Carnival Liberty Photo Review- April 2017

 

There's a reason the baseball team in Miami is called the Miami Marlins after all (even though they're not really swordfish, they're close). True swordfish can be found up and down the East coast. (Haven't you seen the movie Perfect Storm? :) )

The things you learn on Cruise Critic. :)

Thursday, Embarkation Day continued:

After dinner we headed to the Gender Showdown at 8:30 in the Venetian Palace. We watched from the second floor and had a good time laughing at answers and activities going on, but chose not to participate. After that show, we headed to the piano bar for about an hour and had a great time there. The performer wasn’t the best singer but he was great at playing and was pretty funny, so we definitely knew we would be coming back every night. There’s one waiter/bartender for the piano bar who walks around taking multiple orders and then heads back to make them all. He’s really nice and unfortunately I didn’t write his name down, but he had pretty great service although sometimes it was a little slow, we didn’t have any problems! The piano guy, Tommy G, ran his show as a sing-along, so he welcomed people shouting out requests and making music choices. It was such a great environment and atmosphere!

Piano Man Bar, Deck 5 aft- We would end up spending a lot of time here! (picture taken earlier during the day)

After the piano bar we headed to the late night comedy show by Tom Foss who was a little raunchy but definitely really funny! The show was at 11:30 and since I had heard that the Victoria Lounge in the aft fills up quickly, we arrived at 11:10 to get our seats, and by 11:20 it was packed. His show was pretty quick on the first night, as I think we were heading back to the room around midnight. My final note of Thursday/Embarkation day was that at midnight, our bathroom sink was still clogged. We decided not to call anyone to fix it and wait for the morning, but at this point, it’s now been 10.5 hours since we first noticed the sink was clogged and asked to have it fixed.

Up Next: Friday, Nassau

FRIDAY, April 21st- Nassau, Bahamas:

We woke up by 8am, and my fiancé headed to guest services to let them know about the clogged sink (going on hour 19 at this point) while I got ready for the day. When he got back, we headed to the MDR for the breakfast. I’ve always wanted to eat in a fancier location than the lido deck, so I was excited to finally have time to try it out. It was fine, just like dinner last night, there’s food to eat and a good number of options, but I feel like I might have worked up the idea of MDR breakfast so I didn’t find it as fantastic as I expected it to be.

Up on the Serenity deck overlooking Nassau's arrival:

By 9:30am we were on the Serenity deck watching the Liberty head into the Nassau port. Our arrival time was slated for 10am, and once everything was said and done and we received the message that it was okay to debark, it was probably closer to 10:10, but no big deal! We were doing our own thing in Nassau and didn’t plan to be the first ones off or have an excursion to get to, so we took our time collecting our stuff for the day and were off the ship at 10:45am. We took a few pictures around the port area and headed straight to Junkanoo Beach.

The aft of the Liberty with our room circled in green. Great views out of the back!

Clearly it was very sunny in Nassau!!

A (hopefully quick) backstory on Junkanoo: This was my 4th time at Nassau and I had never successfully made it to Junkanoo before, even though it had been in the plans two others times- it just never happened. I had read for years about how to get there and the instructions never made it seem too far. It probably didn’t take more than 15 minutes to get there, but there were a lot of twists and turns to make it there, maybe partially due to the construction going on near the Senor Frogs area, but I certainly thought it was a much straighter path than it actually was. Thankfully there are signs and as long as you know which way to start heading and have a good mental picture of where you are in relation to the beach, you should be able to find it without much problems. As a side note, I feel as though the sidewalks were pretty small, so it was hard to pass slow walkers without side-stepping into the street. Just a general observation.

UP NEXT: Nassau Continued

Friday, Nassau continued:

Upon getting to Junkanoo Beach and looking for the Tiki Bikini Hut, I became very confused- where was the hut that I had seen in so many pictures and reviews? I must’ve clearly looked confused because a guy came up to me and asked what I was looking for, to which I responded “Tiki Bikini, but I don’t see it!” The guy ended up being a pretty great resource, as he worked for Tiki Bikini and said they were doing construction and were definitely still open and having a great time, and lead us over to a few tents with tables.

He asked what sort of deal I was looking for, and I said that online I had seen that there was a deal: $30 for 7 beers, 7 shots, and an umbrella. He said that they didn’t have that special anymore, so we went back a few times haggling offers and prices. I probably made the mistake by saying I was willing to pay $30, because I might have gotten a great offer for less, but oh well. In all of my cruises, it was my first true experience buying something and haggling for it, so it was certainly a learning experience! The deal that we finally settled on was BETTER than what I wanted: for $30 we got 8 beers, 8 shots, and umbrella, and a mixed drink. WOO-HOO!

So we paid our $30 and the guy asked us where we wanted our umbrella placed. We picked a spot and he and another worker started digging a hole to put the umbrella pole in. The umbrella was partially broken so it spun around in the wind, but it stayed upright and provided us shade and was overall totally good for our needs. The worker also brought over a bucket of 4 beers to start us off and we were ready to enjoy a beach day by 11:15, only 30 minutes after getting off the ship. We had a great day there. The sun was playing hide-and-seek part of the day, but the temperature was still nice so no problems there. They had quite a crowd as an NCL ship had pulled in after us and brought a large population of people to the town. There were many different group games and competitions going on throughout the early afternoon, along with music playing from speakers.

Our setup for the day!

Pretty sure this was the NCL Escape that joined us about two hours after we arrived:

We bought some conch fritters and they were super tasty. It was also my first time trying them so clearly I realized what I had been missing for so long. YUM! I don’t think we were ever bothered by people while relaxing except for one time a lady asked if I wanted my hair braided, I politely declined, and she continued on down the beach. Walking to the beach felt a little unsafe at times just because you’re walking near traffic and on unknown streets, but once we were there, I felt really safe and didn’t worry about much for the rest of the afternoon. If you’re looking for something fancy and upscale, this isn’t the place for you. If you’re looking for a beach with drinks, food, music, games, and a place to enjoy the sun, I would totally recommend Tiki Bikini Hut!! Maybe by the time you make it there, they’ll even have re-built their hut! We definitely plan on checking it out again if our travels bring us back to Nassau. For much cheaper than cruise prices, we enjoyed many drinks and certainly felt fantastic after our 3-4 hour adventure there.

I think this is a view from on top of the dock at the Tiki Bikini Hut beach. You can see the ships in port as well as the construction which unfortunately blocked some good views:

Our second stop with the Hawkeye flag- Junkanoo Beach in Nassau, Bahamas:

(fun fact, we have three other cruises planned in the next two years and certainly plan on taking pictures with the flag at all of our port stops, to spread Hawkeye love everywhere!)

UP NEXT: Nassau afternoon/evening activities

Nice review. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting the review and photos. We were on the Liberty last Christmas weekend, and will be back on in a few weeks. We'll be in an inside room on deck 2, and this is out first cruise not being on deck 7 or above. I was going to switch us a higher deck, or even an oceanview room, but since we're never in the room, and I don't think its going matter for this weekend cruise. Thanks again for the review.

Hi everyone, I promise I haven't abandoned ship! The end of the year has been crazy but tomorrow is my last day of work for the summer! (Woo-hoo!!) perks of working in the education field. I'm hoping to be back at it super soon! Thanks to everyone who has been reading along and giving compliments, I appreciate it!

Great review looking forward to the rest

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Following and loving it so far!!!

Love it! Following!

Thanks for the review! I'm enjoying your perspective that this cruise was just a filler and your expectations were set accordingly.

In 2007 my wife and I went on our Honeymoon aboard the Liberty, 8 nights, though the ship held a higher standing in the fleet back then it was most likely to be our last Carnival cruise. Fast forward and in two weeks i'm going on a Bachelor party on the Liberty, same itinerary as your cruise with 8 guys 9 years younger then me in very different places in life too.

Planning on doing Junkanoo as well and now looking forward to a possibly new Hut.

Thanks for the motivation.

Friday, April 21st, Nassau - continued:

After a few hours and multiple drinks, we walked back to the ship in a slightly altered state and did some shopping for our friends- luckily we didn’t spend too much money and nothing was regrettable. We headed back to the room to put our stuff down and to get ready for Sports Trivia and dinner. To our delight, the bathroom sink was fixed while we were at the beach, hooray! It took 24+ hours, 4 direct contacts with guest services, and our room steward had seen it once. Honestly I was slightly annoyed that it took that long to get fixed and at a point where it could be used to brush teeth, wash hands, etc., but I was mostly relieved that it finally was repaired. I didn’t expect a gift or an apology of any kind, I just wanted a working sink.

We headed to the Flowers Lobby Bar on deck 3, where a kids game competition was taking place. We sat and enjoyed the scenery and a drink before making our way up two flights to the Skybox Sports Bar. Makes sense that the Sports Trivia takes place in the Sports Bar, but there's not A LOT of seating, so it definitely can get cramped if a lot of people attend, and it was when we played trivia on the following evening. There's one bartender working in the Sports Bar, but service was pretty quick. The trivia was harder than we expected and we weren't very close to winning, but we had a good time interacting with the other cruisers playing trivia and the fun ship staff who was running the game. The Skybox is definitely a cool atmosphere and had a lot of different shows and sporting events on the screen to watch.

Outside the Skybox Spots Bar was a screen with the games they planned on showing for the cruise.

Unfortunately the game we were hoping to see (Chicago Blackhawks) wasn't on the list nor did we ask for them to try to find it.

Skybox Sports Bar (Deck 5, mid)

Sports Bar Menu

UP NEXT: Dinner and night events

Friday, Nassau, continued:

We arrived at dinner pretty close to 6pm and went to our table. It was elegant night, so I knew that meant American Feast instead of American Table, as well as tablecloths on the tables. I had read a lot on the CC boards about the discussion between tablecloths and missing them, and I will say it was slightly odd to not have tablecloths the night before, and I did enjoy them on Elegant Night. We sat down and waited for our tablemates to arrive, but within 5 minutes our server approached us and asked us to order. He must not have liked that the others were late! So we ordered and waited to see if anyone would join us for dinner that night. The couple that sat with us the night before once again came about 15 minutes late, and I wouldn’t consider what they were wearing as “elegant attire.” Now, I didn’t have on the fanciest cocktail dress nor did my fiancé have on a tux, but we definitely dressed up with very nice clothes and matched the atmosphere. We talked pleasantries again about our day in Nassau, how they were enjoying the ship, what plans were for the sea day, etc.

American Feast Appetizers:

Entrees:

Desserts:

To review our meal choices, I had the Caesar salad which I found to be very fishy and not all that delicious. My fiancé had the sea scallops as his appetizer but can’t remember anything about them. For my entree I had the Blue Crab Ravioli which I think was good, and my fiancé had the Sea Bass. For dessert my fiancé had the Chocolate Hazelnut Cake, which he said was very chocolate-y but very good. I had the coffee cream cake but can’t remember my opinions on it. As a side note, I’ll definitely remember to write my reviews of the food right after dinner so I can actually give feedback and good thoughts on the food for my next cruise reviews! Sorry about the vague-ness!

After dinner we enjoyed more of the piano bar, as well as two comedy shows at 9:30 (Tom Foss) and 10:30 (Jodi White). We saw Tom Foss the night before and thought he was funny, so we liked seeing another show by him. This was our first time seeing Jodi White and we thought she was hilarious! Her show was definitely raunchy and not child-friendly at all, but super entertaining. By the time 11:30 rolled around and Jodi's show was over, we were really tired and headed to bed. I originally had plans to make it to the deck party at 11:30 but we apparently have no fun left in us and can't stay awake very late anymore!

Up Next: Thursday and Friday Fun Times (because I forgot, oops) and Saturday Day at Sea

I'm loving the review on a shorter cruise!

Thursday, April 20th, Embarkation Day: Fun Times!

Friday, April 21st, Nassau- Fun Times!

Saturday, April 22nd, Sea Day- Fun Times!

Saturday, April 22, Day at Sea:

We were up by 8am and headed to the Blue Iguana Cantina for breakfast burritos. They were really good and I’d definitely recommend them. On my Vista trip this fall, we’re looking forward to more Cantina meals, including arepas and huevos rancheros. Can’t wait! After breakfast, we grabbed a drink and headed up to the Serenity for a while to enjoy the weather and ocean. I also noticed that the internet worked really well early in the morning, but as the day progressed it became harder to use (presumably because more people were using it as they woke up). We purchased the $5 Social Package for the day to make sure we were checked in for our flights, check in with our families, etc.

On our way to breakfast, I saw these friends hanging out by the pool!

We made a stop in the Lobby Bar for a drink and perused the Pixels gallery, which still prints out all of the photos they take, which is truly a waste of money and paper and ink. I’m very much looking forward to the Vista Pixels where we can see our photos on a screen before printing them. Yay for saving the Earth!

We headed down to the Venetian Palace to watch the Love & Marriage Show at 11:15am. Yep, you read that right. 11:15 am. Seemed like a VERY odd time to have this event. All of the other Love & Marriage shows I’ve seen on cruises have been at night, so seeing it in the middle of the day was peculiar. Also, there was a newlywed couple (3 days and counting) who didn’t get picked to be the newlywed couple, and instead it was a slightly older couple that had been married for months. If the whole point is to find the newest married couple, they missed the mark by choosing the couple they did. We always enjoy this game show though and still had a great time! The answers are always hilarious and we look forward to the show on every cruise. We also talked about possibly trying to get selected on our honeymoon cruise in 5 months, so we’ll see how that works out!

I think we grabbed BBQ for lunch and enjoyed it just as much as we did on Thursday. We stopped by the Chocolate Extravaganza for some dessert and didn’t find it as enticing as I was hoping. We grabbed a few things to try and headed to find seats on the lido deck to look at the water. Not all of our picks were delicious, but at least we know what this chocolate buffet is all about and can opt for ice cream next time.

[side Note: At some point on this cruise we had Guy’s Burgers and although I can’t remember which day, I know we really liked them! Looking forward to another tasty burger when we’re on the Vista in 5 months!]

Saturday, April 22, Day at Sea continued:

After eating something, we headed back to the Serenity and sat near the bar on some really comfy chairs for a while where we read, people-watched, and bird-watched. There was a small bird hopping around on the deck looking for food, and we of course became concerned for its safety. We told a bartender and he said that he knew about it. I’m not sure what happened to this bird but we were hoping it debarked in Florida and made a new life for himself. :D *Don’t ruin the dream for us!!!*

We decided to find some deck chairs to lay down, so we moved to another part of the Serenity and continued enjoying the sun- it was toasty! My fiancé checked out the hot tub on the second level of the Serenity, and said it was very warm in the hot tub, nothing like the ones on the main deck with access for children. In sum, we stayed in the Serenity for at least 3 hours and had a great afternoon! Already daydreaming of our honeymoon cruise (can you tell?) and relaxing in the Serenity, as well as the Spa since we bought the 8-day pass.

We headed to the Skybox Sports Bar for Sports Trivia again and it was definitely more packed than the night before. The announcer reading the questions said they were random questions but for some reason, about half of the questions were in the lineup from the night before, so that was a little annoying. We had a great time interacting with all of the other passengers in the sports bar and had some good laughs. Unfortunately our last attempt to earn a ship on a stick was futile, but maybe next cruise!

After trivia, we decided to skip out on the MDR for tonight. We felt bad not saying by to our tablemates, and in retrospect, we probably should’ve popped in just to say goodbye, but we weren’t very hungry and wanted to hang out and people watch. We went to the casino bar and watched live music for at least 45 minutes. We very much enjoyed a duo named Tom and Pete and I learned that my fiancé really enjoys live music even if it doesn’t come in the form of a large concert venue. So happy to realize this after 4+ years! I foresee much more live music in our life.

Here are Tom and Pete doing their thing in the casino area:

We still grabbed photos of the sea day dinner menus for the MDR in case anyone wants to see them!

Saturday, April 22, Day at Sea:

We grabbed some dinner in the lido, which wasn’t that fantastic either, but we didn’t starve and all was well. We grabbed a drink and headed up to an aft deck to watch the sunset and enjoy more quality time together. We found a passenger deck that was pretty empty and spent some time walking up and down, watching the water and enjoying the weather.

Sunset:

After making our way back inside, we walked around and caught a little bit of the “Best of Decades with the Best Sellers” in the casino bar area, who were a cover band of famous rock/pop songs, and they were really pretty good! We also did some people watching. My fiance kept commenting on how annoying all of the photographers set up with their backdrops were while walking on the promenade. They took up half of the walkway with their photography stuff, and then stood in the middle of the walkable space trying to get people to take formal photos. I agree, it was a little annoying, but maybe I’m just used to it since I’ve cruised Carnival before and he hasn’t?

We made our way to the show Flick at 8pm, and it left us with very mixed reviews….

I LOVE theatre, live music, shows, entertainment- all of that good stuff. So does my fiance. But we both were left pretty unimpressed with the show as a whole. The main female singer was phenomenal. The costumes were great. The lighting effects and other technical pieces were awesome!! But the plot was confusing. Or terrible. Or both. It didn’t make sense and wasn’t very fun to watch. We tried focus more on the actual talent of the singers and dancers, and on the technical lighting and other effects, so that made it worth watching, but I did not enjoy this story.

Hopefully not breaking any copyright- the show hadn’t started yet!

We went back to the room to pack to go home (very much sad face) and change before heading up to the nightclub to check it out. We had wanted to get there another night, but a three day cruise goes very fast, apparently! The last time I took a 3 day cruise was back in 2007, my first adventure in cruising with my parents. I’m sure it was fast then, but wow it went much too fast this time! We got to the nightclub as it was just starting to get semi-filled up, but the music was a little before our time and not our thing, so we sat, people watched, and talked about how much we enjoyed the cruise. Believe it or not, for as much as I expressed annoyance or dissatisfaction about things, I still had an amazing cruise! We love drinks, music, sun, relaxation, and most importantly, time away from the real world for ourselves and time to reconnect.

Hot & Cool Nightclub

We didn’t stay long at the nightclub, unfortunately, but I made my fiancé promise we would actually dance in a nightclub or to a live band on the Vista, so it was a good compromise. We had a long day and were unfortunately wanting to be rested for our trip home the next day, so we made our way back to the room.

Up Next: Debarkation, random drink and food menus, final thoughts, answering questions, etc.

Thanks so much for your review! We just booked the 7/20 3-day with our 13yo and she is happy seeing the activities list! Nice pictures and a great, honest review! Look forward to the finish. Enjoy your summer and your wedding planning!:cool:

Thanks for the review, we will be sailing the Liberty in Oct 2017, we also have booked the same hotel that you stayed in:)

Thanks you so much for this great review. We are even using the hotel package you used and it's so good to hear how your experience was from the airport right through the cruise. Surprising my hubby with a 50th birthday trip (he has never cruised before) and seeing your pictures has me all excited again. Can't wait to tell him. We will be going the beginning of Sept. ;)

I'm SO sad that my review was essentially ruined by the photo-hosting site changing their policies.

Here's a link to my blog where I re-created the Liberty review, with working pictures and all:

https://thelovelyvoyage.blogspot.com/2017/07/carnival-liberty-april-2017-post-one.html

Thanks for the review.