Review - Carnival Liberty June 28th - LONG

For those of you who are not familiar with my story that I posted on here on the morning of June 28th I will do a quick recap. My husband and I were booked on the Liberty along with my parents. This was our second cruise and my parents first - it was their first vacation in many many years, and their first Caribbean vacation ever. My husband and I stayed over at my parents the night before we were to leave - we had a 6:20 a.m. flight from Toronto direct to Miami that was to arrive at 9:15 a.m. My parents live about an hour from the airport - so we were going to leave their house at 3:00 a.m. to be at the airport for 4:00 a.m. I was the first one ready so I decided to go online and ensure the flight was leaving on time when I saw the horrific word DELAYED. I had a conversation with myself in my head – “ok even if the flight is delayed a few hours we are ok” Then I scrolled over to the right and saw that our new departure time was 1:15 p.m. – that would put us into Miami after 4:00 – which means we would miss the boat. I still wasn’t panicked at this point – Toronto is a major international airport – we will be able to get another flight. That was not the case – there were no other flights to Miami and our original plane had a mechanical error – no other connecting flights that would get us there in time. We were desperate – willing to drive to Buffalo and take a flight from there – nothing available. I was getting no where with the airline – Carnival was not able to help much (we booked the airfare though them – which makes them responsible to get us to the boat). The first port of call for our cruise was Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas – this is a small private island which means there is no airport there – so the earliest we would be able to meet the boat would be Tuesday in St. Thomas. For me at this point missing half of the cruise was not something I wanted to do. Our travel agent is a close family friend – so she was the recipient of a phone call at 3:20 a.m. as I wanted her advice. I left things in her hands and waited for her call. It was a very sad household while we were waiting for her to call back to tell us our fate. We realized – as did our agent – that there were two other carnival ships with 7 day itineraries leaving out of Miami on Sunday – and Carnival was willing to put us on one of those ships if they had the space – HOWEVER their system was down for maintenance until 7:00 a.m. and we would have to wait. Let me tell you it was a VERY LONG 3 hours waiting – only to find out Carnival’s system was going to be down until 9:00 a.m. We were feeling cautiously optimistic about getting on one of the boats for Sunday – and we decided to head to the airport at 8:30 – so we would be on the road to catch the 1:15 p.m. flight. Our agent called the cell around 9:15 – NO AVAILABILITY on the ships for Sunday. At that point we decided to accept our fate – take the refund and re book for another time. It was a VERY quiet car ride. Then we decided to make lemons out of lemonade and called our agent – spend a couple of days in St. Thomas and meet the boat there. So after many hours we were booked to fly to Miami on Sunday morning – then on to St. Thomas. We spent Saturday by the BBQ and trying to keep our spirits up. Our dogs were happy to have us back home for one more day.

Sunday morning came and it was like Groundhog Day – we had a 9:00 flight out of Toronto to Miami and then Miami to St. Thomas – we would arrive in St. Thomas shortly after 8:00 p.m. and we were going to be staying at the Holiday Inn – which looked quite nice online. To our surprise we were flying in Business Class that day. We boarded and got settled – pulled away from the gate about 100 feet and sat there. After about 10 min the pilot came on and said we would be pulling back up to the gate as one of the engines appeared to be leaking – he ensured us that most times this is due to a “sticky valve” and that maintenance was coming out and we should be on our way shortly. The flight attendants said they would put a movie on for us to pass the time – Unfortunately it was in Spanish – so we would not be watching that. Maintenance arrived and were probably working on the plane for 40 min to an hour – we were getting concerned – what are the odds that this plane was not going to get to Miami in time for our connecting flight to St. Thomas ??????? Finally the pilot came on and announced we were going to be on our way. The rest of the trip to St. Thomas went as planned – with the exception of quite a bit of turbulence due to a storm on our way in to St. Thomas.

We arrived in St. Thomas shortly after 8:00 p.m. – it was VERY dark and raining L We got our luggage and were “herded” into a cab/van with 8 other people. The cab/van drivers were VERY rude and pushed as many people into the cab/van as they could – we were all pretty much sitting on top of each other. The Holiday Inn was the first stop – it was not very far from the airport at all and we were charged $10 / person for the trip – even though it was clearly posted at the airport that it should be $6 /person. As I mentioned the driver was very rude – and it just wasn’t worth arguing with him – but after a long day he was not doing anything to lift my spirits. Checking in at the hotel was ok – however no one seemed overly friendly. The hotel looked nice enough from the outside – nothing spectacular however once inside the room it was very dated and not so clean. We dropped our luggage and went down to check out the casino and restaurant – The restaurant was pretty much closed and the casino consisted of some dated Video Poker Terminals. My dad and husband went down to the bar – mom and I decided to go shower and clean up and get in our PJ’s and order some room service.

The next morning we were up early and we watched two carnival ships coming into port in St. Thomas – I WANTED TO BE ON THOSE SHIPS. We went down and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and decided to go explore St. Thomas. We decided to go and check out the pier so we knew where we were going to be going the next morning – and maybe rent a car so we could see the sights. We took an open air taxi to the pier with some other locals - $1.00 per person. We got off at the pier and were looking for the rental car place. This was very frustrating as about 20 different people were vying for our business for private tours and taxis. Remembering our experience from the night before coming from the airport I was annoyed and not at all interested. We found the car rental places and neither had a car available for us to rent. One female private tour operator had had her eye on us – and even stopped traffic for us to cross the street to go to the car rental place. She was waiting for us when we came out of the rental place and she offered to take the 4 of us on a private tour of the island – stopping at all of the “highlights” – then drop us at Magen’s Bay Beach for as long as we wanted and pick us back up and take us to our hotel. We negotiated a price with her and we were on our way. It was nice to have our own private open air taxi and tour guide. The first stop we requested was the flea market so my husband and mom could get sun hats – we shopped for a half hour or so and then we were off. Not to long after our tour started we were VERY happy that we were not able to rent a car – the roads were narrow – windy and steep – but our guide knew them well and handled them like a pro – stopping at all of the breathtaking views for us to take pictures while she explained the history of the island. I don’t think we could have asked for a better tour. Then it was on to the beach for a few hours of fun in the sun. The beach was wonderful and it’s easy to tell why this is one of the top rated beaches in the world. We enjoyed some lunch and VERY strong daiquiris as well as a visit and photo op from a local Iguana before we headed back to the beach. Our tour guide returned promptly at the pre arranged time and took us back to the hotel. It was late afternoon and we decided to hang out at the hotel pool for a while – however the bars were closed and once again the staff was not overly friendly. Should we ever get “stranded” in St. Thomas again it will be worth the money to stay at the Marriott – it looks gorgeous. Around 4:15 my husband and I decided to go into town and check out the shops. We walked as it was not that far – we were “offered” taxi rides about once every 90 seconds – it must have been a slow day. We could not get over the fact that there must have been 25 jewellery stores in a two block radius – I know there are no taxes and the prices are good – but I don’t know how they all stay in business – EXPECIALLY since they all close at 5:00 – needless to say we didn’t have much time to shop – which was ok as we weren’t in the market for any high end jewellery. Headed back to the hotel and met up with my parents and walked back to town and went to the Greenhouse restaurant. It was 2 for 1 drinks and the food was GREAT ! Headed back to the hotel and realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to be out on the streets in the area we were in – LOL. The out door bar was open – so hubby and dad hung out there for a while – mom and I went back to the room to relax.

We had pre arranged for our tour guide from the day before to pick us up at 7:30 on Tuesday morning and take us to the pier. We knew the ship was scheduled to be in port for 8:00 a.m. however the previous day the ships had come in a little earlier so we were mildly concerned when at 7:35 we had not yet seen our ship approaching the pier. Shortly after that we saw her coming in around the corner hugging the island – I had a VERY HUGE smile on my face. We loaded into our taxi and we were on our way. Our driver drove us straight up to the boat and we unloaded our luggage. It took a little while for the ship to clear customs and a passenger was being off loaded into an ambulance L (we didn’t hear anything about this – but I hope everything turned out ok) Then we were allowed to board the ship – I had thought someone would come down and assist us with our luggage – but that didn’t happen. We had all of our bags scanned and were sent up to the pursers desk. Checking in didn’t take very long and we were instructed to take our bags to our staterooms and one of the assistant pursers would come with us and show us our muster station. Again I was a little disappointed that we didn’t receive and assistance with our luggage but I was so pleased to FINALLY be on the boat. Mom and I had a tour booked for 8:00 a.m. – but we knew we were not going to make it and were being refunded for that – as well as the tours we had missed at Half Moon Cay and each of us for the first 3 days of our cruise. This was good as it would more than cover our expenses from St. Thomas and give us a little extra to spend on board. We were all STARVING so we decided to head to the breakfast buffet. My husband and I were thrilled that the Liberty had the same offering of morning apple Danish as the Triumph did from 2 ½ years ago – LOL – it’s the simple things that make us happy. After breakfast we went on a tour of the ship – she is VERY similar to the Triumph so we felt at home in no time. We went up to the spa and gym for a poke around. Mom and I decided to treat ourselves to the daily in port spa special since we had already seen St. Thomas and booked in for facials and massages for 3:00 p.m. We all headed to our rooms to un pack. We had side by side inside rooms on deck 10 Panorama. Our Cabin Steward, Natan was there to greet us and wanted to let us know he was there if there was anything we needed. The boys had an excursion booked for 1:00 so they decided to go for a workout in the gym before hand and mom and I decided to go and check out the shops right at the pier before our spa treatments. We did some shopping (picked up a souvenir for my dog – yes they have a pet shop near the pier) went back to the ship for some lunch and a swim and then off to the Spa. This was my first experience with the Carnival Spa’s and I was very happy with my facial and massage. I had a pleasant conversation with Rose who did my treatments and felt very relaxed. We used the hot tub in the gym before heading back to the rooms to get ready for dinner. We met up with the guys who were raving about their tour – they had done the BOSS Underwater Adventure that we had pre booked through Carnival. This was a tour where you get your own underwater motor scooter and dive helmet. They said this was AMAZING and that they had stopped to snorkel as well and it was also AMAZING – they couldn’t stop raving about it.

I was very excited to go to the dining room – we had the early seating. On our previous cruise on the Triumph we had amazing wait staff that made going to dinner a full experience. We had a table of four to ourselves which was nice. The drink coupons I had pre purchased through Bon Voyage for my dad were delivered shortly after we sat down. Then our waiter arrived. He was not what I had anticipated. He was not mean or rude. But he was not fun or charismatic and he almost seemed annoyed that we had FINALLY shown up. The selections on the menu that night did not really appeal to my taste – so I had asked him if I could have something different – as I knew I had been able to do before and had read here on the boards that I could do. I was told no – I could not do that – that Carnival had changed their policy 3 weeks ago in an attempt to save money and I could order off the menu or go to the buffet. I opted to order something off the menu – and it was wonderful – but the way our waiter spoke to us was just strange. We all enjoyed our meals and went back to the room to change into something more comfortable. My husband and I agreed that the service in the dining room was “off” but we would see what tomorrow brought. My husband and I decided to go and play Bingo and check out the show – which was a Frank Sinatra / Sammy Davis Tribute. We rushed in and bought a bingo card just as they were about to call the first number. I thought we were playing for a full card – but discovered we were only playing for a line and was amazed that we got a line and hollered Bingo. It was an $800 jackpot split between myself and two others – so I walked away with $270 – OUR LUCK WAS CHANGING. Stayed for the show which was fun and very much up my husband’s alley. Then we went and spent a little time in the casino before heading to bed – we had an early morning in San Juan !

We were up early and had breakfast as we had an 8:00 a.m. excursion for the four of us – City and Bacardi Rum Tour. We weren’t even out of the cruise terminal and they were offering us our first taste of rum – we passed. We had another excellent tour guide who pointed out lots of great historical spots on our way to the Bacardi factory. Once at the Bacardi Factory we were once again offered tickets for rum drinks – we decided to wait until we returned after the tour. Saw the rum factory which was interesting and enjoyed some rum punch and mojitos before getting back on the bus. We stopped at the St. Cristobal Fortress and spent about an hour there exploring. I think this was one of the highlights of the trip for my husband and we got some great photos. We reboarded the bus and headed back towards the pier – my husband opted to get off the bus to check out the local shopping – while the rest of us went back to the ship to grab a bite and cool off (the rum drinks were sitting there on the tummy and I needed a bite). We spent the balance of the afternoon exploring more of the ship before getting ready for our second night in the dining room. Once again the food in the dining room was great – the service and the demeanour of our waiter was not. Knowing what a great experience we had had previously I decided to quietly speak to the Maitre’d and see if we could get a different seating assignment changed for the last two nights. I explained that our waiter had not been rude – but he just seemed miserable and we were looking for a different experience. He was very accommodating and we were assigned a new table for the next night. That evening we went to see the juggler and comedian. They were both excellent!!!

The next morning we arrived in Grand Turk around 10:30. When we saw the beach at the pier it took our breath away – it was gorgeous. My husband and I had an excursion booked for 11:00 and we thoroughly enjoyed it. This excursion was the “Aquaboats”. We were met at the pier by “Captain Jack” who was actually from New Jersey – but moved to Grand Turk 8 years ago after being there to help build the pier – and taken on a short bus ride to a beach where we got in our 2 man aquaboat. An Aqua boat is basically a heavy duty dingy with an outboard motor. This was a great excursion!!!! Now as our luck would have it our boat would not start after we had stopped to snorkel – but our guides looked after us and got us another boat. We then followed our guides to a beach where we parked our boats and swam. We then headed back to the original launching beach and got back on the bus to the pier. There are a few shops near the pier but that was the only real shopping on this island. We shopped around a bit – I bought a beautiful tanzanite and crushed opal ring and we saw my parents off on their 4X4 safari and we headed back to the boat for some lunch and a nap – LOL.

We headed to dinner and were greeted by our new waiter Supardi (probably not spelled right) who was very welcoming and fun and seemed happy to have us. I got up and joined him in the dance during “dinner Showtime” and thoroughly enjoyed his service and demeanour. After dinner we went to hang out in the piano bar - which to my disappointment was not very busy so it was kind of quiet. We got to meet and talk to the “Piano Man” so that was nice – but I would have loved a livelier larger crowd with a big old sing along. At midnight we went to see the comedian from the night before do his “adult” show which did not disappoint. Then we went to check out the late night gala buffet before calling it a night.

Our final day (couldn’t believe it was here already) was a “Fun day at Sea” and since we hadn’t had one of those yet we spent the day hopping around the ship from one activity to another trying to pack it all in J Our final dinner was again made very enjoyable by our waiter – however I do have to say the bar service was VERY slow and we were almost eating our main course before our first drinks arrived. At a table beside us was a mom – grandparents and 4 children. Towards the end of dinner the one young girl, around 10 or 11 started to cry. Her grandmother told me it was because she was sad that the trip was over – she had been having a good time and didn’t want to leave and say good bye to the waiter etc. I’m very emotional and after all we had been through I didn’t want our vacation to be over either – so this got me teared up as well – LOL . We attended the legends show and went to try our luck in the Casino one last time. I won on the 0.02 slots if you can believe it – Hubby had last min luck at the Texas Hold ‘Em Table. We headed for a final late night walk on the Lido deck – got a frozen yogurt and went to bed. The beds on the ship are SOOOOOOOOOOO comfortable – we both slept like logs all 4 nights.

We had a late afternoon flight out of Miami – so we had booked an excursion to the Seaquarium in Miami for the following day. We had breakfast and were among the first to debark. We did have one small hiccup – we were told any of our OBC that was not used was fully refundable and we would receive a cheque on the morning of debarkation. This was great news as it would go towards our expenses in St. Thomas. We received a cheque in our room no problem – however my parents did not. When they went to the pursers desk to ask why they were told that theirs was not refundable – so we had to make two more visits to the desk and wait for the head purser and then the refund was given – WHEW !

We left the ship around 9:00 a.m. and our tour guide met us – took our luggage and we were off on a brief tour of Miami and to the Seaquarium. It was a VERY hot day – but the seaquarium was great and we enjoyed it.

Arrived at the airport in lots of time. Had several conflicts checking in – took an hour and a half – it was one debacle after another – finally got everything straightened out and got to our gate. Freshened up in the ladies room – had something to eat and was ready to get on the plane and go home. We were supposed to fly to Chicago and then a 50 min stop over and then on to Toronto. We were lined up on the bridge ready to board and the crew asked us to turn around and go back into the terminal – THERE WAS A MECHANICAL ERROR. After a while it became clear we were NOT going to meet our connecting flight in Chicago. The airline staff (I know I have not mentioned their name yet in this review) were less than helpful and at one point they all left to go on a break. We went to another gate and found out we could get on a direct flight home that night – with no luggage – or go to Chicago at some point when our flight got off the ground but there was no connecting flight until 7:00 the next morning – and it may have been full. We opted to get on the direct flight home – who needs luggage at the end of the trip anyway ????? Our luggage was delivered the next night at 9:30 p.m.

When we look back we call this the “Oreo trip” either end was black – but the middle was bright with lots of memories. The Liberty was great for the most part – wish we had of been on her longer – I still have a heavy feeling in my heart because we missed the first three days – but overall we had a fun much needed vacation.

Great review! I really admire your ability about being able to make "lemonade out of lemons!" You sure had your share of lemons. I hope your next cruise is "perfect", with your attitude you deserve it!

I'm glad you were able to salvage a portion of your trip and enjoy it. I hope if I am ever in this same boat I will be able to handle it as well as you. Its sad the airline industry as a whole cares so little about its customers.

I applaud your attitude...and I'm glad you had some happy memories--both with your hubby and your parents :)

Believe me, many of us feel horrible for your trials and tribulations. :(

But thanks for posting it all. Already I've seen numerous people posting about changing their plans of flying in the same day. So you've no doubt saved some people from what you went through.

Glad to hear you won a little ( :eek: ) at the Casino -- I've never been that lucky.

Best wishes for smooth sailing on your next trip!! :D

Wow!!!!

I'm glad to see you made a wonderful wine from less than perfect grapes. Like you, I would have done everything in my power to preserve my vacation. Wonderful review.

Wow, what a rocky start and end. Glad the middle was full of good things. We always fly in a day ahead and even that has been hairy. My DH swears he'll take shorter cruises and fly in 2 days ahead. too nerve racking for our old hearts.

Did you parents enjoy their cruise dispite all the problems. Will they cruise again. Thanks so much for updating us.. we've all been worried about you made out.

So glad to read your about your "oreo trip". Had been waiting to see how the cruise part went, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hope your next vacation goes a bit smoother with the air travel - thanks for the review!

Thanks so much for the review. You did exactly what I would have done by making the best of it. I am sure this is cruise you and your family will never forget.

Donna:D

Towards the end of dinner the one young girl, around 10 or 11 started to cry. Her grandmother told me it was because she was sad that the trip was over – she had been having a good time and didn’t want to leave and say good bye to the waiter etc. I’m very emotional and after all we had been through I didn’t want our vacation to be over either – so this got me teared up as well – LOL .

Great review! I admire your spirit!

On one of our cruises a while back there was a little boy and his Grandmother in the ladies restroom near the dining room. Dinner had just ended on the last night and he was crying and crying. His Grandmother was trying to comfort him and she explained to us that he was sad the trip was over and he was going to especially miss the dining room. I thought it was the sweetest thing. I was tempted to join in too!

I am SO STINKIN' GLAD for you that you ended up having a great experience. Good for you for going to the spa! Good for you for talking to the Maitre 'D (I'll keep that in mind when I cruise Liberty here in just about 2 months!) GOOD FOR YOU for enjoying your excursions, and

GOOD FOR YOU for making the proverbial lemonade out of lemons. I would have been devastated, too, but you found your way out of a BIG problem and had fun. I hope your mom & dad enjoyed themselves and you're now planning your next cruise!

So happy for you!

I would have been bald by the time I got home if I had the same experience as you!

I admire your spirit and patience.

I have learned one thing though, FLY IN 5 DAYS BEFORE YOUR CRUISE DEPARTS!

I find it odd that your original waiter would tell you no when you requested something else other than the menu.

I would question that.

Anyone have that experience?

Thanks for your review.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with all of us. I am so glad that you were able to enjoy your cruise. If I had to pick a place to "wait for my ship to come in", I don't think I could pick a lovelier place! :)

I'm sure many people are rethinking their travel plans after reading about your adventure.

Welcome back from your trip...many wishes for smooth sailing next time!

WOW what an experience:eek: You sure did go through a lot. It sounds like you had a great time though. Your review was great. We are flying in the day of (7 of us) and I am so worried that something will happen. With the Airline prices today, it was tough finding decent airfare for the seven of us. My husband and I usually do fly in the day before,but this trip we were not able to. I will keep my hopes up. Thanks again for your review.

Enjoyed your review.............glad to hear that all was not bad, and you could enjoy some of the trip.........Thanks for taking the time to post your experience..........

Thanks to everyone for caring so much !!

One thing I forgot to add to my post was that the funniest thing happened on the last night of the cruise - my parents had left the dining room before us and we were making our way back to get changed after dinner and for some reason we decided to walk through the other dining room and they were just sending out the last few straggalers from the first seating and setting the table for the second seating. All of a sudden - right in front of us was our FABULOUS waiter from our first cruise AND he remembered us !!!!! It was such a strange experience. We took a picture with him - and compared it when we got home to the picture from our original cruise. Also - he wasn't just saying he remembered us - he gave actual details the made us know he remembered us - what a wonderful feeling. I may add this as a seperate post.

Wow is the only word I can think of right now. You really have a great attitude about the whole thing and I want to thank you for taking the time to share your experience :)

I'm glad you were able to enjoy some of your trip. I was wondering though, was there any trouble boarding in St. Thomas since you didn't have the required sail & sign card to get on the ship?

We had no problems boarding - the security there had our names an was expecting us. We just had to show our passports - have our luggage scanned and went to the pursers desk where they had our sail and sign cards waiting.

I had filled out all the documents online for all of us before we boarded but I think they are familiar with these kind of situations.

I hope your next vacation goes much smoother!

Thanks for posting your story. You do have a wonderful attitude. I hope that you never have to go through anything like that again. I'm very glad you won BINGO!

wow, what a trip! I really admire you for being able to stay positive; I'm not sure I would have been able to do so!

I am so glad your trip turned out so well. You had lots of people praying for you.

Could I please ask about the Sea aquarium in Miami? Was it worth it?

I was following your earlier thread, and I'm so glad to see that you were able to get at least a partial vacation. You have a wonderful attitude, and I've learned that can make a world of difference in life.

Thanks for sharing your detailed review. I enjoyed reading it. I hope you get the full 7 day cruise experience soon. You certainly deserve it.

I felt the Seaquarium was worth it - I think it was only $39 and that included storing or luggage and taking us to the airport

They run shows for the various pavilions back to back so you go from one pavillion to the next - we were there from 9:30 - 1:30 and were able to see everything. The one thing I really liked about this was that they do rescue a lot of the animals they have there.

I would have loved to have done the dolphin swim as it's something I have never done (Did the dolphin encounter 2 1/2 years ago in Jamaica) however it was pre sold out. It was $199 for a minimum of 30 minutes in the water.

If you go there the one thing I would recommend is go right from one pavillion to the next as seating becomes limited.