Liberty Review Dec 16/07

[shipty2]

First we flew in two days prior and stayed at the Sheraton Yankee Trader in Fort Lauderdale. The hotel was ok for a pre cruise stay but I wouldn't stay much longer than that.

 

The focus of this cruise for us was my sister's wedding. She had her hair and make up done by someone who came to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale by a young lady who does mobile hair and makeup for the bride and her party. I would highly recommend her-her name is Lia Negrete.

 

We (all 19 of us) boarded the ship early for wedding so embarkation was a breeze. They kept the bride and groom separate until the time of the ceremony. All went off without a hitch in the Tapestry room.

 

We dined every night in the Golden Olympian dining room. The food was mostly excellent. The only item that was not good was the red snapper on the Carnival Spa menu-our waiter had warned me that no one ever finished it so it must be awful but I went ahead and ordered it-yuck he was right.

The lobster was a good size and prepared well too-not rubbery at all.

The red team blue team etc was out in full force interrupting our dining experience with all that nonsense. The dancing waiters were fine though only 2 nights of dancing and that was entertaining. The Maitre D' Miguel was enforcing the dress code.

 

We ate breakfast at the Lido buffet and the food was good but the lines were long. We ate at the fish and chips restaurant the first lunch and there was no line at all as people had not discovered it yet.

The deli was open late and it was a good thing room service routinely took one hour to be delivered-in fact one night I was on hold for 15 minutes just to place my order. Pizza was as usual fresh and tasty.

We also waited for 25 minutes in line for a stir fry at the Asian station but it was easily worth the wait.

 

We took in the musical shows and Percy Cruise the comedian. The shows were wonderful and Percy was hilarious even though he used jokes I have heard several times over from various comedians. His delivery was well timed and the audience was in stitches. Our DS 13 also loved Percy's show.

 

My two nephews spent a great deal of the 6 days at Camp Carnival by choice having the time of their lives.

 

Our cabin was 8281 and was as quiet as can be at night. It was the perfect location for us. Our room steward kept all of our many things in order and tidy in the cabin.

 

The ports- we have been on many cruises and have traveled throughout the Caribbean so none of the ports were new to us so we opted for our favorite thing-just days at the beach.

Nassau- we went to Cabbage beach for 4 bucks each in a taxi and stayed for most of the day. The water was too choppy to snorkel so we just swam around and jumped up when the Hawaii five -o type waves came crashing towards us.

 

Grand Cayman Island- we went to 7 mile beach for the day. There was no entry fee but the taxi was 4 dollars each. I don't think I would go there again as there was an area as we entered the water where the sand is soft and we sunk in as if in quick sand.lol Getting in was ok but getting out was a bit more challenging-ok for us but for a little kid it might be harder.

 

Ocho Rios-we decided to go off the beaten path on to Mahogany beach which was 10 dollars in a taxi and has no entry fee. There are lounge chairs for rent and food and drink to buy. We had some jerk chicken and rice which was delicious. The beach here is small but shallow and clear and warm as a bathtub.

 

This ship is beautiful and perfect for a wedding location. We would sail on the Carnival Liberty again in a heartbeat.

 

Debarkation was a breeze. We just waited for our number to be called and then went to retrieve our luggage and we were off in a jiffy on our way to Miami and the Fascination.

[shipty2]

BTW we did e docs with the credit card info already filled out so check in took about 1 minute.

[cathyoo]

I'm glad you had a wonderful cruise. Thank you for sharing. we loved the Liberty. Now you will have to join your sister when she celebrates her anniversary.

[Water Baby 1983]

Thanks for the review!! Do you remember when Percy was picking on the couple in the front, "Vaughn and Jackie"? They were with our group, and they got a total kick out of it. The Liberty is really a great ship with a great crew. I hope you loved your time on the Fascination, as well!! :D

[shipty2]

Waterbaby yes we saw that! I am glad they enjoyed the attention. They were good sports about it.

[shipty2]

While we were docked in Ocho Rios and shortly before sailing away a young couple returned to the ship still in their beach clothes and were handed their luggage and sent down the dock off the ship. I have no idea what precipitated this.

[Prairie_Gal]

Wow! We missed that. In Grand Cayman we did see a tender boat pull up to the ship (at high speed) when it was already starting to pull out and three people and a large suitcase got on board.

[soon to be mrs. k]

Hello, I'm new to the board, but would be grateful for any info you can provide regarding wedding of your sister on Liberty. My sis is getting married in 1st week of November 2008, and want to get more info on what special touches the ship provided. We are picking the deluxe package, i think it is 1 1/2 hrs reception, etc. we have both sailing and non-sailing guests, i think we might have 25-30, 20 sailing. how long was the actual wedding ceremony? where was the reception held. can you choose venue of wedding and reception? do you know if you are allowed to bring wines and/or champagne on board? if your sister can do it over again, what would she changed, not changed? I know these are personal questions, but others' insights and experiences are most appreciated. Thank you for your time. :)

 

SISTER OF THE BRIDE AND PROUD OF ROLE AS WEDDING PLANNER!!!!

[shipty2]

Hello, I'm new to the board, but would be grateful for any info you can provide regarding wedding of your sister on Liberty. My sis is getting married in 1st week of November 2008, and want to get more info on what special touches the ship provided. We are picking the deluxe package, i think it is 1 1/2 hrs reception, etc. we have both sailing and non-sailing guests, i think we might have 25-30, 20 sailing. how long was the actual wedding ceremony? where was the reception held. can you choose venue of wedding and reception? do you know if you are allowed to bring wines and/or champagne on board? if your sister can do it over again, what would she changed, not changed? I know these are personal questions, but others' insights and experiences are most appreciated. Thank you for your time. :)

 

SISTER OF THE BRIDE AND PROUD OF ROLE AS WEDDING PLANNER!!!!

My sister had the deluxe package as well. The wedding was in the Tapestry room. Prior to the cruise I tried to find pics of the room that weren't the stock photos from carnival. The room is beautiful-they added pillars with white flowers on them.

 

The reception was in the Piano room close to the Tapestry as my sister had selected the piano player instead of a DJ.

The wedding planner met us at check in and she was kept separate from her fiance as she requested. The planner and the officiant went over every detail of who was doing what ie lighting the unity candle and the ring bearer, my job as maid of honor was to go up and take my sister's flowers from however for the ceremony and return them after. We got dressed in my room and the guys who were all wearing tuxes got dressed in my sister's cabin. The wedding planner helped with everything.

 

At the reception their was the food as order and two servers and two waitresses to serve drinks. It was worth every penny and then some.

 

The only thing she would do different is to not bring her own cake topper. She thought theirs may be cheap looking so brought her own. We did not use it as the carnival one looked great in photos and was light so sat upright on the cake.

 

They bought the video-remember this if your sister is getting the video-seconds before she was to walk down the aisle they interviewed her and her fiance separately for the video. This was a surprise to both. You know the kinds of questions like how they met and how they knew they were right for each other. She was desperately trying not to cry and he was shocked to be interviewed so it comes off a little funny in the viewing- hysterical to us because they look shell shocked.Possibly no so funny when it is your own wedding. The another interview was done when they went to select the photos-they were dressed for the beach with hair all over the place not knowing this was going to be another recording event.

 

The actual ceremony was short-about 15 minutes and they faced the audience instead of the usual way of the officiant facing us and the bride and groom with their backs to us.

 

You cannot choose the venue they choose according to you reception choices ie DJ would have to be held in the disco.

 

Also I think we would all be more relaxed knowing that they really do this 3 times a day and only the little details are different. Tell her to make her choices then relax.