Carnival Liberty 4/4/16 - 5 day out of Galveston

[nsullivan]

Mr. Sanchos was a little further out than I thought it would be. We passed a lot of signs for other beaches. Once we got to Mr. Sanchos, they had the gates closed. They said the beach was full. This was about noon or 12:30 I think. Luckily, I had reserved our fish pedicure online. So we showed the guard my email and he let us in. So...if you plan to do Mr. Sanchos, either get there early or make reservations. There are two sides to the place. One where you go if you've paid for the all inclusive beach and one for the free beach where you pay as you go. We went to th free side and found a table and ordered some food. Fajitas and tacos. They were ok. All the beach chairs were taken. And there was a wedding going on down the beach. The fish spa is right on the free beach side. We paid for the 30 minute session. It was pretty cool. The fish don't hurt. They make your feet feel like they're vibrating. They had tanks with little fish and tanks with bigger fish. We started out with the little fish and then they let us move to the bigger fish.

 

 

 

 

After the pedicures we got a taxi and headed back to the port. I need some souvenirs so we shopped around the port and got some jewelry and tshirts and vanilla. Then we headed back to the ship.

 

 

I love the blue water.

 

[nsullivan]

Vision of the Seas, the Valor and the Breeze

 

 

And Dinner time

 

 

 

 

[nsullivan]

Justin got the flatbread for appetizer and I got the spring rolls. We both got tilapia for entree but I guess I forgot to get a picture of that.

 

 

 

I remember on my last cruise the waiters danced every night. This was the only night we saw them dance. I was a little disappointed by this. I had told my husband over and over again that they danced or sang every night.

 

Then we played in the arcade. There weren't many kids in there so we decided to play the games. I won a few slinkys.

 

Towel animal for the night.

 

 

This was the only night we went to the dive in movie. It was Jurassic Park and it was packed. We found some seats on the side with an ok view of the screen. It was fine until these kids started screaming across the deck to their other friends. Then their parents came and they continued to talk loud and let their kids holler and walk in front of everyone and block everyone's view. It was extremely disrespectful. I expect that from kids when their parents aren't around but these parents were just as rude.

 

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review, thanks for sharing your trip.

[nsullivan]

As amazing and beautiful as Cozumel was, it was also a sad day for some. A member of our Facebook group was on a beach with her family and she drowned. She was with her husband, kids and grandkids. I'm not sure of the exact details but I know her family came back on the ship to return home. Like I said, I don't know exactly what happened but always be careful with anything you do on vacations. You never know what could happen.

[JimAOk1945]

I'm enjoying your review and reliving our Uxmal excursion through your pictures. Thanks!

[nsullivan]

Last Sea Day

 

We booked the Behind the Fun tour. I had been looking forward to this tour the entire trip. It was $95 a person for a three and a half hour tour. We met at 9am in the library and you HAD to wear closed toe shoes. Also no phones or cameras were allowed. So I don't have pictures of the tour but I will tell you about it. Candeese was our tour guide and she was amazing.

 

The first place we went was the very front of the ship. This is where the forward mast is and also where they used to hold the spare anchor. They no longer have to carry a spare anchor so it isn't there anymore. This is also the crew's deck. They have chairs and places to lay out. I think this is one of the "secret decks" people are always trying to find. It is for the crew. They also have a bell they used to use to signal problems. They don't use it anymore either.

 

Then we went to the theatre stage area and talked to the tech guy. He explained a little about the shows and props. After that we went to the dressing room and talked to the director of the dancers. The dancers have about 30 seconds to change costumes and they do it on their own.

 

We went to the crew eating area. The liberty is divided into four eating areas. The crew, the staff, the petty officer room and the captains area. Candeese told us on the newer ships the crew area and staff area are all together. The crew and staff eat off a buffet. They cater to any allergies the crew has. They also get to write down dishes they wish they could have and put them in a wish box. The chef will choose one each month to make. The crew have their own galley and kitchen staff.

 

The petty officers and captain choose food off a menu. It is the same food the crew eats but they have waiters and waitresses. The dining room waiters use the petty officer room and captains dining room to practice serving people. The Captain can invite anyone he wants to dine with him. Candeese said the officers and captain usually eat with the rest of the staff and their dining rooms aren't used very much.

[nsullivan]

Next was the crew training area. The crew can learn different languages and other online courses here. The crew works 10 to 12 hours a day. They must have at least 6 hours of uninterrupted time off. And can't work more than 72 hours a day. Most of them share a cabin with someone in their dept. There are also couples rooms for married people. They also get a port day off every once in a while. Depending on their job it depends on how long their contracts are. They captain works about 4 months and then gets two months off. Candeese works about 7 months and then gets two months off. She may not come back to the same ship for her next contract. She may relieve someone from another ship that needs a break.

 

Then we went to the food storage area. This was one of the first cruises for the Liberty out of Galveston. They realized that in Texas, people tend to order more beef and ice cream. Ha

 

Then was engine control. I had a really difficult time understanding the guy. He was from Italy and his accent was thick. I did learn that we drink and use actual sea water that has been filtered. I didn't know that. I thought they loaded water onboard from the ports.

 

I may be going a little out of order of the actual tour but oh well. Next was the Bridge. There are three watchers at all time scanning the ocean for obstacles. Obviously they also use technology to monitor. There is no actual captains wheel. There is a little video came type wheel. The Captain also doesn't steer the boat. He supervises when it needs to be manually steered. There is a window on the floor that has a line across it. That line has to line up with a line on the port when we dock. If the seas are too rough, there are huge tanks at the bottom of the boat that can be filled to make the boat more stable. They also have monitors watching all areas of the boat in case someone goes overboard.

 

Us and the captain

[nsullivan]

I think I missed a couple places. The crew lounge area. They have a bar, pool table and foosball table. They do have to pay for alcohol but it's only like $2 a drink. They aren't allowed to get wasted because they would be needed in an emergency situation.

 

They also have a computer area. They pay for their own wifi. Which is even slower than the wifi the passengers get.

 

And the laundry area. The washers are huge. So are the dryers. They also have machines that press and fold the sheets. I couldn't imagine that job. Standing there for hours and feeding sheets into a machine.

 

Last stop was the galley. We watched a guy carve fruit and decorate a cake. They gave us cookies. The amount of food needed is crazy. Huge vats of soup and stock. Huge ovens. It was super hot in there which is no surprise.

 

The tour ended in one of the dining rooms. We got soap carved into a swan by the guy that carves the fruit. Also a backpack, lanyard and hat.

 

I loved the tour. I would love to do it on every ship. Candeese was an amazing tour guide. She was so funny. We got two pictures. One on the front deck and one with the captain. I highly recommend this tour. But it is a lot of walking and lots of stairs.

[nsullivan]

After the tour we went to the Lido deck. Both got burritos from the Blue Iguana and it was the chocolate extravaganza lunch so we got different chocolate items. We brought the food back to the room and laid out on the balcony pretty much the rest of the day until it was time for dinner.

 

It was the last night in the dining room so I splurged on the steakhouse selections. Justin had the frog legs for appetizer and I had onion soup. He had the prime rib for dinner.

 

[nsullivan]

 

After dinner we went to the casino. Played a few games and lost money. Then we went to the Carnival Legends show. It was funny. Cory Rogers was our cruise director and he was very entertaining. It was a good show. Everyone did a good job.

 

After that we went back to the room. We had already put our luggage outside to be picked up.

[nsullivan]

Getting off the ship was uneventful. I went to the Golden Dining Room to get the alcohol we had checked. Then we packed up and went downstairs. We headed back to the golden dining room to wait for them to call FTTF but by the time we got there, they were already letting us go. We got off the ship and picked up our luggage. Justin went to the passport line and I went to the birth certificate line. Took us both like five minutes to go through customs. Justin paid $7 in taxes. Then we boarded the shuttle and got to our truck.

[nsullivan]

Some random things about the cruise.

 

We both purchased the social media wifi package. It was $18 for the whole cruise or $5 a day. It worked the entire cruise for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and iMessage. It was obviously slower than our wifi at home but it was a lot faster than I thought it would be. I have no complaints about it.

 

We never got motion sickness. Justin wore a scopalomine patch the whole time. I just took Dramamine every few hours just in case. Some times were rougher than others but the ship didn't sway as much as it did on my last cruise.

 

I didn't find the food on the American Table to be as good as the food on my first cruise. I found a lot of it to be really really bland. The waitstaff was really nice but they seemed rushed. Not the personal service I got on my first cruise.

 

The crew wasn't always that friendly. There were some staff that were very nice and helpful but others seemed really tired and rushed.

 

It was a good cruise and we enjoyed it. But it does seem like there are some cutbacks. But I would cruise Carnival again.

 

I will scan and post funtimes and random papers we got tomorrow.

[Princess_K]

Thanks for your review! Now I'm just ready for my day to come.

[nsullivan]

So I just realized a lot of the photos are sideways. I am so sorry. I swear they looked right on my phone when I was posting last night. If you need me to repost the menus, I will.

 

I am going to start posting the funtimes in just a bit. I hope they don't come out sideways.

 

But I wanted to give my opinion on Faster to the Fun. Was it worth it? I say yes. It was really nice bypassing all the people in the terminal. We just sailed on through everything. We boarded before the majority of the people too which was really nice because I was determined to get the Behind the Fun tour. There are only two of those tours with only about 16 people allowed in each. So if you don't get there quick, its sold out. It was also helpful at guest services. You have your separate line with the priority people. We had a bill question and there was a huge line at guest services. They got to us right away. Also getting off the ship was so easy. We were zone 2. I will def purchase it on all future cruises.

[nsullivan]

Monday Fun Times- Sea Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nsullivan]

Tuesday Fun Times- Sea Day

 

 

 

 

[nsullivan]

Wedn Fun Times- Progreso

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nsullivan]

Thursday Fun Times- Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nsullivan]

Friday Fun Times- Sea Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lulamc]

I'm going on that cruise in a couple of months! Thanks for the review!

[cortneyward]

Thank you for this! Ours isn't until 2017 on the Liberty but I've been very curious about the 5 day American table menu

[nsullivan]

You should have a good time. I think all the little issues we had we'll be ironed out by then. This was just a new port for the Liberty and I know a lot of the crew was coming to the end of their contracts and going home. So some of them being rushed and stressed was probably just from them being ready to go home.

[cruisenewbie79]

My husband was bummed that they didn't catch AMC so he missed the Walking Dead finale. And he now has to wait until we get home Saturday to watch it.

 

 

 

Oh no. Your husband won't be happy to see that Daryl dies in the finale................. Just kidding :D I made myself lol:D

[nsullivan]

Oh no. Your husband won't be happy to see that Daryl dies in the finale................. Just kidding :D I made myself lol:D

 

 

Ha he watched it as soon as we got home Saturday. He wouldn't even get on Facebook for the first couple days of the cruise because he didn't want to see what people were posting.