Thought & Impressions of my Liberty sailing.

I'm not good at full trip reports so i'm just going to throw our my thoughts & impressions. I had a great time and can't wait to sail Liberty again. And I discovered that 4 days is just the right amount of time for me. Not too long or short, but just right. Ok here goes:

FTTF is definitely worth every penny. I breezed onto the ship to my ready cabin at 11:30am, bypassed HUGE lines at Guest Services (especially that first day) and had the easiest debarkation ever and was off the ship at 7:00 on the dot. I'll never sail without it now.

The Liberty is a beautiful ship and I love the decor all around. After the first day, navigating around it was a piece of cake. Loved my cabin too. Cabin 2473 with 2 big windows and lots of extra space. Felt more like a land based hotel room than cruise cabin! However, the Main Deck hallways always seemed to have a constant sewage smell permeating everywhere. Yet when I walked down the upper deck hallways, it smelled like flowers & perfume. It was like walking into another world up there lol. Next time i'm staying higher up!

I had a so so Steward. The first day I gave him a few bucks to just keep ice in the cabin and by 8pm, it still wasn't there. Boo. When I went out to the hallway I saw him chatting with another Steward and nicely inquired about it. What does he do? He tells the other guy to go fetch it for me! What?! Then take those few bucks I gave you and hand it over to him! I didn't say that, but it left a bad taste that he just transferred his duty to someone else like that, and right in front of me!

Also, the 2nd day when I opened the ice bin, it was all just big blocks of ice cubes stuck together like they just came out of the tray. I tried breaking them with my hands but couldn't. I debated smashing them onto the counter, but why should I?! So I went out into the hall and Steward was there again, and I nicely showed him the blocks of ice and jokingly asked for an ice pick. By the look on his face, he found this unfunny and took the bin and went to get cubes. Ok.

Lastly, there was a clipped fingernail from the past passenger on the floor by the vanity that grossed me out to no end. I was heading out when I saw it, but figured surely the piece of human cast off will be vacuumed up. Nope, it was still there after he turned down the room that evening. Yuck! I finally got a tissue and discarded it myself....but ew ew EW!!

Casino was my favorite place of all! I won (and came home with) $550 bucks!! There's this $1.00 slot machine called "Monte Carlo". Within 5 minutes of casino opening that first night, I sat down and got a "100" symbol on the 3rd reel winning $100 bucks! Cashed that out and came back 10 minutes later after shoving it into the room safe...and again I got the same spin on that same machine and ANOTHER $100 bucks! Now the money in the safe had a friend lol. If you're going on Liberty, play that machine the first night! It's nice and loose in the beginning of the cruise. You have to play $3/bet, but worth it!....The rest of the sailing, I won 40 here, 50 there, and a bunch of little amounts, and everything I won got crammed in the cabin safe until it was $550. Yes I made lots of trips back to the cabin haha.

I dangerously debated taking that whole $550 on the final night and placing it all on Black at Roulette...I got tingly just thinking about having a 50/50 chance of doubling it to $1,100, but sense won out and I stayed out of the casino that last night. I wanted to come home a winner and I did. :)

Lido buffet was tasty and kept me so stuffed the whole sailing that I never got to try room service which I really wanted to do. The food is really good up there and I always found something I liked that filled me up. I don't do MDR so no impressions on that.

I got the $80 Skyy vodka with 6 cans of club soda package and it was more than enough for the 4 days. In fact I still came home with half that liter so for me personally, cancelling CHEERS was a good idea. I will always go for the liter of in cabin alcohol instead. I even brought on a 6pk of Campbells Tomato Juice and some Tabassco Sauce for my Bloody Marys. Yum! :)

I ordered from the Fun Shops the 4pk of Retro Carnival Glasses and actually inquired about that here in a previous post. Well, long story short, it never came. :( It was sold out online after I had ordered them, and when I called the Fun Shops before sailing, he assured me I will still get mine. I didn't.

Guest Services said they'd refund the $12 to my credit card. That was fine, but I paid with a Carnival Gift Card that I no longer had since it's been long used up. So I asked if they'll just credit the $12 to my S&S account. No. Carnival policy is to issue me a new Gift Card and mail it to me within 10 days.

Well, i'm not going to be on the ship in 10 days! I didn't actually say that, and accepted it, but in my head I thought, "Would it be SO hard to even give me a lousy Free Drink coupon so I can at least use my $12 bucks on the ship?! The Gift Card btw was already laying at my front door when I got home LOL. So they'll pay the postage for Express Fed Ex delivery rather than throw me a drink coupon. Ok. I just don't see the logic there, but whatever.

Now....I have to ask a question to everyone and really want to know the answer. Is it acceptable to just leave your empty drink glass anywhere on the ship?! I ask this because on 3 separate occasions, (THREE!), as I was walking up or down stairs, when moving out of the way for oncoming traffic, my foot would hit an empty glass on the steps and shattering it all over! Is this acceptable to do?! And if not, who on earth are these people with complete disregard for the safety of others? All I could picture was someone with flip flops knocking that glass and cutting their foot....or a child falling into the broken glass.

There are tables and bars always with a few feet of wherever you are to place the glass, so why leave it in a high traffic area like a staircase?! I just don't get it. I also saw an empty class precariously placed on a railing above the lobby deck. WHY?! It could so easily tumble down onto someone's head below. People who do this scare the daylights out of me and it's terrifying to know they walk freely among the rest of us. Boo to all of them!

Anyways, to end on a happy note, I loved my cruise and had myself a great time. I was solo but always found something to do and loved hanging on that "secret deck" forward where there was hardly ever anyone else around. It was so peaceful to stand there watching the ocean with nothing in sight but ocean, and hard to believe there were 3,000 people behind me! It's one of my favorite places to go on the ship.

I also loved the show they played on the final night. I think it was called "America Rocks". I'm too lazy to find out but I really liked that one. There was a holiday show that I stayed for about 20 minutes before leaving, and another one called "Flick" that I couldn't endure 10 minutes of lol. At least I found one I liked!

I used Cortrans shuttle from MCO to my hotel in Cocoa Beach on the rave reviews given here. They were everything the reviews said and I will definitely use them again. I was home and in my house in Kissimmee by 10am and that's even after renting a car at MCO, driving to pick up my Sun Conure at the Pet Spa, and driving home. Incredible timing! I was shocked!

I'll definitely sail Liberty again as it's now my new favorite ship, and i'm almost at the halfway mark for Platinum level with 36 points now. I just hope they don't raise it from 75 to something higher before I get there lol. Now I start planning the next one!! :)

Thoughts and impressions of my trip.txt

Glad you had a great cruise despite your sad experience with the steward and congrats on your $550 winning.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have noted on every post-cruise survey that Carnival's employees are their greatest asset. So many reviews lately indicate the staff cutbacks are impacting many areas where Carnival has historically excelled.

It seems wait staff in both MDR and buffet, bar service, cabin stewards, and room service have all been impacted to some degree.

Carnival may be approaching the point of diminishing returns.

I appreciate your review and am glad you enjoyed your cruise for the most part.

I have noted on every post-cruise survey that Carnival's employees are their greatest asset. So many reviews lately indicate the staff cutbacks are impacting many areas where Carnival has historically excelled.

 

It seems wait staff in both MDR and buffet, bar service, cabin stewards, and room service have all been impacted to some degree.

 

Carnival may be approaching the point of diminishing returns.

 

I appreciate your review and am glad you enjoyed your cruise for the most part.

They clearly seemed overworked to me so that's why I didn't make a fuss about anything and also left gratuities intact. The stewards were out in the halls at all hours it seemed and I don't recall their presence being this much from cruises years ago.

I even asked the steward where the ice was thinking it was like a hotel and that I would gladly just go and get my own ice, but he said it was his job when he went to get me the replacement for the huge blocks of ice.

By the 3rd day, the light bulb went off in my head that I can just take the elevator to Lido and get all the ice cubes I wanted lol. Don't know why I didn't discover this obvious choice earlier so that's what I did by Wednesday.

But in any case, yes they are overworked and the cutbacks clearly show. Granted, my previous cruises were way back in the early '00's and on 7 day sailings I hardly ever saw the stewards. They were like little elves back then.

This time, they were in the halls working round the clock and it was a bit annoying at times having to navigate around their carts, rolling floor vacuums, and them going back and forth all the time.

It's obvious there's less stewards servicing more cabins and in that respect, shame on Carnival. In the stewards favor though, I did request just evening service because I like to sleep in and enjoy the continental breakfast in room, but he came both in afternoon and again in early evening. So he tried.

Thanks for your response.

The meaningless mantra, oft repeated here, "a cruise is what you make of it" comes to mind.

It's hard to blame the cruisers' attitude, rather than the lack of sufficient staff, for cabins left dirty from previous occupants, no clean tables in the buffet area, inadequate service from MDR wait staff because they are assigned too many tables, or slow to nonexistent bar staff.

I have twice experienced the Chef's Table on the Breeze, hosted in the galley. I have seen the other side of waiters literally running themselves ragged. They do.

Cutbacks in staffing have gone too far.

On the first day aboard, we meet the steward and I ask nicely for him/her to keep the ice bucket filled. Haven't had an issue yet.

And no silly bribes needed for service.

We do slip them a some extra bucks at the end of the cruise though to show our appreciation.

On the first day aboard, we meet the steward and I ask nicely for him/her to keep the ice bucket filled. Haven't had an issue yet.

 

And no silly bribes needed for service.

 

We do slip them a some extra bucks at the end of the cruise though to show our appreciation.

Giving a few dollars at the start of the cruise is no different than giving at the end of it. I prefer to give it at the start so I don't forget, since by the last day of sailing, i'm too consumed with packing and making everything ready for disembarking the next morning....And it's hardly a "silly bribe" in my opinion, but simply a preference of when to give it. I choose the beginning, you choose the end. :)

Thanks for your thoughts.

Excellent feedback, thanks!

Enjoyed your report.

Keith

Thanks! Two more weeks, and we are on Liberty!

I usually give our room steward a few dollars when we first meet. My boys are either in the cabin next to us or across the hall. No it isn't a bribe, it is more like an apology...:) I also ask for fresh ice, and lots of clean towels. I honestly think that the tip they receive is not enough, and sometimes by the end of the cruise, I can't find them to give them something extra. I would rather do it in the beginning, and know that I gave it to them.

Thanks! Two more weeks, and we are on Liberty!

 

I usually give our room steward a few dollars when we first meet. My boys are either in the cabin next to us or across the hall. No it isn't a bribe, it is more like an apology...:) I also ask for fresh ice, and lots of clean towels. I honestly think that the tip they receive is not enough, and sometimes by the end of the cruise, I can't find them to give them something extra. I would rather do it in the beginning, and know that I gave it to them.

Thanks....You reminded me about the towels now! I like to hang up my bath towels to reuse again, and every single time I did, Steward would still take them and replace with fresh ones.

I don't know if this is another strike against him or a plus. On one hand, it was nice to get the fresh towels every day, but on the other, he blatantly ignored my obvious sign to him that I didn't NEED the new towels.

So i'm scratching my head whether to praise or admonish him about that. Why bother putting those little signs about "saving the environment" if they're only going to replace the towels anyway? It kind of irked me he ignored my request, but it was also nice to have the clean towels lol.

Have a great trip in two weeks, you will LOVE the LIberty! It's my new favorite ship! :)