First cruise on the Liberty

I'll try to make this short. Returned from the Liberty last week. This was my second cruise ever as my first was on the Victory in May of this year. We enjoyed it so much that we just had to do another.

We stayed in Orlando a few days before and got to enjoy Universal, Disney, and Seaworld. Great times! One thing I do not particularly like is the proximity from Orlando to Canaveral. It is far, expensive, and inconvenient to travel to. In May, I stayed in Miami, and that port was much easier to get to. May or may not affect my future bookings.

Last time, we had a balcony room, and it was beautiful. However, we rarely used it. In trying to save money, we went with the interior room. I really had no issues with it as it was pretty much the same size as last time. Cleaned well. Everything was working. It was surely nice to be able to peak outside of your room to know where you are at, but it wasn't a game-changer for me. I know there is still the TV channel, which isn't the same. I was one floor below Lido, which is the second most important thing to me IMO.

I was really pumped to try the food options. The Victory didn't have all of the "2.0 upgrades". During embarkation, I ran to the BlueIguana Cantina. What great tacos they have! Everything is made fresh and delicious, and you can customize them as you see fit. Their breakfast burritos are very good as well. Also got to try Guy's Burger. I loved it. Their cajun fries were great as well. I stood in line one day for about 45 minutes for the Mongolian Wok. It wasn't bad, but I wish I had another burger instead. This was the first time we also hit the MDR for all 4 nights. It's a nice change of pace from the normal Lido life with great food, and our wait staff was fantastic. My only complaint about the food is that you really don't get the chance to enjoy the tacos and burgers as much as they're only available during a short window and basically not an option on your port days.

My favorite activity on the boat is no doubt the comedy clubs. We always make sure to get there early enough to get a good seat. It gets pretty packed, and fast. I did visit the Hasbro the Game show. I would have possibly played, but my girlfriend wasn't feeling well and didn't attend. It looked fun, but I probably only would have played if she could be there.

This was my first trip to the Bahamas. We went to Freeport and Nassau. In Freeport, we went to Taino Beach. It wasn't bad. It was annoying to have to pay $14 round trip for taxi, $3 to enter beach, and $15 for a chair since we didn't bring the towels (big mistake). The majority of the city isn't anything special, but we still had a good time. Now Nassau on the other hand. We went to the Sandals resort and bought a day pass. Best money I've spent all year. That place is absolutely gorgeous, and food and drink was included. Will absolutely go back there.

Now I'm trying to convince the girlfriend to do our next one. I'm torn at this point. Do I do RCI or Carnival again? I would like to try one of Carnival's bigger ships next time if we do that. I love cruises! 4 days will no longer do either, I think 2 nights near the port and 5 night cruise is the sweet spot for me.

You have been bitten by the cruise bug and the only cure is to keep cruising. I’m going on the liberty next summer. I want to try royal but prices keep me at carnival I will try it one day.

I get your point about Pt Canaveral, but I will say that it is one of the best-run cruiseports I've ever sailed out of... and for your next cruise, there are lots of options to get you to the port from Orlando so maybe do some investigating to see if one suits you, before you give up on it.

One of the things we always liked best was being able to do something in Orlando before or after the cruise, extending our vacation like you did.

Consider staying the night before in Port Canaveral. We have been staying at the Radisson for 13 years and it has only gotten better. They have a shuttle or if you have a rental car you can just turn it in (most of the majors are in PC) and they will shuttle you to the port. If you stay in PC try Grills for dinner and for pre-cruise breakfast.

Thanks for your report. If you like the comedy club I would stick with Carnival. Also, I second staying in Port Canaveral pre-cruise.

You have been bitten by the cruise bug and the only cure is to keep cruising. I’m going on the liberty next summer. I want to try royal but prices keep me at carnival I will try it one day.

Actually, there is no cure. Only symptom suppression via more cruising. ;) I'm afflicted, too.

I get your point about Pt Canaveral, but I will say that it is one of the best-run cruiseports I've ever sailed out of... and for your next cruise, there are lots of options to get you to the port from Orlando so maybe do some investigating to see if one suits you, before you give up on it.

 

One of the things we always liked best was being able to do something in Orlando before or after the cruise, extending our vacation like you did.

I'm fairly certain that you can have a few days before or after the cruise in a majority of the ports that Carnival sails from, with differences in the local food, pricing and accents. Of course Orlando has the big theme parks, but there is-plenty to do in NY, MIA, FLL, NOLA, etc.

OP, enjoy the cruise bug.

Did you keep fun times or menus?

This is our cruise in April. Do you have the fun times? How much was the day pass at Sandals?

Welcome to the world of cruising! The Liberty is also one of my favorite ships. We sailed on her when she was out of Ft. Lauderdale on an 8-day to Panama. It was a wonderful trip and ship!

As far as Port Canaveral, it is probably my favorite port to sail from so far (We've also done Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa and returned through NOLA on a relocation cruise.) Good things about it are- the reason for the entire area is the port, so they are very cruise minded. There are numerous hotels offering a "park and cruise" option which basically pays for your hotel if you would have otherwise parked at the port. I am assuming you flew in since you mentioned Orlando. We live in Florida, so do not have that issue. I would not want to make that trip either, it is just not convenient. If you thought Miami was convenient- Ft. Lauderdale is the best when coming by air- the airport is almost adjacent to the cruise port. You could literally walk if there weren't so many busy roads in the way...

As far as whether to choose RCC or Carnival in the future- I can't speak to that. We started cruising carnival back in 2003 and have our 15th booked on the Horizon for April sailing out of Barcelona. Now that we are platinum, it seems ridiculous to go with another line now. You mentioned going on a larger class of ship- My favorite so far is the Dream. (She is currently in NOLA, I believe). Of course, the larger ships do have more amenities, but they also have more people, something to consider. We really have not had much issue with this as we purposely travel at low season times and we are really not the "sun worshiper" type. We rarely spend time on open decks near pools and such. My favorite "amenity" on the bigger ships is the Cloud 9 Spa. We love the thalassotherapy pool and thermal suites!

We have some friends that are RCC all the way- but for us Carnival is king!

We have been on the Victory and Liberty as well. We sailed and enjoyed both Victory and Liberty out of San Juan (Our favorite port to cruise from) for the southern itinerary. We loved the Liberty. It was our favorite ship and our favorite cruise up to this point. We loved having Guy's and the Blue Iguana. I agree with others that sailing from Pt Canaveral is so easy. Everything goes smoothly on and off. Being that we have to fly down and really plan we're at a point where I'm not sure 7 days is long enough. If we lived in or around Florida I could see us hopping on every other month or so to do a 4 or 5 day. We did a 10 day in Feb and that was the perfect amount of time to be sailing. I of course say that as that's as long as we've done so far. Enjoy cruising and get back on a ship. We're planning another as we speak. Can't wait.