Liberty Review: May 31st, Western

[Terre]

As promised here is my review. It's a little long, but I've broken it into sections so you can skip over what you don't want to read.

 

Carnival Liberty Review

May 31, 2014 – June 7, 2014

 

Cruising History: This was our 29th cruise total, 13th with Carnival, 5th time on the Liberty

 

Ship’s Staff: Captain: Gianluca Longhin; Cruise Director: Cory Rogers; Hotel Director: Donato Becce

 

Pre-cruise Stay: We drove to Cape Canaveral on May 30th and stayed at the Radisson. It is a very nice hotel with a beautiful pool, and very nice room. We paid for the shuttle and breakfast on Saturday morning. We made a reservation for the 10:30 shuttle to the cruise terminal and the shuttle was right on time. Everyone boarded and the driver went over some details on where to meet them when we came out of the terminal on debarkation day, and gave some good tips to new cruisers and reminders to the experienced cruisers. Main tip was about cell phones and the cost you could end up with if you leave them on and/or use them the entire cruise.

 

One of the pools at the Radisson

 

They had these little fish ponds all around the pool area

 

Here is a link to all the Radisson photos: http://i1336.photobucket.com/albums/o660/Terre52/Liberty%20Cruise%20June%202014/Radisson%20Hotel/IMG_4291.jpg

 

Embarkation Day: We arrived around 10:45ish and checked in. We took our carry-ons to the cabin and it was ready for us. After we dropped off our carry-ons we headed off in search of food. Mike stopped off at the buffet while I made my way to the Fish ‘n Chips. I had the fish and chips often for lunch.

 

At 3:00 we headed to the Piano Man Bar for our Roll Call Meet & Greet. We started working on our M&G rather late and one person started setting it up and tried reserving an area around the pool bar, but Carnival wouldn’t reserve it us. I contacted John Heald asking who we should contact to reserve a space. He contacted Cory, the Cruise Director, and he reserved the Piano Man Bar for us. We were having a great time meeting everyone and talking to each other when Cory drops in! He is such a nice guy and stayed for a little while and even took pictures with us. Because it was so close to muster drill, he reserved The Cabinet the next day for us. We enjoyed running into our new friends around the ship and hanging out with a few of them from time to time.

 

Our Roll Call Meet & Greet Group with Cory, our Cruise Director

Edited June 11, 2014 by Terre

[Terre]

The Ship: The Liberty is my favorite of the Carnival ships I’ve sailed on. The décor is Venetian and really pretty. There are quite a few bars and lounges and a nice long public area with plenty of seating. There are many places to eat – the buffet of course and the Fish n Chips already mentioned, and then there’s Guy’s Burger Joint, the Salsa Bar, the Burrito Bar, the Mongolian Wok, the Deli, Pizza, Omelet Station -- oh my gosh, you will not go hungry!

Guy’s Burger Joint

 

 

A Portion of the Buffet

 

The Salsa Bar

 

And then there’s the dining room food:

 

I had a grilled ham and cheese and the roasted turkey breast sandwich from the Deli and both were good. I had a burrito from the Burrito Bar and it was good, and of course you can’t go wrong with the pizza!

 

Entertainment: We did not see any of the production shows since we’ve seen them many times over the last several years; it’s time to change them. We didn’t even go to the Love and Marriage show even though we could probably win it by now…we know all the questions!

 

We did see the comedians’ family friendly and adult only shows. The first couple of nights we had Happy Cole and Jeff Brick. They are both very funny, but you just can beat Happy Cole. He was hilarious for both the family friendly and adult shows. Even though we’d heard his jokes before, he was still very funny. Jim Brick is funny, too, but not as funny as Happy. We have seen him before and some of his jokes were familiar.

 

The last two nights’ comedians were Jason Blanchard and Jessi Campbell. Jason was funny, but Jessi wasn’t in my opinion. I think I may have laughed at two or three of her jokes. The adult only shows can get quite raunchy, but they do warn you. Our host was about 22 years old and seemed a little embarrassed when he told a dirty joke or had to say the “f” word…Carnival may want to rethink having such a young host in The Punchliner. Personally, I thought the jokes in the family friendly shows were just as funny without all the profanity and vulgarity.

 

Of course there are the deck parties, and the casino, the lounges, Movies under the Stars, etc. There is always something to do.

 

Debarkation Day: On debarkation day, we opted for self assist debarkation and we exited the terminal around 7:10, got right on the Radisson shuttle and were back at our car by around 7:30. The driver stopped right at everyone’s car which was nice.

[Terre]

Our Cabin: We opted for an inside this time, category 4 and it was decent. Just enough room to move around and sleep in. Our cabin steward and his assistants did a great job keeping it clean and neat.

 

Dining: We had Your Time Dining. We asked for that when we booked, but it was full so we were wait listed for YTD. We ended up with early seating at 6:00. Our TA said we had a table for two, but we checked with the Maitre d’ on the first day to make sure we had a table for two. We didn’t so he gave us one and wait listed us for YTD. The second night, we had YTD. We had Rumondo one night and Gideon one night and both those teams were very good. We saw Fernando who we had in January and liked, so we asked for him each night after. We did give our wait team and our Cabin Steward and his assistants an extra tip on the last night since they all did good jobs for us.

 

Past Guest Reception: This was the last night and it was the same as all the others. You get to see the movie of how Carnival got started and clap when you see a ship you’ve sailed on, while drinking the free drinks and eating hors d’oeuvres. Tip: you can ask for a specific drink, you don’t have to take the red drinks they try to give you. They no longer bring out champagne and mixed drinks, only the red nasty one. Everyone asks for mixed drinks or wine and they will bring that to you. They’ve cut back on the hors d’oeuvres, too. We had a little square of cheesecake and some other little thing.

 

Just for Fun: We would sit in the public area every evening and watch one of the photographers. He would try to get everyone to stop for a picture and would say, “Peekture, peekture.” I started saying that and he would laugh. When his back was tuned, I ran up behind him and said, “Peekture, peekture.” When he turned around I snapped his picture. He loved that and asked my name. Every time we saw him after that he would ask me how I was doing.

 

Peekture, Peekture

 

Ports

Cozumel: We were planning to go to Nachi Cocum, but it was raining that day so we decided to stay on the ship. Rained all day and the day before. The cover over the adult only pool is very nice to have on a rainy day.

 

Roatan: We missed Roatan because the winds made it impossible to dock, so we ended up with an extra sea day and a $14 credit.

 

Belize: Been there done all that so we stayed on the ship. If you have never been you should do something – cave tubing, Mayan ruins, shopping – anything.

 

Costa Maya: This was the only port we had not been to and had reserved chairs at Tropicante. It was a windy, somewhat cloudy day, but we enjoyed it. When we got there, we were greeted right away and asked our name which was marked off and taken to our chairs. We got a couple of drinks, but went back to the ship for lunch. Tropicante is a restaurant that that lets you use their beach area, telephone, and Wi-Fi for free. You pay for food and drinks. Note to the Ladies: If you go to the restroom there, take some toilet paper with you. Their plumbing can’t handle it and there is none in the stalls. There is a sign telling you not to put paper in the toilet.

 

Tropicante Restaurant

 

 

Ah, relaxation!

 

On the Beach in Costa Maya at Tropincante

 

All in all, we enjoyed being on the Liberty again. No phones, no computers, long afternoon naps, and lots of relaxation…just what we needed.

 

Here is a link to my entire photo album: http://i1336.photobucket.com/albums/o660/Terre52/Liberty%20Cruise%20June%202014/IMG_4341.jpg. You will need to click on the left arrow and keep going left to keep the photos in the correct order…can’t figure out why it does that.

[AnnaNimitee]

Thanks for the review, and love your pictures! Excited for our first time on the Liberty in October :-)

[Terre]

Thank you, Anita. You will love the Liberty. It's a beautiful ship.

[kimsmom122607]

Thanks for the review getting on the Liberty July 6th.

[Momma1980]

Thanks for posting the review!

 

I had a laugh because you chose to post a picture of the swimming fish immediately followed by a picture of fried fish! :)

[Terre]

LOL, Momma, didn't even realize that. They were about the same size, too! Glad I could make you laugh!:D

Edited June 12, 2014 by Terre

[peteukmcr]

Thanks for the review and the photos from the Radisson. We're staying there pre-cruise in May 2015 before we board RCI Enchantment and then straight onto Liberty which is our first time on Carnival.

[AnnaNimitee]

Thanks for the review and the photos from the Radisson. We're staying there pre-cruise in May 2015 before we board RCI Enchantment and then straight onto Liberty which is our first time on Carnival.

 

You're going to love the Radisson! Great pool, atmosphere, and rooms are nice. Welcome to CCL!

[SkyMaster]

THANKS for posting. I too, had a fantastic cruise with y'all, and really enjoyed the CC'ers company. GREAT bunch of people, great cruise, and a fantastic week.

Oh yes, I DID catch all of the big production shows and they were all excellent! It's really nice to sail on a ship that still has a ten piece band, eight female dancers and three male dancers. Really good shows, and entertainment.

 

 

"SKY"

Ken

[BeachLoverstoo]

Like the others, thanks for the review. We are staying at the Radisson before our Liberty cruise and hoped we had made the right choice. I read some TripAdvisor posts that had me worried. How was the breakfast? I ask because there have also been comments that it wasn't that great, but I hate to leave the hotel and go somewhere else. We sail on Black Friday so we travel on Thanksgiving and I know we will probably end up having dinner there too. What can I say? You can't always go to Waffle House, especially on turkey day!

[BeachLoverstoo]

Liberty has the new menu I think? Anything you really liked/disliked? I'm hoping as they continue to tweak the offerings, Bitter n Blanc will be back.

Also I saw pics of the Chef's Table. Would you recommend that or the steakhouse? We enjoy good food and love our wine, but DH doesn't care for raw meat/seafood and I've noticed those on the Chef's Table menu. We usually do the steakhouse once, but as this is an 8-day cruise, we might want another option if the MDR menu doesn't have foods that we like.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[092306]

Enjoyed your review and pictures, thanks for posting!

[golfadj]

Thanks for the review, we sail in 8 days

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed the review.

 

Keith

[Terre]

Thanks, everyone. Hey, Ken! Loved meeting you and running into you around the ship. I know the shows are good, we've just seen them so many times and most recently in January, so we opted not to go this time.

 

Beach Lovers...The Radisson is nice and the breakfast was good. It's as good as any other hotel buffet breakfast. Our room was very nice and clean. We had a king Sleep Number bed, although we couldn't figure out how to make it work! The amenities were the right amount. The facility itself is nice with a business center and gym. We used the business center to check our roll call and e-mails and helped some ladies print out some stuff and find info they needed.

 

There were a lot of people in the pools when we got there, but it was around 6:00 and we didn't get in. We found a Mexican restaurant close by for dinner. They were very efficient with the shuttle to and from the cruise terminal and it made things very easy. Don't forget that you have to reserve your shuttle time after you reserve your room.

 

Personally I don't like the new menu; we had it in January and I asked for the bitter and blanc every night just to mess with our waiter. The bitter n blanc is back on the 8-day sailings they tell me. They did have the creme brulee, souffle, and the pumpkin soup which I had really missed in January.

 

As for the steakhouse or the chef's table, we have never done either. We have always felt the food in the dining room was sufficient and good although the new menu is not as good as the old one. The chef's table would be good if you like to try new, different foods. We saw them going to their kitchen tour while we were dining. I've heard good things about the steakhouse, but I can't give you an opinion, sorry.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Terre

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review and loved your photo's.

[BeachLoverstoo]

T

Beach Lovers...The Radisson is nice and the breakfast was good. It's as good as any other hotel buffet breakfast. Our room was very nice and clean. We had a king Sleep Number bed, although we couldn't figure out how to make it work! The amenities were the right amount. The facility itself is nice with a business center and gym. We used the business center to check our roll call and e-mails and helped some ladies print out some stuff and find info they needed.

 

There were a lot of people in the pools when we got there, but it was around 6:00 and we didn't get in. We found a Mexican restaurant close by for dinner. They were very efficient with the shuttle to and from the cruise terminal and it made things very easy. Don't forget that you have to reserve your shuttle time after you reserve your room.

 

Thanks for the advice. DH called yesterday after i read this to him and booked the 10:30 shuttle.

[Terre]

Good. I had forgotten about that and when my husband reminded me, I was afraid the 10:30 was booked, but they have two shuttles going at 10:30. It's a great way to get to and from the terminal. They do check off your name so you can't just try to get on at 10:30.

 

Can't wait to hear about your cruise when you get back!

[jaxkai]

thank you for the review 98 more days and im there and sooooo excited!!!!

[mj]

Thanks for the review. Had great experiences onboard the Liberty.

[Terre]

Very welcome, yes we had a great time, too.

[Engineerstar]

Thank you for the review!