REVIEW: Carnival Liberty - Western Caribbean - 4/5/14 thru 4/12/14

[Chief93]

I am really enjoying your review. I am also fascinated by your detailed memory. You've posted 7 pages and you're still on the first sea day. This is one of the best reviews ever.

[pghsteelerfan]

***Just referred to on of my "Fun Times" editions before posting pictures of the Golden Olympian Dining room in regards to who will eat where (meaning each Dining room). The Silver Olympian, Deck 3 and 4, is for Assigned Dining Guests (early and late seating). The Golden Olympian Dining room, Deck 4 (up top), is also for Assigned Dining Guests. All Your Time Dining Guests are in the Golden Olympian Dining Room, Deck 3 (bottom level).

Now back to the review and more pictures.

Golden Olympian Dining room (entrance, Atlantic Deck 3):

 

Golden Olympian Dining room (Deck 3):

 

 

We walked back to the Atrium for a few more pictures before continuing on our tour of Carnival Liberty.

Garden Atrium from looking across towards Atlantic Deck 4 and Promenade Deck 5 from the opposite side on Deck 4:

Garden Atrium and "Flowers Lobby and Bar"

We were both VERY impressed with the décor of Carnival Liberty's Atrium from the minute we walked on board.

[pghsteelerfan]

WOW! What a great review with great pics!! Looking forward to our turn. Thanks for posting!

 

Thank you and thanks for following along. I'm sure I'll have this done before your turn...at least I'd better. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

I am really enjoying your review. I am also fascinated by your detailed memory. You've posted 7 pages and you're still on the first sea day. This is one of the best reviews ever.

 

Thank you for following along. My detailed memory is a big "joke" in our family. DH can't believe what I can remember and if my family members are confused with a date or details of a certain situation, they call/email me. I'm pretty good with music (mainly late 70's, all the 80's and most of the 90's, stuff I listened to) but DH and another friend of ours have me beat on that. I sure wish I'd have buckled down and applied this memory to school work.

 

Thank you again for your very nice compliments.

[pghsteelerfan]

We took the atrium stairs back up to Upper Deck 6 to see if we could find the secret deck, the outside decks that are at the very front of the ship. I’d read about the “secret deck” and how to find it in other Cruise Critic reviews, so I wanted to see if we could find it ourselves. We walked all the way to the front of the ship (forward) to where we couldn’t go any further. We were in the hallway on the starboard (right side) of the ship. From memory, I knew we had to walk down to where the hallway ends you can’t go any farther, and that there is a door on the right (also another door to the secret deck on the port side, same spot). We walked all the way down to the point where we could not go forward anymore and saw a door on the right that led outside and opened it….there it was, the secret deck.

 

I'm including a "Screen Shot" of Carnival Liberty's Upper Deck 6 and where the doors to the secret deck are (it should be the same for accessing on Empress Deck 7 as well, but cabin numbers may be different). Walk down the hallway to the front of the ship to the points where you can no longer straight and have to either make a left (if your on starboard side) or a right (from port side). This will be just past cabin numbers 6207 (Starboard/right side) and 6208 (Port/left side).

 

Here's that screen shot:

 

 

We walked around out there and we were the only ones the entire time we were out there, for about 15 minutes. We were on Deck 6 and Deck 7 of the secret decks and were going to go down to Deck 5, but that was roped off with a sign that said “Crew Only”. We headed back inside and took the stairs back up to Lido Deck 9 and went to get more pictures of the Garden Atrium from the top.

Carnival Liberty's secret decks:

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Two more from the Secret Deck:

 

Edited May 13, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

After the secret deck, we came back in on Empress Deck 7 then went to the Atrium and took the stairs to Lido Deck 9 and got pictures up toward the glass ceiling where we could see the waterslide and then got pictures looking down into the Garden Atrium.

Glass ceiling (and waterslide) above the Garden Atrium:

View from the top looking down:

View of the Garden Atrium elevators (there were several going):

Now it’s time to walk all the exterior decks for pictures. We started out on Lido Deck 9 by the Seaside Theater and main pool.

Heading outside - Lido Deck 9 and Seaside Theater:

We then went up to Panorama Deck 10 and made our way towards the front of the ship to get to the stairs to go further up.

The waterslide:

We went up the stairs, stopping to get pictures of the view of Liberty towards the back.

[pghsteelerfan]

This is where we're headed, up those steps:

 

 

 

Another picture of this. I know there's a lot, but this is the what distinguishes a Carnival ship from all the rest.

 

From there we made our way up to the “Serenity” area, which is the adult only (21 and over) area that is located on both Sun Deck 12 and Sky Deck 14 (there is no Deck 13). We walked around there and got some pictures.

All pictures from the Serenity area:

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

One more of the Serenity area:

Our next stop was back down to Panorama Deck 10 and to the back (aft) of the ship and went up the stairs to the other half of Spa Deck 11. Panorama Deck 10 is the highest deck at mid-ship, where the main pool, Seaside Theater, Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Bars are located, so you have to go back down to Deck 10 to get to the higher decks at the back of the ship.

The waterslide from Sky Deck 14:

Another of the funnel, from Sky Deck 14:

View toward the back of the ship from Sun Deck 12:

Back down on Panorama Deck 10:

View of Lido Deck 9 Tivoli (main pool, mid-ship) from Deck 10:

I'll be wrapping this up right here for a little while but plan to finish Day 2 tonight.

[deetrayn]

Sorry we missed you! :) I hope you had a wonderful cruise on Victory.

 

 

 

Thank you! We really loved Liberty, beautiful ship. It's funny, but I don't have a favorite. I'm partial to all of the ships we've been on.

 

The price would have to be right for us too, but it sure would be nice to actually see those two ships.

 

I remember conversing with you when I did my Valor review. How was your B2B on the Jewel to the Southern Caribbean? Our friends were on it a week before you were, I think (Thanksgiving). They really liked it. I hope you had a wonderful time. I would love to do that some day (B2B, Southern Caribbean).

 

I had a great time on the Victory. And yes, we were conversing about your awesome Valor review.

 

I had an absolute blast on my Jewel B2B cruise. I remember you telling me about your friends sailing on the Jewel. If they sailed during Thanksgiving, they were coming off the ship the same day I got on.

 

I loved the Southern Caribbean, and will be going again next year. This time on the Valor. :-)

 

Dee

[pghsteelerfan]

I had a great time on the Victory. And yes, we were conversing about your awesome Valor review.

 

I had an absolute blast on my Jewel B2B cruise. I remember you telling me about your friends sailing on the Jewel. If they sailed during Thanksgiving, they were coming off the ship the same day I got on.

 

I loved the Southern Caribbean, and will be going again next year. This time on the Valor. :-)

 

Dee

 

I thought that was you. :) I'm so glad you had a great time on Victory. I would love to sail on her one of these days. I think I'd like the "ocean themed" décor, I've seen pictures of the Seahorse bar stools and the fish in the smaller atrium. We actually thought we'd be sailing Victory on a southern Caribbean out of San Juan, but she and Valor traded places a few months before we went. We really loved Valor and I hope you enjoy her as much as we did.

 

Holly

[pghsteelerfan]

Our next stop was back down to Panorama Deck 10 and to the back (aft) of the ship and went up the stairs to the other half of Spa Deck 11. Panorama Deck 10 is the highest deck at mid-ship, where the main pool, Seaside Theater, Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Bars are located, so you have to go back down to Deck 10 to get to the higher decks at the back of the ship. We went up to the Spa Deck 11, the sports deck, for pictures.

View from Spa Deck 11 (sports deck) toward the front of Liberty:

Red Frog Rum Bar from Deck 11:

The Blue Iguana Tequila Bar from Deck 11:

Another view towards the front of Liberty:

The jogging track (I love this section that the track goes through):

The basketball and volleyball courts:

[pghsteelerfan]

This is where the jogging track and basketball and volleyball courts (behind glass so stray basket and volleyballs don’t go flying or bouncing outside that area) are located. I got pictures there and this is when the battery in “Old Reliable” started to die on my, so I turned that camera off and used “Rebel”. After getting pictures of the basketball/volleyball area, I went up one level to where the miniature golf course and “Whale Tail” (funnel) are.

Basketball & Volleyball area:

Yes, this again and it won't be the last:

[pghsteelerfan]

 

Mini Golf area:

 

 

In the Mini Golf area, under the funnel:

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Basketball and Volleyball area:

 

To get up to that area, you need to go through the volleyball/basketball courts to another set of stairs. It was really windy up there, but there were a lot of people playing miniature golf. I got a few pictures of the miniature golf course and several of Liberty’s “Whale Tail”. For some reason, I love getting pictures of the “Whale Tale”. When I came down and walked through the basketball/volleyball area (stayed in the back behind the courts), a stray volleyball came flying toward me, but not at me. Immediately a teenage boy came over to retrieve the ball and apologized. I laughed and told him it was not a problem and that was the risk I took. He laughed and blamed it on another kid and the other kid kept saying it was an accident and apologized. I joked with him saying “yeah sure, I think it was on purpose” but I was laughing and I think he knew I was joking. I let him know I was joking and he apologized again. I thanked him, and as I told the other boy, that it was the risk I took. These kids were sorry, even though it wasn’t their fault and there was nothing intentional, and sincere about it. I never got an attitude that I shouldn’t have been back there. These kids were nice, very nice and polite. We made small talk for a minute then headed back down to Panorama Deck 10. DH didn’t go up to the miniature golf course with me, he just stayed outside the basketball/volleyball area.

Since we were at the back of the ship we went inside to get pictures of Emile’s Lido Buffet, a few from above looking down and a few looking up toward the glass ceiling. We never went to Diamond’s Steakhouse or the Fish & Chips, but they are located on Panorama Deck 10, interior, and at the back of the ship.

Views from Panorama Deck 10 down to Emile's Lido Buffet:

Wall mural in Emile's Lido Buffet

View of the glass ceiling from Emile's Lido Buffet

[pghsteelerfan]

From Emile's Lido Buffet - view of the glass ceiling and what do I see???

 

 

 

 

Walkway through Emile's Lido Buffet heading toward the front of Liberty:

 

We were done on the tour for the day so and went back to our cabin to drop off the cameras and empty drink cups. Now it was time to do something I’d never done on a cruise ship, go and enjoy the hot tubs. Some of the reason was because so many other reports that they are “just plain gross” and other saying they’d never set foot in one. We noticed the day before when we got on the ship that the hot tubs at the back of the ship by the Versailles Pool were closed because they were being “treated” and we could smell chlorine. They were opened a short time later but no one could get in while they were being treated. We decided to go to those hot tubs for that reason and also they were in the adult only area. There are hot tubs in the Serenity area, but that whole area was packed and the hot tubs there were packed. The hot tubs in the main pool allow kids and I just don’t feel comfortable with the fact that some kids, not all but a few, (how do I put this???), will “relieve” themselves in pools and hot tubs and we certainly don’t want to sit in that. I’m sure a few adults do it too, but we were basing this on “trust” and putting that out of mind.

Before we left the cabin, DH got his again empty Mt. Dew bottle (I was hoping to have another tumbler for him to use) and I grabbed my Red Frog tumbler then went up to the Lido Deck 9 and stopped for ice and water for me and water for DH (can’t fit ice cubes through the Mt. Dew bottle opening). I noticed DH filled one of the plastic cups up with water first then poured it into his bottle this time but didn’t say anything to him. It was a little after 3:00PM at this point and we were able to get loungers, but the only available loungers were in the shade. We sat there for a few minutes then decided it to get in the hot tubs. We went over to the hot tub that had less people in and asked there was room for two more, there was but I thought I should ask, just in case it was a family group having a private conversation, and were told “plenty of room” so we went in. We enjoyed talking with the others and agreed how nice it was to be on vacation, in a hot tub in the middle of the ocean on a beautiful day heading for some beautiful, warm ports.

About a half hour sitting in the hot tub we started getting too hot so we said “See you around” to the others and went back to our loungers. As we walked over to our loungers, we noticed that several loungers that were in the sun finally opened up, so we dried off and moved our towels and water from the ones in the shade and moved to the ones in the sun. Empty loungers in the sun, by a pool on a Sea Day at 4:00PM in the afternoon? Oh yeah, that’s right, tonight is formal night, now called “American Feast” and people who have early seating must be getting ready. We have skipped the formal dinners on our past two cruises and did the same for this one. Worked for us, we finally had loungers in the sun and by a pool. The soft serve ice cream machine is right back in that area and an ice cream cone would sure taste good right now. DH and I went over and got one once we were dried off some. We ate our ice cream cones and enjoyed the sun for a while. It was getting later in the day and a little breezy, so it started getting chilly. We decided to head back down to our cabin and hang out on the balcony for a while, since it was getting full sun at this point (we’re heading south).

[pghsteelerfan]

After stopping for a quick ice water refill, we got to our cabin and went out on the balcony and just watched and listened to the water.

Views of the water from our balcony:

It was almost 5:00PM and since we’d be eating dinner in Emile’s Lido Buffet with no schedule, so we were in no hurry to be anywhere. Our next door neighbor (not the adjoining room but the one to the right of us) was also enjoying their balcony…with music. Good music, songs I know and like, but it wasn’t cranked, just loud enough for us to hear it too. DH and I were just enjoying, chilling really, and not talking. Finally DH was telling me something and the gal next door turned her music off. I felt bad and didn’t want her to feel she had to turn it off for fear of bothering us. I said to DH quietly but loud enough that she could hear “Aw, I hope she didn’t feel she had to turn the music off because we’re out here”, then I said “I love what they’re playing, great music.” She turned it back on. We sat out there for about 15 minutes before her significant other (guessing her DH, but not assuming) came back and apparently had a bucket of beer. All it took was for me to hear one of those open and I was craving a nice, cold beer. I looked at DH and he said “what” and I said “I could really go for a beer, let’s go for a beer run”. He liked the idea and I told him we should get a bucket of beer and bring it back but he didn’t want to do that and only wanted one beer. I guess that's better than none.

We went back up to Lido, main pool area, and there weren’t too many others out there, but those who were out were all at the Red Frog. The Blue Iguana Tequila bar was closed and Red Frog was open and had entertainment, a guy playing guitar and singing. It seemed that Red Frog was the bar that was always open while the Blue Iguana seemed to be open only during certain times during the day. I wouldn’t say Red Frog was slammed busy but it was busy and it took us a few minutes but we were finally waited on. There was only one bartender so this was not her fault. We felt there could have been at least two bartenders then. The guy with the guitar who was entertaining was set up right next to the Red Frog Bar, so it wasn’t like no one was going to be up there.

We got our beers and DH wanted to sit and listen to him but the only seats were by the windows behind the bar, so we sat there. We were still able to hear. While he was in the middle of one song, something happened to one of the strings on his guitar and there were certain notes he wasn’t able to play, so he’d start a song then realize he couldn’t do that one and let everyone know. We think maybe one of the strings broke, but we could tell since we couldn't see him. He’d keep trying until he found a song that worked. I think he eventually switched guitars.

The beer I had was cool, not ice cold and bordered on being room temp, but it took several minutes to get it and the rest in there were probably just restocked and would also be on the warm side, so I drank it. When DH and I were empty, he said he wanted another drink to take back to the cabin. I wanted another beer, but didn’t want to chance getting another warm one. We both got Captain and cokes to take back to the cabin while we got showered and ready for dinner.

After getting showered, we went to the balcony to watch the sunset because it was getting close. It was very clear for most of the day but now there were quite a few clouds around. We were still able to get pictures, but nothing spectacular. We also noticed another large ship, but it appeared to be a cargo ship and not another cruise ship.

 

A few of the cargo ship we saw:

 

 

Sunset:

 

[pghsteelerfan]

More sunset:

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

After the sunset we decided to head up to “Emile’s Restaurant”, where the buffet for dinner was set up. I wasn’t too hungry yet but DH was and Emile’s is open from 6:00 – 9:00PM, and it was about 8:00PM. I didn’t see too much that interested but I did want a Caesar Salad. They had a bowl of it in the buffet when we were on Carnival Valor last year and I was hoping they’d have it this time. After looking, all I could see was a bowl of the Romaine Lettuce for a Caesar Salad but not the actual Caesar Salad. They had the dressing and toppings in the next section but it’s usually not the same. I opted for a regular salad and I also had the Prime Rib. DH also got the Prime Rib and a baked potato and a small salad. It wasn’t crowded but it definitely wasn’t empty either. DH said it looked like a lot of others had the same idea that we did in “skipping” formal night. After we finished the dinners, DH went over and got a couple of the deserts. When he got back I took a turn and got a cup of decaffeinated coffee. I love coffee, but will only drink decaffeinated at night because I don’t really enjoy not being able to sleep at night. While we continued to sit and talk, one of the Carnival staff members came over and asked us if we’d like him to clear our table. We were done so that would be fine. We talked to him for several minutes and it turns out he just started working for Carnival and actually got on the ship the same day we did, so he was still new at it but seemed to enjoy it. I’d didn’t get his name though.

Heading from Emile's Lido Buffet to the Seaside Theater/main pool area after dinner:

After we finished dinner we walked over to the Seaside theater/main pool area of Lido Deck 9 to see if there was anything going on but there wasn’t much. The movie “Pacific Rim” would be showing at 10:15PM, but we had something else planned and wouldn’t be watching the movie. There wasn’t much going on so we went down to Promenade Deck 5 to start off with a double Captain Morgan and coke. DH suggested the Promenade Bar, since it was the casino bar and they may just mix the drinks a little stronger. There were a lot more people in that area but we had no problem getting waited on. There were about four different bartenders here, which kept the waits short. I never did get her name, but the little gal who waited on us was great. Not only was she fast, she was very friendly and always smiling. We got double, plus some Captain & cokes (Coke out of cans this time) and they were just the way we like them. They always come with lime but neither of us really like the lime with our drink. We just took the limes off the glass and put them on the napkin. The bartender came back over and took them and apologized and we told her we forgot to tell her. On our cruise on Valor last year, we ordered the double Captain & cokes at one of the main pool bars (no 2.0 upgrades on Valor yet) and when ordering, DH asked the bartender if we could have them without the lime. He said to us “You want them NFL” then told us it meant “No ******* Lime” when we asked him what “NFL” meant. We’re thinking National Football League and what does that have to do with rum & cokes and limes. We got a kick out of that and DH told two of the other bartenders on that trip, but both were guys. We, I mean DH, wasn’t going to teach that one to the little gal though.

We decided to check the time and it was getting close to 9:30PM, so it was time to go to the Punchliner Comedy Club which is held in the Victoria Lounge.

The Punchliner Comedy Club - Victoria Lounge (very back, aft, of Liberty):

There were two comedians on the ship at this time, Happy Cole and Jason Blanchard. There is a family friendly show at 7:45PM and Adult only (18+) at 10:00PM, 11:00PM, and 11:45PM. Tonight Jason Blanchard had the 10:00PM and 11:45PM shows and Happy Cole would be doing the 11:00PM. We knew there would be lines to get in from past experience but since this was the first adult comedy, the lounge was open. It was already starting to fill up but we got a booth toward the back. We never want to be in the front when seen a comedy show. Another couple with three girls (over 18) came in and sat with us since the back started filling up and those booths will hold about eight people. The lights were still on and there were bartenders making the rounds. We still had some of the Captain & cokes left but ordered another one so we’d have it for the show. At 10:00PM, Jason Blanchard came out and the show got started.

Although I enjoy seeing comedians, comedy isn’t really my thing. I get bored very easily and can’t just sit and listen and not many comedians have been able to keep my attention for their whole routine. They all have had their moments where I’ll get a good laugh, but I’ve never laughed the whole time. Movies? Haven’t been to a theater since 1992 when my parents took me to see “Father of the Bride” a couple of months before DH and I got married. I prefer watching them at home from DVR recordings or DVD’s so I can pause if I get bored. There are some movies that will hold my attention for the whole thing but most have their “moments”. I go to the comedy shows for DH because he loves going to comedy shows and he’s so happy with Carnival’s edition of the Punchliner Comedy Club. Back to Jason Blanchard, wow!!! I’ve really got to hand it to this guy, he is great and I could have watched him for two hours. This is a first, but I laughed during his entire show and it has been a long time that I laughed that hard and that much. Many others were also laughing during the entire show. He was very good and he is the best comedian that I have seen on Carnival. I would grade him an A+++. I would not be surprised to see him doing comedy on TV one of these days and I really hope he does.

***Before I continue, disclaimer about any of the adult comedy shows on Carnival. I would not recommend any of the adult comedy shows to anyone who is easily offended. It’s adult comedy (18+) for a reason. With comedians, anyone is “fair game” whether you are a man or a woman, or your race, religion, color, political affiliation, or even what part of the USA you’re from – anyone and everyone is fair game.***

Back to our adult comedy show with Jason Blanchard. Several times during his show, he gets the audience involved and throws questions out there. There were a few in the audience who loudly volunteered answers and yes, they got picked on. Most people didn’t seem to mind and actually enjoyed the attention but there was one woman who shouted out her answer to one of those questions. She definitely had that look of regret (or shame) on her face because she set herself up and probably embarrassed her significant other (well, without going into things, maybe not). She was “the one” who had the attention on her and this is where it really got funny. I could go on to describe how this played out, but this isn’t the place. To end his show, he brought back the same subject that I just mentioned, again all eyes are on his victim (the loud volunteer), and actually incorporated a Carnival Towel Animal…one of the “naughty” ones, in to close the show. I haven’t laughed that hard, or enjoyed a comedy show that much, in a long time.

We wanted to stick around and see Happy Cole, who would be up next but everyone has to leave the lounge and go out and get back in line, or should I say in back of the line already formed, to get back in. If you are a Platinum VIFP Member, one of the perks is that you can stay seated right where you are. Everyone else has to exit the lounge and get in line to go back in. There was a very long line already waiting to see Happy Cole’s 11:00PM comedy show, but the people waiting in that line could not enter until everyone else was out. We were going to get back in line and actually did for a few minutes but we could tell that there would not be much chance of us getting a seat, so we went back to the Promenade Bar for another Captain and coke and the same gal made them for us, without the lime. We always made sure we gave her a tip. We decided to take the drinks and head back to the cabin and have them on the balcony.

Pictures of the stairways that I took on the way back to our cabin:

Picture at the top of the stairs. I was drawn to these for some reason, I think it was the colors:

When we got into our cabin, our towel animal, an elephant, was waiting on the bed for us along with the Fun Times for tomorrow and a notice that they were going to be cleaning the balconies. We kicked off our shoes and went to the balcony. The moon was out again tonight but there were more clouds around making it look really neat. We skipped on the pictures since the moon was higher in the sky and we couldn’t get both the moon and reflection in the pictures. When we finished our drinks we got ready for and went to bed since we would be in Cozumel the next day and wanted to have breakfast and be off the ship by 9:00AM.

This little guy was on the bed waiting for us:

This wraps up Day 2. Up next...Day 3 and our day in Cozumel, Mexico.

[Sparkypop]

I am the infamous " Mr Gas" and would like to apologize. I guess I should not have had that third helping of super hot fire engine chili for breakfast.

[Sparkypop]

I'm really sorry. I didn't think they would smell bad.

[Sparkypop]

I guess indeed to admit I have a problem. Down deep I knew it all along.

[Casco Bay Kid]

You stank sparkypop!!

 

Sent from my HTC One mini using Forums mobile app

[pghsteelerfan]

I am the infamous " Mr Gas" and would like to apologize. I guess I should not have had that third helping of super hot fire engine chili for breakfast.

 

I'm really sorry. I didn't think they would smell bad.

 

LOL!!! It's funny now but sure wasn't then. Apologies accepted but save it for the first class section next time. ;)

 

 

On second thought, I probably should have left the "Mr. Gas" part out of the review, but it's too late to edit it. It was part of our "pre cruise" flight experience and this type of thing does happen on planes. This wasn't our first experience and I'm sure it won't be our last. My apologies if anyone found that part offensive.

Edited May 14, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[Casco Bay Kid]

LOL!!! It's funny now but sure wasn't then. Apologies accepted but save it for the first class section next time. ;)

 

 

On second thought, I probably should have left the "Mr. Gas" part out of the review, but it's too late to edit it. It was part of our "pre cruise" flight experience and this type of thing does happen on planes. This wasn't our first experience and I'm sure it won't be our last. My apologies if anyone found that part offensive.

 

Heck no I think it's hilarious. Glad you told the Mr Gas story.

 

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