A Horse of a Different Color! From Fantasy to the Big Ship!

[cuppettmd]

I have been on eleven Carnival cruises, but all were on Fantasy Class ships.I booked the Valor just to try something different. We were switched to the Liberty because of propulsion problems. This caused some concerns as we had aft cabins and I was worried about vibration and noise. There was no need to worry as the cabins were GREAT! More on the cabins later.

We live four hours away from Port Canaveral and have never sailed from there. I booked a motel room thru TripAdvisor for the day before our sail date. It was the Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center in Titusville. I booked it because it had parking vouchers for 40% off of the $20 per day charge at the port. I was informed by the desk clerk that Port Canaveral was no longer going to issue these, so I got there just in time. The motel was about twenty miles from the port and was very good for the price. The room was nice. It had a fridge, coffee maker, flat screen TV and was clean. They also had a free breakfast included, which was pretty good. I feel that I got a Great deal booking thru TA.

On to the port! Sunday the wind was howling! When we arrived and first saw the ship, I remember thinking how much larger it looked that the Fantasy class ones.It's only one hundred feet longer, but it sure looked much bigger. I dropped off my DW and SIL and went to park. Used my voucher, saved that money, and was soon it the terminal. Port Canaveral has got their Stuff Together! Very easy embarkation! We went straight to Lido for my first Guy's Burger. It was just as good as I'd heard! This was the first of many, and now will be a factor in determining future cruises.(how Pitiful is that?) The Liberty is a Beautiful ship! The color scheme is really gorgeous. The lay-out, not so much. When our cabins were ready, we went to check them out. We had 2470 and 2462, the odd shaped cabins at the back of the ship. Talk about some Great Cabins! Mine and DW's which was 2470 was twice the size of what we were used to. It had two windows, an interactive TV, a minifridge and three full closets. My Wife absolutely Loved This Room! The SIL had cabin 2462. This was an "L Shaped" cabin. It also had two windows and all the other amenities that our cabin had.

The first, I guess you would call it a disappointment, was our room steward. It wasn't really the steward himself, but more the cutbacks from the company. We weren't asked about the service times, they just serviced the room early in the day. No turn-down service. Our next day Fun-Times were left in our mailbox by the door. It was strange getting our towel critters in the morning! I had tipped him well the first night but he looked surprised when I asked for ice. I guess that since I had a fridge, I didn't get ice. I also had to go to customer service to get our pins. This was no big deal except that the lines, for the first two days, were ridiculous!

After hearing about how bad the food was on the Liberty and with the "American Table", I was a little apprehensive about dinner. I can truthfully say that I didn't have a single thing that was a disappointment! I tried lots of new things and they were all very Good! I really enjoyed the "Port Selections". We had any time dining and never had to wait to be seated. We even requested our same wait staff every night! Rizal, (Over Easy) and his team took Great Care of us the whole trip.

I would like to commend all of the crew of the Liberty for the Great Service and Great Attitude that we received on this trip! The Captain did a very good job of thinking about the passengers comfort and safety. First He changed the itinerary because of weather concerns. It was forecast to be raining and have 30 mph winds for Freeport, so we had a "Sea Day" the first day. You could tell that the Captain was dodging the bad weather to keep us comfortable! Thank You For That!

The Liberty has the Vegas style shows. I really enjoyed the first one, "Wonderful World" it had music from all around the world. The second one, "Just Rock" was good but I liked the first better. The theater is three levels and is beautiful as is all of the ship.

The debarkation was flawless! We were on the road by 9:00 am headed home!

My reflections on this cruise are; Port Canaveral is a great port to sail from. It's too bad that they are going to stop the parking voucher program as this was a good incentive to stay in an area motel. Embarkation and debarkation is the smoothest I've seen. The liberty is a Beautiful ship. It has a very friendly staff and crew and the food is very good. Guy's burgers and the Blue Iguana burritos are a BIG plus. Our cabins were the best I've seen with no vibration except for the docking thrusters. The lay-out of the ship is "A horse of a different color" I didn't particularly care for it! It seems like the passengers are all to concentrated in certain areas. I guess I'm just partial to the smaller ships. I love the location of our cabins as we could take the elevators straight up to the Lido. Over all we Loved the Liberty and we really enjoyed this cruise! Be Blessed! Mikey:)

[Shaded Lady]

Thanks for the review- so happy to hear positive feedback on a cruise!

 

I'm really excited about trying Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana on our cruise in Sept!

[chriscec2012]

If you choose to sail out of Canaveral again check out the park and cruise packages. We stayed recently at the country inn and suites and took their shuttle to the port and just grabbed a taxi when we arrive back. We have always had great luck doing that and I think it saves a decent amount compared to parking at the port.

[easyboy]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Liberty. Thanks for the feedback.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[jimbo5544]

Interesting perspective, thanks for the review.

 

 

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[suzycruiser2]

I can relate. We normally sail on Fantasy class ships and went on the Dream a few years ago. We had one of the walkway view cabins in the front of the ship. Due to back injuries/surgeries, both my husband and I have some mobility and walking issues. That is a really long ship to go from our cabin in the front to the Lido buffet or from a show to the comedy club. We decided then we would mostly stick with the smaller ships. As an FYI, the Fantasy has Guy's Burgers (they ARE awesome) and the Blue Iguana Cantina.

[sandyfl08]

Thanks for your review. Our experience was similar to yours, having only sailed the Fantasy class ships before boarding the Valor last year. We enjoy the shorter cruises and after visiting the Bahamas numerous times now use the ship as a destination. Looking forward to exploring the Liberty!

[elainmir]

Actually the Fantasy and the Paradise are two of my favorite smaller ships, the Liberty and the Glory are the two biggest ships we've been on. We leave again in June for a short 4 day cruise but any little getaway is better than none.

[msmith198025]

The biggest carnival ship I have been on is fantasy class, and just booked the Liberty for the Christmas cruise as part of a holiday get away.

 

So thanks for the post, good info.

 

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[bury me at sea]

Thanks for your thoughtful review. Glad you enjoyed the ship. I would have shared your disappointment with not being offered twice a day cabin service.