Liberty....to party hearty or not

Just got off 3 day Liberty cruise and I am happy to say the hype of a 3 day party cruise is up to you.

A little background. A couple of weeks ago my dh suggested a long weekend away instead of the usual bottle of perfume for my birthday. We live in Central Florida and his only requirement was that we drive no longer than a couple of hours. I got out my favorite vacation apps, checked hotel prices and realized that we had more than enough travel points to pay for a cruise and obc. So voila a 3 night on Liberty. I would have gone for the 4 night but time constraints prevented it. We have always said no 3 night cruises but hey There is always a first time.

I booked a balcony on deck 6 aft. I then freaked when I realized we were right over the nightclub but more on that later. Figured there are always earplugs.

I did get FTTF expecting to get to the port around 10:30 but typical of me we arrived at noon. Parking at the port was a breeze, drop your bags make a u turn and pull into the garage. Ride down the elevator and you are in reception. Show FTTF boarding pass then passports and go right through security. I was delayed slightly due to them checking on my CPAP machine but we did not have to wait on any lines. We were in our stateroom at 12:20. AMAZING.

I have to say that an aft cabin on this ship was perfect. The elevator near our cabin took us right to the majority of places we wanted to go....deck 5 casino, bars, clubs and deck 9 for the lido deck specifically the Riviera pool and bar and Pizza Pirate and the buffet.

FYI....this area is away from the main lido area pool and kids are not allowed. We never needed the Serenity deck because this was close and while far from quiet was a little more calm...perfect for me. People were having fun and very friendly.

I got away from the task at hand. Sorry. We went for lunch and burgers from Guys are very good. The other food selections are basic lunch stuff. The wok is very popular. There is an added charge for the seafood shack and for Sushi. We never got to the BBQ as it is up on deck 10 and it didn't seem important especially on a 3 day.

Next the muster drill.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Sorry that was so long. I will try to be briefer.

Our next stop was the customer service desk. Again FTTF was worth the no wait. I converted a couple of carnival gift cards to obc.

Next stop Golden Olympia dining room. Finding this place was not easy. First we went to the Silver, were told to go to Golden and then had to find the right desk. We were booked for late seating which would prevent us from seeing any shows. She told us no and what a wonderful table we had pointing to the windows. Little did we know that since so many people never come to the dining room it would not have mattered. Needless to say that did put a dent in the weekends enjoyment as I love the shows and it makes a ery late start to your evening

It is now about 2:45. We go back to unpack before muster and No Luggage. Part of the reason we got FTTF was to get unpacked early and be ready to go at sailaway. By 3:15 still no luggage. I asked the Steward and he told me to go to customer service. Again thanks for FTTF. I waited in line for a few minutes and was asked for a specific identification of our bags and the best part my FTTF charge was credited to my obc account for the inconvenice. When I finally got back to the cabin the bags were there but dh was having a melt down over the bags and muster was underway. The security guy came to push us to our muster station.......

I can honestly say that this was the worst, most unorganized muster drill I have ever been too. First we were almost all the way aft and our station was almost all the way forward....huh and then... This is Central Florida in August in late afternoon. The heat index was over 100 degrees. People were walking all around, the checkers were missing people, the concrete factory across the port was LOUD and you couldn't hear the announcements and the safety staff was worthless. We were there for 40 minutes. Some people from further down just left. It would have been better to just instruct everyone to watch it on TV...yeah I know...It's the law....but. Carnival you need to train your people better. This could have been a disaster.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

After the muster drill things were of course better.

I don't want to forget to say that at lunch it was very crowded as usual on embarkation but the guests twere rude, pushy and obnoxious as if they had never seen food before. I really was at that point afraid that the hype of the 3 night was on point.

Next week went back to our cabin unpacked and then realized we had totally missed sail away. I have never done that before. oh well. Maybe it was a good thing. Sailaway gets you in the mood to party and I really just wanted to chill. Next: Diamond Steakhouse

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Following

Following

This is perfect, thank you. I booked the 3-nighter for this week just 6 days in advance, to celebrate the end of a major home improvement project (which had issues this weekend and is not yet complete). Because we booked so late, we were assigned late dining which will absolutely not work for us. Also had to decide if we should park at the port, so you already helped me make that decision. You reminded me to eat at the bbq upstairs, thanks. Now I am waiting to see what the shows are (fingers crossed for no Hasbro on a 3-nighter). Great review, and perfect timing to help me - thank you!

If you have 815 late seating, there should be a pre dinner show for you at 715 or 730 so you then go straight to dinner.

This is perfect, thank you. I booked the 3-nighter for this week just 6 days in advance, to celebrate the end of a major home improvement project (which had issues this weekend and is not yet complete). Because we booked so late, we were assigned late dining which will absolutely not work for us. Also had to decide if we should park at the port, so you already helped me make that decision. You reminded me to eat at the bbq upstairs, thanks. Now I am waiting to see what the shows are (fingers crossed for no Hasbro on a 3-nighter). Great review, and perfect timing to help me - thank you!

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

If you have 815 late seating, there should be a pre dinner show for you at 715 or 730 so you then go straight to dinner.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

No there is none on Liberty that I could find. I just got off. Wish I had kept the fun times.

 

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

If you have 815 late seating, there should be a pre dinner show for you at 715 or 730 so you then go straight to dinner.

Missing shows is part of the issue, but medical reasons are the major problem with eating three hours later than usual. I received an email yesterday afternoon (Sunday) stating that we were definitely stuck with late dining and responded to that, but am not expecting to receive a response and will try again once onboard.

Missing shows is part of the issue, but medical reasons are the major problem with eating three hours later than usual. I received an email yesterday afternoon (Sunday) stating that we were definitely stuck with late dining and responded to that, but am not expecting to receive a response and will try again once onboard.

For some reason it could be different on the 3 day party cruises. Our Horizon cruise has 730 shows every night with the exception of the welcome aboard show at 930 on night one.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Missing shows is part of the issue, but medical reasons are the major problem with eating three hours later than usual. I received an email yesterday afternoon (Sunday) stating that we were definitely stuck with late dining and responded to that, but am not expecting to receive a response and will try again once onboard.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Around 100-130 the MaitreD will be seeing cruisers to possibly change assignment. If you can't get early, maybe you can get ATD. Either way you'll be out of late seating.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Continued...we missed Sail Away which means I missed my first drink. I left Dh in the cabin and took the elevator straight up to deck 9 by the Riviera pool and bar. I ordered a Mango swirl yum-yum and chatted with some people at the bar. It is a great area. No kids, 2hot tubs, Pizza Pirate, Seafood bar, ice cream and coffee machines. Cold drinks are just inside the doors in the lido buffet. This is where we spent our outdoor time. Wonderful. I ordered another drink for dh and back to the cabin.

We had 6:30 reservations for Diamond Steakhouse. I highly recommend it. I got a wonderful filet. While not Ruth's Chris or Morton's quality it was well above Outback. DH got Lobster Tail. He said it was ok. We ordered a bottle of wine which was 1/2 off. Not worth full price of 32.00 but at 16.00 it was fine. The dining room is lovely, service is superb and the light Jazz that is filtered in is nice. An all in all great experience.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Enjoying your review so far. I will be on the Liberty the 30th of this month. My second time for a 3 night on Liberty. I like the getaway from work and I have air miles.

Enjoying your review so far. I will be on the Liberty the 30th of this month. My second time for a 3 night on Liberty. I like the getaway from work and I have air miles.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Thanks for your review. I just booked a Friday-Monday cruise and I am concerned that it will not be as great as our others. But any time I can cruise I am happy!

Thanks for the review. We’re on next week. Trying the drink pkg for the first time, since it’s a shorty 4 day. My parents decided to join us, last min. Should be interesting. What have I done?!?

Thanks for your review. I just booked a Friday-Monday cruise and I am concerned that it will not be as great as our others. But any time I can cruise I am happy!

You need to go into it with different expectations. It will be skewed younger age wise and have a much higher party atmosphere. Think of it as the old fun ships from yesteryear on steroids.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review. We are doing a B2B2B on the Liberty in February next year (4day, 3day, 4day). :)

This will take us to 45 cruises on Carnival. Aiming to get to 50 in 2020 to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. :D

Day 1 after dinner

Dinner done and we'll enjoyed we planned on going to the 10:15 show in the punchliner. but had time to kill. There was live music in the atrium Flowers bar. The band was good. The singers were even better. We then wandered around a bit. The comedian was good but the crowd was not into his comedy. He dealt really well with it and I laughed myself silly at points.

The plan was to go to the 10:15 show the following night to see the other comedian. After the show it was time for a little gambling. Now off to bed.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review. We are doing a B2B2B on the Liberty in February next year (4day, 3day, 4day). :)

 

 

This will take us to 45 cruises on Carnival. Aiming to get to 50 in 2020 to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. :D

Sent from my SM-G920T using Forums mobile app