Just off the Liberty 9 hours ago - FULL REVIEW!

[abitaturbodog]

Great, we're a family of 4 and we like to dine alone. I'll try to see if I can convice the rest of my crew to go for it.

 

One more thing, are there windows on the second floor of the Golden DR?

[Tapi]

I'm very interested in your description of the cabin you had, since we are booked on a the Freedom in a 6B oceanview cabin in the aft section of the Main deck as well. We have two kids travelling with us, but on our last cruise we had a sofa and a pulldown bunk, so reading about the convertible king size bed is interesting!

 

I was wondering, do you have a picture of your cabin you could post? I would love to see a picture of it! Thanks!!!

 

I'm in the process of organizing all the pictures I took, which include some pictures from the cabin. I will post a link to my pictures once it's ready later this week, so you can look forward to it. :)

[mykiddiewinks]

when you get off the boat, there will be zillions of local's with vehicles, trying to get your attention for you to hire them for the day.

 

We got Daisy with the blue VW van..

She gave us a little tour of the island, stopped at the top of the highest mountain and we bought those famous daquiries and looked down at Magen's Bay, and then over to Coki Beach. She would have taken us anywhere we wanted to go.

 

She dropped us off and we spent the day at Coki Beach and then she came back and picked us up.

She took us the long way back to the ship and gave us another little tour of the island.

 

We paid her when she returned us to the ship. I don't know the rates, this year.

 

We are actually more interested in driving ourselves - was there anything like Budget, Avis etc at the port?

[rftsr]

Just off the boat on the same cruise. Look for my review under the member's section this week. Was a great time with a few bumps...but can't beat Liberty for the money.

[kaycee711]

The 2nd floor of the Main Dining Room used for Total Choice Dining was re-configured with mostly tables for 2 and 4 which is what made it so easy for us to get a table for 2 quickly. The 1st floor had all the larger tables, but after the first few nights, they reverted to Traditional Dining. According to what the Maitre'D said, Total Choice is very popular with couples but not so much with larger parties (I guess that larger groups are harder to accommodate and they would prefer to know that they have a table waiting for them at a pre-determined time). The largest group I saw at Total Choice were families of 4.

 

 

Hi Tapi - we just got back from the same cruise, thanks for the great review. We had a awesome cruise, too.

 

Not really much to add except that we did the Traditional Dining and we were on the 1st floor of the Golden and Total Choice was on the 2nd floor. It was Traditional from the beginning. At least everyone around us was. They had very few large tables. We had requested a large table and instead got a booth for 4. They didn't sing until the 3rd night because the waiters were so busy with the Total Choice. We were told they were singing every night in the other dining room. If you enjoying the singing I would suggest asking for the Silver Dining Room.

[gypsygirl]

Did you notice if Carnival has any tours there for a flamenco show?

[LizaMM]

Thank you for your review!

[Interlinecruzers]

Great review Tapi! We are interliners also and are leaving on the Splendor from FLL

11/21 to enjoy Thanksgiving cruising. This will be the first time cruising during a holiday and we sure are looking forward to it! We live in NE Florida now but Atlanta was like a second home for a long time!

[Tapi]

Did you notice if Carnival has any tours there for a flamenco show?

 

Yes, there's a show called something like the Juan Carlos and his Flamenco Rumba. We haven't done it, but my parents did it for a company function, and they said that it's very entertaining. It was available through the ship's excursion desk

[Tapi]

Hi Tapi - we just got back from the same cruise, thanks for the great review. We had a awesome cruise, too.

 

Not really much to add except that we did the Traditional Dining and we were on the 1st floor of the Golden and Total Choice was on the 2nd floor. It was Traditional from the beginning.

 

Hey. Thanks for the correction! I was going by what they printed on the Capers. I actually went back and looked at it. That actually makes me feel better because I was concerned that there were a lot of unhappy people with Total Choice. I honestly hope that they keep it!

 

We never had a chance to see the waiters sing. Most of the time, we were going for dinner around 715-730pm, so smack in the middle of the two traditional dinner times.

[scperk]

I'm glad they did a good job on the dry-dock last month..we are considering a B2B on theLiberty in Feb. 09..Great review...Dennis

[LizaMM]

Hi Tapi - we just got back from the same cruise, thanks for the great review. We had a awesome cruise, too.

 

Not really much to add except that we did the Traditional Dining and we were on the 1st floor of the Golden and Total Choice was on the 2nd floor. It was Traditional from the beginning. At least everyone around us was. They had very few large tables. We had requested a large table and instead got a booth for 4. They didn't sing until the 3rd night because the waiters were so busy with the Total Choice. We were told they were singing every night in the other dining room. If you enjoying the singing I would suggest asking for the Silver Dining Room.

 

I am really interested in how the Traditional and Total Choice work together. I am a fan of Traditional and i do like the singing.

 

Tapi - you mentioned what time you went to dinner for Total Choice which is very helpful!

 

Kaycee - What seating were you at for Traditional in the Golden?? We will be a party of 4 on the Liberty - my mom, myself and 2 of my kids - and I much prefer a large table with tablemates.

[Tapi]

I am really interested in how the Traditional and Total Choice work together. I am a fan of Traditional and i do like the singing.

 

Tapi - you mentioned what time you went to dinner for Total Choice which is very helpful!

 

Kaycee - What seating were you at for Traditional in the Golden?? We will be a party of 4 on the Liberty - my mom, myself and 2 of my kids - and I much prefer a large table with tablemates.

 

 

Unless you look down from the second floor at the dining room, you wouldn't realize that they are conducting two different dining options inside the same venue. The people going to Total Choice enter the dining room on Deck 4 while Traditional enter on deck 3. You go to the hostess stand, give them your cabin number, and there will either be another hostess with menus waiting to escort you to your table, or you'll get a beeper. Out of the 5 nights that we dined at the main dining room, we had a table immediately 3 times, and waited for a table less than 5 minutes 2 other times. On the last night we wanted a table right on the balcony with a specific waiter (Pravit) and they were still able to accommodate us in less than 5 minutes. For us, it worked out great since it was only 2 of us traveling.

 

I'm brainstorming a family cruise (probably around 12 people), and I know that Traditional will be a much better choice than Total Choice. I can't imagine them trying to accommodate a party of 12 every single night with no wait, in addition to getting the whole family to meet at the dining room every night without having a specific time or table!

[abitaturbodog]

Tapi--I've got to ask, what kid of dog is that? I can tell it's a happy dog!

[Tapi]

Tapi--I've got to ask, what kid of dog is that? I can tell it's a happy dog!

 

 

She's a chocolate labrador who enjoyed terrorizing the pet sitter while we were gone!

[abitaturbodog]

Ha! That's what chocolate labs do! We have one too (see avatar) and our vet calls it "Brown Dog Syndrome."

[Tapi]

Ha! That's what chocolate labs do! We have one too (see avatar) and our vet calls it "Brown Dog Syndrome."

 

Our dog is very well behaved as long as she's around us. But if we leave her for a few days, she becomes the dog from hell. She will jump on the beds, unmake them, grab the pillows and throw them on the floor, do her business inside the house, tip the trash over and spread it all over the kitchen, etc. She never does any of these things in our presence, or if we leave the house for a few hours, but if she doesn't see us for more than 24 hours, watch out!

 

We've tried taking her to doggy hotels, have someone come to the house a couple of times a day to let her out, and during our last cruise, we actually paid a friend of ours to stay in our house so that she wouldn't feel alone, but she still acted up.

 

With that said, we still love her to death. We can't imagine not having her!

[Irelandred11]

We were on the ship also 11/1/08! My husband,myself and two boys!! The seas were very rough on Sunday so much so that I went back to the cabin (didn't even have a chance to take pictures for formal night). I loved the entire staff on the Lido deck and the Silver Dining Room!! We were also on the Main deck but in front of the ship! I thought it was a great location very close to stairs and elevators. There was two major things I felt lacking with the ship! #1 was the teen club - my son went once and never went back - although we saw lots of teens wandering around the boat at all hours he was not one of them. #2 everything closed too early for us. The Lido deck staff always teased us that we should have sailed out of New York if we wanted to hang out all night. There were nights my husband, myself and two other couples would walk around at 3:00 looking for something to do!!! We are used to hanging out until the sun comes up but we were back in the cabin by 3:15 every night!! Besides that we had a blast!!! I loved the Liberty! The staff! Entertainment! Yes, I had to wait for coffee some mornings but who cares we are on vacation!!! I loved this trip so much and our family is so grateful for all the wonderful people we met on this trip!!! Thank you to all my fellow cruise mates and new friends from all over the world - you made this trip one to remember!!! Liberty we love you!!!:D

[KULPN]

What a wonderful review! Thanks! We are leaving on 11/29 on the Liberty & can't wait. Your review has me even more excited.

[Irelandred11]

Tell Superwata (Superman) and Igor in the Silver Dining Room that the New Yorkers miss him!!! Richard and Nataniel on the Lido!!! Wish we could sail the Liberty again but we are currently looking for a cruise around Europe!!! :o or a cruise from New York that the staff suggested!!!

[TJ172]

Thanks for all the great info! I may have missed it in your review, but could you tell me if they were offering Luggage Express for debarkation? Any info would be awesome...thanks! :)

[Hockey Addict]

Hi Tapi! Thanks for the great review... I hope to make it to the same ports you just did some day.

 

Ohhhh and I love the picture of your lab... too cute!!

[CORONAONTHEBEACH]

Thanks for the review. We are going on January 3rd and can't wait. Your review of HARRY's is making my mouth water. Sounds like it is well worth the $30/person.

 

Thanks for the explaination of the "total choice dinning" vs "traditional". We have signed up for late seating "traditional". I love having the same waiter and meeting new people.

 

Thanks again!

[Tapi]

Thanks for all the great info! I may have missed it in your review, but could you tell me if they were offering Luggage Express for debarkation? Any info would be awesome...thanks! :)

 

 

Hello!

 

I don't believe that Luggage Express was being offered. Nothing was mentioned during the debarkation talk or printed on the debarkation papers. The only thing that they kept pushing was for people to go to the internet cafe to check in for their flights and print their boarding passes.

[Hawaii697]

Carnival Liberty

Eastern Caribbean

11/01/08 to 11/08/08

 

First of all, let me say that this was yet another great cruise vacation, this time to celebrate our wedding anniversary!

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

First of all, let me start by saying that I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My family still lives there and we visit several times a year (last time just 3 months ago). However, this is the first time I had the chance to visit my own island aboard a cruise ship as a bona-fide tourist! Entering the San Juan bay and seeing the El Morro Fortress from our ship was truly exciting. It’s without a doubt one of the most beautiful arrivals to any Caribbean island.

 

My parents live on the west coast of the island (about 2 hours away), so they reserved a room at the Sheraton Old San Juan and waited for our arrival along with one of my sister and my two nieces. We arrived in San Juan about 1 hour early (4pm), and were off the ship within minutes and met at the Sheraton. Contrary to what I had read before, many stores remained open late into the night to accommodate the cruise passengers. We walked around, shopped, and made a cocktail stop at the outdoor bar located at the Hotel El Convento (a historical landmark and former nun’s convent turned luxury hotel). After that, we worked our way to the Parrot Club (a Nuevo-Latino restaurant) located in SoFo (South Fortaleza street, which is also where other trendy restaurants where the hip and chic crowd of San Juan hangs out). Food here is truly exceptional. After that, we headed back to the Sheraton where we spent some time at their Casino and socialized before going back onboard the ship around 11pm for a midnight departure. Truly a memorable stop! However, it made me realize how little of my wonderful island of Puerto Rico the average cruiser gets to experience on these itineraries. Also, some excursions seemed to be a rip-off. For example, the ship was charging $79 for an otherwise FREE tour of the Bacardi Rum Distillery. Granted that the only way to visit the distillery at night is on an organized shore excursion, but $79 to visit a place that normally doesn’t charge admission and can be reached by an inexpensive water ferry??

 

Tapi, I enjoyed your review and had to chuckle at your comment regarding the Barcardi Rum Distillery. I'm group leader for our upcoming cruise in August and someone asked me about the tour. I went on Carnival's website and noticed the cost of $77.00 :eek:. I did the tour back in 2001. The tour on our own costs maybe less than $7.00 which included ferry ride to/from, taxi ride to/from and no cost for tour. We also ended up with 4 drink coupons apiece :-). There were 10 of us. Prior to reading your review, I sent the info to my husband and friend that went with us. They were like WTH!!! Glad you confirmed that the tour was still free in your post. This is exactly why I research waaaay in advance before taking a cruise.

 

I see that you grew up in Puerto Rico. Could you recommend a nice beach or catamaran ride not to far from the ship? We will be in Puerto Rico during the daylight hours. Thanks for a great review and thanks for your help.