Review: 5 days aboard the Liberty

We recently returned from our first 5 day cruise.

Generally we cruise 7 or 8 days during the holidays with the exception of an Alaskan cruise last summer. My mom passed away at the start of summer and after spending weeks trying to get things in order we just needed to escape for a while. My husband and I took my dad and we left for the week!

We live an hour from the port, so we are familiar with the Port of Galveston. We parked our car, boarded the shuttle and headed for distraction. Galveston has done an excellent job of working out the kinks and we were through the lines and on the ship in no time! We have a tradition of eating lunch on board and having free champagne... you learn something new everyday, right?! Turns out that is only on Holiday sailings. My dad had been talking about it for a few days and was disappointed, so my husband bought a bottle and we had our own welcome aboard party.;)

We were a little disappointed in the level of activities. Usually there are tons of things to do, bean bag toss, basketball, etc. This time it was basically just trivia, lots of trivia. They did have a few competitions but they were during port times.. no way am I staying on the ship and skipping a port to get a 14 karat gold piece of ship on a stick. ;) We did come home with some trophies, so trivia wasn't a complete bust.

My husband and I spent a lot of time in the casino, and surprisingly walked away with some money at the end of the week. That NEVER happens. My dad spent a lot of time listening to the bands play, they had a good selection of music on this trip. Franky, the cruise director, was really great. I'm not going to lie, most of the time I have no idea who the director is or have no interactions with them, but we talked with him a few times and he was always a presence around the ship.

We had most of our meals in the buffet/fish and chips/pizza and my favorite, guy's Burger. We didn't eat in the dining room, but we rarely do.

I see that the ship is due for dry dock soon and it needs it. Some general maintenance and updating is definitely in order, but it was nothing to ruin a trip. On our last sea day we did loose complete power for maybe 10 minutes. The lights and air came back on, but we sat dead in the water for about 20 minutes. We were never inconvenienced or uncomfortable and the crew were good about calming the nervous passengers. My biggest stress was being in the middle of a bonus game on a slot machine :p but once the power returned the game picked up where it left off, so no worries!

We've been to Cozumel several times, but Progreso was a new port stop for us. (I'm big on going to new places!) I'll write a post for each port on its own.

Overall the cruise was enjoyable, we had a great time and it served the purpose of distracting us! Getting away from the stress and the constant reminder of what happened was good for us all.

*******

My only thing, and this goes for all cruise lines, not just Carnival.. but the single occupancy rate is ridiculous. I understand they want to make all the money they can get, that's why they are in business after all, but it's seriously inconvenient for a single person. If he'd had his own room it would have cost just as much as if my mom had still been alive and joining us! Instead we all sucked it up and shared a room to save the extra $.

I will say a good thing for Carnival though, we had a cruise pre-booked for this coming Christmas and when I called about my Mom they were very kind and despite not having the cruise insurance they took my mom's name off the cruise and refunded the taxes for her. I've read horror stories about this same situation and they were very nice, it was a huge relief and I thank them for probably being the easiest call I've had to make in regards to my Mom's passing!

It was raining when we left Galveston.

We love the hammocks in the Serenity area

Powers out!

Military Appreciation

French Kiss from the Alchemy Bar... I'm in LOVE with this drink!

We did a private jeep tour through CozumelCruiseExcursions . net (this was the second time we used them for the jeep tour, they are really good)

We saw a turtle from our balcony when docking in Progreso, he went down before I could grab my camera, but you can kind of see it.

We booked the Technotel through autoprogresso website... not sure I would recommend this. The place was great, but getting there was awful. We were told it would be a 45 minute wait before departure time, no big deal. After the 45 minutes they lined us up and we stood in a line in direct sunlight for 30+ minutes waiting on a bus to arrive. I bought a hat while standing there because it was just that hot!

I love the color of the water, it was like a mint/lime green color in the sun.

It did rain on us a bit while we were there and the staff was really great, they moved my dad's table under a private awning that wasn't in use while my husband and I were out on the beach! They were all really nice!

Super long pier.

Henna, done in 5 minutes at the shopping area right off the boat! (Much better than what was done at the resort!!) It lasted about 3 weeks before completely fading away.

I forgot to add the dates in my first post... July 25 - 30, 2016

Thanks for reading. Life will not wait on you, explore the world while you can. <3

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on the Liberty very soon, so always excited to read anything about her.

We are up in the air as to what to do in Progresso, we will check Technotel off of our list of options. When we were in Costa Maya a few years ago, same thing......took more than just a couple of minutes waiting then a 45 minute drive on the worst roads I have ever been on in my life. The place was great, but the getting there and back, not so much.

Once again, thanks for taking time to do your review and I'm glad you had a wonderful vacation.

Thanks for doing a review and sorry for the loss of your mom.

Very nice photos, thanks!

I am sorry for your loss of your Mom.

Thanks for your review. Liberty is still my favorite ship! Hope to some day sail on her again. Look forward to more of your review.:)

Thank you for the review. My husband & I will be on this ship soon (same itinerary). Do you recall if the Hairy Chest Contest on Lido deck was offered as part of the entertainment? My husband likes to enter this contest, but I told him I'm not sure if it is offered on the 5 day cruises.

Thanks for the review, we will be sailing on the Liberty in September with a couple of newbies. We've sailed before but never on the Liberty so we are anxiously waiting, any cruise on a Carnival ship is a good cruise to us.

Loved the review and pictures! [emoji106]🏾

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Thank you for the review. My husband & I will be on this ship soon (same itinerary). Do you recall if the Hairy Chest Contest on Lido deck was offered as part of the entertainment? My husband likes to enter this contest, but I told him I'm not sure if it is offered on the 5 day cruises.

I think I remember it being on the list of things to do.

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on the Liberty very soon, so always excited to read anything about her.

 

We are up in the air as to what to do in Progresso, we will check Technotel off of our list of options. When we were in Costa Maya a few years ago, same thing......took more than just a couple of minutes waiting then a 45 minute drive on the worst roads I have ever been on in my life. The place was great, but the getting there and back, not so much.

 

Once again, thanks for taking time to do your review and I'm glad you had a wonderful vacation.

The place was great, it was just getting there that was the problem. The actual bus ride was short, but the waiting in line part was not fun. There weren't enough buses for everyone so I think they were busing a group and coming back for another. If you get in the front of the line then your golden.

I am sorry for your loss of your Mom.

 

Thanks for your review. Liberty is still my favorite ship! Hope to some day sail on her again. Look forward to more of your review.:)

Thanks for doing a review and sorry for the loss of your mom.

Thank You Both. :)

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the review as I too will be on the Liberty in October. I was wondering what you thought of the 5 day cruise compared to what you normally sail? Was it enough?

Also, loved the Henna - was it expensive?

I agree with you about the solo supplement - if solos pay double it should count as double in points/credits!!

My condolences to you and your Dad.

Nice review. Nice pictures also. Sorry for the loss of your mom. Extra nice to take dad along. I am sure he will treasure the memories.

Thanks for the review as I too will be on the Liberty in October. I was wondering what you thought of the 5 day cruise compared to what you normally sail? Was it enough?

 

Also, loved the Henna - was it expensive?

 

I agree with you about the solo supplement - if solos pay double it should count as double in points/credits!!

 

 

My condolences to you and your Dad.

Thank You.

As for the henna, I had my right hand done at Technotel for $15 and it looked awful! On our way back to the ship a guy caught my eye at the jewelry shop near the bus drop off, he did the design pictured free hand in 5 or 6 minutes and charged me $25. It lasted about 3 weeks, may have been longer but I had to go back to work so I washed it with lime juice to fade the ink faster.

Now to the serious question... was it long enough. Honestly, no. But 7 days isn't long enough, I could spend a month on a cruise ship, I just can't afford it. The 5 days served it's purpose of distracting us, but for the price in my opinion it's not worth it. Now, if I had the time during off peak season I'd definitely take a 5 day cruise again! If you only have a week then it's worth it, but if you have the time and extra money I'd always go 7 or more. My problem is that I work for a school, so my vacation time coincides with peak travel seasons. :/

It should definitely give you double the points, like booking a suite! (that may just be RC, I get the benefits between the two mixed up sometimes, that happens when you go back and forth. lol)

Nice review. Nice pictures also. Sorry for the loss of your mom. Extra nice to take dad along. I am sure he will treasure the memories.

Thank You. It was bitter sweet, we usually traveled for Christmas and my parents always came with us (it was our present to each other, we paid for their room, they paid for our room... it all cost the same but it made my Mom feel better). So for the 3 of us to share a room was really strange, but between the cost of a single room and him being alone it was better all around.

Thank you for your review, and sharing your photos.

So sorry for your loss.

First so sorry about your mom....I was wondering, been on other ships, but first time on Libertly. Do they still do the midnight party at all?? Love your pics. and review..thanks!

First so sorry about your mom....I was wondering, been on other ships, but first time on Libertly. Do they still do the midnight party at all?? Love your pics. and review..thanks!

Thanks. I don't remember there being a midnight party, but we usually avoid the large gatherings, so there may have been one and I just didn't pay any attention to it.

Thank you for your review, and sharing your photos.

 

So sorry for your loss.

Thank You.