Liberty 24-31 May not impressed review

[Prof Peg]

We have friends that introduced us to cruising and also to Carnival in 2009 (they are very high Diamond folks). They taught us to always bring the Clorox wipes and such -- it's the first thing we do when we get onboard. Well...maybe the second thing we do....after the burger and the DOD. :rolleyes:

 

I realize that FTTF is a great program, but I have this personal belief ("opinion"), that the poor stewards are really being rushed. Granted some people are hard to clean up after and they have a responsibility also. And yes, there are stewards that are not as good as others.

 

[RuthlessBoss]

I agree with the other poster about cabin prep to accommodate FTTF and lack of time before new arrivals. I know it's not a high percentage for FTTF, but it throws off their cleaning schedule. Then, the stewards usually greet you and have minor chat with you. Each small chat and being friendly again cuts into cleaning time.

I too have become accustomed to a brief cleanup of my cabin. I usually don't find too much wrong, but it makes me feel better to do it. It certainly only takes a few minutes.

I was not a Liberty lover regarding the DR service. I tried to overlook part of it because of a table of spoiled people near us. They appeared to be the type to tip well, so of course they got pampered. I finally started the buffet routine and that worked out well.

As for our cabin attendants, they were very good. Had a midship balcony. My gripe was Lack of view through the plexiglass. That didn't get rectified till day 2:(

[martinhughes1]

Just wash your hands always and frequently. Use the little paper towels by the doors of the bathrooms to open the doors. My wife did this and I did not. I always wash, but never used the little paper towels to open the doors. I witnessed many men not washing their hands after using the restroom.

[martinhughes1]

I washed and washed as this was my 9th cruise, 8th on Carnival.

I suspected food caused to give me the gastro thingy too and guess how Noro is transmitted???? Food is one of the top ways the virus spreads. It lives in hot and cold too, so the food temperature will not destroy the bacteria. I even thought I may have caught something in the port of St Thomas because I ate some chicken while in port. When I had heard from a fellow passenger the cruise before us had at least one sick passenger leading to our delay in boarding, it wasn't hard to do the math. Now another poster here even confirmed several hundred sick on the cruise before ours. When you get sick on a ship, your room is hot and a few of the crew a bit rude towards you, I have no choice but to rate the ship as not worthy to revisit. Like I said I have been on 7 other Carnival ships and this one is definitely at the bottom. Sorry to spoil anyone's upcoming cruise on Liberty. I just wanted to alert you to what I experienced. Please keep an open mind during your Liberty cruise because after the survey I gave Carnival today, they will most likely fix those problems.

Edited June 2, 2014 by martinhughes1

[Froufie]

Just off the Liberty a few weeks ago - my 3rd time on the ship - and it's still lovely! Had no issue with service or staff BUT I did get sick on the 2nd day out (mild case of noro? as I was okay in about 48 hrs) and I DO PACK wipes and wipe down hotel room, cabin and even airplane seat/surroundings - and wash hands frequently. So who knows where I caught it?

 

I also had an issue with cabin temperature - as did many others (which I noted when visiting the concierge desk - many complaining about the lack of A/C)....I did hear that the cruise before mine there were some 'electrical issues' that did affect the A/C in certain parts of the ship - but of course Carnival was not mentioning anything like that.

 

They did come to my cabin on a couple of occasions to measure the temp (it was within 'standard') and even offered to switch my cabin (but nothing suitable was available and frankly it was not bad enuf to warrant a move?).....in the end I really did not have much to complain about (okay let's just say the luggage express experience was a very BAD ONE)...but all in all had a wonderful cruise with great friends and finally got to visit Aruba and Curacao! :)

Edited June 2, 2014 by Froufie

[joeyancho]

I do agree with what was said on earlier postings for this topic. But, Carnival is doing the best they can do with the low rates they offer. I agree that there are not as many activities or as much pampering as there was many years ago. Nightly dancing shows are gone now too. But, prices are also lower than they were years ago even though Carnival expenses have risen (I assume). My husband complained at the end of the Liberty cruise we left yesterday. We divided the full cost, including taxes, of our trip by seven nights. That put things in better perspective for him. We know that we will have to pay more to, maybe, get more elsewhere. Carnival is reaching their target audience with lower rates. Perhaps this "audience" prefers the loud DJ music in the main pool area over some of the things we enjoyed about cruising many years ago. Who knows how much they have needed to cut back in dining and cabin stewards.

 

We will continue cruising with Carnival despite the changes we have seen. The rooms are clean enough, the food is good enough, and they've offered me quiet areas away from the loud (and psometimes offensive) music. The prices are excellent for what we are given. I give Carnival excellent ratings but perspective must be considered. I don't expect top service and comforts at clearance prices! Priced a Disney cruise lately? I think we'll continue with Carnival for our grandson too!

 

 

While I agree carnival is a good value, it is not a bargain if you get sick. You shouldn't have to

Pay for cleanliness.

[bwelborn]

I was on the cruise from the 17-24th and it was a ship full of sick people. Five out of my family were terribly sick including myself. I did enjoy the ship and thought it was great. My cabin was also clean, but our room steward was very good.

[Daonlyone2000]

I was on the cruise from the 17-24th and it was a ship full of sick people. Five out of my family were terribly sick including myself. I did enjoy the ship and thought it was great. My cabin was also clean, but our room steward was very good.

 

bwelborn, how long were you all sick? I am leaving on this ship on Saturday and terrified about getting sick. I do plan on cleaning all surfaces when i get to my room but still nervous.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[RuthlessBoss]

Why do people keep blaming a ship:eek: The only germs on this planet are NOT on serving tongs, bathroom doors, elevator buttons etc. If anyone saw the news this week about airplane germs, you'd never fly again. Same with taxis, are they disinfected? And the list goes on. A ship is likely infected from outside sources and brought aboard. All one can do is the best they can do to build up immunity. They can disinfect a ship till the cows come home, but the next batch of people boarding come with a whole new set of germs brought in by outside sources, just as one gets sick in their home environment.

[martinhughes1]

RuthelessBoss, You were not on this cruise and do not know what we saw. I went into the bathroom near the adult pool and someone was in the toilet puking profusely. Was he sick from drinking, sea sickness, or noro? I don't know and quite frankly am not concerned. Yes, I know people bring the germs with them and spread them all over the place because they do not wash their hands after touching their back sides. . Look up noro and you will note that ordinary disinfectants do not eradicate the virus. The virus spreads through all sources to include food and water sources. How do you protect yourself if the food you eat and the water you drink on ship is contaminated? I have cruised 9 times in the past 5 years and can tell you I have never been in so much pain in the middle of the night within my colon area in my life. The pain caused me to go into the fetal position from 4-6:30 A.M. Maybe I should describe the color of what was coming out of me for nearly 24 hours in order to paint a better picture. Maybe I should have taken pictures of the dirt on our cabin mirror and furniture when we first arrived on 24 May. Maybe I should have taken pictures of dirty floors in the Lido buffet. Oh and next time maybe I should take a food thermometer with me to record the temperature of what I was eating (by the way I have seen Carnival measuring food temperature in the past, but not on this cruise). Fortunately what I contracted subsided enough to allow my wife an I to experience San Juan. Note that I still used the restroom in the terminal and at the Bacardi distillery twice.

Will I cruise again? Most certainly. On Carnival? You bet. This post was intended to make the forum readers aware of the nastiness that could occur and did occur during my recent cruise even after washing hands and using sanitizer before each meal.

Edited June 3, 2014 by martinhughes1

[gkrnjlr]

Has anyone reported any of this back to Carnival's Guest Relations? Maybe it'll get the attention of someone that will step in and enforce a good clean up?

[RuthlessBoss]

RuthelessBoss, You were not on this cruise and do not know what we saw. I went into the bathroom near the adult pool and someone was in the toilet puking profusely. Was he sick from drinking, sea sickness, or noro? I don't know and quite frankly am not concerned. Yes, I know people bring the germs with them and spread them all over the place because they do not wash their hands after touching their back sides. . Look up noro and you will note that ordinary disinfectants do not eradicate the virus. The virus spreads through all sources to include food and water sources. How do you protect yourself if the food you eat and the water you drink on ship is contaminated? I have cruised 9 times in the past 5 years and can tell you I have never been in so much pain in the middle of the night within my colon area in my life. The pain caused me to go into the fetal position from 4-6:30 A.M. Maybe I should describe the color of what was coming out of me for nearly 24 hours in order to paint a better picture. Maybe I should have taken pictures of the dirt on our cabin mirror and furniture when we first arrived on 24 May. Maybe I should have taken pictures of dirty floors in the Lido buffet. Oh and next time maybe I should take a food thermometer with me to record the temperature of what I was eating (by the way I have seen Carnival measuring food temperature in the past, but not on this cruise). Fortunately what I contracted subsided enough to allow my wife an I to experience San Juan. Note that I still used the restroom in the terminal and at the Bacardi distillery twice.

Will I cruise again? Most certainly. On Carnival? You bet. This post was intended to make the forum readers aware of the nastiness that could occur and did occur during my recent cruise even after washing hands and using sanitizer before each meal.

 

You are correct in what you saw and experienced. I've been lucky. The point of my post was the germs were brought on board. The result was close proximity.

[wantocruisemore]

Has anyone reported any of this back to Carnival's Guest Relations? Maybe it'll get the attention of someone that will step in and enforce a good clean up?

 

I am sure it was known on the ship that week. I do know the cleaning seemed escalated in the common areas. Every single time I was in the aft stairway, several times a day, they were cleaning down the railings. I think the crew did a good job, people just get sick and it spreads prior to knowing they're sick.

 

Liberty is a great ship with a great crew. Go and have fun but take precautions. Also, if possible get the silver Olympian DR. I noticed that most tables were full in there and the temp of food was curtained better than our first night in the golden DR.

[JUGGER]

Ship was nice with the 2.0 Fun Ship upgrades. We have sailed on 7 previous Carnival cruises and this ship is by far at the bottom of the barrel with regards to service and cleanliness.

First off our balcony cabin 7393 was not within the 73 degree Carnival temperature standard for the first two nights. Other guests we met on board had similar cabin temp. issues on lower decks. After two nights of telling guest services and our cabin steward about the problem, the temperature problem was corrected to a more bearable condition, but not as cool as we have experienced on other ships. The cabin also appeared to have dust on the furnishings and streaks of dirt on the mirrors. We told the cabin steward to correct the problem and he did clean up the problem.

The staff on board we encountered did not seem to be friendly and attentive with everyone. I like to visit the sports bar on every ship that has one of these bars, to buy a pint of Bud Light. During several nights one bar staff member was more focused on the game on TV than my desire to have a beer poured. Two other staff members who have worked the bar were more attentive to customers, but they were not there every night. In the dining room our wait staff seemed friendly, but some nights we felt very rushed to eat dinner and leave. I need to mention the dining room was never completely full during early dining. Also, the food in several locations on the ship were just barely warm and not hot. The food temp issue was on the lido and in the Golden Olympic dining room.

Finally, during the early morning hours prior to our docking in San Juan I experienced severe cramping and did not think I would be able to go on our shore excursion. Fortunately the cramping subsided enough for me to go ashore with several rest room visits while visiting San Juan. I found out during the last night of the cruise from a fellow passenger they were told by Carnival staff at Port Canaveral someone on the previous cruise had gastrointestinal illness and the ship needed to be disinfected before we embarked from Port Canaveral. I was not sure if my bout with severe cramping was related or if I had eaten something in St Thomas that caused food poisoning. I believe today that the source of my issue was due to the ship cleanliness in our cabin and food temp. as mentioned earlier.

Don't get me wrong with the negative tone of my review as all the other Carnival ships we have sailed on are great ships. We just do not believe the Liberty is that great of a ship and some of the staff need better training. We are already booked on the Sunshine and look forward to that voyage.

HI--I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU-----THE SHIP WAS NOT UP-TO STANDARDS IN CLEANINESS AND THE STEWARDS HELP----WE HAD TO ASK 3 TIMES FOR A WINE BUCKET--AND MORE SOAP---CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? BOTH MY HUSBAND AND I CAME DOWN WITH VERY BAD COLDS AFTER THIS TRIP--AND ARE STILL NOT WELL---ALSO --FRIENDS OF OURS WHO SAILED ON THE NEXT TRIP--SPENT 3 DAYS IN BED-----THE CABIN WAS FREEZING----COULD NOT REGULATE THERMOSTATE---- THIS WAS ALL IN THE MAY SAILING. I REPORTED THIS WHOLE INCIDIDENT--FOR WHAT GOOD IT WILL DO-----AND THEN IN DISGUST-----WE CANCELLED THE JAN. 15 CRUISE ON THE SUNSHINE--AND THEY WERE GOING TO CHARGE---$50.-- per person---BECAUSE OF EARLY SAVING BOOKING---CAN YOU IMAGINE--AFTER WE HAVE HAD 61 CRUISES--AND LOOK AT ALL THE MONEY WE SPENT ON CARNIVAL--WELL--AFTER MUCH ARGUING WE WON-----NO CHARGE--THEY BETTER---IRENE AND JOHN--61 CRUISES ON CARNIVAL--

[njmomof2]

Without turning this to another Noro thread...

You do realize that the noro virus, as per CDC, is not eliminated by popular disinfecting sprays, cremes and wipes...:( You would need REAL Chlorox bleach.

 

 

Washy, Washy!!!

FYI: it is the only common virus that can infect via clothing...not just hard surfaces.

More good news, the infected are still infectious up to 3 weeks after the symptoms are gone. The crew are often unknowingly, after feeling better, returned to their responsibilities....Do the math:eek:

 

 

I was just about to say this...that commercially available Clorox wipes or any of the disinfecting wipes out there DO NOT kill Noro. You need to have the bleach wipes, and the only place I've seen them is through industrial sites or medical sites. Our office even purchased them through a large vendor and the tub is enormous. I guess you could find them, pull a bunch out and put them in a zip lock to take with you, but remember to be really careful after you clean. You need to leave the surface wet and allow it to dry on its own to have the proper killing power, and DO NOT lean on anything that you've wiped or you will end up with bleached stains on your clothes.

[martinhughes1]

Hello JUGGER,

Thanks for backing me up on this issue. I see you live in Crestview. We lived there for 10 years before I finally retired out of the Air Force.

[erby2283]

FYI - I just asked John Heald about people getting sick on that other page. Of course I don't expect them to admit there is a problem but maybe he'll get the ball rolling and start asking some questions about it.... - here is both my question and response:

 

John,

It seems I've been nominated to ask you about recent illnesses on the Carnival Liberty. There have been several threads on Cruise Critic lately discussing the fact that many have gotten ill on recent cruises. I know you are a busy man but if there is anywhere you could check on this, I would greatly appreciate it. You have many apprehensive cruisers who are soon sailing on the Liberty that are biting their nails right now. Thanks for all you do!

 

John Heald: Hello Elisa, there is nothing to worry about. The ship is running in normal conditions and everyone is having fun. If there were some gastro illnesses on board steps would have been taken by the ship's company to deep clean under the rules and regulations of United States Public Health. So, all is well, there are 3000 guests on the ship right now having the best of times as indeed will you. cheers and best to you all

Edited June 3, 2014 by erby2283