Carnival Liberty Review: Just Back

[dancer_mom]

Quick review of our trip on the Carnival Liberty as I enjoyed reading them before we left. 4 day (Monday-Friday) Stops in Nassau and Princess Cay.

 

Family Trip: 2 adults, 2 kids

Room: 6A (I think) Oceanview on Riviera

Background: DH and I had been on 1 cruise prior about 12 years ago pre-kids. It was okay but my DH especially wasn't super impressed and it took me a long time to talk him into another one.

 

Day 1: Arrived at the port at 11:25am for our 11:30am arrival time. They put us in the 'early arrival' line. We got through the lines quickly and were onboard right away. Planted ourselves on some deck chairs on the Lido right by the food and had a great first few hours on the ship. We ate Guy's burgers, got Blue Iguana tacos, swam, and went on the water slide. It was the least crowded day we had in the pool and the shortest line of the week for the water slide during this time. We packed up for the muster drill, finished that and then headed to check out our room.

 

The room was great. Spacious compared to our first cruise and we loved having the window. The upper pullman and sofa worked great for our kids. We found enough shelves, drawers, and hangers for everyone's things. After changing quickly we ran back up on deck to enjoy sail away. The kids loved seeing us sail away from Florida.  We took pictures and then made a hilarious attempt at playing ping-pong. Impossible with the wind on deck so we gave up and went back to our room to get ready for dinner.

 

Dinner: We had early dining and really enjoyed all the food the first evening. The kids loved having a "fancy" meal and getting to order appetizers and a dessert.

 

Evening: We took the kids to the  kids' club to try it out. It was a long line for the 8:00 programming (first of the cruise) but we waited it out so the kids could try it. It would have been smarter to go to the earlier open house and get them registered but we didn't know it was open then. Honestly, we were glad we spent time at the pool right away anyway.  When we went back to get the kids after 30  minutes they told us to go away and let them have longer. So, they liked it I guess. We let them have about 15 more minutes but wanted them to turn in early after our first day so got them at 9:00, went back to the room and went to bed.

 

Day 2: While the family slept in, I snuck up to the Lido deck and grabbed a mocha from the coffee place within the buffet. It was very good and I liked being up and about early in the day. I returned to the room and enjoyed sipping my coffee by our window while waiting for everyone else to wake up. We got ready and went to breakfast at the buffet. We and the kids always enjoyed the breakfast buffet. The eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles... honestly something for everyone in the family. After breakfast we packed up for Nassau. We wore our regular clothes and packed swimsuits and towels to go the beach after shopping.

Nassau: We got off the ship right at 10:15 and headed to the straw market. The kids had souvenir money burning a hole in their pockets so we perused the aisles until they settled on some small toy trinkets and things. I got 3 pairs of beaded earrings at one of the stands that I LOVE. After shopping, we changed and walked to Junkanoo Beach. Not a short walk with a couple of kids in tow but we made it. We rented some beach chairs and an umbrella and then enjoyed swimming for the next couple hours. I had wanted to possibly try Cabbage Beach or one of the other beaches that was supposed to be more picturesque, but in the end we had a great time here. It was nice to have facilities and the water was beautiful even if there were lots of people there with us.

 

After the beach we took a taxi back to the ship (worth it after tiring everyone out swimming) and got back on board. It was still mid-afternoon so we got food on deck, swam some more and did the waterslide a couple of times. We cleaned up for dinner afterwards.

 

Dinner: Dropped the kids off for the kids' dinner and went to the Steakhouse. We LOVED the steakhouse. The service was amazing and the food was great. We got the Art at your table dessert and it was super fun. It was a great presentation and also tasted great - we couldn't even finish it. We got the free wine since it was the elegant night and that was good too. We probably don't have super high taste in wine but the house wine was good for us.

 

We walked around deck after dinner and just enjoyed the evening. We dropped into the piano bar - fun place! and checked out areas of the ship we hadn't explored yet.

 

We went and got the kids from the kids' club around 9:30pm and they  had had a great time. It was rockstar night. The kids were split into groups and they performed a song and dance routine for each other. Our usually quiet kids actually liked it a lot, so were glad as we had been worried. One thing to be aware of with Carnival Liberty (maybe all) is that they do activities all together. There are certain times that are "kids choice" and others where it is an activity and all the kids participate. I liked it cause they weren't on the video games all the time, but if your kid doesn't like the activity they are offering they may be disappointed.  My advice is read the schedule and also ask the staff members what they are doing. The only activity my kids complained about was pirate night (the next evening). They said, "I thought it would be more fun." All they could tell me was they answered pirate trivia questions and then colored a pirate hat.  I think they thought there would be more pirate games/active parts to it. Otherwise though, they really had a great time there.

 

Day 3: Princess Cay

We got up early this day, got ready in our swimsuits and left our packed bags in our room to grab quickly once ready to leave. We got another breakfast at the buffet and were in line for the tender by 9:00am. The line was very long, but it honestly moved quickly and we were on boat on the way to the island in no time. We rented a clam shell right on the shoreline and settled in to enjoy our day there. I personally LOVED the island. We were in the beach/swim area right where they rented boats and the sand was beautiful, right near rocks to snorkel (saw a few pretty fish). We swam, snorkeled, and also us adults rented stand up paddle boards. I loved going on the SUP. The water was beautiful and I got some great exercise. At one point, one of the workers came around in his jet ski to let me know I was getting too far out. He warned me that the wind can push you too far without realizing it and I would have a hard time getting back. He was very right  - the shore was quite a ways away and paddling back took a long time as I was going against the wind the whole way. I would highly recommend this though - it was super fun. I ended up kneeling most of the way as I was tossed off a couple times while standing due to waves from passing tenders etc.

 

We boarded a tender back around 2:30 or so, we all showered and then went up to the Lido for food. We didn't eat much at the island buffet and we preferred Lido deck food anyway.  After eating, we booked it to the mini-golf. The kids were looking forward to this activity and we knew it would only be possible while in port so there wouldn't be so much wind. We had a lot of fun on the little course before it closed at 5:00. That evening we did the main dining room again, dropped the kids at the kids club and then enjoyed walking around. DH started to feel seasick so I dropped him off at the room and got a margarita that I enjoyed in a deck chair while reading a book. I got the kids after Pirate night (which I already mentioned wasn't their favorite) and we all went to bed.

 

Day 4: Day at Sea

 

We got up and got dressed for the Suess at Sea breakfast.  This was really cute and our kids really enjoyed it (we did too). We ordered lots of cute food and had fun with the kids getting to meet all the Dr. Suess characters. The only slightly negative part was the service. I am pretty sure they simply forgot to put our order in. We were the 5th or 6th family seated and ordered right away. Families trickled into the breakfast over the next 1/2 hour and table after table (that came after us) were getting their food. We had been waiting almost 30-40 minutes, our servers hadn't even walked by to offer us more water or coffee, so I finally tracked down our waiter and walked over to him to ask what was going on. He insisted our food was "on the line," and would be ready soon. After 10 more minutes it finally came. We liked all the food but were frustrated that the waiter seemed to be covering for their mistake. They still didn't offer us more water or coffee but at that point we just wanted to finish the meal and get out of there. I think it was an honest mistake (we are sure they forgot because the table literally next to us that ordered more than 30  minutes after us, got their food mere minutes after ours came out) but I would have rather they had just apologized instead of acting like we were simply being impatient.  I would recommend this breakfast though. The entertainment was great for kids, the food was awesome, and all the other tables had their meals arrive right away 🙂

 

We dropped the kids at the kids' club right after and they had a great 2 hours there. First was a kids choice time, then an active game time, and then a 30 minute magic show. We picked them up after the magic show and they raved about it. During our free time without the kids, I ordered a mango margarita - delicious! and enjoyed my book on the Serenity Deck. After the kids club we got swimsuits on, found some deck chairs and then swam, ate, waterslided (until it was closed due to who knows what getting in the water - yuck) but generally had an awesome last afternoon soaking up the sun.

 

Oh! During the afternoon a guest had to be airlifted off the boat. The medical helicopter circled, an announcement was made to stay clear of the area, and the guest was taken off for treatment back on land. I hope they are okay.

 

We went back to our rooms to change and rest around 5:00 and then headed out around 6:30 or so. We had dinner at the buffet - not impressive but not bad. Kids were happy getting lots of desserts as usual. At around 7:30 we grabbed the deck chairs closest to the movie screen and checked out some blankets for the Dive In Movie (Aladdin). The kids swam for the hour leading up to the movie while we just hung out. We then all enjoyed the movie with popcorn and ice cream.  This was a GREAT way to end the cruise. I am  honestly glad we skipped the MDR this night. We were tired of the formal eating schedule and loved just enjoying the sea air the last night. We had our final ice cream cones and then packed up and got to bed at midnight.

 

Last day: We got up early, did buffet breakfast, and got off the boat in the first wave of people. It was a pretty easy process.

 

Final Thoughts: We honestly enjoyed this cruise immensely. The food was so much better than our first one: all the extra eating places they have added are great. I forgot to mention I also tried the sushi and enjoyed it. The drinks were all good that we had, we loved the beach days and the pool time. I can't believe how much we squeezed in and it was always hard to pick between all of the fun things they had to offer. The kids loved it too.  One of my kids said they would go again no matter  what ship as long as it was a week. Even in spite of feeling seasick at times, they said it was worth it.  If anyone has any questions, I can try to answer. Thanks for reading.

 

 

[Joe817]

Great review! Well done! I'm glad all of you had a great time! That's what a cruise is supposed to be like. Thanks for sharing.

[CruizCuz]

Thank you SO much for the recent review!  I'm glad you all had such a great time.  I personally have been on the Liberty several times, and will be on her again for my birthday cruise in a few weeks.  It's ALWAYS nice to read about her!

[matt082600]

Thanks for your review.  I'm glad you had a great time!

[Fla Mike]

Thanks for the review and glad to hear you had a good time.

We are taking some newbies on her next month.