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Review - Liberty 04/11/09 (Includes review of Deluxe Penthouse Suite)


Nezmo

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Ship: Carnival Liberty

Sailing: 04/11/09

Itinerary: Western Caribbean – Miami, at sea, Cozumel, at sea, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, at sea, Miami

Cabin: 9200

 

I don’t have the patience to write a day-by-day review and I’m kind of a random guy so I’ll try to summarize things in to the key points from our perspective. This review is also focused on the ship rather than ports of call.

 

There is a link to all our photos in my signature (I’m a serious amateur photog so excuse the large number of very similar shots). I will include relevant photos here in the review.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. I’m comparing to Houston last year when it served as a temporary port while Galveston was closed due to Hurricane damage. Houston was unprepared but did reasonable well because it wasn’t really ready as a port to function. Miami on the other hand is of course the other end of the spectrum having been serving cruise ships forever. We arrived about 11am and there was virtually no line at security. We did hear them discussing the bottle in our carry on but it was just among themselves saying wine was okay. Thankfully the rest of our libations were in the other luggage. We headed straight the VIP lounge, checked in which took all of two minutes, sat in the waiting room and within ten minutes we were called to embark.

 

My guess is we were among the first 20 folks on the ship. I got the first drink from one of the Lido bars (the bar server took glasses out of a box to serve me). Rooms were ready about 1pm although the doors to the corridors were not open until the official time of 1:30pm.

 

I love the ship’s décor. Décor is a subjective thing so I won’t dwell on it but compared to what I’ve seen of the Splendor, I’ll take this any day. The Tuscan themes were mellow and the changing color chandeliers everywhere are beautiful. Note that the large one over the atrium bar was stuck on blue. A waiter told me it had quit changing colors the previous week and wasn’t fixed yet.

 

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We were in one of the new Deluxe Penthouse Suites. There are only two on the ship situated at the port and starboard forward corners of deck 9 (only the Liberty has these suites presently). The balconies of these two rooms are over the bridge wings that stick out from the sides of the ship. Formerly this was an area that was reachable by those ‘secret’ doors that provide access to the forward open deck areas and on this deck, the wings over the bridge. There is still a door leading to the forward deck area on this deck and the suite door is the same color as shown below. I swear our door handle was tried twenty times a day by people trying to get out front.

 

The suite door, tucked right in the corner does give the impression that it’s a maintenance room or something other than a cabin door. But as soon as you open the door you realize you are in a very large and nicely appointed suite.

 

The forward looking view from this suite is to die for. We spent hours sitting on the sofa just watching the seas and coming in to the ports (we even caught sight of some dolphins). The suite is spacious with two nice bathrooms with upscale fittings, a separate bedroom, a huge walk-in closet and a massive balcony that gives you about a 240 degree view. There is a 40” (my guess) flat screen in the bedroom and the living area with a Yamaha sound system integrated under each that you can plug your iPod in to. They do have some design issues in the suite. While there are about a dozen outlets, there are none in the bathrooms that you can plug a curling iron or hair drier in for the ladies (the bathrooms had hair driers but the kind that have no guts to really dry anything). We had to run an extension cord from the next nearest outlet. The suite also has three sliding doors that separate various areas. These rolled back and forth at night in heavier seas. Only one door had a functioning latch to hold it open and even then the door rolled inside the walls in its open position. We just closed all doors each night. Finally, the wonderfully large shower in one of the bathrooms leaked water around the door very badly.

 

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Nevertheless, we loved the suite. Tons of room, fantastic view, nice bathrooms, just loved it. A few points about the balcony – we did get some wind on some of the days even with the screens in place but it was still a very usable space. The open deck space above does look right down on it but we only had people up there a few times and they seemed to respect our privacy. All in all it’s a very nice place to hang out and, um, well, you know…

 

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Harry’s Supper Club was weird. I ate four times at The Point on the Conquest and without exception it was a fantastic experience every time so our expectations were high for this trip. Harry’s on the other hand was a mixed bag. Again we ate on four nights. Two of them had very large groups in the there. The first group decided video cameras were okay to use (not discretely) and the second thought that f-bombs, sitting on laps, staggering drunk, putting on women’s shorts over their pants and flip flops were okay (believe me, I’m all for fun – see remarks about the Adult Scavenger Hunt later – but it needs to be in the right place). I understand large groups will be noisy and in fact, on the first night the staff apologized to me saying the others would be leaving soon (I had not complained at this point). However, on the second large group night, towards the end of my meal I approached the hostess desk, calm, and asked that the next night I not be seated by a large group as, while the food was excellent as usual, the experience so far was awful. I was told not to worry as there were no groups that night. I then asked about the flip flops and was told that they must have gone and changed at some point because he was dressed okay when he arrived. So apparently it’s okay to change half way through your meal in to clothing that is inappropriate when you start your meal. I got very angry at this point, returned to my table, canceled my cheese plate order and left. I managed to do this while smiling, shaking my waiter’s hand and thanking him for good service but the other group seemed to be enjoying their night more by continuing to swear-up a storm and flip flop guy picking his feet. The hostess did offer to send the cheese to my room and our waiter did try the same but by that point I had just had enough and wanted to forget Harry’s for the night. On the last visit there it was a lot better however I do get a general feeling that the hostess does not keep as tight a ship as the one we had at The Point. I do plan to write a letter to Carnival about this overall experience in Harry’s in the hope that they can make some changes and ensure that the Supper Clubs retain their super reputation.

 

We ate in the Golden Olympian MDR on the first night and decided that that would be it for us. I will admit that one night is not giving it a fair chance but I was just ticked. We had the crappiest table located by two food stations so we got to stare at dirty plates on two sides all night. As to the wait service, well, it was awful. Very slow – our food sat delivered on the waiters station (which we could reach out and touch) and was not put on our tables for over ten minutes for each course. The drink waitress came by just once so I had to go look for her when we needed a second drink and even then I couldn’t find her. I would have asked our waiter but he was nowhere to be seen. It took ages to find someone to get more bread and butter etc. I guess all this may have been solved by moving tables but we didn’t bother as we knew we’d eat in the Supper Club several times and had one night planned on the Lido, one late night in port etc so we didn’t bother asking to be moved for what would possibly be only one more night in the MDR. And truthfully, the food was really sub-par too. In short though, that first night should have been right from the get go and I suspect that most of our troubles were actually because they are understaffed in the MDR – or maybe the team we had didn’t know each well and weren’t clicking yet. As it stands now, I’m really not sure I want to eat in the MDR ever again as there’s nothing attracting me to it.

 

My comments about the Supper Club and the MDR probably have you thinking I’m a bit of a snob and that’s fine – I probably am. But I will say that I thought the buffet food and fish and chips on this trip was very good. I hate lines and the rude people in them – one lady all but took tongs out of my hand so she could grab bread all after cutting in line – seriously, slow down, you are NOT going to starve on board. At other times kids were jostling us around like bowling pins. However, in most cases, it was worth the wait with a good selection of cold and warm food. The Mongolian Grill wasn’t bad either. I also had the late night Mexican buffet they did one night and really enjoyed it (it’s not exclusively Mexican food by the way). I tried the coffee you pay for (from the small bar within Emile’s). I just got a regular coffee but it was extremely good. The Lido coffee was undrinkable (seriously bad – I think the machines may have needed a clean) and even the room service coffee was bad (I remember it being better on the Conquest). We had room service a couple of late nights – got the BLT and roast beef and Brie. It came promptly both times and the sandwiches were very nice. We also had pizza from the 24-hour pizzeria and it too was tasty.

 

I swear I read that the aft pool was adults only on the Conquest class ships. On the Liberty it was adults only in the hot tubs back there. The pool was overrun with kids although security did frequently stop them cannon balling the water.

 

If you like Martinis, Tommy at the Paparazzi Bar (Promenade Deck, aft, starboard side) rocked. Funny guy and he makes good martinis.

 

The captain’s party was fun. It was the usual deal with music and dancing and then introduction of the senior officers. Upon entering the room the captain was not extending his hand to shake hands which I thought was odd so I made the advance anyway and said hello. It would have been easy to miss him altogether actually. Marco seemed a little shy or maybe fed up with the routine? Maybe he just doesn’t like that part of his job.

 

The Past Guest Party (our first) was kind of lame. We got offered the same snacks eight times and had to go find someone with the other selection and ask them to serve us. The entertainment is okay (big band music and dancing) but the Carnival promotional video is poor. Drinks were flowing reasonably well.

 

I thought the tendering process they did where they give you a ticket and you sit in the main theater until your number is called worked really well. I don’t remember that on the Conquest unless I got off the ship much later that time. I don’t think we did, we just had big lines on the stairwells I think. But the Liberty did well in this regard.

 

The cruise director, Steve Knisley was a blast. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like him but I found his sense of humor great. He was able to entertain the family crowds and bring it for the adult groups. In fact, he’s a great sport too… We played the Adult Scavenger Hunt late one night in The Cabinet. This is strictly adults only (doors closed deal) and starts off with innocent stuff you have to look for. As it progresses it gets really wild and it was a huge amount of fun. Steve even gave up his belt at LilC’s (rather forceful) ‘request’ J. If you have the frame of mind and they do this game on your cruise, go do it… it’s a great deal of fun. Let’s just say I was wearing undergarments on the outside of my clothes before the game was too far in.

 

The latin music (Salsa Fuego) in the atrium was loud and intrusive I felt for an area that is heard from so many decks (I had to lean over the pursers desk a few times so I could hear the clerks. LilC is a latin music fan but she agreed with me. Nothing against the music at all but I think jazz or classical is more suited to that area. I missed not having a rock band in the casino bar but the solo guy that was there wasn’t bad. Music Mix, the Asian four-piece that played in the Victoria Lounge and The Stage (Promenade Deck, aft) I thought were really good playing a mix of contemporary classics. Larry in the piano bar was pretty good too. He doesn’t have the greatest voice and he has trouble remembering the correct lyrics a few times but who cares when he’s personable and can interact with the crowd. We had a couple of fun nights in there including a blast on the last night. Thanks Larry, you worked hard. Finally, Ocean Flame, the ‘Calypso Band’ did a good job in my view as they actually knew more than three Marley songs.

 

Carnival is using the Seaside Theater screen to good effect projecting live video on it for deck activities and parties. They need to get the audio and video in sync though as it was way off for most of the live feeds and it would be nice if they showed things in the correct aspect ratio. If you have 4:3 source material show it in 4:3, not stretched to fill the screen. We really don’t need people looking wider than they are, especially on a cruise full of food and drinks. I was concerned about being on a ship with the big screen thinking it would spoil the Lido deck experience but I think it worked well with no overly intrusive sound (I managed a two hour nap on the last sea day on the Lido deck). Another cool thing is the live deck band plays through the fairly good sound system so not only does it sound great, it travels well and can be heard over a larger area.

 

I spent a lot of time in Alfred’s on the Conquest. I’m not a big cigar smoker but I liked the atmosphere in there. I found myself in The Cabinet less (Liberty’s version of Alfred’s). The seating is not as comfortable and it just didn’t click for me this time. Afternoon tea in there was nice though and it was well attended. I’m a bit perplexed why I had to almost tackle a waiter for milk though. Come on… in the UK hot tea is drunk almost exclusively with milk.

 

We watched both late night comedians Tommy Drake and Mark Hawkins. I preferred Tommy’s family show rather than his adult stuff but Mark was hilarious once he got warmed-up.

 

Lastly, I want to say thanks to the Roll Call folks we met on board. A very nice bunch of folks who helped put excursions together and who made our week even more enjoyable. And Onyx84, it’s 2-1 in LilCs favor. I think we need to cruise again so you can try and reclaim your pride.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

N

 

PS. If I think of more I’ll add to this thread. I do have the amazing adventures of Nacho to cover. Perhaps that will be another thread.

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Great Review , I too loved the Liberty the first time . But the second did lack something . Though the cruise was still great .

 

Harry's Supper Club - we dressed as well , it is the atmosphere , people need to go with it , but on the second trip onboard we did have people being seated in shorts and Casual shirts , un-tucked to boot.

 

Marco Nagara , I think is how it is spelled , he loves to go fast , a true Italian , he ran all the time without the stabilizers out , people complained , but it did not bother me , I loved it , brought back memories of the Navy ,, lol .

 

Maybe if I can win the lottery , we will try a deluxe suite, till then I'm stickin with the cheap stuff ,, lol.

 

BTW - great photos ,,TY

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Nezmo,

 

 

Great review!

 

You answered my question about wind on your balcony. We spent a lot of time on that deck before your suite existed and sometimes the wind was wicked fast. :eek:

 

I assume you got your VIP boarding snafu fixed?

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Wow - what great suite pictures! I would give my first-born to sail in one of those - I have never even seen them "listed" when checking cabin availability. I guess the old addage comes in - "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it!" - LOL! Maybe someday....:rolleyes:

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Thanks for the review and photographs. Also, thanks for speaking up re: the poor dress and behavior of the folks in Harry's if nothing is ever said about such behavior unfortunately this will become the norm.

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and even better pictures, and from your review I do not think you are a snob.....I think you were being true to yourself.........my mother taught all her kids "a person can only treat you how you allow them to"...so you were just standing up for yourself in my eyes..........great review!!!!

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Nezmo,

 

thnx for the great review. we will be doing the same on june 13th. can you tell me what movies were playing on the big screen? also, what tours did you do and did you book them privately?

 

the only thing we have planned right now is Paradise Beach in Cozumel. what did you do in Cozumel at night?

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...Marco Nagara , I think is how it is spelled , he loves to go fast , a true Italian , he ran all the time without the stabilizers out , people complained , but it did not bother me , I loved it , brought back memories of the Navy ,, lol .

 

...

Some days we were only doing 6-8 knots. He only booked it on the last sea day.
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Answering the other questions so far (I need to learn how to multiple quote)...

 

We did catch the Welcome Aboard show - same as the one on the Conquest. We also caught part of the Legends show which is fun but very holiday campish.

 

In Cozumel at night we partied in Carlos and Charlies. During the day we hit town in the morning and Paradise Beach in the afternoon (no excursions).

 

We did Captain Marvins's in Grand Cayman for the stingrays and snorkeling. We did a catamaran in Ocho Rios. Both privately booked and tons of fun (small numbers on the boats too).

 

Someone asked about booking these. They are freely available to book with Carnival.

 

They showed Wall-E, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Hancock, Sis of the Trav Pants 2, Bev Hills Chihuahua, The House Bunny, the Dutches, Back to the Future, Ghost Town.

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Thanks for the review and the photos. How many people will that suite sleep?

There's the king bed and two pulldown twin beds in the living area. I think the couch is a pull out too so I guess it could go to six?

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I noticed in your albums you use a Lumix. I have the same camera and really need to figure out how to work it. Nice job.
Yup, I use one and LilC has a newer model (most of the point and shoot photos are taken with hers). Many of those photos in the gallery are done with my Canon 30D dSLR.
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Yup, I use one and LilC has a newer model (most of the point and shoot photos are taken with hers). Many of those photos in the gallery are done with my Canon 30D dSLR.

 

I'll just stick with my famous red eye shots then. Nice review btw, gorgeous suite.

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