Liberty Review 9-5-16

[AR Patriot]

I should have added that I was using Chrome browser on both devices.

 

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[ja_martin]

I'm planning on doing my first detailed and photo heavy review of our upcoming 5 day cruise aboard the Carnival Liberty. This cruise leaves from Galveston and has ports of call in Cozumel and Progreso.

 

Before we leave on Monday, are there any points within my trip you'd like me to focus heavy on?

 

Side note - we are a 30ish couple traveling without kids. My review will contain very little information pertaining to kids activities.

 

Looking forward to sharing our journey with everyone.

 

I would be curious to know who the captain was and who the hotel director was. Did you have any interaction with them? And, if so, what did you think of them?

[bkcoogler]

Muster, sail away on our beautiful balcony and diamonds steakhouse.

I appreciate those of you following along and if you have any questions; I’ll try my best to answer them. It’s a busy week coming back to work, so I’m hoping to keep up with the updates throughout the week.

All right, so let’s continue on from where we left off. Muster… or as MC called mustard a few times before I swiftly corrected him… lol. We waited around on our balcony for the ever ear shattering screech of the alarm, followed by the cruise director instructing everyone to head to their muster stations. We were assigned to muster station H, on the starboard aft of the ship. We waited for about five minutes before we headed out, there was no way in hell I wanted to be stuck behind loads of people in the Galveston summer heat. To our surprise, as soon as we opened our cabin door we were quickly directed to a door adjacent in the hallway down two flights of stairs that looked to normally be used for crew access and into our muster station. We stopped and were lined up against the wall. Were we going to be herded in like cattle for the next 30 minutes in the stifling heat? I was immediately dreading the time ahead until I felt it, AC from the stairwell next to us… we had lucked out. I will say; albeit a bit long and tedious, it wasn’t a terrible experience. The crew was especially serious this time around, especially a crew member that was easily over 7ft tall with a very commanding voice. He quickly demanded people to put away their phones a couple of times throughout the drill.

Once this was over, we hurried upstairs back to our balcony to watch the ship say goodbye to Texas soil for the next few days. MC was in awe as we passed through the Galveston bay, this time we didn’t see too many dolphins trailing the ship as I’ve seen in the past. One of my favorite sites is passing Seawolf Park with the WWII submarine that’s now a part of the park. We relaxed on the balcony for the next couple of hours and I think that I even fell asleep for a few minutes at one point. I’ll probably say this over and over in my review… this balcony was amazing! There was so little noise, partial sun and just enough wind to keep you cool.

We started getting ready for our reservations at the Diamonds Steakhouse. In all my cruises I hadn’t yet got a chance to give the steakhouse a try. We’re not the ‘dress up’ type and prefer cruising casual. We understood that on the first night, the steakhouse was a more casual environment, plus you get a free bottle of wine. Knowing this, I booked a reservation for 8p on the first night on the ship. We headed up to deck 10 where the steakhouse is located and were greeted promptly by a very nice guy up front. He sat us at a table for two, next to a window (although, the view was of a staircase and the deck around us). The environment there was extremely quiet and intimate. There were only a handful of other people scattered about at tables throughout the steakhouse; either we got there after the rush or many people just don’t book the steakhouse on the first night (even with a free bottle of wine). Our server came by within the first couple of minutes, briefly introduced herself and asked if we wanted anything to drink other than water. She informed us that all bottles of wine were half off; due to a promotion they were having this night on the ship. I asked her if we could just have a bottle of the house red, as we were aware that it was free. She seemed annoyed and asked ‘which house red?’. I really don’t want to go into detail about her service, as it was my one and only negative experience with a staff member on this ship. I wouldn’t even say it was all that negative… it just wasn’t on the same level as the rest of the ship. The rest of the staff in the steakhouse were absolutely amazing. For an appetizer I had the crab cake and MC had the tuna tartar, we both had the surf and turf (filet and lobster) and for dessert I had the cheesecake and MC had the homemade strawberry cheesecake ice cream. As for the wine, it was a Santa Carolina Merlot; about a $10 bottle of wine at the grocery store. I don’t look down on $10 bottles; I’ve had some really good $10 bottles and this is generally what I buy… this one was, ok. Especially for free!!! The food was excellent, the wine was decent and the environment was very quiet and relaxed. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures because my camera flash wouldn’t turn off and I felt utterly embarrassed to take pictures with flash in a nice relaxing setting. All in all, I think the steakhouse is a wonderful one-time experience for me. I’m not sure that I’d pay the extra fee to do it again though. As you will read in the coming days, our dining room experience was exceptional; without having to pay extra for the meals.

That night we walked around the ship, caught ten minutes of the welcome aboard show and gave some donations to the casino.

I did forget to mention that most of our luggage turned up at our room within a couple hours of us getting on board. As for my last piece of luggage, it arrived just before we left for the steakhouse at 8p. The luggage apparently had been sent to the ‘naughty room’ for a rum runner that I had stashed inside. People may scold me for doing so, but don’t worry… we spend plenty of money on drinks on the ship. This was there for the days that we wanted to mix a drink or two and not leave our cabin. No worries though; I completely understand that I didn’t follow the rules and must pay the consequence… haha.

Another thing to point out that I had missed in my initial part 1 of day one is the meeting of our room steward Made. He was absolutely amazing, I purchased an RTIC small lunch kit online prior to sailing and he made sure to keep it stocked with ice each day. He was incredibly thankful of the tip I handed him when we met and always made sure to greet us by name whenever he saw us. He was one of the friendliest and attentive room stewards I have ever had. Kudos to him and his assistant as they ROCKED!

I’ll try and post some pictures of the rest of day one later tonight when I get home from work… thanks for reading!

Next up… Day 2 – SEA DAY

[bkcoogler]

I would be curious to know who the captain was and who the hotel director was. Did you have any interaction with them? And, if so, what did you think of them?

 

To be honest, I have no idea. I can look at the fun times and check and get back with you. I heard the captain speak twice on the overhead speakers and saw him say like 5 words on a TV program once.

 

As for the hotel director; again I have no clue. I will say, the level of service on this ship was incredible. We even heard this from other guests the entire time... this was the friendliest and most attentive crew that I have ever encountered.

[Kechin Yer Eye]

Can't wait to read the rest. We leave on the Liberty Oct 3, a group of 8 of us and 6 have never cruised before.....so it should be a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

[cagseg]

This is so helpful, sailing in 10 days!

[easyboy]

Glad your first day turned out well. Following.

[GarnerGirls]

Great review! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to read more.

[bkcoogler]

I apologize it's taken so long for another update. Here are the rest of the pictures from the first day.

 

Here's a shot of the Caribbean band set up out at the Lido during embarkation. These guys were great!!!

 

 

One of my favorite things about having a balcony is watching the Pilot get on/off the ship coming in/out of port. This was the pilot boat picking up the pilot leaving Galveston.

 

 

 

 

A picture of the theatre while we were walking around touring the ship.

 

 

Here's the one and only picture I got in the steakhouse. It's a so-so picture of the menu.

 

 

The elephant towel animal that Made left for us in our stateroom the first night.

 

 

Up next, our first day at sea.

[natlteam10]

Following

 

 

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[bkcoogler]

Day 2 – Our Fun Day at Sea

To be honest, this will probably be the shortest section of my review. Why you ask? We slept and lounged around for at least 40% of the day. I promise, the rest of the view will be much more exciting than this small section, lol.

We woke up a little late, around 9:30a and decided to head to the Lido for breakfast and coffee. Generally, I would fill out one of those nifty door hanger menu sheets for a light breakfast and coffee but I didn’t find these until the last day of our cruise; hiding behind the door in the narrow hallway of our cabin. Alas, we headed up to the Lido and grabbed an assortment of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and bits of other stuff. I never have been disappointed with the Lido for breakfast. I’ve read others saying that the eggs are runny and whatnot, not the case here. Everything was pretty delicious. I also made a point to grab a couple of cups of that orange, guava juice that they have in the mornings… just a quick tip, this is really good with a couple of shots of Malibu rum in it (wherever you get it is on you). From here, MC went up to have a smoke on deck 10 and I headed back to the room. We really didn’t have any plans today and I just wanted to enjoy our amazing balcony. I grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and took it out onto the lounger and fell asleep. I woke up when MC came out and said that Made wanted to clean the room; so we stayed out there while Made (our room steward) cleaned up and made our bed. I’ve also read and heard of others on other ships, having to select when they wanted their room made up. We never experienced this once on the Liberty. Our room was made up at least twice, sometimes 3 times daily.

We decided to head to the casino around noon and see if our luck had changed at all. The first night I had only played a handful of slots. Alright, let me get this out of the way… I am not a smoker, as I have mentioned and MC is. We both agree that the casino on this ship was difficult to spend lengths of time in, due to the amount of smokers and cigarette smoke in this venue. If we ever spent more than 15-30 minutes in there, I would pay for the rest of the day/night. We frequented the casino on this cruise and therefore generally we had a sore throat, cough or our lungs would hurt, that’s for both of us. I’ve heard that they’ve made investments on some of the ships with the ‘smoke eaters’, and I really don’t know if this ship has those upgrades… but man, I really hope something could be done here. Anywho, I convinced MC to play a few hands of Let it Ride (it’s a 3 card poker game) and boy did he get hooked. I believe this was the only game he played for the rest of the cruise. Our Casino dealers were always enjoyable and fun to be around. I believe this day we sat with a Romanian woman; who at first had a stern and maybe even harsh demeanor, but proceeded to open up and tell jokes as we went.

After the casino, we decided it was lunch time. By this time, we had the choice of the deli, Guy’s burgers or room service. We both decided to give the deli a try since we had Guy’s the day before. I had a hot dog which was decent and MC had a Rueben sandwich, which he enjoyed. We also snagged some fries from Guy’s…they’re just too good to pass up.

The rest of the day was filled with more napping and debating on whether or not to ‘dress up’ for the Cruise Elegant night. We decided against it; neither of us felt like putting in the effort and we just wanted to wear our blue jeans to the Lido. Thinking back, I really wish we hadn’t… haha. The Lido tonight was a hard miss. In my opinion, this was the one meal on the ship that I just really didn’t enjoy. Tonight they had crab ravioli, eggplant parmesan, beef tenderloin and a couple of sides. The only thing I really enjoyed was a salad that I made at the salad station… the rest was luke warm and generally pretty bad. I understand that some really enjoy the elegant night… I just wish there was a better option for those not wanting to participate. We walked around some after dinner, looking at our options… tonight I think ‘Daddy’s Home’ was playing on the Dive-In movies. I walked over to see if it was something we’d want to watch… there was almost no open chairs… I’m guessing this is something you have to get to early. In addition, the screen was TERRIBLE. There were a number of pixel panels that were discolored and some that were just out completely. Let me say this… I’m not looking to nitpick, this was an AMAZING cruise. I do want to point out a couple of the areas that could be improved upon though. The Liberty’s overall condition is one of them. The ship is showing it’s age in areas and you can tell that it’s time for a drydock. I can imagine that once she comes out from drydock later this year… she will be absolutely gorgeous!!!

We decided to go to head over to the show that was playing in the main theatre. Tonight it was a show centered around different music and dancing from around the world. I believe it’s called “Wonderful World” or something along those lines. It wasn’t until after the show that I realized I had seen this a few years ago aboard the Conquest. All in all, it was a pretty good show. There were some slower numbers and some that had us grooving in our seat. The lead female vocalist on the Liberty is incredible; she has dynamic vocal range and such a fun presence on stage. The lead male, was good in places and not so great in places. I’ve heard people say some pretty nasty things about his performances… he’s not ‘that’ bad. After this, we headed over to the Punchliner Comedy Club to watch the 18+ adult comedy show from one of the comedians. I am a big fan of comedy on the ship… I truly hope this doesn’t change with Carnival, as it’s generally one of the highlights of my cruises. We thoroughly enjoyed the comedian this night, I can’t remember his name but when I post the funtimes, it’ll show it there.

I ended the night by going and ordering a BLT from room service and MC went back to the casino. I believe at this point he was up a couple hundred dollars and doing well at the game I had shown him.

Next up… Day 3: Cozumel & the best dang beach excursion that I ever did have!!!

[O2Cool]

Leaving on the Freedom in October and would like to hear more as this is our first time on this ship. Please!!!

[BallFour4]

We were with you. This was our 27th on Carnival.

Wonderful World was super, she did carry him with her voice. It was better than the version on the Triumph.

Muster was quicker than the Liberty or Magic this year, we had a nice breeze.

The captain was filling in for this one cruise. He was on the Triumph for a long time.

Frankie was one of the funniest cruise directors we've seen. We liked Mike on the Triumph and he's just as good.

The food and service at 6pm dining was very good. Still don't like the limited menu, but some things change.

The seas were perfect. Nachi Cocom wasn't crowded and the water felt great.

Holy Guacamole excursion in Progreso was really fun. We've done most all they offer there and will go back on this later this year.

Buffet food during the day has stepped up over the Triumph. The ahi tuna upstairs was way, way good.

We were in 1010 and worked out every day. The treadmills need belts replaced, but this was a nice gym.

I knocked a gal down photographing the yoga group that had no idea of what a jogging track is for. She backed right up as I got to her. You can't fix stupid. This group did handstands on the ventilation boxes by the rail. Help those who are not smart enough to help themselves Lord...

 

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Edited September 18, 2016 by BallFour4

[bkcoogler]

It’s time for our day in Cozumel and frankly, this is where I believe our cruise started to really turn from a good vacation to a great vacation. I’d been to Cozumel on three other occasions. The first two times, we went to paradise beach… the last time I was in Cozumel; my family booked a driver for the day and got to see various points of the island. Going into planning this vacation I was torn on what to do. At our heart, we really wanted a great beach day. A day to relax, drink, eat and enjoy some time in the ocean. Our roll call for this cruise was mostly quiet; however, when mentioning that we’d like a nice beach day, one of the members recommended Nachi Cocum. I did a little research and this seemed like just the place we were looking for. Each day, they only allow 100 guests into this little piece of paradise. For $55 per person, you got beach chairs, a palapa, unlimited drinks and a four course meal. I ended up booking this portion of our trip a couple weeks before we set sail. So did it live up to the expectation… let’s find out.

We woke up pretty early, as we wanted to be one of the first off the ship. A few weeks after booking this trip they had changed our itinerary to stop in Cozumel first, along with extending the time that we were in Cozumel to 9a to 6p (giving us an extra two hours); Carnival calls this sailing a ‘Cozumel Plus’ trip. So around 7:00 we woke up and immediately opened the curtains that led out to our balcony. We could barely see land ahead. It was a little cloudy, nothing major. Coming into this trip I was a little concerned with the weather; it’s peak time for hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and it’s honestly the risk you take this time of year. Sun was peeking through the clouds and near the island we could see the break in clouds… maybe this was going to be the perfect beach day at last. As soon as we saw the pilot, we knew it was time to get ready. We watched as the Liberty pulled into dock. The only other ship in port that we could see was an MSC ship down the way; possibly at the international pier? The ship was docked, the ropes were set and the gangway was out; it was time to head down to deck zero. Frankie, the cruise director hadn’t even called over the PA that it was time to head ashore… but the hallways were flooded with people ready to set foot onto Mexican soil. By the time we had headed time we got down to the mid ship stairwell, the crowd was backed up to deck 3 in the stairwell. The staff did an amazing job of controlling the crowd and stopping the line cutters. Within 20 minutes we were off the ship. Punta Maya is easily my favorite pier in Cozumel; it’s the easiest, clean and quickest pier in my opinion to navigate. By 9:30 we were in a cab, headed to Nachi Cocum. Our cab driver was very nice, his cab was clean and the trip took less than 15 minutes to get there. He explained to us that there was a hotel nearby that had a cab station and that when we were ready to leave, to let our server know and a cab would be there within 5 minutes. We pulled up and the gates to the beach were closed. I had read this may be the case; however, not to worry… as we pulled in, an employee was opening the gate and letting us in. The cab pulled down a short road that led to the beach club. The ride cost us $16 USD, I didn’t have an issue with that; we gave the drive a twenty and said our goodbyes.

As we walked up, a very nice lady greeted us and handed us a couple of sombreros for a picture opportunity. She took our photo and explained to us where to go and that they would take our reservation and the rest of our payment. As we walked into the thatched roof bar; everyone greeted us and asked for our paperwork. We handed them our printed receipt for our deposit and paid the remaining balance. Immediately, a very nice waiter handed us two glasses of champagne with strawberries and walked us to our beach chairs. This place was HEAVEN. We were one of the first guests to arrive, only a couple others were scattered about the beach at this point. The water was a beautiful ice blue, the sand was soft and white and there was barely a cloud in the sky. I’ve heard of various beaches where the Corona commercials are filmed and this beach looked just like it. Our waiter brought over a table and placed between our chairs and asked what we would like to drink. We both started out with a beer… I believe Corona (we couldn’t resist). There are enough chairs on the beach for all 100 guests (maximum capacity). However, we noticed that they were leaving room in between groups as they arrived. MC and I both were placed under a palapa and it seemed as if each of the guests were given the same. Perhaps today wouldn’t be a full capacity day; this was a strong possibility as there were only three ships in Cozumel today. Turns out, I was right; by the end of the day there were only 40-50 people who had booked this wonderful gem. At this time, I had decided to go for a swim. I’d finished the champagne and my bottle of Corono, I felt relaxed and now wanted to cool down as it was pretty warm out. The water was absolutely incredible and was probably in the 80-degree mark. The beach was easy to enter the water and you didn’t immediately drop off. I really liked how the water was sectioned off by water buoys; preventing the guests for swimming out too far or getting in the way of watercraft traffic (which was pretty minimal). The buoys were positioned about 50 yards out, which gave you plenty of room to swim and enjoy. Throughout the day I would swim further and further out, nearly to the end… I wouldn’t really recommend this area for snorkeling as it was mostly sandy bottom with very little sea-life to explore.

The rest of the day here at Nachi Cocum was filled with more alcohol, delicious food and an unplanned nap (from all the alcohol) haha! For an appetizer we had the nachos and guacamole, I had the verde enchiladas and MC had the grilled grouper for lunch. MC said the grouper was the best he had ever had; while my first plate of enchiladas had a rendezvous with the sand, my second plate was absolutely delicious. We skipped dessert and instead had a couple more rounds of margaritas; seriously though, if you ever make it to Nachi Cocom… have the margaritas, they really do pack a punch. We made some friends while we were here, they were from the Dallas area and we decided to catch a cab back to the ship with them so we could split the fare.

We got back to the pier area and decided to walk about, shopping and finding a gift for a co-worker that was nice enough to come and take care of our saltwater aquariums while we were away. I decided on a couple of bottles of Xicote taquilla to bring back, man this stuff is great; I bought a bottle for my co-worker and one for myself. The line to get back onboard was really quick and we made it back well before 5p. We watched the pier runners from our balcony then took a quick nap before dinner. Around 6:30 we decided to head over to the Golden dining room; we had chosen ‘your time dining’ so that we could remain flexible in the case we found something we wanted to do. We asked for a table for two and were sat right away.

Tonight for dinner, MC ordered the steak and I ordered the chile rellano. Both dishes were excellent; I may be in the minority here but I absolutely prefer the American Table menu and dining experience over the previous menu. I felt more at ease and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. The pitcher of water on the table and the basket of bread were nice touches AND no tablecloths which didn’t bother me a bit! Our servers were a team that couldn’t be beat!!! June, Annalynn and their team assistant were on point, friendly and a LOT of fun. We immediately knew that this crew was who we would like to dine for the rest of the cruise. If you sail on the Liberty and have ‘Your Time Dining’ in the Golden dining room… I seriously recommend that you ask to be sat in June’s section.

After dinner, MC and I went to the casino. We played, I lost more money and decided to head to the room. I was passed out sleeping by 8:30. I only opened one eye as MC came in around midnight to go to bed.

… I’ll try and get some pictures up tomorrow of our day in Cozumel.

[bkcoogler]

The seas were perfect. Nachi Cocom wasn't crowded and the water felt great.

 

Hey, I believe you were the one who recommended Nachi Cocum to us in the boards. Man it was great, thanks again!

[BallFour4]

Hey, I believe you were the one who recommended Nachi Cocum to us in the boards. Man it was great, thanks again!

 

 

I did. We love that place and are happy you did too.

Next up is the Conquest!

 

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[GarnerGirls]

Can't wait to hear about your day at Pregreso and your last sea day!