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

[ardnassac79]

That mixology class sounds great!! I just told my husband we need to do it on our cruise. Thanks for this review!!!

 

It was a lot of fun! I even learned a few things too :p

[Anung Un Rama]

Ok, I'm going to see if I can finish this up tonight. Probably won't have any pictures for debarkation since the only thing you'd see are lines and masses of people at customs.

 

We had signed up for Luggage Express and new we had to meet in the Golden Dining room at 8am. So an early room service breakfast and once again we were up before the sun.

 

OK, I lied about the pictures

 

 

 

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Went down to the dining room and had to get around the line of people already debarking since it's right there on deck 3. We found a table and waited. And waited. And waited. People started getting annoyed around 8:15. People started getting pissy at 8:30. I couldn't blame them. There was an older couple from the midwest that said they'd done luggage express several times and never had to wait this long. Finally around 8:40 when the last 2 people had shown up, the Carnival people came in and took us off. I honestly think we could've gotten off the ship earlier if we had just done self debarkation which we always do on the Pride.

 

Here's a cute shot of Cass waiting.

 

 

 

Now we get to customs. :eek: Holy hell what takes these people so long? We spent a good 45 minutes after we got in line. We are normally off the ship, through customs, to our car, and home in about 40 minutes. I don't know if they are just more thorough in POM or what but I never saw anyone have to open a bag or anything like that to slow down the process. We had a 12:20 flight so I wasn't too worried but I know Cass wasn't feeling great. We just missed the 9:30 shuttle so had to wait for the 10 to Miami airport.

 

I know Miami is a much busier airport than Baltimore but wow were the security lines long. So another 45 minutes in line and it was a little after 11. We grabbed a quick lunch and made it to our gate just as they started seating.

 

I would never recommend an earlier flight than noon out of Miami. The added stress you'd be dealing with just wouldn't be worth it. So we could finally relax in our seats as we headed back home.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Closing thoughts - We absolutely loved the ship. It was a different class but we finally figured her out towards the end of the cruise. The only time it felt like there were 30% more people than the Pride was Friday when they closed off 1/3 of the sunning areas. The 2.0 upgrades are amazing. The new food options are fantastic and I would eat there every meal if Cass would let me. I think it's safe to say that Cass liked the Alchemy Bar :o.

 

The crew was great as well. Karl with a K is my new favorite CD and I really hope we get to cruise with him again. You can really tell that the people on this ship are glad to be there.

 

In fact we loved the ship so much that we booked the Eastern Itinerary for mid April which will be our Honeymoon cruise :D

 

I hope you all enjoyed our silly little review as much as we've enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to ask us any questions and we'll answer them as best we can.

 

We'll be back after our 10 day B2B on the Breeze :D

[Bo'sun Hank]

Closing thoughts - We absolutely loved the ship. It was a different class but we finally figured her out towards the end of the cruise. The only time it felt like there were 30% more people than the Pride was Friday when they closed off 1/3 of the sunning areas. The 2.0 upgrades are amazing. The new food options are fantastic and I would eat there every meal if Cass would let me. I think it's safe to say that Cass liked the Alchemy Bar :o.

 

The crew was great as well. Karl with a K is my new favorite CD and I really hope we get to cruise with him again. You can really tell that the people on this ship are glad to be there.

 

In fact we loved the ship so much that we booked the Eastern Itinerary for mid April which will be our Honeymoon cruise :D

 

I hope you all enjoyed our silly little review as much as we've enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to ask us any questions and we'll answer them as best we can.

 

We'll be back after our 10 day B2B on the Breeze :D

thanks so much Chris and Cass for bringing the Liberty to life for us. We cruise on 4-14 and really enjoyed your tips and photos. Hope we cross paths sailing some day and we can share our skittle vodkas!

[Dave_&_Lisa]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience......we are really looking forward to our time on the Liberty, even more now!!!

 

:)

[trvlqueen]

Great review - Liberty is our favorite ship, but we haven't been on since 2.0 - she looks really different - but great! I have to find time to sail her, and SOON! Looking forward to your review from the eastern run!

[Froufie]

Thanks for the great review - brought back lots of memories ...and I'll try to keep the Breeze in good shape for you! :D:D

[jkudzu]

Thank you, thank you, thank you both for the wonderful review!!! It was so interesting and gave us so much information for our upcoming cruise. Wishing you both years of happiness, joy, and many more cruises! Hope to cruise with you some day!:D J

[navybaby1113]

Thanks for the great review! We're looking at taking our next cruise on the Liberty and are very excited about the 2.0 upgrades.

 

The mixology class sounds awesome!

[cruisin' 4 fun]

Great Review guys!! So much that I think I'll book tonight. OK we were gonna book anyways but your review has helped:)

[Vicki22]

Thanks for the review! I leave in 5 days!

[boobear30]

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Liberty in October for a back to back. This is getting me excited for the trip.

[miyasmom]

We are struggling with finding an excursion on Belize. Bannister Island is on our list...would you recommend it for people who don't snorkel? Do they have a bar and restaurant available.

 

We went to Bannister Island in 2008 when we took the Western triip on the Legend. The beach is not soft sand but it was fine to swim and they have plenty of chairs to use. My then 9 year old DD had her hair braided and got a henna tattoo. I don't recall eating more then a snack while there. Our 2 adult daughters and 1 son-in-law were also with us. They went kayaking and while walking along the island we saw a group or pod of dolphin swimming. There is a gift shop there which really can't be called a gift shop as it had tshirts-1 print, and little else. After returning to the ship, we went over to Belize and went thru the shops there. Oh, and yes, there was a bar on the island :D. Not an action packed excursion by any means.

[pizzaeater]

I want to thank you for a fantastic review. I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise. I will be on Breeze for the 8 day cruise with you both. Still on the bubble on whether to spend $750 to do the 2 day for B2B. Probably will. Hopefully get to say hi and shake your hands.

[sunshine&shiningstar]

It is a Kodak Playsport Video Camera, Zx5 model. It's pretty handy, and I've used it in the ocean on 2 different cruises now with no trouble. I did be sure to read the instruction manual fully though, because it did get some bad reviews on Amazon for not working properly... I'm guessing it was more a problem with the user, not the camera ;)

 

Is this the camera you use to take all these pictures, I just baught this and im getting this ready for the first time.:o

[BigDog™]

Thanks to both of you for a great review! Good to meet you and good job on the trivia!

[ardnassac79]

Thank you so much to everyone for the kind words!! It really means a lot :o I'm glad you enjoyed re-living our trip with us!

 

Is this the camera you use to take all these pictures, I just baught this and im getting this ready for the first time.:o

 

Actually, no. Only the underwater pictures were taken with the Kodak. The other pictures were taken with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3. This is also just a point and shoot camera, and is rugged/waterproof, but we didn't test the waterproof options. However it was nice to put it in beach mode when it was raining and not have to worry about it. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks to both of you for a great review! Good to meet you and good job on the trivia!

 

Big Dog, it was nice to meet you too! Hope you had a great trip!

[ardnassac79]

I want to thank you for a fantastic review. I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise. I will be on Breeze for the 8 day cruise with you both. Still on the bubble on whether to spend $750 to do the 2 day for B2B. Probably will. Hopefully get to say hi and shake your hands.

 

Thank you so much! That's excellent you'll be on the Breeze. I'm sure at some point we'll meet. The bad thing is, I always meet people and they say their real names, and I have no idea who they are because I'm used to the CC screen names! :p

[crewsweeper]

thanks so much Chris and Cass for bringing the Liberty to life for us. We cruise on 4-14 and really enjoyed your tips and photos. Hope we cross paths sailing some day and we can share our skittle vodkas!

 

Ditto what Hank says. The 4-14 will be an Eastern, so hopefully via several on our Roll Call we can give you a taste of what to expect in the ports on your honeymoon cruise, if you choose to debark;).

 

And let's hope there's an Alchemy or clone somewhere on the Breeze in November so we can share the skittles vodka, but leave the strawberry berries for "the fishes".:)

[Anung Un Rama]

Thanks for all the kind words. There were a couple of misc. things I wanted to note as well.

 

Cass forgot to mention that the last formal night was Thursday (Grand Cayman).

 

We both used our Kindle Fires on the ship and they were great. Cass used hers more for reading and mine for games/movies. They were a bit hard to see in the sun but once we turned the brightness setting up, it really wasn't an issue. We never tried to connect to wi-fi on the ship as it just wasn't worth it to us. I used a word app to type notes for the review and it really helped keep things straight. I'm sure I'll be doing that for all future cruises.

 

Cass hasn't forgotten, just been busy and then sick. The Fun Times are coming.

[sp29488]

Thanks for the great review!!! We are on the count down and it can't come fast enough:) One question, the skittles vodka, is it on the menu at all the bars or do I have to ask for it? Oh, I'm sorry to see your review end. I enjoyed coming here to see what the next post would be.

[ardnassac79]

Thanks for the great review!!! We are on the count down and it can't come fast enough:) One question, the skittles vodka, is it on the menu at all the bars or do I have to ask for it? Oh, I'm sorry to see your review end. I enjoyed coming here to see what the next post would be.

 

Thanks!! I still have the Fun Times to scan and import - that should be in the next day or 2.

 

No, it's not on a menu anywhere, and they may not even serve it. It was just a special concoction Adri was cooking up in the back room of the Alchemy bar! I guess if you go, it couldn't hurt to ask - however I'm positive none of the other bars would have it.

Edited March 12, 2012 by ardnassac79

[smartswimmer316]

Thanks for taking the time to do such an extensive review! my boyfriend and I are going on our first cruise [this same itinerary] for our anniversary in 11 days! It's great to be able to feel a little more confident about the ships activities and port ideas from here!

 

Your note about the mixology class sounds awesome- if they have it offered, where do you go to sign up for it?[yup, i am just embracing the 'newbie' label. haha]

[sp29488]

Thanks!! I still have the Fun Times to scan and import - that should be in the next day or 2.

 

No, it's not on a menu anywhere, and they may not even serve it. It was just a special concoction Adri was cooking up in the back room of the Alchemy bar! I guess if you go, it couldn't hurt to ask - however I'm positive none of the other bars would have it.

 

If I remember I'll ask at the Alchemy bar and see if she has it. I'm sure I'll find something else if she doesn't. :D