Dana's Liberty Oct 12 Sailing-Eastern

[Danacat222]

Here I go...my Liberty Eastern Photo review. We had a GREAT cruise!

 

Me (Dana, 44) and my boyfriend (Martin, 43) and I sailed on Carnival Liberty out of Miami on October 12, 2013. This makes my 7th cruise, 3rd on Carnival.

 

We drove from Virginia to Hollywood Beach for our 1 night pre-cruise stay, I generally stay in Holiday Inns because I am a rewards member, but sometimes i use hotwire and this was one of those times. On October 8th I booked a room for the night of the 11th and ended up at The Westin Diplomat Resort And Spa for $97 and after I got the hotel name I looked on their site and did a mock booking and the web site rate would have been $249! At check-in, the woman said "We have you in a room with two double beds, is that your preference?" I responded by saying we had been in a car for 16 hours and anything would be fine. She tapped away and then said "I have upgraded you to a "Grand Deluxe Room with a city and partial ocean view with wrap-around balcony." I later learned that room goes for $559 a night! It's a very large and beautiful ocean-front hotel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a wonderful night sleep and a gorgeous sunrise, relaxing soak in the bathtub, we got the car and headed to Miami.

For parking, we opted for a covered garage, Premier Cruise Parking Port of Miami via Global Airport Parking. We paid $59.24 for 7 nights, in at 10:30am out at 10:00am. Their instructions say they are located at 1415 NE 2nd Ave but the actual address is 1400 NE 2nd Ave. The sign is small and we drove past it 2 times. When we asked about the address we were told they have it that way because it is between 14th and 15th, I told them jokingly that we are not mind-readers and that really it is easier to find it by the correct address. Anyway, we parked, and we were shuttled with one other couple and dropped off right at Liberty. For the return we were walking off the ship at 7:35, had a bit of a wait for our luggage, waited for about 5 minutes for the shuttle to pick us up, were driving out of the garage at 8:20am.

 

We had Faster-to-the-Fun (second time) and so we breezed through security and check-in. Security did not look at or inspect my 2 wine bottles but ripped open one of our two 12-packs of sodas. At 11:15 we were waiting, weddings first, then the VIPs; Diamond and Platinum were called, then FTTF. There was a huge back-up to get on, a group had their cards incorrectly assigned and that held up the line. We walked on the ship at 12:23pm.

 

[bills blasters]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review and especially all the pic. Great job so far.

Claudia

[saltybones]

Great! Keep it coming:D

[JawjaFatBoy]

Looks like fun so far! Can't wait to see the rest!

 

All of y'all going on the Liberty Eastern itinerary are killing me! December can't get here fast enough!

[franks1]

looking forward to the rest of your review,we leave Sat. on the Liberty

[trini_ras]

Can't wait for the rest.

Awesome start :)

[Danacat222]

And so we are on board the Carnival Liberty, and since we decided last-minute to rent a Villa at HMC I immediately went to the Excursions Desk to pick out the Villa. I was hoping for D or E but C would have been fine, too, E had already been taken so we got D. After getting D I had my first drink, a Fun Ship Special. The Villas, by the way, are the new eyesores at Half Moon Cay, they are colorfully painted and plopped between cabanas. I will have more on that later!

 

 

Having Faster to the Fun, we went to go unload our carry-on luggage. We booked an inside on deck 9 for the convenience of my smoker boyfriend so he could get fairly easy access to the smoking areas, also I loved Serenity Deck on Pride and Legend where Serenity is aft, but on Liberty Serenity is Forward, I was thinking that I would be parked on Serenity most of the time, but I was wrong, more on that later.

 

I love being forward (second time) and I liked the inside, our cabin (9247) was always very cool and I love the darkness when I am turning in at night. The cabin was small! However it had more than what we expected, it had a refrigerator, and like the other cabins we have been in it had the 3 ample closets and there was a sitting chair and ottoman, 2 little side tables with lamps, and the room was trimmed with colorful artwork.

 

 

 

 

Since the only other cabins I have had on Carnival were 4Ks (Pride/Legend French Door) I knew the inside would be smaller, same goes for the bathroom, it was smaller but it was fine.

 

 

We met one of 2 cabin attendants right away, he was a little shy and later we learnded he was new, he did a very good job. We brought on 2 bottles of wine and two 12-packs of soda, we asked for a bucket of ice and he not only filled that up twice a day, but we once again brought a small little cooler and he would put a few sodas in it and fill it up with ice. We always had icy cold sodas to either take to the pool or to take off the ship!

 

With FTTF luggage is supposed to be delivered early. My checked-bag arrived almost as soon as we got to the room, Martin's, tagged the exact same way as mine and collected at the same exact time (I saw them put his on top of mine) came way late, it was not until about 4:30 or so when his came. I was a little annoyed because i had changed into my swimsuit and shorts and he was in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and had forgotten to pack his swim trunks in his carry-on. That was the only glitch we had with FTTF.

[Danacat222]

Since we had a bunch of time to mess around before the muster drill, we explored a little, mostly outside on the upper decks, and took lots of pics of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cony Island Pool...

 

 

 

This is the aft pool which is ADULTS ONLY. They even enforce it. I LOVES this pool, it was my "go to" spot every day!

 

 

 

The jogging/walking/running track...

 

[Danacat222]

One one side of the main pool you have the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar...

 

 

Then the view of the hot tubs and slide...

 

 

On the opposite side you have the Red Fog Rum Bar...

 

 

Both of those bars are cute and popular attractions!

[michelle1836]

love the pics. the ship looks empty!! cant wait to see the villas!

[Crusin Karen]

Great start and what a fantastic hotel room you had! Looking forward to hearing about the Villas also.

[Danacat222]

With all of the excitement we had skipped breakfast and so we felt it was time to have some lunch. We decided to try Guy's Burger Joint, I had the Ringer and Martin had the Pig Patty.

 

 

We both agreed that they were very very good, the fries are awesome. The topping bar has extra bacon, sauteed mushrooms and onions and other stuff.

 

On the other side of Guys is the Blue Iguana Cantina serving tacos and burritos for lunch with limited operating hours. They are open for breakfast, too.

 

With barely room to spare, we had a few treats from "The Sweet Spot" located in Emile's.

 

 

Emile's was ridiculously crowded during prime breakfast and lunch times. People have also started chair hogging there, especially at breakfast time. That was new for us, I have never seen that happen in all of my cruises. This was the first time in 3 Carnival cruises that I did not get an omelet at all because there were always long lines. I never ever had to wait in line on Pride or Legend. For anything. I am not complaining, just pointing out my observation. It's a larger ship with lots of people. It is what it is. On the first morning the "fake scrambled eggs" were inedible, but on the other mornings they were actually very good.

 

Edited October 23, 2013 by Danacat222

[Danacat222]

With full bellies it was about time for the muster drill, it went by without incident, it wasn't too hot, people around us listened and behaved, and then it was time to sail away! Woo hoo!

 

The Breeze was in front of us but parked backwards, so it had to pull out, go back, turn around, and then follow us out, it was cool to watch!

 

 

 

 

 

Sail Away Party

 

 

See ya, Miami!

 

[Danacat222]

 

With muster and sail-away behind us, we had some time to kill before our 7:15 dinner reservation in the steakhouse. We had been to Serenity and found that it was a bit breezy, so we found ourselves at the aft Adult Only Pool. The area itself is not restricted of kids, after all the pizza place is there, as well there is one of the Swirls ice cream stations there, every time a child would enter the pool a crew member would politely explain that the pool is for adults only.

 

While the crew enforced the pool rules, they did not enforce the chair hogs at the aft pool. I'm not complaining, we were always able to find chairs/loungers, but just as an observation both Serenity and the main pool had signs about not reserving chairs and about the 40 minute rule, there was no sign like that at the aft pool and that is the only place we saw most of the chair hogging.

 

After some pool time we went and got ready for dinner. With Martin's luggage arriving much later than mine, i had had the opportunity to unpack but Martin had not. He dressed in dress shorts and a nice shirt but was refused entry to the steakhouse. We had not even thought about the dress code on embarkation day in the steakhouse, he was told any kind of long pants was needed.

 

 

So I waited while he went and changed, meanwhile a rather large group (15+) of very loud woman clad in T-SHIRTS were hootin and hollerin while many around could not hear ourselves converse. Go figure. I am not complaining, these are just my observations and our experiences, and i get and respect that rules are rules, but i thought it was hilarious that Martin came back in JEANS and looked more sloppy in them than he had looked in his nice dress shorts, and that the group of women were wearing t-shirts compared to the other women in dressy tops and men in dress shirts with ties.

 

 

 

We had our complimentary wine, I had the Baked Onion Soup, Heart of Iceburg Lettuce, NY strip. Martin had the shrimp cocktail, escargots bourguignonne, and the surf and turf. He loved everything! I was still full from lunch so I ate the salad, a few sips of the soup, has about a quarter of the steak, which to me, was not very good, but maybe because i was not very hungry, and we skipped dessert. They begged us to have dessert and begged us to have them prepare something to take back to the cabin, but we declined.

 

I love to walk outdoors around the ship at night, so we did that for a while...

 

 

 

 

 

Then we hit the casino! I put in $10 on the Wheel of Fortune Slots and I won $80 on my second pull when i got the spin, and then about 8 pulls after that i hit another spin...i thought i had won another $100 on that but when i went to cash out i had won a total of $287 on just about 10 pulls total! Woo hoo!

 

After that we went out for another quick stroll and we have a nice clear night...time to turn in at a reasonable time with Half Moon Cay the next day!

 

 

 

 

How did our cabin steward know i was already missing my dog?

 

[LizaMM]

Thank you so much for your review! I am looking forward to the rest!

[Danacat222]

I was up bright eyed and ready for a fun day at Half Moon Cay!

 

It was a gorgeous morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to have breakfast in Emiles, it was CROWDED! Oh my. There were people reserving chairs there now, we went to an empty table and were told by a lady sitting at a table next to it [by herself at a table for at last 4 or 6] that we could not sit there because she was waiting for her group. We ended up sharing a table with 2 ladies who were deep in discussion and virtually oblivious to our presence. I had yogurt and fruit and a few pastries because there were crazy long lines for hot food and it was just too crowded for my liking and because of the Villa I wanted to be in and out pretty fast to get over there on the earliest tender I could get on.

 

With an excursion and or FTTF you get priority tendering, I got all turned around and could not find the gangway so i was probably on the 5th or 6th tender. Martin had to check in at work so he came over after me.

[Danacat222]

Tendering to HMC is a breeze once you are on the boat, it was pretty darned hot already and the tenders were of course running full...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to the excursion area and handed in the Villa ticket, I was told to go catch a ride on the truck, and so i did, there were just 3 of us for the ride, myself and a couple heading to their cabana.

 

[Danacat222]

My

video...another of my

videos

 

My

video

 

 

First sight of our Villa...

 

 

 

[Danacat222]

Great start and what a fantastic hotel room you had! Looking forward to hearing about the Villas also.

 

It was indeed an awesome hotel room! Take a look at this

i made!

[luvcdays]

More, more, more! Please :D

[JawjaFatBoy]

Really enjoying the review so far! It's definitely got me ready to get on the ship!

 

Very much looking forward to the rest! Great job!

[apey9995]

Really enjoying your review so far! :) I think we had the cabana next to you at HMC (#9). Too bad we didn't get a chance to meet! I'm hoping to write a review also, if I ever get around to uploading pictures. Its interesting to see the same cruise from another viewpoint.

[JustCruiseMe]

Lovin the review!!! I feel like I am re-living it all over!

 

You know the only place I encountered chair/table hogging was in Emile's also. In fact it was a lady holding a empty table beside her for her group. We went to sit down and she said someone was sitting there, I looked and the table and said "where?", she said they are coming. I started to sit there anyway, put my tray down (I'm like that) but noticed a table for 2 emptying at the same time so we did move. We were almost finished eating breakfast when her group sat down. I am just wondering if it was the same woman, an older African American lady? Just curious.

[fsa1155]

With full bellies it was about time for the muster drill, it went by without incident, it wasn't too hot, people around us listened and behaved, and then it was time to sail away! Woo hoo!

 

The Breeze was in front of us but parked backwards, so it had to pull out, go back, turn around, and then follow us out, it was cool to watch!

 

 

 

 

 

Sail Away Party

 

 

See ya, Miami!

 

 

My group is in your picture. Look at the picture with the slide. We are the group in the orange tee-shirts on the upper right side of the picture. We were a group of 4 couples celebrating our anniversaries. Our orange Tee-shirts had the year we were married on the back and the words "anniversary cruise" on the front.

 

Karen ( fsa1155 )

[wantocruisemore]

My Liberty cruise last month was my favorite so far. I LOVE that ship and crew.

 

Really enjoying the view.

 

We also loved the aft pool. I thought at first their were a lot of chair hogs and then realized these chairs had people's stuff that were currently in the water.