Just back from Liberty cruise....random thoughts...

[Froufie]

Hi Froufie...Sorry, we didn't keep the Fun Times. Normally we do but we never look at them or refer back to them so we decided to just chuck them so we didn't have as much clutter.

 

The Alchemy Bar is the martini bar and it was wonderful. We had drinks there each night before dinner and sometimes after dinner. We took a martini mixology class there that was interesting. They give good snacks too...olives, swiss cheese and mixed nuts. Adri and Gabor are the bartenders and let me just say, we fell in love with Adri. She is a sweetheart from South Africa who can make a mean martini. If you are a martini drinker, this is a MUST for you.

 

In addition, I see you are saling in January, Adri should be back on by then. She'll be going home in 2 weeks for about a month.

 

Hi Tiffany - thanks for the excellent info - and I have heard about Adri from another review (Stargateman) who also praised her highly so I will be on the lookout for her as I 'sample' some mean martinis! :D:D

[jkjmt]

Is it smoking on all of deck 10 or just one side??? What about the serenity decks?? What about the back decks 9 and 10 by the back pool??

 

 

I'm actually a non-smoker but don't usually like to hang out by the main pool. We'll be at the above locations.

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Is it smoking on all of deck 10 or just one side??? What about the serenity decks?? What about the back decks 9 and 10 by the back pool??

 

 

I'm actually a non-smoker but don't usually like to hang out by the main pool. We'll be at the above locations.

 

Smoking is only on one side of deck 10....no smoking on deck 9 and no smoking in the serenity areas.

[popsec]

Glad you had a great cruise - sorry the slots were tight. Hope they loosen up for me in December!:p:D Enjoy the Valor in January. (I am soooo jealous!)

 

Hope the slots are kinder to you in December! Yup, looking forward to the cruise to Aruba in January. We're actually jumping ship in march and going on NCL since the casino had a better offer for us :o

[RuthlessBoss]

Is it smoking on all of deck 10 or just one side??? What about the serenity decks?? What about the back decks 9 and 10 by the back pool??

 

 

I'm actually a non-smoker but don't usually like to hang out by the main pool. We'll be at the above locations.

And, please don't complain about us smokers. We did not ask to be put there!:mad:

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I'd posted on JH's facebook page about the problems smokers were facing on this ship. I was so glad to see from photos posted on JH's blog that Carnival has decided to at least try to accommodate smokers...tables & chairs put up on deck 10 for the smokers. It's at least a step in the right direction.

[LPYRCRUISER]

Just wondering what your thoughts were on the Downtown Hilton? I'm looking for a fair review as we're staying there in February. I know about the people mover to Bayside, but what kinds of stores and restaurants are within walking distance?

[Irishlinny]

I'd posted on JH's facebook page about the problems smokers were facing on this ship. I was so glad to see from photos posted on JH's blog that Carnival has decided to at least try to accommodate smokers...tables & chairs put up on deck 10 for the smokers. It's at least a step in the right direction.

A very tiny step, but not acceptable in my book. They need to provide a smoking area ON LIDO....it's outside for crying out loud!

 

Sorry, rant off....;)

[bumorgan]

I just came off the Miracle that had no upgrades yet and we had issues with the smoking policy. The bars (indoor)that offered smoking were closed during the day and they had no ashtrays present. You couldn't go there to read a book or talk and enjoy smoking. I've always thought that smoking on one side of the Lido was a great compromise for all.

 

 

I thought on spirit class ships smoking is still permitted due to not having a guys burger joint on board:)

[Irishlinny]

It is still permitted on starboard side of Lido (all sections' date=' as far as I know) but that will change when they get Serenity next month. And if these changes that are in trial on the Liberty take hold...who knows what will happen.:rolleyes:[/font']

[swimmom32]

We were on this cruise and Im very happy that the smoking was not bad..We saw very few people smoking in general...I took pics but for some reason I did not take Guy's Burgers although I should have, as they are extremely Delicious :) and you can get fries un seasoned which I LOVED...you just have to ask they make 2 different batches....We loved the Blue Iguana as well...We had a Very good time on this cruise...the Slots weren't that tight for some as we had a lady hit a very nice amount on her slot machine but she also won at bingo so I should have known...LOL

DH played the penny slots and won 48 bucks...we say thank you and leave...Of course Butch was amazing I did a thread about him...and Our Son had a Blast as well...

 

We didnt care too much for the new menu but the Food was Good and always hot...Our waitress Liza was amazing we had Anytime Dining!!

[katcas]

All you smokers could have joined my neighbors on their balcony. They smoked so much out there I could never enjoy my balcony!

[frito58]

All you smokers could have joined my neighbors on their balcony. They smoked so much out there I could never enjoy my balcony!

 

Here in lies the problem if people cant smoke on the lido where do you think they will go:confused:

 

Look I am not even a smoker , maybe a cigar while I am on vacation . But face it people smokers make up part of our country, they keep finding less places for them.

 

I personally think all of these new laws are way out there. I mean Drinking and smoking have always gone hand and hand , if people cant smoke on a ship they will take their vacation dollars elsewhere just sayin.

[RuthlessBoss]

All you smokers could have joined my neighbors on their balcony. They smoked so much out there I could never enjoy my balcony!

 

Here in lies the problem if people cant smoke on the lido where do you think they will go:confused:

 

Look I am not even a smoker , maybe a cigar while I am on vacation . But face it people smokers make up part of our country, they keep finding less places for them.

 

I personally think all of these new laws are way out there. I mean Drinking and smoking have always gone hand and hand , if people cant smoke on a ship they will take their vacation dollars elsewhere just sayin.

Well, non smokers kept at it! Liberty will lose in the long run unless we smokers get part of Lido back. We are the smokers and drinkers (sales down?) There is absolutely no reason a non smoker must walk on Our side, you've got over 90% of a ship smoke free. 2 smokers heading onto Liberty on Saturday. I had hoped some part of Lido would be returned to us. I just got off another cruise today. During that time, much time spent on Lido, looked up to deck above it and said, no way am I staying up there in the sun, rain, wind and be miserable. We likely will be retreating to our balcony to smoke. Sorry, folks, put yourself in OUR shoes for once.

[Bulldog3777]

I am VIP on Carnival and I will be booking no more cruises with them. NCL and Holland, here I come.

[RuthlessBoss]

I am VIP on Carnival and I will be booking no more cruises with them. NCL and Holland, here I come.

It's not all Carnival ships. Not sure if it's just Liberty at this time. This new ruling happened so fast and with no warning, that many of us did not have time to cancel.

[jkjmt]

Smoking is only on one side of deck 10....no smoking on deck 9 and no smoking in the serenity areas.

 

 

 

Thanks.... :D

[jkjmt]

And, please don't complain about us smokers. We did not ask to be put there!:mad:

 

 

 

Not complaining....it's a big ship.....you have your side......we have ours.....no problems......we're on vacation.....relax......;)

[Irishlinny]

Here in lies the problem if people cant smoke on the lido where do you think they will go:confused:

 

Look I am not even a smoker , maybe a cigar while I am on vacation . But face it people smokers make up part of our country, they keep finding less places for them.

 

I personally think all of these new laws are way out there. I mean Drinking and smoking have always gone hand and hand , if people cant smoke on a ship they will take their vacation dollars elsewhere just sayin.

We will have no choice but to go elsewhere....and we will take all the non-smoking members of our groups with us. If Carnival thinks they will only lose the small percentage of people who smoke, they are sadly mistaken. They will lose enitre groups of people because family reunions, groups etc will not be able to go if part of the group doesn't feel like they will enjoy their vacation. It's shooting themselves in the foot:rolleyes:

Well, non smokers kept at it! Liberty will lose in the long run unless we smokers get part of Lido back. We are the smokers and drinkers (sales down?) There is absolutely no reason a non smoker must walk on Our side, you've got over 90% of a ship smoke free. 2 smokers heading onto Liberty on Saturday. I had hoped some part of Lido would be returned to us. I just got off another cruise today. During that time, much time spent on Lido, looked up to deck above it and said, no way am I staying up there in the sun, rain, wind and be miserable. We likely will be retreating to our balcony to smoke. Sorry, folks, put yourself in OUR shoes for once.

Even when we were just on the Freedom where you could smoke on half of the main Lido, that got annoying...way too noisy, kids running around, big screen blaring...I much prefer the Spirit Class where you could smoke on the aft Lido where the adult pool is. A little more sane, there's a bar right there, and it was easily accessible. But now they are ruining that by putting in Serenity and making it all non-smoking. So where did I go on Freedom? Back to my balcony...I could smoke and I drank my own booze. Carnival lost plenty of my drinking money on this last cruise:rolleyes:

It's not all Carnival ships. Not sure if it's just Liberty at this time. This new ruling happened so fast and with no warning, that many of us did not have time to cancel.

It's just Liberty, but I smell a rat coming. Miracle had a trial where the piano bar went non-smoking and quite rapidly it became policy across the line. My big problem is how they did it on the Liberty...as you say, they just arbitrarily did it without warning. Do I want to keep my 3 cruises I have booked for next year when I dont know what they will do next or when???:rolleyes:

 

Just a note to those who are not happy with this new trial...let Carnival know! Post on their wall in Facebook, or on John Heald's wall, or on his blog, or write a letter. The only way they will know how we feel is if we all say something!

[swimmom32]

There was a large group a family reunion on our liberty and some of them smoked and they all seemed to be ok with this..being an X smoker myself and my husband we are quiet pleased with this change...Carnival has alot of people to target too...I know from a friend who works for another cruise line they are thinking of implementing more non smoking policy's then what would every one do...I guess go to the next Cruise Line...

[Blondie008]

We will have no choice but to go elsewhere....and we will take all the non-smoking members of our groups with us. If Carnival thinks they will only lose the small percentage of people who smoke, they are sadly mistaken. They will lose enitre groups of people because family reunions, groups etc will not be able to go if part of the group doesn't feel like they will enjoy their vacation. It's shooting themselves in the foot:rolleyes:

 

Even when we were just on the Freedom where you could smoke on half of the main Lido, that got annoying...way too noisy, kids running around, big screen blaring...I much prefer the Spirit Class where you could smoke on the aft Lido where the adult pool is. A little more sane, there's a bar right there, and it was easily accessible. But now they are ruining that by putting in Serenity and making it all non-smoking. So where did I go on Freedom? Back to my balcony...I could smoke and I drank my own booze. Carnival lost plenty of my drinking money on this last cruise:rolleyes:

 

It's just Liberty, but I smell a rat coming. Miracle had a trial where the piano bar went non-smoking and quite rapidly it became policy across the line. My big problem is how they did it on the Liberty...as you say, they just arbitrarily did it without warning. Do I want to keep my 3 cruises I have booked for next year when I dont know what they will do next or when???:rolleyes:

 

Just a note to those who are not happy with this new trial...let Carnival know! Post on their wall in Facebook, or on John Heald's wall, or on his blog, or write a letter. The only way they will know how we feel is if we all say something!

 

Linny, your reasoning is the way I am thinking. Test = RAT! I am really really worried. We cruise in January, 14 nights B2B, six smokers, and OMG we would just freak! It costs us a fortune to come over the pond and cruise. I was swaying when we booked this, and they DID change the rules since I booked. Do you get your deposits back if you cancel? For sure if I were you I'd be keeping a very close eye on things. We were gonna book a Med cruise with Carnival for May 12, but their constant moving of the goal posts scared us off. We have booked with Costa who is still on the REALLY old rules, (ie only banned in theatres and restaurants all lounges with smoking area). Think we're gonna have to figure out whats best for us on Freedom, I know you werent too happy with it huh. I was studying the deck plans and at a loss trying to figure out smoking and non smoking areas. I so wish they would mark them on the plans. I thought there was a bar somewhere on Lido deck you could smoke at? Is there? As much as I love my balcony, I dont pay all that money to sit on a balcony for 14 days for sure... I oont believe a word Carnival say through John... just too much for me, I am already in a panic about January, what would I be like if I booked ahead for May... odds arent looking great Linny, if I was you, Id start looking at options on those other bookings you have. Do research Costa, they have a new ship Luminosa in the Caribbean in 2012, might be worth a bit of research. Their prices are on a par with Carnival (in fact maybe bit cheaper)

[Blondie008]

Well, non smokers kept at it! Liberty will lose in the long run unless we smokers get part of Lido back. We are the smokers and drinkers (sales down?) There is absolutely no reason a non smoker must walk on Our side, you've got over 90% of a ship smoke free. 2 smokers heading onto Liberty on Saturday. I had hoped some part of Lido would be returned to us. I just got off another cruise today. During that time, much time spent on Lido, looked up to deck above it and said, no way am I staying up there in the sun, rain, wind and be miserable. We likely will be retreating to our balcony to smoke. Sorry, folks, put yourself in OUR shoes for once.

 

 

HEY RB, my heart goes out to you... id be freaking if I was booked on Liberty right now. Is the trial though possible coming to an end? Did I pick that up somewhere? Hopefully? When I saw the pics of Liberty come out, there were people smoking at the Red Frog and it appeared they had gone alone the route of Red Frog Smoking, Blue Iguanua non smoking. It nearly had me booking up! I cant get away with how Carnival do this to people... this is NOT the cruise you signed up for. And hey, they have us by the short and curlies in the small print huh...

Maybe we should start taking wind shelters with us, those pop up portable ones...:rolleyes:

Anyway, wanted to wish you a happy cruise, hope things are okay, and you find a nice sheltered spot to relax in.. :)

[RuthlessBoss]

For the past 5 days, I was on Ecstasy where we still have Lido. That being said, there was a group of a minimum of 30 people who's daily meeting area was at the bar area on Lido from morning till night. They sure socked away the drinks while there. Would this group book if there was no area like this? I doubt it. On our side there was always 3 servers, on the non smoking side, 1. And most times there was seating available there.

[RuthlessBoss]

There was a large group a family reunion on our liberty and some of them smoked and they all seemed to be ok with this..being an X smoker myself and my husband we are quiet pleased with this change...Carnival has alot of people to target too...I know from a friend who works for another cruise line they are thinking of implementing more non smoking policy's then what would every one do...I guess go to the next Cruise Line...

All we are asking is our place on Lido. We are aware of cabin restrictions now in place since yesterday, we had fair warning this was going to happen. The deal breaker is Lido. There was NO warning! I can't imagine the shock people experienced on week 2 of opening of Guy Burgers, to lose a whole side of smoking tables because of a small area around that burger joint that has hamburger toppings. Passengers boarded, got set to start their cruise on Lido only to be told "Oh, no, you can't smoke there anymore" I did not book a cruise on this ship to be smoke free in the Lido, but no cancelation policy in place because of it. When the first rulings came out in the summer of smoking changes to be in place Dec 1, cancellation was possible. No such arrangements for the "on the spot ruling" on Liberty, we all were already in our penalty time.

 

In a few hours from now, we are headed to Miami for overnight and board that ship on Saturday. I'm already starting with an attitude of displeasure.

[Blondie008]

All we are asking is our place on Lido. We are aware of cabin restrictions now in place since yesterday, we had fair warning this was going to happen. The deal breaker is Lido. There was NO warning! I can't imagine the shock people experienced on week 2 of opening of Guy Burgers, to lose a whole side of smoking tables because of a small area around that burger joint that has hamburger toppings. Passengers boarded, got set to start their cruise on Lido only to be told "Oh, no, you can't smoke there anymore" I did not book a cruise on this ship to be smoke free in the Lido, but no cancelation policy in place because of it. When the first rulings came out in the summer of smoking changes to be in place Dec 1, cancellation was possible. No such arrangements for the "on the spot ruling" on Liberty, we all were already in our penalty time.

 

In a few hours from now, we are headed to Miami for overnight and board that ship on Saturday. I'm already starting with an attitude of displeasure.

aLiberty". I would go around every smoker on board, and ask them to join me in a mass but controlled, and calm, act of protest. How Carnival can Guinea Pig people is beyond me.. its appallling. Theyve already taken away your anticipated excitement..that fabulous feeling we all get heading for our cruise, and as you say, you are already feeling displeasure. Wish I was there to support you, I'd be just the gal to speak out well and truly!!

I would organise a proper demonstrative meeting with the bosses on board, and insist they restore the cruise to the one sold.

Good Luck, hope it all works out for you !!