After cruising for over 30 years in various ships and over 30 cruises under the belt, I felt that after this last cruise on the Carnival Liberty, it was time to speak up. After all it is our money we are spending.This is my eighth cruise on Carnival out of Miami.

First for the GOOD ! The ship as always , extremely clean and passengers are consistently reminded of the consequences of poor hygiene. After seeing some of the passengers, I can see why! The ship personnel as always extremely helpful,friendly and willing to go the extra mile in order to please you .A major asset , they can all speak and understand English ! The food was very tasty in the dining room, although we saw less variety than we have seen in the past but the service made it all worthwhile.The food in the Lido deck was plentiful with many options from salads , sandwiches Mexican, pizza,burgers and hot dogs.So if you like the smorgasbord type of atmosphere, then this is the place.Boy can people eat ! I didn't try Harry's Restaurant because I felt that after paying for the cruise , I shouldn't have to pay additional fees to eat.Something tells me thats the way future cruising will be like. Not having to take your picture every 5 minutes was a pleasant thing as well as the dress code for dinner . Karaoke was great,just needed to be longer hours. Disembarkation was fast and efficient,if you carry your own bags you could be off the ship very early. Now for the BAD ! The embarkation process took forever even with the "FUN PASS". First you stand in a long line for a security check , then in longer lines for checking in. It took us over 90 minutes just to get on the ship.Very inefficient! Our stateroom on the Lido deck forward was another story. Again, very clean comfortable furnishings and an excellent stateroom attendant. Only problem was the temperature in the room . The room was warm at best , I called for maintenance a couple of times and they kept saying that there was nothing wrong. My wife and I beg to differ , one night we almost went to sleep out on deck. My suggestion is to not stay in rooms that are on the same floor as outdoor public areas,too much opening and closing doors. The desserts were ok,other than the chocolate molten cake everything else was mediocre.If you wanted the good stuff, you needed to go to the coffee house and pay for a slice of carrot cake or someother chocolate concoction. The entertainment was awful! The shows were subpar,same dance steps to same songs especially if you have been on other Carnival cruises.The singers were not even American Idol quality. I had more fun at the Karaoke lounge watching people trying to sing.The comedy shows were ok,but nothing to boast about. The deck chairs by the pool were made of plastic and very uncomfortable. The first one I sat on broke because the plastic gets worn away by the sun and salt water.The other chairs were not any better .All had issues with keeping the head part adjusted properly. Although the ship was physically very clean , the smell of smoke from cigarettes and cigars were stagnant throughout the public areas,specially around the Promenade deck. Definitely need to see better ventilation in those areas. Now for the UGLY! The most hideous decoration I have ever seen in all my cruising years!It looks like the people who decorated the ship were on a bad LSD trip. It was a depressing decor, not conducive to having a good time. I have seen happier and nicer decor in funeral homes. This decor was throughout the ship and if the depressing decor wasn't enough, the glass elevators gave you a view in the higher floors of a wall that looks like a mausoleum with the individual crypts! The back to back days at sea heading West and the one day at sea heading East were horrendous. The ship was rolling from side to side and pitching back and forth. I would say that there was a moderate chop in the pools.Since we could not go to Grand Turk due to the devastation from Ike, we ended up back to back days at sea. Of course that benefits the revenue for the ship as people spend more on drinks and at the casino.I think they could have made an effort to visit St Maarten or stay longer at the ports we did visit. In summary, all was not lost, we had fun at the ports, we took our taxis and avoided the ship tours and saved some bucks.We ate , we drank and relaxed . We made our own fun !