Liberty Thanksgiving Review -- LONG!

[MariaCallas]

Babaloo, That you for the detailed and entertaining review. I agree with so many things you wrote.

[parisrome]

Great review. Do you happen to remember who the captain was? Curious if he is the one that did the summer Med cruises. If so, I wonder how long they work before they get their "break". Hope to do this ship next year.

[mosel]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the tenderdock around 2:30 and it was a madhouse already,we got on a tender back to the Liberty around 4:30.

[Terpnut]

Great review. Do you happen to remember who the captain was? Curious if he is the one that did the summer Med cruises. If so, I wonder how long they work before they get their "break". Hope to do this ship next year.

The captain is Marco Nogara.

[Terpnut]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the tenderdock around 2:30 and it was a madhouse already,we got on a tender back to the Liberty around 4:30.

Yes, you were probably actually better off waiting for the very last tenders because all the early to mid-afternoon people took 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get back to the ship.

[BellaOnline]

So does the Liberty normally tender in Grand Cayman or was this only because of the rough seas?

[serene56]

ALL ships tender in grand Cayman.

The dock is ALWAYS crowded the last hour before you gotta be onboard. No shade and can be very hot.

[LSauls7537]

THANK you so much for the review. We leave next Sat and we're so looking forward to it. Debarkation is our least favorite part of the cruise, looking forward to the type you had.

 

Linda

[mlbcruiser]

babaloo41, we'll be on the Liberty in March. (Different itinerary, though.) I loved reading your review. (We live in St. Louis, so are also close to you!) We have always carried our own purchases back onboard w/us because I guess we never purchased any large amounts of anything. In 20 cruises, I never once even thought of the possibility of your situation in regard to not getting the things you purchased delivered. Though many times the tenders were full and/or running late, etc. If you spent very much on your rum cakes, I wonder if there is any way Carnival could help you contact the Tortola rumcake store where you purchased them? Surely they know they were unable to deliver them to you and there must be some sort of record of the purchase/non-delivery (?) at the store. Perhaps you could get a refund or at least a credit to order some by mail. I know the cruiselines will sometimes go to bat for you if you have shopped at a store they recommend. Another comment I want to make is on most mainstream, popular cruise lines they stopped showing you to your cabin years ago (along w/a few other perks and practices). We started crusing on 3 day cruises (lived in FL at the time) in the early 70's during the 1st yr. we were married, w/a couple of 4 day ones sprinkled in during the 80's, but most of our crusing has been done in the past 12 years or so. I have noticed MANY, MANY things in various categories have changed and have been downgraded over the years. Of course, some good things have been added, but cruising is no longer the upscale (yes, even in the inside cabins, you USED to get that feeling!) experience it was even 12 yrs. ago! There is just no way to make it like that anymore w/the number of passengers now cruising - esp. when WE usually go (spring break!). Cruising is SO popular now that the lines also realize people will pay for things that used to be free and there is no end now to the number of things that we get nickle and dimed for. (Though the costs have gone up for the lines themselves, they have gone up for us, too!) And even in the embarkation process, you used to be led by the nose and now when "newbies" arrive to the mess of humanity all clamoring to get on at once it's, well, sometimes the overwhelmingly exciting experience turns into one of frustration and confusion due to so many people and the lack of customer service by the lines sometimes. You will learn as you go. And I always say, I've never met a cruise I didn't like, even when maybe things weren't as good as I had hoped. May you get to go on many more cruises and thanks again for sharing your experience.:)

[meziggy]

We leave on the Liberty 12-18-05 and I CAN'T WAIT and after reading your review I am even more anxious and excited. This will be our 13th cruise, my DW and I, and I am as excited now as i was back then in 1988 when we started.

Thanks for shedding some light on the Liberty Experience!!!

 

 

take care,

meziggy

"Cruising Life is Grand,

or more than a grand if you have a lousy travel agent;-)"

 

Song of America 11/88

Song of America 11/89

Azure Seas 02/92

Imagination 08/00

Paradise 08/01

Monarch of the Seas 07/02

The S/S Norway 02/03

Imagination 07/03

Triumph 11/03

Navigator of the Seas 04/04

Norwegian Sun 01/05

Carnival Spirit 07/05

Carnival Liberty 12/05

[Terpnut]

ALL ships tender in grand Cayman.

The dock is ALWAYS crowded the last hour before you gotta be onboard. No shade and can be very hot.

Normally ships tender at GeorgeTown, but in our case, we were forced to tender at Spots Bay to the south due to rough seas to the north. Tendering at Spots Bay means you come ashore in even worse conditions--small bathroom, small fenced in gravel area to wait and tiny pier.

[babsinpbg]

Hey there...great review. And I think I still owe you a drink, don't I. Agree with a lot of your points. I stayed on the ship in the Caymans with my Dad as I had been there before, but the others in my party had a really hard time with the crowd getting back. A fist fight apparently broke out right next to my daughter's friends, and they decided to get out of line and sit on the sidelines for 1 1/2 hours until the crowd lessened. Glad I missed that! It was overall a good time thought wasn't it? And it was fun knowing all of the cruise critic crowd was on board even if we didn't get together as much as we would have liked.

 

Until next time......

[dee300]

Hi there. Thank you for the great review. I was wondering if you could tell me how formal the formal nights are. Should my husband rent a tuxedo or would a suit be just fine. Do all the women wear long gowns or will a dressy dress suffice? Also, on the regular nights are slacks and a nice top appropriate or does everyone really dress to the nines. Thanks in advance

[flannbarr]

Most people wore suits and not tuxedos. Most women did not wear gowns but rather nice dresses. Pants for women on non-formal nights are appropriate.

[mosel]

Myself,my sons,and father-in-law all have tuxes..and always wear them on the formal nights. The cost is less then that of buying a new suit and we get lots of milage out of them.

[dee300]

Thank you both for your reply. I was concerned because I am a stay at home mom and dont really have the need for a formal gown. I have some nice dresses and my husband a very nice suit so I think I will be ok.

[babaloo41]

I wore a dark suit and tie, my son got by with just shirt and tie and the ladies in our party wore dresses. The same kind of attire that you'd wear to a wedding. On our sailing there was a good mix of both formal (tux and gown) and suits and dresses. The 2nd formal night was billed as formal optional, but I didn't see any difference in the two nights.

 

Have fun.