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Observations from my Liberty Cruise...I'm soooo glad to be back home!!!

picklebongo

By picklebongo,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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CatgirlNC

CatgirlNC

Posted
Posted
If this truly was a review of Liberty, which by the way is my favorite ship, then why start out with the weather and hotel choice???

 

Lots of people do that on CC. There was even a thread on that very topic (should people include all the pre-cruise stuff in their review), and most people seem to like reading about the travel, the hotel, etc.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1554789

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KrystalWaters

KrystalWaters

Posted
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Yep, i remember her from a few weeks ago trying to get flights at the last minute. She purchased the Liberty cruise on a "pack and go" or pretty inexpensive rate. She has 2 clients that she was bringing with her. Her clients were mentally disabled. Which i thought was wonderful of her to bring them along. Let them experience things that maybe they would not have had.

She just didn't realize that flights have quadraupled in the last few years.:eek: A lot of us was trying to find her a relatively cheap-er flight out of different places. Although, we really didn't have a snow storm in Milwaukee. So i don't know about....:o:rolleyes:

I'm glad she made it and back safe and sound. :)

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Yvonne

Yvonne

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If this truly was a review of Liberty, which by the way is my favorite ship, then why start out with the weather and hotel choice??? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Lots of people do that on CC. There was even a thread on that very topic (should people include all the pre-cruise stuff in their review), and most people seem to like reading about the travel, the hotel, etc.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1554789

 

I agree with you CatgirlNC. I always enjoy seeing photos and hearing about the hotel people stay in the night (s) before their cruise.

 

I started my recent Carnival Freedom cruise with a post about our hotel, and photos, just in case others might be interested in hearing about Cambria Suites. If someone isn't interested in that part of my, or anyone's, review they can just skip that. :)

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donoiv

donoiv

Posted
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I agree with you CatgirlNC. I always enjoy seeing photos and hearing about the hotel people stay in the night (s) before their cruise.

 

I started my recent Carnival Freedom cruise with a post about our hotel, and photos, just in case others might be interested in hearing about Cambria Suites. If someone isn't interested in that part of my, or anyone's, review they can just skip that. :)

 

Question though... why does everyone always tell us about their room steward... and tell us about how thy want to leave them special gifts.... BUT, they don't mention anything about the person who cleans their hotel room? Don't they get special gifts too? (calling cards, etc)??

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Vanessa L

Vanessa L

Posted
Posted
Question though... why does everyone always tell us about their room steward... and tell us about how thy want to leave them special gifts.... BUT, they don't mention anything about the person who cleans their hotel room? Don't they get special gifts too? (calling cards, etc)??

 

If I had to guess, it's because most people only stay in the hotel a night or 2 prior to the cruise. Whereas they are with their steward 7 nights. I don't see so many of those "steward gift" posts from 3 night cruisers. Mostly just the 7 and above.

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Rottweiler Puppy

Rottweiler Puppy

Posted
Posted
If this truly was a review of Liberty, which by the way is my favorite ship, then why start out with the weather and hotel choice??? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Thats common in about 80% of the reviews here. Nothing nefarious about it I am sure. Weather and hotels are a large part of folks vacations and like to include the info as well.

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Vanessa L

Vanessa L

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Thats common in about 80% of the reviews here. Nothing nefarious about it I am sure. Weather and hotels are a large part of folks vacations and like to include the info as well.

 

Well, and most especially in pickle's case, because if you recall the issue when she was looking for airfare, reason #589 as to why she would not go to MKE to fly out of was her fear of a snow storm.

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cdamion

cdamion

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Posted

Thanks for taking the time to start the review. Looking forward to the rest. Especially interested in hearing how the cruise was for your clients. Neat that they got to go.

 

...and I do like to hear people's trip reports about pre-cruise too. Surprised that a Hyatt had a mildew issue - I expect more from them.

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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I think we'll really have to wait until tonight to hear the rest of the tale.

 

But thanks to others here who have followed her posts int he past and provided some background. The lure of a cheap pack-n-go rate, without adequate travel prep, equally cheap airfare, time to get a good hotel, adding to the mix what might have been the start of a typical winter snow shower--but for someone who doesn't want tot drive in the stuff it could be deemed a "storm"--then, further adding 2 guests with undisclosed mental health problems who probably have no real clue as to what things cost or use of credit cards much less S&S cards (seems free when you run it through the machine:p) and requiring a chaperone in ports is a real recipe for a distasterous DIY adventure.

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SMSACE6

SMSACE6

Posted
Posted

Ok Picklebongo, enough is enough. We are all waiting for the rest of your review. You tweaked our curiosity, and left us all wondering. So could you please post some more of your review, and provide us with some answers please?:) I really like the Liberty, so am very curious about more than the first day of your cruise. More please.!

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picklebongo

picklebongo

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Yes, I always come back and yes, I DO work and I have a toddler and I returned from the cruise yesterday, so I have alot going on. Typically I post late at night, but today I checked in a number of times at cc.

 

I went back and reread my original posting three times to see if I said anything to justify some of the snarky remarks that were posted on this thread. Somebody said, "bizarro", my threads get stranger and stranger, I am looking for attention, drama, etc. Others said they will ignore my post because they are sailing on Liberty, etc., but why, what negative thing have I said so far about the ship?

 

To the person that said there was not a snowstorm, yes there was and we left early but got caught up in it, so it wasn't such a big deal, but I will never drive a distance to catch a flight again, it wasn't worth it just to save a few dollars. Oh well...lesson learned.

 

Now somebody said for a "seasoned cruiser" I made several mistakes...Well I'll be the first to admit that and I even started a thread about my dumb mistake. I saw a great rate for a seven day cruise, jumped on it and started trying to book the air afterwards, not a good idea. Of course it would have been great to book the hotel way in advance and I've done that when I've actually planned my cruise out methodically, but this was spur of the moment. One poster on my initial thread mentioned the Hyatt and I like the brand, so I booked it, after reading reviews on tripadvisor.

 

I was also given shuttle information at cc, which ultimately I used too, GO shuttle to Miami, from Fort Lauderdale, so it was all good. We stayed at the Crown Plaza in Fort Lauderdale after the cruise, excellent hotel.

 

The Hyatt made good and gave me the discount, so all good there.

 

BEFORE boarding, at the terminal, when checking in, I requested and signed the cards and so did my other guests, that they were not to charge anything on my S&S card. It was my intent to put money on their cards the second day. This process worked for one of my guests, it was done correctly, but for the other one, it did not, she was able to charge on my card. When I found this out, I immediately called guest services, they admitted the snafu and corrected it, but were unwilling to reverse the charges. I made mention of it because it was THEIR mistake, so I felt they should have taken responsibility, it was part of my cruise experience. Since they refused, I did exactly what one poster suggested, the money was subtracted from what the guest would have ultimately received. It was mentioned because it was part of the cruise experience. So far, no high drama, right, just sharing an experience.

 

To those who questioned why in the world I would ask the cards be red flagged so my guests could not exit the ship, others responded correctly, they were both 21 and cognitively disabled, but physically do not present as so. I again shared this information because some folks may not even know this is possible and may want to do this with their teens.

 

I did it simply for safety reasons. I did not want them to exit the ship without me knowing about it and getting left behind. Now that would have been a disaster. Prior to sailing, Carnival was notified of their special needs and they welcomed them as guests. Again, no high drama, so why did I receive so many negative remarks when I haven't even started talking about the ship or my cruise experience?

 

Since folks already have their panties in a wad, I am going to make some brief observations about the cruise, ship, etc. and bow out. I am not attention seeking. I rarely even post at cc anymore, not even to start threads since many folks think my questions and queries are "strange". I guess if I started a tipping thread that would be more interesting, eh.

 

These are my observations in short sentences and phrases, which is actually hard for me because I love to talk and write. Oh, before I begin, the poster who asked why I would talk about the weather and hotels before discussing the review, well some of the best reviews I read here are written by Paulmedix, sorry if I got your name wrong, and he shares everything, pre and post and I enjoy it immensely as do others.

 

Ok, here are my short observations...

 

-overall I like the ship, the layout was very easy to follow

 

-Carnival needs to reset the clocks in public areas so they are NOT using military time since everybody doesn't know this method

 

-the lack of clocks in the cabins is a BIG annoyance. I did not learn there was a channel that one could go to and find the time until my last night because I never turn on the TV. This should be mentioned in the fun times. Guest services said they literally get hundreds of calls a day with folks asking what the time is

 

-the show in the main lounge, second night, was not very good at all, actually it was the worst I've ever seen on a cruise, called Around the World. The best show was Carnival Legends and that's when the passengers performed! Adult comedy shows were not good at all, both African American comediennes were dreadful, almost painful to watch when the jokes are not funny, embarrassing really

 

-there were lots of chairs available around the lido deck, never saw many people saving them with towels or other items, they opened up frequently

 

-this was my first cruise with the dive in movies, big screen on lido. This is a great touch, also the free popcorn and blankets. My only "problem" with this was that at the first port, Cozumel, there were about 20 people on the lido who didn't get off the ship. Probably "seasoned cruisers" who had been there before, For 90 minutes they showed a Hannah Montana concert, which I suffered thru and right afterwards a Jonas Brothers concert came on.

 

My thoughts were they should know their audience, as not many kids nor teens were even on this sailing. I went to guest services and asked if they could show something else, but was informed that corporate chooses what is shown on the screen and they can make no changes. I asked if they could turn it off or at least turn it down. They said they would check with the hotel director. I made a suggestion, play some Whitney Houston music since she had just died. Now that might drive some other folks over the bend, but it was no worse than what was showing. About two hours later, the dj was spinning some of her music.

 

My suggestion also was that Carnival should develop some videos to show during the sailing of the various ports that are to be visited, at least for the learning experience and it might spur folks to purchase excursions if they see something about Mayan ruins, etc. Just my thoughts and suggestion to guest services.

 

-BTW, very few kids/teens and those who were onboard were very polite, no running amok, never did I see them in adult areas, never saw cups in the elevator, no running in the halls, yelling, etc.

 

-if anybody says with a straight face that the food on Carnival hasn't changed, for the worse, they are dillusional. The buffet had a chicken, fish, rice/pasta, vegetable daily, but it was totally uninspired. There was not the Indian food, etc. I ate in the Silver Restaurant 3 times during the cruise and the food simply wasn't as good as usual. What really struck me is that the presentation of the food on the plate used to be a work of art, very artistically presented, as were desserts, not the case any more. In addition, the selections are just not as varied nor appealing. I had shrimp one night and it came with curly fries, which I apparently didn't see when I ordered them. This I would expect at the buffet, but not in a more elegant setting. The shrimp was fried, greasy, exactly the type you would get at a Chinese buffet.

 

The service in the dining room was very uneven. Many tables were finishing their dinner as we were getting our first course. I struggled to get beverage service each time and there never was repeat service. On the last night, at the table next to ours were 10 Japanese tourists, I met some of them on the ship. Their waiter hefted their dinners on a large round tray, all the plates were covered, of course, and as he got to their table, he must have stumbled. The entire tray, with all of their dinners, fell on the head of one of the women! It was an accident, but can you imagine, she left the table literally in tears with a couple of the other women who were trying to clean her up, stuff was all over her head, down her dress, you get the point.

 

-they have made it so that soda cards can't be shared because they are swiped and the picture of the purchaser comes up. I witnessed somebody trying to get a soda for somebody who struggled with walking and the bar person said the person would have to come and get it herself. The friend tried explaining the situation, but to no avail. Perhaps they should develop a system whereby a sticker or something comes up in the computer if a person has a disability so somebody can get their beverage for them.

 

Oops, I said I was going to use short phrases and sentences, sorry.

-quick question, does anybody know if the glass work in the main show lounge is done by the same artist who did the work at the Bellagio in Vegas? It is lovely.

 

-Guys Burger Joint...for two days I kept wondering, why are all these people pigging out on burgers while they are on a cruise...well, on the third day when I couldn't find anything to my liking, I tried one. The burgers were excellent, Carnival has an absolute winner with this venue and I hope it remains free and that they don't do what Royal Caribbean did with Johnny Rockets, which was free initially, but now there's a charge. Iguana Cantina was also a big hit with lots of cruisers and I tried the fish and chips for the first time, didn't enjoy them at all, but the reuben's I tried too for the first time since so many people talk about them at cc and they were good. There were always pretty lenghty lines though.

 

-I am going to return and finish up, gotta take care of the baby. One of the young women who went with me is one of the cruisers people would describe as the person everybody knows. She has no inhibitions, for instance, when music was playing on the lido, she would have no compunction about getting up and being the only one dancing when the place was packed. At one point, she was dancing by herself and by the time the song ended, 50 people had gotten up to join her. People were constantly buying her beer, dod's, etc., which lead up to her troubles. Not wanting to leave anybody hanging, she did not return to the cabin for 18 hours and their lies the problem. I will finish later, but at least I can't be accused of leaving anybody hanging or trying to get attention.

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