This was our 3rd cruise we have been on. All three have been on Carnival and all have been great. We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before our cruise. We used Miami Sunshine Transportation to take us to our hotel the Residence Inn in Coconut Grove, Miami. I highly recommend Miami Sunshine Transportation for your transportation needs. They picked us up from the airport, took us to the port the next day and came back and got us when we returned and took us back to Fort Lauderdale Airport. Hector Gonzalez is the owner and he is wonderful and very professional. His nephew Franco was our driver and was so nice and friendly. I would use them again and recommend them to anyone who needs any kind of transportation need while you are there. Their phone number is: 305-338-2543. I also liked the Residence Inn hotel. We stayed in the two bedroom suite and really liked it. It had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, dining area, living room area and we really liked it. It has an outdoor pool and a nice continental breakfast in the morning. Definitely recommend that too The Liberty was the biggest boat we have traveled on. They all have similar layouts which is nice. The only problem is that all the floors do not go all the way across the boat. If you get to the fifth floor you can get anywhere. It goes all the way across. We stayed on the sixth floor and that was nice. We were the very last room at the end of the hallway. It is a long hike from one end of the boat to the other. It was nice being on the 6th floor because if you walked downstairs you were on the 5th floor where everything kind of happened. It was the hangout for our group. The casino was there and our group pretty much hung out at the bar right outside the casino. Also, the Paparazzi Bar at the end of the hall with the bartender Tommy was great too. The arcade was on this floor and so was Club 02. The seventeen year olds that were with us found Club 02 too young for them this time. It is more for the 15 and early 16 age group. This is also the floor to get to the Venetian Room where all the shows were. There were lots of activities at all times on the boat. The hairy man contest, the wedding couple game (one couple in our group got to be in it. They got married on the boat before the cruise started. It was great.), mini-golf, water slides, pools, shows, outdoor movie theater, casino, always something to do.
The service was great. The room stewards were great and your room was always picked up as soon as you leave. The dining room service was superb along with the food. Our waiter Dan (we called him Dan the Man) was great. The Lido Deck is not as good. The lines are long in the morning and take forever to get breakfast. Wasn't as crazy about the food for dinner there as the dining room food.
Shore Excursions: We took the Jeep/Cavern excursion in Cozumel and had a good time. My husband especially loved driving the jeeps and going through the mud puddles. The beach they take you to and you have lunch at is just beautiful. It would be the perfect location to get married at. It has a big covered pavilion area and the beach is just gorgeous. Really relaxing. The kids got to swim in the caverns and really enjoyed that. Good excursion and recommend it. We rented jet skis in Grand Cayman and the family enjoyed that. Jamaica we took a tour with a local in a van. It cost $20.00 per person and was fun. He took us to some other falls, not Dunn Falls and the kids got to climb them. Nice area. Stopped at a local restaurant for lunch, took us through Jamaican neighborhoods and had a good tour. It was worth it. Our stateroom was small, but we expected that. We were in an interior room and knew it would be. We didn't spend a whole lot of time in there so it was fine. Beds are so comfortable though… love them. With the dark room (being in interior) and the beds, you could sleep in with no problem. The entertainment was good. My favorites were the ventriloquist/comedian. He was great. He was the best entertainment all week. Other comedian was OK. The show the last night with guest from the boat in it was great. I enjoyed that a lot too.