Liberty Review - 10/25/08

[bjm1271]

Background: Group of 3 in our 30’s sharing a CAT 11. Total cruises 28 between the 3 of us. I’m a foodie + I’ve worked in the restaurant bus for over 12 years so I will be a little critical on the food reviews below.

 

Departure Day: 6:00am flight out of Newark, NJ. Arrived in Miami on-time and hopped in a taxi to take us to the pier. We asked the driver to make a pit-stop to pick up some wine, which he did without hesitation. Ended up @ Winn-Dixie picked up 5 bottles of wine for about $50. Good wine does not have to be expensive!

Arrived at the pier around 10:45 and headed straight for the VIP lounge. Staff was polite and helpful. Unlike Princess, Carnival does not offer any refreshments in the VIP/Platinum section. We on board by 12:00 dropped off our carry-ons and grabbed a bite to eat on the Lido Deck.

 

Presidential Suites: 2 of them are being built at the very front of the ship. They have a separate bedroom, walk in closet and large bathroom. I think they can accommodate 5. According to the staff they should be complete in a couple of weeks.

 

Weather: Horrible! Rain & Wind. Overall we ended up with about a day and a half of sun. One good thing is we had no problem falling asleep with the rocking of the ship.

 

Cozumel: Did Nachi Cocum private beach and had a great time. It was so private there were only 8 of us.

 

Grand Cayman: Captain tried to anchor twice for the tenders (once on each side of the island) but the weather/sea was not on our side. For those who complained – grow up! Next time call Mother Nature and Poseidon or Neptune.

 

Jamaica: Walked around for about an hour, picked up 3 t-shirts and headed back to the ship. We are not fans of the island.

 

Staff: Overall the staff was great.

Cabin Steward - Excellent

Dining Room staff was okay, not the best that I’ve had. They missed many of the finer details.

Bar Staff – Excellent

Casino Staff - Excellent

What’s with all the photographers!?!

 

Platinum Perk: Wash & Fold is more like wash and wrinkle. Still a great perk but only for undergarments.

 

Food: Average

Lido Deck Breakfast – Omelet station was good. Buffet section was okay.

Dining Room Breakfast – Nothing special. Overcooked Eggs Benedict & undercooked/soggy pancakes.

Lido Deck Lunch – Mongolian station was good. Grill was good. Buffet Station– was bland, slop/inedible. Pizza Station – sorry I can’t call it pizza. Maybe something you pull from the frozen section of the supermarket and microwave.

Room Service – simple, on time and a great snack at 3 in the morning.

Fish & Chips station – bad.

Dining Room Dinner – Very inconsistent. Ordered Flat Iron Steak every night as a safe bet and when it was cooked correctly it was the best piece of meat on the ship. We ordered other entrees to try and recommend Chicken over pasta w/ mushroom sauce, Spinach Lasagna. Dishes that were disappointing – Panko-crusted Shrimp, Filet Mignon, and Lobster (like rubber). Overall soups were good. The warm chocolate cake was the best dessert but very inconsistent. Each night it was a guessing game. Would we get cake with melted chocolate in the middle or all melted chocolate with no cake?

 

Passengers: Although we were lucky enough to meet several great and friendly people, we found a majority of the passengers on this ship to be rude, impolite and down-right nasty. This is what ruins a vacation. I can’t believe how rude people can be!

What happened to manners! If you use words like excuse me or thank you this does not pertain to you. But for those pushy/ignorant people who have Zero manners please stop cruising!

The silver metal grasping tool at the buffet stations are called tongs. They are used to pick up food. There is no reason to use your fingers to pick up food!

The dress code is a joke – things seen in the dining room:

Baseball caps

Tank-Tops & T-Shirts

Sports Jersey’s

Jean Shorts

Bath Robes

 

Overall we had a great time, loved the ship and loved the crew. Didn’t care for the food and a large majority of the passengers. I think we’ll take a break from cruising, or at least cruising with Carnival for a while.

[calicruise74]

The silver metal grasping tool at the buffet stations are called thongs. They are used to pick up food. There is no reason to use your fingers to pick up food!

 

:eek: LOL!!

 

Great review! But I couldnt pass this up! ;)

[bjm1271]

Thanks for the spell check. I just fixed my thong.

[calicruise74]

I got a nice chuckle out of it ;) I was gonna say, things have changed on the Liberty if they're resorted to using thongs to serve food!

 

But seriously, when we were on the Liberty last year, we saw people loading up the raw meat for mongolian with their hands. Dangerous on many levels.

 

Hope your next cruise is better! :)

[LizaMM]

First I want to say.......Thank you for your review. Very balanced display of your opinions which is appreciated!

 

Now....BATHROBES in the DINING ROOM????? That is the strangest thing I have ever heard!

[bjm1271]

First I want to say.......Thank you for your review. Very balanced display of your opinions which is appreciated!

 

Now....BATHROBES in the DINING ROOM????? That is the strangest thing I have ever heard!

 

Appeared to be husband & wife. Both in robes and the wife had a towel wrapped around her head for her wet hair. Ridiculous!

[rebeljohn]

Thanks for posting your review.............

[CruisingCathy]

I saw the same couple dressed in bathrobes and the lady had a towel wrapped around her head. They came walking into the dining room.. they were quite late too for dinner.. Since it was halloween night, I thought maybe it was a halloween costume.... it was very strange! They should have kicked them out.

 

I was at nachi Cocom too... It was quite windy, but at least we had some sun for a little bit. :)

 

Thanks for the review! I agree with a lot of the things you said.

[bjm1271]

Cruising Cathy,

 

In the Silver dining room were you sitting at the front table as soon as you walk in on the second floor? Just curiuos...

 

Thanks!

[Vettebuf]

Wow, your remark about the couple in bathrobes just jogged my memory. There was a group of middle-aged women on our April Freedom cruise who were all of the ship in their bathrobes. We've been on 18 cruises and I never saw this before. We're going on the Freedom again in January and I hope the bathrobe wearers aren't back. The rudest, pushiest people we ever encountered weren't on a Carnival ship though. They were on the Majesty of the Seas in August, 2004. Some people were actually sprawled out with blankets and lying on pillows on the landings while we were waiting for customs to clear the ship.

[calcio22]

I agree with many of your comments about the cruise, especially the attitude of the passengers. I heard many people 'wanting' things, and just shouting out to the crew, instead of using 'excuse me'. Other passengers would just come up to me and ask me something out of the blue. I had no idea they were even talking to me, until they would ask again. It usually helps to get the persons attention before asking them a question... Just my two cents...

[bjm1271]

Thanks Calcio22! Its good to know that I wasn't the only 1 who noticed.

[Elmo31]

We too were on this cruise. I also agree to about everything written on this review. Carnival seems to be sliding a bit on everything......service, dining staff, etc. I will cruise again because I love it but hopefully it will be better next time. Like stated above the weather was not nice to us but that is not the fault of the ship or captain.

Dawn and Carl

[abitaturbodog]

On one of our past cruises (can't remember which) there was a lady who wore a bathrobe 24/7. It was the strangest thing.

[CruisingCathy]

Cruising Cathy,

 

In the Silver dining room were you sitting at the front table as soon as you walk in on the second floor? Just curiuos...

 

Thanks!

 

 

Yup that was us! :)

[bjm1271]

Yup that was us! :)

 

Lucky guess. We were 2 tables in front of you. The night of the bathrobe I was the one 1 who said if she can come in a bathrobe then I will come naked next time. I would never do that but I did get several laughs!

[cruzinnluvinit]

Background: Group of 3 in our 30’s sharing a CAT 11. Total cruises 28 between the 3 of us. I’m a foodie + I’ve worked in the restaurant bus for over 12 years so I will be a little critical on the food reviews below.

 

Departure Day: 6:00am flight out of Newark, NJ. Arrived in Miami on-time and hopped in a taxi to take us to the pier. We asked the driver to make a pit-stop to pick up some wine, which he did without hesitation. Ended up @ Winn-Dixie picked up 5 bottles of wine for about $50. Good wine does not have to be expensive!

Arrived at the pier around 10:45 and headed straight for the VIP lounge. Staff was polite and helpful. Unlike Princess, Carnival does not offer any refreshments in the VIP/Platinum section. We on board by 12:00 dropped off our carry-ons and grabbed a bite to eat on the Lido Deck.

 

Presidential Suites: 2 of them are being built at the very front of the ship. They have a separate bedroom, walk in closet and large bathroom. I think they can accommodate 5. According to the staff they should be complete in a couple of weeks.

 

Weather: Horrible! Rain & Wind. Overall we ended up with about a day and a half of sun. One good thing is we had no problem falling asleep with the rocking of the ship.

 

Cozumel: Did Nachi Cocum private beach and had a great time. It was so private there were only 8 of us.

 

Grand Cayman: Captain tried to anchor twice for the tenders (once on each side of the island) but the weather/sea was not on our side. For those who complained – grow up! Next time call Mother Nature and Poseidon or Neptune.

 

Jamaica: Walked around for about an hour, picked up 3 t-shirts and headed back to the ship. We are not fans of the island.

 

Staff: Overall the staff was great.

Cabin Steward - Excellent

Dining Room staff was okay, not the best that I’ve had. They missed many of the finer details.

Bar Staff – Excellent

Casino Staff - Excellent

What’s with all the photographers!?!

 

Platinum Perk: Wash & Fold is more like wash and wrinkle. Still a great perk but only for undergarments.

 

Food: Average

Lido Deck Breakfast – Omelet station was good. Buffet section was okay.

Dining Room Breakfast – Nothing special. Overcooked Eggs Benedict & undercooked/soggy pancakes.

Lido Deck Lunch – Mongolian station was good. Grill was good. Buffet Station– was bland, slop/inedible. Pizza Station – sorry I can’t call it pizza. Maybe something you pull from the frozen section of the supermarket and microwave.

Room Service – simple, on time and a great snack at 3 in the morning.

Fish & Chips station – bad.

Dining Room Dinner – Very inconsistent. Ordered Flat Iron Steak every night as a safe bet and when it was cooked correctly it was the best piece of meat on the ship. We ordered other entrees to try and recommend Chicken over pasta w/ mushroom sauce, Spinach Lasagna. Dishes that were disappointing – Panko-crusted Shrimp, Filet Mignon, and Lobster (like rubber). Overall soups were good. The warm chocolate cake was the best dessert but very inconsistent. Each night it was a guessing game. Would we get cake with melted chocolate in the middle or all melted chocolate with no cake?

 

Passengers: Although we were lucky enough to meet several great and friendly people, we found a majority of the passengers on this ship to be rude, impolite and down-right nasty. This is what ruins a vacation. I can’t believe how rude people can be!

What happened to manners! If you use words like excuse me or thank you this does not pertain to you. But for those pushy/ignorant people who have Zero manners please stop cruising!

The silver metal grasping tool at the buffet stations are called tongs. They are used to pick up food. There is no reason to use your fingers to pick up food!

The dress code is a joke – things seen in the dining room:

Baseball caps

Tank-Tops & T-Shirts

Sports Jersey’s

Jean Shorts

Bath Robes

 

Overall we had a great time, loved the ship and loved the crew. Didn’t care for the food and a large majority of the passengers. I think we’ll take a break from cruising, or at least cruising with Carnival for a while.

I also thought tongs were a must until someone pointed out that all the germs from people touching the tongs, I put on my hands. Now I'm not so sure the non tong people don't have it right. LOL

[rftsr]

Just off Liberty yesterday and this review is right on target. Look for mine in the member review section in a couple of days. In short I've learned my lesson after 16 cruises, 4 being on Carnival...I'm saving my pennies for Celebrity! :)

[vacruizer]

Thanks for the honest review. It makes me sad to hear this - we have sailed the Liberty twice now and had a fabulous time on both but did notice the service slipping quite a bit between October of last year and July of this year. It mainly seemed to be due to less staff - fewer waiters for more tables in the dining room and bar servers on Lido and in the show lounge and the first time we ever had a truly terrible steward. Everyone was nice (except the steward we never met) but terribly rushed and you could tell they couldn't keep up. (I also have past food & beverage work experience.) I still rate this last time my top cruise so far but mainly due to the great group of CCers we were with and a few truly great Carnival employees on board.

 

Clientele seems to be luck of the draw - our first CTN was like that - the rudest bunch of people I had ever seen. The next year was completely different. Last fall the Liberty was mostly great but about 20% seemed to be like you described - not the case on our July sailing where almost everyone was wonderful.

 

We are booked for the Glory in January and hope the declining service trend we saw was a fluke and doesn't continue. I am pretty loyal to Carnival - it will be our 6th in just over 2 years - but if we experience it getting any worse we might reconsider cruise lines. :( And I'm one of those people who loves Carnival. I did make sure I put on my comment card last time that the staff cuts are showing. :(

[tampacruiser]

As you departed on 11/1 I was boarding the same ship and I agree with your review....some strange people, mediocre food, mediocre entertainment but a a great ship, a clean ship and great staff! I look at it this way....I got a balcony room for 4 on the Lido deck for only 1900.00 tax, port, and fuel surcharge included....I am used to paying 3000-4000 for my family to cruise on Royal Carribean and Holland America. For what I paid it was a great deal and a great vacation, if I paid more I may have been really disappointed. I look at it like this. Sometimes I need a nice suit and I go to Macys and sometimes I need a cheap pair of shorts and I go to Walmart. This cruise was Walmart, it was cheap, it satisfied the need for a cruise vacation, but I went in with Walmart expectations due to the lower price. If my expectations were higher it would have been a terrible week, but I aimed low and actually came in slightly higer than target and was pleasantly surprised!