Funship 2.0 (Liberty) Review w/Lots of Pictures

[Howdy777]

As far as the shows in the Venecian Palace - honestly I thought they weren't that great. I'm by no means an expert - but I do run both audio and lighting production for a fairly large church in our area. I'm a volunteer, not a full time production person - and I thought there was some definite room for improvement in both the production quality and the singers themselves.

 

There was a husband/wife duet that sang quite often in multiple venues - the husband playing keys and backup vocals and the wife lead vocalist. They did quite a few late 80's and early 90's pop and country songs. I would rate them a 7-9 out of 10. Pretty well done for the range of stuff they played.

 

There was also a solo guitarist that played mainly in the atrium. I thought he was a 9 or 10 in quality - but he only had songs that really matched his voice so I couldn't say how he would do with a wide variety of music. What he did do, though was excellent. Pop/Rock/Country type stuff.

 

There was another band that played in the Promenade across from the Casino almost every night. We listened a couple times - mostly 80's and 90's pop. The band did a great job, but the heavy accents threw me on the vocalists. Just didn't sound right. Almost sounded like they weren't really singing the words, but just repeating the sounds as they thought they should be sung (maybe didn't know the words?). I would give them a pretty low, 3-4 rating although the band did a good job overall.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks again PG that really helped. I've been involved with music most of my life and mostly in church myself. Last year we were on the Crown Princess and seriously it seemed like the entertainment ceased to exist after 9:30. Unless of course you wanted to go to the casino (not really our thing). So we were hoping to have some better options on this cruise.

[gelo7]

Great review.

[Cmx3d]

Speaking of the casino, did you ever play? If so, what did you play and how did you do? Did you notice if it was really crowded?

 

As for the sushi how was that? I imagine me and the DW will be hitting that spot up often.

[pyroguy]

Pyro,

 

great review, it is like I am back on the ship with you.

 

deb and I are signed up to go again next Nov on the Liberty. Sailing 11/24/2012.

 

Join us if you can.

 

Mike - that sounds like fun! We're going on the Splendor in July - we may have to see if we can make the Liberty a yearly cruise!

 

Great to meet you had a great time!

[pyroguy]

Speaking of the casino, did you ever play? If so, what did you play and how did you do? Did you notice if it was really crowded?

 

As for the sushi how was that? I imagine me and the DW will be hitting that spot up often.

 

No, that's really not our thing. It was pretty smoky just walking thru the promenade adjacent to the casino, but I went in a few times just to see what was going on. It never seemed crowded from what I could see.

 

There was a game though that a LOT of people played, had quite a following. It was a little key thing that you had to maneuver into a hole (similar to the electronic crane thing that picks up toys for kids) to win bundles of cash, ipods, etc. Seemed like every time I walked thru several people were standing around it watching people play it.

[xfer]

 

We finally found the lighthouse at the north end of the island.

 

...Lighthouse (HDR)...

 

...Another one of the Lighthouse (HDR)...

 

 

Love these lighthouse pics. Would you mind sharing them? Thanks for sharing the one of San Juan.

 

Also, you mentioned the dessert (the WCMC) was a bit “overdone” the first night. What did you do to fix this later on? Also, did you ever find a way to reward Monica?

 

Great job, wonderful pictures! Really appreciate the time you took to post this (and to reply to everyone)!

[pyroguy]

As for the sushi how was that? I imagine me and the DW will be hitting that spot up often.

 

The sushi was very good. My wife is NOT a fish eater, but she had sushi and some type of seafood EVERY night. I was so proud of her - she's even asking me for it now... :D

[mdbowl300]

Yeah, Mike - I heard you had a great time at Jack's Shack...we were at Barbies and missed you, but Sue said you really tied one on! That's what vacations are for, right?:D

 

Yes it was a good time. Struggled a little at dinner..

[Cmx3d]

No, that's really not our thing. It was pretty smoky just walking thru the promenade adjacent to the casino, but I went in a few times just to see what was going on. It never seemed crowded from what I could see.

 

There was a game though that a LOT of people played, had quite a following. It was a little key thing that you had to maneuver into a hole (similar to the electronic crane thing that picks up toys for kids) to win bundles of cash, ipods, etc. Seemed like every time I walked thru several people were standing around it watching people play it.

 

 

did anyone win that game?????

[mdbowl300]

Mike - that sounds like fun! We're going on the Splendor in July - we may have to see if we can make the Liberty a yearly cruise!

 

Great to meet you had a great time!

 

 

Pleasure was all mine Pyro....

 

I am trying to organize a group of people from Central IL. They wanted Eastern and between the Valor and Liberty, I'm picking Liberty. At least until the Valor gets the upgrades.

 

Besides, I'm going back to Jack's Shack....

[pyroguy]

Love these lighthouse pics. Would you mind sharing them? Thanks for sharing the one of San Juan.

 

Also, you mentioned the dessert (the WCMC) was a bit “overdone” the first night. What did you do to fix this later on? Also, did you ever find a way to reward Monica?

 

Great job, wonderful pictures! Really appreciate the time you took to post this (and to reply to everyone)!

 

Lighthouse pictures:

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LWuUvHHbFhd2s-Mao1R9IHnSzfoaKSbBPPbFRDNSO2E?feat=directlink

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NFkB0K7QnQT67MauiX0YZnnSzfoaKSbBPPbFRDNSO2E?feat=directlink

 

When we were at the chef's table, the chef told us that they purposefully make the WCMC in different varieties because of passenger preference. He said that if you don't specify the way you like it, the server just grabs random ones. If you specify one that's Medium or Rare, you will get it that way. After that, I tried it and it worked! Mine is Rare with 2 ice creams :D

 

As for Monica - I emailed her again thanking her for her help. She has "refriended" me on FB ;-)

 

I also sent a personal note to John Heald asking that he give her special recognition among her peers on the ship if that was possible.

 

I also gave John permission to give her a promotion to "Big Kahuna" of something at CCL corporate with a big pay raise. As a 1/1jillionth of a % of CCL shareholder, I'm sure my suggestion will be taken quite seriously ;)

 

Also, I'm researching GIFT CARDS ON FACEBOOK. I found Walmart, KMart and Amazon. She's not from the US, so I wasn't sure about those. What do you think? Shipping might be a pain too since she lives on a cruise ship.

Edited January 5, 2012 by pyroguy

[pyroguy]

did anyone win that game?????

 

I never saw anyone win, but honestly I spent maybe 30-45 minutes of our entire cruise watching...so not much time.

[Geology_Rocks]

I really would appreciate it if Carnival could come up with a way to let us know that the people in front of us were smokers at the time we booked our room. They had booked theirs already, and we certainly would have moved somewhere else if given the opportunity. I know this would open a can of worms with the upsell fairy and people moving last minute, so there's probably no perfect solution, but I would really like to be able to know prior to booking, if the room is already booked, are they smokers? Again, it didn't ruin our vacation, but we certainly could have avoided some unpleasantness if there were a system in place.

 

100% agree. Being next to smokers totally ruins the balcony for me. Maybe they should have an area of balconies that are smoking and make the rest non-smoking.

[Froufie]

Ya just like hotels - smoking and non-smoking rooms - but just have them in specific areas on specific decks - then the non-smokers, and smokers, could pick and choose? 9(except for that poor person that gets that last cabin right next door? :( )

[italianfemmy]

Nice review. :-) Figured I'd chime in here. I definitely think you're off to a great start with your photography. Your patience for bracketing and using a tripod and looking for dynamic scenes with interesting compositions already puts you ahead of the majority of point and shooters.

 

I think it's funny that so many people are afraid of shooting weddings (noticed this in a reply you wrote.) I remember the first time I shot a wedding, I was so petrified leading up to the big day. But when I pulled that camera up to my eye and took the first photo, I got pulled into the emotion of what I was doing and took the photos I wanted to take, that I felt inspired to take, which helped me to experience it without a bunch of stress. I should say though that I thrive on chaos and find the silence within it. When I am shooting, I tune the rest of the world out and it's like a series of slow motion pictures where everything has a sequence and makes sense.

 

Anyway, if you should ever happen to decide to shoot a wedding, you can contact me and I'll give you loads of advice. Of course, if you were to wade into that territory, you'd have to be willing to use your external flash more :-)

 

On a more technical note..

 

I love your DOF on your breakfast food photos. (for those of you that don't know, this means "Depth of Field")

 

In general, I felt many of your compositions were strong and led my technically trained eye to the right place .. so kudos here!

 

The narrow street was my favorite use of the HDR. I know a lot of people are GaGa over HDR but I think it's overused and makes scenes look fake more often than makes them look amazing. A couple of the ones you used it on, I couldn't tell that you had and to me, those are the more successful (natural) ones. However, I applaud you for trying something different and getting some successful results.

 

I think my favorite photos are the ones of the staff members working behind the scenes because it portrays the reality of an untimed moment.

 

If you ever want someone to geek out with, feel free to find me and add me on Facebook or whatever. Keep up the good work and stay inspired and creative!

[mjmiller]

Great review, and fabulous photos. I may have to nab a few of your ship pics if my own don't turn out as well, when I go camera crazy in a couple weeks.

 

re: wedding photos... I've done photos and video for friends and family of friends. Usually I've been secondary, so it wasn't vital that everything be perfect. However the last time, I was THE paid photographer, using a friend's camera, as I only have a point and shoot. OMG - I was SO NERVOUS!!! For the most part, the photos turned out pretty well, and digital editing helped too. Some actually turned out pretty great! ;) However, I ended up giving back their fee to me as my wedding gift to them, just because I wasn't comfortable with the whole thing. And I don't think I would do it again, unless it was low-key and not a big deal. It is just too much pressure for me, to be responsible for documenting the big day!

 

Anyway, thank you SO much for sharing! Again - great job!

[johndavidearley]

What tool did you use for your panorama shots? Does your d7000 have a panorama assist? I use a d3100 currently. Also, looks like you used a long lens of some of these shots 55-300?

 

Thanks. Great work.

[pyroguy]

What tool did you use for your panorama shots? Does your d7000 have a panorama assist? I use a d3100 currently. Also, looks like you used a long lens of some of these shots 55-300?

 

Thanks. Great work.

 

***GEEK ALERT - DON'T READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY****

 

John - The camera doesn't do panorama assist - but I do turn on the gridlines on the viewfinder and that helps me to overlap each picture about 30% over the last one. I basically just stood as still as possible and free handed them - then I used the "Automate" feature in Photoshop CS5 to blend them together.

 

The 3100 is a great beginner camera. I started with the 3000, but it didn't do bracketing or wireless flash commander. I also wanted a better CMOS sensor for low light. For my 3000 I had the standard Nikon 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses. The only frustrating thing was that I felt like I was always having to change lenses. Whenever I had the short one on, I needed the long one and vice versa.

 

When I got my D7000, I got a Nikon 50mm prime (f/1.8) and a Tamron 18-270. I like that lens because it'll handle a very wide range and a fairly wide apeture for some good DOF shots.

 

I use the 50mm for portraits and tripod video shoots.

 

I really like the D3100 and have recommended it to a friend...however, I can't for the life of me think why they left off the IR sensor for a remote on that camera! Weird. I heard it will do live view video though which is a plus.

[Jeffy294]

The pictures are wonderful Pyroguy. I really like the shot of the narrow streets of San Juan and the one of the ships bow and flag over the smooth water. The colors in the lighthouse pics were really good too, like them a lot. All the pics were great though, good stuff.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Jeffy294

[BSQ]

Great question. No, they give you a green sheet of paper that asked the sodas you wanted (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Orange I think were the options), and also the sizes (mens and womens) and quantity of snorkel gear you wanted (up to 4). You turn it in later at the excursion desk.

 

Thank you! Was hoping I could take my time filling it out. wooohooo!

[mississauga]

 

 

As for Monica - I emailed her again thanking her for her help. She has "refriended" me on FB ;-)

 

I also sent a personal note to John Heald asking that he give her special recognition among her peers on the ship if that was possible.

 

I also gave John permission to give her a promotion to "Big Kahuna" of something at CCL corporate with a big pay raise. As a 1/1jillionth of a % of CCL shareholder, I'm sure my suggestion will be taken quite seriously ;)

 

Also, I'm researching GIFT CARDS ON FACEBOOK. I found Walmart, KMart and Amazon. She's not from the US, so I wasn't sure about those. What do you think? Shipping might be a pain too since she lives on a cruise ship.

 

I have read that if you send your mail for an employee to the head office in Miami, it will be forwarded to the ship. I would confirm it before you do so though...lol. May I suggest a phone card since she is not from North America? She probably could use one to phone home.

[mississauga]

Thanks for posting the wonderful review and awesome pics! It looks like you and DW had a great time.

 

Can you tell me where the secret door is located?

 

The secret door(s) are located all the way forward on Decks 9 and 10 (I think you can also get on 7 but I didn't do that so don't quote me).

 

They aren't marked or anything. You can go outside on deck 9 and there is a stairway in the middle of the ship to go up to Deck 10. You can also get back to the ship on the sides at deck 10 just like deck 9.

 

Often on this cruise there were signs on the doors saying "closed due to high wind", but there were often people out there anyway.

 

They are also on decks 6 and 7. Those front decks are wonderful for sailaway or coming into a port.:)

 

BTW: pyroguy, thanks for taking the time to write a review and thanks for sharing your fabulous photos.

Edited January 6, 2012 by mississauga

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great Review and great pictures. I loved the panoramics. By the way, I found this app on the iPhone (AutoStitch) that's really good at shooting pano's. Just thought I'd throw that in (I used it a lot today). I love the Liberty and need to get back on there after the updates.

[Motorcycle Girl]

...Red Frog Rum Bar...

 

 

...Frogs have more fun...

 

...Red’s Specials...

 

...Sushi Bar...

 

Red Frog was my favorite "port" on our Liberty cruise! I miss it and having Guy's right there too! YUM!

[DarthGrady]

Excellent review! Your pictures are outstanding! Thanks for posting. :)