Thoughts from a First-Time Cruiser-Jan. 3 Carnival Liberty

[cruisersmom]

We’ve just returned from the January 3rd sailing of the Carnival Liberty, an 8-night cruise where the ports of call were Grand Turk, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and San Juan. There are lots of reviews of shuttle services, the ports, excursions, etc. readily available here on CruiseCritic, so I’m giving you my overall perception of our cruise through first-time eyes. (Really, it was our SECOND cruise, but the first one took place 37 years ago when we cruised on the Emerald Seas to the Bahamas for our honeymoon!)

Tip # 1--Understand that shuttle services have different types of vehicles that they use—and that they might circle the airport several times, picking up passengers until the van is full. We used Cocoa Beach Shuttles (CBS)from the Orlando airport to Port Canaveral and back. We thought it was a fair price ($118 RT for two). We were sitting on the shuttle within 10 minutes of picking up our luggage and calling them. However, it was another 45 minutes before we ever left airport property. The vehicle was neat and clean and the air conditioning was wonderful! This was a 15-passenger van pulling an enclosed trailer for luggage. The van was full, so if you like your own space, you may not be as comfortable as you might be on another type of vehicle. On the return trip, it was a large bus that seated 30-40—center aisle with double seats on each side. We would use them again.

 

Tip #2—Research restaurants close to the hotel where you are staying AHEAD OF TIME. Since we had arrived a day early, CBS dropped us off at Country Inn and Suites (advertised as the hotel closest to the cruise port). This was true, but not necessarily the best choice of places to stay if you don’t have a car! After checking in, we were hungry—no restaurant on-site(which we knew ahead of time). The front desk recommended a local pizzeria which had good reviews on Trip Advisor, so we headed out on foot. We were told it was ‘two blocks away’. In all honesty, it was closer to a mile, which wouldn’t have been an issue except it started raining before we got out to the parking lot. Since we both had on rain coats, we decided that we could handle two blocks. Needless to say, we were very damp when we finally arrived at the restaurant( we walked back in the rain as well)! A Burger King was the ONLY restaurant we saw within two blocks of the hotel. Overall, Country Inn and Suites was neat, spacious and quiet. Those at the front desk were very personable and helpful. They had a delicious breakfast (included in the price of the room). Without a car, I probably wouldn’t stay there again only because it isn’t close to restaurants. On our walk to eat, we saw other hotels much closer to restaurants that also provided shuttle service to the port.

 

Tip #3—You can be overdressed without meaning to be! We are NOT fashion plates; both of us are physical education teachers and love our shorts and running shoes. As we gathered in the hotel conference room to take the shuttle to the port, my husband was THE ONLY PERSON WEARING LONG PANTS! I’m talking out of 50 + people. He had on khakis and a golf shirt; I had on capris with a blue shirt and a scarf. I thought we were pretty casual—NOT! No one was inappropriately dressed; I was just not prepared for the level of casualness!

 

Tip #4—Don’t agonize over what you pack—and don’t overpack! I was guilty of both! Carnival’s motto is “Fun for all, all for fun” ; again, I never saw anyone inappropriately dressed, but I spent way too much energy ahead of time worrying about whether I had everything I needed, especially for Elegant nights. I know this could differ, depending on the cruise line you choose. We truly could have left half of what we packed at home.

 

Tip #5—If you don’t like crowds, don’t choose a ship that holds almost 4000 passengers. The Carnival staff is amazing at accommodating the masses, but 4000 people is 4000 people and there were times that I was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people on the Lido deck. The ONLY complaint I had about the entire cruise was the lack of deck chairs, especially on the upper aft decks. The chairs were there—stacked neatly in stacks of 8 and fastened down, but never unstacked so that they could be used. I’m talking 55 stacks of 8 chairs—I counted all the ones I could see. There were lots of people standing. It was very windy on the cruise, so I assumed the wind made the chairs a hazard on the higher decks. However, two other Carnival ships docked next to us in a couple of ports and they both had their deck chairs out on those decks.

 

Tip #6—If you’re hungry at dinner, go ahead and order more than one appetizer, main dish, dessert! It’s a great opportunity to try new dishes. We were assigned late seating (8:15) and sat with two wonderful couples, both of whom were seasoned cruisers. I probably would not have ordered two of anything had we not heard them ordering first. I’m not saying to be a pig, but it’s perfectly OK to have a soup and a salad or grilled fish and vegetarian lasagna. The food was delicious and the service impeccable! Be forewarned that garlic is liberally used!

 

Tip #7—I’m not sure if I would purchase a soda card again (called Bottomless Bubbles on Carnival). I love Coca Cola Classic and followed the advice of several friends who said to purchase the Bottomless Bubbles card as soon as I got onboard. The card is $49.95 + a 15% gratuity added, so it ended up being about $56, total. It entitled you to order soft drinks at any bar—just present your Sail and Sign card with the Bottomless Bubbles sticker and you were good to go. You could also order soft drinks at dinner with the card. At the end of our cruise, our itemized statement showed that I ordered 18 glasses of Coca Cola over a 9-day period (you were not given the can; just a glass of ice filled with coke). At $1.50/glass, Carnival made money off of me! However, I had no clue what a coke cost when you ordered it from the bar, so I thought I was doing the smart thing! There was also a mini-bar in the stateroom stocked with various soft drinks, waters and alcoholic beverages. The cokes (12-oz. cans) in the mini-bar were$1.95 + 15% restocking fee. You can ask them to lock the mini-bar.

 

Tip #8—Be prepared to be wind-blown! As I said above, it was very windy for the majority of the cruise (25-30 MPH). My hair is a little longer than chin-length. Not long enough for a ponytail; not short enough to stay out of my face. Next time I will pack some headbands—I noticed that lots of women were wearing some really cute headbands and I understand why! Hats and caps were blowing off unless you held them!

 

Tip #9—Shore excursions through the ship can be expensive, but for first-time cruisers, they offer a wonderful sense of security and they’re a great way to see an unfamiliar port. We had pre-arranged our shore excursions through Carnival for every port except St. Maarten. We knew we wanted to go to Maho Beach to see the planes landing over the beach and there was no Carnival shore excursion for that. We ventured out ‘on our own’—a relative term considering the taxi terminal was right at the port and LOTS of other people were headed there, too. Our taxi was a 15-passenger van that was full and there was a flat $8 pp charge to get to Maho Beach which was on the other end of St. Maarten—about 25 minutes away. It was $8 pp for the return trip—money WELL spent. There are signs posted at the taxi terminal that tell you exactly what the charge will be ahead of time. I would do pre-arranged shore excursions through the ship again, but would also feel more confident venturing out on our own—depending on the port!

 

Tip #10—Allow yourself plenty of time. Be prepared to wait in line—to embark, to debark, at the buffet, to get to the airport when your cruise is over etc., etc., …. Again, it is amazing to watch the Carnival staff deal with 4000 people, but there are times that waiting in line is just part of the game. If you have an early-morning excursion and you want to eat breakfast before getting off the ship, allow time for that. Every tour we took departed PROMPTLY at the time stated on the ticket. Try to book your returning flights for the afternoon--we watched several people on our return shuttle really sweat about making it to Orlando in time to check in and board their flight. Carnival knows your flight time and will let those with flights before noon debark first; just remember you have to clear Customs and find your shuttle or private car to get back to the airport. We erred on the side of caution and booked a 7:25 p.m. flight back to Atlanta. Our plan was to check our luggage upon arrival at the airport (at noon), leave the airport and have lunch with relatives who live in Orlando. Good idea in theory, but you can only check bags up to 4 hours ahead of your flight! We had no clue about this! Thank goodness we could load our 4 pieces of luggage in our nephew’s mini-van!

 

Tip #11—Last, but not least, PAY ATTENTION! Pay attention to the time—operate on ship time, not local time or cell phone time. Listen to the announcements that are given over the speaker—most are very informative. Read the daily newsletter—which you will get the night before. On Carnival, the newsletter has a perforated schedule on the right side—tear it off and carry it with you when you leave the ship. In addition to listing activities on the ship, it will also tell you what time to be back onboard and it includes the contact information for the port agent in case of an emergency. Watch the in-room TV channel with daily information from the Cruise Director. Yes, he/she will try to sell excursions or shopping packages, etc., but they also tell you everything you need to know about daily ship activities, procedures for debarking, etc. Follow the directions that you are given. When the captain says to clear the decks for a medical emergency, clear the decks. Don’t stand and gawk. Pay attention to the diagrams of the decks that are posted by all elevators and found on cards throughout the ship. You will realize that you cannot go all the way through (forward to aft) on some decks—the map will show you that! This I know from experience! Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions!

 

Most of all, have fun and enjoy the experience. Would we do it again? You bet!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your nice report.

[A&Jfamily]

This is the best advice thread for new cruisers I have seen in a while!

[pcvtmom]

Nice, concise report! I've cruised Carnival for 20 plus cruises. You offer excellent advice.

[cruisersmom]

Thanks for your kind remarks! I could have saved myself lots of agonizing if I'd known some of these things before!

[cruisersmom]

Thanks to everyone for your kind remarks. We really had a WONDERFUL time and hope to sail many more times!

Edited January 22, 2015 by cruisersmom
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