Fiirst Impressions from a first time Carnival cruiser

[mompolo]

I am an avid reader of cruise critic (not that much of a poster - but I'm always here reading), and when we booked on Carnival, I started reading on this board (prior to this I was on RCCL and Celebrity).

We went on the Liberty sailing that left on 9/25 - Western Caribbean

 

I want to first say that I have good and bad to say and when all is said and done - we will definately sail on Carnival again.

 

First impression of the ship - ugly. I'm sorry to say it, but it was worse than I was expecting. I was expecting mirrors and neon lights, but this was even worse. It's hard for me to believe that someone got paid to be an interior decorator on that ship. LOL

 

Cabin - very nice and roomy. No complaints at all. We had an oceanview room and loved it.

 

MDR - We were a party of 4 and received our own table. This was my biggest disappointment. I really look forward to meeting others on a cruise and wanted to be at a table of 8 or 10. I love my family - but would have liked to have had the chance to visit with new people

 

Food - didn't care for the Lido buffet (but I'm not much a buffet fan anyways). We ate breakfast in the MDR - it was wonderful. Dinner was great - no complaints. My dh and I both had the flat iron steak and found it to be very good (we regularly eat at very nice restaurants and enjoy a good steak), it wasn't the best, but definately not as bad as I had read on these boards. I ate the warm chocolate melting cake all 7 nights and thought it was fantastic. Soups came out warm - not hot - but they were good. The meatloaf was truly disgusting looking. My mom ordered it and it was terrible (I noticed a lot of people not eating it after ordering it).

 

Deli - not anything great - not that impressed

 

Burrito Bar - didn't try it - maybe next time.

 

Pizza - very good

 

Beverages - I wish there was more places to be able to get a self serve beverage. I hate having to go all the way to the Lido deck to get an iced tea. Not a big deal - but it would be nice (same goes for a little snack during the day, would have loved a spot to get a cookie or two when it wasn't meal time).

 

Photographs - nice array of different backdrops. We didn't buy any - but if you like that kind of thing - it's very nice.

 

Casino - Love the casino!! I like the way the promenade goes along side of it and it's opened up to the people going by. I loved the bands that played up there everynight and found that to be our favorite spot to sit and listen to music (and people watch) everynight.

 

Shows - The shows were very good - we enjoyed them all.

 

Promenade/Shops - nothing very exciting there. I really liked the way RCL has their promenade - more like a street.

 

Sales Pitches - I feel this is the only place that Carnival really cheapens itself. Too many "pay" traps - we didn't use any of them - but I just didn't like it.

 

Service - very good - no problems of any kind!! We had a wonderful waiter and we enjoyed them all very much.

 

Elegant Night - this was our biggest surprise. We were half expecting to see the Clampets everywhere but we were very surprised that almost everyone was dressed very nice - and elegantly!! In fact, we dressed down this cruise because we didn't want to seem overdressed. I didn't see anyone show up to the MDR in tee shirts or anything remotely like that. I will definately step it up on our next cruise.

 

Now - I know this isn't a formal review - but it's our first impressions. As I stated before, we will definately be going on Carnival again. We really liked it!!

[blondietink]

Thanks for your review! We loved it too, and booked our next cruise the week we got home from our very first cruise. We had nothing to compare it to, so we are happy to see people from other cruise lines like it too. Carnival fits in our budget, we were treated like kings and queens, I didn't have to cook, clean or make the bed and pick up the towels off the floor.

[Roz]

A very balanced review; thank you for posting. Glad you a good overall first experience on Carnival.

 

Roz

[toledo_cruiser]

Sounds like a fair review to me. It's always nice when you're expecting the worse and things turn out better than expected. :) Never been aboard the Liberty, but I suspect it follows the design theme of the rest of the Carnival fleet. I still haven't forgiven Carnival for switching from New York Strip steaks to Flat Iron. :(

 

As for dressing up on formal nights... for some that's an important part of the cruise.

 

I can't wait to get aboard again.

 

Jim

[monobrow1]

coats for men? or are Ties acceptable at the formal night

[timetogosoon]

Thanks for the short review! I am a first time cruiser period and so excited/nervous for our cruise in a couple weeks. Thanks for posting. It alleviated some of my fears that I have accumulated from reading various posts on here.

[elcuchio24]

Hey, I was on that cruise with you! Great weather too, other than that rain storm while loading up in Miami.

[mompolo]

There was also a big storm pulling into Ocho Rio just as we were leaving - other than that - smoothest cruise we have ever been on!!

[PROCRUISE]

Thanks for the honest review. We've always found that every cruise line has many positives and perhaps a few negatives. Hope you enjoy your next cruise too.

[blue_water]

Thanks for your unbiased review - very comforting to other first-time Carnivalers I'm sure! We like Carnival and are leery of trying other lines but we need to compare someday.

 

We too like to sit with others in the MDR and when we are assigned a table for just us we ask to be moved to a larger table on the first night if possible. They are usually accommodate these requests.

 

Thanks again for the balanced and helpful review, glad you enjoyed the cruise overall!

[JerseyshoreBruce]

I am an avid reader of cruise critic (not that much of a poster - but I'm always here reading), and when we booked on Carnival, I started reading on this board (prior to this I was on RCCL and Celebrity).

We went on the Liberty sailing that left on 9/25 - Western Caribbean

 

I want to first say that I have good and bad to say and when all is said and done - we will definately sail on Carnival again.

 

First impression of the ship - ugly. I'm sorry to say it, but it was worse than I was expecting. I was expecting mirrors and neon lights, but this was even worse. It's hard for me to believe that someone got paid to be an interior decorator on that ship. LOL

 

Cabin - very nice and roomy. No complaints at all. We had an oceanview room and loved it.

 

MDR - We were a party of 4 and received our own table. This was my biggest disappointment. I really look forward to meeting others on a cruise and wanted to be at a table of 8 or 10. I love my family - but would have liked to have had the chance to visit with new people

 

Food - didn't care for the Lido buffet (but I'm not much a buffet fan anyways). We ate breakfast in the MDR - it was wonderful. Dinner was great - no complaints. My dh and I both had the flat iron steak and found it to be very good (we regularly eat at very nice restaurants and enjoy a good steak), it wasn't the best, but definately not as bad as I had read on these boards. I ate the warm chocolate melting cake all 7 nights and thought it was fantastic. Soups came out warm - not hot - but they were good. The meatloaf was truly disgusting looking. My mom ordered it and it was terrible (I noticed a lot of people not eating it after ordering it).

 

Deli - not anything great - not that impressed

 

Burrito Bar - didn't try it - maybe next time.

 

Pizza - very good

 

Beverages - I wish there was more places to be able to get a self serve beverage. I hate having to go all the way to the Lido deck to get an iced tea. Not a big deal - but it would be nice (same goes for a little snack during the day, would have loved a spot to get a cookie or two when it wasn't meal time).

 

Photographs - nice array of different backdrops. We didn't buy any - but if you like that kind of thing - it's very nice.

 

Casino - Love the casino!! I like the way the promenade goes along side of it and it's opened up to the people going by. I loved the bands that played up there everynight and found that to be our favorite spot to sit and listen to music (and people watch) everynight.

 

Shows - The shows were very good - we enjoyed them all.

 

Promenade/Shops - nothing very exciting there. I really liked the way RCL has their promenade - more like a street.

 

Sales Pitches - I feel this is the only place that Carnival really cheapens itself. Too many "pay" traps - we didn't use any of them - but I just didn't like it.

 

Service - very good - no problems of any kind!! We had a wonderful waiter and we enjoyed them all very much.

 

Elegant Night - this was our biggest surprise. We were half expecting to see the Clampets everywhere but we were very surprised that almost everyone was dressed very nice - and elegantly!! In fact, we dressed down this cruise because we didn't want to seem overdressed. I didn't see anyone show up to the MDR in tee shirts or anything remotely like that. I will definately step it up on our next cruise.

 

Now - I know this isn't a formal review - but it's our first impressions. As I stated before, we will definately be going on Carnival again. We really liked it!!

i have to say i have never in 5 cruises been seated with strangers yet in the dining room. I would like to someday too!

[martinchem]

We were all first time Carnival cruisers. enjoy your memories.

[elcuchio24]

There was also a big storm pulling into Ocho Rio just as we were leaving - other than that - smoothest cruise we have ever been on!!

 

Ya, I got some killer picks of that jet black sky behind those nice green mountains. I thought it was cool on this cruise, pretty much every night you could sit on the balcony and watch lightning storms in the distance. I don't think we felt wave movement the whole week. Leaving Grand Caymen, it was like glass.

[jennim]

It was really nice to read a review that was short, sweet and to the point.... You listed positives, negatives and it didn't take 4 pages (or days) to do it.

 

Thanks... :)

[Tapi]

First impression of the ship - ugly. I'm sorry to say it, but it was worse than I was expecting. I was expecting mirrors and neon lights, but this was even worse. It's hard for me to believe that someone got paid to be an interior decorator on that ship. LOL

 

If you thought the Liberty was ugly, BRACE YOURSELF if you ever sail on another Carnival ship! The Liberty is actually one of the more toned down and "tastefully decorated" ships in the fleet (at least by Carnival's standards).

 

I do agree with you though. There are NO Carnival ships that will win a "most beautiful ship" contest any time soon, specially when compared to the elegance of a Celebrity ship as you've experienced.

[StingRaysfan]

Excellent review!!!!!! Thanks for it!!!

 

Of the few Carnival ships I've been on though... the Liberty is actually the most toned down decorwise so I think you should get a kick out of some of the others!!!!! I'm not so sure if the changing lights matched the wrought iron decor, but it was really not bad and several people will tell you it's one of the more toned down ships! lol Just wait and try the Valor... that mural in the atrium... hahaha ... you will want to gouge your eyes every time you look at it it's so ridiculous.

 

I'm really not a fan of Carnivals decor myself but thank goodness that does not make or break my cruise! :)

 

 

EDITED: hahahah Tapi.. you read my mind!

[balecrone]

I have gone through you review that was really interesting review. Thanks for that.

Keep sharing.

[IMDORY]

Elegant Night - this was our biggest surprise. We were half expecting to see the Clampets everywhere but we were very surprised that almost everyone was dressed very nice - and elegantly!! In fact, we dressed down this cruise because we didn't want to seem overdressed. I didn't see anyone show up to the MDR in tee shirts or anything remotely like that. I will definately step it up on our next cruise.

 

That was our same experience on our first Carnival cruise! I was expecting the Clampets too! lol! I actually was afraid to dress up-so I only packed some dresses that could be worn to work but I packed some accessories that jazzed it up a bit and I swear I was pretty much among the most boring dressed person there! I felt way under-dressed. The next year I packed the formal wear and felt much better.

[misstopgun]

Great review. Short and to the point. For future trips on Carnival, cookies are available any time through room service. Brownies as well. They are not listed on the room service menu but just ask.

[gelo7]

That was our same experience on our first Carnival cruise! I was expecting the Clampets too! lol! I actually was afraid to dress up-so I only packed some dresses that could be worn to work but I packed some accessories that jazzed it up a bit and I swear I was pretty much among the most boring dressed person there! I felt way under-dressed. The next year I packed the formal wear and felt much better.

You are dating yourselves speaking of the Clampets..:D

[crusinpsychRN]

That was our same experience on our first Carnival cruise! I was expecting the Clampets too! lol!

 

They were on my cruise!

[firefly333]

Great review. Short and to the point. For future trips on Carnival, cookies are available any time through room service. Brownies as well. They are not listed on the room service menu but just ask.

 

If I was in a hurry for cookies, so much so I didnt want to go all the way to Lido deck .. I sure would not be going to my cabin and waiting around for room service... that would not save any time and who wants to sit in their cabin?? Not my style anyway.

 

I think they are referring to their experience on RCL with promenades where you can run to a shop that has cookies on the promenade and its so convenient. It is a nice feature on RCL newer ships.