Liberty Thanksgiving Review -- LONG!

[babaloo41]

Liberty Thanksgiving Cruise Review -- this is long, so I'll break it into segments.

 

 

Pre-cruise 11/19 Packing – finally!

 

This is our first cruise and we’re all excited and just a bit nervous as we don’t really know what to expect. But, after weeks of reading these forums we think we’re ready and can’t wait to get started. Just a little of background about us. There are 4 of us (me (48), DW (49), DS (21) and DD (12) and this is going to be our 1st family vacation in 5 years.

We’re also celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, although the actual anniversary was in July.

 

The longest work week in the world finally ended and I’m grateful to have a full day to prepare for the trip. I used the morning hours to run errands (bank for emergency cash; post office to make sure that my bills would be paid that week), then started to pack in earnest. We tried to pack “Lewis and Clark” style (some of everybody’s stuff in each bag, so if one bag was lost we’d all still have something to wear) but that really wasn’t working out. Eventually, each child packed their clothes in small upright bags, and my wife and I shared a larger upright bag. We all also set aside a change of clothes (including swimsuits) to add to a carry-on bag.

 

Along the way, we realized that we would need to add a 4th large bag for our extra shoes and miscellaneous odds and ends. The two large bags seemed heavy, but I weighed both of them on our bathroom scale and both came in under 50 pounds. Once the packing was completed, my wife and daughter left to have their nails done, and I watched the end of the OSU/Michigan game. Go Bucks!

[babaloo41]

Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale was scheduled to depart at 654am so we hauled our buns out of bed in the wee hours of the morning. We hadn’t flown since the new security measures had gone into effect and we were leaving our car in long term parking so we left plenty early. Amazingly, traffic was light (non-existent), curbside check-in went smoothly, and other than spilling coffee on my white golf shirt, the wait for take-off was uneventful. Thankfully, the weather had remained warm so we were able to leave our jackets at home.

 

The flight took off and landed on time and was mostly smooth, although we did run into some turbulence near the end of the flight. Upon approach to FLL my daughter was the first to spot the ship’s funnel. We arrived at the cruise ship terminal by taxi in the midst of debarkation. Our cab driver was unable to drive into the circle in the front of the terminal and we were instead discharged on the side of the building. This was where we had our first sour note experience.:(

 

We couldn’t find a porter, so we carried our baggage ourselves to the front of the terminal. It was very confusing, especially for first-time cruisers. There is no signage to direct you, and it was difficult to locate any Carnival personnel. As I said, the ship was still in the process of debarkation AND there was a wedding party trying to check-in, but we managed to find the entrance to the building. Once inside, a security officer told us that large bags needed to be checked-in outside, so I took my big bag and my garment bag back outside. My family, however, didn’t follow me and after waiting for a few minutes called my wife’s cell phone. Apparently right after we were told to take the large bags outside, another security officer told everyone to keep the line moving and my family proceeded thru the security check-in. It appears that we may have invented the self-assist embarkation.

 

I was able to off-load my baggage and after a short wait in line, proceed thru security and catch up with my family. The line to check in with Carnival was short and moved fairly quickly. Total time in chaos? About 30 minutes. I had read about previous debarkation fiascos and I knew that our arrival would put us in the middle of that so I was somewhat prepared mentally for what we encountered. Still, some friendly guidance would have gone a long way towards making a better first impression.

 

After we received our sail and sign cards, we found seats and waited until it was time to board. The wait was about an hour, and then it was up the gangway and onto the ship. Maybe I’ve seen too many episodes of Love Boat, but, again, I did expect something once we were on board. A smiling face, a “welcome aboard”, directions to our cabin, directions to the elevators, maybe? Luckily that was the end of our bad 1st impression of Carnival. We did find our staterooms (Verandah 8317 & 8321) ready for us and we were enjoying lunch on the Lido deck by 130pm.

[babaloo41]

After a leisurely lunch, DW took off to get some sun and I went exploring to get familiar with the layout of the ship. Our roll call had scheduled a meet and greet for 3pm in the lounge aft near the pizzeria. I didn’t get there until almost 330 and some folks had already left, but several hadn’t arrived yet. That’s when I found out that embarkation was bad for everybody and that I may have had the easiest time getting aboard. It was fun meeting everybody and putting faces and names to screen handles. The party broke up just after 4pm which was supposed to be our departure time. I knew that embarkation must still be a problem because we hadn’t even had our muster drill yet.

 

Muster drill was called around 430pm and it was every bit as claustrophobic as I’d been lead to believe it would be. In spite of the announcements, several people still managed to bring a cocktail with them to deck 4. The ship’s crew very politely relieved them of their beverages. The drill only lasted 15 minutes and it was time for the sailaway party, with a beautiful sunset for background. We posed for a couple of pictures, bought a Drink of the Day, and waved to some people ashore as we left port.

 

The rest of our luggage had arrived during the sail away, and we faced another minor disaster. A container of foot powder had exploded during transit and coated everything inside the bag with powder. It was my fault entirely as I had neglected to seal the powder in a Ziploc bag before packing it. Luckily, there were no clothes in the bag, just our extra shoes, our toiletries, and some odds and ends. We worked a little at cleaning up, and decided that we needed some help from housekeeping. DW called and explained what had happened and asked for some extra washcloths and maybe a vacuum to suck up the dust. She tried to tell them that it was our mess to clean up, but they told her that we were on vacation and that the room steward would take care of it. We left a note apologizing for the extra work and a $10 gratuity in appreciation.

 

Next was dinner in the Golden Olympian Dining room. We were a few minutes late for our sitting and weren’t really sure where our table was. A friendly member of the wait staff helped us find our table for 4 and we met Moro, our waiter, from Croatia and Gavin, his assistant, from South Africa. Both were very efficient and provided excellent guidance and service throughout the cruise.

 

The meal was delicious. DD is 12 and was offered the children’s menu as well as the regular menu. She decided after looking at the kid’s menu that she would prefer to order from the adult one. For the rest of the cruise she received the same menu as the rest of us. Three of us ordered steak, and DD had the chicken. Afterwards, DW and I had coffee and the four of us shared the deserts that we ordered. (One minor down note. This might have been because we were late, but we were never offered to order anything from the bar that 1st night. Wife and I weren’t going to order anything anyway, but the kids had soda cards and might have wanted a soft drink. Not a big issue and if we’d really have wanted something we would have let somebody know, but it did seem strange that opportunity to sell something was overlooked.

 

After dinner we explored the ship some more before the ladies headed off to the Camp Carnival orientation meeting. I went back to the stateroom and found that some of the foot powder mess had been cleaned, but a lot wasn’t (especially on the shoes my son and I would need for formal night). I wasn’t happy but I went ahead and cleaned up the rest of the mess myself without too much complaint; after all, it was my fault to begin with. I was beginning to have some concerns about our room steward. Fortunately, there were no further service lapses.

 

My wife and I went to the Welcome Aboard show and I’m sure that I enjoyed the show, but I really don’t remember any of the details. The cruise director is Brent Mitchell and he’s from Canada. The only thing that I recall thinking was that his patter seemed scripted and rehearsed. And that was true of all the social hosts. I’m not sure if there was one spontaneous moment in the entire week.

[Coolcruise02]

Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt your review, but we were docked next to you on the Celebrity Century at Fort Lauderdale. We are considering taking the Liberty on the southern itinerary. Can't wait for the rest of your review.

[polsons]

Great Start!!! Please keep it going...

 

Thanks,

Jen

[serene56]

Im as patient as the next cruiser...

[wpd805]

Man has he got me hangin on every word or what...you are doing an excellent job with this review..i cant wait to hear more....

[babaloo41]

Our first port was Freeport and we were already docked when I woke up at 7am. DW was still sleeping, so I got quietly dressed and went topside for some coffee. CNN Headline News was being shown on the big screen, so I watched a little news and enjoyed the tropical breezes. By the time the rest of my family was awake and dressed we had missed the open seating in the dining room for breakfast. So we went back to the Lido and encountered massive lines for the hot breakfast items. The kids were able to snag bowls of cereal and since that was my preference anyway, I got 2 or 3 pastries, along with juice. DW likes a hot meal and had to wait in line for ½ an hour for eggs, bacon and sausages (she brought back extra for the rest of us). Needless to say, this, on top of the other annoyances we had experienced, was starting to push the pleasure meter over to the negative review side.

 

We didn’t really have anything planned, so we weren’t in a hurry to leave the ship. The port is located in an industrial area, but there is an attractive straw market as soon as you leave the ship. We looked around there briefly and didn’t see anything that we really wanted to purchase. Mostly it was T-shirts, baseball caps, straw hats and purses. There was a liquor store also, but the prices were the same as back home, so I passed on that as well.

 

We knew from reading these forums that the only thing we wanted to do was score some beach time, so we found a cab driver and after he filled the minivan with 2 other groups, we took off (on the “wrong” side of the road!) for the Port Lucaya Marketplace. My family isn’t accustomed to riding in cabs although I’ve had some experience. (The cabbies in Chicago tell me that the lines on the road are put there mainly for the tourists.)

It made for quite a thrill ride, but we arrived in one piece ($5pp and about 15 minutes travel time). The ship was scheduled to depart at 3pm and we arranged to have our driver return at 145pm which would give us plenty of cushion should we run into traffic.

 

Port Lucaya Marketplace is clean and well-kept. There wasn’t much variety in the shops. Pretty much everybody had the same types of merchandise – watches, jewelry, perfume. There was a Harley-Davidson store, a Nautica shop and several bar/restaurants. Most of them weren’t open while we were there. It reminded me mostly of the Disney Marketplace at WDW in Orlando. Across the street is the Westin/Sheraton complex and access to the beach. There were some more high-end jewelry shops that I didn’t go into and the Isle of Capri Casino, which I did. DD and DW made their way to the beach, while DS and I played a small amount of Video poker. Either the machines there were as tight as on the ship, or I just have bad luck. Couldn’t make a decent hand all day.

 

At the appointed hour, we looked for our cab driver but a security officer had us get into the 1st cab in the queue. He turned out to be a much safer driver and got us back to the pier in plenty of time. For lunch we decided to try the pizza in the Tivoli lounge. It was delicious. DD had found a group of girls her age and they had made arrangements to meet for a “cool down” drink after the ship sailed. We were supposed to leave port at 3pm but were still at the pier at 4pm waiting for some passengers to return. I kept my ears open but never did hear why they were so delayed. It didn’t matter to us since the next day was a “Fun Day at Sea.”

 

We finally did leave port and I watched our sail away and took some pictures from the Panorama deck before getting ready for dinner and the Captain’s Welcome Aboard party. The party was in more than one lounge and we went to the largest one, the Victorian Lounge. Didn’t get to meet any of the ship’s officers, but that didn’t matter as long as we were able to get free cocktails. Even my son had a drink or two – after having to prove to each waiter that he was of age. At first they tried to serve him fruit punch, but my wife pointed out that he had just turned 21 and should have an adult beverage. The hors d’oeuvres were so-so (chicken nuggets, meatballs, mini veggie pizzas, and crab pastry) but we were offered something several times.

 

We had Prime Rib and lobster for dinner and it was excellent. The photographer came around and took our pictures. Dessert choices were all good. Afterwards, we walked around and looked at all the photo stations, but decided to wait to pose for pictures on Thanksgiving. DD had disco plans with her friends and DS opted to watch Monday Night Football on the big screen, so it was just my wife and myself attending the Main Show “Wonderful World”. We went back to our cabin to change into more comfortable clothes and found that the beds had been turned down and we saw our first towel animal. Up until that time we had been ticking things off mainly in the negative column…and I just want say right now that the towel animal would never have been the deal breaker, but from that point forward, with one notable exception, we had nothing but positives to report.

 

The show is billed as a “Las Vegas” style show, but really it’s more like the shows you’ll see at a theme park. That said, it was a very good show. Very high energy, numerous costume changes, excellent staging and lighting, and a rousing patriotic finish. The midnight show was supposed to be a comedian, however the guy never made the ship and the show was cancelled.

[babaloo41]

I woke up around 7am and the ship was moving. No, I mean really moving. :eek: Up, down, all around. The walls were creaking. I’m in an inside cabin and while I’m not feeling ill, this is the first time I’ve noticed motion on the ship. And it’s a lot of motion. My wife wakes up and tells me that the movement started around 5am and that she was so convinced that the ship shouldn’t be moving this much she got dressed and went to the lobby. She didn’t find anybody else awake, so she came back to bed. I went to the Lido deck for a cup of coffee, and discovered that the advice was right. Seeing the horizon made the movement easier to take.

 

Later someone told us that the waves were 12-15 feet and I know that the winds were in excess of 50km/hr. Maybe it was because of the motion or maybe people had settled into a routine, but the buffet lines were much shorter this day (and actually for the rest of the cruise.)

 

Not really much to report as this was a pretty laid back day. Played some trivia, watched some shows. Somewhere in the afternoon the seas calmed down. We ate another delicious dinner in the dining room. I had the Jerked Pork Loin, my wife had the Veal Parmigiana, and the kids had the Roast Chicken. Later we watched some of the show with the Fiddle player. He was good, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. After that we watched some karaoke.

[bsdmhutch]

I see you are from Edwardsville - Hubby grew up in the Bethalto area (actually Moro) and graduated from SIU-E. Family all lives there and in Mt. Vernon.

[serene56]

What time was open seating for breakfast that first day that you missed it?

[Stillfloatin']

Great review, keep em coming!:D

[babaloo41]

Once again I was the 1st one of our group to wake up and as usual, I slipped upstairs to watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee. The rest of the family would have to get up sooner anyway since we had booked a Stingray and Snorkel excursion with Nativeway that was supposed to begin at 9am. As we were getting ready, it was announced that due to rough seas we weren’t able to anchor in the usual place and instead we were anchored in Spots Bay. They also announced that several of the ship’s sponsored snorkel tours had been cancelled due to rough water.

 

Knowing all that and unsure if Nativeway would still be able to take us on our excursion, we took our time getting ready and didn’t get on a tender until after 9am. As we were tendering in, my daughter was bumming :( because she thought we’d missed our opportunity to swim with the stingrays. That was the thing she wanted most to do, and even my corny jokes about pirate ships we could see couldn’t bring her out of her funk. Happily, as we walked off the pier we spotted one of the Nativeway guides and found out that our excursion would go on as planned. Well, sort of. There was some confusion as to which tour I had booked, but Sharon was great and made it right for us.

 

Our guides for the Rays, Reef and Rum tour were Everton and Sheldon, and the videographer was Nicoletta. They were great and all 20 of us on the tour had a wonderful time. Stingray City was incredible. Our guides made sure that everyone in the group had plenty of quality of time with the rays. Everyone in the family kissed a ray and I think I was able to get some awesome photos (the film is still in the camera). Next we were taken to the reef for some snorkeling. The water was still a little choppy and I never quite got the hang of it, but my son did and he got to see an eel and a nurse shark. After that, we were taken to Rum Point for lunch and some beach time.

 

Rum Point is beautiful, not crowded and very relaxing. We were able to lie on beach chairs and admire the incredible blue water. Unfortunately it was over too soon and we were on our way back to the tender station. We had been told before leaving the ship that the last tender would depart at 415, and although there was a bit of traffic we got there in what have been plenty of time. And that’s when we ran into the only other major headache of the trip.

 

Apparently everybody from the 3 ships at anchor had decided to wait until the last tender because there were literally thousands of people in line. And most of them were unhappy. VERY UNHAPPY. I’m not really sure who should get the blame. I know Carnival can’t control the weather and they have to anchor where it’s safe. I understand that the tenders are operated by the port authority and that they have a finite space. The seas were rough and we could see that the tenders were having a hard time tying off onto the ships and that added to the delays. I fully understand that Grand Cayman is a fun port and you want to maximize your time there. But there was an appalling lack of communication. It would have been so easy for someone from Carnival (or Princess, or Cayman Islands) to calm the crowd and explain that everybody would get aboard. The boat was obviously not going to sail with half its passengers waiting on shore. If some one could have explained what process was going to be used that would have helped (there were two different lines, one for Carnival and one for Princess, and it looked for a while as if both tenders were working for only one ship.)

 

Anyhow, it took us an hour and a half to get back on board and there were still several boat loads waiting. Because of the delay, we skipped dinner in the dining and room and ate from the buffet. The line, surprisingly, was short, but there was a small wait when some of the hot dishes ran out and had to be resupplied. I heard a couple of people ahead of me complain that when they had sailed on Disney that they had never run out of food. Well, I’ve never sailed on Disney so I can’t comment, but total time from tray to fresh serving was about 5 minutes.

 

After dinner we watched Game Show Mania in the Venetian Palace and skipped the Guest Talent Show in favor of karaoke and an early bed time. One last thing. Even though we were only one deck below the Lido deck, noise had never been a problem. Our cabins were about halfway between the Atrium elevators and the elevators aft and the guests in the hallway had been very well behaved. But this night there was Deck Party that began at midnight and we were awakened by what sounded like an army marching through the ship. Turns out that they were dancing to “Cha-cha Slide” up above us. “Slide to the left. Slide to the right. Right foot, right stomp. Left foot, left stomp. Now hop 5 times.” Once I recognized what it was, I was able to go right back to sleep.

 

One final bummer. Because the ship anchored at Spots Bay and we had the full day excursion with Nativeway, we didn’t get to do any shopping in Georgetown. And because of the tender situation, the rum cakes destined for the ship’s stores never made it on board. So, I wasn’t able to sample and buy any rum cakes. Oh well, that just gives me something to look forward to on my next trip. (I did see rum cakes for sale in the gift shops at Ft. Lauderdale airport, but at that point I wasn’t in the mood and didn’t really have any space for more cargo.)

[babaloo41]

What time was open seating for breakfast that first day that you missed it?

 

I'll have to double check my Capers, but I believe that it was 630-830 in the Silver Olympian. The times were different every day, but the line was only bad the 1st morning. My wife thinks maybe they did that on purpose to lower everyone's expectations. ;)

[babaloo41]

I see you are from Edwardsville - Hubby grew up in the Bethalto area (actually Moro) and graduated from SIU-E. Family all lives there and in Mt. Vernon.

 

Cool. My son is attending SIUE.

[babaloo41]

The ship was late arriving to Costa Maya according to the captain due to rough seas. The rough part was news to me as we had had a peaceful night. We were given an extra hour in port to make up for the late arrival. Given what it is, which is strictly a resort area built for cruise ship passengers to enjoy a day ashore and the chance to part with some hard currency, I found Costa Maya very pleasant. The pier is long, but there is a shuttle that runs the length of it. The shops are clean and well-kept, and had a good variety of merchandise. The vendors can seem aggressive and none of the prices are set in stone, but nobody forced me to buy anything.

 

The beach area was clean and seemed to have plenty of room for anyone who wanted to use it. The approach to the water was very rocky, but I did see several people snorkeling, and in the distance I could see someone para-sailing. There is a salt-water pool with a swim up bar that I didn’t use. Several members of the ship’s complement came ashore as well. We saw our assistant waiter and at least one of the social hosts. Drink prices are resort-level high. I paid $3.50 for a bottle of Dos XX. We had a tasty lunch of nachos, quesadillas and grilled chicken. Afterward we did some shopping; I bought a bottle of Kaulua and DW bought some vanilla to give as gifts. I went back to the ship and the ladies stayed ashore to finish shopping and get some more sun.

 

HIGHLIGHT of the day! I got back on board just in time for the afternoon trivia quiz and with the help of my son :eek:WE WON:eek:. We each received our own ship-on-a-stick.:D It was the first thing the ladies noticed when they came back aboard.

 

The day being Thanksgiving, dinner was described as “formal optional”. Still, we dressed up and had our pictures taken at several of the stations. It looked as though most of the ship had decided to follow suit; there were very few in casual and I don’t recall seeing anybody not dressed up in our dining room. The entrée of choice for all of us was the Turkey (what can I say, we’re traditionalists), but also on the menu was one of the new chef’s creations – Osso bucco, braised veal with stewed tomatoes. I ordered that also just for a taste. It was OK, but a little too rich for my taste. My three tablemates ordered pumpkin pie for dessert and I ordered the Flourless Chocolate Cake, mainly because I’m a choco-holic. It was also very rich, but also very tasty.

 

The show this evening was “Rock Down Broadway” and it was just as high energy as the other show. We got there late and had to sit near the back of the room. There are some poles that will obstruct your view of the stage. Also, we were never able to get the attention of a bar waitress to order drinks. Still, the show was great. I didn’t know which shows some of the numbers were from, but they were all well executed. Ladies should enjoy the “Full Monty” number. Afterwards we watched some karaoke and got ready for our final day at sea.

 

One more thing – there was a time change sailing into Costa Maya. Our Capers reminded to set our clocks back an hour for the day and to set them forward the following day.

[babaloo41]

This was pretty much a laid-back day. The ride was much smoother and the winds were calmer than the last time the ship had crossed these waters. Reality began to set in. The cruise was coming to an end. The Bingo session (prize: 7 day cruise) before the debarkation talk was well attended and my son bought a ticket. He was 1 number away from winning and Brent had started to call one of the B #’s when someone else called Bingo. Darn the Luck!

 

There was no mention of the self-assist option for debarking and we were told that those with early flights would be the first to be called. You would have to present proof of an early flight (before noon for FLL, before 2pm for MIA) to the purser’s desk to get an early flight luggage tag.

 

Filet Mignon was on the menu for dinner but for reasons that I attribute to Cruise Withdrawal Syndrome we passed and ate from the buffet on the Lido deck instead. The show was a pair of comedic jugglers who called themselves “The Village Idiots”. The show was pretty funny. They claimed that they had arrived on board without props and costumes due to the airline losing their luggage. They were able to make do with items from the galley.

 

Debarkation the next day couldn’t have been smoother for us. We reported to the Venetian Palace promptly at 845, just in time to be turned around and led off the ship. The lines for customs were very short and we were able to find our bags without much trouble. We were in a cab and on our way to the airport by 915.

[lbfluffy]

Thank you for the awesome review. We leave next Saturday. Can't wait.

[airhead22]

Don't be bummed by missing the shopping in Cayman. I am a big shopper and the only thing I bought there was a Hard Rock t-shirt. Costa Maya was much better!!

[lahoban]

Babaloo41 your description of the 12-15 foot swell's really brings back alot of memories. We had 15' swell's last April and the ship was rocking. What a night we had. Great review, I can't wait to sail the Liberty.

[NCStateCruiseLover]

Great review!! Thank you for all the details, and sounds like you had a really good time. Did you have early or late dinner? Do you still have your Capers? If so are you going to post them online somewhere?

 

Can't wait for my Liberty Cruise in March!!!

[drewd]

Great review/journal Babaloo. Thanks so much for all of the info. Made me almost feel like I was there myself. :)

 

Thx,

Drew

[cathyoo]

Great job Babaloo. One of the best reviews I've read. Very balanced. By the end of the cruise where was your pleasure meter? Will you cruise again and more importantly would you sail on the Liberty (port issues aside). Thanks again for the excellent review.

[iluvdoxies]

Thanks for the review---who was the piano player in the piano bar? Any good?

 

Thanks....

[MariaCallas]

Quote: "And because of the tender situation, the rum cakes destined for the ship’s stores never made it on board. "

 

So THAT's what happened to them! I was going to buy a couple. I also saw them at the Ft Lauderdale airport, but they were very expensive there. I wonder how much Carnival would have sold them for? Anyway, I LOVE the Tortuga rum cakes (Just the plain kind).