Liberty Review - January 11, 2014 Western Caribbean

[QTPieRye]

Carnival Liberty Review 1/11/2014 Western Caribbean

 

Background

We are a married couple, in our mid 40’s, with 3 young adult children! We are completely addicted to cruising :) We live in Southern California and for the past 4 years, we’ve cruised the Mexican Riviera. We cruise at least 1 time a year and alternate years with kids and without. On January 14th, we celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary and were lucky enough to have a few of our best friends join us on this trip! This weekend I am going through our pictures and will post a link to our cruise album. Meanwhile, enjoy and feel free to ask questions!

 

 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

After finishing up last minute errands and getting the kids situated for the next 10 days, we were off to meet our friends at 6:00 p.m. and head to LAX for a 10:10 p.m. red-eye flight into Fort Lauderdale. We arrived at LAX at approximately 8:00 p.m., and breezed through security without incident. Once upstairs, we headed into the bar for a few pre-flight cocktails. Our flight on Virgin America was hassle free and we arrived FLL at 5:45 a.m. as scheduled.

 

Note: For future cruises, we will more than likely take the red-eye flight the night before and arrive on embarkation date. The red-eye flights for both Jet Blue and Virgin America from LAX, originate from Fort Lauderdale; therefore, a delay is highly unlikely for bad weather, etc.

 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Once in Fort Lauderdale, we took a taxi for $16.00 to Harbor Beach Inn, our quaint little hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach, arriving around 6:30 a.m. Although the hotel office did not open until 9:00 a.m., I had made pre-arrangements for early check-in and Dave, the manager could not have been more accommodating. After calling him to let him know we had arrived, he came down to the office and got us checked in. We then walked 1 block down to the Bahia Cabana and had a wonderful breakfast, as we watched the sun come up over Fort Lauderdale Beach. We then headed back to the room to get some sleep.

 

Around 1:00 p.m. we headed down to explore Fort Lauderdale Beach. Beach access from our hotel could not have been any easier. We simply walked 1 block, crossed the street where the Sheraton is located and then walked the boardwalk down to the beach. It’s a beautiful 1 mile walk to the main drag, shopping and restaurants. At a friend’s recommendation, we stopped into the Elbo Room, a local bar off A1A, and had our first “PITA” Pain in the Ass, a mix of a rum runner and pina colada, with a floater of rum on top! Super yummy! The Elbo Room had great live entertainment and we hung out there for a few hours before heading down the strip further and checking out the shops, etc. Around 8:00 p.m. we ate dinner at Bubba Gumps. The shrimp was amazing! When finished we headed back to the Elbo Room, where we stayed until around 2 a.m. listening to the live band and hanging out with our new friends.

 

Note: We had received an email from Carnival that boarding would not commence until approximately 1:30 p.m. due to unscheduled maintenance or something like that.

 

Saturday, January 11th (Embarkation Day)

We woke up early to a knock on our door. It was Dave, the hotel manager letting us know our bank card had been declined!!!! Needless to say this set me into a panic, knowing we were getting on a ship in a few hours! I had already called Chase bank to let them know we were travelling to the east coast because I was concerned after the recent Target issue. After a very long telephone call, Chase took care of everything and we were back in business!

 

At approximately 10:30 a.m. our new friends from CC, picked us up from our hotel and we were on our way! Susan took us the scenic route and we even stopped at Publix to pick up 2 bottles of wine! We arrived to the port at approximately 11:30 a.m. and there was no line whatsoever. After going through the main security area, we headed up the escalators to the check-in area and were directed to the FTTF. Once checked in, S&S card in hand and our priority boarding placard, we were instructed to sit and wait. The announcement came on that said that due to the delayed boarding all cabins would be ready upon boarding; therefore, we really didn’t receive any benefit upon embarkation of FTTF, other than we were the first group to board after wedding parties and Platinum/Diamond cruisers.

 

Once on the ship, we headed straight to our cabin #6450, our L-shaped balcony cabin on the upper deck. We dropped off our carry-ons and met our friends at Guy’s Burgers. I had “The Ringer” and it was the bomb! Hubby had fish and chips and said it was okay..... not the best he’s had, but good. Once done eating, it was time to explore the ship! We made it ½ way on the Lido Deck and found the Red Rum Bar! It was there that we parked ourselves and enjoyed pre-sail away deck activities, dancing and games, etc. Around 2:30, we headed back to our cabin to see if our luggage had arrived, which it had so it was unpacking time! Was nested into the cabin, it was time for the muster drill and sail away party, so we thought. Since the NFL play-offs were on, there was no sail away deck party. Regardless, we had a great time hanging out at the Red Rum Bar and even met up with a group of other CC’ers, where we drank and danced until dinner……..

 

About a week before our cruise, we received an email from Carnival announcing that the new “American Feast” menu was to be rolled out on our sailing. Prior to the cruise, we didn’t give the new dining concept much thought; however, after patiently sitting in the MDR for 2.5 hours, we realized that the MDR staff was completely clueless to the new menu. Our group of 6 had late dining, 8:15 p.m. and were seated table #316 in the Silver lower dining room. This has to be the most horrible location, as you are shut in between a silver brick wall and the window. Furthermore, there is a serving station located right behind this table, making it very difficult to pull out chairs on one side of the table. Our head waiter, Germon, was completely clueless about the new menu. Our questions were always followed by his reading directly off the menu, which was no help whatsoever. i.e. when asked what kind of pie was served with pie a la mode, he picked up the menu and scrolled down and said “pie a la mode”. When asked again, what kind of pie… he responded it looked like maybe apple. It ended up being pumpkin, which looks nothing like apple!!!

 

After dinner we headed up to the Piano Bar for our informal CC meet and greet. It ended up that only a few people showed up, but we did have fun listening to Jonathan. He was equally talented as a pianist and vocalist and was very good and entertaining. Still somewhat tired from our red eye flight and day in Fort Lauderdale, we headed to bed around 1:30 a.m.

 

Sunday, January 12th (Sea Day)

We woke up around 8:00 a.m. to the morning sun shining brightly through our cabin windows. Husband went up and brought me breakfast in bed, which is one of his favorite things to do while cruising :) After having breakfast, we set out hubby’s suit for dry cleaning for formal night… this was the first time we’ve used this service and it was worth every bit of $12.00!!

 

Time to get bathing suit on and head to CC meet and greet and slot pull at 9:30 a.m. I was so happy to see the great turn-out for our roll call group! After meeting everyone, we headed down to the casino for our slot pull! Although we didn’t win the jackpot, we only lost $4.00 per person and had lots of fun getting to know everyone!

 

After the M&G, it was time to set out to explore the ship some more. After walking around looking for a place to sit and soak up some rays, we eventually ended up getting two chairs in the Serenity area…… there were an enormous amount of chair hogs on this cruise in every area! We waited 30 minutes on the Serenity, and removed 2 towels that had been on chairs. The people next to us had said those towels had been sitting there for over 2 hours!!! About an hour after sitting down, two girls arrived, gave us a dirty look, and picked up their towels. I was already prepared to respond, had they said something, but they just went on their way.

 

Next was lunch at the Burrito Bar! Oh my, the chicken burritos and tacos were delicious!!! After lunch, we met up with our friends and hung out on loungers by the main pool Lido deck, where the afternoon activities were going on! Between the dancing, drinking and games, we had a great afternoon enjoying the warm sunshine on the Liberty!

 

Around 3:30 p.m. it was time to put my Bronco’s jersey on and head down to the sports bar, where we watched the Bronco’s stomp the San Diego Chargers! Hell yeah!!! Once the game ended it was time to start getting ready for our first formal night.

 

Dressed in our glitz and glamour, we headed down for pictures around 7:30 p.m. and arrived for dinner at 8:15 p.m. Lobster dinner was good, but again, the service was sooooooooo slow. One of our friends ended up getting really sea sick and had to leave the table during dinner.

 

Note: I personally think this had something to do with the location of our table, aft location, between a wall and window, tight space and not ideal for anyone prone to sea sickness, which includes myself, but I’ve never had any issues while cruising. I take 1 chewable OTC Bonine a day along with 3 ginger tablets. Our friends had the prescription patch and all of them, had issues with sea sickness at least once during the trip.

 

After dinner we went back to the cabin to change out of our formal wear and headed up to the piano bar for a few hours and then to the disco, where we danced and hung out with our new friends until 2 a.m. or so.

 

Monday, January 13th (Cozumel)

The Liberty arrived at Cozumel around 8:00 a.m. and we were off the ship by 8:30 a.m. We grabbed a taxi and headed to Nachi Cocom, which we realized did not open for another hour or so because of the time difference! Staff arrived not long after us, and we were instructed to just head down and get our spot on the beach for the day. Once they opened, the staff came around with our first drink of the day! The price for Nachi was $55.00 per person, which was reasonable; however, there is a charge for everything you want to do at the resort, which I found irritating. Basically, your $55.00 included all you could eat and drink, but nothing else. If you wanted to use a water floating, it was $10.00, a mask was $5.00, etc. They put a floating lounger out in the water and then told you it was $20.00 to use for the day! I am not sure if we would do Nachi again, as our friends had previously gone to Paradise Beach where everything was included for $12.00 pp/day. The resort itself was very pretty and clean and the food and drinks were excellent. It was very hot in Cozumel, around 90 degrees and the water temperature was perfect! There were quite a few jelly fish in the water, but that didn’t keep us out! When we were done for the day, each couple put $20.00 into the tip jar located on the bar. As we said goodbye to our waiter, we told him tip was in the jar. He said that he wouldn’t get any of that tip and that we would have to tip him separately. We immediately discussed this with staff and she said sorry we would have to tip him separately. We contemplated retrieving our $60.00 out of the tip jar to give him half, but then decided that they could figure it out. We still aren’t sure what that was all about, other than trying to get more tip out of us. Either way, it was a great day!

 

After arriving back at the port area, we shopped and stopped in at Fat Tuesdays for an “Attitude Adjustment”. We took advantage of their free wi-fi until it was time to get back on the ship and set sail for Belize.

 

We got ready for dinner and headed to the MDR, which again took 2.5 hours! After dinner we headed to the Lido Deck for the Blue Iguana Mexican Fiesta Party. This was one of our favorite nights on the cruise. Between the dancing, games and conga line, we had a blast! Once the deck party was over, we headed for the Disco where we danced the night away 

 

 

Tuesday, January 14th (Belize)

Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary and I woke up early to breakfast in bed and a beautiful Movado watch from my husband :) The sky was cloudy and overcast and it looked like it was going to rain. The first tender was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and thus, after grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed downstairs to Guest Services to wait for our tender. Our FTTF, allowed us to be on the first tender boat that left the ship and we were on shore by 9:30ish. The tender from the boat to Belize was much longer than we thought. In fact, upon arrival to the port, we could no longer see the ship. At the pier there was a representative from EcoTours waiting for us with a sign that said “Sun Kissed Beach” EcoTours / Island Marketing. We had booked through Island Marketing and paid $40.00 per person. We later learned that others who had booked through Eco Tours had paid slightly more for the same excursion. Anyhow, the tour guide walked us down into the main building in the port where we made our final payment for the tour, given a wristband and told that the tour that was supposed to depart at 9:30 a.m., would not leave until 10:00 a.m. Thus, we headed out to the Wet Lizard to people watch and take advantage of their free wi-fi, which did not work even after making the minimum purchase. The server kept telling us that the internet was down; however, our smart phone showed it was active, but that the password was incorrect… oh well.

 

At approximately 9:45 we boarded our diesel looking tug boat to head to Goff’s Caye. With storms brewing all around us, the ride was rough and took about 45 minutes. Once we arrived on the island, the bottom dropped out of the sky and the rain picked up for about 20 minutes. Luckily, It blew out, as fast as it blew in and it was snorkel time. All I can say is WOW!!! Snorkeling Goff’s Caye was amazing…. the coral reefs were breathtaking and the marine life was quite impressive. In addition to beautiful tropical fish, we saw a family of squid, a red lionfish (which I later learned was poisonous), a nurse shark and a gorgeous and very large bright green moray eel! Oh and quite a few jelly fish closer to shore! We snorkeled around the entire island which took approximately 1 hour from beginning to end. After snorkeling we returned our equipment and headed to the beach where we enjoyed unlimited rum punch until it was time to leave. Overall, this was a great excursion and I would highly recommend it.

 

Upon our arrival back to the port area we went to the bar next to the Wet Lizard, Pirates something like that, where we were able to use their wi-fi (for an $8.00 purchase) and message our kids through facebook. We did some shopping and caught the last tender back on the ship which was around 5:15 p.m. For whatever reason, the ship seemed like it was closer on our return tender. Not sure if they move it during the day or it drifts in, but the tender ride back to the ship was definitely shorter.

 

Once back on board, we went and grabbed a Guy’s Burger and sat up on the Lido deck for sail away. We then showered and got ready for our evening. We had a blast watching and singing at Superstar Live and enjoyed a late dinner at the buffet. The food was great and we didn’t have to wait 2.5 hours! We then headed to the piano bar for a few songs and then to the disco to get our boogie on!

 

 

Wednesday January 15th (Isla Roatan)

We woke up the ship shuttering as it backed into Roatan with a beautiful view of Mahogany Bay and the Carnival Sunshine! The ship docked at approximately 8:00 a.m. and after eating a quick breakfast, we were off for our day of adventure! We had pre-booked the Pirates of the Caribbean Zip & Dip tour. Once off the ship, we noticed that it was already warm and very humid. We followed the directions and walked through the port, over the hill where we met our tour guide, who drove us to the Pirates Zip Line! Our driver was very informative, as we drove through town. Upon our arrival, we paid our balance, got our equipment, and hopped on our jungle vehicle. The ride up was very bumpy, but lots of fun! Once at the top, it was time for our adventure to start! It ended up that our tour was combo zipline & bridge tour. This was not our first Zipline tour, as we had previously done an advanced zipline in Puerto Vallarta, but it was a bucket list item for our friends. This particular zipline, did not require you to brake, which was great for first time zipliners. The end had a slight incline to slow you down automatically, which was kind of nice. Our guides were Eddor and Iren, both were excellent in helping us maneuver through the course, especially the bridge portion which honestly was a little sketchy crossing narrow bridges while trying to balance on the rope handles…. Overall it was a blast!

 

Once done with the zipline, we were shown our pictures, which we ended up purchasing for $35.00 total for all pictures of everyone in our group! Very good price and very good pictures. We then sat and played with Bruno the money, which was one of the highlights of the cruise for me. At around 11:30 a.m. we arrived at Parrot Tree Plantation where we enjoyed use of the resort for the afternoon. This place was breathtakingly gorgeous. We enjoyed the beautiful swimming pool, and relaxed on the poolside gazebo beds. We enjoyed chicken nachos from the restaurant and a few Miami Vice’s. The food and drinks were on the expensive side and gratuity and tax were automatically included. We arrived back at the port around 2:00 p.m. where we did some quick shopping and got a souvenir shot at Fat Tuesdays!

 

After setting sail from Roatan, the weather quickly turned. By 7:30 p.m., there were sheets of rain and the wind was crazy! The deck parties were cancelled for the night, which was fine with us because we were pretty tired from our adventurous day. Thus, we had dinner and returned to our cabin around 10:30 p.m. Before hopping into bed, we went out on our balcony and were shocked to see the rough seas, wind and rain. The ocean looked like something out of a movie. That night the ship rocked a lot and everything in our cabin that was unlatched was banging, clanking, etc.

 

Thursday, January 16th (Grand Cayman)

We woke up Thursday morning to just about everything that was on our cabin counters on the floor due to the rough seas during the night. Although the sky was clear, the seas were still rough and the Captain announced that we were not able to tender at the normal Grand Cayman location. We would be tendering at an alternative location which was about 20 minutes from the normal location.

 

After breakfast, we headed down to Guest Services where we got our FTTF priority tender. We were on the first tender boat and were on shore by 10:15 a.m. Upon our arrival we were happy to see that our pre-booked tour guide, through Nativeway Tours, was there to greet us! After about a 30 minute wait, we boarded the bus and started on our way towards 7 mile beach. Our guide was very informative and gave us quite the tour of the town. We went by the government buildings, and governor’s house and 7 mile beach. The drive was very nice and we quickly fell in love with Grand Cayman. Upon arriving to the harbor, we boarded the diesel tug looking boat and headed out to Stingray City and the Barrier Reef. Due to the rough waters, we would not be going to Rum Point, which was fine…. We were the first boat to arrive at Stingray City, and we immediately were greeted by the beautiful creatures! The stingrays appear to be aggressive when you first enter the water, but it didn’t take long for us to be mesmerized by their docile behavior. We held, kissed, fed, and played with the stingrays. We even got a back massage. It wasn’t long until a lot of other boats arrived, including the police. Due to the rough waters and two boats running into each other while floating, the police quickly shut down Stingray City and made the boats leave. We felt very fortunate that we were there before all of the chaos, as many people ended up losing out on this adventure. We then headed over to the barrier reef where we snorkeled the breathtaking reef for about 1 hour or so. Our driver gave us the option of taking us back to the port or dropping us somewhere. We opted to be dropped at Royal Palms Resort on 7 Mile Beach, where we had a few drinks, and used their wi-fi. The entrance fee was $2.00 per person and the beach was very pretty. Again, the prices were very high.

 

Once back at the cruise port, we caught an early tender back to the ship and headed straight up to Guy’s Burgers for our delicious late lunch! With tonight being the second formal night, we decided to head back to our cabin for a 2 hour nap and then started getting ready for dinner. After pictures, we went to the MDR for dinner. Not wanting to miss the 10:00 p.m. Punchliner show, we asked Germon if we could be the first to order. He promptly took our order and we were done eating by 9:30 (which was ½ the duration of our other evenings in the MDR). Anyhow, we managed to get a booth in the Victoria Lounge, which ended up being standing room only. The 10:00 p.m. comedian, Kelly Terranova was pretty funny, but the 11:00 p.m. show, with Eddie Capone was the best. After the comedy shows, we went to the piano bar for a few songs, followed by the disco until 2 a.m.

 

Friday, January 17th (Sea Day)

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise around 8:00 a.m. and this morning I went up to fetch breakfast for hubby. I finally tried a breakfast burrito from the burrito bar and wow, was it good! Once done eating, we headed up to the main pool and to our surprise we found 6 chairs in a great location waiting for us. Score!!! We then spent the entire afternoon enjoying in the hot tub, and all of the activities going on. My hubby participated in the men’s synchronized swimming competition and had a blast! We danced, did the conga, the wobble and even participated in a human limbo! I even splashed down the waterslide 2x, capturing the fun on our GoPro :) We spent the entire day laughing and visiting with all our new Liberty friends.

 

At around 6:00 p.m. it was time to head to the cabin to begin packing our suitcases. We received Disembarkation tags #1 (we still aren’t sure if this was a coincidence or perk of FTTF). It didn’t matter to us because our driver wasn’t picking us up until 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and we had planned a leisurely late disembarkation.

 

After we were packed, we changed our clothes and headed to dinner on the lido buffet. Again, the food was very good. We spent the rest of the night singing at the piano bar, and dancing in the disco.

 

Saturday, January 18th (Disembarkation)

We woke up this morning around 6:30 a.m. to a beautiful sunrise over Miami. As the ship slowly docked at the port, I immediately headed down to guest services to close out our S&S cash accounts. I noticed very few people were up and about at that time; however, right after 7 a.m. I heard the “ding” and noticed that people were already disembarking the ship! At that moment I realized that we could have easily self-disembarked and made the 11:15 a.m. flight out of FLL back to California. On my way back to the cabin, group 1 was called for disembarkation. Wow… it was only 7:30 a.m.! Once showered and done packing, we left our cabin and headed up for some breakfast. We ended up leaving the ship around 9:30 a.m. and met our driver out front at 10:00 a.m. as scheduled.

 

In summary, this was one of our best cruises yet. We absolutely loved the Liberty, the layout, the itinerary, and the people! We were not impressed with the roll-out of the American Feast menu, but understand this was a dining transition for the staff, chefs, etc. I am sure the kinks will be worked through, as the wait staff becomes more familiar with the menus, etc. All in all, this truly was a “Carnival Fun Ship” vacation that we will never forget :D

Edited January 23, 2014 by QTPieRye

[NeedBlueWater]

Great review! Thanks! We will be on Liberty in 23 days and can't wait. I was just on her in October and had a great time. I hope the kinks are all worked out in the DR by the time we sail.

[SMSACE6]

very nice review. Liberty is my favorite Carnival ship.

 

My mom and I were seated at a dining table that sounds exactly like where you were. It was probably the worse table placement ever on a cruise, but luckily for us we had the best wait team ever, so it made up for it.

 

Thanks for your review:)

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks for the review of the Liberty. We also were on the same itinerary in sept. And loved the ship and ports.

 

Could you tell us some more specifics about what you did and did not like on the new menu. We're a little nervous about it due to less choices and our favorites missing. Did they serve the sides in one dish for the table? On formal night, were all the appetizers brought out on one dish?

 

Just trying to figure out logistics of how they did it.

[QTPieRye]

Thanks for the review of the Liberty. We also were on the same itinerary in sept. And loved the ship and ports.

 

Could you tell us some more specifics about what you did and did not like on the new menu. We're a little nervous about it due to less choices and our favorites missing. Did they serve the sides in one dish for the table? On formal night, were all the appetizers brought out on one dish?

 

Just trying to figure out logistics of how they did it.

 

 

With this being the first week roll-out on the Liberty, I will tell you that every night things were done slightly different!!!

 

For example: The first night we ordered appetizers for the table, which included caesar salad and I think it was mushrooms. Germon arrived with a large bowl of salad and then went around and gave us each a serving onto our plates, then same thing with parmasen cheese. The mushrooms were done differently... 1 serving was put at each side of the table for us to help ourselves. The following night we each ordered a caesar salad and this time we each got our own premade salad plate (like in the past), which honestly made more sense and seemed to be much easier on the wait staff. I personally think the waiters should not be spending their time serving something that we can do ourselves.

 

The food choices on the main menu were pretty much the same throughout the cruise, i.e. flat iron steak, grilled chicken, tilapia, etc. There was also a Port of Call option, which honestly, made for a nice variation and ultimately may be good once all of the kinks are worked out. i.e. the Cozumel night, the cuisine was mexican food, etc.

 

Overall, I would say the food quality was the same. The lobster, filet mignon, etc. tasted as good as in the past...just not as many choices. With the service being so slow, our food was warm (borderline cool) on the first two nights, but after waiting so long, we didn't dare say a word. Because of the slow service and table location, we only ended up eating in the MDR 3 or 4 nights.

[Engineerstar]

Was the area around your cabin quiet?

[QTPieRye]

Was the area around your cabin quiet?

 

Our cabin was very quiet, we never heard any noise from the lounge under us.

 

However, our friends who were across the hall in an inside cabin, reported that they could hear the lounge everynight, the karoke, band, comedians, etc.

[Jeafl]

Excellent review! I'm glad you had such a great time since we are doing this same cruise in less than two months. :)

 

I did have one question for you. We have never been to Roatan before, and we are doing a tour with Victor Bodden. Since we will be having my parents with us (who are in their 70's), how bad is the walk up the hill where you meet the non- Carnival tours? I read they have a taxi for $2.00 a person, but if the walk uphill isn't too bad maybe they can handle it. Did you think it was very steep?

Edited January 23, 2014 by Jeafl

[Doug910]

Thanks so much for the great review of the Liberty with the exception of the dining room.. I leave next week and am hoping, ok praying, that they figure out the new menus by then !!!

 

You mentioned Jonathan in the Piano Bar.. who is that? I thought it was suppose to be Brad Alexander but now I see they switched him to the Breeze.. Can you tell me if Jonathan mentioned how long he'll be on the Liberty and a bit about him.. Thanks..

[QTPieRye]

Excellent review! I'm glad you had such a great time since we are doing this same cruise in less than two months. :)

 

I did have one question for you. We have never been to Roatan before, and we are doing a tour with Victor Bodden. Since we will be having my parents with us (who are in their 70's), how bad is the walk up the hill where you meet the non- Carnival tours? I read they have a taxi for $2.00 a person, but if the walk uphill isn't too bad maybe they can handle it. Did you think it was very steep?

 

Truthfully, the walk itself and the hill isn't bad, but the humidity makes it very unpleasant. There is a set of stairs that are fairly steep and don't forget you have to walk back down the hill on the other side, which is not a very good paved road with lots of traffic. IMO, if I were taking my parents in their 70's, I would consider $2.00 pp for the taxi ride. It would be a short ride, but you would avoid the hassle of being haggled.

[QTPieRye]

Thanks so much for the great review of the Liberty with the exception of the dining room.. I leave next week and am hoping, ok praying, that they figure out the new menus by then !!!

 

You mentioned Jonathan in the Piano Bar.. who is that? I thought it was suppose to be Brad Alexander but now I see they switched him to the Breeze.. Can you tell me if Jonathan mentioned how long he'll be on the Liberty and a bit about him.. Thanks..

 

Jonathan was excellent as both a pianist and vocalist. I believe he said he was from the Carolina's. We found him entertaining and fun. The only negative, was his song selections were somewhat limited, compared to past pianists. he was great at playing from the songs in the book, but we found he didn't know many of the oldie but goodies, like Bad Bad Leroy Brown! He did seem to sing a lot of country :)

[cruisingbandmom]

Thank you for the great review. We too will be sailing in Feb. I hope that dinner will be a little faster by then. I hope we have as much fun as it sounds like you did.

[Staceelvls]

Thank you for the review! My question is about Roatan. Because we are only there a short time, in your opinion do you think Mahogany Bay would still be enjoyable without booking an excursion? We do plan to stop by Fat Tuesday, but do you remember there being restaurants around the port?

[Terre]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a good time, and happy anniversary! We leave tomorrow and the Liberty is my favorite Carnival ship. I'm really anxious about the new menus. Almost all of my favorite desserts have been taken off :mad:!

[soccersharon]

Great review! Liberty is our favourite ship and we loved this itinerary too.

 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Forums mobile app

[Kevin_Mac]

Great review, I leave on Liberty tomorrow!! :D:D

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a good time, and happy anniversary! We leave tomorrow and the Liberty is my favorite Carnival ship. I'm really anxious about the new menus. Almost all of my favorite desserts have been taken off :mad:!

 

Please do a foods review. We're nervous about new menus on Liberty in May.

[Georgiagolfer]

Thanks for the Liberty review, our favorite CCL ship. DW and I have sailed her 2 times out of Miami, and are glad she is moving to Port Canaveral, where we can drive and save the cost of flying.

[Elaine515]

Jonathan was excellent as both a pianist and vocalist. I believe he said he was from the Carolina's. We found him entertaining and fun. The only negative, was his song selections were somewhat limited, compared to past pianists. he was great at playing from the songs in the book, but we found he didn't know many of the oldie but goodies, like Bad Bad Leroy Brown! He did seem to sing a lot of country :)

 

 

 

Do you happen to know if Jonathan has a facebook account or website? Leaving on 2/1 and this is the 3rd Piano Man the Liberty has had for my sailing since I booked a couple months ago.. The 1st one didnt have the correct paperwork to get out of Canada and now I guess they transferred Brad Alexander to the Breeze :( ...

 

Luv hanging out at the Piano Bar at night but also need a good Piano Man !! Maybe he'll "learn" more songs in the next week... lol

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Thanks for the review on Liberty. We are doing the Eastern itinerary at the end of March, hoping that the dining room experience levels out by the time we board.

 

Happy Sailing!!!

[QTPieRye]

Thank you for the review! My question is about Roatan. Because we are only there a short time, in your opinion do you think Mahogany Bay would still be enjoyable without booking an excursion? We do plan to stop by Fat Tuesday, but do you remember there being restaurants around the port?

 

A lot of people we know spent the day on Mahogany Bay/Beach and had a blast. The water was very pretty and it is very close to the ship. You can either walk or ride the tram. Yes, there are restaurants in the port area. I wasn't pay that close of attention, so I can't give you names, but definitely restaurants, frozen yogurt shops and bars.

[QTPieRye]

Do you happen to know if Jonathan has a facebook account or website? Leaving on 2/1 and this is the 3rd Piano Man the Liberty has had for my sailing since I booked a couple months ago.. The 1st one didnt have the correct paperwork to get out of Canada and now I guess they transferred Brad Alexander to the Breeze :( ...

 

Luv hanging out at the Piano Bar at night but also need a good Piano Man !! Maybe he'll "learn" more songs in the next week... lol

 

No, I am not aware if Jonathan has a FB or website. Not even sure what his last name is. If he is going to make it as a Piano Man, he's gonna have to learn more songs :)

[ffmikey]

Thanks for the review. We will be on her in a week for a B2B. The update on the menu change was helpful.

[mikes]

I also was on that same cruise....had "any-time" dining....went "early" (5:45 - 6:00pm) each night, and had the best food experience (temperature, quality, etc.) I ever had on 35 Carnival Cruises.....must have been the very early seating, as it was not busy at all!

[afcruiser]

Happy Anniversary and sounds like you had a great cruise. When did you sleep? I got tired just reading:p.

 

We'll be on the Liberty in 1 year but doing an 8 day with 3 ports of call. Grand Turk, Curacao, and Aruba, On my 50th B-Day. Planned this one in advance.

 

More time on the ship to enjoy our Balcony, Guy's Burgers, and the Blue Iguana, and the Red Frog Bar. WHEW.

 

OMG can't wait.

Thanks for your review.