Just back from Liberty - Eastern Carib

[pertfred]

Just back from sailing on the Liberty, Eastern Caribbean. Cabin 6438, Upper deck, balcony room, right above the lounges. And yes, you hear loud noises, people singing,etc. until 1230am. Some highlites: Chocolate covered strawberries $1 each, Marcus Anthony r&B singer..fantastic! Food was excellent, except for Harrys. I was surprised because of the bad reviews of the dining room and great reviews of Harrys. My waitress, Nuognuts was wonderful. Room service was prompt and delicious. Cruise director, Steve, was informative and fun. Try playing his morning show to win a prize!

Negatives, besides the loud room, which you might as well be at the club instead of being in your room. Embarkment was a madhouse. We got there around 12pm and didnt get on the ship for an hour and a half. There were many others after us in the same situation. My party and another were told our reservations were cross-reference. They werent. They had 545pm dining res. in the Silver dining room, we had 830pm in the golden dining room. It took alot of convincing to try to get us together. Which finally was accomplished on the second night. Harrys was disappointing. Two fatty steaks,and overpriced at $30 each(for a cruise). NCL is cheaper and better. Harrys only allows you one starter and one salad. Which I think is cheap of them. Water was very choppy between San Juan to St Thomas and St Thomas to Antigua. I was told thats the way it usually is. Camp Carnival will not let kids age 11 join in with the kids 12-14 club. The 9-11 year old camp didnt have nearly as much fun stuff as 12-14 year olds did. But rules are rules. Slots are horrible.

In Antigua, we got a van for 7 people to take us around for the day. It cost $25 pp. We got to see alot of the island and even had beach time. Got into San Juan too late to do anything but walk around. Didnt get off the ship in Tortola, but DH said sovenirs were expensive. Weather was uncooperative to do the Virgin Gorda thing.

Even with the negatives, the cruise was great. Both families had a fabulous time. It is what you make it! However, I think next time we will stick with NCL or RCCL.

FYI, we parked at United airport parking, which is really Quality parking. Hard to find and long wait for shuttle to and from pier. Try someplace else to park or park at the pier.

I will ck the boards this week. I might be able to answer some questions about the ship.

Have a great time:p

[Guest Mary49]

Did you get to see "Music Boardwalk"? I wonder how long they will be on the Liberty for? Aren't they great!!! Mary49

[hubofhockey]

I would never book a room over or under a public room or a pool. I'm doing the Liberty Eastern at the end of the month and chose the Verandah. Sorry to here about Harry's. We didn't go when were on the Liberty last year and are looking forward to going. Hopefully (for me), you caught them on a bad night and my experience at Harry's will be more consistent with the other reviews I read here.

[pertfred]

I booked late and that was the only balcony cabin avl. I wouldnt be that dumb to book it if there were a better selection. I am advising others to stay away from the cabins over the nightclubs if they have a choice. However, if you are one that will be in the clubs then it wouldnt matter.

I didnt see Music Boardwalk. I didnt have to because I heard them from my cabin! People seemed to be having a great time.

[smokin]

My wife and I just returned from the Liberty as well. I am not here to bash Carnival, But given the choice we will not sail with CCL again. We have sailed with various cruise lines prior and thought we would give carnival a chance.

 

We just thought CCL was more geared towards people wanting to take a resort vacation rather than the feeling of being off to sea. All in all we have never had a BAD cruise and this one was not horrible.

Just A Couple of THOUGHTS.

1) Hand Sanitizer? WE NEVER SAW ANY! I actually had a case of Norviourous. I was very surprised at how unsanitary this ship was.

2) Can they afford to put at least paper towels in the public bathrooms instead those blow drier things. Maybe people would actually wash their hands.

3) Balcony doors. on all other cruise lines we have been on they had sliding glass doors. I know this is a little, but I am still hearing doors slam in my brain at all hours day and night.:). Of course if people would close them properly this would not happen. going on to my next point.

4) Rude People! You know that feeling that you get on the last couple of days on a cruise when everyone is sort of out for them selfs. Well this was the feeling that I got from fellow cruisers the entire cruise.

 

Again I am not here to bash CCL, just wanted to share my thoughts. Back to work tomorrow so that will really give me something to complain about:(

 

Cheers

[Guest Mary49]

I booked late and that was the only balcony cabin avl. I wouldnt be that dumb to book it if there were a better selection. I am advising others to stay away from the cabins over the nightclubs if they have a choice. However, if you are one that will be in the clubs then it wouldnt matter.

I didnt see Music Boardwalk. I didnt have to because I heard them from my cabin! People seemed to be having a great time.

 

Sorry about your room location and the noise coming from the lounges. I guess you just have to be careful about booking a room location. Mary49

[Ashanie]

We did the Liberty, Eastern Caribbean in February. We also were on the Upper Deck. There were 8 cabins in our party and all were above the lounges, casino, etc. NEVER did any of us hear a thing. We had rooms between cabins 6368 and 6396. We ranged in ages between 19-73. So trust me when I say that if our parents heard any noise from the lounge area, I would have heard about it. We were also on a completely sold out ship. Every balcony and suite had been completely booked 11 months prior to the cruise . There were only 8 oceanview cabins left and about 8 inside cabins available. So it's not like we were on an empty ship and that's why we didn't hear anything. I agree with the OP. I thought the food was absolutely wonderful in the dining room. None of us really had any complaints about it. The food was so good, that I even contact Carnival about whether or not I could get a recipe and yes, they did send it to me. And I also agree that a cruise is what you make of it.

[EricaLovesCats]

Water was very choppy between San Juan to St Thomas and St Thomas to Antigua. I was told thats the way it usually is.

 

 

I just got off the Triumph and we also had very choppy water while we were in the St Thomas/Puerto Rico area. Half of the dining room didn't show up one night and there were little barf bags placed all over the place...yuck. But the Captain came over the intercom and said that was not normal, and he kept apologizing (obviously not his fault though).

 

4) Rude People! You know that feeling that you get on the last couple of days on a cruise when everyone is sort of out for them selfs. Well this was the feeling that I got from fellow cruisers the entire cruise.

 

I hear you on that one. I am not going to go into all the examples, but man is the human race really letting me down. :( I told my DH that our next vacation will be a cabin out in the woods, with no other people around!!!

[kruisin' kim]

Did you happen to eat any Sushi at Origami's? I am not a sushi eater, but my teenagers are! Do you have to pay and is it any good? They have been wondering....

[smokin]

I think it was available every night from around 5:30 - 8:30 No additional charge.

[hubofhockey]

Did you happen to eat any Sushi at Origami's? I am not a sushi eater' date=' but my teenagers are! Do you have to pay and is it any good? They have been wondering....[/quote']

 

The sushi isn't bad. But I would say it might be a notch below good supermarket prepared sushi. Just my opinion. I still went to the sushi bar every evening before dinner.

[kruisin' kim]

Thanks... i'm sure they'll love it! Now as far as me....NO THANK YOU!;)

[pertfred]

Hi Kim,

My DH had the sushi and said it was pretty good-and free! Near the sushi place is the chocolate covered strawberries. Try them for only $1 each and delicious. My DH brought me a plate of 10 every other nite! For your hubby, there is also a fish and chips place on deck 10. Nice and quiet and great selection of fish dishes.

We also brought 6 packs of drinks onboard with no problems. Saved a lot of money. They charge $2 a can.

[pertfred]

Ashlee, You were lucky to have cabin 6368 and 6396. They are midship and over the arcade, not a niteclub like mine was. You will hear noise in the aft part of the ship. My fellow cruisemates by me were also amazed at the amount of noise. Maybe my sailing was jammin' more than yours! At least Carnival cuts it off my 1230am.

[kruisin' kim]

Thanks again! Will have to try those strawberries! We live on the Gulf Coast and get lots of fresh seafood. I tend not to eat that much seafood when away from home because it is never as good as we get here! But we may try the fish one day...you never know until you try it, right?! So much food and so little time... What's a girl to do?:p

[Lola1210]

My husband, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and I just got off the Liberty. It was one of the best cruises that we ever took. The food was encellent. The entertainment was great. In San Juan, we went shopping. In St. Thomas we went on a tour and swimming. In Antigua, we went swimming. In Tortula, my husband and I went on the dolphin swim. My daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter went on a tour and swimming. In Nassau, we went on the party boat. This is the sixth cruise that we went on and it was excellent. The only problem was that it was hard to get a drink served in the karaoke bar. There was only on waitress and it was hard for her to take care of the big crowd that was there. I'm not blaming her, but there should have been more help. I enjoy going on Carnival.

[earlethepearl]

I will tell you that the between St. Thomas and San Juan is not usually very rough sailing..

[happy flamingo]

Thanks earlethepearl and Lola1210 - we are leaving 4/26 on the Liberty - 4th Carnival cruise (Glory, Inspiration and Miracle). All have been great! Glad to hear the food and entertainment were good. We are looking forward to a very nice, enjoyable and relaxing (and fattening;) ) cruise! Good to know that that the sailing between St. Thomas and San Juan is not usually very rough. We are so excited we can't hardly wait!

[4nlalaland]

We will be on the Liberty in June and I think the main thing that concerns me is the comment about an unsanitary ship and "no hand sanitizer". I have never been on Carnival but on the other cruises we've been on they have hand sanitizer lotion and sheets all over the ship!!! I also agree with the fact that most people will not wash their hands... mostly if there are no paper towels available. Is this standard procedure on Carnival?

[jnc411]

Hi, we will also be on the Liberty 4/26 , and I am wondering since your embarkation was so busy at 12, should we get there earlier or later ??

11:30 or 1 pm ?? any suggestions. Also I too am surprized about the lack of hand sanitizers, on other ships I see them all over the place. I am taking my own.

Cori

[mrmj]

I was on the Liberty in March and it was a great cruise.

 

Embarkation was the quickest I've had thus far - arrived later than i wanted to, around 12:15, and was having some lunch by 1:00pm.

 

I confirm that there were no hand santizers around which did concern me a bit.

 

Bottomline, all cruises are different, all experiences are different so don't assume that one bad cruise means everything about that cruise is bad. I think it varies from cruise to cruise.

[loisann]

We were on the March 1st sailing. We arrived at 11:00 and we on the Lido deck by 11:30.

There were hand sanitizer towels as you came out of all the ladies rest rooms on the wall

Great Cruise

[mosaic_mom]

We just got off the Liberty on Sunday to Eastern Caribbean. The seas were choppy between San Juan and St. Thomas. Captain said it was due to a cold front we went through and it was unusual. I didn't think it was too terribly bad myself.

 

We got to the port and dropped our bags with the porter at 11:15 and were on the ship by 11:50. No problems at all. If you drive to the pier, we recommend Park N Fly. Much cheaper than port parking. They shuttle you back and forth.

 

I didn't see hand sanitizer either. We brought some of our own and washed our hands VERY frequently.

 

All in all, this was the best cruise we have taken. The food was fantastic in the dining room and in the buffet areas. Burgers and pizza also very good. In fact, DH ate pizza every night around midnight. :p Didn't try Harry's. I didn't care much for the Fish and Chips place, but it wasn't that the place was bad, it was just my personal taste. My DD loved it. Entertainment was great. Cruise director Steve Knisley was wonderful and funny. We did Sunny Liston tour in St. Thomas (highly recommended by us), Carnival's Best of Antigua, and Carnival's Sightseeing and Cane Bay in Tortola. Got off the ship in San Juan but didn't go far. It was getting dark. Bought a few souveniers and got back on ship. Didn't get off the ship in Nassau either. Been there before and needed a day to relax. Ship a little difficult to navigate due to decks 3 and 4 not going all the way through, but we learned quickly.

[jnes]

I have heard some positive things and some negative things about Carnival Cruise Lines. I would like to hear from a couple of people that sailed with them at least once. What was the best and worst part of the cruise? Did anything really outstanding or really bad happen during the cruise? If you've sailed before with NCL, how did Carnival compare?

 

Thanks!!!

[4nlalaland]

We just got off the Liberty on Sunday to Eastern Caribbean. The seas were choppy between San Juan and St. Thomas. Captain said it was due to a cold front we went through and it was unusual. I didn't think it was too terribly bad myself.

 

We got to the port and dropped our bags with the porter at 11:15 and were on the ship by 11:50. No problems at all. If you drive to the pier, we recommend Park N Fly. Much cheaper than port parking. They shuttle you back and forth.

 

I didn't see hand sanitizer either. We brought some of our own and washed our hands VERY frequently.

 

All in all, this was the best cruise we have taken. The food was fantastic in the dining room and in the buffet areas. Burgers and pizza also very good. In fact, DH ate pizza every night around midnight. :p Didn't try Harry's. I didn't care much for the Fish and Chips place, but it wasn't that the place was bad, it was just my personal taste. My DD loved it. Entertainment was great. Cruise director Steve Knisley was wonderful and funny. We did Sunny Liston tour in St. Thomas (highly recommended by us), Carnival's Best of Antigua, and Carnival's Sightseeing and Cane Bay in Tortola. Got off the ship in San Juan but didn't go far. It was getting dark. Bought a few souveniers and got back on ship. Didn't get off the ship in Nassau either. Been there before and needed a day to relax. Ship a little difficult to navigate due to decks 3 and 4 not going all the way through, but we learned quickly.

 

I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed your meals and the entertainment. I guess as far as not having hand sanitizers....it's not going to ruin my cruise.....I'll just bring my own. Just wish they had them available for everyone else ;)

Can you give me some more info about your tour in St Thomas? where did you go...how much $$...how long.....THANKS