Long Carnival Liberty Review 6/23 - 7/1

[impcinder]

Review of Carnival Liberty 6/23 – 7/1 sailing

 

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to meet Linda, Karen, Amanda, and June at the Cruise Critic meet and greet, I wish all of you could have been there. As an aside, Carnival provides regular meeting space for “Friends of Bill W” and occasionally for “Friends of Dorothy”, why can’t they provide a one-time meeting place for Cruise Critic members????

 

These are my thoughts and opinions; others may have had other experiences.

 

About us, my DH and I are in our early 50s; our two DDs 21 and 25 sailed with us. We had two cabins 7269 – Cat 11 and 7401 – Cat 8E. We were on the starboard side of the ship.

 

Embarkation

We arrived at Port Everglades around 12:15 pm. DH dropped us off with the mountain of luggage and parked the car. We were accorded VIP status because of the suite, so check in was a breeze. However, the individual checking us in had us complete arrival declarations for the BVI and Nassau – discovered later these documents were not required as we all were US citizens holding valid passports.

By 12:45 we were on the Lido deck enjoying our first meal. The watertight doors to the cabins were closed until 1:00 pm.

 

Cabin 7269 – was clean and our attendant Felix was friendly and hard working. We told him that our two DDs maybe coming in and out of our room just to be aware. Felix kept our ice bucket filled and cleaned. I had tried to reuse my towels, hung them up, but they were continually replaced.

 

We have sailed other cat 11 cabins with Carnival, so there were no surprises to the room.

Cat 11 has a double sink bathroom with a full Jacuzzi tub and shower arrangement. There was plenty of toiletry space for both of us – shelves on the mirror. There is a small dressing room between the bathroom and ‘living area’. There are four drawers in the vanity and a chair. Lots of hanging closet space is in this area.

 

The living area is spacious (square shaped) – contains “king” (our request) bed, two nightstands, table, upholstered chair and sleeper sofa. A large desk contains a mini bar and refrigerator. I can’t advise if the pull out sofa was comfortable for sleeping – we never used it. In addition, two closets were along the wall and five draw bureau – lots of closet/storage space. Above the bed was a small ledge large enough to hold lotions, books, glasses, etc.

 

The balcony had one table, two chairs – one that could be converted into a lounger. The balcony did not feel crowded when the four of us were using it.

 

NEGATIVE – you could hear the musical performances in the atrium even with the door closed! Fortunately, we like the music and it seemed to end by midnight or we just fell asleep!

 

Cabin 7401 –I am not sure who was the cabin attendant. Compared to the suite, the room and bathroom seemed small! The bathroom had one sink area and a shower stall. The first night, the shower did not drain properly and water dribbled into the cabin area. One call to maintenance quickly solved the problem.

 

The room had a couch – unknown if it was a sleeper sofa, table, two beds and one nightstand. The room was long and narrow and seemed extra crowded due to lack of storage space. Or could it be two females and all of the travel items they felt were necessary???

 

The balcony held 2 chairs and a table. Was not as long as the balcony for the suite, but did hold the four of us.

 

Ship’s layout

The suite location seemed to be perfect – easy access to all sections of the ship. The DDs cabin was in the stern/aft section – a longer hike to certain venues. As other posters have stated – you can’t traverse the full length of the ship on certain floors because of the dining room amidship.

 

Décor was subtler in the public areas – not a bright and garish (IMHO) as on other Carnival ships. We loved the color variation chandelier in the atrium. Check out the color changing wall sconces!

 

“Movie under the Stars” was enjoyable – fortunately the weather cooperated! During the day you could view the “hairy chest contest” on the screen instead of trying to see over the heads of other views. Seemed to show the same ‘Caribbean Vacation’ scenes during the week – it may be that I was up on deck, sunning, at the same time??

 

Food –

 

Breakfast – never ate in the dinning room, just the lido deck. DDs ordered breakfast from room service a few times. They said they requested a 30-minute window for serving, but the food was either 20 – 30 minutes early or late.

 

Lunch

DH & I loved the Fish and Chips. The eating area around F&C was never crowded. During breakfast – we were the only ones there!

Typical Carnival buffet offerings. Deli and Oriental section had a 15 – 20 minute wait. DD 21 loved the hamburger with sautéed mushrooms and onions. Pizza was typical.

Something new (or at least since last summer) Oriental Stir Fry – you filled your bowl from an assortment of vegetables and choice of 3 meats. Asst cook prepared it in front of you. You had a choice of 3 different sauces. This was a very popular station, you needed to get there just as soon as it opened or you may have needed to wait 30 or more minutes.

 

My DD 25 & I ate lunch in the dinning room one time. Abbreviated menu, except for a hamburger, other items were not available on the lido buffet.

 

Dining Room

We had the 6:15 Golden Sitting. Our waiter Andrew and asst. waiter Agnes were good. But they were serving 3 tables of 4 and 1 table of 8. Seemed to be rushed and did not have a lot of time to ‘chat’ with us. (IMHO, I like talking with various crewmembers. My DH would rather they just served the food!!)

 

Food portions seemed a bit smaller than last year, but we did not go hungry. The alternative menu was a nice choice for a picker eater. My personal favorites were the cold soups. One night, I just had soup! After the first night, Andrew would bring me 2 pitchers of soup for a large bowl.

 

Dinning room selection was varied, something for every taste. Last night Baked Alaska was served. I was disappointed – very small slice. I could have ordered an additional serving, but it was getting late.

 

Did not have as much entertaining by the wait staff as in previous years. Ok, I liked it, my DH did not. Could it be because of the number of people they needed to serve?

 

Shows

Typical Carnival offerings – “Vegas” type, singers, comedienne. Our family was split; some liked some of the shows while others did not.

 

Casino

Even though some ‘one-armed bandits’ were clearly marked NO SMOKING, people did smoke at the machines – (the no smoking was not enforced). By 11:00 pm, the smoke just seemed to hang in the air. We are not smokers, so it was not a venue where we spent a lot of time. Can’t comment on the tables as we only played the slot machines for a few minutes.

 

Sunday – At Sea

Beautiful weather! Enjoyed exploring the ship and sun bathing. Lots of kids in the pools and hot tubs. Did not run into chairhogs, but then we sun bathed on decks 11 and 12 – less people.

 

Monday – At Sea, docked in San Juan Puerto Rico at 5 pm

Being advised that the shops closed 6 –7 pm, there was a long slow line to disembark in this port. Noticed one problem was that people were trying to board (entertainers?) and Carnival only could use 3 exits instead of 4.

 

This was our least favorite port. We did walk to Fort Morro – however, it was closing. Walked around town – DD 21 had to find the Coach outlet. The prices were comparable to US outlets – saved on sales tax. There was also a Doone & Burke, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger and several other designer outlets within an easy walk from the ship.

DDs enjoyed the fact they could use their cell phones without occurring enormous roaming and on board charges.

 

Tuesday – St. Thomas USVI

Beautiful Sunny day!

Disembarking was much faster than San Juan – perhaps due to a variety of times for activities.

 

We did the Ultimate Island Experience- Rode in a 20 passenger open sided vehicle and stopped at Beacons Point (vendors!) and Drakes Seat for fantastic views of St. Thomas, the sea, and other islands. Spent 2 hours at Magen’s Bay, we brought our own snorkel gear and enjoyed the calm blue waters! We did see some marine life.

 

Our vehicle returned and dropped us at Blackbeard’s Castle. There were several fresh water pools to enjoy, shops, and eateries. We did not use these facilities but instead took advantage of the self guided tours of the historical buildings. DDs climbed to the top of the tower – only 8 people at a time. Warning: Be sure to dry off prior to entering the history buildings! You could spend as much time as you wanted here, when you were finished you walked down the steps to Charlotte Amalie and shopping. Warning – the steps were shallow and easy to navigate BUT the railings were covered with splinters.

 

Just looked into a few stores – seemed to be typical of the types of shops available in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

Wednesday – Antigua

Had two brief rain showers this morning before 8 am, the rest of the day was sunny and gorgeous!

 

We signed up for the Catamaran Sail & Snorkel tour at 1 pm. DH & I disembarked and walked around the town. We must have been asked 7 or 8 times if we wanted to hire a cab for the day. The people were very friendly, just a smile and “no thank you” was sufficient. Offerings did not seem to be as ‘upscale’ as on St. Thomas. This is just my opinion based on what we saw as we explored the area near the ship.

 

The Sail & Snorkel was fun – however, no instructions were given for newbies! The reef had a rough surge and it may have been difficult for inexperienced snorkelers. The ship did not have enough “life belts” for all snorkeling passengers. This was not a problem for our DDs as they are long time swim competitors and experienced divers. They voluntarily surrendered their belts to others.

 

The reef was in poor shape. According to the crew, the reef was badly damaged by two hurricanes. Sorry, I can’t recall the names.

 

After an hour or so snorkeling, we reboarded the catamaran and sailed to a beach. Immediately upon beaching vendors were selling jewelry and painingts. Again, a smile and “no thank you” was sufficient.

 

Thursday – Tortola Beautiful sunny day!

 

We tried to book a SCUBA excursion through Carnival – but it was filled. I investigated and we booked with Dive Tortola for a two tank dive. Took a local cab and arrived at the dive shop. As we completed our paper work – 9 individuals from Carnival joined us!

 

When I booked our dives, I requested the HMS Rhone wreck for our dive site. DT would not guarantee the site, it was weather and current dependent. But the Dive gods were smiling on us and we dove the Rhone. FANTASTIC! We did both dives on this wreck and did not repeat the sections we explored. The reefs growing on the wreck were colorful and vibrant! And we discovered lot of fish and turtles. Our group was split and we went with Alex, the others went with Katherine. During our interval, Katherine gave a historical review of the ship and what happened that fateful day.

 

For a wreck from 1867, there was quite a bit of the infrastructure remaining. We had the opportunity to touch the glass remaining in a porthole and touch the lucky numbers.

 

Because we did not book with Carnival, we could not use the provided taxi service. We had requested our cab drive to pick us up at 1pm. But at 1:20 he was still ‘on the way’ – the dive shop called to confirm. At 1:30, Katherine drove us back to the port.

 

DD21 and I stopped at an Internet café so she could stay connected! The rates were $2.00 for 15 minutes – much less expensive than Carnival. After IMing, we walked through a local craft market. Same assortment of inexpensive souvenirs that could be found on various islands.

 

Friday – Day at Sea

Overcast, partly cloudy, some brief rain showers.

Spent the day sunbathing and relaxing!

 

Saturday – Nassau

We originally scheduled a tour to Pearl Island through Carnival, but for some reason the tour was cancelled. Of the remaining tours available, none were appealing to us.

 

Docked next to the Regal Empress ship, did it look small! We walked to the Straw Market, DD 21 had to find her designer purse. Fortunately, the day wasn’t to hot, yet. The market was crowded, lots of merchandise available. Vendors were polite asking “pretty ladies” to look. A simple “no, thank you” and smile was suffice. Had to tour the entire market looking for the “perfect” designer purse. DD21 finally found one that she liked and we moved on.

 

Walked through some of the shops in town and returned to a quiet ship! Spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the rays and using the water slide – no wait!

 

Sunday – Port Everglades

 

We did not do the self embarkation option. We weren’t in a hurray as we were going to spend the next few days in the Florida Keys diving. Enjoyed our last breakfast and by 8:30 waited in the Venetian lounge for our color to be called. (Our DDs brought their luggage to our cabin so that it could have the same color of tags to make it easier to find.)

 

Our color was called around 8:45 and we left the ship. Luggage was easily located and the porter hauled our gear outside while DH picked up the car. By 9:00 am we waved “bye” to the Carnival Liberty and a WONDERFUL 8 day vacation!

 

Closing Comments

 

I was surprised to see the lack of hand sanitizers/tissues used to open doors in the public restrooms and at the buffet lines. Norvo virus?

 

There were a lot of children on board, a vast majority were never seen or were well behaved. But a group of 5 (approximate ages 12 – 14) were running around near the Atrium elevators and pushing into people. Carnival Staff – (Purser Office and someone else) were standing there and did nothing. I directed their attention to the possible unsafe actions of the children, and they said they could do nothing, it was the parents responsibility.

 

Dress code violations – shorts and T-shirts were worn in the dining room most evenings. I thought there was a dress code?? Sunbathers/swimmers entered the Lido buffet lines with out cover ups, just unappealing to see them leaning over the food selections.

 

I will be happy to try to answer any of your questions!

[deborah grimes]

What a wounderful review, I'm on the Liberty doing the same itinerary on Nov 10th. Can't wait!

You said when you went to Tortola you was going to do the scuba excursion with Carnival but instead did it the the island. Can you tell me what was the price on the ship vs the one you took? And how would I get intouch with them? My DB wonts to do a dive and I will love to give him this info. Thanks DEB

[shortstop95]

Great review! We're on the Liberty in September.... 6 night.... in Cat 11.. you made me feel like I was there..... can't wait... glad you had a good trip...

[impcinder]

Contact information for Dive Tortola

Katherine Huskey

Operations Manager

DIVE TORTOLA

P.O. Box 3514

Road Town, Tortola

British Virgin Islands

At Prospect Reef Marina

Phone: (284) 494-9200

Fax: (284) 494-7264

http://www.divetortola.com

 

You may want to read my more detailed review under snorkel/scuba thread.

 

The cost for a two tank dive was $110 per person, equipment (4 regs, 1 BCD) $50. The cab fare was $12 total. If you are going to book via Carnival, I would suggest doing it soon. The Carnival excursion was sold out 3 months in advance! (Or at least for 4 people).

 

The HMS Rhone dive was the best wreck dive that we ever did! You just have to hope the Dive gods smile upon you - current can be strong!

 

 

I think the Carnival cost was $150 pp + equipment.

[kylescoolmom]

Excellent review... I will be doing the same intinerary as you. I felt like I was right there. I am glad your trip went well. Thank you