ardnassac79

Sunday, Feb 26th – Day at Sea

I’ll be taking over review duties for now – Chris is busy enjoying his new video game that came out today

I'll also preface this day by saying it won't be as picture heavy as the first one, we didn't take near as many pictures this day!

Since it was our first morning and we weren’t sure what time we wanted to get up, we didn’t put out the room service tag the night before. Unfortunately we both ended up getting up early – although, I’m not too sure you can say you got up early if you didn't really sleep. Neither of us got a good night’s sleep – but my poor baby only had about 3 hours total. We still aren’t sure why, maybe just random ship noise? I told him to think about using the extra pair of earplugs I brought. I personally can’t sleep with any random noises, and we have a sound machine at home, so I always come prepared now!

We threw on some clothes and schlepped up to the lido deck to get some food – it was still pretty early, so it wasn’t too crowded. I also enjoyed having a room on deck 7 that was more toward the Aft – directly up 2 flights of stairs was the buffet area.

Time to note a little rule we made for ourselves, and came to hate toward the end of the cruise – our cabin was on deck 7, so we made a “rule of 2” – meaning if the floor we wanted to go to was only 1 or 2 decks higher or lower, we were taking the stairs. Yeah yeah I know we’re crazy – and we definitely realized that as we quickly found out most everything was on either deck 5 or 9. Ugh.

So I grabbed my one and only omelet for the week (it was really good!), Chris nabbed a few danishes, and some OJ and brought it back to our room (elevator this time – rule of 2 doesn’t count balancing food trays!) and ate breakfast out on the balcony - probably one of our favorite traditions.

After breakfast it was still pretty early – about 8:30 – so we got out the bathing suits and headed up to take a shot at getting some chairs up on the Serenity deck. We actually found a few chairs, but the clamshells were being “saved” by the hogs already. We set up shop next to one that had an artfully displayed stuffed animal carefully wrapped in a towel (sure stuffed animals are good seat savers, right? :rolleyes:) and made a mental note of the time. I’m not gonna get started on the chair hog police issue, but the Fun Times say you’ve got 30 minutes to go, do your crap, and get back. And if you’ve got no one else in a group there to watch over your stuff, I have no qualms about giving a chair a 45 minute window and then claiming it as my own. More on this a little later in the review… However it didn’t turn into an issue this time… the wind really started to whip up, and it started to get very cloudy, so we pulled out the Fun Times to see what else was going on. We debated between taking over the clamshell, or go down to the very first trivia of the cruise… and trivia won out.

….and boy were we glad we went! It was at 9:30am in the Venetian Palace, and there were NOT a lot of people there – a group of kids aged 11-12, and maybe 10 other adults. Our one goal for this trip was to score a Ship on a Stick – it took us 3 cruises on the Pride to get one, so we were determined this cruise to add to the collection! My love’s vast knowledge of movie quotes old and new won out – he got 18 out of 20 (I helped on like 1, the Gone With the Wind one) and we won!! :D Nothing like getting that out of the way early! All sadness over giving up our Serenity chairs flew out the window.

After that, we weren’t sure what to do, didn’t really feel like trying to scout out more deck chairs, so we crazily decided to hit up the gym. It was about 11am, and the next thing we wanted to do was round 1 of Super Trivia at noon. So up to the gym we went. It was a lot less hot in here than we experienced on the Pride, and there was a good selection of equipment. I hopped on an elliptical, and Chris hit up the freeweights. The ellipticals had TV screens that showed all the channels available in the cabins, but I was a little disappointed closed captioning didn’t work. I love being able to listen to my iPod and “watch” the TV on closed caption while I work out. Anything to keep me from watching that timer go down.

We finished up just in time to hit the room to freshen up quickly and head down to a lounge area on Deck 4 called “The Cabinet” for Super Trivia.

(this pic was actually taken later in the trip, so no, I didn't go directly from the gym to the bar!)

We’ve never done this before, but after reading some reviews, we were curious, so tried it out. It’s 3 rounds of trivia spread out over the entire week, and you’re teamed up with other people – we had 6 to our team – we called ourselves “East Side” since we were all from the East Coast. Our team members were a really good group – one couple – Alicia and Dave – Dave was such a history buff! We later found out he was applying to law school – he definitely gave us an edge! Marie from Carnival who was running the game wouldn’t tell us our scores, but we had a feeling we were doing pretty good, so we all made a pact to come back for round 2, which was going to be on Wednesday.

I am so excited that you are posting a trip report. Now I can relive our cruise through other eyes. My husband and 2 redheads 8 year old girl and 12 year old boy and myself were on this cruise. I feel like I just got home and have been at work since. I can't believe you can already be writing the report, but I am so grateful.

I barely remember the first dinner because we sat at the wrong table because the table number was so small on my card I read it wrong. Then my daughter went to the bathroom outside the Silver Olympian Dining room and got locked into one of the stalls. I had to run back to the table for a butter knife to try and turn the lock to get her out. After jimmying it for 5 minutes it finally opened. She wouldn't lock a bathroom door after that ;) Not a great start to eating in the dining room.

Hi! Yeah, I'm sure with having kids - things like unpacking, doing laundry, and grocery shopping all take longer to get though post-vacation!

I can't believe that happened on the first night in the dining room! I never had to experience trying to find our correct tables - with the Anytime Dining, they lead you to your seats. And wow, how horrible about your daughter locking herself in the stall! I'm so glad you got her out, but I'm sure any crew member would have been able to help as well. I don't blame her for not wanting to lock them for the rest of the trip! :eek:

Thanks for the info. We are usually there by 10:30am. We actually were there around 10:15 last year. I'm really thinking of getting there a little earlier this year because I've read that there will be more ships there than we had there last year.

We were really happy with the flow of everything. As Chris mentioned, we have only ever sailed out of Baltimore - where there are only 2 ships, and they are at port on different days - so Miami was a whole new experience. Even the fact that all the different ships have different buildings/entrances/customs people was so crazy! We wondered why our shuttle driver asked us what ship we were on! Then pulling up, it was like "oooooh". Very efficient, in our opinion!

Same!

 

Getting super excited to be making the trip.. can't wait for the rest of the review..

 

What is the COIN??? :confused:

I believe every Carnival ship has a "coin" that every Carnival ship has added to it - I googled it and found this on the Funville forums:

Basically, it is a commemorative coin sealed in a box. Here is how John (Heald) described it:

The ship was blessed for safe travels for all crew and guests that will sail with her; a champagne bottle was broken and the ship was gifted with a very special coin. According to the shipyard staff there is a centuries old tradition that calls for every ship to carry a lucky coin. The coin is welded to the hull of the ship and has to happen before the ship can touch water. The flooding of the dock is also a very special occasion as it’s the first time the ship will be in her “natural habitat” as one staff member put it so nicely.

Great Review so far. We're thinking about a Liberty cruise this fall. She was so fun in 2007 but that was 5 years ago. The sports bar is definitely a plus in my book.

Go for it!! Then again, I tell that to everyone who says they are thinking of booking a cruise! :p

Quick question. Do you have to pay to enter the Serenity area (like on Princess) or is it free?? I LOVE those chairs and can't wait to sit (fall asleep) in one!! :D

It's free, but it gets filled up pretty early in the morning. Later in the review we will discuss how we "fought back" against the chair hogs that felt a towel on a chair with no one in sight for over an hour is perfectly acceptable... :rolleyes:

Yes, those chairs and especially the clam shells are wonderfully relaxing!!

This review has made going back to work this week easier because I look at your pictures and think about the great time we had last week!!

hehe! It was nice meeting you and your hubby - you never know, you may be in a background shot of the shots we took on the snorkeling trip!

I'm really enjoying your review so far and was so happy when you said you did the Western. Hubby and I are leaving 2 weeks from Saturday for the same cruise. So looking forward to the rest and loving the pictures. BTW, where was the coin?

Michele

It was up on Deck 10 - look carefully! ;)

I wonder what the Mexican fiesta is about?? :-p

hehehe, this was on the night of Chris's birthday, and let's just say I made sure "Mr. I Don't Do Deck Parties" had a good time! :D

The pool table has self adjusting, stablizing legs, so you can't blame the table for an errant shot, maybe the Red Frog, but not the table.....lol

I had no idea, that's really cool! Thanks!!

Great review, love it so far. We sailed Liberty last April to western caribbean and LOVED it! We sail on her again in 11 DAYS! So very excited to see half moon cay and the eastern islands, and all the great upgrades on Liberty. And pool tables in the casino!!!! Nice!

 

Look forward to more of your review.

Melanie

Thanks!! Ahh, you'll have a great time!

Thanks for checking for me Cass, guess that means I can complete the Challenge:( (but more room for Guys Burgers:D)...And thanks for coming out on the boards after a hard first day back at work. Looking forward to the rest of the review( DW loves the ship pics) and meeting you guys in the flesh on the Breeze!

No problem! Nothing wrong with more Guy's Burgers!! :p Looking forward to meeting you too!

I love love love the Liberty and cant wait to sail on here end of this year!!! If I can swing it we are going to try to do a B2B!

Thanks!! Ahh, I'd love to do a full 14 days on a ship - one of these years! :p

Loving the review and bringing back memories of my recent Liberty cruise - can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip! :D:D

Thanks Froufie! We loved your review too - it definitely helped psych us up before our trip!

I hope so too. I was thinking what about the shipmoving. I go to shoot and all the balls start rolling around. :D

Haha I know! I had the same thought, especially on the Pride that has Pool Tables in the casino now as well. Not sure if they are adding these when a ship goes to drydock? I know the Pride didn't have them in 2009 or 2010, but did after her drydock in 2011. I'd imagine the balls would be rolling around a lot more on ships out in the Atlantic like the Pride though!

That's one thing we noticed (and may talk about again) - after traveling on the Pride 3x (during the tail end of hurricane season) we barely felt any sway on the Liberty! We must have earned our "sea legs" the hard way :D

Yea! It is a Chris and Cass review! Can not wait to read/see more!

Hi Jen!!!! Hopefully we will entice you into trying out the Liberty in April 2013 :p

We'll be back tomorrow with more tales from our Leap-Year Birthday Extravaganza! Stay tuned - it's not often my love gets a "real" birthday (Feb 29th! - Isla Roatan) so I made sure this was one he'd never forget (or only be able to remember from the pictures) :eek: :D

Hi All!! Thank you so much to all for the wonderful comments - we love doing these reviews - it's like an online scrapbook to use to go back and remember everything! Granted we don't have super-duper SLR pictures, but hopefully our amazing charm and wit will even it out ;)

WOOHOO! THE Review is starting. Thanks for getting it going Chris...figured it'd be tomorrow at the earliest. BTW, notes for th enext time: At MIA, if you'r hungry...grab a Cuban from the La Carreta in Temrianl D. Certainly better than a pizza from the airport.

 

Thanks early for sharing the cruise.

Hi Crewsweeper!! I wanted to tell you now in case we forget by the time we get to the gym pics - we didn't get a picture of it, but I'm 99.9% certain they have one of your rower machines - Concept 2 I think? It's in front of the ellipticals next to the wipe-down towel racks!

enjoying the review and defintely the pictures, I am wondering.

1.If you have the fun times

2.what bands were playing

3.who were the comedians.

thank you,

John

Hi John! Yes, We have all the Fun Times - I will be scanning them at the end and uploading to Google Docs and posting links here - that worked well last time.

In the meantime, I can tell you the 2 comedians in the beginning of the cruise were Mark Simmons and Allyn Ball. We didn't get to catch Allyn, but saw Mark and he was HILARIOUS (in our opinion!). The second half of the cruise featured Chas Elstner and Percy Crews. We didn't see either, but friends of ours caught Percy and said he was funny. I think we saw him on the Pride once and wasn't too terribly impressed (the "adult" was just adding swear words) but each to his/her own!

As for the bands, I can't give recommendations, but the Fun Tims show these: Jams with TJ; DJ Steven; New Dawn; Mambo Chilango; High Rise; DJ Electra and DJ Steven; and Christopher Allen Graves (one night only looks like?)

Hope that helps!

Also, for our Breezer friends that asked about smoking on the ship - as Chris alluded to earlier, we are non-smokers, but I did take note that almost the entire starboard outdoor side up on deck 10 where all the deck chairs are (above the new bars) allowed smoking, as did the one side of the Casino Bar (and a large section of the casino as well)

ardnassac79s video was great and helped me decide on #10 instead of #5. Thanks for sharing.:D

Glad to help! I have a feeling a lot of people may think the higher #'s are too far out, but they really aren't, especially considering behind the cabanas is a paved path that can be used to cut to the eatery and other places pretty quickly. IMO it's a farther walk from the front of the ship to the MDR than it is from the furthest cabana to the eatery... but don't quote me on that!

Thanks so much for the video!

Glad to help! This is my little slice of heaven, and really can't wait to go back.

Well done video.

Great video. Thanks for sharing!!!

Great video. Thanks for sharing it. Will help in people's planning.

Thanks All! We did it in the hopes that we could help others decide which cabana they may want. As you can see it really doesn't take long at all to walk from one end to the other - and that's going slow enough to hold a camera steady!

Hi All!!! We got back from our first trip to HMC on 10/2 and while we were there, took this video (a little over 6 mins) that starts at cabana 15 and goes down to the end.

Please feel free to check it out! I know when we were planning our trip, I loved watching stuff like this in advance! We had Cabana 12.

We also just finished up a review of the cruise with pics and a more detailed account of our HMC day - a link to it is in my siggie.

Enjoy! :D

Hi Dana!! Loved your review - I'm so sorry you had a crappy experince with the Normandie... I've never had a set dining time, we have always done Anytime, and I will agree that it does seem a bit impersonal - probably more so than when you are at the same table every night. However, I know some people do request the same table - Jen, Eric, Dave, and Cindy always seemed to be in a corner booth spot every night, and by the end they seemed to be having a ball with their wait staff!

I'm glad you still had a good trip!

I've been to all but Belize. I've only ever carried my driver's license and my ship card (and money...:)). Leave the other documents in the safe. Don't even bring your SS card--no need for it.

I'm not 100% sure but I think Carnival requires you to take your S&S card - they scan it when you leave the ship and come back. I've never take my passport off the ship, but think I will be making photocopies of them for my next cruise. If for some reason you miss the boat when you are in a diff country, you will need it to get back into the US!

It's amazing to see the amount of changes since we were on the Pride a few months ago. We spend a lot of time in the casino and it's nice to see they added tv's. The Texas Hold'em is in a new location and the pool tables are completely new. Looks like they've gotten rid of a few of the slot machines closer to the sports bar.

Yes, between the addition of the Serenity Adult area where the Aft bar on deck 9 was, to the changes in the casino, looks like the Pride went thru some changes during her Dry dock!! My fave 1 cent video poker is gone :( (hopefully just moved :D)