Really Super-Long Liberty 8-day Western Review with Pictures!

[jimbug]

Wow, where to start. I just returned from a truly wonderful vacation aboard the Carnival Liberty’s 8-day western Caribbean itinerary, and I want to share my story. If you’re here just for the photos, go here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrskennedynd

Note that there are 3 albums for the Liberty cruise--start with the one named 'Carnival Liberty - 1' if you want to see the pictures in order.

 

Now, on to the beginnings of my cruise story...it may take me a few days to get the whole thing written!

 

Background Info:

I am Jimmie, and I am a 26-year-old female who has now been on 5 cruises. This was my first time on Carnival, and I was definitely pleased. I have enjoyed every single one of my cruises for different reasons, and I will certainly sail Carnival again if the itinerary, ship, and price are right. Traveling with me was a group of my extended family members: my mom, my Granny, my uncle Terry and his wife Liz, their two children (Tara [16] and Cody [12]), and Liz’s mother, Heidi. This was my mother’s third cruise, and everyone else’s first. It was truly the “trip of a lifetime” for all of us, because it was our first (and probably only) time to vacation together with so many members of our family. We wish the rest of them could have been there, but we are truly grateful to have experienced this week together onboard the ship.

 

Quick thoughts about the experience before I get into the review:

This cruise was extremely family-oriented, but at the same time, had the best nightlife of any cruise I have ever been on. We appreciated that all ages were welcome into the Piano Man bar (but that doesn’t mean that Vince kept things family-friendly…haha). One big negative the whole week: crowds. This ship had the most crowded feeling I’ve ever experienced…there was just so many people, all the time! Most of them were nice, but there were those few who stood out in the crowd for obnoxious reasons, and of course, they were the ones we kept running into over and over throughout the week. This was also spring break week for a lot of folks, but the ship did not seem to be overrun by college spring breakers by any means. There were a few small groups here and there, but I would say the vast majority of cruisers this week were families. There were lots of kids onboard, but apparently Camp Carnival kept them all entertained, because the only time we ever noticed them was on the last night after all the camp activities were over and they were just roaming the ship.

 

Now, on to the review…

 

Friday, March 14 – Getting to Fort Lauderdale:

My journey to Florida started very early this morning as I drove to Fargo, North Dakota, to make my 5:40 a.m. United Airlines flight to Chicago. Fortunately, the weather was great (okay, typical North Dakota winter weather, but no snow!) and we arrived in ORD on time. I made my connection there with no problems, and flew Ted down to Fort Lauderdale. (Note: it was my first time on a United Ted flight, and I was impressed. We were given cookies, free headphones, and there was a movie. I can’t complain.) We were about 10-15 minutes late into FLL because the tower had us do a “west approach” into the airport, which was kind of cool because we got to fly over the Everglades. No alligator spottings, but it was neat to see nonetheless. I was flying by myself, since the rest of my family was arriving later that day and Saturday morning from Oklahoma and Texas. I had some time to myself, so I headed over to the rental car facility at FLL and got my full-size car from Budget. The car turned out to be a new Saturn Aura, and I will never, ever buy this car. It was comfortable enough, but for a full size, not roomy at all, and the turning radius was complete crap. Every time I went to park the car, I had to back up and try again!

 

Since I had some time to kill and some shopping to do, I drove west to Pembroke Pines and spent a couple of hours at the Pembroke Lakes mall. It was okay, as far as malls go, and I probably should have gone to Aventura instead, but I wanted to go to Macy’s, Dillard’s, and Dress Barn, and this one actually had all 3. I was extremely tired by the time I got there, so really all I ended up doing was buying a new dress for formal night at Dress Barn, browsing around Macy’s, getting an amazing slice of pizza and a drink for $2.85 at the food court, and leaving. I had gotten about 2 hours sleep the night before, and it was starting to show. So, I left the mall, fought rush-hour traffic, and finally arrived at my hotel around 5:00 p.m.

 

My hotel was the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort, and it was really nice. I got it on Priceline about 3 weeks before the trip, and I was very pleased with the “win.” It was very easy to find – right along the A1A near Hallandale Beach Boulevard. I pulled in, and the very helpful valet parking guys explained the parking options for me ($14 for self-parking or $18 for valet), and I went inside to check in. I’ve used Priceline several times before, and I am used to getting the “worst” rooms or poor service from the hotel staff because I booked through Priceline, but I have to say that the staff at the Crowne Plaza did not do this at all. The lady who checked me was extremely nice, and gave me a balcony room that overlooked both the Hallandale Beach and the Intracoastal Waterway. Not only that, but after I was in my room for about 20 minutes, she called to check on me and to make sure that everything was satisfactory and if I needed anything else. The hotel was extremely nice, and my only complaint was that the doors were not soundproof at all. I couldn’t hear anything from the surrounding rooms, so the walls were well-insulated, but if someone was standing in the hallway talking (and the spring breakers across the hall seemed to do that a lot), I could hear them as clearly as if they were right in my room. Argh! I got a little siesta in, then got the call from some of my family from Tulsa that they had arrived in Fort Lauderdale at their hotel.

 

I went to pick up Terry, Liz, Tara, and Cody at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Dania Beach, and we made a Walgreen’s run for bottled water and soda, then headed over to one of my favorite places to eat in the Fort Lauderdale area – the Moonlight Diner. The Moonlight Diner is in the shopping center with K-Mart and Old Navy along Stirling Road, and it’s open 24 hours. It’s typical diner food, but it’s all so tasty! By the time we were finished eating, we were all weary from traveling, and it was kind of icky, rainy weather outside, so I took them back to their hotel and headed back to the Crowne Plaza. I promptly went to sleep, exhausted from my travels, but with the anticipation of boarding the ship the next day!

 

Saturday, March 15 – Embarkation Day:

My mom and Granny were supposed to be arriving at approximately 9:45 a.m. Saturday morning on an American Airlines flight from Dallas. I got a text message from American early that morning stating that they were going to be late (grrrr), and couldn’t really go back to sleep because I was worried they wouldn’t make it to FLL on time. Fortunately, it only turned out to be 15-20 minutes late by the time everything was said and done! I checked out of my hotel around 9:00, drove back to Walgreen’s for some Easter bunny gifts to pass out the next week, then met them at the airport. We picked up their baggage, then got in the car and headed to Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale for a late breakfast. I had done my research beforehand and decided that we would try out La Bonne Crepe. The online recommendations were right-on, and we had a great table outdoors where we could people watch while enjoying our food. La Bonne Crepe’s prices were quite reasonable (less than $12 for just about anything on the breakfast menu). I got the crepes with bananas and pecans, Mom got the Eggs Las Olas (Eggs Benedict with spinach and tomato), and Granny got a Las Olas omelet (the omelet form of the Eggs Las Olas). The crepes were okay, but I think I was just too excited to really eat and enjoy it…haha. I tried Mom’s eggs, and they were amazing. The hollandaise sauce was sooo rich and delicious. I had a few more bites because I knew this would top any of the eggs we would get onboard the ship the next week!

 

After enjoying a leisurely meal, we walked a couple of blocks around Las Olas just to see what was there. It’s really kind of a neat area, and we hope to get back there one of these days and explore some more. We got back in the rental car and at the request of Mom, we went to see the beach! We took Las Olas over to the A1A and drove a mile or two up the coast, gawking at all the spring breakers and the beautiful sand and water. We finally decided it was time to head to the ship, so I drove over to the Budget car rental location on 17th Street in the Quay shopping center (across from the Port Everglades entrance). We returned the car with no hassle, and expected to take their free shuttle over to the port like we had done on a previous cruise. Well, it turns out about 20 other people (with about 50 pieces of luggage) had the same idea as us, and the lady at the rental counter estimated it could be another 45 minutes-1 hour before there was a shuttle available for us. We decided to forego the shuttle and just called a cab to come and get us. The cab was there in literally just 2 minutes and it was a $9 ride in to the port area. Much easier and quicker than waiting on a shuttle with a ton of other people. We arrived at the Liberty, and believe it or not, could not get a porter to come take our luggage for the life of us! Somehow our cab pulled up and no one paid attention, so we had to flag down someone to get luggage tags and to take our bags. We got out tip money, but the guy didn’t even stay around to take it—too weird! Well, we just hoped our bags would make it onto the ship!

 

We walked down to the doors and saw a HUGE line…the biggest line I have ever seen in a cruise ship boarding process. Well, I thought, no problems – Granny needs a wheelchair and I’m pretty sure they will zip us right through the line. That was true, to an extent, but getting there was such a pain! I first asked a porter if they could get a wheelchair, and they said we had to ask a Carnival employee. Okay, fine. I left Mom and Granny near the baggage loading area and walked down to find the Carnival guy who was directing people into the line. I asked him about a wheelchair for my grandmother, and he said we had to go through the VIP line to get one. It was quite a distance from where I left Mom and Granny to the VIP line, and by the time we got there, she was really needing to sit down and rest, but there was nowhere to do so. The VIP line was also quite long and not moving very fast at all, so I finally found a different Carnival employee and told him that we needed a wheelchair for my grandmother because she cannot stand for long periods of time. It was so chaotic right there at the entrance, and it was unclear what we were supposed to do. The employee finally found the right door for us to go through, where we were finally in the air-conditioned comfort of the terminal, complete with chairs in the handicapped waiting area. Thank goodness! Once we were there, a very nice Carnival embarkation employee named Jerry took great care of Granny. He took her name and put her on the list for a wheelchair, and explained how the boarding process would work. Since the 3 of us were traveling together in the same cabin, we were able to stay with her the whole time, which was also great. I will just say right here that if anyone from Carnival is reading this, please, please make the handicapped entrance area more clear with proper signage and make sure all the embarkation employees are well-informed of this process. It really turned out to be a lot harder than it needed to be, and that really soured our first impression of the cruise, not to mention the fact that it really physically strained my grandmother since she had to stand and walk in the heat and humidity a lot more than we had expected.

 

Anyway, once Jerry took over, we only had to wait maybe 10 minutes for a wheelchair, and things got immensely better from there. Joseph, a waiter in the Golden Olympian dining room, “drove” Granny’s wheelchair and escorted us through the whole boarding process onto the ship. Joseph was awesome, and we wish we could have had one of his tables for dinner! Joseph was great with Granny, and he really turned that sour first impression into a fabulous one. We were in a much better mood by the time he dropped us off in the ship’s lobby! I will say that as we bypassed all the check-in lines, I was utterly thankful they allowed us to do so. The lines snaked through two sections of the terminal building, and people were having to wait more than an hour to check in. I’ve *never* had to wait that long to check in for a cruise, and I’d definitely recommend either arriving really early and being the first ones in line, or arriving much later (around 1:30-2:00 pm), when there are no lines. I think we arrived at around 12:00 or 12:30, which must have been the peak time, because it was nuts!

 

Wheelchair escorts only go as far as the lobby, so Mom and Granny took a seat on one of the couches by the purser’s desk, and I took some of our carry-ons up to our room. We had cabin # 1051, which was a balcony cabin on the Panorama deck. I went in, expecting to find the mobility scooter waiting for us that we had rented from Randle Medical prior to the cruise. The scooter was not there, so I quickly called Randle Medical, and they confirmed that the scooter was delivered, but that it had gone to cabin # 8401 by mistake. So, I headed down to that cabin, and the nicest Australian couple answered the door and they did indeed have our scooter! Fortunately for me, the gentleman in the cabin had used a scooter previously and he was able to show me how to drive it so I could deliver it to Granny down in the lobby. I said good-bye to my new Australian friends, and maneuvered the scooter down to deck 3. I will say that I now have a newfound appreciation for those who require the use of wheelchairs and scooters. Most people were very nice and were glad to move out of my way and let the scooter get through, but there were those few jerks who rushed the elevator I could get off and blocked the hallways with their stuff and didn’t seem too interested in moving it. Blah! Anyway, another note about the scooter—I had contacted Carnival’s Special Needs department prior to the cruise, and they gave me the names of the medical supply companies that are approved to deliver to the ship. Randle Medical was on the list, and they had the cheapest price ($245) for an 8-day cruise. It was well worth it, because it allowed Granny to fully enjoy the cruise without having to worry about tiring out or not being able to walk the length of the ship to get to different venues. We did not require a handicap cabin, and we had a clearance of about 2 inches on either side of the scooter getting it through the door. It was a tight fit, but certainly manageable. It also wasn’t as terribly crowded with the scooter in the cabin as I had feared. However, if you can get a handicap cabin, I’d definitely suggest it. The extra room and wider doors would really help out a lot.

 

Anyway, Granny got in her scooter and we went back up to the cabin to get settled. Our first impressions of the cabin were that it was very “orange.” It appears that all of Carnival’s cabins have this color scheme, and it’s not that big of a deal, but man, those corals and peaches and oranges were really not that visually attractive. Oh well, it certainly didn’t affect the cruise at all! The cabin really was quite spacious, and there was more than enough storage for all of our things. The bathroom also didn’t seem quite as claustrophobic as the one on Royal Caribbean did last summer, and we all got along just fine. The Panorama deck was also a great location—one deck above the lido buffet, and one deck below the spa! We couldn’t ask for anything better. Shortly after we arrived, the rest of our gang had also made it on the ship! They had taken the shuttle from their hotel and had to wait in line about 45 minutes to check in once they arrived at the pier. Terry and Liz had balcony cabin #1039, just 3 or 4 doors down from us, and Tara and Cody shared the inside cabin across the hall (#1041). Heidi had a room by herself, inside cabin #2414, and she said she really enjoyed having the room down there.

 

We started putting away our carry-ons and met our cabin steward, Iwayan, when we discovered that not everyone in our party had the same dining table. We did manage to get the 6:15 dining we had requested in the Golden Olympian dining room, but they had split us up into two tables. We really didn’t want to dine with strangers (we don’t know how to behave in public [haha] and we’d feel sorry for anyone who was stuck with our antics the whole week), so I headed down to the dining room to see the Maitre d’. The Capers stated that he would be available until 3:30, and I went down at 3:00 to find the door closed. I opened the door, and there was an employee promptly right there to tell me that “they were closed.” I said I just had a question about my dining, and that the Capers stated that we could come until 3:30. She just responded that they were preparing for the muster drill and would not accept any more questions. Hmph. She was quite rude, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day. I was on a cruise ship! We just decided we would work things out at dinner that night and see how things turned out.

 

Since Mom and I knew what a crowded mess the muster drill can be, we decided to take Granny down on the scooter and wait in the library on Deck 4, which was where Iwayan told us we would be going when the drill started. We waited down there for about 30 minutes, just relaxing and taking pictures, when the drill began. We headed over to the lifeboat station, where a wonderful employee told us we didn’t have to go outside in the wind since Granny was in the scooter. We were allowed to wait just around the corner indoors, which was where they directed the other half-dozen or so handicapped folks for our station. This was really kind of Carnival, and they even sent us all to the elevators first before the masses were released from the drill. Awesome! One of my biggest fears of cruising with Granny was getting through the muster drill since we knew it was usually a huge stampede. Carnival really made it easy for us all, and we were back in our cabin relaxing on the balcony before anyone else had even made it up the stairs.

 

We went out to the open areas on Deck 10 for the sailaway party right after the muster drill. It was so much fun, and the weather was great! We were one of 8 ships leaving Port Everglades that day, and we were all dancing and waving and enjoying it all. Shortly after sailaway, we returned to the cabin to get ready for dinner. We headed down to the Golden Olympian for our 6:15 dinner, and were delightfully surprised to see that the two different tables for our group turned out to be adjacent 4-seaters. Yay! We didn’t have to move anything around or dine with people we didn’t know. Alexandra was our head waitress, and Eton was her assistant. They were a great team, and Alexandra said we became part of her family by the end of the week. We will really miss them!

 

I’ll hit the dining room dinner food portion of the review here…all of the food we had the whole week was good, but there were a few things that stood out as very excellent and as not so great. The not-so-great items: chicken roulade entrée on the spa menu, the vegetarian eggplant and zucchini parmigiana entrée, and the filet mignon (very dry). The excellent items: fried shrimp appetizer, Caribbean chocolate cake, black bean and vegetable enchiladas entrée, vegetarian lasagna entrée, charred spring chicken entrée, the chilled fruit soups, and the warm chocolate melting cake. Yum, yum, yum, yum!

 

After dinner, we had intended to go to the Welcome Aboard show, but ended up skipping it because they only had one showing for all guests that night and it was quite late (10:30 pm). Tara and I instead went to the hot tubs on the lido deck and watched part of “Ratatouille” that was being shown on the big screen. Note to self: stay out of the hot tubs when animated children’s movies are being shown. They were completely overrun with hyperactive children who were splashing and kicking us, and I wanted to say something to them, but these were not the hot tubs that were for adults only, so I kept my mouth shut. We grabbed a slice of pizza after the movie and headed to our cabins for bed.

[PINEVIEW01]

I just got off the liberty on the 9th. Nice cruise. I like reading others take on it though.

[PaulMedik]

jimbug,

 

Thank you for sharing your review. Great pics too! You got some of the best white water pics I've seen. How'd you get so many?

[jimbug]

jimbug,

 

Thank you for sharing your review. Great pics too! You got some of the best white water pics I've seen. How'd you get so many?

 

The whitewater pictures are actually from the CD we purchased from the tour company. They had a photographer who followed us around in a kayak taking pictures of each raft and they sold the CD after the trip. There are over 800 pics on the CD, but as you can see, only about 60 or so were of our raft. Definitely worth it, though, as he captured our raft's capsize! :)

[jimbug]

Sunday, March 16 – First Day at Sea:

Sometime during the middle of the night (okay, maybe it was more like midnight, but whatever), our phone in the cabin rang. I rushed to answer it, thinking that something must have been wrong, but turns out it was the spa calling me. I had entered my name in a raffle for a free massage earlier in the day and didn’t win that, but they had an 8:00 a.m. appointment available the next morning and were offering me any massage I wanted for half price. Heck yeah! I signed up immediately for a 60-minute Swedish massage and went back to bed since I had to get up so early. I do think it was kind of weird that they called so late, but since it turned out to be good news, I didn’t mind. :)

 

Oh, and another note…since we had 3 people in our cabin, I slept on the sofa that was made into a bed each night. It was actually pretty comfortable, and I didn’t mind at all.

 

The spa actually called the cabin again at around 7:15 a.m. to give me a wakeup call, which I thought was really nice, so I went ahead and got up and called to order some pastries and juice from room service. They were really prompt in delivering it, and I finished just in time to head upstairs to the spa for my appointment. Rose May was my therapist, and she was amazing. I could literally feel the tension in my back and shoulders being released, and when she finished, I just wanted to lay there and sleep. The product sell was very low-pressure, and I was actually considering buying some of the products she suggested, but decided against it when I realized I could have another massage later in the cruise for the price of one of the lotions.

 

After my massage, Mom, Granny, and I went down to the shore excursion desk to see about getting their tour in Cozumel cancelled. We had pre-booked the Sub-Ocean View excursion for the two of them online, but once we saw how quickly Granny was getting tired when she had to walk on her own, we decided against it. Even though we were less than 24 hours from our arrival in Cozumel, and the excursion tickets clearly stated that cancellations within the 24-hour window would not be refunded, the shore excursion employee gladly refunded both tickets when she saw Granny with us in her scooter. She agreed that it would not be the best excursion choice for someone with mobility issues. Oddly enough, the refund went as a credit to my sail & sign account, and not to Granny or Mom’s, when they were the ones who paid for them originally.

 

After dealing with the shore excursion stuff, we decided to take a little tour of the ship and take some pictures. We saw pretty much everything there was to see. We then dropped Granny off at the cabin and Mom and I headed up to deck 12 to lay out in the sun with the rest of our family for awhile. Deck 12 is the best place to be on a sea day…it wasn’t crowded at all and there were plenty of chairs and deck space. It’s where you get on the water slide, and other than the line of kids waiting for the slide, there was hardly any traffic up there. Decks 9, 10, and 11 were extremely crowded, and you could barely even walk through them because of all the chairs crowded together. Really, though, I saw few, if any, chair hogs, believe it or not. There were actually people in about 99% of the chairs on the deck. After laying out for a bit and enjoying my first foo-foo drink of the cruise (a Dirty Banana), we decided it was time for lunch. We picked up Granny, and a few of us went to Emile’s (the lido buffet) for lunch. I think we went around 11:45, and it was clearly the peak lunch time. It was quite busy, but it was easy enough to find an empty table. The main lines moved quickly, but the line for the made-to-order stir fry was long and slow. It was worth it, though--I ate that for my lunch and it was very yummy! My only complaint about the lunch that day was the dessert bar—we tried a little bit of everything, and they were all pretty tasteless and bland. No problem, though—there was always soft-serve ice cream!! :)

 

We ended up just sitting at our table in the lido for an hour or so after eating, just because it was nice and cool in there and the people-watching was great. We joked that if we sat there long enough, we could eat our way through the afternoon into dinner…haha. After lunch, I don’t really recall doing anything specific other than just getting ready for formal night. We got ourselves all ready by 5:00 p.m. in time to take a few pictures and then go to the Captain’s party before our 6:15 seating. The Capers stated that the Captain’s party would take place in 3 of the venues on the Promenade, so we just chose the Piano Man bar. It turned out to be a good choice, because not too many people came in there, so we had quick food and beverage service, and we certainly took advantage of the free drinks. Most of the pre-made ones were kind of watered down, but Terry and I discovered that by ordering martinis (me) or scotch on the rocks (him), we were getting our money’s worth (haha). Vince (the piano man himself) entertained us with some nice, easy-listening type piano music during the party and we had a really enjoyable time. The only disappointment was that we didn’t get to meet Captain Nogara, who by the way is an extremely handsome and elegant Italian gentleman. :) The Capers didn’t state which lounge Captain Nogara would be in, but it apparently wasn’t the Piano Man. Oh well.

 

We went on down to our dinner and had another lovely meal with Alexandra and Eton. Afterwards, we decided to take in the main show in the Venetian Palace theater, which was called “Wonderful World.” The singers and dancers were all pretty capable, but we kind of thought the show was quite cheesy. The real talent in the theater was Jimmy Boore, who led the Liberty Orchestra on trumpet. He’s great!

 

After the show, the “old people” in the group went to bed, while Tara and I went to back to the Piano Man to experience the phenomenon. I had never been to a piano bar of any sort before, but I had read countless praises of Carnival’s piano bars on CruiseCritic. Vince did not disappoint. We were able to secure 2 highly-coveted seats around the piano, and we sang and drummed our way through a couple of hours’ worth of songs. Vince really knows how to keep the crowd involved, and bless his heart for having to deal with all the extremely drunk people who frequented his bar every night! After a few more martinis (unfortunately not free this time…haha), I was ready to stay for the long haul, but decided against it since I had to get up early for Cozumel the next morning.

[cathyoo]

Excellent review..can't wait to read the rest.

[anjoliza]

Excellent review..can't wait to read the rest.

 

DITTO!!!

 

It seems that the anticipation of my upcoming Liberty cruise is affecting my sleep patterns;) - I was glad I got up instead of tossing and turning in bed. I spent an enjoyable time reading the review and looking at the pictures.

 

Thanks for your work in doing this and looking forward to the continuation!!

[sheri18]

great review so far...cant wait to read the rest...nice pics....

[anjoliza]

Jimmie:

 

What would you suggest to bring along for warm clothing? Are jeans and a sweatshirt ever needed or will a windbreaker type jacket suffice?

 

Thanks,

Annette

[cruiseaddict05]

Wow, where to start. I just returned from a truly wonderful vacation aboard the Carnival Liberty’s 8-day western Caribbean itinerary, and I want to share my story. If you’re here just for the photos, go here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrskennedynd

Note that there are 3 albums for the Liberty cruise--start with the one named 'Carnival Liberty - 1' if you want to see the pictures in order.

 

Now, on to the beginnings of my cruise story...it may take me a few days to get the whole thing written!

 

Background Info:

I am Jimmie, and I am a 26-year-old female who has now been on 5 cruises. This was my first time on Carnival, and I was definitely pleased. I have enjoyed every single one of my cruises for different reasons, and I will certainly sail Carnival again if the itinerary, ship, and price are right. Traveling with me was a group of my extended family members: my mom, my Granny, my uncle Terry and his wife Liz, their two children (Tara [16] and Cody [12]), and Liz’s mother, Heidi. This was my mother’s third cruise, and everyone else’s first. It was truly the “trip of a lifetime” for all of us, because it was our first (and probably only) time to vacation together with so many members of our family. We wish the rest of them could have been there, but we are truly grateful to have experienced this week together onboard the ship.

 

Quick thoughts about the experience before I get into the review:

This cruise was extremely family-oriented, but at the same time, had the best nightlife of any cruise I have ever been on. We appreciated that all ages were welcome into the Piano Man bar (but that doesn’t mean that Vince kept things family-friendly…haha). One big negative the whole week: crowds. This ship had the most crowded feeling I’ve ever experienced…there was just so many people, all the time! Most of them were nice, but there were those few who stood out in the crowd for obnoxious reasons, and of course, they were the ones we kept running into over and over throughout the week. This was also spring break week for a lot of folks, but the ship did not seem to be overrun by college spring breakers by any means. There were a few small groups here and there, but I would say the vast majority of cruisers this week were families. There were lots of kids onboard, but apparently Camp Carnival kept them all entertained, because the only time we ever noticed them was on the last night after all the camp activities were over and they were just roaming the ship.

 

Now, on to the review…

 

Friday, March 14 – Getting to Fort Lauderdale:

My journey to Florida started very early this morning as I drove to Fargo, North Dakota, to make my 5:40 a.m. United Airlines flight to Chicago. Fortunately, the weather was great (okay, typical North Dakota winter weather, but no snow!) and we arrived in ORD on time. I made my connection there with no problems, and flew Ted down to Fort Lauderdale. (Note: it was my first time on a United Ted flight, and I was impressed. We were given cookies, free headphones, and there was a movie. I can’t complain.) We were about 10-15 minutes late into FLL because the tower had us do a “west approach” into the airport, which was kind of cool because we got to fly over the Everglades. No alligator spottings, but it was neat to see nonetheless. I was flying by myself, since the rest of my family was arriving later that day and Saturday morning from Oklahoma and Texas. I had some time to myself, so I headed over to the rental car facility at FLL and got my full-size car from Budget. The car turned out to be a new Saturn Aura, and I will never, ever buy this car. It was comfortable enough, but for a full size, not roomy at all, and the turning radius was complete crap. Every time I went to park the car, I had to back up and try again!

 

Since I had some time to kill and some shopping to do, I drove west to Pembroke Pines and spent a couple of hours at the Pembroke Lakes mall. It was okay, as far as malls go, and I probably should have gone to Aventura instead, but I wanted to go to Macy’s, Dillard’s, and Dress Barn, and this one actually had all 3. I was extremely tired by the time I got there, so really all I ended up doing was buying a new dress for formal night at Dress Barn, browsing around Macy’s, getting an amazing slice of pizza and a drink for $2.85 at the food court, and leaving. I had gotten about 2 hours sleep the night before, and it was starting to show. So, I left the mall, fought rush-hour traffic, and finally arrived at my hotel around 5:00 p.m.

 

My hotel was the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort, and it was really nice. I got it on Priceline about 3 weeks before the trip, and I was very pleased with the “win.” It was very easy to find – right along the A1A near Hallandale Beach Boulevard. I pulled in, and the very helpful valet parking guys explained the parking options for me ($14 for self-parking or $18 for valet), and I went inside to check in. I’ve used Priceline several times before, and I am used to getting the “worst” rooms or poor service from the hotel staff because I booked through Priceline, but I have to say that the staff at the Crowne Plaza did not do this at all. The lady who checked me was extremely nice, and gave me a balcony room that overlooked both the Hallandale Beach and the Intracoastal Waterway. Not only that, but after I was in my room for about 20 minutes, she called to check on me and to make sure that everything was satisfactory and if I needed anything else. The hotel was extremely nice, and my only complaint was that the doors were not soundproof at all. I couldn’t hear anything from the surrounding rooms, so the walls were well-insulated, but if someone was standing in the hallway talking (and the spring breakers across the hall seemed to do that a lot), I could hear them as clearly as if they were right in my room. Argh! I got a little siesta in, then got the call from some of my family from Tulsa that they had arrived in Fort Lauderdale at their hotel.

 

I went to pick up Terry, Liz, Tara, and Cody at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Dania Beach, and we made a Walgreen’s run for bottled water and soda, then headed over to one of my favorite places to eat in the Fort Lauderdale area – the Moonlight Diner. The Moonlight Diner is in the shopping center with K-Mart and Old Navy along Stirling Road, and it’s open 24 hours. It’s typical diner food, but it’s all so tasty! By the time we were finished eating, we were all weary from traveling, and it was kind of icky, rainy weather outside, so I took them back to their hotel and headed back to the Crowne Plaza. I promptly went to sleep, exhausted from my travels, but with the anticipation of boarding the ship the next day!

 

Saturday, March 15 – Embarkation Day:

My mom and Granny were supposed to be arriving at approximately 9:45 a.m. Saturday morning on an American Airlines flight from Dallas. I got a text message from American early that morning stating that they were going to be late (grrrr), and couldn’t really go back to sleep because I was worried they wouldn’t make it to FLL on time. Fortunately, it only turned out to be 15-20 minutes late by the time everything was said and done! I checked out of my hotel around 9:00, drove back to Walgreen’s for some Easter bunny gifts to pass out the next week, then met them at the airport. We picked up their baggage, then got in the car and headed to Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale for a late breakfast. I had done my research beforehand and decided that we would try out La Bonne Crepe. The online recommendations were right-on, and we had a great table outdoors where we could people watch while enjoying our food. La Bonne Crepe’s prices were quite reasonable (less than $12 for just about anything on the breakfast menu). I got the crepes with bananas and pecans, Mom got the Eggs Las Olas (Eggs Benedict with spinach and tomato), and Granny got a Las Olas omelet (the omelet form of the Eggs Las Olas). The crepes were okay, but I think I was just too excited to really eat and enjoy it…haha. I tried Mom’s eggs, and they were amazing. The hollandaise sauce was sooo rich and delicious. I had a few more bites because I knew this would top any of the eggs we would get onboard the ship the next week!

 

After enjoying a leisurely meal, we walked a couple of blocks around Las Olas just to see what was there. It’s really kind of a neat area, and we hope to get back there one of these days and explore some more. We got back in the rental car and at the request of Mom, we went to see the beach! We took Las Olas over to the A1A and drove a mile or two up the coast, gawking at all the spring breakers and the beautiful sand and water. We finally decided it was time to head to the ship, so I drove over to the Budget car rental location on 17th Street in the Quay shopping center (across from the Port Everglades entrance). We returned the car with no hassle, and expected to take their free shuttle over to the port like we had done on a previous cruise. Well, it turns out about 20 other people (with about 50 pieces of luggage) had the same idea as us, and the lady at the rental counter estimated it could be another 45 minutes-1 hour before there was a shuttle available for us. We decided to forego the shuttle and just called a cab to come and get us. The cab was there in literally just 2 minutes and it was a $9 ride in to the port area. Much easier and quicker than waiting on a shuttle with a ton of other people. We arrived at the Liberty, and believe it or not, could not get a porter to come take our luggage for the life of us! Somehow our cab pulled up and no one paid attention, so we had to flag down someone to get luggage tags and to take our bags. We got out tip money, but the guy didn’t even stay around to take it—too weird! Well, we just hoped our bags would make it onto the ship!

 

We walked down to the doors and saw a HUGE line…the biggest line I have ever seen in a cruise ship boarding process. Well, I thought, no problems – Granny needs a wheelchair and I’m pretty sure they will zip us right through the line. That was true, to an extent, but getting there was such a pain! I first asked a porter if they could get a wheelchair, and they said we had to ask a Carnival employee. Okay, fine. I left Mom and Granny near the baggage loading area and walked down to find the Carnival guy who was directing people into the line. I asked him about a wheelchair for my grandmother, and he said we had to go through the VIP line to get one. It was quite a distance from where I left Mom and Granny to the VIP line, and by the time we got there, she was really needing to sit down and rest, but there was nowhere to do so. The VIP line was also quite long and not moving very fast at all, so I finally found a different Carnival employee and told him that we needed a wheelchair for my grandmother because she cannot stand for long periods of time. It was so chaotic right there at the entrance, and it was unclear what we were supposed to do. The employee finally found the right door for us to go through, where we were finally in the air-conditioned comfort of the terminal, complete with chairs in the handicapped waiting area. Thank goodness! Once we were there, a very nice Carnival embarkation employee named Jerry took great care of Granny. He took her name and put her on the list for a wheelchair, and explained how the boarding process would work. Since the 3 of us were traveling together in the same cabin, we were able to stay with her the whole time, which was also great. I will just say right here that if anyone from Carnival is reading this, please, please make the handicapped entrance area more clear with proper signage and make sure all the embarkation employees are well-informed of this process. It really turned out to be a lot harder than it needed to be, and that really soured our first impression of the cruise, not to mention the fact that it really physically strained my grandmother since she had to stand and walk in the heat and humidity a lot more than we had expected.

 

Anyway, once Jerry took over, we only had to wait maybe 10 minutes for a wheelchair, and things got immensely better from there. Joseph, a waiter in the Golden Olympian dining room, “drove” Granny’s wheelchair and escorted us through the whole boarding process onto the ship. Joseph was awesome, and we wish we could have had one of his tables for dinner! Joseph was great with Granny, and he really turned that sour first impression into a fabulous one. We were in a much better mood by the time he dropped us off in the ship’s lobby! I will say that as we bypassed all the check-in lines, I was utterly thankful they allowed us to do so. The lines snaked through two sections of the terminal building, and people were having to wait more than an hour to check in. I’ve *never* had to wait that long to check in for a cruise, and I’d definitely recommend either arriving really early and being the first ones in line, or arriving much later (around 1:30-2:00 pm), when there are no lines. I think we arrived at around 12:00 or 12:30, which must have been the peak time, because it was nuts!

 

Wheelchair escorts only go as far as the lobby, so Mom and Granny took a seat on one of the couches by the purser’s desk, and I took some of our carry-ons up to our room. We had cabin # 1051, which was a balcony cabin on the Panorama deck. I went in, expecting to find the mobility scooter waiting for us that we had rented from Randle Medical prior to the cruise. The scooter was not there, so I quickly called Randle Medical, and they confirmed that the scooter was delivered, but that it had gone to cabin # 8401 by mistake. So, I headed down to that cabin, and the nicest Australian couple answered the door and they did indeed have our scooter! Fortunately for me, the gentleman in the cabin had used a scooter previously and he was able to show me how to drive it so I could deliver it to Granny down in the lobby. I said good-bye to my new Australian friends, and maneuvered the scooter down to deck 3. I will say that I now have a newfound appreciation for those who require the use of wheelchairs and scooters. Most people were very nice and were glad to move out of my way and let the scooter get through, but there were those few jerks who rushed the elevator I could get off and blocked the hallways with their stuff and didn’t seem too interested in moving it. Blah! Anyway, another note about the scooter—I had contacted Carnival’s Special Needs department prior to the cruise, and they gave me the names of the medical supply companies that are approved to deliver to the ship. Randle Medical was on the list, and they had the cheapest price ($245) for an 8-day cruise. It was well worth it, because it allowed Granny to fully enjoy the cruise without having to worry about tiring out or not being able to walk the length of the ship to get to different venues. We did not require a handicap cabin, and we had a clearance of about 2 inches on either side of the scooter getting it through the door. It was a tight fit, but certainly manageable. It also wasn’t as terribly crowded with the scooter in the cabin as I had feared. However, if you can get a handicap cabin, I’d definitely suggest it. The extra room and wider doors would really help out a lot.

 

Anyway, Granny got in her scooter and we went back up to the cabin to get settled. Our first impressions of the cabin were that it was very “orange.” It appears that all of Carnival’s cabins have this color scheme, and it’s not that big of a deal, but man, those corals and peaches and oranges were really not that visually attractive. Oh well, it certainly didn’t affect the cruise at all! The cabin really was quite spacious, and there was more than enough storage for all of our things. The bathroom also didn’t seem quite as claustrophobic as the one on Royal Caribbean did last summer, and we all got along just fine. The Panorama deck was also a great location—one deck above the lido buffet, and one deck below the spa! We couldn’t ask for anything better. Shortly after we arrived, the rest of our gang had also made it on the ship! They had taken the shuttle from their hotel and had to wait in line about 45 minutes to check in once they arrived at the pier. Terry and Liz had balcony cabin #1039, just 3 or 4 doors down from us, and Tara and Cody shared the inside cabin across the hall (#1041). Heidi had a room by herself, inside cabin #2414, and she said she really enjoyed having the room down there.

 

We started putting away our carry-ons and met our cabin steward, Iwayan, when we discovered that not everyone in our party had the same dining table. We did manage to get the 6:15 dining we had requested in the Golden Olympian dining room, but they had split us up into two tables. We really didn’t want to dine with strangers (we don’t know how to behave in public [haha] and we’d feel sorry for anyone who was stuck with our antics the whole week), so I headed down to the dining room to see the Maitre d’. The Capers stated that he would be available until 3:30, and I went down at 3:00 to find the door closed. I opened the door, and there was an employee promptly right there to tell me that “they were closed.” I said I just had a question about my dining, and that the Capers stated that we could come until 3:30. She just responded that they were preparing for the muster drill and would not accept any more questions. Hmph. She was quite rude, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day. I was on a cruise ship! We just decided we would work things out at dinner that night and see how things turned out.

 

Since Mom and I knew what a crowded mess the muster drill can be, we decided to take Granny down on the scooter and wait in the library on Deck 4, which was where Iwayan told us we would be going when the drill started. We waited down there for about 30 minutes, just relaxing and taking pictures, when the drill began. We headed over to the lifeboat station, where a wonderful employee told us we didn’t have to go outside in the wind since Granny was in the scooter. We were allowed to wait just around the corner indoors, which was where they directed the other half-dozen or so handicapped folks for our station. This was really kind of Carnival, and they even sent us all to the elevators first before the masses were released from the drill. Awesome! One of my biggest fears of cruising with Granny was getting through the muster drill since we knew it was usually a huge stampede. Carnival really made it easy for us all, and we were back in our cabin relaxing on the balcony before anyone else had even made it up the stairs.

 

We went out to the open areas on Deck 10 for the sailaway party right after the muster drill. It was so much fun, and the weather was great! We were one of 8 ships leaving Port Everglades that day, and we were all dancing and waving and enjoying it all. Shortly after sailaway, we returned to the cabin to get ready for dinner. We headed down to the Golden Olympian for our 6:15 dinner, and were delightfully surprised to see that the two different tables for our group turned out to be adjacent 4-seaters. Yay! We didn’t have to move anything around or dine with people we didn’t know. Alexandra was our head waitress, and Eton was her assistant. They were a great team, and Alexandra said we became part of her family by the end of the week. We will really miss them!

 

I’ll hit the dining room dinner food portion of the review here…all of the food we had the whole week was good, but there were a few things that stood out as very excellent and as not so great. The not-so-great items: chicken roulade entrée on the spa menu, the vegetarian eggplant and zucchini parmigiana entrée, and the filet mignon (very dry). The excellent items: fried shrimp appetizer, Caribbean chocolate cake, black bean and vegetable enchiladas entrée, vegetarian lasagna entrée, charred spring chicken entrée, the chilled fruit soups, and the warm chocolate melting cake. Yum, yum, yum, yum!

 

After dinner, we had intended to go to the Welcome Aboard show, but ended up skipping it because they only had one showing for all guests that night and it was quite late (10:30 pm). Tara and I instead went to the hot tubs on the lido deck and watched part of “Ratatouille” that was being shown on the big screen. Note to self: stay out of the hot tubs when animated children’s movies are being shown. They were completely overrun with hyperactive children who were splashing and kicking us, and I wanted to say something to them, but these were not the hot tubs that were for adults only, so I kept my mouth shut. We grabbed a slice of pizza after the movie and headed to our cabins for bed.

 

Sounds like you had an awesome cruise! Makes my 150 days seem 300 away! We are staying in 1041 and I know it is an interior but I was wondering if you had any pics of what configuration it is? This will be our 4th interior but I would love to know what way the room will be set up! Thanks!

[jimbug]

Sounds like you had an awesome cruise! Makes my 150 days seem 300 away! We are staying in 1041 and I know it is an interior but I was wondering if you had any pics of what configuration it is? This will be our 4th interior but I would love to know what way the room will be set up! Thanks!

 

I don't think I took any pictures myself, but once I get the link to my cousins' pictures, I will post them. I'm sure they took a few.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Just when I thought work would be boring today I see this :) Thanks for sharing, I love a great review

[jimbug]

Jimmie:

 

What would you suggest to bring along for warm clothing? Are jeans and a sweatshirt ever needed or will a windbreaker type jacket suffice?

 

Thanks,

Annette

 

Annette,

It was actually really warm outside and on the ship the entire trip. It actually took me a couple of days to acclimate to the warm interior...however, if you do get cold easily, I'd bring maybe just a light windbreaker or jacket because the only place on the ship that seemed cool was the Venetian Palace theater if you happened to sit right under a vent.

[jjlb]

What was the water temp like? rapids exciting (I'm guessing yes with everyone in the water at the end :))?

 

We're leaving 4/12 for same cruise. Can't wait.

[fatsassygirl]

i love the black and aqua dress you are wearing in the picture with your granny and your cousin - do you remember where you got it?

[jimbug]

What was the water temp like? rapids exciting (I'm guessing yes with everyone in the water at the end :))?

 

We're leaving 4/12 for same cruise. Can't wait.

 

The water temperature on the Rio Reventazon in Costa Rica was cool, but not too cold. The water was quite refreshing because it was so hot and humid outside. The rapids were AWESOME. I am a kayaker and live for whitewater--but I was definitely not used to having my destiny in so many other people's hands on the river! In a way, I am pretty glad our raft tipped over (we were the only ones who did that day), because it was more exciting. :)

[jimbug]

i love the black and aqua dress you are wearing in the picture with your granny and your cousin - do you remember where you got it?

 

Thanks! :) I got the dress at Macy's around Christmastime. I'm quite sure they don't have it anymore, but I'll sell it to you if you want it...haha. By the time my next cruise rolls around, I hope to be several sizes smaller and won't have a need for it!

[cruisin kim]

Thanks for sharing your great review! I can't wait to hear the rest of your story, my husband and I will be doing the same itinerary in May. This is our first Carnival cruise too, so we don't know exactly what to expect. The ship looks beautiful, as do the ports, I think we'll be happy.

Your pics are very nice, sorry to hear your camera crapped out, that is a bummer.

[deborahjo]

Thank you for a great review and pictures. I really enjoyed it. Waiting for more...

[jimbug]

Thanks for all the positive comments, everyone. I'm sorry to leave you hanging with the review, but I'm at work today and don't have time to devote my attention to writing. :(

 

But, I'll start writing when I get home in a couple of hours and will post as I go. I *should* finish it tonight! :)

[bills blasters]

Jim bug, glad to read your review. We took the same cruise in Jan., and by reading yours it brings back all the memories. We had a great time also.

By the way, we are almost neighbors. I am from Jamestown.

Are you as tired of the snow this year as we are?

[Skeeter1602]

Hey was my favorite band "Music Boardwalk" playing on the Liberty as I have read? If so did you get a chance to see them?

[tls630]

There is a seperate section for reviews. Why do people post them here? just curious, I always go to the review section when I want to read reviews! It seems foolish to take up so much space here!

[anjoliza]

There is a seperate section for reviews. Why do people post them here? just curious, I always go to the review section when I want to read reviews! It seems foolish to take up so much space here!

 

Well, I think it great no matter where they are posted. I'm assuming that in the reveiw section you have to enter it all at once and there may be limits as to how long and also, can you add pics? This way she can make it as long and detailed as she wants and can do it in pieces, when she gets the time. Keeps us all on the edge of our seat :) .

 

People don't have to access this thread if they don't want and it's not like it is taking space away from anything else.

 

So, Jimmie, you go girl!!! I am eagerly awaiting Part Two!!:D

 

Annette

[jimbug]

There is a seperate section for reviews. Why do people post them here? just curious, I always go to the review section when I want to read reviews! It seems foolish to take up so much space here!

 

The reason I post my reviews to the cruise line's forum (as well as the review section on CruiseCritic) is because on the forum, I can add pictures, tell my story as I write it, and answer questions from readers. Plus, I *love* reading other people's reviews on the forums...it seems so much more personal, especially when others chime in with info, questions, comments, etc.

 

Bills Blaster, yes I am sooooo sick of the snow! I landed in Fargo yesterday morning to the bitterly cold wind and had to scrape about 4 inches of snow/ice of my windshield before I could drive home....come on, spring!