Liberty Oct 11 Photo Review

I love the Liberty! Thank you so much for your review and your lovely photos. Brings back very fond memories:)

Loving your review! We're sailing on Liberty next spring, out of San Juan! Cannot wait.

*Subscribing*

My favorite ship. Really enjoying the photos.

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Your doing a wonderful job with your review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

With sail-away and Port Canaveral behind us, we readied ourselves for dinner.

As always, we chose Anytime Dining, because we do not like to be confined to a schedule while on vacation. We get into a routine, but for dinner especially, we go when we are ready, not when told.

This first night of the cruise, we requested a table for 2 and had no wait.

It's tradition for us to officially kick off our cruises together with an adult beverage at dinner. Mom had a glass of Prosecco, I had a Martini!

This is our first experience with the new menus. For the most part we really liked the choices of appetizers, but not so much the entrees or desserts. For me, I am a strict land lover, I do not eat ANY seafood, there are more seafood choices on the menus than what I remember from the old menus.

Tonight I had the Pear & Walnut Flat Bread. It was pretty good, but the bread did not taste fresh. (Our dinner basket rolls/bread were always warm and tasted fresh) The flat bread choices are small, just the right size for an app.

Salad...it had toasted bread with a spicy spread that was delicious!

Mom had the corn chowder, which she loves. I tasted it, was very good.

We both had the Braised Beef Brisket with Corn Pudding & Grilled Red Onions. We both thought it was good, the corn pudding was more like cornbread.

No dessert tonight. Why? Because our service went from good to non-existent once our main entree arrived. This was, undoubtedly, the worst dining room service we have had on Carnival. Our DR table neighbors who arrived after us got their orders taken after us and got their food before us. They got dessert menus and we did not. We waited and no one came to take their orders and without menus we just got up and left. One of the servers came rushing after us and almost begged us to go back to our tables but we declined. No we did not complain, we had places to go and drinks to see. We knew that the next night we would have a different table/team :):D.

After dinner we missed the Welcome Aboard Show and decided to walk off some of our dinner, it's always so refreshing to get in the night air and see the ship lit up with its sparkling lights.

And so the plan was to go to the 10:30PM Comedy show, but we stopped at the Alchemy Bar and ...met on old friend. Last year while on Liberty we had a bar waiter at the aft pool who was very energetic and personable. His name is Parviz and he is now working at the Alchemy Bar and is training under Tatiana, he will eventually move on to another ship to be an Alchemy Bar lead, I told him we will look for him on Pride next year and he said that is a very good possibility he will be there. He was so surprised that I remembered him, and was so apologetic that he did not remember me, he is doing a great job! I never forget a face and so I have met a few waiters/servers/entertainment staff on one cruise and again on another. That is always fun.

Mom chose French Kiss....she loved it!

I chose the Quick Fix. I love Midori and it sounded unique, it certainly was!

loving your review & pictures. we also visited the alchemy bar quite a bit. awesome drinks & service. :)

At about 10PM we made way to the Piano Bar, I have never really been into it and Mom had never been to one, so we grabbed a seat and ended up staying much longer than anticipated.

By the time we realized it was 10:30, I was not hopeful about getting into see the the comedy show as they are so popular, as expected it was jam packed and people were standing to the side of the lounge because there were no seats, so we decided to call it a night and head to the cabin.

Again, we had an excellent cabin steward. Our room was always tidy and we always had ice, we never asked for it, but we always got it. It's those little things that make a difference.

Mom and I have both been to Nassau, most recently in January, and with our long drive from VA to FL we had decided long ago that we would use the day for some R&R.

That being said, we were up early and had a decent sight of the moon.

6:47AM

8:02 AM

We were being backed into port....

We had planned to spend significant time on the balcony today, so we ordered a light breakfast of coffee, banana and croissants....

But, because our backing in and direct sunlight, there was no way we could spend time out there.

Mom decided she wanted to go to the dining room and get some eggs, and a Bloody Mary.

I decided to get the Classic Cruiser

Bacon and a cheese omelet. The bacon was good, the omelet was nothing special.

Nice Review and pics.

The pics are amazing...what type of camera are you using?

Looking forward to the rest of the review.

Loving the picture quality and the review in itself.

You and I are very similar. I use the balcony maybe 45-60 minutes a day. Why pay the extra $450 a person?!? I love the inside rooms, as I just use them to sleep and shower. But I would like to try an aft balcony someday ....

Really love the review. Want to try Liberty from San Juan sometime, but I sail on Glory to Nassau and St.Thomas, as well as San Juan and Grand Turk in 26 days !! St.Maarten is also on my must-see list.

Thanks so much, I'll be following this review !! Glad to see you enjoyed the vacation !

What a great review- we had 6449 when we cruised Liberty April 2014, it wasn't extended but it was great non the less.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Happy Sailing!

And so we have a balcony, an aft extended balcony cabin 7449. Like I said previously, having a balcony has never been a priority. I have enjoyed inside cabins and the spirit class "French Door" cabins. The cabin is no bigger than a standard balcony room and is the same size as the French Door cabins.

 

We had 2 fabulous room stewards, one was "Johnson" and he really stood out. He brought us an ice bucket immediately upon getting to our cabin for the first time, and it was kept fresh throughout the day ever day. He caught on to our routine by Monday and he was visible to us and always addressed us by name and asked about or day.

 

 

 

The balcony itself is larger than a standard balcony. There is room to stretch out a bit, we had 1 chase lounger, a chair, and a high back chair with an adjustable back, and a little table. The balcony felt cramped and we were often moving the chairs around.

 

 

 

 

There are many advantages to having a balcony, but it's not everything, ya know? You get light, sun, a view, and air if you so choose. With an aft facing balcony, there can be advantages and disadvantages.

 

Direct sunlight in 85 degree weather with 93% humidity does not make the aft balcony a comfortable place to relax.

 

 

Even a cold beverage is not much of a help.

 

 

But oh those views...

 

 

 

 

 

We loved the location; it's pretty quiet, and our favorite places on Liberty are aft...the Versailles Pool (adult only pool), the Alchemy Bar, the comedy club in Victoria Aft lounge, the Silver Olympian ding room for Sea Day Brunch. It's easy access to the Promenade and does not feel like a long walk to the forward areas.

 

Many can become frustrated by the fact that the galley spans a good portion of deck 3 aft to mid ship, so the solution to getting to the Golden Olympian for dinner is a ride in the aft elevator from the upper or lower decks to deck 5, then walk the Promenade to the "Garden" elevators, take a ride down to deck 3, have a glass of wine while watching people and listening to the live entertainment before going in for dinner.

 

Am I "sold" on aft facing balconies? No. I really do not know if I will book another balcony again. We just used it for about an hour total each day. 10 minutes here, 20 there, 10 here, 20 there. But I will book aft cabins for now on.

HOLY MOLY....that sunset pic can't be real....I mean I know it is but WOW is that GORGEOUS.

Love the review Dana. You are definitely making me want to cruise on the Liberty....too bad she is repositioning to San Juan in March. The Classic Cruiser drink looks good.....I am going to have to try that one in December on the Dream

This is our first experience with the new menus. For the most part we really liked the choices of appetizers, but not so much the entrees or desserts. For me, I am a strict land lover, I do not eat ANY seafood, there are more seafood choices on the menus than what I remember from the old menus.

We were on this cruise, too -- and we absolutely agreed about the menu!

Everything tasted fine, but it was the variety that was lacking -- we thought the choices were pathetic some nights! I am allergic to shellfish and fish, so my choices were really limited. There were virtually no chicken choices -- it was beef, fish or shellfish! :(

Loving the picture quality and the review in itself.

 

You and I are very similar. I use the balcony maybe 45-60 minutes a day. Why pay the extra $450 a person?!? I love the inside rooms, as I just use them to sleep and shower. But I would like to try an aft balcony someday ....

 

Really love the review. Want to try Liberty from San Juan sometime, but I sail on Glory to Nassau and St.Thomas, as well as San Juan and Grand Turk in 26 days !! St.Maarten is also on my must-see list.

 

Thanks so much, I'll be following this review !! Glad to see you enjoyed the vacation !

My summation of the aft extended balcony is pretty much this: we paid what was in our budget for this vacation, we ended up with $244 OBC, but because we did not use the balcony as we had planned, we likely would not do it again, though it was kinda neat early in the morning and late at night, those views are still available by a quick trip up and out on deck. We learned that even if the weather had been perfect and no direct sunlight, we just prefer to be out and about the ship.

Have fun on Glory!

Everything tasted fine, but it was the variety that was lacking -- we thought the choices were pathetic some nights! I am allergic to shellfish and fish, so my choices were really limited. There were virtually no chicken choices -- it was beef, fish or shellfish! :(

Totally agree! I chose things I normally would not because, well, there was nothing else to choose [being that I do not eat any seafood] unless I wanted the Flat Iron steak or plain ol grilled chicken. My Mom even got the pork chop one night, granted I had it on the last cruise and it was quite good and I sampled hers this time and it was also quite good, but pork chop I can do at home. It's not...special. That being said, everything we had was good (aside from the desserts).

Love the review Dana. You are definitely making me want to cruise on the Liberty....too bad she is repositioning to San Juan in March. The Classic Cruiser drink looks good.....I am going to have to try that one in December on the Dream

I know you and your Dad would love the ship. And the Classic Cruiser is very nice! I saw a bar waiter walking by with one and I just had to try it.

I know you and your Dad would love the ship. And the Classic Cruiser is very nice! I saw a bar waiter walking by with one and I just had to try it.

It looks very good. I'll definitely have to give it a try on the Dream.

My dad and I love every ship [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

So we decided to stay on board for Nassau day, and intended to spend time on the balcony, which was a no go due to direct sunlight, so we went and grabbed a few drinks at the Red Frog Run Bar and then made our way back to the Aft pool. That was my sanctuary last time I was on Liberty, especially early into the cruise.

If you were on this same cruise and spent any time at the aft pool on Nassau day and sea days, you know it was quite entertaining. While it was not the same experience as last time, it was quite fun.

Forgive me if I have the date wrong, but I think this was also the day of disappointment for so many, as the Captain had to make what was surely one of those announcements that he dreads needing to make. This might have occurred the next day, time was imaginary the first few days. ;)

Itinerary Change...due to imminent hurricane expected to hit St Thomas, we were needing to reroute to Western Caribbean and instead of visiting St Thomas & St Marteen, we would be heading to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. There were some pretty [visibly] pissed off and upset people, but there were many who were cheerful about the change. We were not upset one bit. We booked this cruise because of the sea days and because my Mom always has wanted to see St Thomas and St Marteen, but we would never have wanted to cruise through a hurricane, it's not place to be, no quality of life, awful wake, wind, people getting seasick, and even if we made it and could dock (unlikely) the people of those areas needed to take care of their own people and resources and not a bunch of spoiled cruisers. Our captain did what what is the best interest of all of the guests and crew.

So our itinerary changed to Monday & Tuesday being Days at Sea, Wednesday Grand Cayman, Thursday Cozumel, a day at Sea then back to Port Canaveral.

Now, my Mom did not want to go to Grand Cayman for a variety of reasons, but last cruise she had a little episode on a tender on the way back from HMC and now she is turned off of tender ports. She is also terrified of falling. While I know it is an amazingly beautiful port with lots to offer, we are planners and we had no plan and so we decided to enjoy the day on the ship and now more OBC from cancelled excursions = more gambling opportunities and picking up a few unplanned gifts in the Fun Shops.

Likewise, we have both been to Cozumel and we did not like the shopping experience there and with Cheers on our S&S cards, Guys and Blue Iguana and ice cream we had no incentive to do an all inclusive, which we had done before. We decided to sit this one out. So, 7 nights at sea, it was awesome! We had such a great cruise! We took naps, we drank, we met some neat and friendly people, it was relaxing and very enjoyable.

We spent almost ALL DAY at the aft pool, and enjoyed a little time out on the balcony before dinner. This dy we shard a Guys Burger and 2 Tacos from Blue Iguana, forgot to take pics, though.

Tonight's dinner brought to you by our fabulous dinner team of Bobby, Doru, and Erle. (Diane did not exist.)

Martini time!

For me, Appletini

For Mom, a Pomtini

For starters...

Vegetable Spring Rolls, my favorite!

Greek Salad, almost forgot to snap a pic

Baked Ziti with Cream Sauce, did not particularly care for it, not a big deal because I was pretty well full.

Mom had the Veal Parmesan. It was VERY good, a portion large enough for 2 people to share.

For desert, Mom had the Passion Fruit Flan (I think). Very good.

I had the Peach Pie. It was fair.