Tell me everything about the Carnival Liberty!!

[Weeze624]

kffrig, Weeze624 and SeaSharp -

 

We are VERY excited about the Liberty - it seems to be the pefect itinerary for us. Can't believe that is is finally here...since we started with 370+ days I thought it would never come!! We booked very early to nab one of the 9A's ;) ...our first!

 

This cruise has been planned as a college graduation gift for my DS and his GF. My parents, sister and her DD's are joining us to celebrate. Should be a great time - especially if the Liberty is half as nice as all of the postings say it is!!

 

kffrig - thanks for starting the "Liberty" thread. It has been a wealth of information and guidance as we have gone through the planning process.

 

I guess now I'm off to check the roll call thread :D !

Great reason the go... that is a great celebration! This should be great.

[micki69]

I've been on the Liberty twice, both New Year's Eve sailings to the Panama Canal there first year and then to Western Carrib the following year. Had great New Years Eve parties on Deck, watched the Ball Drop on the Big Screen with free Champagne. Great Service, great food never had to send anything back. The entertainment in the main lobby at night was great!! Married couple duet that played good dance music. I think they are on the Freedom now. Of course we had John Hearld as a Cruise Director the first time and he was great. Can't go wrong sailing this ship.

 

Joe

[Weeze624]

After reading all the posts and threads on this ship I am wondering if I was on the right one. We just got back from her yesterday. The itinerary was great... so many ports with lots of things to do, if desired. Unfortunately, as far as the ship went... that was the worst we have been on. It has been a while since we have been on Carnival but I am sure I'd remember such concerns. Upon entering our stateroom and going into the bathroom I smelled an odor of old urine which I could not figure out the source of... I am a nurse and KNOW this odor! That persisted through the week unidentified. The bathroom screws were coming out of the lock set 3 out of 4. I tried to tighten them with my fingernail. While putting our clothes away I notice that two of the bottom latches on the closet were not attached to the door but instead sticking staright out. The actual latch on the same door was pulled loose. I ignored this until later in the trip when after a nap and feeling sleepy I went into the closet and bent down to get a pair of shoes and ended up scratching my temple / scalp just shy of my eye (when reported it was fixed immediately though and staff were genuinely concerned if there was an injury, which there was not but it was enough to make me say... time to let sometone know about this before a real serious injury occurs). Upon getting ready for bed I noticed hair on the comforter... worse yet... there was some sort of "brown" marks on the fitted sheet on the mattress. Stripped the bed then. Our cabin steward introduced himself upon arrival but then seemed to go AWOL for a few days... and this was before anything was reported. Never said anything about the urine smell... guess I should have.

 

After coming off two RCCL ships with main street USA on them we found this one difficult to get a handle on. We were consistently rechecking our direction. I have always gotten our ships down by day 3! The ceilings were also lower and the atmosphere, although classy as described by some, appeared very dark to me who likes the bright and airy. I also like all of my meal options in one area of the ship and do not prefer having to move from one area to another for different desires in a family sitting together for breakfast and lunch. We did not find the Lido staff as interacting or with many smiles upon eye contact as other cruises and Larry DID NOT enjoy Harry's which was a shame as I had it booked for three nights so I had to cancel the other two. His shrimp cocktail came out raw... that ruined the evening there and they could not accomodate a simple request of riesling wine although the main dining room readily had it available. We found the standards and food choices / portions subpar in the main dining room. We chose NY strip most nights. Some nights we weren't even given choices on dessert... they were just placed (all the same) for the table!? I asked for bearnaise sauce one night and one waiter told me yes and when served without it another said they did not have it "only on the chautaebriand nights". Our tableclothe was dirty on a couple of occassions and I noticed the staff taking the charger plates off of the table when the main entree was served and then wipe them down with a towel and stack them on a nearby table. When I brought this to my husbands attention he thought they were preparing them to bring to the back room but they were not! Other cruise lines strip you of your silver and pull the chair out for you (we've made great jokes about this) not that this is required but these suttle differences stand out. The staff often grabbed nearby glasses and silverware to place on the same or nearby tables when dinner guests did not show up. I was very pleased with our bar waitress Theresia.She had our beverages there before we were even there and was never far away. Larry had a soda card and this absolutely did not matter. She was pure pleasure full of smiles. Unfortunately for this ship, she is off for two months after the next sailing and then will be on another ship. Although the soda card has been an issue for some, we certainly did not find our service was affected by presenting it. The entertainment was great... from shows to comedians and the casino staff were very friendly. Despite this... we were not very impressed and most likely will not be sailing her or carnival anytime soon if at all. :(

[jimbug]

Thank you for your review. I'm sorry to hear that, because my family and I will be sailing the Liberty this coming Saturday. Hopefully we will have a better experience. 6 out of the 8 in our group are first-time cruisers and I am a little bit nervous that they will "not like cruising" or find fault at every turn. They're not really the type to do that at all, but I took my friend, another first-timer, with me on a cruise last August (RCCL, no less) and it seemed that nothing made her happy and there was something wrong with everything.

 

So, here's to a hopefully great week on the Liberty. I will be sure to watch out for broken locks and latches as I am staying in the cabin with my grandmother who is susceptible to infection and injury due to her other health problems. Good for you for reporting them to be fixed.

[Weeze624]

Thank you for your review. I'm sorry to hear that, because my family and I will be sailing the Liberty this coming Saturday. Hopefully we will have a better experience. 6 out of the 8 in our group are first-time cruisers and I am a little bit nervous that they will "not like cruising" or find fault at every turn. They're not really the type to do that at all, but I took my friend, another first-timer, with me on a cruise last August (RCCL, no less) and it seemed that nothing made her happy and there was something wrong with everything.

 

So, here's to a hopefully great week on the Liberty. I will be sure to watch out for broken locks and latches as I am staying in the cabin with my grandmother who is susceptible to infection and injury due to her other health problems. Good for you for reporting them to be fixed.

Fortunately, my experience does not seem to be the norm. The other thing I also noticed was they did not have hand sanitizers AT ALL but they did play a segment on TV about how they are not effective against the norovirus. Purell and other types of antibactierials are quite effective against most other organisms so it is a great benefit to prevent the general transmission of those microorganisms that people slip on board with. You might want to pack some of those little containers to carry around with you, especially if there is someone immune compromised going along with you.

[loisann]

we just also returned Sunday on this sailing. after our last two sailings of Royal Caribbean I felt like I had come home.

We loved the ship and have no complaints. My waiter pulled my chair out for me each night and when I requested something that was not on the menu, they got it for me...I wanted key lime pie which they do not serve in the dining room anymore.

When my husband went to the omlet station for breakfast the server remembered what he had ordered the day before.

Royal Caribbean was very nice but I love Carnival.

I am sorry that the other poster had problems and when you're on a vacation you want everything right. we were a group of 19 and 7 had never cruised before. we are booking another trip now

Would definitely cruise Liberty again

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

After reading all the posts and threads on this ship I am wondering if I was on the right one. We just got back from her yesterday. The itinerary was great... so many ports with lots of things to do, if desired. Unfortunately, as far as the ship went... that was the worst we have been on. It has been a while since we have been on Carnival but I am sure I'd remember such concerns. Upon entering our stateroom and going into the bathroom I smelled an odor of old urine which I could not figure out the source of... I am a nurse and KNOW this odor! That persisted through the week unidentified. The bathroom screws were coming out of the lock set 3 out of 4. I tried to tighten them with my fingernail. While putting our clothes away I notice that two of the bottom latches on the closet were not attached to the door but instead sticking staright out. The actual latch on the same door was pulled loose. I ignored this until later in the trip when after a nap and feeling sleepy I went into the closet and bent down to get a pair of shoes and ended up scratching my temple / scalp just shy of my eye (when reported it was fixed immediately though and staff were genuinely concerned if there was an injury, which there was not but it was enough to make me say... time to let sometone know about this before a real serious injury occurs). Upon getting ready for bed I noticed hair on the comforter... worse yet... there was some sort of "brown" marks on the fitted sheet on the mattress. Stripped the bed then. Our cabin steward introduced himself upon arrival but then seemed to go AWOL for a few days... and this was before anything was reported. Never said anything about the urine smell... guess I should have.

 

After coming off two RCCL ships with main street USA on them we found this one difficult to get a handle on. We were consistently rechecking our direction. I have always gotten our ships down by day 3! The ceilings were also lower and the atmosphere, although classy as described by some, appeared very dark to me who likes the bright and airy. I also like all of my meal options in one area of the ship and do not prefer having to move from one area to another for different desires in a family sitting together for breakfast and lunch. We did not find the Lido staff as interacting or with many smiles upon eye contact as other cruises and Larry DID NOT enjoy Harry's which was a shame as I had it booked for three nights so I had to cancel the other two. His shrimp cocktail came out raw... that ruined the evening there and they could not accomodate a simple request of riesling wine although the main dining room readily had it available. We found the standards and food choices / portions subpar in the main dining room. We chose NY strip most nights. Some nights we weren't even given choices on dessert... they were just placed (all the same) for the table!? I asked for bearnaise sauce one night and one waiter told me yes and when served without it another said they did not have it "only on the chautaebriand nights". Our tableclothe was dirty on a couple of occassions and I noticed the staff taking the charger plates off of the table when the main entree was served and then wipe them down with a towel and stack them on a nearby table. When I brought this to my husbands attention he thought they were preparing them to bring to the back room but they were not! Other cruise lines strip you of your silver and pull the chair out for you (we've made great jokes about this) not that this is required but these suttle differences stand out. The staff often grabbed nearby glasses and silverware to place on the same or nearby tables when dinner guests did not show up. I was very pleased with our bar waitress Theresia.She had our beverages there before we were even there and was never far away. Larry had a soda card and this absolutely did not matter. She was pure pleasure full of smiles. Unfortunately for this ship, she is off for two months after the next sailing and then will be on another ship. Although the soda card has been an issue for some, we certainly did not find our service was affected by presenting it. The entertainment was great... from shows to comedians and the casino staff were very friendly. Despite this... we were not very impressed and most likely will not be sailing her or carnival anytime soon if at all. :(

 

Yeah but a vacation is what you make of it. I was VERY unimpressed by the food on Liberty in ALL areas but still had a great time. I mean, complaining because your chair wasn't pulled out? I'm sorry, but get real!

 

A bad cruise is an oxymoron to me!- no such thing!

[Tapi]

First time carnival cruiser after 6 royal caribbean cruises..... i want to know everything about the liberty!!!! She looks like a great ship :) I was looking at the capers that host mach posted and it seems like there is a plethora of activities that i have never seen on royal caribbean. I am very excited and look forward to your responses!!!! :cool: :D

 

I sailed on the Liberty when it was 4 months old. LOVED it so much that I'm going back this year!

[Weeze624]

Yeah but a vacation is what you make of it. I was VERY unimpressed by the food on Liberty in ALL areas but still had a great time. I mean, complaining because your chair wasn't pulled out? I'm sorry, but get real!

 

A bad cruise is an oxymoron to me!- no such thing!

I am getting real... if you read well... that was not nearly a requirement but something noticed as a comparrison to past experience. And if you read further you would have noticed that we did have a great cruise (as I believe there is NO bad cruise either). I was just not pleased with the additions of unsatisfaction of food added to the smell of urine in the bathroom that existed upon arrival... dirty (seriously dirty) sheets, and feces on the inside of the bathroom door! Maybe you could easily get over and dwell in surroundings such as this but I cannot. I don't think that is being snobby or something people should be told to get over. As I posted to the poster responding to mine... I am sure this is not the norm but it was my experience. It is a shame people can't express honest views/reviews without being condemned for it. Did not know this was a "post only the good" board.