REVIEW: Carnival Liberty - Western Caribbean - 4/5/14 thru 4/12/14

[pghsteelerfan]

I usually try to get sunset pictures but a lot of time we are eating and miss it.

 

Liked your airplane pictures. I hate flying so this is a different view. We usually take the train:)

 

 

Thank you. :)

 

We usually have the late seating since we don't want to feel rushed when returning from ports. This is the first real nice sunset we've had while on a cruise. Many times before, we've had days where it looks like we'll have a really nice sunset but there area always clouds on the horizon that end up blocking it.

 

I don't mind the actual "flying" part of flying, but the rest is really a hassle and not like it used to be. The part I really hate is really have to watch how much we bring and again, how much we're bringing back.

[SoCalKJ]

Believe it or not, your most recent review is one of the few that I'm following right now. I also enjoyed your others as well. There are so many different cruises I'd like to do and one is a Mexican Riviera out of Southern CA. We were on one with DH's family on RCI in January 2000 that went to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta and I loved it. I know Carnival isn't going to Mazatlan right now but hopefully they can go there again soon. I don't know why there aren't more sailing options out of CA.

 

"Slice of Life"? Believe it or not, we never saw Dexter but that's one I'd like to get the DVD's of and "binge watch" sometime. You'll have to enlighten me on "Slice of Live". LOL!!!

 

Yes, that sunset was mesmerizing and was the best sunset we've ever seen on a cruise. Thanks for following.

 

Thanks for the compliments on my review(s)! They are work, fo sho! :o My favorite review to write was my super-detailed 12-day Disneyworld, Carnival Ecstasy/Bahamas and Clearwater/Tampa/Everglades tour. But that was a DOOZY!

 

I'm really enjoying yours...thanks for taking the time to do it!

 

Regarding Dexter...LOL....I can't give much away...but I will just say "Slice of Life" is the name of his boat. Do you have Netflix? ($7.99/month for all-you-can-binge-watch everything...including Dexter!)

 

:):):)

[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks for the compliments on my review(s)! They are work, fo sho! :o My favorite review to write was my super-detailed 12-day Disneyworld, Carnival Ecstasy/Bahamas and Clearwater/Tampa/Everglades tour. But that was a DOOZY!

 

I'm really enjoying yours...thanks for taking the time to do it!

 

Regarding Dexter...LOL....I can't give much away...but I will just say "Slice of Life" is the name of his boat. Do you have Netflix? ($7.99/month for all-you-can-binge-watch everything...including Dexter!)

 

:):):)

 

You are quite welcome! They are work, so after doing the first one and now this one, I really have so much more appreciation to anyone who takes the time. I know I love reading them. :) The last one I did wasn't so bad because I had everything typed up ahead of time and all the pictures were loaded in order, but this one is going to be a pistol but will all be worth it. I have days 1 & 2 typed up already and am about half way done with day 3. It's fun to relive the cruise.

 

No, we don't have Netflix but are thinking about getting it. Are there any commercials with Netflix or do they show the episodes straight through? We're DVR'ing a lot of our favorite shows now & put them on about 15 - 20 minutes in just to skip the commercials.

[SoCalKJ]

You are quite welcome! They are work, so after doing the first one and now this one, I really have so much more appreciation to anyone who takes the time. I know I love reading them. :) The last one I did wasn't so bad because I had everything typed up ahead of time and all the pictures were loaded in order, but this one is going to be a pistol but will all be worth it. I have days 1 & 2 typed up already and am about half way done with day 3. It's fun to relive the cruise.

 

No, we don't have Netflix but are thinking about getting it. Are there any commercials with Netflix or do they show the episodes straight through? We're DVR'ing a lot of our favorite shows now & put them on about 15 - 20 minutes in just to skip the commercials.

 

No commercials. Only drawback is that there is a delay for current seasons to be added. So...just get addicted to shows that are already done. :D

[pghsteelerfan]

No commercials. Only drawback is that there is a delay for current seasons to be added. So...just get addicted to shows that are already done. :D

 

No commercials...yeah!!! Some of our friends have told us about it and we're seriously considering. It would cut back on buying the seasons on DVD, not to mention the storage space they take up. I'd have to start Dexter, and several others, from season one, so the current season delay would not be a problem. There are so many that I'd love to see. Are the shows that are/have been HBO or Showtime series also offered on Netflix?

[SoCalKJ]

It really is awesome! We originally got it through our Wii...and would just stream through the internet that way. I'm telling you: for 8 bucks/month, DH and I have separate watching sub-accounts...we can watch from our home tv, iPad...heck I even have the app on my phone.

 

Not all titles from paid channels (HBO, etc) are available, but some are available on Netflix DVD. Still...if you just try it for a month, you'll be so impressed...movies, documentaries, tv shows...classics...man! Good stuff! :)

 

 

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[dotheyes]

Thank you and I'm so glad you enjoyed the pictures of DC. I was so happy we flew over this time. When I saw the stadium, I had a feeling we were close, but with that air space, I wasn't sure until I saw the monuments. Feel free to copy the pictures of DC if you would like. I don't mind sharing. :)

 

Even though we're Pittsburgh fans, I will also root for the Redskins and Nationals, as long as they aren't playing the Steelers or Pirates. We're pulling for the Wizzards and hope they can advance further in the NBA playoffs.

 

So you were on Liberty on the first sailing out of Port Canaveral, how was it? I had no idea she was being moved until after our cruise. Liberty IS a pretty ship. Thank you for following.

 

We like the Liberty so much that we are going back on June 20th which is an 8 day to south Caribbean.

Thanks for permission to copy one of your pics (my camera is not as good as yours) I think that stadium is Nationals park which is only 6 blocks from my former home.

thanks again Dot

ps: we both liked the new menus

[pghsteelerfan]

It really is awesome! We originally got it through our Wii...and would just stream through the internet that way. I'm telling you: for 8 bucks/month, DH and I have separate watching sub-accounts...we can watch from our home tv, iPad...heck I even have the app on my phone.

 

Not all titles from paid channels (HBO, etc) are available, but some are available on Netflix DVD. Still...if you just try it for a month, you'll be so impressed...movies, documentaries, tv shows...classics...man! Good stuff! :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for all the info., that sounds like the way to go. The price is not bad at all. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

We like the Liberty so much that we are going back on June 20th which is an 8 day to south Caribbean.

Thanks for permission to copy one of your pics (my camera is not as good as yours) I think that stadium is Nationals park which is only 6 blocks from my former home.

thanks again Dot

ps: we both liked the new menus

 

So glad you're going back on her on June 8! I wish I was. Is that the itinerary with Aruba and Curacao? I'd love to do that itinerary one of these days.

 

Yes, Nationals park is definitely in one of the pictures. I took a but only posted a few. I was using my older camera on the plane at that time, but it's only 6 megapixels (many are 12+ now), meaning that the pictures aren't as clear and are grainy when I try to zoom in. I love that camera and each year have it is a bonus since it is starting to show the signs of age, but like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going. :)

 

The food we had on the new menus was really good but there are a few of my favorites from the old menu that I really missed.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on your upcoming Liberty cruise. You've got less than a month! :)

[wrigley80]

I'm using Photobucket right now but am getting prepared, just in case. I know that one of the programs I use, Shutterfly, is free and some others have used Shutterfly to upload to Cruise Critic. I've tried but I can't get it to work for me every time, so I decided to just use Photobucket. I noticed that they do load out of order but somehow one of my cameras had the wrong date. When I change batteries, I always have to reset the date/time and I always made sure they were accurate. For some reason, the date and time in the main set up menu was wrong. I should have thought about that before we left. Lesson learned. LOL!!!

 

As for booking Liberty, I think you should. She is now sailing out of Port Canaveral. :)

 

 

 

Thank you! We really lucked out with this one. This is the best sunset I've ever seen on a cruise. We had just the right amount of clouds that evening. You had some sunset pictures, I think from the cruise that you took before this last one, that I really love. Weren't you sailing out of Miami for that one?

 

 

Yes the sunset pics that you are referring to was from our cruise in December on the Imagination out of Miami. It must be something about Miami and the beautiful sunsets

 

 

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[wrigley80]

It really is awesome! We originally got it through our Wii...and would just stream through the internet that way. I'm telling you: for 8 bucks/month, DH and I have separate watching sub-accounts...we can watch from our home tv, iPad...heck I even have the app on my phone.

 

Not all titles from paid channels (HBO, etc) are available, but some are available on Netflix DVD. Still...if you just try it for a month, you'll be so impressed...movies, documentaries, tv shows...classics...man! Good stuff! :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Thanks for the insight with Netflix. For our next cruise we are going to take the train....I am assuming that Netflix would work on my iPad on the train. If so it would make the train ride go fast

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

We had late seating for dinner and still had plenty of time before dinner so we went back down to the Fun Shops, which were now open. It wasn’t crowded at all and there were only a few others in there. I got my ship model, ship ornament and my lanyard, which I keep my Sail & Sign card in. After we paid for those, we took them back to our cabin. We still had time before heading for dinner. Late seating starts at 8:15PM but there are usually pretty long lines to get in since dining room staff will escort each party to their tables to avoid the confusion of trying to find your table yourself. We went to the balcony to see if we could see anything and sat out there for a few minutes before heading to dinner.

 

Our dinner would be in the Silver Olympian restaurant and has two levels, Deck 3 and Deck 4, and is at the very back of the ship. This dining room is used for regular early and late seating. There is another restaurant, The Golden Olympian restaurant, which is located between the middle of the ship and the back of the ship, also on Deck 3 and Deck 4. With the Conquest class ships, you can’t walk the whole length of the ship on Decks 3 and 4 because of the Golden Olympian restaurant, but you can walk most of the length of the ship from all other decks. After being on Glory and Valor, we finally know to walk all the way to the back of the ship and use those stairs or elevators to go down to Deck 3 to get into the restaurant. This time, we got it right on the first try. Even though we waited a few minutes to head down, there was still a very long line and we ended up waiting anyway. The line eventually started to move and we were escorted to our table.

 

Before I continue, I did make a note to write down what I had for dinner every night and will report on the selections I had and will give a grade rating with A+ being the best and F- being the worst (I didn’t have anything that tasted bad enough for an F). There is no food porn of the dining room selections. I would have tried and had a pocket sized camera with me, but never took any pictures of food on our dinner plates. DH said it embarrasses him and I also feel funny about it too. If I’d seen one other person, near us that is, taking food porn pictures, I would have. If we were at a table for two, I’d have done it. I do have a little more “food porn” from a day in port (won’t spoil it) but that is it.

 

Our table was for 10 people, which was a first for us except on our first few cruises in which we were sailing with DH’s family and also our honeymoon, our first cruise, where we were seated with a family of four and close enough to the table next to us where we those at both tables could converse with each other. On Glory and Valor, we were seated at a table for four on the sides of the restaurant. Our table this time was in the middle. We were the first couple there. We didn’t know if we’d be seated with a large family group or if there would be several other couples with us. Eventually another couple was seated with us. They were very nice and we really enjoyed them, but again, no names will be mentioned. As we were getting to know our table mates, we all thought for sure we were still waiting on another group of six. None ever showed up. We had water poured and were asked if we’d like anything else besides water to drink. DH loves his iced tea and will have that every night with dinner on a cruise. I’m going to skip ahead for a minute. On every past cruise we’ve taken, DH has ordered iced tea with dinner. Every single time, the second night he has been asked if he’d like iced tea again or if he’d like something else. On some cruises it’s been there already. This time, he had to ask for it every night. He felt service was slipping, as he put it, because the tea and drinks requested from the others weren't automatically brought out nor was anyone asked if they'd like the same thing, they all had to ask every night.

 

Back to tonight’s dinner. One of our wait staff brought out a basket of bread and asked each of us which one we’d like, then he uses tongs to pick it up and set it on the plate. If you want more than one, you most certainly can. I’m skipping ahead again, but one of the nights we had to ask for butter. The butter holders were there but not much butter was left. Things appeared to be a little confused and unorganized but eventually our head waiter came with the menus and introduced himself. He was very nice but we could tell that all of the wait staff were extremely busy and appeared rushed. We all felt really bad for them. Throughout our cruise, we would never see any member of the dining staff just standing around looking bored. These guys and gals were busting tail and it appeared that maybe they had too many tables that they were taking care of. Our waiter’s name is Nicolai, but I never got the names of any of the others. Nicolai tried to spend a few minutes to talk with us but he didn’t have the time that our wait staff on past cruises had.

 

The menu has changed since last year when we were on Valor. Carnival Liberty has the new “American Table Menu” which is used on cruise casual nights and the “American Feast Menu” is served on formal (cruise elegant) nights. I know someone is going to ask, so here’s the answer. Yes, there were table cloths on all of the tables. I read before our cruise that there were no longer table cloths but they had them in the dining rooms on Liberty.

 

The American Menu has a selection of appetizers, main dishes, and sides. There is now a “Port of Call” section with one specific cocktail, appetizer, and main that will reflect the influence and culture of each port off call. This evening’s “Port of Call” selection featured “Miami”. They also have a “rare finds” selection and I’m pretty sure that tonight’s was “Alligator Fritters”. The American menu had some good food but I did miss many of the former selections. I was happy to see that the Caesar Salad was still offered as an appetizer every night. I don’t know what Carnival’s secret is, but they have the best Caesar Salads and nothing else I’ve had compares. I forget most of what DH got for his main and side selections, but I do know that he got the Alligator Fritters for an appetizer tonight. Tonight my dinner selections were Caesar Salad for the appetizer, Beef Lasagna for the main, and the bacon macaroni and cheese for the side. We all received our appetizers first and DH let me try some of his alligator fritters. We both grade those with an “A+”, they were very good. It’s hard to describe the taste, but there was no unusual taste to it, it was just good. We eventually got our main and sides. I will have to give the beef lasagna a “C-” but only because it was mostly spinach. They do have spinach listed as an ingredient (along with ricotta cheese) but “Spinach Lasagna” would have been a more appropriate name for it. There was beef in it, but not much. If it was listed as “Spinach Lasagna”, I’d have ordered something else. I will eat spinach, but only in small amounts. The bacon mac & cheese was good and I’d rate that a “B”.

 

Between dinner and desert, one of our wait staff brought a tray of the nightly cordial drinks over. I collected all of the cordial glasses last year on Valor (you will get to keep the glass) so I really didn’t need another one but tonight they had the one with the Bailey’s Irish cream and butterscotch liquor. I’ve had those before and they are good. I asked the waiter what they were called and he said the name “wasn’t very nice” and he didn’t want to say it. I knew it!!! That was the drink (or shot) I had years ago but I will not mention the actual name in my review. Name aside, they are very good, so I got it. I can’t find my actual receipt but I’m pretty sure they are $8.50 each. You can get just the glass (you’ll have to ask, I did that last year) and I think it’s about $4.00 for just the glass. Tonight’s cordial came in the deep blue cordial glass.

 

Shortly after that Nicolai brought out the dessert menu. The dessert menus have a selection of desserts and anther selection of specialty after dinner coffees and a cocktail. Before I continue, I’m one of those who is not big on sweets, especially super rich deserts. They look good and I’m sure they are, but they are too rich for me. After reading so much about Carnival’s “Warm chocolate melting cake” I just had to try it last year. A few bites was all I could do, so I passed it over to DH, who LOVES it. DH has a sweet tooth and loves the rich, chocolaty deserts. I think he got the “Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake”, which it’s now called on the menu. They had the Apple Pie tonight and I’d have gotten that, but I was well on my way to being overstuffed, so I passed on that. They no longer have selections of sorbet on the menu, but if you ask they will get it for you. I always alternated between orange and lime. They have another flavor but I forgot what it was. I also had decaffeinated coffee and our table mates each had coffee. While we were waiting for our desserts to arrive, one of the dining staff brought over a family of three who introduced themselves and asked if it was a fun table. We told them it was definitely a fun table but felt “empty” because there were six empty seats so “the more, the merrier”. They told us that they would be our tablemates for dinner for the rest of the cruise. We were all happy about that because, well…the more the merrier.

 

It was about 10:15 when we were finally finished. The “Welcome Aboard Show” was at 10:30PM in the Venetian Palace, which is at the front of the ship. We’d still have time if we wanted but we’ve been to that before and decided to pass on it. I don’t know if they still give out “freebies” or not during the “Welcome Aboard Show” or not. There was also an adult comedy show in the “Punchliner Comedy Club”, which is in Victoria Lounge, which is on Promenade Deck 5 at that back of the ship. Tonight’s comedian was “Happy Cole” and there would only be one comedy show tonight and it wouldn’t be until 11:45PM. Since we’d both been up very early that morning for our flight and all the “walking and hauling” we did through the airports, we were just plain tired and decided that we’d head up to the Red Frog Rum Bar on the Lido Deck and get a Captain Morgan Rum & Coke and walk around Liberty’s outside decks to get some nighttime pictures with all of the deck lights on. I forgot to do that on Valor last year so I made sure we got those pictures this time. We stopped in the cabin on the way back from dinner, dropped off my cordial shot glass, changed into some comfortable clothes, and grabbed our cameras. We ordered “double” Captain Morgan rum & cokes at Red Frog and were happy that they had Captain Morgan. I saw a few reports that they no longer had Captain Morgan Rum on Carnival, but they did on Liberty. The drinks weren’t very strong and the coke was kind of flat but we’ll have no problem drinking them. They weren’t nasty, they were just kind of flat.

 

After we got those we walked around and got pictures and spent about an hour up there. They were showing the NCAA Final Four games at the Seaside theater and there were quite a few people watching that. The first game (UConn vs. Florida) was on at 6:00PM and the second game (Wisconsin vs. Kentucky) was on at 8:30PM. It was the Wisconsin vs. Kentucky game that was on when we were out getting the pictures.

 

Nighttime pictures of the Seaside Theater area from Promenade Deck 10:

 

 

 

View toward the back of Liberty:

 

For some reason, I love getting pictures of the "Whale Tail" funnel:

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Yes the sunset pics that you are referring to was from our cruise in December on the Imagination out of Miami. It must be something about Miami and the beautiful sunsets

 

 

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Yes, those were definitely the ones. I'm impressed with the Miami sunsets. I just can't get over how lucky we were to get those. I remember you went on Imagination first then drove to New Orleans for the Sunshine cruise. I loved your New Orleans pics and hope you have more in your current review. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

More night pictures of Liberty

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got the pictures we wanted we decided to get another Captain Morgan rum & coke to take down to enjoy on our balcony. It tasted the same as the first but, like the others, we had no problem drinking them. I guess we’re used to the coke coming from a can.

 

I stopped for this one on the way back down to our cabin. I love the décor of Liberty.

[wrigley80]

Yes, those were definitely the ones. I'm impressed with the Miami sunsets. I just can't get over how lucky we were to get those. I remember you went on Imagination first then drove to New Orleans for the Sunshine cruise. I loved your New Orleans pics and hope you have more in your current review. :)

 

 

Yep that's exactly what we did. Drove from Miami to New Orleans. It was a long drive but it was nice going on a back to back.

 

Yes I will have more pics from New Orleans in my current review. We have come to love New Orleans and the atmosphere there

[pghsteelerfan]

On the way back to our cabin, I also stopped for a picture of one of the laundry rooms. It was almost right across the hall from us. We were in 6389 and it was on the opposite side of the hallway (interior) and right before the mid-ship stairs/elevators are. I'm not positive, but it looks like the laundry rooms are in the same spot on each floor. I think there was another in same spot on the port side of the ship as well. I'm sure there are others in other sections of the hallways too.

 

Laundry room, Upper Deck 6, starboard side and right around the corner from the mid-ship stairs/elevators:

 

When we got back to the cabin, I kicked off my shoes (yesssss…I can go barefoot now) and went out to the balcony with all intentions of finishing the drinks and calling it an early night. When we went out there the moon was out and reflecting off the ocean and it was gorgeous. We were also about to pass another ship heading northeast (we were heading southwest) back towards Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. It was a large ship and we could tell by using our zoom lens that it was a Norwegian ship. Since it was large, I was wondering if it was “Frankenship”….I’m mean Norwegian Epic. It was hard to tell in the dark whether it had that large “forehead” but it was a large ship. We tried getting pictures but they didn’t come really out.

 

Pictures of Norwegian Epic (not the best):

 

This is what happened when I tried using the zoom lens. We're moving, Epic is moving in the opposite direction, and we're both kind of "bobbing" in the water with the wind blowing:

 

We noticed another ship behind the Norwegian ship that we’d be passing soon, but it would still be a few minutes.

***We would be passing, or sailing parallel to, several different ships during the week. When we returned home, I did some research on my favorite cruise ship port and ship schedules to try to determine which ships we passed. That can be figured out first whether you can determine which cruise line it is then checking that particular cruise line’s ship schedule. With this Norwegian ship, we knew it was most likely on a Sunday to Sunday schedule and heading into Miami or Fort Lauderdale considering our current location, which was near Key West. This Norwegian ship was in fact Norwegian Epic, scheduled in Miami the next morning and its last port of call was Cozumel the previous day. Ships we passed that I was able to get pictures of during daylight hours were a little easier in determining the cruise line. Once the cruise line is determined, if it can be determined, I’ll look at that cruise line’s ships to see if I could at least tell which class of ship they were. That will narrow it down when I look at ship and port schedules. Sounds crazy but I do love the different ships and seeing and getting pictures of them, if possible.***

 

Back to the review. While we were waiting for the other ship to get close enough to see if we could figure out which cruise line it was, we tried getting pictures of the moon shining off the ocean. We don’t have tripods so we were playing around with camera settings and using the balcony rail as a support. I love taking pictures but I’m not a photographer and far from it. I normally keep the setting to “auto”. On my Kodak Z612 (older, point and shoot camera), there are also scene selections that help. For the sunset pictures, I used the sunrise/sunset scene and it automatically adjusts. I also have a Canon Rebel t1i, but I’m still just trying to figure out the basics and “trial and error”. I bring it along even though it’s a pain in the butt to haul around but I need to learn how to use it. “Old Reliable” (Kodak Z612) is getting older now and showing signs that it may not be too long until it dies on me. It’s also a problem getting memory cards for it now since it takes 2GB and those aren’t easy to find anymore. So I really need to get familiar with “Rebel” because I’m not going to have “Old Reliable” forever (sniff, sniff). The only thing I did for the pictures of the moon on the water was change the ISO to the higher numbered settings. I normally keep it at ISO 200 (100 for bright days or beach). I also got a valuable tip from my brother last year. He also has a Canon Rebel t1i and had his first but was pricey. He told me his secret in obtaining the funds and I’m in a generous mood right now, so I’ll share. You know those big jugs of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies that you accumulate over the years? He finally went through and emptied and counted and had enough change for the camera. That’s the secret. I had jugs that I just dumped my change into and did this for YEARS thinking someday I’d roll them and take them to the bank. Yeah, that never happened until my brother passed along that secret. This would also be a good tip for a cruise. I now had incentive to empty those jugs and count that money and found that I, too, had enough money for “Rebel”. In addition to the change, I also had unused Christmas and birthday money that I was saving for something special ($10’s and $20’s can eventually add up). Some of that money came from a favorite great aunt and my grandma, who are now both deceased. Part of that camera is from them. The reason I also chose the “Rebel” is because I had (still have, actually) a Canon Rebel 35mm film camera that DH got me for my birthday one year. I kept it on “auto” and was very pleased with the pictures. Most of the settings on the film camera I have are very similar to the settings on my new, digital Rebel. I took “Rebel” on vacation to the Bahamas and was not happy with the pictures. They seemed ok, but they weren’t crisp. I wasn’t going to take “Rebel” with us last year on Valor and my brother asked why not. I told him I wanted crisp, clear pictures and they all seemed a little out of focus. I realize you want that when taking pictures of, say food porn, where you have something in the foreground that you want to be sharp and focused to stand out. I was also interested in taking scenery pictures and wanted everything in sharp focus and that’s not what I was getting. He asked if I set it to the “P”. Please don’t ask me what “P” stands for but I can tell you what it does. It automatically adjusts the camera to focus on landscapes where you want everything in the picture to be sharp and crisp. I took “Rebel” on Valor with us last year, used the “P” for all landscape pictures and was very happy. So happy that “Rebel” got to come along with us again. OK, that’s all the tips from one amateur photographer to other amateur photographers I have. Anyway, I was happy with how the moon on the water pictures came out in “Rebel’s” display but the final test was how they’d look on the computer at home. They aren’t the best but they are the best moon on the water pictures I have been able to get.

Some pictures of the moon over the water:

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Pretty soon the other ship was close enough to try to determine which cruise line it was. I knew that Carnival Glory had Sunday to Sunday cruises and would be returning from a Western Caribbean cruise to and would be in Miami the next morning (one of the cruises we were considering while booking this one). Since we were on her in 2010, I really hope to be able to see Glory again. DH zoomed with his video recorder and I used the zoom on “Old Reliable” and on “Rebel”, taking pictures at the same time. They did not come out great but I could make out the Carnival red-white-blue “Whale Tail” funnel in the displays on both cameras. I took several (I mean many) pictures to confirm this. We are almost certain that this was Carnival Glory, our home for a week four years ago. What was really ironic was that on that cruise we passed Carnival Liberty in the night. We were returning on Glory from an Eastern Caribbean and would be in Miami the next morning. Liberty left Miami earlier that day and was headed on an Eastern Caribbean cruise, same itinerary we’d been on. We came very close to booking Liberty for that trip but chose Glory. I forget the reason but think airfare had something to do with it. So, four years ago we were on Glory passing Liberty in the night and this time we were on Liberty passing Glory in the night. Anyway, hello Glory, so nice to finally get a chance to see you again!

This is Carnival Glory, our home for a week in May 2010, returning to Miami from the Western Caribbean on the March 30 thru April 6 Western Caribbean:

I tried to zoom in for a better view and was using the balcony railing for support, but again, two ships bobbing around in the ocean moving in opposite directions, throw in a little wind - not idea for clear, crisp pictures. This is where we could tell that it was definitely Carnival.

 

We stayed out a little longer getting as many pictures as we could of the moon on the water pictures with the hopes that a few would come out. Many didn’t but several did, so it was worth it even though the Captain and cokes were long gone and it was now almost 1:00AM.

More of the moon over the ocean. There were also a lot of stars out, some of which actually showed up in the pictures:

A few clouds showed up, but it still looked really pretty:

We got ready for bed and I remembered to take two more of the Ginger root pills and we finally called it a night. The beds were very comfortable and we’ve always found Carnival’s beds to be comfortable. It’s also nice to fall asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship. I wear earplugs, just in case, but was awakened from a deep sleep to the sound of two young women (early 20’s) and a guy (probably the same age) talking loudly and the women were laughing. Since I had been in a deep sleep, for some reason I thought I was in our own bed at home…thinking that someone was in our house. There should not be other people in our house in the middle of the night. Oh crap! I rolled over and started poking DH to let him know someone was in the house…then I saw the light from the bathroom in the cabin. We leave it open a just a crack at night so we don’t go banging into things if we do have to get up. Ohhhh, that’s right, we’re not at home, were on a cruise. Since I was awake now, I wondered how the heck I heard them if I had the earplugs in. Somehow one of them came out so I proceed to look for it. DH wakes up and asks what I’m doing so I just repeated this to him. I found the earplug, in the bed, and put it back in. I was curious to see how the moon on the water looked from the balcony, but it was very foggy out and I could not see a thing so I went back to bed.

[pghsteelerfan]

Yep that's exactly what we did. Drove from Miami to New Orleans. It was a long drive but it was nice going on a back to back.

 

Yes I will have more pics from New Orleans in my current review. We have come to love New Orleans and the atmosphere there

 

I'd love to do something like that. When we were in New Orleans for a week in 1996, we got a rental car for the last day since we were doing a bayou tour (loved that). That afternoon, we just decided we wanted to add another state to our list so we drove to Mississippi, Rt. 90 I think (the one that runs right along the Gulf) and took that to Gulfport. We had dinner there and took I-10 back but it was dark so we couldn't see anything. What we're kicking ourselves for now is that we were just a half hour away from Alabama...could have added another state. Next time. :)

 

I'm just getting ready to finish Day 1 and heading over to your review next. Looking forward to the rest.

[pghsteelerfan]

The Fun Times for April 5, 2014 - Miami, FL. This was waiting for us when we first got into our cabin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm attaching the information we received for the "Cheers Program", even though we didn't use it:

 

Cheers Program (front)

 

Cheers Program (back)

 

The Suite Mini Bar (I believe this is stocked in the refrigerator, it's not free):

 

 

This page, "Good to Know", was with our Fun Times (front page):

 

This menu, I believe for room service, was on the back side of the "Good to Know" page:

 

This wraps up Day 1 of the review. Stay tuned for Day 2 - our first Day at Sea.

 

[SoCalKJ]

Thanks for the insight with Netflix. For our next cruise we are going to take the train....I am assuming that Netflix would work on my iPad on the train. If so it would make the train ride go fast

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Yep, Amtrak has wifi...

 

I took an Amtrak Cascades in Feb, but found the wifi to be a bit slow...sometimes "buffering" in some areas. Hopefully though, it was the area and an isolated incident. Yep you can download the app on your iPad and watch away!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[miss tea]

More pictures of the beautiful sunset we got to see:

 

 

 

This was a zoomed in view:

 

 

 

I'm going to wrap this up for the evening and will try to get back either later tonight or tomorrow to finish Day 1 of our cruise.

This sunset is a beautiful site.

[absolutely brilliant]

The most beautiful sunset & moonrise pictures EVER!

[pghsteelerfan]

This sunset is a beautiful site.

 

Thank you! This was the best sunset we've ever witnessed while on a cruise, it was just spectacular.

[pghsteelerfan]

The most beautiful sunset & moonrise pictures EVER!

 

Thank you very much, it was beautiful and I'm so happy we got to witness both. I don't know if you've seen PaulMedik's recent spring break review of Carnival Pride, but if you get a chance, check it out. He got some real spectacular moonrise pictures. He commented on my review and the link to his review is in his signature.