Carnival Liberty Mini Review Nov 8-15th

[mj]

Just got off the Carnival Liberty today and had a wonderful time. Great weather throughout the cruise; however it did rain a couple of hours in Ocho Rios, but that was it.

 

Thought I would just give the good and the bad and just see if you have any questions

 

Pros

 

1. Dining Room and Room Steward -Had one of the best room stewards and dining room teams on cruise. They were very good and attentive

 

2. The food overall was well prepared and good.

 

3. Loved the VIP Check in - Got to the port at 11:15am and was on the ship in fifteen minutes. This was my first cruise as platinum and loved bypassing the line. Overall, lot of nice perks

 

4. The shows were generally good.

 

 

Cons

 

1. Cutbacks in food area as I did not see the pasta station and frut punch. Thank God they still had the hot chocolate.

 

2. Ran into more rude passengers on this cruise Seemed like more people cutting in front of passengers in he buffet line, and on the first night had the rudest of tablemates(the person left after the first night). She basically was rude to the waiter and accused him of rushing her and also yelled at the photographer. It was quite embarassing.

 

 

 

Overall

 

Disembarkation for self assist started at 7:30am and Zone 1 was called at 8 20 and was at the airport at 9:00. Overall a good cruise and looking forward to my next cruise on the Glory.

 

 

I will be happy to entertain any questions that you may have

[pursediva]

We sailed the Liberty Nov 1-8, we loved her too!! Wish I could go back today, right? are you going to post a full review? I would love to hear all the details about your trip!

[cruzmax]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise! We were on Valor in August this year and loved it. We are planning on cruising Liberty in Feb.

On Valor, they had a 'stir-fry' area with choice of 3 meats and lots of veggies to choose. Does Liberty have that, near the Lido buffet?

Thanks

Pam

[mj]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise! We were on Valor in August this year and loved it. We are planning on cruising Liberty in Feb.

On Valor, they had a 'stir-fry' area with choice of 3 meats and lots of veggies to choose. Does Liberty have that, near the Lido buffet?

Thanks

Pam

 

Yes, it was at the front part of the lido deck.

[mj]

Here is the review in more detail as I had a chance to recover from the travel day.

 

Background

This was my 10th cruise with Carnival(16th overall). Was travelling solo on this cruise and this was the 4th time traveling by myself. My coworkers think that I am crazy for wanting to traveling solo, but to me it is enjoyable. Also, work had been very stressful and was looking forward to have a chance to relax.

Had sailed on the Liberty in October 07 on the six night cruise and for the first time actually repeated a ship. Chose the ship for the price and actually liked the ports. Had a nice balance of sea days and ports.

 

Precruise

Had a 6pm flight out of Charlotte on US Air and arrived into Miami around 8pm. Got my luggage and hailed a taxi and got to the Intercontinental around 8pm. I have stayed at the hotel before and very lovely. Also very expensive; however I had a free night. Checked in and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. Had a Deluxe Harbour view and was looking forward to seeing the ships the next morning. This was the first time that I had a room that would have a view of the ships arriving the next morning. Took inventory of my suitcase to discover that I had left my sunglasses at home. Oh well, a trip to Walgreens the next morning.

 

Embarkation Day

Woke up at 8am and then made my stroll to Walgreens to pick up the sunglasses. Everybody else was shopping in there as well. Made my way back to the hotel and got some coffee from Starbucks and a something to eat to hold me over to the ship. Got a taxi around 11am(cost around $10) and arrived at the port at 11:15am. Gave the luggage to the porter and got in the VIP line for luggage screening and then to the VIP lounge and checked in very quickly. The lady was very friendly and stated boarding would be in 5 minutes. Perfect timing. We were then told that boarding would commence and was shown the way. However, I had to wait as some large group got to get on board first, but that was very quick. Was onboard in 15 minutes, all in all, very quick and efficient.

 

The rooms would not be ready until 1:30. Ran into something that frustrated me. Decided that I would read a couple of hours and begin my vacation. When reading, I like to find a place to hide and read. Went on deck to discover that the deck chairs were locked down and could not take one and remove it. So I went down where the back pool area was and started reading. It was good for awhile, but then it started getting crowded. One lady got right behind my deck chair and started doing a cattle call for her children. It was so loud! I just looked at her and she did apologize once she saw me.

 

Around 1:30, went to check out my room and drop off my luggage. My room was 1207 and was located at the front of the ship. Had two porthole windows, which was good. Had one bed and a sofa bed. All in all, very pleased and spacious for this solo traveler. Definitely would pick this room again. Went for some lunch on the lido deck, and it was very good. This was when I discovered that there was no fruit punch and did not see the pasta station. Two of my favorite things for lunch were taken away. All in all, you still have a lot of choices, but two of mine were taken away.

 

Did the muster drill and was one of the best. Was in Muster Station A and was in front a big fan blowing nice cool air during the drill. Very nice. Then took the lifejacket and went on deck for sailaway. Miami is one of my favorite places to sail from. Then went back to the room and watched some college football.

 

Meet my room steward, Roque, and was very nice and professional. He did an outstanding job the whole week and was very friendly and from day 1, addressed me by name.

Had second seating at 8:15pm at the Golden dining room. There is one thing that makes me nervous. Who will be my tablemates for the week? Not had much luck in that area lately and tonight was no exception. Was at table 211 , which was a booth for four. The only one to show up was this one individual, who showed up twenty minutes late. She had trouble finding the dining room as she thought that it was the aft dining room and like a lot of people have trouble finding it. Then she found out that was the wrong one and came to the Golden dining room. This is when it got interesting.

 

The waiter greeted her and gave her a menu. He came back to take her order. She quickly replied that was not ready to order and not to rush her. A little while later, a photographer came by to take picture and basically said “Don’t you even think of taking my picture.” That photographer scurried away and never showed up the rest of the week. There was a mixup in her order on the appetizers and then she scolded the waiter. Thought this was rude the way she handled it and felt bad for the waiter.

 

After dinner, the waiter asked me how she was, and I said, it takes some getting used to. Fortunately, I found out the next night that she had switched tables. I don’t know who was happier, me of the waiter. He and his assistant, provided excellent service throughout the week.

 

Had a good dinner, which consisted of a NY strip stea. This was prepared as I had ordered, which was medium rare and the vanilla crème brulee for dessert. I made the comment that crème brulee was one of my favorite and he stated that to give him a 24 hour notice and it would be available for whenever I wanted it. Very nice.

Skipped the Welcome Aboard show and retired for evening.

 

More to come later.

[emmysmommy]

You were very patient with your table mate.... glad to know that for the most part everything sounds positive.

 

I love the creme brulee as well - that was nice of your waiter to let you know that he would hook you up with sufficient notice. :)

[LizaMM]

Thank You!!!

 

I can't wait to read the rest of your review!

 

As a fellow Solo cruiser I am anxiously awaiting to hear how the remainder of your dining experience went! When I have gone Solo I have always been seated at large tables with other "like" travellers.

 

I totally understand and whole heartedly agree that going on a cruise alone is one of the best experiences in life!

[BOOGALOO509]

Will be on the Liberty on March 14 for our first cruise. Thanks for the information so far, looking forward to the remainder of your review

 

Cheers.

 

John

[mj]

Day 2 (Sunday) Day at Sea

 

Woke up at 7am and had room service by 8am. Delivered very promptly. Had my coffee and this is where I miss a balcony. One of my favorite things to do is to get a cup of coffee and sit out on the balcony. However, the coffee did the trick and got ready for breakfast.

 

Did a little different this time and ate in the dining room more this cruise for breakfast. This was more relaxing than going to the Lido deck. One of the reasons that I don’t go to the dining room is when travelling with family, they are never in a hurry and by the time they are ready to go, breakfast is almost over. They also prefer the lido deck. After this cruise, I’ll have to lobby for the dining room more. Had a table for one, but was close enough to get into a pleasant conversation with a mother and daughter. This made up from the previous night. The reason that I chose to sit by myself is when they put you with a large group, sometimes you are made to feel like you’re imposing and some tables are friendly and some are not and make it feel like you are imposing.

 

After breakfast, went to the casino and made my usual contributions. Went up deck and continued reading my book and also watched some football that afternoon.

 

After a relaxing day, went to dinner and the waiter immediately told me, that the lady had switched tables. I don’t know who was happier, me or the waiter. It seemed like he was quite happy that this had occurred. This was formal night or whatever it was called now. There was supposed to be other people at the booth, but they did not show up. Had a table by myself for the rest of the week with the exception of one night(more on that later). A good amount of people dressed up for this cruise as I saw a lot of suits and ties for men and evening dresses for ladies.

 

Dinner was very good as this is Carnival’s best dinner, in my opinion. Had shrimp, pumpkin soup, two lobster tails. For dessert, had the warm melting chocolate cake, which was prepared very good. Thought the lobster tails were a good size and prepared well.

 

Didn’t attend any shows and went and watched the Sunday night game on the big screen outside on the lido deck. This was actually a good use of the big screen, but read another review where someone mentioned that most of the movies were shown at 6 and 8pm(with the exception of one), which made it inconvenient to attend. It seemed that on Caribbean Princess it was in a better location. It was not in the main hub of the ship and Princess seemed to show more movies during the day. Went to the casino and retired for the evening.

 

 

Up Next Part 3 (Cozumel)

[Irelandred11]

I was on the Liberty November 1 and loved it! Yes, there were problems (long lines for breakfast, no coffee, waiting for mugs, etc...) but that is to be expected with so many people (we were filled to capacity - I was told). I loved everything - especailly watching the election results on the lido with fellow cruise mates in the middle of the Caribbean! It was awesome!!! I told my children that we will never ever forget where we were when history was made - on a ship in the ocean! How cool is that???

[red sox girl]

love the review so far. We will be on the Liberty this Saturday:D

I hope I get to read the entire review before we leave on Thursday

[mj]

Day 3 (Cozumel)

 

Arrived in Cozumel at 8am. Was going to have a lot of time in port today as the ship was in port to 10pm. Have been to Cozumel several times, so I was in hurry to get off. It was warm but not too bad in Cozumel. Also in port was Ruby Princess. That ship looked absolutely gorgeous. Went to breakfast and the crowd was light. The service in the dining room was ok today. I find open seating to be hit and miss. It makes me wonder if open seating is the same for dinner.

 

Went on deck and continued reading. Got off the ship around 12 noon and explored the pier area that has just recently opened. Went to downtown Cozumel and looked around and then got back to the ship around 4pm. Took some pictures particularly of the Liberty and the Ruby Princess. Getting back on the ship, there was a long line. The crew from Princess was handing out towels for the passengers as they boarded the ship. For about 10 seconds, thought about getting in the Princess line. That was a nice touch. Went up to the deck and read and took some pictures of the gorgeous sunset. I would post some of those. Can someone tell me how to do this on Cruise Critic. I tried and something went wrong.

 

Got ready for dinner. The dinner for tonight was filet mignon. When talking with the waiter, he made the comment in passing that they had filet mignon tonight as to save money as most passenger swould be ashore. I found that to be an interesting comment. The crowd was light for dinner. Had some surprise guests for dinne as they had missed the early dinner. They were nice, but the guy did something unusual. He wanted his dessert first before he ordered his appetizer and entrée. He wanted the diet pumpkin pie. To each his own. The waiter stated that he did not recommend the pie, but would bring if that is what he wanted. He ate one bite and wanted the chocolate melting cake. Had tried the pumpkin pie a few years ago and found it bland. Anyway, a good dinner and had arranged for the waiter to bring my crème brulee that I had the first night and again, it was so good. That was a nice touch by the waiter.

 

After dinner, went on deck to watch the Monday Night football game. This one was not your tv, so you had to go to a bar or the Lido deck. They had a midnight comedy show, but was tired and didn’t make it.

 

Day 4 (Day at Sea)

 

I will keep this one short. Had a nice relaxing day at sea. Continued my reading and gambling. I am not one that participates in a lot of activities. Also, continued my exercise program by jogging at least a mile around the jogging track.

 

The one thing that stood out to me that day was at dinner. In passing, mentioned to the waiter about no fruit punch in the lido deck. He stated that they were just told to remove it from the lido deck and that was all he knew. He said it was available in the dining room for no charge. In my opinion, Carnival will start charging for fruit punch in the future. Some of the other lines are doing this. However, thought I’d read somewhere that were changing suppliers. We’ll see.

 

The dinner that night was very good. Had the braised short ribs and they were so tender. One observation was the portions for entrees seemed larger to me this time around. That is a good thing. One other thing that became apparent was the service of the assistant waiter. He was very good at refilling tea and water. He was also good at offering more than one cup of coffee after dinner. Had a few waiters on cruise where you were lucky to just get one cup.

 

Up next: Part 4 Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

[rebeljohn]

Enjoying your review............We had a friend that was on this cruise, her first, and we haven't heard from her yet.

[mj]

Grand Cayman

 

 

When boarding the ship, was wondering if we would make this port as the hurricane Polama had affected the Cayman Islands the previous week. However, saw people tendering and to me the water at Grand Cayman is among the most beautiful. Also, every ship on the planet was at GC. In port was a Crystal ship, Celebrity, Holland America, and Freedom of the Seas.

 

Was planning to go the beach, but didn’t feel the best and decided to stay on the ship and go to the exercise room and jogging track. When I got on the jogging track, that’s when I realized how hot it was. This was at 11am. The cruise had fabulous weather with no rain and this day was no exception.

 

You had to go to the Venetian palace to get a number to tender; however, you no longer had to do this after 10:30. Decided to go off the ship at 12 and look around GC. This is where a disappointment came as a platimum member. There was no priority tendering. Pretty much had to get in line and wait for the tender. Now it could be that I was wrong in my assumptions. Maybe it was when going to the Venetian palace and getting a tender number is where this comes to play. Got off and explored the town and tendered back and got something to eat. It was not too long before the Liberty was to sail to Jamaica.

 

The ship sailed at 4:30pm. However, Carnival also scheduled the repeat guest party at 4:30-5:15pm. I love being on deck or on a balcony to see the ship leave port. It is one of the things that still brings great enjoyment. Enjoyed seeing the Liberty leave GC and then go to the Past Guest Party at 4:55. Was able to enjoy some drinks, but thought this could have scheduled on a sea day or a better time. Got the impression that this was by design and the way Carnival intended it. Put my two cents on the comment card.

 

Had a predinner show with a juggler and a comedian. Enjoyed the juggler, but thought the comedian was ok. Not a fan of the predinner show, but the cruise director explained that there were having something called the fun hop. Went and had a good dinner and went to the casino and retired for the evening. One other observation was in the dining room the colors game they used to play on the last few cruises was gone. It was not a personal favorite of mine, but that is my opinion. Time was flying by, I thought, there is only two days left.

 

 

Jamaica

 

 

We were to be at Jamaica from 8:00 – 3:30pm. The Liberty was the only ship in port. This day felt hotter than GC. Well got on deck to read for awhile and started noticing some dark clouds. Well around 10am, it started raining and boy did it rain. I moved my deck chair under cover and that read for a little while before it started raining even harder. It was raining so hard that it was started raining on me and had to stop reading. It rained for 2 hours and finally stopped. The cruise director later commented that we got off very well as two weeks ago those passengers got a lot of rain. Got off the ship around 12:30 and bought some Christmas gifts from the Island village and got on the ship around 2:30 and had lunch and got ready for the sailaway. By this time, the sun had came back out and it was hot.

 

Had made a reservation for Harry’s Supper Club for 7pm. Had received an email before sailing that my time was confirmed. Was pleasantly surprised after reading some of the posts about having to reconfirm once on board. This was my least favorite night in the dining room, even though it is the second formal night. The food was very good as I had escargots, French onion soup, filet mignon, and the cheesecake. My biggest disappointment came with the service. This is the third time of going to a supper club and all three times have been somewhat disappointed with the service. It took over two hours and that was fine, liked the leisurely pace, but it seems the servers forget about you at times and don’t refill your drinks.

 

Now I may be flamed for this, but there was a family that had taken a small child to the supper club and was sitting nearby. The child who was 1 or 2 years old clearly was not happy all evening and everybody in the supper club knew it. They also had brought some of her toys to play with such as some phone that would ring from time to time. She would also beat on the table. The mom had to constantly take her out of the dining room as she was not happy this evening. Don’t get me wrong, the child was absolutely adorable and so cute, and the waitress that was trying to explain the various cuts of meat would almost break out laughing at times as she kept noticing the child. Maybe I am wrong on this, but think of Harry’s Supper Club as being more for adults. RCCL used to have a limit of 13 or older for their premium restaurants and put that suggestion on the card. It certainly did not have a relaxing atmosphere that a premium restaurant should have and took away from the experience.

 

After Harrys, went and saw the production show Rock On. Had seen this on previous ships and was still very enjoyable to watch again. Retired for the evening and got ready for the last day at sea.

 

Up Next (Final Day at Sea and Debarkation)

[BullDogChief]

Now I may be flamed for this, but there was a family that had taken a small child to the supper club and was sitting nearby. The child who was 1 or 2 years old clearly was not happy all evening and everybody in the supper club knew it. They also had brought some of her toys to play with such as some phone that would ring from time to time. She would also beat on the table. The mom had to constantly take her out of the dining room as she was not happy this evening. Don’t get me wrong, the child was absolutely adorable and so cute, and the waitress that was trying to explain the various cuts of meat would almost break out laughing at times as she kept noticing the child. Maybe I am wrong on this, but think of Harry’s Supper Club as being more for adults. RCCL used to have a limit of 13 or older for their premium restaurants and put that suggestion on the card. It certainly did not have a relaxing atmosphere that a premium restaurant should have and took away from the experience.

 

We were on Liberty 1 - 8 Nov and made reservations for Harry's as well. I'm sorry your service wasn't the best because ours was impeccable. We, too, experienced an unruly child during our dinner. Initially we were seated next to a couple with a three year old who was not happy, to put it mildly. He was banging on the table, screaming and running around. We asked to be re-seated and the hostess was very gracious to the point I felt bad for asking to be moved.

 

The bar waitress showed up and told us to not worry because the couple directly to our left had also asked to be moved away from this child. What got me was they seated a third couple next to this child and when even they asked to be moved the hostess finally asked the couple to leave Harry's. I was impressed with the way she handled the situation even after the couple became indignant and threatened to report her to Carnival??? :confused::rolleyes:

 

I firmly agree with you that children do not belong in Harry's. We try to cruise during the winter months to avoid the huge crowds of kids...I said that earlier here and got flamed for it so I am not going to relate my feelings on this hot topic.

[KULPN]

Thanks so much for your review! I am going on the Liberty Nov 29 but to the East Caribbean. Did you have any problems with your cabin temperature? I had read some posts that said they were too hot & also some posts that said that 2 of the hot tubs were empty the entire cruise & a smell of sewer present in the halls. I am surely hoping these are all resolved.

[mj]

Thanks so much for your review! I am going on the Liberty Nov 29 but to the East Caribbean. Did you have any problems with your cabin temperature? I had read some posts that said they were too hot & also some posts that said that 2 of the hot tubs were empty the entire cruise & a smell of sewer present in the halls. I am surely hoping these are all resolved.

 

1. I didn't have any problem with the cabin temperature. It was just fine with me. I am generally a hot-natured person.

 

2. I did see during the cruise one hot tub that was empty, consistently. It was near the slide area.

 

3. Did not smell anything out of the ordinary.

[mj]

Part 5 (Final Day at Sea and Debarkation)

 

Final Day at Sea (Friday)

Well the final sea day was here. Meant you had to start packing. Well, actually had packed up a good bit the night before to make it easier. Don’t like to wait to the last minute to do things. In my mailbox around 8am received a letter stating platinum debarkation option. You could meet at the Venetian lounge at 7:20 for self-assist or uses the luggage tags and be in zone 1. I had a 11:30 flight, and was not sure which to do.

 

Used the sea day to gamble and finish reading the books onboard and just had an overall relaxing day at sea. Thought how fast this cruise had flown by and had to be back at work on Monday. I wanted to stay onboard. Finished packing and got ready for dinner. Tonight was prime rib and the soufflé and all was good. Took pictures of my wait staff and thanked them for a wonderful week. Went to the casino for the evening and played blackjack. The show was the Legends show and so decided to go to the casino instead. Decided against the self assist and put my luggage outside and turned in for the evening.

 

Debarkation (Saturday)

 

Woke up at 6:30am to get ready to debark and hope nothing delayed customs. Went to breakfast and they started call self-assist at 7:30. Went back to my room to get my bag and they called zone 1 at around 8:20. The line moved pretty quickly and got into baggage claim area.

 

As noted by others, your baggage is now done like the airport. I personally prefer the old method of just collecting your luggage. Now, was surprised that several zones were on the baggage carrousel. Did not immediately see my luggage. Had to wait 10 minutes before finally seeing come around. Collected my bag and found a friendly porter. This was when it go interesting for a moment.

 

There was virtually no line for customs. However; a porter was behind me with a lot of luggage. The next thing I know the lady yelled at the porter and accused him of trying to run over her daughter. Man, was she yelling. Then, the dad jumped in the conversation and was yelling at the top of his voice. Then he yelled at the customs agent for doing nothing. Then they went on their way. Don’t know who was at fault. Caught a taxi and was at the airport at 9am and security was a breeze. Hardly no one in line. Had a good flight home and thought of the wonderful memories that I had on the Liberty.

 

Overall, a very good cruise and looking forward to my next cruise on either the Glory or Freedom.

[scperk]

I have a question, does the Liberty have the big screen TV out on the pool deck?...It was not there when I was on it in Feb 07......Dennis

[cuyahoga11]

I have a question, does the Liberty have the big screen TV out on the pool deck?...It was not there when I was on it in Feb 07......Dennis

 

 

From MJ's review

 

 

Didn’t attend any shows and went and watched the Sunday night game on the big screen outside on the lido deck. This was actually a good use of the big screen, but read another review where someone mentioned that most of the movies were shown at 6 and 8pm(with the exception of one), which made it inconvenient to attend. It seemed that on Caribbean Princess it was in a better location. It was not in the main hub of the ship and Princess seemed to show more movies during the day. Went to the casino and retired for the evening.

[LizaMM]

I have a question, does the Liberty have the big screen TV out on the pool deck?...It was not there when I was on it in Feb 07......Dennis

 

???? I had thought that the Liberty was actually the first ship that debuted with the Big Screen on the Lido Deck for Carnival:rolleyes:

 

Doe not really matter since we know it is there now but just a curiosity

[BOOGALOO509]

MJ.

 

Many thanks for your review, it has made us both wish ours was here now. Still only 113 days to go.

 

Regards.

 

John

[PaddleAddict]

???? I had thought that the Liberty was actually the first ship that debuted with the Big Screen on the Lido Deck for Carnival:rolleyes:

 

Doe not really matter since we know it is there now but just a curiosity

 

I am pretty positive that it was there during our Oct. 2007 cruise.

[G'ma]

???? I had thought that the Liberty was actually the first ship that debuted with the Big Screen on the Lido Deck for Carnival:rolleyes:

 

Doe not really matter since we know it is there now but just a curiosity

 

Liberty has always had the big screeen. It was the 1st Carnival ship to have one. It was launched in 2005.

 

Carnival Liberty is a Conquest Class cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Lines. She was built by Fincantieri in Italy. She was the first Carnival ship to feature Carnival's Seaside Theater —a 12-foot (3.7 m) high by 22-foot (6.7 m) wide LED screen located by the midship pool on the Lido deck, which is used to show movies, sporting events, and concerts

[scperk]

I am pretty positive that it was there during our Oct. 2007 cruise.

Yes it's there, I went back and looked at the virtual tour and it's there...But it looks like the canvas screening around the top deck is back, is there minature golf there now????????...There is no need for you G'ma to respond to ANY of my post, I have you on IGNORE and I can't see any of your post..........Dennis