Carnival LIBERTY 3 day Review FunTimes and MDR Menus Attached

[Cruisin_Husker]

 

 

ABOUT US: My wife and I are in our early 50s and have been on nearly 40 cruises--mostly NCL and Carnival. We are “frugal” cruisers, seeking to get on the ship for as little as possible and spend very little once on the ship, e.g. we normally eat in the MDR and rarely do shore excursions (except we’ve done most of the popular ones when our kids were younger and cruised with us). We are early risers and and are rarely out and about the ship after 10:30 p.m. so I my review won’t encompass late night shows, comedy, and night clubs. So with that said, on to the review:

 

EMBARKATION

 

Arrival at the Port/terminal facilities: Grade A. We arrived about 10:50 am after parking in a commercial lot in Cocoa Beach. The Port itself is very busy but once inside the terminal, the new Carnival check-in process (this is the 3rd cruise we've been on that carnival has used it as the more traditional method of getting your key card at the counter) where they scan your passport upon entering the terminal is slick and flawless. My bottle of wine and case of Pepsi sailed through without any problem and no corkage fee on the wine! We waited in the platinum lounge which had water only (we were on the Breeze a few weeks ago that had coffee, juices, and cookies). We began boarding about 1110 which was quick and easy. There are vending machines in the terminal inside the secure area that are reasonable (snacks $1.25 and sodas $2) so you can take your drink / snacks on board.

 

Lifeboat drill. Grade F. This is one of the more dreadful lifeboat drills we've been to in some time. For starters it's the type you have to go outside to stand shoulder to shoulder with all the other guests (vs sitting in a lounge or dining room). The drill itself was disorganized--crew members didn't scan your card as you arrived but instead waited to try and scan cards when everyone was lined up. The drill itself had long periods of seemingly no activity in between periods of instruction. I would recommend showing up as late as you can to minimize the dreadfulness.

 

SHIP

Overall; Grade C.  The ship itself was well maintained, relatively easy to navigate, but showing some age. The decor is not to my taste--it’s the overly elaborate “Victorian era” type of decorations. The crew friendliness was uniformly very good. Some of the lines can get long during peak times at some of the food areas, but overall passenger flow was good. The buffet at 10:00 a.m. on the sea day was packed but otherwise lines were minimal. The smoke smell from the Casino when walking along deck 5 promenade was minimal.  Some specific comments:

 

CABINS: Grade B. We had an inside cabin on deck 10. Overall very good. The bathrooms were large and the shower worked excellent and beds were very comfortable with plenty of storage space.

 

TV:. Grade F (for Republicans) Grade D (for Democrats): The TV remote was horrendous--most of the time it was unresponsive, or you would press the channel button 3-4x with no response then if it was aligned just right it would magically work. The m enu interface is the older Carnival one without account access and your pictures like on the Vista class. The choice of channels leaves conservatives with a migraine after having to watch a week of CNN as your only news choice. (There is Headline News to watch in the morning which is good) Not sure when Carnival did away with its networks (abc, CBS, nbc) but they are sorely missed. While they have TBS and TNT, they're not live versions from what I could tell--for example the baseball playoff was airing on TBS but the TBS channel in the cabins was showing a movie of some sort (the sports bar also did not have the game on). The Liberty also did not have the “sport 24” channel that is on the Vista class (which shows mostly soccer but did also show nfl games).

 

Gym / track: grade B. The track goes around the back of the ship to about mid ship. 7 times around is one mile. It was rarely crowded but very windy most of the time. The gym was one of the larger gyms I’ve seen and had plenty of equipment that was well maintained and rarely busy in the morning (the photo was taken at 7am on a port day)

 

 

PLATINUM / GOLD VIFP BENEFITS:

 

FOOD

(We ate in the garden Buffett (incl guy frieris and blue iguana) each day for breakfast and lunch and the MDR each evening. We had a party of four trying the items below):

 

MDR DAY 1 (Overall Grade A): The waiter recommended the pork loin and the mahi mahi.

Fried calamari grade C. Just average  nothing special.

Orange and grapefruit fillets. Grade B. This was a small salad with fresh orange and grapefruit pieces that was quite good.

Grilled mahi mahi grade A. I'm normally a mild white fish guy but this mahi mahi was excellent and garnished with a mango type salsa. Highly recommend

Steakhouse selection broiled filet ($20 surcharge). Grade A. I'm loathe to pay a surcharge for any food on a cruise but paid for my dad to try this steak and it was worth every penny of the $20!  My dad is a lifelong nebraskan who knows good beef and said the fillet was as good as any he's tried. Highly recommend!

Honey glazed pork loin grade B. This was one of the waiter recommendations  My mom got this entree and said it was very good. The glaze wasn't too heavy, the flavor was good and the pork was tender and moist.

From the grill chicken breast. Grade B. Very good. Tender and juicy (my wife tends to get this entree most evenings and normally it's pretty good but every now and then one piece will be dry or bit tough but overall a very good entree for chicken lovers)

 

 

MDR DAY 2 - Cruise Elegant Night (Overall Grade A).  The waiter recommended the prime rib.

Stuffed mushrooms. Grade A. A waiter recommended dish. You get six mushrooms sauteed in an Italian type sauce. Highly recommend.

 

Strawberry bisque. Grade A. I have never had this but it will now be one of my anticipated appetizers!  After reading so many on cruise critic raving about it I tried it and it's like a strawberry smoothie for an appetizer!  Highly recommend

 

Rare Find Selection. Cured salmon. Grade B. We all tried this and agreed it was surprisingly very good. If you like sushi you will probably like this appetizer.

 

Prime rib. Grade B. The prime rib is usually pretty good on carnival and this piece was no different   it was tender and had good flavor.

 

Teriyaki glazed salmon. Grade B. Both my parents had this and both agreed it was very good. Just the right amount of terriyaki mainade and good flavor.

 

Jumbo shrimp. Grade A. We all tried a piece of the shrimp and it was unanimous it was excellent. You only get 4 shrimp so you better order two entrees if you're hungry or like shrimp.

 

 

MDR Day 3 (Overall Grade B):

The  weakest of the three menus in our opinion. The waiter recommended the lamb shank and portobello mushroom:

Flatbread. Grade C Just average and somewhat bland.

Leek and Potato Soup. Grade A. An excellent tasting soup.

American Navy Bean Soup Grade B. Another very good bean soup.

Rare find selection: Braised Rabbit. Grade C. Not really our taste.

Crisp Portobello Mushroom. Grade A.  These were excellent, recommended by the waiter, and all in our party recommend them!

Seared Tilapia. Grade B. This was very good but not the best Tilapia dish I have had on a cruise before.

 

Garden Buffett / guy frieris / blue iguana  grade B. These venues weren’t too busy on embarkation or the sea day with long lines like I've seen it on other ships. The Mongolian wok line got long and the pizzeria line gets long when all the other food venues were closed. The drink machines coffee and ice were all well maintained and stocked. All the venues opened on time and even a few minutes early.

 

Bars: Grade C.  There is no self-serve beer taps like on some of the other Carnival ships. There is a brief happy hour on embarkation day:

 

Dining Changes: If you need to change your dining, here’s the info:

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Overall Grade B (for 3 day cruise). The top shows and entertainment aren’t going to be on the older ships on short itineraries, but the entertainment on the Liberty was pretty good overall. We didn’t attend the playlist production shows since we’ve seen them before. The Comedians overall at the Punchliners were funny and there was a good variety of entertainment options each evening.

 

 

Cruise Director: Chris Salazar. Grade B.  Chris goes by the nickname “Donkey” and his signature phrase when coming on the intercom is, “This is your cruise director, Donkey! ‘The Voice From Above’”  The CD did a nice job--he was entertaining, humorous, visible, and friendly.

 

FUN TIME DAILYS

DAY 1:

 

DAY 2:

 

 

DAY 3: Sorry--forgot to take a picture for the sea day!

 

DISEMBARKATION: Grade A.  We used the early self-disembarkation for platinum guests. The stated time to arrive at the meeting point was 6:45 a.m.  The disembarkation started about 7:10 a.m. and we were on the parking shuttle by 7:25.

 

Conclusion:  Overall a great time on a fun, short-itinerary, well-run cruise.  Hope you enjoy your cruise on the Liberty and this review helps in planning out your vacation!

[CruizCuz]

Awesome review, thank you!  I leave on the Liberty for a 4 day cruise, this Sunday, the 28th.  Halloween night will be our last night.  Sounds like you had a good time!

[Islandsunrise]

Thanks!!!  Was just looking for this 🙂

[fozzy1975]

every carnival ship has done the drill indoors! This outside this is new to me!!! We were on the Magic in July and did it in the lounge!

[BananaAnna]

Excellent comprehensive review - and you get extra points for photo clarity. Thanks so much for posting!

[CruisinCrow]

Thanks for the detailed review!  I like the way you had everything broken down.

[tandemcruzr]

Thanks for your review. We will be going on the Liberty next Feb on a 4 day/ 3 day/ 4 day B2B2B. ( Trying to get to 50 cruises in 2020 to celebrate our 50th anniversary.) 😊

[MrFunInTheSun]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing. I like the “grades”. 😀 Perhaps I should implement this into my “Live” trip report that I’ll be starting in 12 days. 😀

[riclop]

Thanks for sharing.

[CruizCuz]

I know this has probably been answered somewhere, but I can't find it.  Do you remember if the Liberty has USB ports in the cabins?

[get me off land]

Thank you for this review! I'm so excited for the Batchelorette cruise with my sister on this itinerary in February! 

[Cruisin_Husker]

Yes there are USB ports in the base of each light fixture on each side of the bed (I believe there were two ports per light fixture so a total of 4)

[Cruisin_Husker]

One more thing I forgot to mention in my original review in the "FOOD" section:

 

If you see the Guy Frieri's Pig & Anchor sauces sitting outside the "Ole Fashioned BBQ" up on Deck 10 of the Liberty, don't get too overly exuberant thinking the Liberty meets up with a Vista class ship to load a bunch of the smoked meat on the Liberty!  The "Ole Fashioned BBQ" on the Liberty was disappointing. By "ole fashioned" they must mean they cook the meat like they used to before rolling out the Pig & Anchor BBQ venues.

 

The meat tasted like my wife's pot roast (which is quite good ) and the chicken tastes like it was just baked in the oven and the same chicken you would get on the Lido buffet.  The "ole fashioned BBQ" is not anything close to Pig & Anchor unfortunately.