Final thoughts of my 3 day Liberty sailing

[OceanZena]

Now that i'm home and all settled I thought i'd post a mini review of my sailing for anyone who cares to read it. If not, just go on to the next thread haha. 

 

This was my first 3 day sailing and also my last. While i'm glad to have tried it, it's way too short and it seems just when you get all unpacked and settled in, it's time to pull out the luggage again and pack up lol. My usual is 4 days and think that's perfect for me. I really enjoy having more than 1 stop on a sailing. 

 

I live in Orlando which is just 45 mins to the port, but I prefer to spend one night pre cruise at a Cocoa Beach hotel just to add to the vacation. This time I chose Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach and really liked it. The rooms have been renovated in '22 and beds very comfy and all rooms have a balcony overlooking the ocean. I hated to leave I liked it that much. 

 

 

 

Embarkation (as well as Debarkation) was such a breeze! They really know how to keep things moving quickly with very minimal waiting. I arrived at around 1pm and was on the ship in less than 20 minutes. (I won't mention the mystery drink charge discovered upon boarding since there's a thread about that.)

 

I had a balcony cabin again. Usually I do OV but after my 2019 trip I need my balcony all the time now. I love the refuge it gives from the crazy crowds and this was a pack sailing and I spent a lot of time on it day and night. Nights were my favorite with all the stars above---there were just so many up there that I could have sat there all night looking at them lol. 

Here's my balcony pic. I'm NOT a selfie taker but FB friends wanted to see so I grudgingly obliged. I hate pics of myself, but this one isn't half bad, and for 53 I think i'm holding up well haha---although it's nothing i'd want to frame lol. 

 

The location of my cabin was forward right next to the elevators which I won't do again. (cabin 6275) It's a very busy area and many times when I opened my door to exit, i'd have to wait for some people to pass through first. I've had cabins all the way aft of the ship and it's so quiet and peaceful back there so that's where i'm going back next time. 

I have FWD balcony booked for December and am going to see if my PVP can change it to aft. Does anyone know if i'd have to pay extra to change from FWD to AFT if it's the same level cabin? I don't mind paying if I have to for the extra peace. 

 

I asked about water bottles in cabin in another thread and I can confirm that if you are red or above, you can just take one bottle from the cabin with no charge to your S&S. I asked my steward and he said it's perfectly fine to do it. I wound up drinking the second bottle as well and was charged $4.50 for it. Still not a bad deal for the convenience. Anything above that price though, i'd probably leave it. 

 

I also went to Pixels for my Carnival pin. It's bigger than the previous ones I have. Here's a pic--

 

I prefer the buffets to Dining Room so that's where I had all my meals. I do notice the food quality has gone down somewhat since my last sailing in 2019. Most of the meat I tried was dry and rubbery compared to previous sailings, but for the most part I was satisfied since i'm not too picky about food. As long as it's tasty and fills me up i'm good. 

I just wish the buffets were open longer. After 9pm there's only Deli or Pizza open and the lines were crazy long because everyone is hungry and these were the only places to go. I did wait 40 minutes on a Deli line since I was starving and really enjoyed what I got, but wish the buffets stayed open till like 11pm for us night owls. 

I mentioned in another thread how I miss the door hanging menu you placed outside the night before for continental breakfast to be delivered at a time you chose. I LOVED this perk and really really really miss it!! The steward said he doesn't expect it to come back and that just kills me because it was one of my favorite parts of cruising. 

It's just not the same having to get dressed and schlep all the way to the Lido for a cup of coffee when you're still half asleep. I know I could have ordered it through room service, but there's a crazy fee for it now. 😞 I just hope Carnival brings it back someday.

I enjoyed the casino even though I noticed a lot of my favorite old school reel slots are being replaced with giant video screen games that I have no clue how to play. I never know what the heck i'm supposed to be hoping for when spinning lol. 

Way back in the 1990's we'd drive over to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in CT and in those days all the slots were reels like Double/Triple Diamond, Red White Blue, Wild Cherries---these were what I always played on "back in my day" and I hate that they're getting harder to find. I just can't get into those complicated video slots---maybe it's old age but they confuse the hell out of me lol. I did hunt down a few old time reels and won all my $200 Cruise Cash back plus a little more....so I went home a happy gambler haha. 

It seemed the souvenir stores had less offerings. I love tacky key chains, fridge magnets, coffee mugs and chintzy things like that but they had such a few selection of those. Thankfully all that is plentiful in Nassau and I was in heaven browsing through all the downtown stores. I love Nassau and find all the people there so friendly and nice. 

I mentioned Baha Mar in another thread but will repeat how I really liked it over Atlantis. Their casino was huge and impressive and i'll definitely return again. I also liked the bus trip you can get from the port for only $1.25 each way. It's just 4 miles away, all paved along the water and I actually debated walking back to the ship to enjoy the sights on foot, but it was too warm and when I saw the bus coming, I jumped on it. Here's Baha Mar from the bus stop--

 

I always like to go to the shows, but didn't care for this one. It was called "The World Works" or something like that and was all about Diversity and Inclusion with people from different counties just waving their flags on stage while a guy sings "Imagine" lol. I'm not against this at all...i'm Deaf and Gay so i've experienced exclusion more times than I can count from an unaccepting society in the past and think it's wonderful that the world is becoming much more open and accepting of everyone's differences....but I don't want to think about that on vacation. I want mindless fun with flashy outfits and Vegas style signing and dancing in my shows. 🙂 

 

Speaking of Deaf, just in case it may help someone else here who may also be or knows someone who is---I use and app called Live Transcribe you can download off Google Play. It picks up nearly perfectly all the words spoken and displays them live on your phone screen. I use it everywhere and it's a God send for me. 

It picked up the show from all the way in the back on the 3rd level seating! I'm sure there were people looking at me thinking "What is that idiot doing staring at his phone during the show?!" Probably thinking I was so addicted to my phone that I was ignoring the show lol, but i didn't care because it allowed me to follow everything just like everyone else. 

I used it at Guest Services and also during Bingo where it picked up everything perfectly. I can't say enough how handy this app is for Deaf/Hard of hearing, so download it if you or someone you know can use it. I never have to ask people to write anymore haha. 

 

Speaking of Bingo---I decided to try it since I won in the casino the night before and had money to throw away but didn't care much for it. I do love Bingo but it's no fun when someone calls "Bingo!" after just the 4th number that's called on a 4 Corner Game---and they won a whopping $600 just to 60 seconds of playing lol. Lucky for them, but not fun for the rest of us. I'll stick to my slots in the future, but i'm glad I finally tried it. 

 

I got an Irish Coffee at the coffee/pastry shop by the casino. It cost $10 bucks but it was really good. The pasteries didn't look any different from what you'd get up at the Lido buffet desert for free so I felt it was senseless to pay for them so just got my spiked coffee. That was worth the 10 bucks lol. 

 

Everyone I encountered on the ship was friendly and happy. From the workers to the other passengers. I was slightly afraid of doing the 3 day due to hearing about rowdy party cruisers on the short sailings, but I found none of that anywhere. Everyone was just happy to be sailing and having a good time. 🙂 

 

But it's just too short for my taste so December is back to 4 day again. I'd love to do 7 day, but I have an 18 year old emotionally needy Sun Conure that I just can't leave at the Pet Spa for that long or he'll go nuts. So until he goes off to birdie heaven, no 7 day sailings for me---but the day after he's gone i'll be booking it haha. 

 

Well, that's it I guess. I hope at least one person found this entertaining and helpful. If not, oh well...I enjoyed sharing and reliving the cruise while writing it lol. Only 278 days till the next sailing! 🙂 

 

 

[OceanZena]

I forgot to add my favorite pics!! I found a quiet spot on the deck outside the Lobby during sunset. I love these shots!

[Top_of_the_Cube]

That was a nice concise review.  Much appreciated.

 

Just curious, what most draws you to cruising?

[OceanZena]

2 minutes ago, Top_of_the_Cube said:

That was a nice concise review.  Much appreciated.

 

Just curious, what most draws you to cruising?

Thanks. First and foremost is the ocean! I love just being on the ocean even if the ship were going nowhere and just sitting there, i'd love it lol. 

Secondly is the casino....having the two together is the perfect vacation imo. Here in central FL we have the Victory Casino boat in Port Canaveral that I do every few months. It's like a 5 hour Carnival cruise for me....slots and the ocean...for me it's heaven haha. 

[monykalyn]

35 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

Speaking of Deaf, just in case it may help someone else here who may also be or knows someone who is---I use and app called Live Transcribe you can download off Google Play. I

Love the peaceful pic spot!!

This is good to know on the app-kinda surprised more cruise ships don't have hearing loop-at least in the theaters. I am part of a service group that the main national mission is hearing health-our groups (several of them) recently had an older live theater looped and looking at doing our regional airport. 

[RenoNanaOz]

Nice review, I don't think I could do 3 day but totally understand why you do.

[ninjacat123]

Great review!  I agree, 3 day cruises are not my cup of tea anymore either.  Thank you for sharing Live Transcribe.  What a helpful device for people who are hearing impaired.  Can it translate from a foreign language to English?  Thanks again for taking the time to write your review!😃

[OceanZena]

8 minutes ago, monykalyn said:

Love the peaceful pic spot!!

This is good to know on the app-kinda surprised more cruise ships don't have hearing loop-at least in the theaters. I am part of a service group that the main national mission is hearing health-our groups (several of them) recently had an older live theater looped and looking at doing our regional airport. 

It would be nice if the theater had something like that, but thankfully my app literalyl picked up everything in there so I didn't miss a word.

They did have the movie that was playing up on the Lido deck with subtitles on the bottom of the screen which I really appreciated, but it was one of those Jurassic movies and if you've seen one you've seen them all as far as i'm concerned so I just walked by it. But it's great that they have that at least. 

They also provided a TTY in my cabin, but I have no idea how to use it so it just sat there all weekend. The door knocker though was really handy. When the steward would knock, the clock on the desk would flash a bright strobe light that scared the daylights out of me lol. But it was really helpful to have. 

[OceanZena]

8 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Great review!  I agree, 3 day cruises are not my cup of tea anymore either.  Thank you for sharing Live Transcribe.  What a helpful device for people who are hearing impaired.  Can it translate from a foreign language to English?  Thanks again for taking the time to write your review!😃

Yes! You can choose your language in settings. When I was at my Doctor he was really impressed with it and wanted the name of the app for his hearing impaired patients. He then showed me an app he used that would automatically transcribe from any language to English on his phone so he can communicate with all his non English speaking patients. I was really impressed by that and how these different apps can be helpful to so many. 

[OceanZena]

24 minutes ago, RenoNanaOz said:

Nice review, I don't think I could do 3 day but totally understand why you do.

I booked for a few reasons. One, is that I booked it over a year ago and back at the time I was hesitant about doing longer for fear of the big C. I don't know---I guess my logic back then was it couldn't get me on a really short sailing haha. 

Also, the deal they gave me was too good to pass up---I only paid like $400 for the balcony that included $200 in OBC! How can I say no to that? (I spent all that OBC before I even got on the ship on really slow 1995 speed WIFI lol, (omg it was so slow I went grey just waiting for pages to load---but it did work and allowed me to use my app which needs connection, so worth it imo) I also got a Bon Voyage cake that was so filling I couldn't eat any more after one slice so it rotted in the fridge for the rest of the cruise, a medium finger sandwich tray that I found really handy on the second night when it was hard to find food on the ship....and 2 4pks of Bud Light that cost a whopping $26 each---it's a huge ripoff, but I like my beer on the balcony in the evenings. And for that price, you can bet I made sure to drink them all!! 

I'm glad I tried the 3 day though because now I know what it's like and that it's not for me. I have no complaints about it in general, only that it was too short. That one extra day on a 4 day really makes a world of difference for me. And I like to visit more than 1 island. 

But for those who work and only have the weekend time to do it, it's a perfect option. 

[pcvtmom]

Thanks for such a concise review!  I agree with you about 3 day cruises.  We used to do a few when we were still working (teachers) and needed a couple of mental health breaks. 😁  They were NEVER long enough, but were all that we could manage while teaching.  Now that we're retired, we're gravitating towards 7+ days.  Our last one was a 14 day, and we've got another 14, as well as an 8, booked within the next year!

Again...thanks! I enjoyed your review.

[OceanZena]

11 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

Thanks for such a concise review!  I agree with you about 3 day cruises.  We used to do a few when we were still working (teachers) and needed a couple of mental health breaks. 😁  They were NEVER long enough, but were all that we could manage while teaching.  Now that we're retired, we're gravitating towards 7+ days.  Our last one was a 14 day, and we've got another 14, as well as an 8, booked within the next year!

Again...thanks! I enjoyed your review.

Thanks. My big dream is to do one of those long 14 day European sailings, but I couldn't leave the pet for that long so I just hope I outlive him long enough to do it haha. His breed can live up to 35 years and he's only 18 and i'm 53 so it's a race against time lol. 

[lazydayz]

31 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

Thanks. My big dream is to do one of those long 14 day European sailings, but I couldn't leave the pet for that long so I just hope I outlive him long enough to do it haha. His breed can live up to 35 years and he's only 18 and i'm 53 so it's a race against time lol. 

 

Funny.  I am hopeful you win and get to go on those long cruises! 

[OceanZena]

9 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 

Funny.  I am hopeful you win and get to go on those long cruises! 

Thanks. His recent checkup the vet said he's in perfect health so he's winning for now. Maybe if I line his cage with 14 day European sailings he'll get the hint haha. 

[ninjacat123]

41 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

Thanks. My big dream is to do one of those long 14 day European sailings, but I couldn't leave the pet for that long so I just hope I outlive him long enough to do it haha. His breed can live up to 35 years and he's only 18 and i'm 53 so it's a race against time lol. 

Maybe you could have him ride on your shoulder and say you were a pirate.  Hmmm, don't know how well that would go over on a ship but it's worth a shot😁

[OceanZena]

2 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Maybe you could have him ride on your shoulder and say you were a pirate.  Hmmm, don't know how well that would go over on a ship but it's worth a shot😁

Oh God no lol. Part of the joy is getting away from him for a few days. I don't know if there are other bird parents here, but they're a lot of work and attention and I can't stress enough what a joy it is to not have the responsibility for a few days. As much as I love him, if he were with me on vacation it wouldn't be much of a vacation. 😄

[monykalyn]

On 2/28/2023 at 2:44 PM, OceanZena said:

Oh God no lol. Part of the joy is getting away from him for a few days. I don't know if there are other bird parents here, but they're a lot of work and attention and I can't stress enough what a joy it is to not have the responsibility for a few days. As much as I love him, if he were with me on vacation it wouldn't be much of a vacation. 😄

I have 3 chickens (backyard flock). Used to be 5 but one had an accident last spring and a predator got another one last July when we were in Hawaii. Even though family was staying at the house they couldn't save her. We have 2 dogs as well-it is hard to be away from them for long time!

PS one of my hens will be 9 on April 1-she will outlive the dogs I think just to spite everyone. 

[OceanZena]

13 minutes ago, monykalyn said:

I have 3 chickens (backyard flock). Used to be 5 but one had an accident last spring and a predator got another one last July when we were in Hawaii. Even though family was staying at the house they couldn't save her. We have 2 dogs as well-it is hard to be away from them for long time!

PS one of my hens will be 9 on April 1-she will outlive the dogs I think just to spite everyone. 

I've got a bunch of wild ducks that waddle up from the pond to my back patio every morning for food so I worry about them too when I go away. They're wild but they think they're my pets lol. 

With the prices of eggs these days it must be great to have a few chickens around!

[EngIceDave]

On 2/28/2023 at 1:09 PM, OceanZena said:

I hate that they're getting harder to find. I just can't get into those complicated video slots---maybe it's old age but they confuse the hell out of me lol.

You're not alone. At first the newer machines are super intimidating. I have found that if you spend a little time, play down $ wise, and learn the machine. Many all rely on some sort of bonus game system. You're literally playing for the bonus, it's what keeps you alive....or ahead.

 

The short cruises don't allow you enough time to learn the ship and get comfortable

[OceanZena]

8 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

You're not alone. At first the newer machines are super intimidating. I have found that if you spend a little time, play down $ wise, and learn the machine. Many all rely on some sort of bonus game system. You're literally playing for the bonus, it's what keeps you alive....or ahead.

 

The short cruises don't allow you enough time to learn the ship and get comfortable

It's so much easier for me to just shoot for three 7's or Double/Triple Diamonds. When I see 20 different things dropping down on the big video screens with nothing matching I just sit there in confusion lol. 

I do like this one slot called Planet Moolah. It's one of the lesser complicated computer/video reels and I think is good for those intimidated by the huge slots that tower over you. Whenever I come across one I sit and play. 

[EngIceDave]

3 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

It's so much easier for me to just shoot for three 7's or Double/Triple Diamonds. When I see 20 different things dropping down on the big video screens with nothing matching I just sit there in confusion lol. 

I do like this one slot called Planet Moolah. It's one of the lesser complicated computer/video reels and I think is good for those intimidated by the huge slots that tower over you. Whenever I come across one I sit and play. 

That's old now. If you like that, you'll like things the "Piggies" games or similar. Sounds like you might also like something like Wolf Run.

 

Just keep in mind with the newer machines, it's more about the bonus games than any individual spin win. 

[OceanZena]

1 hour ago, EngIceDave said:

That's old now. If you like that, you'll like things the "Piggies" games or similar. Sounds like you might also like something like Wolf Run.

 

Just keep in mind with the newer machines, it's more about the bonus games than any individual spin win. 

They had some Piggy game on the Liberty last week that I tried. I think it was called Piggy Bank? I just remember there was a giant pig on top of the machine. It sucked my $20 in 3 or 4 spins and that was the end of that lol. 

I found the Planet Moolah machine at Baha Mar and won about 30 bucks off that. It may be old, but I like it and wish Carnival had it. I play it whenever I head over to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. It seems to always give me decent wins. 

[HarborHermit]

On 2/28/2023 at 12:09 PM, OceanZena said:

I mentioned Baha Mar in another thread but will repeat how I really liked it over Atlantis.

 

Thanks for the report. I can't find the other thread where you mentioned Baha Mar. How much of the property were you allowed explore without a day pass? Do they let you have lunch there, or are you just limited to the casino?

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for the review.  I've been on a few CTN (Cruise to Nowhere) back in the day when they did them and I agree, 3 days isn't good enough but it's still nice just to get away for a "long weekend." Did you know you could get buckets of 6 beers and they give you $1 off each beer?  About this deaf app: you have to purchase wifi to use it?

[Bostwick girl]

We’ve been to Baha Mar several times, it is a beautiful casino! Huge and many different slots. We’ve always taken a cab at a cost of $20 per person each way! It’s definitely a rip off, but we never knew about the bus service! The last two times we went back to Atlantis and it was a lot more friendly! Guess Baha Mar has given them some competition, lol. We have decided no more 3 day cruises for us, too short and the last time was pretty rowdy! We love Liberty and hate to see her move. Perfect size ship. We’ll be going on a 5 day Freedom in April.