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Liberty cruise was great!

haply

By haply,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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haply

haply

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We just returned from a 4-day Liberty cruise out of Port Canaveral and had a surprisingly good time! Our past few cruises have been on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, so decided to give Carnival a try and were very glad that we did.

It was a moms-kids-nana cruise and we had two balcony rooms next to each other on the sixth deck. The balcony rooms were larger than the Royal or Norwegian ones. Our porter also opened up the balcony divider between our rooms, and it was nice to have one large balcony between the two rooms (Norwegian did not allow us to open up the balcony divider on our last two cruises). The beds were really comfortable with nice linens. The room was dated but very clean and functional. Everything was in working order. One thing that was unique to Carnival is that the porter only cleans/visits once per day (not a big deal though for us, except missed the twice-per-day ice refill and turn-down service).

Both pool areas and the serenity deck were crowded but manageable (definitely not as crowded as other ships, especially with a sold-out cruise). The entertainment staff were GREAT (the best out of all the cruises/cruise lines). I really enjoyed the lively and happy atmosphere. There was always fun music and activities at the main pool, etc. The kids club was well-run and our kids asked to go every day. They even gave the kids a small backpack at the end of the cruise. Also really liked the Dr. Seuss stuff. Norwegian had discontinued their Nickelodeon theme, so really appreciated the characters, etc.

The variety of bar service was also really good. There was never a long line for drinks anywhere in the ship. I did not purchase the drink package on this cruise as we were in port for two of the four days. Carnival does allow you to bring a case of can sodas and two bottles of wine without a fee if you keep it in your room (unlike the other cruise lines). I opened/poured the wine in my room and brought it to the dining room, etc. without any problems. Carnival also lets you purchase bottled water for $4 per case that is delivered to your room (a really nice perk as Norwegian charges over $30 per case for the bottled water). I think that I will definitely take advantage of the drink package next time though as the Carnival drink package is very generous. For around $50 per day it includes pretty much everything (any drink under $50, bottled water, specialty coffee, sports water, etc). The drink package on our other cruise line was more expensive and had a $15 per drink coverage limit, and did not cover bottled water or specialty coffees.

The buffet was GREAT, SUPER!!!!! Carnival has nailed this with Guys burgers, mexican burrito/wrap place, stir-fry wok place, bbq place (excellent macaroni & cheese), pizza oven and a made to order grill. The Liberty had duplicate buffet lines that moved quickly. The desserts on Carnival were really good also. They had a chocolate buffet one day that were upper-end restaurant quality.

The dining room service was hit or miss. The food was good cruise/all-inclusive quality. The service however was excruciatingly slow, running about 20 to 30 minutes between each course. They have a different/separate person doing the drinks, so it took us a long time to get iced tea, coffee, etc (and forget about ever getting refills). We had to skip desserts two days so we would not miss a show. We had the my-time-dining. I do not like two-hour dinners, but nana does, so keep that in mind. We did go eat in the dining room for the sea-day brunch, which was really good.

The entertainment and nighttime entertainment is definitely geared towards the 20's to 40's crowd (and the 50's young-at-heart). It was nice to have several comedy shows every night. There were dance clubs, karaoke, deck parties, etc. nightly. The broad-way-type shows were lacking and not very good however. Nana and aunt, who enjoy the broadway-type, classical song-and-dance shows, were disappointed. I will probably choose another line if ever sailing with some of my older/elderly relatives.

We did do two excursions as Carnival offered the special 20% off deal if you bundled your excursions and purchased them within 24 hours of booking your cruise. We did the Blue Lagoon island in Nassau (our second time there). Love the Blue Lagoon, but it was quite disorganized getting there. They also drop you off outside the port, which is about a half a mile walk back to the boat (not fun with kids and lugging all of there stuff). We did the dolphin interaction in Freeport which was great! The Freeport docks at the industrial area however, which is not a nice area/view at all. I am glad that we visited the other side of Freeport for our excursion, which was much nicer. I hope that they can some day build a cruise dock on the other side of the island.

We did get the FTTF pass and were able to walk past the very long lines boarding the ship. Also helped being able to skip the guest services line. After 10+ cruises, I usually try to be one of the last ones off of the ship to avoid the lines (better than getting up at 7 AM to try to get off the ship first). As we were driving, we enjoyed a long breakfast, and got off the ship at the very end with no lines at about 9:30.

In summary, I really liked Carnival, in fact, I have already booked another one with my hubby and the kids. If you are a young or young-at-heart, highly recommend!

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momof4girls

momof4girls

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So nice to read a review from an NCL/RCI cruiser that is positive about Carnival. :) I went on a cruise a couple years back with my parents and grandparents and they did NOT care for Carnival. They're used to cruising on HAL so I knew before we left that they wouldn't like it (they invited themselves so I didn't feel bad).

 

I agree 100% about the slow dinner service in the dining room. For the first time ever we ate dinner at the buffet three times on our last cruise so that we could watch the movie that was showing on deck that evening. I wish sooooo much that Guys Burgers would stay open through the dinner time (like until 8) as it would give a couple more options.

 

And also, like you, I missed having ice in my room when I needed it. We chose evening service so we never had ice (unless we took our bucket upstairs to Lido to fill it) until after 8pm.

 

I am SHOCKED at the price of a case of bottled water on NCL!

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beltane

beltane

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Hubs and I were on this cruise too! I actually found the slower pace for dinner nice. I hate being rushed through dinner and one of my pet peeves about cruising is having to choose my entire meal as soon as I sit in my chair. I like a few moments to sip the martini I brought in with me and gaze over all the options. My husband and I are chatter boxes, so we don't mind too much having more time for that. We enjoyed the live music all over the ship. We did not go to any of the theater shows. Enjoyed the comedian. I did not enjoy the buffet, but I seldom do with ANY cruise line. I don't like the "frenzy to get to the food". We had an ocean suite and found the extra room in the cabin and on the balcony to be VERY nice. Yes, our steward did ask if we wanted morning service, or evening service, or both. We never do like morning service, makes us feel rushed, so we asked him for evening service and extra towels, which he was happy to provide. We had a great cruise too.

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EBFURR

EBFURR

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Glad to hear that you enjoyed Liberty. We are booked for October. Like you, we were long time RC cruisers who finally tried Carnival this month. Within a week of coming back we were booked on another one - Liberty. You hit on most everything we found positive on your cruise. We have 2 RC cruises booked now and they might be our last. That would be a shame since we finally reached Diamond after many years but we find that we just like the Carnival ships better than RC's newer ships. We found the overall experience to be quite similar with the exception of the no-cost dining which we found to better on Carnival. Also, we agree that the entertainment suits us better. We have discussed it a lot recently and we think Carnival is the better value.

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  • 3 weeks later...
runningmoms2girls

runningmoms2girls

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So glad to hear! My mom, sister and I like to take a mother/daughter cruise every few years. We've only sailed on RCCL but we stumbled upon a great deal on a Premium Vista Balcony on the Liberty and grabbed it. The more I read about the Liberty the more excited I get. Thanks!

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Schoifmom

Schoifmom

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I'm glad that you had a terrific time. Welcome to the Carnival family :)

 

BTW, you can get twice a day service if you wish. That is a little bit of a sticking point for some cruisers. Carnival piloted a new program in the last couple of years where the stewards are supposed to ask if you want morning, evening, or both servicing of your room.

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haply

haply

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Hello. Thanks for all of the replies. I would definitely go on the Liberty ship again-highly recommend. The room steward did only come once per day on our cruise. We requested morning service, and he did leave us the towel animals every day at that time. I was able to call room service to deliver more ice (but you have to be in your room and wait, they will not come in your room and leave the ice if not there). No chocolates on my pillow.......but more than made up for it with my multiple, daily visits to the dessert buffet! Still trying to work off all the food!!

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