Carnival Liberty Leap Year Review (2/25 - 3/3)

Hi all. Well we just got back from the Liberty this weekend. After downloading the nearly 1000 pictures (yes this will be a very picture heavy review) and uploading them, I feel I'm ready to start our review of an excellent vacation.

A few quick things before I get to the meat of this review. This is our 4th cruise (all on Carnival) together but first not on the Pride out of Baltimore. I booked this so I could celebrate my 8th ‘real’ birthday in the Caribbean. It was me (32 now) and my lovely fiancé (29 for a few years now). We booked well before the 2.0 announcement and it was a great surprise to see all the new additions added to a cruise we had booked for 10 months already. Though that didn’t help the wait :(. The roll call was a bit of a dud which was kind of disappointing after having such a great one our last cruise. We didn’t plan on going to the meet and greet but we’ll get to that later.

Flew out of BWI Friday afternoon and got to Miami late evening. BWI is such a breeze to fly out of. It's about 15 minutes from our house and we parked, bussed, checked bags, and got through security in a total of 30 minutes. With high winds along the entire east coast we had to wait to be rerouted. It sounded like this was the case for all afternoon and evening flights that day. We didn’t get into Miami until about 8pm so just grabbed some pizza at the airport and looked for our shuttle. The hotel we were staying at (La Quinta Inn East) had a free shuttle service from the airport and to the cruise terminal so it was a good deal. After a short (5 minutes or so) ride we were there. The hotel was nice enough but I wouldn’t stay there more than a night (which is why we booked here in the first place). There were a ton of cruisers staying here and the 10 and 11 am shuttles were already booked. The lady at the front desk called a tourist van she knew and set us up for a 9:30 shuttle to the dock for $35. It was a little earlier than I wanted but it was better than waiting til 12 for the free shuttle (great decision). Up to the room to eat, shower, and relax after a long day.

The rooms were a nice size and the bed was really comfy. They have free wifi so we were able to check email and stuff one last time before sailing. Nice LCD TV and it had a cool sound/screen saver so we fell asleep with it on listening to waves crashing.

Saturday – Embarkation – Got up at 8 and grabbed some food at their free continental breakfast. Headed down around 9:15 and there was a mass of people awaiting different shuttles and eating breakfast. Went outside and just before 9:30 our shuttle showed up and we were on our way with another couple from Chicago.

We loved seeing the ships lined up in a row. In Baltimore we only ever see the Pride since it's the only one there on a Sunday.

The ride was only 15 minutes and we got right in line for security.

Moved fast and then on our way to the sign in kiosks. Now I had read Pyroguy’s review and already knew that there would be an issue with my name since it was longer than 10 letters. Talked to a lady and she had us go wait to talk to a real person. Process was essentially the same for us as out of Baltimore but it would’ve been nice to see how the kiosks worked. Well we got our zone card at 10:15 (zone 10 booo).

My favorite thing about POM is being able to see the ship right there in front of you. Fortunately we didn't have a very long wait.

They started boarding about 15 minutes later and we were called only 5 minutes later. Did the photo op and was on the ship by 10:45!!! Awesome. POM really has this down. It was the smoothest and quickest embarkation we’ve ever seen. The ship was still pretty empty so we took the time to explore the ship and get a feel for a new class (at least new to us).

With so much time on the ship and no football to worry about we decided to do take advantage and get some pictures before the ship filled up.

Here's the main Atrium Lobby on deck 3 as soon as you board the ship

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.

Love your review and pictures. I have a few questions if you don't mind :)

1- In the above pictures, where did you drop off your luggage?

2-We are driving and I was wondering if you see where the parking area was?

3-We are always at the port at about 10:30 and get a zone 4-5 card. Even last September we left out of Miami on the Valor. I guess there's not question here, I guess it was just more crowded.:confused:

Thanks for the pictures and review. Can't wait to hear more.

You are so much further than me. I will be posting a review but it may take a few days yet. It was very nice to meet you!! :D

Going great so far! Can't wait to read the rest of the review. So glad you all had a great time. The Liberty is my favorite ship and can't wait to sail her again.

GREAT review and super pics!!! thanks

We headed up the stairs to deck 4 and a view of our Golden Dining Room. The Pride had only the Aft dining room so it was a bit different, neither good nor bad, to be on a ship with two. We never made it to the Silver Dinning room for lunch (I blam the delicious tacos and burritos at the Blue Iquana)

A shot of Circle C or Club O2 (I'm not really sure :o) just outside the dining hall on deck 4.

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

Love your review and pictures. I have a few questions if you don't mind :)

 

1- In the above pictures, where did you drop off your luggage?

 

2-We are driving and I was wondering if you see where the parking area was?

 

3-We are always at the port at about 10:30 and get a zone 4-5 card. Even last September we left out of Miami on the Valor. I guess there's not question here, I guess it was just more crowded.:confused:

 

Thanks for the pictures and review. Can't wait to hear more.

I'm still at work but I'll try to get more up later or later tonight. I know Cass is having a bad day back at work (her boss just left) so I'm going to be in cheer up mode tonight.

1. We dropped our luggage off with the carts that are being loaded right at the terminal. There is a loading/unloading area where all the buses and vans drop people. We weren't sure either but the other couple had been to Miami several times and helped us out. It's literally right there where you get dropped off.

2. Sorry, no. We were in awe of the ships in port and not really looking for the parking area. I'm sure it can be found online or someone else will be nice enough to answer for you.

3. I'm not sure. It certainly didn't seem like it was crowded which is why I was surprised when we got zone 10. They called zones 1-5 all at once and then each other zone about a minute apart. Maybe they just did smaller groups in each zone, but we were called about 5 minutes after zone 1 so it really wasn't an issue.

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

John,

1. We do and Cass should be scanning them in and posting them later (just give her some time as work is really a pain for her right now). Don't worry, we kept them all just for the review ;)

2. No idea :o - hopefully it'll say in the fun times

3. Not 100% sure off the top of my head since I don't have the fun times with me at work but I can answer for you. I know Mark Symonds was one of the first 2 cuz I have it written in my notes. He was really good. We never saw the second of the first set of comedians because we had such early ports of call early on. Percy Crews was one of the second set and I only know that because we saw him on the Pride. Not our favorite.

Thanks for the info.

Love your review and pictures. I have a few questions if you don't mind :)

 

1- In the above pictures, where did you drop off your luggage?

 

2-We are driving and I was wondering if you see where the parking area was?

 

3-We are always at the port at about 10:30 and get a zone 4-5 card. Even last September we left out of Miami on the Valor. I guess there's not question here, I guess it was just more crowded.:confused:

 

Thanks for the pictures and review. Can't wait to hear more.

We also park at the POM. It is very easy parking, signs everywhere telling you where to park. We parked our car and walked right across the street...maybe 150 feet to the terminal...not good with distances but sounds about right. Put it this way...was super close.

thank you so much for answering about the comedians. John

This area on deck 4 is also where all the photos are. We had a photo coupon from our previous cruise that someone who shall remain nameless forgot to bring. They never expire so I guess we'll be using it on the Breeze. There was nothing else to see from here on deck 4 as it either leads to the dining room or the main lounge.

A quick shot of the main atrium lounge from above

We headed up to 5 which is the main deck for all the shops, casinos, bars. Here's the first of the 2.0 upgrades, Cherry On Top. We went in later and checked it out but there wasn't really room with all the other great food available.

A shot of the other shops. I liked the way these were laid out on this ship much more than the Pride. It was much more open, or at least felt like it. Granted, if you've been in one of these shops, you've been in them all.

Loving the photos so far ! thanks for doing a LIBERTY Review !

cant wait to get there.... so many days to go yet :o

From here as we made our way to the back of the ship (or Aft if you prefer). The new EA Sports bar was to the right and the casino straight ahead. We spent a fair amount of time in the sports bar on the Pride so we were excited to see this new upgrade. First off I'll say that it is definitely much more pleasing to the eye than the old sports bar. Definitely a place I would want to chill and watch a game. There is a new sports bar drink menu as well with a wider selection of beers and other mixed drinks.

A few jersey's of recent EA sports cover athletes.

My favorite of them....KANER!!!!! I tried to steal this on several unsuccessful occasions.

A shot of the big screens that some hottie got in the way of

You can see in this pic that the bar leads into the casino (I think this is pretty standard).

OK, now for the negatives. First off, there were a lot less seats which was fine now but I can't imagine trying to grab a seat during football season. We always like to chill for a bit in the sports bar and play some video poker but as you can see there are no machines at the bar. And I was disappointed to find out (especially after JH had posted on FB) THERE ARE NO WINGS (at least yet) in the sports bar. There were a couple of afternoons when they had chicken fingers or hot dogs but it was not every night.

PLEASE CARNIVAL, add buffalo wings to the menu here!!!! I'd gladly pay a few bucks to eat some wings while Cass has her sushi (I don't do seafood:o)

From the sports bar we proceeded through the casino. It's hard to tell if this casino is that much bigger than the Pride's but it certainly never seemed full. There was almost always a spot at a table or a couple seats at the slots.

The illusive Vault machine. I don't know how many times we were about 1/16th of an inch away from winning the $500 and eye pad but it got pretty frustrating

Casino Bar

OK, that's all for now. Will hopefully be back on later tonight.

thank you so much for the review and pictures

Nice review and great pics so far. Eagerly anticipating the rest of it.:)

Well since my poor baby is still stuck at work I figured I'd take the time to post some more. From the casino we continued to head back. You can see the coffee shop on the right as well as the Future Cruise Desk. The mid elevators are in between the two through the hall.

Then the Sushi Bar. Much nicer than the little cart they have on the Pride.

Beyond the Sushi Bar is the arcade, Without Batteries

At the end of this hall on the right was one of the dance clubs, Hot and Cold. Chris doesn't dance so this was the only time I stepped inside.

Back in the hall and on the left is the new Alchemy Bar. It's a very cool addition and I'm sure Cass will have more to say about it later :o

Just beyond is the Piano Bar.

Fantastic review so far. Enjoying the pictures and looking forward to more.:)

To the very back on deck 5 was The Stage Jazz Bar. This was definitely a smoking bar as I had to hold my breath just to walk in and take a few pics.

And finally, The Victoria Aft Lounge (also the Punchliner Comedy Club).