Carnival Liberty Review-Western Caribbean-July 31, 2010

[md10074]

Our long awaited cruise has come and gone and we had a great time! This is my first review and forgive me if it stinks because I'm still dead tired after getting home late last night.

 

Our party consisted of me, my husband Chris, our 14 year old son Michael and 7 year old daughter Gianna. The 2 kids have special needs (Michael has PDD, on the autism spectrum and Gianna has learning disabilites,anxiety and selective mutism)and the trip wore us out at times because of it. They like to fight with each other ALL the time. Neither kid wanted anything to do with Camp Carnival or Circle C. We convinced them to go for one morning and then neither wanted to go again. Gianna was afraid of people she didn't know because of her anxiety, and Michael is very quiet and said the other kids didn't bother with him. We ran into him when he was straggling behind on a scavenger hunt, and he ended up coming with us and that was the end of Circle C for him. I was really looking for a little break from the kids, but it wasn't meant to be.

 

We flew in the day before and stayed at the Downtown Miami Hilton.

It was pretty clean for the most part and close to the port. There was a Checkers and a Burger King across the street. I got a good deal on the room by prepaying for it, but if we ever go back to Miami, I want to try the Intercontinental. This was our room:

 

And this was the view out our window the next morning. Liberty is in the middle. Destiny is on the right, and Epic is on the left.

 

 

 

 

We wanted to go to Bayside to get something to eat, and it was very easy to get to using the People Mover. We got off near the Intercontinental and then walked over to Bayside. I had read about how the area was dangerous and had a lot of homeless people, but we didn't see any of that. We felt very safe, even walking around at night. Maybe it's because we're from NYC. ;) As a matter of fact, Miami reminds me of NYC with palm trees.

 

We ate at Bubba Gump and my son enjoyed his huge plate of shrimp. We all had shrimp. The place was very cute and we wish we had more time to enjoy Bayside, but we were tired and I wanted to find the CVS around there to buy our 2 bottles of wine. We found it, bought the wine, and headed back to the hotel for the night. Then we got up early the next morning, watched the ship from the window for a while, got something quick to eat, and then headed out to the port.

 

Embarkation was a breeze and soon we were on the ship having lunch. Shortly after that we were in our room-8276. I had originally booked an OV room, but when the prices dropped and I couldn't get any OBC because I booked using past guest rates, I asked Carnival if I could have a balcony room because I saw it was only $20 more than what I paid. The nice lady talked to her supervisor and told me I could have it and the upgrade was complimentary. Yay!!!! Let me tell you, the balcony spoiled us and it would be hard to cruise without one now. :D

 

Here is a picture of our cabin:

 

 

And here are the kids enjoying the balcony already.

 

 

 

I'll be back later with more.

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for posting your review and photos. I was on the Liberty last October and loved the ship/cruise/crew and everything. So looking forward to hearing the rest of your review.:)

[shonandsuzie]

Thanks for posting your review! and especially the pics!!! :D

[j603]

I will be staying at the Downtown Miami Hilton in February. I didn't realize how close to port it was. :)

[Bigleafsfanwife]

Loved your pictures.. we are booked in a quad on the Lido deck for October.. and I am kicking myself for not getting a suite (they are sold out). How did you find in a quad?

[md10074]

The quad was roomy enough for all of us. The kids were out of the way with the bunk and sofa, they were happy that the TV was right across from their beds, and once we put our suitcases away, we had enough room.

 

So back to the review. After we settled in, we went for a walk all around the ship. It was nice because it was still pretty empty. We got something to eat from the buffet and then went to the muster drill. That was a pain because people took their sweet time getting there. Butch even had to announce that he saw people on their balconies and that they better start heading to the drill. It was very hot and humid waiting there,which caused my daughter to start getting very cranky and whiny. She was in a really bad mood by the time the drill ended and we headed to the Lido deck for sail away and I was supposed to meet people on my roll call. I never got to meet them because to get her to be quiet, I asked her if she wanted to go in the pool. Of course she did because she loves the water and we only have one of those pop up pools at home. So I ended up missing my meet and greet and didn't see sail away. I didn't even get to try a Funship Special. As a matter of fact, I only bought one drink on the whole cruise, and that was a drink in the funnel cup, only because I wanted the cup! I thought I was going to drink more, but the 2 bottles of wine and the tiny 200 ml. bottle of vodka that I smuggled in was enough. I told my husband to pick me up a small bottle and he sure did! I didn't mean THAT small. No wonder it got through, they probably thought that it was so small that there was no way there could be booze in it.

 

Here they are in the Coney Island pool. The Tivoli pool wasn't open yet.

 

 

 

Soon we had our first meal in the dining room. Our waiter was Peter from Jamaica, and he was very nice. We were suprised to have a booth for 4. My husband was a little disappointed because he likes to meet new people and chit chat, but I was happy because I know how the kids fight and it would annoy people, and my daughter is so shy that she wouldn't be happy sitting with strangers. I promised food porn, so here we go. This was my appetizer-chicken tenders.

 

 

My son had the flatiron steak. He loves steak and I was happy to see, when I cut it for him, that it was very tender.

 

 

This was my entree, sweet and sour shrimp I think. It was yummy!

 

 

My husband got the creme brulee for dessert.

 

and I got the warm chocolate melting cake. It was good, but I would have liked it better if it was a little less runny.

 

[md10074]

Then we saw a beautiful sunset, one of many because we had gorgeous weather.

and then we walked around and went to the Welcome Show and got our first look at Butch, the CD. I know a lot of people like him, and he's ok, but to me he's a little too enthusiastic. We also rarely saw him outside of the nightly shows, but maybe we just missed the activities he attended.

 

The Welcome Show was pretty good and I think this is where we got to meet Bob. Bob was one of 3 guys Butch called on the stage and he asked them to show off their disco dance moves. The other guys danced, but when it was Bob's turn, he started to take off his belt like he was going to strip. I laughed so hard. He was an older gentleman who was married for 55 years, so it sure wasn't expected! After that, whenever we saw him walking around, everyone would always say "Hi Bob!" to him.

 

Then it was off to bed.

[Cruise Envy]

Please do share any highs and lows your son had -- we are traveling with our DS 14 (also PDD) in November.

[md10074]

Please do share any highs and lows your son had -- we are traveling with our DS 14 (also PDD) in November.

 

The highs for my son were the food, the shows, and the excursions. My son loves to eat steak. He takes medication during the school year that causes him to have no appetite, but when I take him off it for the summer, he loves to eat. He really enjoyed every single meal we ate in the dining room, and most of the stuff from the buffet. A few times I ordered him 2 entrees and he feasted on his lobster tails and steak.

 

He enjoyed the shows even when they weren't great, like the Village Idiots. My husband didn't make it to most of them because he and my daughter like to get up early and were tired by that point, so Michael went with me. I asked him every night if he wanted to stay in the room with Dad or come with me, and he always came with me.

 

He loved the excursions I picked out. He loved the beach at Nachi Cocum and he and his sister swam around for hours in the calm water, and he looked for shells. He loved the turtle farm in GC and going out to touch the stingrays. I think his favorites were in Jamaica, where we touched the dolphins and climbed Dunn's River Falls. He rarely shows emotion, but in the pictures you can see the big smile on his face that I rarely see.

 

The lows were the crowds, which he doesn't like. He wouldn't go in the pool after the first time because it was too crowded for him. He wouldn't participate in the deck party or the mardi gras thing because there were too many people and it was like a mad house of people yelling for their team colors at the deck party and people almost knocking others out of the way to get beads at the mardi gras. Even I said lets get out of here! He didn't like Circle C because he said nobody bothered with him and there was pretty much nothing on the list of activities for the camp that he would have liked anyway. He wouldn't go up for his own food at the buffets either, again because of the crowds and the noise.

[JackieH]

I am enjoying reading your review. We will be on the Liberty Aug 28th.

[md10074]

The next day was the first full sea day. We didn't do too much. We played miniature golf, which was fun because we rarely do that at home and it was cool being so close to the funnel.

 

 

I'm not sure what else we did that day because I can't find my Fun Times right now to see. We probably hung around the Lido deck and pool for a while after lunch.

 

That night was the first elegant night and the food was good except the lobster was a little rubbery. I still ate 2 of them and so did my son.

 

I had the stuffed mushrooms first, and they were pretty good.

 

 

Here is the lobster tail with shrimp:

 

Cherries Jubilee for dessert. It was just OK

 

 

Then we went to see some of the PG comedy show starring Jim Brick. From the little that we saw, he was really funny. We had to go though to go see the main show.

 

That night the show was Wonderful World. I enjoyed it. I thought the singers were good, especially the guy, and the dancing was good, but it seemed to go on a little too long. My husband didn't like all the dancing, he wanted more singing. He was falling asleep anyway because he's used to getting up early and going to bed early.

 

After the show he and the kids went to bed and I went back to Punchliners. Kim Harrison was the comedienne and she was kind of funny but went on and on about boobs and changing the names of songs buy adding the name of a part of your boob to it (not sure if I can say the word LOL). I wanted to stay up to see Jim Brick's R rated show, but I was just to tired and it was too crowded and I felt dumb sitting there by myself for so long, so I went to bed too. Tomorrow was our first port day-Cozumel!

[md10074]

In Cozumel, we booked Nachi Cocum and OMG, I have no words to say how beautiful it was! It cost $50 for each adult, I think $ 29 for my son and $12 for my daughter and was worth every penny. We were one of the first ones there.

 

Our waiter was Joseph and he led us to a nice palapa close to the bar. I was amazed at how close our chairs were to the shoreline. We had 3 chairs and later on they brought over a little table.

 

 

It never got crowded at all. I'm not sure how many people were there, but this was about the extent of the crowds:

 

 

My kids spent the whole day swimming in the beautiful clear water that had cute little fish in it, and they were so happy.

 

Then the food came, and lots of it:

The nachos and fajitas were delicious, and the guacomole, and I don't even like guacomole! The seafood soup was also yummy. For dessert they had ice cream and I had the cheesecake.

 

Joseph kept the drinks coming all day too. I think I tried one of every frozen drink they had and added in some Coronas too.

 

It was a really hot day and even though we were in the shade, we could feel the sun burning us, even with sunblock. I was taking antibiotics for a sinus infection that say to stay out of the sun. Yeah sure, like I can do that on a Caribbean cruise! When we couldn't take the heat anymore, we took a dip in the pool, the kids went around exploring one more time and tried out the hammocks while Joseph got us a cab. It was a wonderful day at Nachi. Can I go back right now please?

 

After that we just walked around the shops around the ship and bought a few things. We went back to the ship, took showers and grabbed some food at the buffet since it was late.

 

I'm not sure if they had a show or not that night. I'm thinking maybe it was the Village Idiots because I know they had a juggling class and our next day was a sea day, so lets say it was that show. Anyone who has the Fun Times for that day, please correct me if I'm wrong. Eh, I didn't care for it too much. The juggling was good, the jokes were not.

[floridagirl2773]

Thank you so much for your review. I am really enjoying reading it and my 12 year old son really liked seeing the pics of chix tenders and steak. We are sailing our first Carnival cruise on Liberty the week of Thanksgiving and we are so excited! I have thought about doing the excursions you mentioned and have been doing the research so it is nice to read all about it from someone who has just done it.

[med2cruise]

We were at Nachi the same day and I would go back there in a heartbeat. It was worth the money it was a great day, great location and very relaxing. It is so beautiful it almost looks fake.

 

My daughter keeps saying poor Joseph because he was working so hard. We enjoyed the pool bar for a few hours.

 

Karen

[Jeafl]

Great review so far! We were on the Liberty in June, and I agree with you on the Village Idiots. Great jugglers, but idiotic comedians.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[Cathy p]

Great review so far. We are doing Nachi in Jan with a group of Looneys and after looking at those pictures really can't wait.

[md10074]

Sorry it took so long to get back to this, but my son has been sick with strep.

 

The next day (Tuesday,8/2) was a sea day. My daughter did NOT want to try Camp Carnival, but we insisted that she try it at least once and if she didn't like it, then she wouldn't go again. after breakfast, we went up when the camp opened, and we didn't see anybody who worked there. We were waiting around, and my daughter was getting more and more upset, crying that she didn't want to go. I don't know how my husband got her to go when he finally saw a counselor, but we dropped her off, and also my son at Circle C. About an hour later we ran into him as we were leaving the photo gallery section. He was on a scavenger hunt. He said he didn't like Circle C because he's very quiet and nobody bothered with him. Nobody even noticed that he was gone when he came with us instead of continuing his scavenger hunt.

 

We went to one of the shopping talks and never again! It was really long and boring because he went through EVERY store on the list. We were entered in a drawing for a piece of jewelry, so I didn't want to leave just in case. LOL We didn't win the jewelry, but I did win a cute Del Sol shirt for my daughter and my son won a canvas bag that one of the stores on the islands give out when you spend $150.

 

We grabbed some lunch and then it was time to pick up our daughter from camp. My husband went to get her and bring her to lunch with us. She was NOT happy and said she never wanted to go back. I don't know why and it probably has more to do with her shyness and anxiety than with how she was treated in the camp,although she loves the regular summer camp that she is going to right now, but we kept our word and didn't bring her back.

 

My son and I went to a juggling class which was fun although we were awful at it, and then I think we just hung around the lido deck which my husband and daughter swam. My son didn't want to swim anymore because he said there were too many people. I didn't think it was too bad, but he doesn't like crowds, so he sat on a chair. I got my only drink that I purchased, the one in the funnel cup, so I was happy!

 

We went to dinner (I'll post pictures later, I'm on a different computer) and got our first look at Joseph the supercharged maitre'd dancing on the tables to "Shake, Shake, Shake". We missed any show that they had on the first day, and the second day he just sang "That's Amore", but this night he put on a real "showtime"! LOL, that was the first time I've seen anything like that. He was so much fun and seemed to be having a great time and my kids loved the show.

 

After dinner we took the kids to the arcade for a little while, then we went to the show. It was the Motown show and the only one my husband didn't sleep through. He loves when they bring people on stage to participate. There was one guy who couldn't stop dancing and was really funny and probably really drunk LOL, and the singer was really good. If there was a comedy show after that I probably went, but I don't have my Fun Times in front of me, so I don't remember. Or maybe it was the night of the Mardi Gras thing. In that case, the Mardi Gras celebration was awful. We went to the lobby where they were throwing beads and people were jumping up and almost knocking other people out of the way to get them. One guy backed up and almost stepped on my feet. It was crazy, like they were throwing gold coins or something. They paraded up to the promenade and we went a different way and met them up there, but there were too many people in that small space, so we left.

[sharonsorlie]

GOing to bwe on the Liberty Nov. 13th

Can't wait for more pics and review!

[reeree313]

I'm loving your review. I think Liberty is our next one in November.

[pezfor2]

I too was on the July 31st sailing of the Liberty! I know how much I enjoyed reading reviews, so I've decided to post a "small" review of our cruise! Honestly, we had a PERFECT week. I can't imagine anything going any smoother. The embarkation was the worst part and even it was very organized. The lines are long, but they move fast. I think we were in the door and to the ship in about 45 minutes. The ship itself was SPOTLESS. The service was AMAZING---and I am very picky. We (my girls are 17 and 15) had anytime dining. We went about 7pm every night. The first night we found and AWESOME wait staff---Sudi/Visarut/Jose---we then asked for them everynight and were seated with them for the next six nights. I think we only waited one night for a table...about 30 minutes. They gave us a pager, so it was no big deal. The food was amazing---again, I am picky. I had ordered birthday decorations for our stateroom and they were great! I ordered a cake for dinner and it was promptly delivered the first night. I was impressed. We decided on an AFT WRAP cabin---6452. I loved the fact that it was at the end of the hall (quiet) and that the balcony was HUGE. On the otherhand...the balcony always seem TOO hot due to the sun and the walk was FAR from everything. I would want a balcony again, but wouldn't need the aft wrap. Our excursions were perfect too. In Cozumel, we booked Nachi Cocum (through cozumelcruiseexcursions.com) and LOVED it. I would highly recommend it. In Grand Cayman, we took the Allure catamaran (booked thru Carnival) to Stingray City---probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. We also rented snorkel equipment on our own for 10 bucks each and snorkeled right by the ship. In Ocho Rios, we did Dunn's River Falls and tubed down the White River. I HIGHLY recommend Marva Shaw at knowjamaica tours (found them on tripadvisor.com) She was amazing. We ended up hiring a private driver for $35/person + entrance fees and did whatever we wanted! Other things I want to tell you about the ship: eat lunch in the dining room---the buffets are crazy busy! Deck 12 by ping pong tables is great---shower and QUIET. You can still hear music from Lido deck, but you don't feel like you are in a circus. I am not a party pooper, but I get tired of crowds. Our room steward(s) were amazing and our room was always cleaned twice a day. My girls didn't really enjoy Club O2 activities, but found lots of friends on their own. They had a BLAST. Other stuff: bring a hat! I didn't and had to buy one. Bring big thermal cups for sundeck---I didn't and wish I had. DO bring a powerstrip---saved our lives for all our chargers. Bring an iPod charger/speakers for your cabin; bring a DVD or two for downtime in your cabin---there is a VCR/DVD combo; I brought my own beach towels and didn't really think we needed them. I am sure I am forgetting things....but I am going to stop. Please feel free to ask any questions. I learned SO much from cruisecritic, so I'd love to help you guys. I'd go back on the Liberty in a heartbeat! I can post pics if there is something you'd like to see. I can't wait to go again!!!!!!!

[med2cruise]

pezfor2

 

Glad to see you survived the trip! It was an amazing vacation. It was great meeting you and the girls. Hope you had a nice time in Miami.

 

I have emailed David (aka Julie CD), he has some pictures he is going to send me, he wasn't sure who was on the banana boat. I am not sure if he contacted you as well. He said they all recouperated from Nachi.

 

We were telling some friends about Nachi and the taxi ride, an unforgettable day.

 

I had such a good time I am trying to see how I can go on another cruise the same week next year. I have been looking at the Dream.

 

Karen

[cruisinsly]

Great start. Waiting for more.