Just Off the Liberty

[Djptcp]

This was our 38th Carnival cruise, 52nd overall, and our first time on the Liberty. We had a great time and would definitely sail on her again. It was a 4-day Bahamas cruise and while we have been to Nassau and Freeport about 20 times, it had been a long time since we had visited those two places.

Embarkation: Port Canaveral Terminal 5: disappointed there was no valet parking as we are used to in other ports. I needed a wheelchair (just for getting on and off the ship) and it was a long, long, walk to get one! I had my rollator with me so that helped. We found the ground crew to be unfriendly and not very willing to help me. I felt they were brushing me off after we asked for a wheelchair from 3 different staff. The ground crew there needs some training on dealing with special needs passengers and the wheelchairs should be located by the parking garage, not so far away and after check in. We cruise mostly out of Tampa and its ground crew is the best, followed by the Ft. Lauderdale ground crew.

Cabin: Ocean View 2284 by the forward atrium elevators. Excellent location and the cabin was the most spacious ocean view we've ever had on Carnival. Very quiet and no noise from the elevators.

Steakhouse: we ate there the first night and thoroughly enjoyed our meal served by a very attentive wait staff.

Main Dining Room: we only ate there once on elegant night. Had Your Time Dining and we were seated at a table for two immediately at 5:45pm. Our waiter did a really odd and annoying thing when we placed our order. I ordered the Steakhouse Selection Lobster Tail and he asked me why I wanted that when there were so many other choices in the regular menu? He became insistent and I also became insistent that's what I wanted. I don't know what his issue was and I didn't appreciate it. The lobster tail was delicious. The other two nights I wasn't hungry for dinner after having too much for lunches; DH ate dinner the other two nights at the Lido buffet. 

Lido Buffet, Guy's Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina: nice buffet with good choices. Had Guy's Burgers twice for lunch and they were very good. We ate egg and ham burritos from the Cantina for breakfast a few days and also good. DH had tacos from the Cantina a few days for lunch and he really liked them.

Casino: this was a greatly discounted cruise for us from the Player's Club and I spent all my time at the casino when it was open. It had a great variety of slots and I did very well. I also received a great bounce back offer from the casino staff the last night.

Entertainment: I didn't attend any shows, but DH said I didn't miss anything. We did enjoy the two violinists who played at the atrium bar. The  Country singer was also pretty good.

Carnival Staff: Housekeeping guy was great. DH tipped him the first afternoon to please keep our ice bucket always filled and he did. Platinum Guest Services staff were very helpful. In general, staff was very friendly.

Nassau and Freeport: Didn't go on any excursions, but DH did get off the ship to buy some Cuban cigars in Nassau. The Freeport pier area was open except for Senor Frogs and Fat Tuesday that had been hit hard by the last hurricane. Again, no excursions and DH just stayed in the pier area.

Debarkation: went much better than embarkation. I needed a wheelchair and was told to meet in the theatre at 7:30am. We were in zone 1 and used a porter for our luggage. We were off the ship and on our way by 7:52am and home by 9:30am.

 

[Fla Mike]

Thanks for the review, we will be sailing on her next week, and looking forward to taking some newbies with us.

[ObstructedView2]

16 hours ago, Djptcp said:

This was our 38th Carnival cruise, 52nd overall, and our first time on the Liberty. We had a great time and would definitely sail on her again. It was a 4-day Bahamas cruise and while we have been to Nassau and Freeport about 20 times, it had been a long time since we had visited those two places.

 

Embarkation:

Port Canaveral Terminal 5: disappointed there was no valet parking as we are used to in other ports. I needed a wheelchair (just for getting on and off the ship) and it was a long, long, walk to get one! I had my rollator with me so that helped.

 

We found the ground crew to be unfriendly and not very willing to help me. I felt they were brushing me off after we asked for a wheelchair from 3 different staff. The ground crew there needs some training on dealing with special needs passengers and the wheelchairs should be located by the parking garage, not so far away and after check in. We cruise mostly out of Tampa and its ground crew is the best, followed by the Ft. Lauderdale ground crew.

 

Cabin:

Ocean View 2284 by the forward atrium elevators. Excellent location and the cabin was the most spacious ocean view we've ever had on Carnival. Very quiet and no noise from the elevators.

 

Steakhouse:

we ate there the first night and thoroughly enjoyed our meal served by a very attentive wait staff.

 

Main Dining Room:

we only ate there once on elegant night. Had Your Time Dining and we were seated at a table for two immediately at 5:45pm. Our waiter did a really odd and annoying thing when we placed our order. I ordered the Steakhouse Selection Lobster Tail and he asked me why I wanted that when there were so many other choices in the regular menu?

 

He became insistent and I also became insistent that's what I wanted. I don't know what his issue was and I didn't appreciate it. The lobster tail was delicious. The other two nights I wasn't hungry for dinner after having too much for lunches; DH ate dinner the other two nights at the Lido buffet. 

 

Lido Buffet, Guy's Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina:

nice buffet with good choices. Had Guy's Burgers twice for lunch and they were very good. We ate egg and ham burritos from the Cantina for breakfast a few days and also good. DH had tacos from the Cantina a few days for lunch and he really liked them.

 

Casino:

this was a greatly discounted cruise for us from the Player's Club and I spent all my time at the casino when it was open. It had a great variety of slots and I did very well. I also received a great bounce back offer from the casino staff the last night.

 

Entertainment:

I didn't attend any shows, but DH said I didn't miss anything. We did enjoy the two violinists who played at the atrium bar. The  Country singer was also pretty good.

 

Carnival Staff:

Housekeeping guy was great. DH tipped him the first afternoon to please keep our ice bucket always filled and he did. Platinum Guest Services staff were very helpful. In general, staff was very friendly.

 

Nassau and Freeport:

Didn't go on any excursions, but DH did get off the ship to buy some Cuban cigars in Nassau. The Freeport pier area was open except for Senor Frogs and Fat Tuesday that had been hit hard by the last hurricane. Again, no excursions and DH just stayed in the pier area.

 

Debarkation:

went much better than embarkation. I needed a wheelchair and was told to meet in the theatre at 7:30am. We were in zone 1 and used a porter for our luggage. We were off the ship and on our way by 7:52am and home by 9:30am.

 

 

Wall of words. Just making it easier so some people to read. 

Thanks for your review!

 

👍

[Bostwick girl]

We too were on this sailing, cruise #28 for us. First in a long time we went without our group of friends, but everyone was busy and we also had a great offer from the Players Club, first time ever, so took advantage of that. We've sailed on Liberty 3 times now, she's a nice ship still. Another first for us was only one carry on, a small cooler and tote bag. DH uses a mobility scooter now instead of dealing with trying to get a wheel chair. Since we didn't have any checked luggage, just parked in the garage, unloaded ourselves and went on for embarkation. Went right thru the priority line and on board in less than 10 minutes. It was great.

 

i would like to say to Djptpc that Port Canaveral staff have always been very helpful to us and our crew of friends, some who also use mobility scooters. The worst experience we ever had trying to get wheel chair assistance was at Tampa a Couple of years ago when we went on Miracle to Panama Canal. The valet parking is awesome and wish it were available everywhere. To the wheel chair assistance. We had to get up to the security area and thru the scanners before entering the main terminal area. We were there early and there was a long line getting thru. Once inside, we were directed to the area to wait for someone to get us a chair. There were quite a few already waiting. They kept telling us it would be soon, finally after about an hour, we found out they had NO wheel chairs, they only had 3 and they were being used at the other terminal, so we had to wait! Not long after that, someone showed up to take us on board. We found out later there were 2 ships in port that day and additional personnel had been brought down from Jacksonville to handle the crowds. Just goes to show you never know what kind of situation you're going to face at any terminal on any given day!

 

i agree with her review of the trip overall. Our balcony cabin 7400 was great, cabin stewardess was awesome, food was good. We didn't do dining room at all, nor any shows since we had seen them before. The entertainment was so so, the violin group always had a big crowd.  The casino was ok, I didn't like a lot of the slots, too many of the oriental themed games for me, and they weren't very nice to me, lol.

 

This was the first time doing self assist since we didn't have much luggage. We met in the golden Olympian dining room at 6:45. Diamonds off first, then Platinum. We were driving out of the parking lot at 7:12! Best debark ever! 

 

We will be going back again December 2 since DH had the same offer I did. 

 

 

[FLCruiserLady]

We are also going next week on night Liberty  a 4 night Cruise to Nassau and Freeport Girls Trip!

I am glad you had a nice time we are looking forward to it! I haven’t sailed on Carnival in a while ,been sailing Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

What night is the elegant night? And do they have any parties where you can wear something special? Like a glow night.

What are you able to do at Freeport anything other than excursions?

 

[Fla Mike]

On 11/13/2019 at 1:13 PM, FLCruiserLady said:

What night is the elegant night?

 

Hi... Don't know which Monday you are sailing, we will be on this Monday's, the 18th.

 

Elegant night will be on Tuesday.

[Djptcp]

We sailed on Monday and the elegant night was on Tuesday.

 

At Tampa, if you need a wheelchair to get through security have someone in your party go up the escalator or the elevator and tell one of the ground crew outside the terminal your need. DH works part-time for the cruise lines at Tampa and this is what he said to do. I can walk with a rollator to get through security at Tampa to get to the wheelchairs for embarkation and debark.