminent the same light-hearted, but professional attitude handed down from Captain Demetrios (sp?).

 

I could go on and on about the wonderful service, but it would just be redundant. Suffice it to say it was the best service we’ve ever experienced in 18 cruises.

 

Carnival Liberty “D” – Terrible service. Sometimes inept, sometimes downright rude and surly. I won’t go into every little detail, but it was the little things that added up to a week of dealing with some very overworked and understaffed crew. The maitre de in the Golden Olympian Dining Room was difficult to understand and got quite indignant with me one time when I asked him to repeat what he had said.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS:

 

Celebrity Infinity – I won’t give this a grade, because this is quite subjective. Just suffice it to say that the clientele on Celebrity had much better manners than those we encountered on Carnival. Celebrity cruisers were nicely attired any time of the day and/or night. They were polite. They spoke using correct grammar. They held doors. They weren’t running up and down the halls and yelling and cursing at 3 a.m. They didn’t speak to their significant other/wife/husband/child in a derogatory manner. They didn’t sport lots of tattoos. They didn’t show up to the dining room in jeans and cut-offs, low-risers with thongs showing, baseball caps worn backwards throughout dinner, etc. However, on Carnival they did. Enough said.

 

MISC:

 

Some things to note. I never noticed how much public announcements can be a nuisance, until I boarded Carnival. They were almost non-existent on Celebrity, but continuous on Celebrity. While I appreciate John Heald’s talents as a Cruise Director, I don’t appreciate listening to him hawk the “two for one” special on ladies rings and the $49.95 special on men’s watches during dinner. The dining room on Celebrity played soothing music; Carnival’s dining room was like sound on steroids. Loud and frenetic. The cigarette smoke in the casino on Carnival was untolerable. I’m a former smoker and I can tolerate being around smoke to a degree, but this was unbelievable. One night, just walking through the casino to get to the elevator, our clothes wreaked of cigarette smoke. I tried to play the slots one night, but had to leave because the smoke was choking.

 

Another nice Celebrity touch is that upon reboarding the ship after spending time in port, there are attendants handing out cold towels to the passengers to cool off with after a hot day. I liked that the bottom level where passengers debarked the ship for a port was nicely appointed with floral arrangements and made to look in order with the rest of the ship, rather than a “basement” type look most ships have.

 

I won’t go into such things as weather and ports. I’m sure I’ve left some things out, so if one would like to ask any questions, please feel free. I tried to be as objective as possible. One thing I would like to point out is that any vacation is fun for us. But having done a B2B, the differences between these two cruises were very apparent. We had a great time on Carnival because we were with family, in spite of what the ship was lacking. And we’re experienced enough with cruising now to know what we like. Did we pay more for the Celebrity cruise? You betcha. But as my mother always says, “you get what you pay for.” It’s taken me 50 years, but I’m finally getting it.

[TxnAquarian]

Fantastic review, JerseyGirl! Very well thought out and insightful. Thank you for taking the time to give us such a thorough review. I have been tempted to try Celebrity and might just do so after reading about your experience on the Infinity.

 

 

Michael

[copper6606]

Thanks so much for your great review. My husband and I are leaving in six days on our first Celebrity{Galaxy} . I have been reading alot lately about the different ships and not all is possitive. I know the Galaxy is an older ship than anything we have ever sailed before , but I hope we enjoy our trip as much as you did. Thanks for the possitive spin!!! Here we go- twelve glorious sun,fun :) filled days!!

[jerseygirl3]

Copper, regardless of how old the Galaxy is, I can't imagine Celebrity delivering a bad product. From other cruisers I met onboard, once a Celebrity cruiser, always a Celebrity cruiser. The standards on Celebrity seem to be very consistent. Have a great cruise. We're looking at the Contellation 11 day next February.

[serene56]

While I appreciate John Heald’s talents as a Cruise Director, I don’t appreciate listening to him hawk the “two for one” special on ladies rings and the $49.95 special on men’s watches during dinner.

 

-----------

 

I have sailed Carnival a few times and can honestly say that this is the first time I ever heard announcements made during dinner. Everone in my party thought it was very tacky for carnival. We did mention that on our comment cards along with an enforced dress code.. If they say no shorts then no shorts.

[sledhead]

John had his funny moments but I agree that he went too far some times with his long drawn out daily shows and announcements. I agree as well that the dress code wasnt enforced at all. It was quite pathetic actually. Celebrity sounds awesome. Can you tell me what the night life, party atmosphere and deck partys were like ? My girlfriend and I are a couple in our mid 30's. Would it suit us ? We are seriously considering it and after seeing how boring it was on The Liberty, especially sailaways, we are really looking forward to a change.

[LouLou921]

I too am interested in hearing what the nightlife is like on Celebrity. Frankly, that's one of the reasons we are going with Carnival for our next cruise. We have heard too many "dead after 10pm" stories from people who cruised other lines. What's Celebrity like?

[jerseygirl3]

Sled and Lou, it's funny you would ask about the night life. Although the crowd on Celebrity was older than Carnival (and I think I counted 5 kids on Celebrity the entire week, and that was only on one day when my husband commented "the camp kids must have a half day today!!!LOL), those older folks sure do know how to have a good time. They have a fabulous Lido Deck Party one night, and I (age 50) was having trouble staying awake. The older folks were dancing and having a good old time. And they can knock back a few, let me tell you. But no unruly behavior like I've experienced on Carnival. Just nice people having a great time. I can't comment on the lounges, because we generally aren't real night life people. We go to the shows, spend some time in the casino, etc. We're not dancing fools, so a drink in the martini bar and people watching is fun for us. Maybe over on the Celebrity board someone else can elaborate for you about the night life.

 

We've cruised so many times now that it seems Carnival has lost that special feeling to us. We felt herded around the ship, lines everywhere, no feeling of anything exceptional (except for Harry's Supper Club, which was phenomenal...I forgot to mention that in my review. It was the best we've ever experienced on any ship/cruiseline. Even better than Celebrity). Celebrity really seems to go out of their way to go that extra mile and make their passengers feel special.

[LouLou921]

Thanks! I am pretty sure that our next, next cruise will be Celebrity. We are going with a group in Jan. of 2007, so Carnival was the best fit for that cruise. But after that, I want to try Celebrity.

[rpsinnj]

Wow the Liberty must have chagned overnight we were on the week prior sailing and loved it. We were on the liberty last August/September over in Europe and the service then was outstanding and it was on our return for the 2/4 sailing. This was our 51th cruise overall and 41 with Carnival. We had the same asst waiter Irvin as we did on the Europe sailing and he was outstanding, soon to be promoted to head waiter, good job. The food and service in Harry's was 5 Stars you are on the money about that. The shows were outstanding, the two Vegas shows are great, Marcus Anthony is a super star singing all the old motown songs and the Carnival Legend shows is great, Carnival does a great job getting guests involved all week long it is great to see that, great job. The food lines compare to other cruises were about the same you always have to wait at key prime times at the buffet lines. The food choice at lunch were outstanding, with NY Deli, Grill and Fish and Chips and the buffet choices. Carnival offers live music thur out the week in main show room and lounges, there is always something going on at night. Does the other Cruse line offer this, do they offer r rated midnight shows like carnival does or is the ship gone to bed by that time. Carnival deck party was great the Socal Hosts did a great job, the blue white and red teams had huge congo lines and the dance floor was full. There was no unruly behavior like you mention at all. Carnival has proven to me over the last 11 years that they are the fun ship and continues to be the number 1 fun ship, good job carnival keep up the good work. I dont understand how you can be so negative with Carnival.

[serene56]

RPS- you had John Heald as a cruise director on your cruise. By chance did you have early dining and did he make sales pitches half way through your meal? was wondering if this is something new as I never experienced that on any ship.

[LHP]

Thanks for taking the time for such a thorough review on both ships.

 

Although we have only sailed Carnival (total of 21 times between hubby and our family cruises) ... your review was pretty much what I would have expected.

 

I was surprised at the poor food quality on your Carnival ship. We have always been pleased..some better than others..but always pleased. Perhaps they had a bad week in the kitchen....although I have been hearing more and more of that from ship to ship reviews lately.

 

I completely understand you review of the fellow travelers. We have seen more than our fair share of "bubbas" over the years. ( I can say that because I am married to a bubba, but my bubba knows how to behave.)

 

Since cost isn't an issue, I would love to try Celebrity sometime...however, one of the main reasons I cruise is to have a safe, fun place to sing karaoke.

The places that offer it around where we live are not places I would frequent.

Does Celebrity offer that? If I had to guess, I would say no.

 

Some more details on the "nightlife" from your Celebrity cruise would be appreciated. Glad you had the time to spend with your loved ones. That was the most important thing!!

[rpsinnj]

yes i forgot to mention yes there was announcement made on the liberty 2/4 sailing during dinner early sitting. I don't think this is John Heald it is Carnival was to promote sales, he has to do it, reason is that the 2/4 sailing did 5 ports of calls in 7 days if you throw out the first night and the 2/12 sailing did 3 ports of calls in 5 nights if you throw out the first night. There is not enough sea time if you know what i mean compare to a 7 night cruise with 3 ports of calls and 3 days at sea,I never saw it done then, it all comes down to money taken in (profit). Also dont forget half of the ship is out and about as the other half eats etc.

 

and Carnival is non stop karaoke, it is offer i think every night of the cruise in the lounge and then several nights out on big screen looking for stars for the Carnival Legend show, that is how they get the people to sing in that show from Karaoke under the stars and show is great, they look for a elvis, elton etc it is great. Carnival is number 1 comes to

Karaoke all week long

[Mammado]

jerseygirl3,

 

Thanks for a great comparison regarding CCL and Celebrity. I have been on the Infinity and agree with everything you wrote about that ship! We love Celebrity, have also been on the Century.

 

We will be taking our first cruise on Carnival this summer on the Glory. I think my expectations are in line with the product and I am sure that I will enjoy my cruise just like you did. After all, it's cruise.....how can it not be fun!!

 

From all of the reviews I have read and my own experiences, I think that Celebrity does go that extra mile to give a little extra attention to all of the little details. I think that among the mass cruise lines that is what differentiates it. I have also cruised on RCCL and didn't feel it was on par with Celebrity. But we had an awesome time anyway. I think that the Glory cruise will probably be on par with RCCL and we are expecting that and will have a great time!

 

I do wish Celebrity would sail some ships in the Caribbean during the summer.

 

Michelle

[jerseygirl3]

RPS, actually, the buffet lines were continuous regardless of whether you went during peak times or not. I think waiting from noon to 2:45 in the grill for the line to go down was unreasonable. It was 25-30 strong the entire time. And with one poor guy working alone! That is ridiculous. The woman in front of me gave up after 15 minutes. Her daughter really wanted a burger, but she said she was tired of waiting.

 

As far as karaoke, yes, they had that on Celebrity. It started at 10:45 p.m. in one of the lounges. There also was an "adult" comedy show. Their Super Bowl party was awesome. They had betting going on before the start of the game and we won $250 by selecting the correct score at the end of the third quarter.

 

Every bar was open until 1 a.m., and the Constellation Lounge (basically a disco) was open until "late" meaning later than 1 a.m.

 

At sailaway, there was a Mojito party held poolside with music and dancing.

 

One night during the week, there was an absolutely fabulous Lido Deck Party. We watched the staff set it up...it was quite elaborate and took about 3 hours to set up. Things got rolling at midnight and were going on long after we left. That was the night we left St. Maarten at 1 a.m.

 

The evening shows were outstanding. I thought Carnival had some of the best dancers and set/costumes of any cruiselines, but Celebrity even surpassed Carnival in this respect. The late seating show started at 11 p.m., so I wouldn't say say the entertainment shut down early by any means. I only wish I could have stayed awake longer! Yes, there was an older crowd on Celebrity than on Carnival, but those older folks can sure enjoy themselves. I'm not sure if they took naps during the day, but they outlasted us at night!

[martdm]

Thanks for the detailed review!

 

Sorry your cruise wasn't all you were expecting. It sounds like, from all other reviews I've read, you were an unfortunate exception to the rule in terms of having poor service & food. A lot of the other things (lines, rude passengers, etc.) are to be expected on a ship this large, but I can certainly see how it would add to your already compounding frustrations.

 

Your review has provided us with valuable info for our cruise on Liberty...thanks again. We'll be prepared for the lines, etc. and will roll with the more minor punches (bread, water, popcorn, bananas, chair hogs...those sorts of things we don't sweat).

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself.

[serene56]

yes i forgot to mention yes there was announcement made on the liberty 2/4 sailing during dinner early sitting. I don't think this is John Heald it is Carnival was to promote sales, he has to do it, reason is that the 2/4 sailing did 5 ports of calls in 7 days if you throw out the first night and the 2/12 sailing did 3 ports of calls in 5 nights if you throw out the first night. There is not enough sea time if you know what i mean compare to a 7 night cruise with 3 ports of calls and 3 days at sea,I never saw it done then, it all comes down to money taken in (profit). Also dont forget half of the ship is out and about as the other half eats etc.

 

I read a lot of reviews and dont ever recall any one mentioning this sales pitch during dinner. Its interesting to see if other ships have done this.

I understand people are out and about-- BUT if i couldnt hear the mention of the medi evac in the show room since the system is turned off in there maybe they should turn it off in other venues also. Can you hear this if you are getting a massage? (that would trully suck)

[hdawson]

Excellent comparison. 18 total cruises; 4 X Carnival, 4 X Royal Caribbean and 5 X Celebrity and a few others.

[Longboysfan]

Thanks so much for your great review. My husband and I are leaving in six days on our first Celebrity{Galaxy} . I have been reading alot lately about the different ships and not all is possitive. I know the Galaxy is an older ship than anything we have ever sailed before , but I hope we enjoy our trip as much as you did. Thanks for the possitive spin!!! Here we go- twelve glorious sun,fun :) filled days!!

 

I hope you have signed up for our connections party and visited the thread over in the Celebrity "Connections" board area.

 

If not here is a link to our group.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=189104

[fxit38]

My hubby and I have also cruised 18+ cruises. We have found that there is no such thing as a bad cruise and a cruise is what you make of it. We like the Celebrity ships best, but can't always afford Celebrity prices, so we'll cruise Carnival and all the others until we can afford to cruise Celebrity again. Also, it's not so much the ship, but the people you sail with that really make the cruise.

[shrinker]

interesting comparison

[D4]

Jerseygirl3: I loved your review!

 

I just melted when reading about Celebrity, because they are my family's favorite cruise line. Our Celebrity experiences have been exactly the same. We love that outstanding food and service.

 

If Celebrity went where we wanted to go during the summer, then we'd always go on Celebrity. But Celebrity sends so many ships to Alaska and Europe that their summer Caribbean options are limited. We went to Alaska 3 years in a row, but then the kids said they want to go back to the Caribbean. Since my DH likes variety in ports, we're going with Carnival for the 8th time. (And 2 years ago, my DH, me, and our teens said "No more Carnival".) We just have to adjust our expectations.

 

I can't imagine going on Celebrity one week and Carnival the next. Maybe the other way around, so that it just gets better.

[Mack704]

I'd like to take issue with only one thing at this time. My DW and I will be cruising on the Liberty in Oct. -- Europe, can't wait! We were on the Valor, Liberty's sister ship, 3/26-4/2. The two ships are almost identically laid out. There are 2 hamburger grills, one inside and one outside on the Lido deck. There were always at least 2 people working them. We and our friends never had to wait more than 3-5 mins. Were there lines 25-30 people long from 12 - 2:45 every day on the Liberty?

 

Harvey