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Liberty Review May 4-9, 2014

seashell64

By seashell64,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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seashell64

seashell64

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We were on the first sailing out of Port Canaveral for the Liberty. We have sailed on only Carnival for our 4 previous cruises and they have all been on the Fantasy Class of ships so we were excited to try a new class. We live 2 hours from the port so we just drove in on Sunday morning. We got there around 10:45 and had FTTF. They started boarding around 11:15, but things quickly came to a halt; there was a problem with the computers and none of the S & S cards were working. They provided us with water and bags of snacks - they were up and running and we were on our way to board by 1:00. By the time we got up to the ship to have them swipe the S & S cards, it was down again, but they just took our name and our folio number and we were able to board. This also happened at the Casino that night and you couldn't cash out until the computer were up and running again (it wasn't very long).

 

This cruise did not seem crowded at all. The CD was Brittany and the assistant CD was Wally; they both did a great job of being out and about and meeting and mingling. There were fewer than 200 kids (the CD said it was the fewest she has seen on a cruise). There were a couple of spots that you would see pockets of a lot of people and that was in the casino (PACKED every night), and the buffet lines. For some reason they didn't ever have all the buffet lines open, so there were always long lines here for each meal.

 

We had room 9293; a fellow CC member had suggested this room when I was debating on going for a balcony. I've read that once you have a balcony room it is hard to go back. Not only will we have a hard time not getting a balcony, but I will have a hard time NOT being on the Lido deck! This room was prime real estate. Only one person on one side of us, steps away from most of the action, food and liquid therapy! Never an obnoxious noise from the Lido deck. We LOVED this room. Our Steward was fine; we just never saw him until mid-way through the cruise, but knew we had one because the room was always cleaned (he was late a lot, but I think its because we were the last room in the line of rooms).

 

There has been a lot of talk about the volume of the music on the Lido deck. I'm pretty easy going and believe that the Lido deck is known somewhat as the party deck but do have to agree that when the DJ was playing tunes it was too loud; it was hard to carry on a conversation with the person next to you. they had "canned" music, played some concerts and had a live singer on deck and the volume was great for those times; I think they could lower just a bit when the DJ came on.

 

We are not "foodies" and are happy with just about anything. With that being said we ate at Guys 3 days (LOVED the Ringer burger), had the Burrito Breakfast 3 days (Loved them), tried the Pizza (good), and the buffet. The buffet was hit or miss, but again filled the hole. We ate in the dining room one night. My husband had the ribs and they were fall off the bone. I had the pepper steak and it was chewy. The tablecloths are on and we enjoyed the new menu. We did eat in the steakhouse on the first night. This was a great experience of wonderful food and a heck of a presentation (especially for the price) but go when you are famished; it is entirely too much food - we took our humungous pieces of cheesecake with us!

 

Our Ports of Call were Key West, Nassau and Freeport. We had a blast in Key West with the Pub Crawl. We didn't plan on an excursion in Nassau as this was our 5th stop there. There was a warning from the CD about the crime rate on the island. We went into town just to do some shopping and felt safe but terribly harassed; you can't walk by any of the stores without someone trying to get you into their store or down the alley to look at their purses. We went by one outside booth of the straw market. My husband saw something that interested him and she said it was 20.00, then said for you today 15.00. Then when he walked away she said 10.00, then when he kept on going she made a statement like " you cheap American can't afford 10.00"! We had enough after 45 minutes and went back to the ship. IMHO Carnival should reconsider this stop; maybe Nassau would clean up their act a bit. We didn't plan an excursion in Freeport either - we had also been here before and nothing really interested us. I had read on CC that the pier was a bit more built up than it was when we were there before, so we once again decided to just check that area out. Lots of little shops generally selling the same stuff, but no one there harassing you; much more pleasant atmosphere. There is also a Fat Tuesday and a Senor Frogs there. We hit Senor Frogs and had a blast! Not cheap to drink, but they certainly do a great job entertaining you. After a few drinks we headed back to the ship for some poolside R and R.

 

This was a fabulous cruise. We had perfect weather and calm seas. The ship is beautiful, kept cleaned and the staff was awesome. We had a bartender one day at the pool (and only ordered 1 drink each), and three days later the same guy remembered our names, what we drank and our folio number - amazing! I had my "bucket" list of 19 things we wanted to do/try on this 5 day cruise and we got through 14 of them!

 

We didn't get to a comedy club, bingo or the night club. The Piano guy (Barry) was a great piano player and had a niche for show tunes, but had a hard time getting the room livened up because everything he sang sounded "showtuneish" The shows were entertaining, the Alchemy bar makes a great cocktail and the room service was spot on (15 minutes to get our order to our room).

 

We left our stateroom at 7:30 this morning (FTTF) and by 8:00 we were off the ship, through customs, loaded onto the Park n Cruise terminal bus and dropped off at our car!!

 

I lived on the CC board each day from the time we booked our cruise in December until we sailed. Thanks to all who make this such a great outlet for information, we learned so much from reading different post each day. Sorry this was so long - if anyone has any questions, fire away I will gladly answer them. Now I have to go plan my next cruise......

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GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

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Thanks for your review!

 

We are booked to sail on the Liberty, on an 8-day in November and cannot wait! We always try to book either the Lido deck or Panorama (which we have on our upcoming cruise).

 

Glad to hear she's in good shape.....

Edited by GTO-Girl
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092306

092306

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Thanks for the review! Sorry to hear about your experience in Nassau. We've been there several times and while it's not our favorite, we never felt harrassed except for straw market. Going there this October and plan to take the bus to the zoo. Hoping it goes smoothly. Glad you had a great time overall!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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katiel53

katiel53

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Thanks for the review. When we go on a cruise that goes to Nassau, we just stay onboard. Usually we are only there from about 8 until 2 and we have been there too many times to count.

 

One question for you please. When you went to the steak house, did they give you a bottle of wine for no charge as it was the first night of the cruise? We have gotten that many times but haven't cruised Carnival in over a year and we will be going on Liberty in the fall. Thanks.

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seashell64

seashell64

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Thanks for the review. When we go on a cruise that goes to Nassau, we just stay onboard. Usually we are only there from about 8 until 2 and we have been there too many times to count.

 

One question for you please. When you went to the steak house, did they give you a bottle of wine for no charge as it was the first night of the cruise? We have gotten that many times but haven't cruised Carnival in over a year and we will be going on Liberty in the fall. Thanks.

 

Yes they are still offering the free bottle of wine (a white or red) and that is why we booked the first night. On the cruise they also offered it on the second night. If you didn't want the free bottle they also had a special that you could pick any bottle on the menu and get it at 50% off the listed price.

 

Enjoy!

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seashell64

seashell64

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Thanks for sharing :) Curious to see the items on your bucket list that you did.

 

4 Weeks until we board!

 

Have a great time; wish we were going again!! Here is our "bucket list" of things we wanted to do while on this ship, the one's that we didn't get to I put a comment at

 

Cocktails in the lobby bar

Guys Burgers

Iguana Café Burritos

Serenity deck and hot tub

Find the "secret door" on deck 9 - found it - not so secret LOL

Piano Bar

Bingo - didn't make it to one

Night Club - didn't make it here

Comedy Club - didn't get to see a show

Lido deck activities - we did Groove for St. Jude

Room Service

Steakhouse

Alchemy Bar

Red Frog Rum Bar

Putt Putt

Art Auction - didn't make it

Steam Room - didn't even see the gym lol

Check room bible - weird, I know but there have been stories on CC where fellow CC members would leave stuff in the bible for the next onboard. No bible to be found in our room

Balcony - we had a balcony room; I will leave the rest of this one for the imagination LOL

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seashell64

seashell64

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Could you tell me where the not so secret door is? Thanks :D

 

Deck 9 port side all the way forward there is a door with a small round window in it, go through it to the next door and you are on a deck that will allow a great view as you sail away! Have a great time!

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funcruzck1

funcruzck1

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I was also on this cruise and I agree with everything you said. I did stay in cabin 2474, it is a corner ocean view room. The room was great but must be above the engines because I could feel vibrations every time the ship was leaving and docking. It did not bother me at all though I was usually up early. but anyone trying to sleep would not like it.

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