Liberty 9/6 Cruise-Just back!

Cruise - we give it a 10! Best trip we every took, bar none.

Embarkation - A+ - easy, fast, wonderful.

DeBarkation - A+. easy, fast, wonderful. Best handling of luggage I have

ever witnessed as well as fastest debark.

Moving around Rome - we had a private driver.....he was worth way more than we paid him - Stephano from Romecabs has our undying gratitude - we

had transportation to and from airport, and one day private touring with him in Rome - outstanding - he even found restrooms (not easy) and ice cream specialty shops for our two grandkids 3 & 5. Found him on these boards - best ever!

Airports -

The only worst airport we have ever seen was Mexico City where we were made to stand in a line for 2 hours only to find it was for people EXITING the airport - we were trying to change flights.

Yesterday we got to airport but could not find the British Airways desk - there were Airline brand signs outside the terminal but none said BA - then could not find the signs inside due to massive crowds. We left ship about 7:45 for 11:50 flight and driver picket us up around 8AM - got to airport before 9 and then fun began! Finally, after being made to stand in line that was for DELTA and Northwest checkin - stretched about 3 city blocks inside the airport and those in the lines were very unhappy if you wanted to go around or through the line - cannot blame them - it was a really chaotic scene - we went back outside terminal and came in another door - then

finally (after asking about 10 people) found BA - finally got checked in - took about 2 hours total. Carnival's hundreds of passengers all convened on airport at same time - none on BA fills airport and you cannot find anything or anyone to help.

We persevered - beautiful ship, outstanding ports - wonderful tours, great food - fabulous Camp Carnival,bet room steward in the world - thanks Jaime and staff!, great dining room staff- Team Leader Lee you are the best., beautiful weather, John Heald was his usual funny self -note, ask everyone about Mushroom and Willie Banger! This trip and ship exceeded our expectations in everyway.....only glitch (and it is very small I assure you)was they ran out of diet coke and sprite and lemons around Messina and did not get more until after Barcelona-this woulld have been no problem except we have a serious diabetic and two kids who paid $75 each for fountain cards that they could not use for 3 days due to outage of diet coke and sprite - but that is the only thing I can find wrong this morning - am jet lagged as we did not get home until 1:30 this AM - were up and moving for 25 hours without sleep - we got cheap flights so had to do some wild antics - changing airports in New York last night - still missing 7 bags! All this with 3 & 5 year olds who were angelic considering circumstances.

WONDERFUL excursions - We did Pompeii, Essence of Tuscany, Wines of Tuscany, Taormina and Greek Theatre, Monserrat and Boys Choir in Barcelona but our St Paul DeVence excursion was cancelled. We did Pisa ourselves, Rome ourselves (with Stephano of Romecabs - $35 E' per hour-worth more!) Cannes - just went shopping and to the beach - needed a down day! Email me individually if you want particulars and pros and cons on the Excursions we took. All were enjoyable, some more than others and ranged in price from $49 to $200 - the Essence of Tuscany at $200 was steep but the wine tasting and lunch in the middle of the day was worth the price alone - we were the happiest mini-bus in Seinna that day bar none!

Thanks for listening. Our next cruise in December 07 on Liberty Eastern

out of Ft Lauderdale but we are hoping new Carnival Freedom will do some Greek Islands in 07 or 08 and if so, we will sign up immediately.

Happy Sails to you!

Glad you had a great time. Did you stay over in Rome a night? If so any hotel recomendations.

Thank you for such a quick post after disembarking and a great look at your trip. I can't wait until next spring for mine, so, for now I live the trips through all the wonderful reviews. I don't even mind the bad comments too. It helps me prepare. Get some needed rest and thank you.

Jody in Florida

Carnival Liberty 5/19/06

Can you please tell me more about "The Essence of Tuscany" tour or "Wines of Tuscany" tour. I am interested in these but seem to have not read anyone so far who have taken these. I have been to Florence before and want to do something different so let me know if you would highly reccomend either of those. Thanks.

I too would like to know more about the Essence of Tuscany and Wines of Tuscany tours.

WONDERFUL excursions - We did Pompeii, Essence of Tuscany, Wines of Tuscany, Taormina and Greek Theatre, Monserrat and Boys Choir in Barcelona but our St Paul DeVence excursion was cancelled. We did Pisa ourselves, Rome ourselves (with Stephano of Romecabs - $35 E' per hour-worth more!) Cannes - just went shopping and to the beach - needed a down day! Email me individually if you want particulars and pros and cons on the Excursions we took. All were enjoyable, some more than others and ranged in price from $49 to $200 - the Essence of Tuscany at $200 was steep but the wine tasting and lunch in the middle of the day was worth the price alone - we were the happiest mini-bus in Seinna that day bar none!

Can you tell us why St.Paul was cancelled?

We are leaving the end of this month and looking forward to the cruise.

Thanks.

we where on the same cruise...i just posted my review as well. I commented on how few children where on the boat...sounds like your children where 2 of the 3 I saw in two weeks, and I would have to say they where all angelic..hope they enjoyed themsleves as well!

Thank you very much for the helpful feedback from your cruise. We will be taking our first cruise ever and on the Liberty 6/12/06.

I booked through Carnival with air travel included. I have seen conflicting opinions on the boards. What was your experience with chosing air travel? Does the time of year you purchase matter or is it all about the time of year you are taking the trip?

I was also wondering if you spoke with anyone who took the Kayaking in Dubrovnik excursion, and if so, what their feedback was?

Thank you again,

Cynde

...it was a really chaotic scene - we went back outside terminal and came in another door - then

finally (after asking about 10 people) found BA - finally got checked in - took about 2 hours total.

Oh dear - you've got me worried now...

We are on the 30th Sepember sailing, and need to catch a

12:15 flight back to Manchester(UK) with British Airways! :eek:

Can you give me any tips on how to find this elusive BA

check in desk in less than 2 hours?

~ MARK ~

I have found that Carnival is much higher as far as air. We always book air on our own so we know exactly what flight it is and we have direct flights, as opposed to sometimes Carnival booking flights that have connections.

DB,

First, I must say i am so impressed you were able to write already... I was totally wiped out yesterday...

Second, I looked for you and asked the other cruise critic folks if they had come across you... as I want to know how your children are doing in New Orleans. (Or did I meet you and not know who your screen name was?)

Third, I totally agree with your review... great ship... excellent itinerary. And we were so lucku with the weather!

And oh my goodness, the airport was the worst we have ever seen! As you say, no help from anyone...

I will write more later (have to shovel out the house a bit) but one comment re kids: I happened to share an elevator with a cruise staff woman whose name tag said "asst director childrens programs" and asked her . She said in the summer they had between 600 and 800 kids in the programs PER WEEK! THis time, 18!! They must have had a 20 to 1 ration (adults per child)

On occasion you saw a few here and there, so so few.

Will write more when I get the energy and time...

Amy

I agree!!! Everything about the Liberty exceeded my every expectation. I couldn't have been more pleased. By and away the best food EVER on a ship. My personal favorite was the Deli for those awesome grilled sandwiches!!!

I am 2 weeks post cruise and still glowing. It was a wonderful 'shared experience' for me and my boys. Someone had asked how the kids liked the trip. Mine really liked it (loved the ship and the scene) and probably would have preferred to stay on the ship for the entire voyage. The itinerary is exhausting and very intense. My kids (15 and 16) were more interested in girls and video games than they were in Ruins.

We had a good number of kids on our sailing though I had heard the previous sailings had tons of kids/teens. I did hear that the next sailing only had 18 kids.

Hope all your future Liberty travellers enjoy it as much as we did!!!

Dear D.B. Thanks for review. I will be cruising on the Liberty, in December 2005, with a 2 and 5 year old. Could you give a little more information on Camp Carnival? I am so afraid that my kids will not want to stay at Camp Carnival . . . trust me, I don't want them there all day, I would just love to have an hour or two for my husband and me. Thanks for anything that you can share.

I too was on the sept 6th cruise. I talked to a man I met in the laundry room and he said his luggage was lost. He booked with Carnival.

I know the luggage didn't arrive until Venice. I looked over my balcony and saw a gondola with a pile of luggage on it headed toward the ship !!

dbhugins: Great review sounds like you had a wonderful time. Were you able to tell if Port or Starboard was the preferable side of the ship in terms of view, particularly Venice. Thanks.

I say the PORT side is best. Especially in Venice. I was in room 8448 and I have to say it was one of the best views of Venice from the ship !

Clevercruiser:

Not to worry. I was on the 9/6 sailing with the mess at the airport. Was flying to NY via London on British Airways. We had an 11:55 AM flight. We booked our transfer with Carnival. It was just before 7AM when they called our tag color. No problem with making the flight.

When you get to the airport you want to go to counter numbers 364 - 368. That's where BA has their agents. They don't open until 9:00 AM -- at least on Sunday 9/18 they didn't. But 364 - 368 (361 if you are flying business class) is where you want to go.

CTMak

When you get to the airport you want to go to counter numbers 364 - 368.

That's where BA has their agents.

Thanks for that - one less thing to worry about!

~ MARK ~

I say the PORT side is best. Especially in Venice...

Maybe, maybe not.

You were lucky enough to be there on one of only two occasions this

season when the Liberty has docked at the berth near St.Mark's Square;

most sailings dock in the cruise terminal (where you turned round);

in which case, a Starboard side room would give the best view of

Venice as you arrive.

I was in room 8448 and I have to say it was one of the best views of Venice from the ship !

Spooky! We are also in 8448 (in 9 days!!), although we specifically booked

(and paid for) that room, while you got upgraded from an outside cabin!! :rolleyes:

Perhaps Carnival were trying to get you hooked, as it was your first cruise;

just don't expect that sort of upgrade again!

~ MARK ~

p.s. Did you take any pictures of the room?

Thank you for your information about the Carnival Liberty. I do have one question. Did you say that you did the Essence of Tuscany tour, Wines of Tuscany and Pisa all on the same day? :confused: If so how did you do that? Was there enough time allotted to do all of that? We were assuming that we would only have time for one or the other. Thank you. Our Liberty cruise is next summer and we are trying to plan ahead!

Did you feel the Pompeii and Taormina Greek tours were worth it - were they both approximately 4 - 5 hours thru Carnival. How much $$ per tour?

Thanks, Sue

Cruise - we give it a 10! Best trip we every took, bar none.

 

Embarkation - A+ - easy, fast, wonderful.

 

DeBarkation - A+. easy, fast, wonderful. Best handling of luggage I have

ever witnessed as well as fastest debark.

 

Moving around Rome - we had a private driver.....he was worth way more than we paid him - Stephano from Romecabs has our undying gratitude - we

had transportation to and from airport, and one day private touring with him in Rome - outstanding - he even found restrooms (not easy) and ice cream specialty shops for our two grandkids 3 & 5. Found him on these boards - best ever!

 

Airports -

The only worst airport we have ever seen was Mexico City where we were made to stand in a line for 2 hours only to find it was for people EXITING the airport - we were trying to change flights.

 

Yesterday we got to airport but could not find the British Airways desk - there were Airline brand signs outside the terminal but none said BA - then could not find the signs inside due to massive crowds. We left ship about 7:45 for 11:50 flight and driver picket us up around 8AM - got to airport before 9 and then fun began! Finally, after being made to stand in line that was for DELTA and Northwest checkin - stretched about 3 city blocks inside the airport and those in the lines were very unhappy if you wanted to go around or through the line - cannot blame them - it was a really chaotic scene - we went back outside terminal and came in another door - then

finally (after asking about 10 people) found BA - finally got checked in - took about 2 hours total. Carnival's hundreds of passengers all convened on airport at same time - none on BA fills airport and you cannot find anything or anyone to help.

 

We persevered - beautiful ship, outstanding ports - wonderful tours, great food - fabulous Camp Carnival,bet room steward in the world - thanks Jaime and staff!, great dining room staff- Team Leader Lee you are the best., beautiful weather, John Heald was his usual funny self -note, ask everyone about Mushroom and Willie Banger! This trip and ship exceeded our expectations in everyway.....only glitch (and it is very small I assure you)was they ran out of diet coke and sprite and lemons around Messina and did not get more until after Barcelona-this woulld have been no problem except we have a serious diabetic and two kids who paid $75 each for fountain cards that they could not use for 3 days due to outage of diet coke and sprite - but that is the only thing I can find wrong this morning - am jet lagged as we did not get home until 1:30 this AM - were up and moving for 25 hours without sleep - we got cheap flights so had to do some wild antics - changing airports in New York last night - still missing 7 bags! All this with 3 & 5 year olds who were angelic considering circumstances.

 

WONDERFUL excursions - We did Pompeii, Essence of Tuscany, Wines of Tuscany, Taormina and Greek Theatre, Monserrat and Boys Choir in Barcelona but our St Paul DeVence excursion was cancelled. We did Pisa ourselves, Rome ourselves (with Stephano of Romecabs - $35 E' per hour-worth more!) Cannes - just went shopping and to the beach - needed a down day! Email me individually if you want particulars and pros and cons on the Excursions we took. All were enjoyable, some more than others and ranged in price from $49 to $200 - the Essence of Tuscany at $200 was steep but the wine tasting and lunch in the middle of the day was worth the price alone - we were the happiest mini-bus in Seinna that day bar none!

 

Thanks for listening. Our next cruise in December 07 on Liberty Eastern

out of Ft Lauderdale but we are hoping new Carnival Freedom will do some Greek Islands in 07 or 08 and if so, we will sign up immediately.

 

Happy Sails to you!

Maybe, maybe not.

 

You were lucky enough to be there on one of only two occasions this

season when the Liberty has docked at the berth near St.Mark's Square;

most sailings dock in the cruise terminal (where you turned round);

in which case, a Starboard side room would give the best view of

Venice as you arrive.

 

 

 

Spooky! We are also in 8448 (in 9 days!!), although we specifically booked

(and paid for) that room, while you got upgraded from an outside cabin!! :rolleyes:

 

Perhaps Carnival were trying to get you hooked, as it was your first cruise;

just don't expect that sort of upgrade again!

 

 

~ MARK ~

 

p.s. Did you take any pictures of the room?

I guess we were truly lucky ! We still can't figure why the upgrade. Oh well, no complaints here.

Yes, I do have pics...but wait...I guess your there already !