Carnival Liberty review 6/21-6/28

[lowbass]

Just recently returned from our 7 day cruise out of San Juan so I thought I'll try to put together a sort of "review/observations/comments". I'm not going into a fully detailed step-by-step of our trip. This is going to be more of a "cruise review lite".

 

I will be posting pics and I do have each days Fun times that I will be posting as well. As I've said, this will lean more towards our impression on the ship and cruise and comments and some tips too. Hope I help some of you good people out.

 

PREVIEW

On this cruise was my wife, myself, our niece, and her husband. This was my wife and I third cruise on Carnival and our niece and husbands second cruise. Our last cruise was in 2010 and we think things have changed on Carnival, and not for the better.

 

THE LIBERTY

We thought the Liberty was in good shape over all. The crew was always cleaning and there were no notable break downs any where. The same color scheme that we remembered from other ships so that hasn't changed. A couple of times we noticed a sewer like smell in a hallway but you quickly stepped out of it and it didn't linger. In each port the crew was always busy cleaning and washing.

 

THE FOOD

I hate to say it but, we thought the quality of food had gone down in most cases. The MDR was a big disappointment for us. I don't know what the reason was but there were not a lot of good choices on the menu. And most of the good choices were not prepared well. I had a crab cake that was not cooked inside, fried chicken that was dry and not seasoned. We even had Jerk chicken and Jambalaya that was plain and tasteless. And many other dishes that sounded good on the menu but didn't deliver on the plate. And I was surprised to find out that the Lobster tail was not offered on the second elegant night.

 

There's also a lack of variety in the MDR and Lido buffet with a very very limited desert menu. The only things we really enjoyed were the Taco bar, Guys burgers and the Mongolian Wok. The deli, pizza and Ice cream were pretty good too. I think it's pretty ironic that 2 of the better meals I had on the entire cruise were off of the ship in a port. Here's a few pics of some of the food porn.

 

Fried Oysters were pretty good

 

Lobster tail and shrimp was good

 

BBQ ribs pretty good. And that was about it.

 

Under cooked crab cake. Told my waiter and he gave me the "that's as good as it gets look".

 

Always good Chocolate melting cake

 

Fried Oysters, fish and fries from fish & chips on 10

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THE CABIN

We had cabin #6205. Our niece had #6206. Both cabins were in the very front of the ship. Matter of fact, our rooms were directly under the ships bridge. Our cabin was on right corner as you face forward(don't know the correct ship terms), and our niece cabin was on the left corner. Between our rooms were 2 other cabins. The rooms had windows but, you couldn't see much cause of the high metal railing on the joint balcony that spanned all of our cabins. These cabins also had handicap bathrooms(no step up) which we didn't need or ask for but were given to us as an upgrade.

 

The bathrooms were really big and nice to say the least. As I stated, these cabins were offered to use as a free upgrade when my wife and niece booked the rooms. The only issues we had with the rooms were some occasional noises that sounded like it came from the engine or boiler rooms? And a couple of nights when the water was really choppy and it was windy, you got quite a bit of swaying in the cabin. Other than that, you couldn't hear a thing.

Here's a few pics of the cabin and the balcony area.

 

Looking in the room from the door.

 

This is the bathroom, with sink on the left out of picture.

 

Common balcony at the front of the ship. Metal railing is about chest high so you must stand up to see over it.

 

This is how far you have to walk to your cabin from the rear of the ship to the front. From the buffet on the Lido deck, down the stairs or elevators to 6th floor.

[lowbass]

Something I forgot to mention, Bringing soda, water and wine on board. In San Juan, contrary to Carnivals stated policy we saw no one getting stopped from bringing as much water and soda on board as they wanted. People were carrying cases of bottled water back from the CVS in San Juan onto the ship with nothing being said. I think Carnivals policy changes after July 1 so I'm not sure what effect that will have.Our niece bought 1 bottle of wine on, we didn't try any liquor. My advice would be to ask someone as you disembark so you'll know just what you can and cannot bring back to the ship.

[taylortess]

Hello. Can you forward me the funtimes? Boponcologypa@yahoo.com

Thanks.

[jmcancruise]

Thanks so much for writing a review. With 29 days till we sail and even after just having done this itinerary a couple years ago, I still can't wait to hear someone else's experience.

 

I am concerned about the food. I know they have changed the menus since we last sailed. Hoping to still enjoy the main dining room experience.

[mnsawyer]

Nice review - we too, thought that the food on Carnival has declined considerably. We sailed the Glory in 2014 on a 7-day eastern and the food was excellent. In 2015, we did a short cruise to Key West and Cozumel. Food in the main dining room in our opinion was not good. Very disappointed and it seems like many others are as well. We have sailed Carnival for many years and been loyal to Carnival. Honestly, rethinking another line next time.

[Jeepenfun]

Thanks for the review. I noticed a Pepsi can by one of the dinner plates. Did waiters serve that to you or was it a can you brought on board yourself? Would be awesome if carnival started serving Pepsi products too instead of just coke products

[DopeyRN1]

Thanks for sharing! I have to admit that food is underwhelming to say the least. I will just hit the MDR for the melting chocolate cake. :D I will eat whatever is appealing off the menu and if I leave hungry I will head to Guy's. At least I will get my special dessert!