Haven't sailed on a Carnival Ship in 7 years - Liberty or Victory for a 3-day cruise?

[kculater]

Hello everyone :),

It has been a long time since I booked a cruise on Carnival. I have only been on three Carnival Cruises: Valor in 2011, Triumph in 2001, and Fantasy in 1996. The rest of my cruises have been on Royal Caribbean. I have a long weekend in November and I'm thinking about booking the 3-day Bahamas cruise. Which ship would you recommend Liberty or Victory and why? How are the balcony rooms? What do I need to know as I haven't sailed on a Carnival ship in 7 years? I know this would be an adjustment for me as my cruises are typically 7-days and my last 2 cruises have been on Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas. Any information is greatly appreciated.

[Lhound92]

Both liberty and victory have same amenities, liberty is just bigger

 

I would go by which is cheaper/ easier to get to for you

 

 

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[jasong38501]

I went on the three day out of Port Canaveral when Valor was doing it and had a great trip. The Liberty is very very similar to the Valor so I'm sure it would be a similar experience. I was driving to the port and Port Canaveral is very easy to get to and I had no issues with traffic or anything like that. If you are flying that could be a difference. Based on my experience I would pick Liberty but if Miami is easier for you then I'm sure you will have a great time on Victory too.

[Garth2]

For a 3 day cruise I don't think it really matters which ship in the fleet that you choose. You're not going to be there very long, but you should expect a lot of bachelor/bachelorette parties & a lot of young partiers.

[Tjcalley]

We are going on the Liberty in September for a bachelorette party but we are old I’ll let you know how it goes !

[PhillyFan33579]

I would go with Liberty. Conquest class ships are one of the best in my opinion and it has a few things Victory doesn’t have like the Steakhouse. Having said that, you can’t go wrong with either ship. I have sailed on both of them several times and had a great cruise every time.

[riclop]

Not the Victory.

[Joebucks]

They are both great ships. The Liberty is bit bigger. The Victory had a better Serenity area.

[MickCruiser]

Not the Victory.

 

Do tell?

 

It was just refurbished in Feb of this year, I believe. They both have the stadium seating lido decks. We sailed pre-refurb and they still had the old-school shows with live musicians. I presume that's been changed after the refurb. Enjoy either way!!

[Towel Critter]

Really not a huge difference between the two ships. I was on the Victory late 2017 and on the Liberty the year before. We enjoyed both. Balconies too are pretty much the same on both ships. Go with the cheaper, if the itineraries are identical.

[splash_in_the_water]

we've been on victory twice. nice looking ship. has a lot of the new amenities. we last sailed the week before easter. Nice size ship, not too big, not too small. nice layout.

 

either way, have fun!!

[Salem615]

We sailed Liberty last year. we really enjoyed everything about the ship.

[ricew001]

We've been on the Victory twice and just booked our third time last week for next November. I like flying into FLL (cheaper and then easy access to Miami). We love the Victory - Serenity Deck all day, Piano Bar all night. LOL! Enjoy!

Edited August 9, 2018 by ricew001

[AcunaMatata]

We have been on both the Liberty and Victory. Same exact room, same exactly location on each ship.(8270) The room on the Victory was a little smaller. Not notice ablefor singles/couples but as a family of 4, every extra inch helps. We were just below the Lido Deck on both ships and noise was not an issue.

 

As someone else mentioned, there is no Steakhouse on the Victory. We really enjoyed the Steakhouse on the Liberty and highly recommend trying it. (There is usually a free bottle of wineincluded if you eat there on the first night.) The steakhouse food was amazing. The chef made our daughter a special dessert, that wasn’t on the regular menu. It was a Nutella pizza! (Shaved white chocolate to look like shredded mozzarella andraspberries for pepperoni.) She still calls the chef 'a wizard' to this day!

 

Donkey, the cruise director, is very fun. As a matter of fact, I don't remember the director’s name from the Victory. Donkey is on vacation until September. He has quite the following on Facebook. My daughter is also infatuated with him. He was good to all guests of all ages.

 

We were the 2nd cruise after the Victory was refurbished. I'm glad that we went after the dry dock because I don’tthink we would have had as much fun without Cherry on Top and the new food joints. The shows were comparable. We liked the overnight itinerary we had on the Victory. The rush to get back to the Liberty from Nassau was the most stressful part of the trip. (I'm sure it doesn't matter what ship/cruise line you are on for that.)

 

We are back on the Liberty in March of 2019. Only 212 days to go! Havefun on your cruise!

[Glitch1928]

I've not done Victory, but I'm going on my second solo on Liberty this year in Oct. I'll agree that Donkey is a fantastic cruise director! He is fun and his 80's gear is amazing. You hear a lot about Carnival being 'booze' cruises - especially the short ones, but I found I could just relax and enjoy my get away. If there was heavy partying on the ship, it stayed in the areas of the ship designed for that and didn't impact me at all.

 

I am a frequent Royal cruiser, too. I find Carnival's short cruises to be a little more relaxed and casual. I didn't have any high pressure sales pitches from the stores, spa, steak house, drink packages, or anything else - that was nice. Whichever you choose - enjoy!

[Kermarkim]

I've been on the Liberty twice and the Victory once and about to go on Victory again in November. I would go with Liberty due to the fact that it has the Steakhouse which was an amazing experience for only $35 extra. A must do. However, you will have fun on both. Everything else I would say is pretty equal. I love that class of ship better than the newer ships on Carnival. You will enjoy either one after all Carnival is the Funships.

[PhillyFan33579]

I've not done Victory, but I'm going on my second solo on Liberty this year in Oct. I'll agree that Donkey is a fantastic cruise director! He is fun and his 80's gear is amazing. You hear a lot about Carnival being 'booze' cruises - especially the short ones, but I found I could just relax and enjoy my get away. If there was heavy partying on the ship, it stayed in the areas of the ship designed for that and didn't impact me at all.

 

I am a frequent Royal cruiser, too. I find Carnival's short cruises to be a little more relaxed and casual. I didn't have any high pressure sales pitches from the stores, spa, steak house, drink packages, or anything else - that was nice. Whichever you choose - enjoy!

 

We were on Victory last month and Tevin the CD was fantastic, definitely one of the best ones out there. Not quite as good as Ben Lambert, but better than some of the better CDs out there like Dr E and Matt M.