Liberty 03/12/06 Sailing

[LeAnn0506]

Just off the Liberty cruise (03/12/06-03/18/06) and had a great time. It was my first cruise and I will definately do this again. We had stops in Freeport, Cayman, and Costa Maya. Costa Maya was our favorite, Cayman was okay, Freeport was not so great, next time we will spend our time at the beach.

 

We only had two complaints:

 

1. The buffet lines at lunch and dinner (when first opened) were awful.

Just be prepared to wait and be prepared for the line breakers, there

were plenty as well as those talking on cell phones while fixing their

plates which slowed the process.

 

2. Disembarking for Grand Cayman was disorganized. We were told to

wait in the Venetian Palace for a number. After going in and sitting

down (we were the second group there) we found that a line (really

a mob) had formed outside the door and we needed to be there. We

did get off in time for our excursion so it worked out, just a little

frustrating at the time.

 

If you are sailing anytime soon, be prepared for the spring breakers. They were there and partying but no problems.

 

We took advantage of the self assist disembark and were off the ship by 7:20am, everything went very smooth.

[neverevercruised]

Hey - was on the same cruise, and was our first time as well. I had a great time, did have a bit of a learning curve (a few things I will change for the next time) but overall terrific! Only complaint was that we got lost 2 nights in a row trying to find the Silver Dining room, but other than that, can't say anything bad. Things I would change for next time:

1) don't overbook ourselves - next time, maybe one excursion - just as fun to just go to a beach and relax with NO TIME COMMITTMENTS!

2) pack WAY less than I did - could have cut it in half and been fine!

3) Wear shoes on the deck - if you don't get a lounge chair in time, then you go further from the pool. Wound up on second deck and went barefoot to pool - BIG MISTAKE - blister to prove it!

4) Stay near port and fly in day before instead of day of. No problems, but would have been less stressful.

5) Pay for a suite - I was told there were no tubs from the travel agent, so booked a basic room with balcony. Next time - want to be able to soak out the day's pain of walking too much! And the jacuzzi was most always packed.

6) Don't bother with Hell - basic tourist trap.

7) Spa was great - but don't fall for the sales pitch, no matter how good the products feel - EXPENSIVE!

8) Spend more time just lounging and not trying to do everything offered!

 

Can't think of anything else - overall a great first experience. Loved the cruise director John - an amazingly funny guy! Don't know if the things he said really were impromptu, but they sure were convincing!

[wadecruiser]

Thanks for the review! We sail on March 26th and can't wait!:)

[winsagent]

My family was also was on this same cruise and had a great time. The Liberty is a beautiful new ship, but with 3,000 passengers on board, just be prepared for the crowds, especially in the next few weeks with the spring breakers, but you can always get away from them and others if you seek out the right decks and activites. Our experience with all the food was great, we just tried to pick times to avoid the rushes at the buffet lines. The dining room food and service for us was excellent and we did Harry's one night, which is truly a fine dining experience, but oriented more for adults/significant others than for young children. We had done Freeport and Cayman ports before, so we stayed on the ship both days and enjoyed basically having the ship to our own. Costa Maya was fun but is your basic tourist trap unless you take advantage of the shore excursions. Also, if you get off in Cayman, be prepared for long wait coming back on the tenders; we could see the very long lines waiting from our deck on the ship. Also, there is the big issue of reserving deck chairs. There are a few signs that try to discourage it, and the only time there seemed to be a problem was the final sea day, when, yes, unless you got up on deck by 9:00 or 9:30 to save a chair in an area that you desired, you were basically out of luck. Be glad to try to answer any other questions anyone might have.

[gsb]

Time to change your name!!:p

[AfterTen]

Liberty was great. Was on this cruise as well.

winsagant: Since you didn't get off the ship in Cayman you didn't realize this but that long line was for tendering to the other Carnival ship that was right next to us. When I needed to tender back (around 3 PM for a 5 PM sailing) there was zero line to tender to the Liberty.

 

And while we didn't specifically pick times to avoid any rushes at breakfast and lunch I never experienced any wait time longer than 5 minutes.

 

But, I never did eat lunch at any of the 4 main buffet stations. I always was at the Grille, Deli, Oriental or Fish and Chips stations.

 

I always got fried eggs for breakfast from the omlet station which when I was there was about a 1 minute wait to order. I would then go to one of the main breakfast stations for bacon or hash brown hockey pucks.

 

No problems with breakfast lunch or dinner on this cruise.

[neverevercruised]

Didn't even think of that - what would I do - just reregister? Can't be neverevercruised as I havenowcruised!