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

[ardnassac79]

My husband and I will be on your Honeymoon cruise. We are doing a B2B starting with that one. We celebrate out 20th on 4/23/13:D

 

Awesome! We found a roll call going already for it - seems pretty active already :D

 

Great review Chris and Cass !

Thank you!!!

 

Thanks for the review guys! Can't wait till Thursday when they are suppose to release her new itinerary...hopefully will be booking her again next year.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

[Jimd66]

Well thanks a lot for making my last 81 days harder then before. Thanks for thanking the time and great review. You two make a great team:D.

[Liberty50]

Thanks for your review. I keep coming back to read it again. My daughter and I are going on the Liberty to celebrate my 50th Birthday. The last cruise I was on was 1985, before she was born! I can hardly wait! :)

[1stimer2010]

Wonderful, spectacular review!! Loved the pictures and each comment that went along with it! We are sailing on the Liberty 4/21. 39 more days!! Glad I was able to catch glimpes of our home for 7 days! I have a question about Cozumel...was it difficult getting around? We are doing the Coba Mayan Riuns excursion and it says we get of the boat, get on a "goverment issued vessel" that takes us the mainland and then we have to get on a bus to the ruins. Its an all "freaking" day excursion which I am not lookng forward to but thats what hubby wants to do... The only excursion he really planned. But I am leary about all these extra boats and buses we have to take. What are your thoughts....did you have to take this vessel which i have read on cruise critic is the most bumpiest ride ever and you better bring your sea sick pills! LOL

Again great job on the review and CONGRATS!!!!;););)

[ardnassac79]

Well thanks a lot for making my last 81 days harder then before. Thanks for thanking the time and great review. You two make a great team:D.

 

haha, sorry! I'm glad you enjoyed it - yeah, I think we make a pretty awesome team too - it's easy with someone so wonderful as Chris :)

 

Thanks for your review. I keep coming back to read it again. My daughter and I are going on the Liberty to celebrate my 50th Birthday. The last cruise I was on was 1985, before she was born! I can hardly wait! :)

 

Wow, I bet you can't wait! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

 

Wonderful, spectacular review!! Loved the pictures and each comment that went along with it! We are sailing on the Liberty 4/21. 39 more days!! Glad I was able to catch glimpes of our home for 7 days! I have a question about Cozumel...was it difficult getting around? We are doing the Coba Mayan Riuns excursion and it says we get of the boat, get on a "goverment issued vessel" that takes us the mainland and then we have to get on a bus to the ruins. Its an all "freaking" day excursion which I am not lookng forward to but thats what hubby wants to do... The only excursion he really planned. But I am leary about all these extra boats and buses we have to take. What are your thoughts....did you have to take this vessel which i have read on cruise critic is the most bumpiest ride ever and you better bring your sea sick pills! LOL

Again great job on the review and CONGRATS!!!!;););)

 

Unfortunately, when we were in Cozumel, we did an all-inclusive beach day at Mr. Sanchos (not Carnival sponsored), which is right on the island - all we had to do was take a 10 minute taxi ride to get there... We've never done the ruins, so I unfortunately don't have any information/suggestions! From what I read from other reviews, as well as on the Cozumel port of call thread here on CC, it does take a while to get to the ruins, but most people say it's worth it.. good luck!

[sp29488]

Friday, Mar 2nd – Day at Sea

 

Friday morning dawned with another knock on the door from room service, and we checked out the Fun Times to try to figure out our day. We decided since it was the last chance to enjoy the sun, we would get in our swimsuits and take a stab at trying to find a place to lay out. Turns out all the other 2,800 guests on board had the same idea. We did a brief lap around the Serenity areas (no luck).

 

Then we got the brilliant idea to make our way to the “secret” deck on 9 Fwd – also no luck, there were signs posted that the area was closed off due to high winds. So we circled all of deck 10 and we were slowly getting annoyed. Many many chairs were “taken” only by a blue towel plopped on it and folded down. We didn’t despair however, and remembered that we found another area through the basketball area earlier in the week, and headed up there. Success! Only 4 people were up there, and there was plenty of chairs and sunshine. This was the view - we were at the tippy top!

 

 

As we were pulling our chairs into position and just settling in, here comes security telling us we needed to leave. Ugh. We were about to protest thinking they were shooing us due to wind, but no – they were evacuating the area in preparation for an incoming helicopter medevac. Well crap. :mad:

 

We gathered up our stuff and shuffled back down to deck 10. We stood around for about 15 minutes, and wondered why they weren’t yet roping off the area – people were still going up to the area we were just told to leave…. and all the while, there were 5 unattended deck chairs just being held by towels. Eventually fed up, I asked a couple that was laying close by how long they had been there, and if they saw anyone in the chairs. They said they had been there for over an hour, and no one had come in all that time (and said they would take them if they were us!) OURS! I carefully laid their towels under the chairs and we happily settled in.

 

After about 15 minutes, someone came up and said “um… I think these were ours”… We merely said “Oh I’m sorry, no one had been here for over an hour, and the Fun Times clearly state you have 30 minutes, so we took them” He mumbled something about thinking his girlfriend was watching them. So he sat down in some of the other ones (there were 5 being taken). Another 30 minutes went by, and his girlfriend and daughter came up – they took the other 2 and seemed happy with it, so I figured the 2 we “took” were for people they didn’t know – in other words, 2 sets of chair hogs, but still room for us. Yay for both of us J

 

All during this time security and staff were finally clearing out the sports decks and deck 10 Fwd and roping it off – tons of people were just wandering around trying to figure out where to cram in for some sunshine.

 

 

At this point, it was about 90 minutes since we first sat down, and still no helicopter, or sign of the original people that laid their stuff to “save” the chairs. We knew we had our final round of Super Trivia at 12, so decided it was about time to pack up. As we were getting ready to leave, I was going to put the original people’s stuff on the chairs, and someone swooped in asking if we were saving the seats… I was in the middle of explaining that No, we weren’t but just replacing the original chair hog’s stuff, and if they wanted the chairs to by all means take them, when lo and behold the original chair hogs (now probably 3 hours later) came sauntering up and said “those are our chairs, and that’s our stuff”… for crying out loud people :rolleyes:. Luckily, since Chris and I were leaving anyway, we just walked away. I could tell Chris was just a tad disappointed he didn’t get the chance to tell the original hogs where they could nicely go, but we had other things to do.

 

Down to the Cabinet we went for the final round of Super Trivia, and we each stopped for Cruisers on the way. Nothing like starting early on the last day. They had bottles of champagne laid out for the winners, along with Ships on Sticks, and the Carnival Medals. Our team showed up, but alas we couldn’t win out. Our dice rolls weren’t as lucky as the other teams, and we ended up in 3rd place. However, we did end up getting Ships on Sticks too, so it wasn’t a complete loss J

 

 

After Trivia, we were both hungry, so we went up to the Blue Iguana cantina for more tacos – Chris had chicken, and I had a chicken one and a fish one – again, they were both reaaaaaly good. We ran into Mary and she said they too were kicked out of their sunning spot for the medevac, and said it just happened – evidently someone had a compound fracture that couldn’t be treated on board… ow!!

 

After lunch, we wandered around the ship – went to the shops to make sure there were no last minute souvenirs we needed, and I wanted Chris to take a shot of our scores from the EA Sports challenges they had – outside the bar they have a running tally of everyone’s scores through the week – we were both on the board!

 

 

 

Then we made our way to the casino, they were having another Slot Tournament, and I decided to enter. On one of our last cruises I made it to the finals, which was really exciting, but alas this time I had a measly score. No placing for me, but one of our new friends from the Friendly Beaver campground in New England made it, so we stuck around to cheer him on in the finals. Unfortunately he didn’t win, but it was fun to watch.

 

Can you tell me more about how to find the area near the basketball courts, what deck and how to get there? Thanks

[ardnassac79]

Can you tell me more about how to find the area near the basketball courts, what deck and how to get there? Thanks

 

Sure! Go up to deck 10 (I know I said deck 9 in my original post, but it's deck 10 where you should start) and head for the funnel - you'll see the basketball court, and some steps leading to a gate to get inside the court. Go in the gate and immediately take the stairs on your left - there's a little deck up there with lounge chairs. It's windy, but generally not too crowded!

Edited March 14, 2012 by ardnassac79

[miyasmom]

I'll spare you all the 50 or so pictures we took of the sail away (it really is much nicer than pulling out of Baltimore :o) put here are a couple of South Beach.

 

 

 

Sail away took quite a while since we had to turn around and it was starting to get a little chilly so we figured it was time to head down and grab some dinner. But look what we found.....

 

 

 

Time for lunch and to get a little work done :o. I'll be back with our first night's dining experience.............

 

So WHERE IS THE COIN??? I really want to see it but I know my 13yo won't have the patience to in her words "look for some dumb coin." Help!!! Love your review by the way and can't wait to go, 3 weeks from this coming Saturday!!!! Mary

[sp29488]

Thank you :) Making a note of this so we'll have another plan if we need it.

[cosita]

Do you have the funtimes from your cruise? Please post

[ardnassac79]

So WHERE IS THE COIN??? I really want to see it but I know my 13yo won't have the patience to in her words "look for some dumb coin." Help!!! Love your review by the way and can't wait to go, 3 weeks from this coming Saturday!!!! Mary

 

I honestly don't remember :o I believe it was on Deck 10, somewhere in the aft section of the ship just mounted on the wall. I'm sorry!

 

Do you have the funtimes from your cruise? Please post

 

I do, and I've been meaning to get them scanned and posted, work has just been crazy. I'll start working on them today ;)

[Amadawn1]

Chris and Cass,

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful review and pictures! I couldn't wait to log in each day hoping to see a new installment! Cass, the mixology class sounds like it was a lot of fun, too. I will definitely keep my eye out for that offering. My next cruise is not until November, but reading your review made me feel like I was right there. Counting down is so hard when the days are still in the hundreds!

 

Glad you had a great Birthday cruise, and very best wishes for your Honeymoon cruise next year!

 

Thanks again for the excellent review!

[Irishlinny]

Great job you guys! Loved the review, as usual!:) Looking forward to sailing with you on the Breeze and trying out some of the new food venues...mmmm mmmmm mmmmm! Oh, and just a reminder...if I end up in any photos you take, make sure it's from the shoulders up!:o:p

[ardnassac79]

Hi All! Thank You for your patience as I finally got around to scanning and uploading the Fun Times and some other documents that I thought some may be interested in. I'll apologize, we tried to remember to get 2nd copies of all the Fun Times so you wouldn't have to see our marked up versions, but that didn't always happen. :o

 

I've uploaded them all to Google Docs, and the files are hyperlinked below - just click the file you want to see and it should come up in PDF.

 

Enjoy!

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 2-25-12 - Embarkation Day

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 2-26-12 - Day at Sea

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 2-27-12 - Cozumel

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 2-28-12 - Belize

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 2-29-12 - Isla Roatan

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 3-1-12 - Grand Cayman

 

Fun Times - Liberty - 3-2-12 - Day at Sea

 

Shopping Guide - Cozumel

 

Shopping Guide - Roatan

 

Shopping Guide - Grand Cayman

 

Room Service Menu (excluding breakfast) and "Good to Know" info

 

Luggage Express Information (Carnival takes your checked bags to the airport for you and checks them for an extra fee per person - you get your bags when you reach your final air travel destination) Inquire about it at guest services early in the week.

 

Please let me know if there's a problem with any of the files. Thanks!

[lymah]

Hi All! Thank You for your patience as I finally got around to scanning and uploading the Fun Times and some other documents that I thought some may be interested in.

Please let me know if there's a problem with any of the files. Thanks!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I just had to log into Google and now I can see them all:D

[Brighty1]

Thanks so very much for posting the fun times. You are certainly a jewel. This is really so very helpful. :)

[ardnassac79]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I just had to log into Google and now I can see them all:D

 

Odd, you shouldn't need an account to see them - Chris doesn't have one and it worked fine on his laptop... hmm. Oh well, glad you could see them!

 

Thanks so very much for posting the fun times. You are certainly a jewel. This is really so very helpful. :)

 

Glad to help! Thanks!

[jjtimes6]

Love your reviews! We are on a B2B on the Liberty in 16 days, and your review got me even more excited! I am for sure going to that mixology class; sounds like a blast.

[happytails]

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

 

 

Wonderful review, thank you!!! We sail on Liberty, eastern itinerary, in 2 days!!!! 2nd cruise, first was on Liberty also, last April. Really looking forward to the upgrades, new food options, and the ALCHEMY BAR! VERY EXCITED!!

[aggiecruiser05]

Thank you so much for the fun times Cassandra!!

[ardnassac79]

Love your reviews! We are on a B2B on the Liberty in 16 days, and your review got me even more excited! I am for sure going to that mixology class; sounds like a blast.

 

Wonderful review, thank you!!! We sail on Liberty, eastern itinerary, in 2 days!!!! 2nd cruise, first was on Liberty also, last April. Really looking forward to the upgrades, new food options, and the ALCHEMY BAR! VERY EXCITED!!

 

I'm jealous of you both! I wanna be back on a ship :p You'll have a blast!

 

Thank you so much for the fun times Cassandra!!

 

You're quite welcome!

[peachpitts]

We tried nachi cocom last time and really enjoyed it, the food was great, fresh grilled fish and yummy drinks. We may try Sanchos next time, but not sure, because we really loved nachi.

[peachpitts]

we loved Nachi. nice and quiet, great food and yummy drinks all day long !

[ardnassac79]

Just saw on Carnival's social network page that ADRI won bartender of the year in the Bacardi contest!!! SHE ROCKS!!!

[lnrc]

Great Review!!!! Just a quick question...How was the Blue's band at the Blue Iquana that it shows on the dailys. Were they really a blues band? How was their music? Someone in our party is really into "blues" music and am curious how this band was. Thanks for a reply.