Carnival Liberty Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,580 reviews

Great Cruise as Usual

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Carnival Liberty
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David-n-Rita
First Time Cruiser • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Apr 2008

WARNING - LONG REVIEW, I tried to cover everything. Carnival Liberty 8 day to Cozumel, Costa Rica , and Panama 4/12/08-4/20/08 We are a couple in our 60's who go on two cruises a year. This was our 6th cruise with Carnival. We are not hard to please and are not bothered by the little things that go wrong so if we complain about something, it would usually be MAJOR to someone else. We go on the cruises to relax and spend time with each other so we tend not to care about activities, shows etc as we rarely go. We live in upstate NY and travel to Syracuse on Wednesday evening to find out that our American Airline flight the next day was cancelled. They were very good to us at the Syracuse airport and worked hard to get us a flight for Thursday. All went well and we ended up in Ft Lauderdale 2 hours earlier than originally planned on a combination US AIR/DELTA flight. All of our luggage arrived with us. We took a taxi from the airport to Best Western Oceanside Inn (about $23.00). The hotel was typical for an older renovated Florida hotel close to the beach. Style was old and if you really looked you could see the layers of paint etc. but for us it was fine. We made our own arrangements direct with the hotel. (Rate was $161.00 for Thursday night and $215.00 for Friday night) The beach was a five minute walk for us. The room had microwave, refrig, safe, hairdryer, iron and ironing board. Everyone from the desk to the housekeepers was wonderful and helpful. The have a free computer in the lobby connected to the internet. They have free Wi-Fi but location is a problem as our room was right across from the Sheraton and we could only pick up their secure network that we could not sign into. We did not bring an Ethernet cable which would have given us the free internet. (we mentioned something when we checked out and were told they would have lent us one - I would bring one if you have your laptop so you can get the free internet easily.) Food is pricey in this area but we ordered pizza delivered the first night and went to the marina (very close by) for dinner the next night. There is a trolley bus and water taxi available at the marina across the street. There was a FULL breakfast in the hotel lobby that was as good as the buffet on the ship and served from 6:30am-10:30am and they were still replenishing the eggs at 9:45am. SATURDAY: Cruise - Took a taxi from the Oceanside Inn to the port (½ mile away). Arrived at 10:45 am and there were about 100 people ahead of us. It was a painless process and we were on the ship after a short wait to finish getting the previous passengers off. We didn't see anyone bothered by security as far as what they were bringing onboard in their carryon. By 11:45am we were on the lido deck having buffet. There is Wi-Fi throughout the ship so you do not need to go to the internet cafe, you can use your laptop in your room. Rates are $3.95 connection (for the entire cruise) plus one of the plans (pay as you go - 75 cents/minute) or $55.00 for 100 minutes OR $100.00 for 250 minutes. We chose the 250 minutes because of the amount of sea days and the fact that the connection is a little slower than home roadrunner. We bought 1 soda card for an adult ($52.00) for unlimited soda. Our luggage was delivered by 2:00pm. Our steward was Jose and he came around and introduced himself shortly after we arrived. We had cabin 6452 a 9A cabin with the aft wrap around balcony. Room was big; plenty of storage and the balcony was HUGE! The usual little things were present that we knew you dealt with on every cruise (I will mention them here in case there are people new to cruising reading this review) Only one outlet and it is on the desk (bring an extension cord), no alarm clock provided, so bring your own, a card to swipe for the safe (anything will do you do not need a credit card - we used the old key card from the Best Western). Our room had a VCR/DVD combination (this is the first we have ever had one of those in our cabin-not sure how many cabins have a VCR/DVD player but the people in the large side balcony room next to us and the ones in the aft cabins did not have one), we also had the minibar which was locked and we didn't have unlocked. Beds were very comfortable and there were 7 chairs, 1 little table and a chaise lounge on the balcony. (and still plenty of room on the huge balcony). Lifeboat drill was standard and not too bad. Dinner was the usual "smart casual" they call it. (no tank tops, shorts, etc) They did actually make an announcement about dressing properly in the dining room (first time we have ever seen that) and they were turning people away who were in shorts and telling them they needed to have pants (first time we have ever seen this enforced) Dinner was great as was the service. Went to the casino in the evening - played the slots - we didn't win and we didn't see anyone else win. SUNDAY: We order room service for breakfast. We requested delivery between 7:00am-7:30am - it arrived promptly at 7:20 am - everything we ordered and we ate out on our balcony. We explored the ship and played a little more in the casino. We found the casino was very tight as far as slot machines go and we have gambled on all the Carnival ships in the past. Our usual video poker where we played quarters (usually max bet-10 coins) we ended up playing with 1 quarter just so you could sit and play awhile and lose your money slower. With such infrequent winning hands $100.00 in quarters gave you 10 hands with max bet and with so few winning hands, you could play all ten hands and not even see a pair. We don't play table games so we can't comment on that but no one on this cruise seemed to be winning. They do have smoking in the Casino but just by luck, there were few smokers in there while we were there, it was not too smoky. The ice carving and hairy man contest was held today and very funny as usual. There seemed to be plenty of seats for everyone, but again we do not lay in the sun so as far as "prime lounge chairs" and saving seats, we are not able to say whether this was a problem or not if this is important to you, They did seem to enforce the no kids in the aft whirlpools as we never saw any in there although this cruise did not have a lot of kids even though it was vacation week for kids in a lot of areas (I am told this is not a popular kid/teen itinerary due to the more history/less beach ports on this cruise) Tonight was formal night and we saw the usual women in office dresses with some fancy jewelry and hairdos to all out formal gowns. For men we saw everything from a turtleneck with dinner jacket to tuxes. The majority were dressed in fancy office/cocktail party clothes. We ate in the dining room, we had no food complaints but if you are real food connoisseurs, you could easily find fault here (lobster tails were tasty but a bit rubbery-consequence of freezing, steaks were a little fatty) We did notice something on this cruise that we have noticed on our other cruises- if your ship has a "pay extra" supper club, the dining room food will be a little under par and the best food on the ship is in the $30.00/person extra supper club. If you are on a ship without a supper club, the best is in the dining room as a rule. We did not pay extra to go to the supper club but heard no complaints from people who did. (It is a much more formal dining experience and longer that the typical dining room meal so you might consider that fact if you have children who have trouble sitting for the length of the regular dining meal, this is much longer.) They had the usual captain's cocktail party and formal portraits tonight also. They made us set the clock back tonight so we were actually on Cozumel time the next day so there was no confusion about times to return to the ship. This seems to be a good port if you wish to go out on your own. We have been here before and it is rather small and safe (of course caution in any foreign port is prudent) MONDAY: Cozumel - We booked through Island Marketing a day all inclusive at Nachi Cocom ($49.00/ adult person). Deposit of $15.00 each is made on line and you pay remainder in cash when you get there (no credit cards or checks). It is actually on Cozumel (not the mainland where you take a ferry). It's a great day clean beach/pool with swim up bar/ Jacuzzi. All you can drink large Mexican meal. Staff is great (wonderful relaxing day) They do have jet skis for rent and will take you on snorkeling trips for an extra charge. Not much to do for kids here; it had a more adult atmosphere that was focused on a relaxing day at the beach. Went with late evening buffet that we brought back to our room to eat on trays and ate it on the balcony. TUESDAY - Sea day - Had a lot of activities on the boat today although we mostly relaxed and watched a DVD mini-series we brought to watch in our cabin. The usually had (every night) 1 movie and 1 concert on the big screen TV out by the pool. They also have giant type plastic chairs (reminded me of Little Tykes chairs made for adults) for watching the movie. They also had popcorn. Tonight was the past guest party, held in the theater due to we are told over 2000 past guests on our cruise. Plenty of finger food and drinks (VERY STRONG) - we could hardly navigate back to the room after we had three of the drinks. Ate in the dining room after (we had early seating at 5:45 pm) Skipped desert - still suffering from strong drinks at the past guest party. WEDNESDAY - Costa Rica - MANY warnings here from carnival about the safety of seeing this port due to crimes against tourists. There was not anything we wanted to see but we went into the port to shop and got back on the ship. We ordered room service again for breakfast. Just what we ordered. We requested breakfast between 8:00am and 8:30am - it arrived at 8:14am and we ate on the balcony. It was very humid and rained in Costa Rica. Heard from other passengers the they felt uncomfortable in Costa Rica, everything from the daredevil driving to the pushy vendors and beggars. THURSDAY: Panama - We took the Carnival excursion Two Oceans by railroad ($165.00/person) We originally thought that this tour was a bit pricey ($165.00 for a train ride) but we actually liked it very much. Left at 8:00am, there was a 5 minute ride to the train station. The port was nice but right outside the port the words that come to mind is "widespread squalor". I would not venture out here either without a Carnival tour. After the 5 minute bus right we got on an antique train, beautifully decorated with tables and comfortable armchairs. There was a large area outside the actual train compartment that was completely open with railings to stand and take pictures (it was enclosed from about waist height with the top part being open so if was very safe and the train did not go very fast so standing was not a problem for anyone taking pictures. The train had bathrooms (very clean) They had beverage service (free coffee), cash money for other drinks and snacks ($1-2 dollars for soda, $3-4 for a beer., snacks were rather large bags (sealed) of common US brands (cheaper than the US). Ride was about an hour along the canal with a tour guide giving a lot of info plus she walked around for questions. We stopped at the Pacific side and got on another bus (No bathrooms on the bus) and went the one of the Locks. (admission at the locks was included in the price of the tour). Spent about an hour there. (souvenirs are VERY expensive at the locks.) Then back on the bus and went to the pacific side and one of the islands. Stopped at a large marina with a duty free shop (souvenirs cheap here), rode back to the train station where we boarded our train again. The handed out a free snack box (Pringles, package of cookies, package of raisins, and a mint) Got back to the port at 3:30pm. The pacific side of Panama is definitely MUCH nicer that the Atlantic side and cleaner. We didn't see one garbage can on the Atlantic side, and if you walked on the street you would have to navigate the large amount of garbage just thrown around all over. Another tour we heard about was the tour by carnival of the Panama canal itself. Most were pleased with it, and glad it was run by Carnival because we were supposed to leave port at 4:00 but we stayed until 6:30pm to wait for that tour they was late getting back. Tonight we set the clock ahead so we were back on Florida time. FRIDAY: day at sea and the second formal night. Also the grand Gala Buffet was at midnight today. We saw some of the entertainment on the ship, the newlywed/not so newlywed show was VERY funny, we also saw the "early "clean" version of the hypnotist. He was not as good as we have seen in the past but it was a good show to watch and entertaining. (Of course a lot depends on the people who participate) We skipped the dining room tonight and went to the buffet. SATURDAY: another day at sea. We relaxed but there were plenty of activities going on. The cruise director is pretty good and funny so most announcements were entertaining. We watched a lot of the activities on the TV, they played the whole cruise so if you miss something you can still see it. They do have miniature golf on the top level around the big funnel. They also had basketball and volleyball, up there also. We did see some lounge chair saving in the early morning on Sat, we were up early and I was taking pictures and noticed at 6:30am there were many lounge chairs with the usual pair of flip flops, book, towel etc and very few people. This was in the prime area around the middle swimming pool area. There were tons of lounge chairs all over the ships on all the decks so finding a lounge chair was no problem, only if you wanted to be around the main pool. We watched the debarkation on the TV and because our cancelled American flights had us booked on a flight out Monday morning we were in no rush. We opted for put your luggage outside and sit and wait. It was organized and your number was the area where they put your luggage so it was easy to find. We were off the ship about 9:30am and we were #19 tags. We went back to the Oceanside Inn for one more night and flew back in the morning. In summary, this was a good cruise if you like shipboard activities and sea days which we do. It is a rather boring itinerary for children and even though school was out, we did not have many kids on the boat. People who like lots of ports and beach, this is not a good itinerary for you. We love aft cabins but you do feel engine vibration and a lot more ship movement, especially if it is stormy in the back of the boat. It is not the place for someone who doesn't like the pitching of the boat or vibration of the engines. We were glad that Carnival seemed to have addressed the problem of following their own rules - people were turned away from the dining if they were not dressed properly (shirts and pants, tops etc), There also was never any kids in the aft adult whirlpools that we saw, and the casino was well patrolled (On past cruises we've seen 10 years olds playing slots next to their parents and invading the adult pools) This cruise seemed to be right on top of any problems and as a result we did not hear many complaints. Other dining we did - Room service is GREAT and we saw a lot of people using it. Fish and Chips - very good although quite greasy, Mexican stand was very good - although they had the same thing every day, the Deli was wonderful and also had the same food every day, pizza was very good. There was a Café (extra charge for the things here) with the special coffees and special desserts, and a Sushi Bar (also for a extra charge.) The Sushi and the café were on the 5th level with the promenade. The ship was very nice and seemed very clean. We heard of no smells, dirt, plumbing problems or anything like that. The air conditioning in the cabins was a little lacking in the very hot and humid conditions of Costa Rica and Panama (we always bring a little fan and it was perfect) Our only complaints were that the food is an inferior quality with the better quality stuff going to the supper club, the regular buffets lacked a little - one lunch buffet only had fruit for dessert (not even a cookie - of course there was Ice cream). and the totally hungry slot machines. We will post a bunch of pictures of this cruise on web shots if you are interested it's under the name QuincysGang http://community.webshots.com/user/QuincysGang

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