Spring Break with Lady Liberty (March 18 - 26, 2016) Review

[stormy_weatherman]

Isn't it sad how quickly 8 days melts away while on a cruise? We had a great cruise recently on the Liberty's inaugural sailing from Galveston. I'm going to take a shot at a review and hopefully include some photos along the way. I hope you all are enlightened in some way and enjoy in another...

 

The Why

I am an impulse cruiser. I frequently scour over Carnival’s cruises for the best deals available for times when we can cruise (wife is a teacher). During late 2015 I came across this particular cruise, an exceptional deal for an 8-day Spring Break cruise! To top it off, it would be the inaugural cruise from Galveston for the Liberty, who just repositioned from her 7-day Southern Caribbean itineraries from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have long wanted to sail on the Liberty, the first ship to ever have my favorite Guy’s Burger Joint onboard. Additionally, the itinerary for this cruise was the only remaining 7+ day cruise from the Gulf Coast (New Orleans or Galveston) that we had not done, and I have forever wanted to visit Jamaica and Grand Cayman. So in January, feeling the post Holidays blues, we pulled the trigger and booked this sailing.

 

 

 

 

 

Traveling to Galveston

This cruise was somewhat of a bonus for us this year, so we were doing things as cheaply as possible. Airfare between Memphis and Houston was nowhere comparable to the low, low costs of driving, even if it is a 600+ mile, 10 hour drive. So on March 17th we took off down Interstate 40 toward Little Rock, where we took Interstate 30 to Texarkana. The second half of that was a pleasant drive, but Memphis to Little Rock on 40 has to be one of the roughest stretches of road in the country. Horrible. And the big trucks love the fast lane, even if they’re only going 60 MPH. Once we hit I-30, though, the traffic thinned and remained so clear to Texarkana.

 

Once in Texarkana we got on US Highway 59, which runs all the way to Houston. Everything is certainly bigger in Texas, including the speed limit, with much of US 59 holding a 75 MPH speed limit, faster than most interstates I’ve been on! This makes the seemingly long drive between Texarkana and Houston not that bad. There are small towns to go through, so the speed limit does vary, and occasionally you’ll have to slow/stop for a red light after going 80 MPH.

 

We stopped to spend the night at the Hampton Inn in Livingston, Texas, and were extremely pleased with our experience there. We ended up with one check in bag for the ship more than we had anticipated, so I had to go to the front desk to get them to copy my luggage tag for the ship. The front desk attendant was extremely accommodating, and became our first “vacation chat” of the trip. One of the best experiences of travel is meeting and talking to people, at least in my opinion, so I always revel in my travel conversations, becoming far more extroverted than normal. After check out we headed toward Houston, hitting the big city around 9 AM. I had been warned that traffic would be bad, as we were going from US 59, which becomes I-69 near Houston, to I-45 to Galveston. However, we hit no traffic. Hooray!

 

 

 

 

 

Embarkation Day

The drive from Houston to Galveston takes nearly an hour down I-45. The excitement of cruise day for me is simply unprecedented, which may have been the cause of the seemingly quick drive between these two, which seemed much longer on the way home. Before we knew it we were crossing the long bridge into Galveston. We quickly drove by the cruise terminal to have a look at “Lady Liberty” before doing a tour via Nissan of the rest of Galveston Island. We were following a blue book group for our sailing, and several members were already at the terminal and reporting a delay in boarding of at least an hour, confirming an email Carnival had sent us a couple of days prior detailing the same thing. Apparently, since this was the Liberty’s first cruise from her new home port after several months stationed in Puerto Rico, lengthy US Coast Guard inspections were required, which delayed both check in and boarding. After we had seen all we wanted of Galveston, we headed to our parking location, Discount Cruise Parking, also known as the Exxon station. This is a great place to park at Galveston, and so easy! We pulled up to the entrance and the workers took the bags out of our vehicle for us before directing us to our (gated) parking spot out back of the station. After parking, and with almost no bags to carry ourselves, we made our way to the lounge area where we waited for the shuttle to the ship, nearly 4 miles away.

 

Arriving at the terminal we noticed so many people were in line outside of the terminal. Uh oh. We quickly dropped our bags with a porter (as a Johnny Cash tune repeated in my head) and proceeded near to the line to see what was up. We were quickly met by a Carnival representative who asked to see our boarding passes. Galveston is one of the trial ports for Carnival’s new staggered embarkation system which requires you to select a check in/boarding time before cruise day. These are in 30-minute increments from 10:30 to 2:30. We had a check in time of 11:30 – 12:00, and it was just at 11:30 when we approached the line/Carnival representative. He quickly told us that embarkation was delayed an hour and strongly suggested we come back “well after” 12:30. This was being strongly enforced as well. No one was entering the cruise terminal building without at least 4-6 people first looking at their boarding pass. We walked across the street to Starbucks and proceeded to walk the shops around historic Galveston. However, it was hot and we had several carry on bags that got heavy quickly, so we headed back to the terminal before 12:30. After waiting a few extra minutes after 12:30, they finally called for the folks with an 11:30 check in time to enter the terminal.

 

After multiple folks checked our boarding passes and verified our check in time, we were finally in the air-conditioned terminal building! At this point check in went very quickly. We first went through security, similar to airport security, then up the escalators to the second floor where a Carnival representative verified our boarding passes and passports. After assigning us a zone number (zone 8, ugh) and giving us our Sail & Sign cards, it was nearly 1 PM and we went to find a seat in the packed terminal. Maybe three minutes after we sat down boarding (FINALLY) began. Now this was my 5th cruise with Carnival, and this was the first time I was not on the ship before 12 PM. I have never witnessed boarding begin so late. While we had a zone 8 boarding and I assumed that was a bad thing, I was actually pleasantly surprised how quickly they move through the zones! Before I knew it, and before 1:30 PM, they had called our zone. This was my first experience with Galveston, but I really like how they ‘ding’ you on the ship via your Sail & Sign card with multiple booths before you take the embarkation photo (which was totally optional- no thanks!) and before you ever enter the long, long gangway. This meant once we stepped foot on the ship we weren’t in a huge traffic jam while everyone was processed on via two booths. Is there any sound sweeter (other than the ship’s horn) than the first ‘ding’ of the cruise?

 

We were finally onboard the Liberty! Next stop, Guy's Burger Joint!

 

 

Coming up...

 

American Table tales

Did we hate Montego too?

Not going there

Edited March 29, 2016 by stormy_weatherman

[PMLW918]

Great review so far! My Husband and I are taking our first cruise together on the liberty in 20 days!:) I can't wait to read the rest of your review!

[Sweetone30]

Excited to read your review. We sail on her in 35 days :)

Hoping you have the FunTimes!

[Clarea]

Nice start, following.:)

[Keith1010]

You are off to a great start with your review.

 

Keith

[nsullivan]

Thanks for the review. We'll be on her Monday!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[Princess_K]

Been waiting for someone off that ship and sailing to review! Thank you!

[stormy_weatherman]

Thank you all for reading! I'm glad you are following along. Here's more and I'll work to get pics added very soon.

 

 

Embarkation Continued

 

Immediately upon boarding, since we were right there, we stopped by the Sail & Sign kiosk across from Guest Services. I had received a couple of gift cards for my birthday and went ahead and added those to my account. This was very simple and took less than five minutes. We then headed to the Lido for a special treat. About half of Carnival’s fleet now has Guy’s Burger Joint by celebrity chef Guy Fieri. In fact, Guy was recently on the Liberty for a day to visit with the workers at the joint. Additionally, the Liberty was the first in the fleet to receive the venue back in 2011. Our first and most recent Guy’s experience was on the Conquest back in 2013, so we were long overdue for another taste. We typically get the Ringer, a burger with an onion ring on it along with special sauce, BBQ sauce, super melty cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. Of course the toppings bar allows for so much more to be added to this, allowing you to get creative with your tastes. Once we were satisfied with our creations we headed to Lido aft for a place to sit. Pro tip… just go to the aft section for seating immediately on embarkation day, do not bother looking for a seat elsewhere. The area near the aft pool was basically empty, while all of midship Lido was full of folks searching for a seat. Needless to say we had at least one Guy’s burger for each day of the cruise, and it is without a doubt our favorite dining venue on any Carnival ship we have experienced. I will dare say it is the best burger I have ever had, no embellishments. Even the fries are super delicious. Also, on embarkation day, do not miss the strawberry cake balls on the Sweet Spot of the Lido buffet. These are amazing!

 

By the time we were finished eating lunch it was nearing 2:30, the time we were told our room would be available (again everything was delayed by at least an hour this day), so we headed down to the Empress deck 7 to check out our home for the week. Originally I booked us in an interior, but the week before sailing one remaining balcony for two opened up and I took it. This was risky because I did not get to pick the location of our room, I simply had to take what was available. Well, that could not have worked out any better. We have stayed in a balcony forward and aft, but never midship, and typically we stay on a higher floor. This time we were near the midship elevators on the 7th floor. This was perfect because it was only two floors up to Lido and two floors down to Promenade, both of these being the two decks we frequent the most on a cruise. We had stateroom 7355. The only thing I could complain about this room would be the vibration all the time, which was so bad it was noisy at night (things rattled). I would absolutely stay in the room again, but just a warning if that is something that could potentially spoil someone’s trip. On all of our previous cruises we have had Faster to the Fun (FTTF), however, we did not opt for that this time. We missed it greatly! Being able to be priority boarding and having your luggage delivered immediately were missed on embarkation day.

 

 

 

Liberty Decor

 

While we waited for our luggage to be delivered we went out to check out the ship. The Liberty is a beautiful ship with a garden theme my wife said reminded her of The Secret Garden, whatever that is. We are big fans on the Conquest-style ships, and I believe the Liberty may be our favorite of the fleet thus far (we’ve been on Conquest, Valor, and Dream). We were especially fond of the huge chandelier with varying light colors in the atrium, along with all of the changing lights in the atrium, as well as the smaller chandeliers along the Promenade. A new discovery for us this cruise was the ship’s library on the 4th floor near the entrance to the Golden Olympian dining room. I was amazed at how many games and books were available here for free borrowing from Carnival! I read two whole books over the course of the cruise thanks to this library. If you’re a reader you will not want to miss the library!

 

Since boarding was delayed muster drill and departure were also delayed by a couple of hours. After muster we headed up to our balcony for sail away from Galveston for the first time for both us and the Liberty. I believe it was near or just after 6 PM before we got underway for Montego Bay. While departing the pier we noticed a family of dolphins between us and the Harbor House, which we had never experienced before on all of our cruises. Typically we sail out of New Orleans, which requires a 7 hour journey down the mighty Mississippi before you ever see the ocean, so it was very nice to sail right out into the Gulf upon leaving Galveston harbor. Once we reached the ocean the pilot boat pulled up to the ship directly below our balcony and six USCG officers stepped off the Liberty. I assume they were still conducting portions of the inspection as we left port.

 

 

 

American Table

 

The first night in the dining room was quite exciting as I was looking forward to trying the American Table, Carnival’s new style of dining in the main dining room. I’m a proponent of change and I love to eat, so the new American Table was right for me. I loved the selection of bread presented each night, especially the cranberry bread! And the water on the table was perfect for me, as I tend to drink several glasses per meal and could easily refill my glass without waving down the wait staff. The new menus seem to have a greater selection than the old menus, with new entrees that offer more variety. We especially enjoyed the Port of Call section of the menu each day (except elegant nights) which offered a specialty drink, appetizer, and entrée all themed by that day’s port of call. My wife ordered Galveston’s beef brisket the first night and it was amazing. I had some Mahi Mahi, which was also great, along with a baked potato which is available as a side dish every night which we really enjoyed. If I have one complaint about dinner it was that service was incredibly slow. I’m not sure if the dining room is understaffed or if it has something to do with the fact that we had Your Time Dining, but it seemed to take quite a bit longer than usual between courses. And not just the first night, but every night, and especially elegant nights!

 

 

Entertainment, Night 1

 

After dinner we headed to our first comedy show of the cruise in the Punchliner Comedy Club, always one of our cruising favorites. This is held in the aft lounge on the Conquest and Dream class ships. There were four comedians on this cruise, two before Costa Maya and two after. There were two or three nights when there was no comedy at all, which seemed a bit weird to us, and we did miss it on these nights. While this is not the fault of Carnival and simply our opinion, the comedians on this cruise did not seem to be a sunny as those we have had on other cruises. Nonetheless, we always enjoy the Comedy Club. After the family friendly show it was time for the 10:15 Welcome Aboard show. Carnival, can we please change this show up a bit? We have seen it four times now in just a couple of years and it will almost drive you batty. I like to attend to get to know the cruise director (more on him in a bit) and to get a taste of things to come, but the singing and dancing before all that takes place has become a bore. I believe we left the show early to catch the next comedy show before heading to bed to wrap up a long first day.

[canadaman111]

Following

[BIGA961]

Hey Stormy, I'm sorry I never met you on the cruise, but I'm glad to see that you're reviewing it. I'll look forward to see how your perspective differed from mine. So far, I agree about the ship being beautiful and the American Table being good--I love the water! I also saw the dolphins--very cool! Our opinion about the comedians was exactly as yours, although yours is stated more graciously...we thought a couple of them sucked! Our dinner service was pretty quick, we had late seating in the Gold dining room. Following along.

[stormy_weatherman]

I finally got my pics uploaded, so let's see how this goes. I'll try to accompany the rest of the review with corresponding pics, but here are some to catch us up:

 

 

Our first glimpse of the Liberty at her first call to Galveston, Texas. This was around 10 AM the morning of embarkation.

 

 

 

As we were crossing the gangway onto the ship. Look at all that luggage! They literally loaded luggage until the last 10 mins or so before sail away.

 

 

 

Our balcony stateroom 7355. Empress Deck midship starboard.

 

 

 

Galveston as viewed from our balcony.

 

 

 

 

Pilot boat

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, Galveston!

 

 

Coming up...

 

The best way to start a cruise

Attempting elegance

Irie, mon!

Edited March 30, 2016 by stormy_weatherman

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review, patiently waiting for more.

[Star24K]

Thanks for sharing.

[stormy_weatherman]

The best way to start a cruise is with two consecutive sea days! I work odd shifts as a meteorologist and my wife works extremely hard as a teacher, so we enter vacation exhausted. It is nice to have these two days with ZERO expectations, and that’s exactly how we approached the two sea days up front. I woke up with a sore back, my bed was extremely uncomfortable and felt like I was practically sleeping without a mattress and instead on a hard slab of some sort. After two more nights of this I eventually called housekeeping for a mattress topper, which they promptly delivered, put on the bed, and solved the problem completely! We started the sea day with the sea day brunch, one of our favorite things about a Carnival cruise. We opted to sit with two other couples instead of our usual “table for two, please”. I started with my favorite Flaming Tomato Soup, and for an entrée I had the Huevos Rancheros with a side of hashbrowns and sausage links with coffee and orange juice. The orange juice in the main dining room is NOT to be missed. It is delicious. My wife and I love the hashbrowns in the main dining room. They are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and have onions in them. Just like some Bo Rounds from Bojangles!

 

After brunch we took off for the library to check out the game selection. Again, we were out for pure relaxation, so we sat in the library for a while playing Jenga on a ship with quite a bit of movement. Interesting. We both grabbed a book or two from the large selection and headed for our balcony to read and relax together. We were leaving Galveston behind a frontal boundary, so the skies remained cloudy and conditions were dreary the first sea day. However, we enjoyed several hours of undisturbed reading by the ocean that first day. This is why we love having our own balcony; there’s nothing quite like this for us. Around the ship there were plenty of things to do. Our cruise director Cory, also from Memphis, and his assistant Simon (Lord Bingo) were excellent at planning fun activities during the duration of the cruise. There is never a shortage of trivia or bingo on a Carnival cruise! On the first sea day a cooking demonstration is typically held in the steakhouse. This is not to be missed! You are served samples of the food as the demonstration progresses. Seating is limited, so make sure you get there early (I think this is typically held at 11:30 or 12). We tasted delicious samples of Mushroom Cappuccino, Spinach & Blue Cheese Salad, Rosemary Free Range Chicken with Mushrooms and Mac & Cheese, and Tiramisu. It’s almost like a full meal in and of itself. We retired to our room after this. We had intentions of catching a few events, but we only made it off our balcony long enough to run and fill our tumblers or get a burger.

 

 

The first Guy's Burger Joint ever, aboard the Liberty, after hours.

 

 

The first sea day was also the first elegant evening, or the American Feast as its known in the main dining room. I know folks have many opinions about dress on elegant night, but can we all just agree that we are on vacation and folks should be able to dress however they’d like? I refer to elegant night, the first at least, as the night I have to dress up to eat lobster. It’s my favorite of the two elegant nights for this reason. After pictures along Promenade (there’s never a shortage of backdrops for pictures on a Carnival cruise either) we made our way to 3 Midship to the Golden Olympian dining room (~8 PM) where we were given a buzzer and asked to wait for our table. After only about 10-15 minutes (we were told as long as 30-45), our table was ready and our buzzer sang out just as we were posing for a photo on the stairs.

 

The American Feast is EXACTLY the same as a normal elegant night on the “old menus”. The tablecloth is back, the water is gone from the table and a waiter serves you the water, the menu is abbreviated. However, the service had never been slower for us in the dining room. I understand that this is perhaps the single busiest night in the dining room of the whole cruise, but it was painfully slow. I of course had my usual prime rib and lobster (two separate entrees- but it’s Carnival, so have as much as you’d like) combination. Do not go and order the lobster expecting a fantastic piece of lobster. The lobster Carnival serves freely (meaning you didn’t order at cost in the steakhouse or from the steakhouse selections portion of the menu) is “no bigger than a minute” as we say in Tennessee, and it has a more rubbery texture to it. However, I still enjoy it. We were celebrating our anniversary this evening so the wait staff brought us a special anniversary cake in addition to our crème brulees, which happens to be one of my most favorite desserts of the cruise! The show this evening was some 80s music show and we had no interest, thus we opted for a comedy show instead. We laughed only because we felt it to be polite.

 

 

The wonderful creme brulee, typically only available on the first elegant night. You can also see our delicious anniversary treat in the background.

 

 

The second sea day was more sunny than the first and warmer too as we neared the Caribbean Sea! We opted for more balcony reading and napping. Relaxation at its finest, I tell you.

 

 

Of course we hit up the sea day brunch. I had the "funniest" french toast crusted with Fruit Loops and, of course, my side of hashbrowns!

 

 

This evening we had reservations for the Diamond Steakhouse (“a nominal fee of $35 per person”). My wife enjoyed the mac & cheese sample so much at the demonstration on the first sea day that she called the steakhouse to specially request it as one of her sides that evening. Her mac & cheese was ready when we got to the main course of the meal that evening! If you love mac & cheese, you have to try it at the steakhouse. I started with the New England Crab Cake, which is always superb. Next was a Caesar salad, which I'd forgotten is not my favorite because it comes in huge slices of lettuce, which you further have to cut. I’m a much bigger fan of the Caesar salad at Pizza Pirate. I always order the 18-ounce spiced prime rib eye for my main entrée, which is always extremely well prepared. For sides I got the mushrooms, creamed spinach, and a baked potato. My wife started with the Shrimp Cocktail, absolutely not the same as the one in the main dining room, as tasty as it may be. She also had the Caesar salad, and for her main dish chose the New York Strip with a baked potato and of course her mac & cheese. We also had the wonderfully delicious rosemary bread, a staple to our steakhouse experience each time. We are always so stuffed before its time for dessert, but that does not stop us. I had the gigantic cheesecake, seriously it’s humongous, and my wife had the chocolate sampler. The wait staff in the dining room also brought us a fancy specialized dessert for our anniversary, which was also tasty. Another fine evening (~2 hours) in the steakhouse! If you’ve never been, you must on your next cruise!

 

 

Sunset as we sailed just north of Grand Cayman. Soon after this we ran into a rainstorm, which was absolutely amazing (but I'm biased)!

 

 

 

18 ounces of deliciousness. The butter and dipping spreads for the bread seen here are also top notch.

 

 

 

Coming up...

 

Multiple and often drug offers

Rocky times

The best show I've ever seen at sea

Edited March 30, 2016 by stormy_weatherman

[stormy_weatherman]

Hey Stormy, I'm sorry I never met you on the cruise, but I'm glad to see that you're reviewing it. I'll look forward to see how your perspective differed from mine. So far, I agree about the ship being beautiful and the American Table being good--I love the water! I also saw the dolphins--very cool! Our opinion about the comedians was exactly as yours, although yours is stated more graciously...we thought a couple of them sucked! Our dinner service was pretty quick, we had late seating in the Gold dining room. Following along.

 

Haha yeah they were not very good at all-- all four of them! Definitely our least favorite comedy club experience of our cruises, but not the fault of the cruise, ship, or Carnival. Thanks for following along!

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[JaniceB]

Great review so far, patiently waiting for more.

[flower31]

Isn't it sad how quickly 8 days melts away while on a cruise? We had a great cruise recently on the Liberty's inaugural sailing from Galveston. I'm going to take a shot at a review and hopefully include some photos along the way. I hope you all are enlightened in some way and enjoy in another...

 

The Why

I am an impulse cruiser. I frequently scour over Carnival’s cruises for the best deals available for times when we can cruise (wife is a teacher). During late 2015 I came across this particular cruise, an exceptional deal for an 8-day Spring Break cruise! To top it off, it would be the inaugural cruise from Galveston for the Liberty, who just repositioned from her 7-day Southern Caribbean itineraries from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have long wanted to sail on the Liberty, the first ship to ever have my favorite Guy’s Burger Joint onboard. Additionally, the itinerary for this cruise was the only remaining 7+ day cruise from the Gulf Coast (New Orleans or Galveston) that we had not done, and I have forever wanted to visit Jamaica and Grand Cayman. So in January, feeling the post Holidays blues, we pulled the trigger and booked this sailing.

 

 

 

 

 

Traveling to Galveston

This cruise was somewhat of a bonus for us this year, so we were doing things as cheaply as possible. Airfare between Memphis and Houston was nowhere comparable to the low, low costs of driving, even if it is a 600+ mile, 10 hour drive. So on March 17th we took off down Interstate 40 toward Little Rock, where we took Interstate 30 to Texarkana. The second half of that was a pleasant drive, but Memphis to Little Rock on 40 has to be one of the roughest stretches of road in the country. Horrible. And the big trucks love the fast lane, even if they’re only going 60 MPH. Once we hit I-30, though, the traffic thinned and remained so clear to Texarkana.

 

Once in Texarkana we got on US Highway 59, which runs all the way to Houston. Everything is certainly bigger in Texas, including the speed limit, with much of US 59 holding a 75 MPH speed limit, faster than most interstates I’ve been on! This makes the seemingly long drive between Texarkana and Houston not that bad. There are small towns to go through, so the speed limit does vary, and occasionally you’ll have to slow/stop for a red light after going 80 MPH.

 

We stopped to spend the night at the Hampton Inn in Livingston, Texas, and were extremely pleased with our experience there. We ended up with one check in bag for the ship more than we had anticipated, so I had to go to the front desk to get them to copy my luggage tag for the ship. The front desk attendant was extremely accommodating, and became our first “vacation chat” of the trip. One of the best experiences of travel is meeting and talking to people, at least in my opinion, so I always revel in my travel conversations, becoming far more extroverted than normal. After check out we headed toward Houston, hitting the big city around 9 AM. I had been warned that traffic would be bad, as we were going from US 59, which becomes I-69 near Houston, to I-45 to Galveston. However, we hit no traffic. Hooray!

 

 

 

 

 

Embarkation Day

The drive from Houston to Galveston takes nearly an hour down I-45. The excitement of cruise day for me is simply unprecedented, which may have been the cause of the seemingly quick drive between these two, which seemed much longer on the way home. Before we knew it we were crossing the long bridge into Galveston. We quickly drove by the cruise terminal to have a look at “Lady Liberty” before doing a tour via Nissan of the rest of Galveston Island. We were following a blue book group for our sailing, and several members were already at the terminal and reporting a delay in boarding of at least an hour, confirming an email Carnival had sent us a couple of days prior detailing the same thing. Apparently, since this was the Liberty’s first cruise from her new home port after several months stationed in Puerto Rico, lengthy US Coast Guard inspections were required, which delayed both check in and boarding. After we had seen all we wanted of Galveston, we headed to our parking location, Discount Cruise Parking, also known as the Exxon station. This is a great place to park at Galveston, and so easy! We pulled up to the entrance and the workers took the bags out of our vehicle for us before directing us to our (gated) parking spot out back of the station. After parking, and with almost no bags to carry ourselves, we made our way to the lounge area where we waited for the shuttle to the ship, nearly 4 miles away.

 

Arriving at the terminal we noticed so many people were in line outside of the terminal. Uh oh. We quickly dropped our bags with a porter (as a Johnny Cash tune repeated in my head) and proceeded near to the line to see what was up. We were quickly met by a Carnival representative who asked to see our boarding passes. Galveston is one of the trial ports for Carnival’s new staggered embarkation system which requires you to select a check in/boarding time before cruise day. These are in 30-minute increments from 10:30 to 2:30. We had a check in time of 11:30 – 12:00, and it was just at 11:30 when we approached the line/Carnival representative. He quickly told us that embarkation was delayed an hour and strongly suggested we come back “well after” 12:30. This was being strongly enforced as well. No one was entering the cruise terminal building without at least 4-6 people first looking at their boarding pass. We walked across the street to Starbucks and proceeded to walk the shops around historic Galveston. However, it was hot and we had several carry on bags that got heavy quickly, so we headed back to the terminal before 12:30. After waiting a few extra minutes after 12:30, they finally called for the folks with an 11:30 check in time to enter the terminal.

 

After multiple folks checked our boarding passes and verified our check in time, we were finally in the air-conditioned terminal building! At this point check in went very quickly. We first went through security, similar to airport security, then up the escalators to the second floor where a Carnival representative verified our boarding passes and passports. After assigning us a zone number (zone 8, ugh) and giving us our Sail & Sign cards, it was nearly 1 PM and we went to find a seat in the packed terminal. Maybe three minutes after we sat down boarding (FINALLY) began. Now this was my 5th cruise with Carnival, and this was the first time I was not on the ship before 12 PM. I have never witnessed boarding begin so late. While we had a zone 8 boarding and I assumed that was a bad thing, I was actually pleasantly surprised how quickly they move through the zones! Before I knew it, and before 1:30 PM, they had called our zone. This was my first experience with Galveston, but I really like how they ‘ding’ you on the ship via your Sail & Sign card with multiple booths before you take the embarkation photo (which was totally optional- no thanks!) and before you ever enter the long, long gangway. This meant once we stepped foot on the ship we weren’t in a huge traffic jam while everyone was processed on via two booths. Is there any sound sweeter (other than the ship’s horn) than the first ‘ding’ of the cruise?

 

We were finally onboard the Liberty! Next stop, Guy's Burger Joint!

 

 

Coming up...

 

American Table tales

Did we hate Montego too?

Not going there

Hello!!!

 

I really enjoyed the cruise, I was there with my family, we were 14 on board!!!

In fact I'm looking for a guy I met the last day! His name is Erik but I didn't ask for his last name, he said that he is from chicago!

Any thought about how to contact him?

 

Thanks!

[stormy_weatherman]

I can never sleep in on days we are arriving into a port, the excitement is just too much for me! On the morning we were to dock in Montego Bay I was up before sunrise, and slipped out onto the balcony to see the lights of Jamaica in the distance. I quickly grabbed my phone and headed out the door to one of my favorite “secret” places on the ship- the forward open decks. All of the Conquest and Dream class ships have decks all the way forward on 6, 7, 9, 10 (Dream class also have 11) that are accessible to anyone. We have stayed in rooms (4J interiors) that overlook this “secret” deck, and I highly recommend these to anyone who wants a view for an interior price. Today I headed to the “secret” deck on 10 and saw Montego Bay in the distance. From here I was able to get some incredible shots of the sunrise over the Jamaican terrain. I guess it pays to be sleepless on port days. We took our time getting ready to get off the ship that morning- having no excursions planned for the whole trip, our intention was to simply relax however we wanted. Once ready we headed up to Lido to try out the breakfast burrito selection at the Blue Iguana Cantina, which I had never tried for breakfast before. The burrito was just ok. Honestly the selections for the burrito looked as though they’d been sitting out for too long, and the meat selection was lacking. Ultimately I ended up with a chicken sausage and ham burrito with Mexican eggs and crema fresca. And of course two chocolate milks- I only ever drink chocolate milk when on a cruise and I absolutely love it- and a glass of orange juice.

 

 

 

Sunrise over Jamaica while arriving into Montego Bay.

 

 

The Liberty's Lido in the light of the new Jamaican sunrise.

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we headed down to Guest Services to get them to break up some cash for us into smaller bills. They are always more than happy to do this, so do not hesitate if you ever need this service. Our plan was simply to take a taxi to Doctor’s Cave Beach, which we had read so much about. Honestly I had never heard so many negative things about any one port than I had Montego Bay before arriving. Whether from reading this on online forums or hearing firsthand from a few folks who had been before, it seemed as though this would be the most undesirable port we had ever visited. Well, nothing could have been further from the truth. I understand that everyone has different experiences and I truly respect all of those opinions, however, I was elated that our experience was much different. We left the port building (which is just a large, empty building now after they’ve moved vendors which used to occupy this space out) and out back to get a taxi to Doctor’s Cave. I was happy to see (again after all the negative reviews) that the taxis were actually vans/buses that held many people. We are always happy to have familiar ("ship friends") company in ports. I asked the taxi assistant several times before boarding if the taxi went to Doctor’s Cave and she assured me yes, for $7 per person one way. They sure load those taxis as full as possible! We were sitting four folks per row, I bet there were at least 15 people on our taxi bus, not including our driver Paul and tour guide Shawna. The Liberty was the only ship in port on this Monday.

 

Once we began on our way to “the strip”, Shawna told us that for $14 per person they would take us there and then back to the ship later, or for $20 per person the bus would be ours for the day and they would take us all around Montego Bay, concluding with a stop at the beach. We love port excursions that bus you all around the port of call, so this was not a hard decision for us, we would remain with Shawna, Paul, and our new friends from the Liberty all day. Once we dropped those not opting to stay on the bus all day on the strip we headed off to the center of Montego Bay to see the government buildings and a historic church, which we were able to go inside. We noticed several other buses similar to ours at all the stops we made that day, so the offer we took advantage of must be extended on all taxi buses. After leaving the center of the city we headed up to one of the tallest points of Montego Bay for pictures of the bay with the Liberty docked in the center. After this we stopped for Shawna to buy us fresh pineapple and sugar cane at a roadside table. Absolutely delicious. We visited the Dole Plantation on Oahu (Hawaii) on our honeymoon a few years ago. Hawaii prides itself on its pineapple production, but Shawna informed us that Hawaii got its pineapples from Jamaica. Not sure if I completely buy that claim, but it was tasty nonetheless! Next we headed to a local gift shop located by the Montego Bay airport before being bused to a very nice resort shopping area to the east of Montego Bay. Along the way Shawna was very informative, offering historical and cultural information about Jamaica. We left the shops and made our way back into Montego Bay where we stopped at a “jerk center” where we had the option to (buy) taste some local cuisine. It was here that a couple of options presented themselves for the afternoon. We could either head to Margaritaville for the afternoon, or a local beach/waterpark- not Doctor’s Cave. Of course we opted for the beach and, after a $5 per person admission, a whole $1 cheaper than Doctor’s Cave, we were relaxing by the water. The only complaint I had about this beach was that it was not on the actual Caribbean Sea (as Doctor’s Cave is), but was part of the bay.

 

 

 

The view from one of the highest points in Montego Bay.

 

 

 

 

After spending an hour or so at the beach, of which Shawna stayed near at all times in case we needed anything, we loaded the bus and headed back to the port area. We truly enjoyed our time in Montego Bay and are so happy we were offered the day tour via taxi for such a great price. Shawna was a phenomenal tour guide, teaching us all about the Jamaican culture, language, and people along the way. The only downside I witnessed to Montego Bay was the plethora of offers for “reefer” we received. Literally everywhere we went someone was either making hand gestures or asking if we would like to light up with them. No, thanks. Once back to Liberty we headed to Lido to grab a couple of Guy’s burgers- it had been several hours since breakfast and we did not opt for any of the jerked options at our lunch stop. Afterwards we sat on our balcony, which faced the cruise terminal, and read while waiting for the inevitable pier runners. Sure enough there were plenty that day, running quickly from taxi to gangway with bags, children, and other belongings flailing along. Irie, mon!

 

 

 

The Liberty's first time to call on Montego Bay in quite a long while (she'd been homeported in San Juan and calling on the Southern Caribbean islands) and for the last time for a long time (she'll only be running 4 and 5 nights to Cozumel/Progresso)

 

 

 

A Guy's burger in Jamaica... what could be better?

 

 

 

 

We had one of the best dining experiences of the entire cruise that night in the main dining room. Again, we had your time dining, which means you show up anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 and are seated in any available section, opposed to assigned dining in which you show up at an assigned time, either 6:00 or 8:15, and are seated at the same table each evening. Tonight we were seated with Predrag as our main server, with assistant Erdie. From the beginning these guys made conversation with us, offering suggestions off the menu , asking about our day in port, and offering suggestions for the next day in Grand Cayman. We noticed their interaction at other tables as well, with lots of laughter and happy chitchat. Whereas we had not experienced much interaction/conversation from our servers in nights prior, we were elated to feel noticed by our server this night. That little bit of extra effort goes a long way. Predrag “surprised” us with our dessert by bringing us a dessert of his choice before offering a dessert menu for us to choose for ourselves. We played along with the promise that if we did not like his suggestion he would bring us a dessert menu for us to choose for ourselves. It was Bitter and Blanc night, so of course that was his “surprise”! This was my first time trying this staple dessert of Carnival’s, but it may be my new favorite. Dare I say it may be better than the deliciously famous chocolate melting cake? The best show I have witnessed on a cruise was that night in the Venetian Palace. Carnival had flown in balloon artist John Cassidy for a couple of shows that evening and he was fantastic with top-notch balloon art creations and illusions. If he is ever on a cruise with you I highly recommend that you not miss it!

 

 

Coming up...

 

White caps at night

Bonus sea day

False alarm

Edited April 2, 2016 by stormy_weatherman

[sjn911]

Really enjoying your review...thanks so much!!

[ckmedsec]

Your review reads like a good book. Cannot wait for page 2. Thanks for writing it.

[buddylover]

Wonderful review....enjoying it immensely! We will sail the Liberty in November for the first time for us. We are Conquest enthusiasts too, but have never sailed out of Galveston before, so your info is just great. Just one question....is the Liberty in good condition?? She hasn't undergone a dry dock in a LONG LONG time and we are slightly concerned!!

[mykindaparty]

Hey fellow memphian, loving your review as always. Looking forward to more...

[oldvato]

Haha yeah they were not very good at all-- all four of them! Definitely our least favorite comedy club experience of our cruises, but not the fault of the cruise, ship, or Carnival. Thanks for following along!

 

I've been on Conquest twice, so I pretty much remember the layout. We'll be on LIberty in July. Is the aft pool adults only on this ship?