8/1 Liberty review

[moe2k]

After finally catching up on lost sleep I can finally write a review of the cruise.

First, The pros:

the ship was very nice, if you sit in the flower Bar on Deck 3 be sure to watch the lights above as the color show they put on is very nice. Our balcony cabin was great, plenty of room for clothing and moving about. The ports were spectacular. It is amazing to see all the buildings and be in awe that they built these buildings without modern technology. The cruise director was awesome. he was very entertaining and funny and did his best to make it a great cruise. As a non smoker I was pleased to see that Carnival finally has made a genuine effort to have more non-smoking areas. I did not feel like I lived in an ashtay for 12 days! The dining room staff was great and very hardworking. One of the smoothest and fastest getting of a ships that I have experienced as a cruiser.

Now the cons:

1. The internet was a big problem. It was very sporadic and left many people frustrated because of the long lines. Considering the amount of passengers, there were not enough computer terminals to service people adequately. Also the WiFi for people with laptops was extremely frustrating as it did not work most of the time.

2. Activation of Sail & sign cards was a big issue. Apparently there was some computer problem and our cards along with many other frustrated people did not work for 3 days. It surprised me that a system that works wellon their other ships caused such a problem with this one. I have been on Carnival before and have never experienced the problems I had on this ship. We actually had a run in with a bartender who refuse to serve us because our card didn't work! this was after we had been to the purser's desk 4 times to reactivate the card!

3. We had the late seating at 8:30. The food was at times was dry like it had been cooked earlier and reheated. The ceasar salad was salty and soggy. I don't know if it was due to being the last seating but I did speak withother passengers who had earlier seatings and they said the food was also dry at times.

4. Currency Exchange- long lines to do this with not enough staff or staff that was just staring off into space rather than servicing people. On the last full day (8/12) they refused to exchange american dollars into euros even though it was advertized in the capers that they would.

 

I think the ship and the ports were great but they have a lot of issues they need to iron out. Most of this was due in part to being a new ship. I would definitely be more careful not to book on a new ship or a new itinerary again.

I think if carnival had just made an announcement on the ship that they were experiencing some problems due to being new and they were sorry for the incoveniences, it would have made a lot of people feel better. Instead they acted like everything was fine when it was not. A lot of people were unhappy which is too bad because I think Carnival does give you a lot for the money. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes.

[horsnrnd01]

Thank you for your review. My wife and I are booked on the Sept. 30th cruise and we are interested in information on the various excursions that are being offered. Did you booked any excursion through Carnival, and, if so, which ones and would you recommend them? Did you tour any ports without pre-booking excursions?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

[moe2k]

Hello! We booked quite a few of our tours through Carnival as it was our first time to Europe. Our favorite tours were Murano, Monaco and Monte Carlo (great lunch), Taiorima, Pompeii and wines of tuscany. Carnival tours wre well organized but if you book 2 in one day (a morning and afternoon) they were not guaranteeing that you would make the pm one if the tour was running late nor would they be willing to refund if you missed it. Luckily we had a good tour guide who got us back on time to make our pm tour. We did most of Venice and Rome on our own as it is a pretty easy city to walk around and find things. My only suggestion would be to make sure you have enough euros for the gondola and other small purchases as many of the places had a minimum for credit card purchases. The Holy rome tour was excellent and you should encounter less crowds than we did. Have a great time! Maureen

[winewanderer]

Hi Maureen,

 

I've been looking for a reviewer who took the "Wines of Tuscany" Tour. Can you give me details? Like the cost, did you go to one winery or more? How many wines did you taste? How long did it take from the port to your first stop?

 

Thanks so much for any information. Diana

[moe2k]

Hi! It took about an hour to get to the winery. We got a short tour and theywere not making any wine while we werethere. We got to taste 3 types of wine along with tasting bread, salami and olives. if you have been to napa you will be disappointed as the winery does not compare with napa. We met a couple from our home state so we had a great time consuming about three - four bottles of wine (we didn't have to drive!) and just talking and enjoying the atmosphere. The best wine was the red lableled bottle which was a red wine. You can buy wine and olive oil there too. I would have liked to have seen Lucca as part of this tour as it was about 5 minutes from where we were. it was a very relaxing tour after having been on pretty hectic ones previously in the week. maureen

[winewanderer]

Hi Maureen,

 

Thanks for the info. I live in CA wine country and work for a winery, not Napa but Sonoma County. So, yes, sounds like we won't be blown away. But I'm sure fun anyway.

 

Do you remember the excursion cost? Did you notice the prices of the wine for purchasing?

 

Hubby doesn't care to see Florence, I've travelled all over that area so we were thinking the wine tasting would be fun and very non-stressful. I think that by that day of the cruise we'll be too exhausted for much else.

 

 

Thanks much.

[moe2k]

Hello Again! I can't remember the exact cost as we booked it online but it was definitely not over a hundred dollars each like some of the excursions. I think the wine started around 8 euros a bottle. I didn't get any as the credit card machine was not working. Many people were disappointed in the Florence tour as they felt it didn't give them thetime to see it as promised. I think each of these cities really need more than a couple of hours to see everything that you want to see without feeling rushed. Tuscany was something my husband wanted to ee as he watches a lot of PBS and Rudy Maxa and he always raves about tuscany. Maureen

[watersprite]

thanks for making time to do this review. We are booked for next year and never did Carnival before. Food is our worry, we sure hope that your complaints get read and fixed.

 

we did the Mediterranean with Celebrity, they have lots of computers but the access was sporadic, this is not the ship's fault much of the time.

 

The LA Times complimented the beds on Carnival, did you notice any quality features?

 

Is there a library?

 

how was room service?

[cinnabun]

Hi,

 

just got back from Liberty on friday. Yes the beds are fantastic, quite hard to get up in the morning.

The library is located on Deck 3 but doesn't have a lot of books at the moment.

I tried room service for breakfast and it was great, on time and exactly what we ordered (it's only continental breakfast though).

 

hope this helps.

[Gale Gwinn]

We are leaving in two weeks! Also thinking about a Tuscany tour. Has anyone done the Beautiful Tuscany tour that goes to San Gimignano and Volterra? I wrote to the shore excursion desk and they said you spend 3 hrs in each place. But I wonder what you do there!

 

We are still stumped about what to do on our last day!

 

We were just in Napa so maybe we would be disappointed in the Tuscany winery.

[happy1]

It's been my experience that all the libraries on Carnival really lack books and magazines. I usually leave my paperbacks for the next cruiser (maybe we can build up some stock).On the longer Med cruises, I can't carry too many books as I need the luggage space!