fishfriendz

Hi Everyone

We just returned from our cruise and time spent with my family. This was our second cruise, with the first one being on RCCL 5 years ago. On the cruise with me were my husband, our 16 year old daughter, our 18 year old son and his girlfriend. This trip was meant to celebrate the end of summer baseball and serve as a last hoorah before my son goes off to college in 2 weeks. We had 2 connecting ocean view cabins on deck 2. We did the anytime dining option and the cheers package. We also did FTTF, which I thought was worth it. At one point we went to guest services and I was very glad for the shorter line! The kids all did the social media internet package. Wifi was slow at times but they thought it was worth it.

Overall, the cruise was fun. Weather did not cooperate for embarkation or sea day but was nice for the most part in Nassau and Freeport. I had a cold, which I then managed to pass to everyone in our group (plus apparently to our dogs in the kennel back home since they came down with kennel cough for the first time!) And very sadly, my daughter's hedgehog passed away (not unexpectedly) while we were gone so that was not a fun text to get when we got back into port.

Embarkation went smoothly. We got on board around 11-11:15 and put our stuff in the cabins. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the cabin. There was plenty of room for us. One cabin did not have the correct bed configuration but that was easily fixed that evening. Side note on our cabin attendant, Frances. He asked if we wanted am service, pm, or both, and we opted for pm, which worked well for us. We did not make any requests, other than to change the beds and for more bath mats, since our shower flooded the bathroom every time. We got towel animals each night, which made us happy.

Once we dropped everything off, we grabbed drinks and ate at the buffet, which was good. Funnily enough, the very first people I spoke with at the bar, we ended up seeing all over the ship during the cruise! After eating and drinks we hung out and played cards since it was raining. We enjoyed people watching and exploring the ship. I was very surprised by how smoky deck 5 was, even away from the casino. Muster drill was frustrating because people kept talking so we could not hear anything, and the staff members kept screaming at people to be quiet, which did not work. We tried to go to sports trivia but arrived too late to participate. Dinner in the MDR was tasty. I ate the Indian option each night and loved it. The melting cake lived up to the hype. Service was very slow but we did not mind. As a side note, we only had to wait for a table one of the nights. We did not request the same servers each night but did have the same team for two of the nights. We all loved the entertainment, even though it was cheesy!

Sea Day was rainy, and I did not feel great. The seas were a little rough which did not help. My husband and I went to brunch and ate with others at a large table. Our kids then found us and we moved to a smaller table. And then my son's girlfriend joined us, so we were there for 3 meals. We were disappointed in the Bloody Mary "bar". When we asked about it, we were told we could only order a regular Bloody Mary from the bar, despite the menu implying we could customize them. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The rest of the sea day was spent trying to play mini golf in bad weather, playing cards, finally making it to sports trivia, and hanging out. My husband and I made our way to the alchemy bar, which with the cheers package, was a lot of fun since we made it our mission to try all of the drinks. We were close but did not quite do it! After dinner we went to karaoke to watch, which was fun. As a side note, it was a little frustrating to have little kids get up and perform (and not well) after 10 pm when it technically became 18+. They were very clear in saying that they would not kick kids out, which I have no problem with, but I do think it is inappropriate to have kids who are 7 and 8 years old performing at 10:30. And there were plenty of adults in the queue, so it was not a matter of not having people to perform. Not a major issue but we saw it each night we went to karaoke.

Nassau - the weather looked better when we arrived, although it rained for about 3 hours midday. We got the day passes to Breezes. Taxi there and back was an easy trip. Breezes itself is not that great but the drinks were good, the beach was nice, and the grill by the pool was great. We spent several hours under cover. Fortunately there was a ping pong table which helped pass the time. Sun came out for the last hour; we all agreed we got plenty of sun for the day. We were back on the ship with time to spare. That night we went to the love and marriage show, which was fun. I also got to go on stage for the Hasbro show, which was a highlight for me. I played skee ball and surprised my family with how well I did :). Although my team did not win we did get a prize! We went back to karaoke to watch.

Freeport - we did the all inclusive beach excursion, which was probably a mistake. Weather was fantastic. I think Carnival/company in charge of the shore excursion could have been more organized. Everyone was quite surprised when we arrived at the beach and we were told that we would be leaving at 12:30! Several people spoke up but nothing changed. They had a large group arriving as we left. Again, it was plenty of sun for us. Drinks were good and our server did a nice job keeping us hydrated. Beach was pretty. Food was not good, but then again, it is hard to get excited about a lunch buffet at 10:00 am. The chairs were plentiful but very close together. Overall, it was a bit too structured (for lack of better word), and I think we all enjoyed the previous day at Breezes more. We were back at the port by 1, which gave us time to go to Senor Frogs, which my daughter loved. When we arrived, there was a conga line of people doing shots, which apparently impressed her. We got back on board early and hit the alchemy bar. Dinner was nice. My son was not feeling great so he went back to the cabin. The rest of us ended up going to 80s trivia, which was probably my favorite event. We wrapped it up with karaoke and one of the comedy shows.

Disembarkation was easy. We did the FTTF option and were in our car heading to my parents by 7:15. We parked right at the terminal, which cost more but was an easy option.

Final thoughts since this was our first Carnival cruise - The staff was amazing. Everyone we interacted with was pleasant and helpful. I was particularly impressed with the people they had stationed about at the beginning who could answer questions. Food was very good; there were no complaints and everyone was willing to try new things. Overall we had fun!

Sorry this was so long!

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Yeah, I'm thinking the roll calls are only (or usually) for longer cruises. The other cruises we've been on have been a week or longer, so I'm just guessing. I downloaded a cruise app-not sure if I'm allowed to name it here- recently and was surprised to find there was a roll call for both of our sailings. There are a lot of people listed for ours but not that many actually post anything. Your sailing has 66 people on the roll call. I didn't take a close look at how active it is.

 

What you said about your expectations for the Liberty, I would say about Carnival in general. Before trying Carnival, we had been on 4 Disney Cruises. We knew that trying to hold Carnival up to Disney's standards would only result in disappointment. I hope you have a really great time, you probably will!

Thanks for the information.! That makes sense about the roll call. Our last cruise was 7 days. I am definitely trying to manage expectations. Fortunately our last cruise was 5 years ago, so the kids don't have much to go by. My brother and his wife are surprising my niece with a Disney cruise this September. They have only sailed Carnival so I will be interested to hear what they say.

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We leave Sunday. No roll call, which bums me out but looking forward to the cruise and meeting new people. Only our second cruise and first on Carnival. We are very excited! I have tried to read as much as I can about Liberty, taken the bad with a grain of salt, and focused on the positives.

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I got nervous as well. We leave a week from today! Not sure why this thread was brought back...

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Thanks so much for the information. We are on the Liberty on July 30. It will be our first time on Carnival (and only our 2nd cruise) so we are very excited! I am so happy to hear such positives!!!!!

Thanks everyone for the responses! Whether it is a bar or just something we have to order, I am sure we will partake!

My husband and I decided to do the Cheers program on our upcoming cruise. Does anyone know if the Bloody Mary bar during seaday brunch is included?

Thanks in advance!