Carnival Liberty Eastern Review 2013

[CruiseTeacher7]

We just got back from our cruise on the Carnival Liberty to the Eastern Caribbean. Our family is DW (38), DS(13), DD(11), and myself (39). This was our 5th cruise as a family, and the 8th cruise together for my wife and I.

 

Pre-Cruise

We have been looking forward to this cruise for many months now. DW and I are both teachers and our school year ended just a few days before the cruise. For me I had to bust my tail on the day before the cruise to get all of my end of the year stuff done so that we could leave for S. Fla by 4 pm. My post-planning day was on a Monday and I had to get everything done early.

 

My parents live in Boca Raton and we were able to stay with them the night before the cruise. We pulled into Boca around 9 pm after a very long day and long drive.

 

Day 1 Embarkation

 

We left Boca around 9:30 a.m. The weather was not very promising as there was a nasty batch of the thunderstorms. Fortunately they moved north as we drove south. By the time we got to Miami the skies had cleared and the weather was beautiful.

 

The cruise terminal did not have too many people leaving and it was pretty empty in the waiting area. We paid for the FTTF and it was the best $40 we have ever spent. We had priority check in and priority boarding. Prior to boarding we met up with the "Motley Cruisers" facebook group that we are a part of.

 

We didn't have to wait very long to board as they called us by 11 ish and we were on board by 11:15. I always love that first moment when you step into the lobby atrium. The cool air conditioning and that cruise ship smell hit you right away. You know that you are on vacation.

 

 

Our first priority was to stop by our room which of course was open and ready to go. We dropped off our stuff and checked out the view from the balcony.

 

 

Our room was 9274. Located on the Lido deck, this room was very convenient as we didn't have to travel far to the pool, buffet, or elevators. The only downside was that it was right next to the elevators so it was noisy at night (but ear plugs solved that problem).

 

The next stop was the Lido deck buffet. I totally forgot that we had Guy's Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana Cantina. From the pictures that I have seen I wasn't impressed with Guy's Burgers--they looked totally sloppy! Let me put that to rest.

 

GUY'S BURGERS ARE AWESOME!

 

Let me tell you why. First they are so much quicker to serve you then the standard grill on any Carnival ship. I thought they had to custom cook them for you, but no they have a steady stream coming off the grill. Second you begin enjoying the burger before it gets into your mouth. As you pull it close you begin to enjoy the savory scents and smells. Third, these burgers melt in your mouth. There are many choices, many toppings, etc. They are just that good. I cannot go back to those burgers they give you off the standard grill.

 

I didn't eat much for lunch this day but DS hit the buffet with a gusto. He is going through his growth spurt and he is an eating machine.

 

After lunch we got changed and hit the swimming pool.

 

 

One of the advantages of getting on early is that you basically have a 7th full day of cruising. We spent the entire afternoon on deck swimming, going down the slides, and working on our tans. DW and I ordered a few drinks to help us get our vacation going. We both love that feeling of sitting out in the sun, listening to music, and enjoying that cruise vibe that you just can't get anywhere else. This is why we cruise!

 

The 3:30 safety drill came and for some reason it seemed to go by pretty fast. After this we went back on deck to enjoy the sail away party. We met up with our Motley Cruisers group to enjoy the sail away. Fortunately the weather cooperated as our last Miami cruise gave us a nice rain shower.

 

Back to the cabin we cleaned up a bit and headed off to dinner. I ordered the chicken breast plate--very moist and the vegetables were cooked just right. I had the Chocolate Gauteaux dessert as well--very tasty, which is rare considering the Carnival does a good job screwing up cakes. Seriously though they get about 1 out of every 10 cakes right.

 

Post dinner DW headed out to hit the casino while DD and I relaxed in the cabin. DS was already off with his Circle C group and he was kept very entertained by this. I was pretty tired this night and skipped the welcome aboard show (which I've seen many a times). DW and DD went and they said it was pretty good, especially the comedians. I was pretty wiped out from working all week (I normally have a few days off before a cruise but not this time) so I hit the rack early.

 

Okay more to come soon. DW will also be tandem posting on this thread and she does a better job on the reviews than I do.

[jdd83]

Great Review so far! I am on this ship in January with the same stops!

[Groliv]

Thanks for posting a review! Keep it coming, we sail on the Liberty in less than 2 weeks! :D

[CruisinTeacher4]

Hi Everyone!

 

I hope you are enjoying our review so far--I will tag team the review and add my own pictures and perspectives to the day.

 

As Dave said, we have been looking forward to this cruise all year. We originally booked the Carnival Ecstasy (inside cabin) to save some money for home improvements. Welllllllllll, as the cruise got closer, I was just not excited to sail for only 5 days on an older ship.

 

I know that sounds ridiculous but we have been sailing a full week every summer and it would be a bit of a downgrade and not totally fulfilling. I think DH and I would be satisfied on a shorter cruise but I was worried the kids would not have enough to do.

 

So we ended up switching to the Liberty (which I wanted all along anyway). We booked an inside cabin but as the cruise got closer I just couldn't go through with it. We've had a balcony every summer plus I really wanted the Lido deck soooooo (I'm sure you've guessed by now)....UPGRADE! Okay, now I could really get excited about the perfect cruise!

 

As the stress of the school year came to a close, we packed our bags and hit the road for Boca!

 

 

The next morning in a frenzy of anticipation we loaded the car and headed for the Port of Miami! Notice we are all wearing our Motley Cruisers t-shirts from our Facebook group.

 

 

The terminal was not at all crowded (it was about 10:45) and Faster to the Fun had surprises for us at every turn. Luggage tags for priority delivery to our rooms, dedicated lines for FTTF guests, and priority boarding passes!

 

 

Just as we were getting comfortable and chatting with our cruise group, they started calling for VIP boarding. I couldn't believe how early we were getting on board--it was only 11:15 a.m.!!

 

We gathered our carry-ons, headed up the escalator, took our first pic, and climbed aboard.

 

 

 

To be continued....

[star453]

Great review! Keep it coming:D

[CruisinTeacher4]

Another FTTF perk is being able to drop your carry-ons in your room immediately. We zipped to deck 9, plopped everything on the bed, and hit the Lido Deck (just a few feet away from our room!).

 

Our first stop was the famed Guy's Burgers! We had been looking forward to one of these juicy monsters for so long and they did not disappoint. Very tasty with tons of condiments to choose from.

 

 

 

With lunch out of the way, we snagged a prime spot on Lido and enjoyed a sunshine-filled afternoon. This is always one of my favorite days as people trickle in, the atmosphere builds, the drinks flow, and the music plays. Could not have asked for a more perfect first day!!

 

 

 

 

A bride and her groom jumped in the pool!

 

 

After the safety drill, we met our group on Deck 10 for sail away.

 

Karl with a K was a great cruise director and was very involved throughout the week with fun activities. Time to dance!

 

Jack's in here somewhere!

 

 

To be continued....

[CruisinTeacher4]

We went fairly casually to dinner tonight--shorts and shirts. Nobody felt like showering and getting fancy so we went with it. Certainly were not the most casual of those in the dining room. It was nice to "come as you are" on this busy first day.

 

I'm not one to love the Day 1 dinner menu but I always find something that will work. Here's our dishes.

 

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

 

Chicken Breast and Veggies

 

Indian Platter

 

 

Chocolate Melting Cake

 

Megan and I enjoyed the Welcome Aboard Show later that night, I won $100 on penny slots (the Tabasco game), Jack went to his Circle C activities, and finally we hit the hay and slept well!

[mikel24m]

We went fairly casually to dinner tonight--shorts and shirts. Nobody felt like showering and getting fancy so we went with it. Certainly were not the most casual of those in the dining room. It was nice to "come as you are" on this busy first day.

 

I'm not one to love the Day 1 dinner menu but I always find something that will work. Here's our dishes.

 

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

 

Chicken Breast and Veggies

 

Indian Platter

 

 

Chocolate Melting Cake

 

Megan and I enjoyed the Welcome Aboard Show later that night, I won $100 on penny slots (the Tabasco game), Jack went to his Circle C activities, and finally we hit the hay and slept well!

 

I love the indian dishes onboard .What cabin were you guys in ,we love being about 30 feet from everything on the lido deck too. Great review

[Captain Carnival]

Very Nice Start!

I'm considering this cruise right now so keep it coming!

[SunshineCruiser24]

I'm doing this cruise in November, keep it coming! I can't wait.

[CruisinTeacher4]

Ok, since someone asked about our cabin...let's get this nastiness out of the way fast!

 

We were in cabin 9274...and it sucked!

 

The location was absolutely amazing--we had this exact cabin on the Valor 2 years ago and I loved it (which is why I booked it on Liberty).

 

But, it is in need of massive TLC.

 

-balcony light does not work (front desk said it's controlled by the bridge and interferes with navigation??) I think this is BS as the cabins next to us worked and the Valor worked. Plus the light did not even work during the day.

 

-SHOWER FLOODED EVERY DAY!!!!! With 4 people in the cabin, this was the absolute worst. Drain was insanely slow and even taking a "military shower" was too long. Bathroom was a pool! Told the cabin steward but it never got better. Total mess!

 

-Crazy drawers that were near impossible to open. We didn't complain about this one but an hour before we docked in Grand Turk, we came back to someone taking our whole bed apart to fix the underneath drawer (didn't know this one was even broken). I asked them to leave until we were onshore. I guess it was fixed--it wasn't one we used.

 

-Cabin steward never came and introduced himself. In 9 cruises, I've never experienced this. He did take good care of the cabin but wish we got to meet. Had to leave him notes for ice since never got to verbally give preferences.

 

This did not ruin our cruise by any means but I would not book this cabin again.

[mikel24m]

Ok, since someone asked about our cabin...let's get this nastiness out of the way fast!

 

We were in cabin 9274...and it sucked!

 

The location was absolutely amazing--we had this exact cabin on the Valor 2 years ago and I loved it (which is why I booked it on Liberty).

 

But, it is in need of massive TLC.

 

-balcony light does not work (front desk said it's controlled by the bridge and interferes with navigation??) I think this is BS as the cabins next to us worked and the Valor worked. Plus the light did not even work during the day.

 

-SHOWER FLOODED EVERY DAY!!!!! With 4 people in the cabin, this was the absolute worst. Drain was insanely slow and even taking a "military shower" was too long. Bathroom was a pool! Told the cabin steward but it never got better. Total mess!

 

-Crazy drawers that were near impossible to open. We didn't complain about this one but an hour before we docked in Grand Turk, we came back to someone taking our whole bed apart to fix the underneath drawer (didn't know this one was even broken). I asked them to leave until we were onshore. I guess it was fixed--it wasn't one we used.

 

-Cabin steward never came and introduced himself. In 9 cruises, I've never experienced this. He did take good care of the cabin but wish we got to meet. Had to leave him notes for ice since never got to verbally give preferences.

 

This did not ruin our cruise by any means but I would not book this cabin again.

 

Sorry to strike a nerve :(

 

We stayed in 9293 our last cruise and it was awesome except for some door slammer neighbors

 

Was the noise at that location bad ? From 9294 until about 9278 is a pretty much private hallway that keeps the Lido noise to a minimum

[soccersharon]

Great start! We loved our Lido deck cabin as well (we had 9270 - right across from the laundry room). Awesome cabin on an awesome ship!

 

Karl with a K is a fantastic cruise director. We've been fortunate to sail with him both times in 2012.

 

Keep up the great review!

[CruisinTeacher4]

Sorry to strike a nerve :(

 

We stayed in 9293 our last cruise and it was awesome except for some door slammer neighbors

 

Was the noise at that location bad ? From 9294 until about 9278 is a pretty much private hallway that keeps the Lido noise to a minimum

 

No problem!! As I said, it certainly did not ruin our vacation by any means:) I was going to address it during the review at some point--I just want to be honest.

 

I did not think the location was noisy per se but it might be too noisy for light sleepers as it is close to elevators, the atrium, and people walking around. I wear earplugs on vacation because of "stray noises" so for me, it was no issue.

[camper49]

Great Review so far! I am on this ship in January with the same stops!

 

Us too!

[cruisebarbie]

Ok, since someone asked about our cabin...let's get this nastiness out of the way fast!

 

We were in cabin 9274...and it sucked!

 

The location was absolutely amazing--we had this exact cabin on the Valor 2 years ago and I loved it (which is why I booked it on Liberty).

 

But, it is in need of massive TLC.

 

-balcony light does not work (front desk said it's controlled by the bridge and interferes with navigation??) I think this is BS as the cabins next to us worked and the Valor worked. Plus the light did not even work during the day.

 

-SHOWER FLOODED EVERY DAY!!!!! With 4 people in the cabin, this was the absolute worst. Drain was insanely slow and even taking a "military shower" was too long. Bathroom was a pool! Told the cabin steward but it never got better. Total mess!

 

-Crazy drawers that were near impossible to open. We didn't complain about this one but an hour before we docked in Grand Turk, we came back to someone taking our whole bed apart to fix the underneath drawer (didn't know this one was even broken). I asked them to leave until we were onshore. I guess it was fixed--it wasn't one we used.

 

-Cabin steward never came and introduced himself. In 9 cruises, I've never experienced this. He did take good care of the cabin but wish we got to meet. Had to leave him notes for ice since never got to verbally give preferences.

 

This did not ruin our cruise by any means but I would not book this cabin again.

 

I was just on the Liberty in March and it sounded like you had the same roome we were in. I can't remember our room number but our drawers were broken too! And, they had to take the bed apart to try and fix it. It was the ones under the sofa bed. I remember they sort of fixed it--we still had a heck of a time opening and closing it.

 

But, we loved the Liberty too! And Karl was awesome! I was tempted to book the Liberty again for next summer because of the fun atmosphere but since they haven't posted the schedules we went ahead and booked the Breeze.

 

Looking forward to more of your review!

[Hommiette]

Awesome, thank you!!!

[NikkiFer]

Looking forward to your review... 89 days until I get to sail on this ship!

[CruisinTeacher4]

Before we get into Day 2, let's take a look around the ship! We actually took these pictures during our day in San Juan when the ship was almost empty as well as our last morning on board.

 

Serenity Deck (never made it up here but it looks wonderful!)

 

 

 

Lido Deck

 

 

[CruisinTeacher4]

Aft Pool

 

 

 

Deck 10 Side Ship

 

[CruisinTeacher4]

Guy's Burgers (Open 12-6 p.m. daily)

 

 

Blue Iguana Cantina (Open for breakfast and from 12-2:30 lunch)

 

 

Sweet Spot (Lido Desserts)

[CruisinTeacher4]

Grand Atrium

 

 

 

Golden Olympian Dining Room (Any Time Dining)

 

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!

[CruiseTeacher7]

Day 2--Half Moon Cay (HMC)

 

For some reason I have a hard time sleeping in. When the sun is up I'm usually up with it. No problem. My ritual is to head out on the Lido deck, grab a cup of coffee, and sit down and enjoy the ambiance. Its very quiet and peaceful. After about an hour I head back to the cabin, usually with a cup of coffee for DW and a plate of pastries for the family to share.

 

I can't remember what we did for breakfast--Lido Buffet or MDR. I prefer MDR since it is usually a rugby scrum at the Buffet. One good thing about the Blue Iguana Cantina is that they serve breakfast burritos, so that is one additional breakfast option.

 

Here is a picture of HMC taken from the ship. DW will have some pictures from the island as I don't take my iPhone off the ship to beach excursions.

 

 

Since today was HMC we had to take a tender over to the island. You have to go to the main (Venetian) lounge where they give you a sticker with a number. They call groups by # but since we had FTTF we had priority boarding. The ride over to the island was fine but let me tell you this about coming back to the ship. The longer you wait to go back the longer you will wait in line. I think we went back around 2:30 and probably waited 30 minutes in line to take the tender back. It took us at least an hour to get back from the time we got in line to the time we got back on the ship. By the time we got to the tender the line was crazy long.

 

HMC is one of my favorite stops. It has that crystal blue water that you see in travel brochures. Today we had beautiful weather with winds blowing away from the beach. This made the water very calm. There were no clouds in the sky.

 

We got some chairs on the beach right around where they had the first bar. We rented a clam shell for some shade along with a float mat and inner tube for the kids. We spent a good amount of time in the water relaxing.

 

Around 11:30 we went to lunch. Lunch is hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ jerk chicken, side salads (cole slaws, etc), fruit, and desserts, typical of what you would get from the Lido restaurant. We saw some interesting lizards and some chickens running around.

 

After lunch we headed to the main pirate ship bar to watch the beach olympics--entertaining. I spent about an hour under the clam shell resting my eyes as well.

 

Dinner was in the MDR--I had the chicken breast again since it was so good the first night. DW, DD, and I went to the family friendly comedy show at 7:45. The comedians were Cowboy Bill and Happy Cole. They were very funny, especially Happy Cole. I wish the show was longer but they end it at 8:15 for the late dinner.

 

I can tell you that they had the NBA finals on. Tonight they had them in one of the obscure lounges on deck 4 and in the EA sports bar. On the other nights they showed it on the Lido deck.

 

Later in the evening they had the Red Frog's Caribbean beach party on the Lido deck. We kinda watched from the side but that was okay because there were some rain showers. I really liked the two deck parties that they had.

 

Okay more to come tomorrow, including more pictures of the sea day.

[CruisinTeacher4]

Deck 5 Sitting Area

 

Cherry on Top Candy Store

 

Casino

 

 

Promenade