Wow, where do I start. Insanity is as good a place as any. As workloads and work hours increased and a milestone 10th wedding anniversary was close, I was caught in a bit of a financial bind between tax time, home improvements, dental work/crowns needing replacement, and major auto body repairs, and we wanted just to run away. I found a last minute cruise deal that was too good to be true, and after careful consideration and homework, pulled the trigger on a Wednesday evening before a Saturday departure date on what was going to be the best cruise experience of our lives.

This was my first cruise on the Carnival Cruise Line, and I found the last minute purchase experience a bit of a leap of faith, because there was little I could specify (waitlisted on early dining, we ended up late dining, and shore excursions would be considered once on board), but given the deal we received, we rolled with it. We made it down to Miami on time, and had no issues checking in. We dropped our carry-on bags in the spacious ocean-view cabin, and proceeded to explore the ship. Weather was beautiful, crowds were managed very well, it wasn't the "sea of humanity" I expected. Liberty was recently refurbished in 2011, and everything was super clean, super friendly, and the amenities of the ship were numerous.

From the time we boarded to the time we got home, it was the most restful, fun, enjoyable trip we have had in at least five years. The staff was incredible, but the absolute All-Star of the cruise had to be the Cruise Director, Jaime Dee, who pretty much "owned" the cruise for all 7 days. I've been on a few cruises before, and the Cruise Director was always a bit distant, there if you needed them for a specific event or concern. You'd have to go find them if you needed something. In this case, it was the exact opposite: Jamie found everybody, welcomed them, communicated with them, made them feel special, all +/- 3400 of us. A fair amount of people wake up with a cup of coffee and the Today show or Good Morning America, and for the next 7 days this captive audience woke up with a funny, crazy, upbeat, dedicated Cruise Director on the in-cabin TV, or the announcement system, or the poolside jumbotron big screen, providing a constant feed of news, information, comedy, events, special opportunities and more. I thought I had long hours, until I saw the effort she put into a day, from early morning announcements, to their version of the "Morning Show", to all the daily activities and events she and the entertainment staff administered to, poolside limbo parties at 10:30PM, to announcing the comic performing at the 11:45PM show. There has to be a huge I.V. of 5 hour energy drink somewhere on board, because there's no way in hell I could cheerfully and happily deal with the responsibilities and that many guests and keep that pace like they did for 7 days without something like it. I made the statement she "owned" the cruise. She had tremendous support of her entertainment staff/team, and Assistant Cruise Director Christian. Without them, it wouldn't have been the same. But she put her own personality and "stamp" on the "Carnival experience" that far exceeded any other cruise experience we've ever had. It's startling how one person can truly impact a vacation week in such a positive way. Read more