Just got back from my first and last 7 day cruise on the Carnival Liberty. The ship was beautiful, accommodations 1st rate. Service very good. So why will I not be cruising on a big ship again? I was very disappointed by several things.

1. There were far too many people. I managed to get a deck chair only once in the 7 days and that was because I stayed aboard ship while docked in Jamaica. I paid $400+ for airfare and $800+ for my cabin. That is an awful lot of money to pay for the privilege of sitting on my towel on the deck for 6 of the 7 days just to get some sun. The mid ship pool with the big screen TV was so loud and crowded it was impossible to have a conversation without yelling. Our party stayed around the adult pool which was much quieter but just as crowded. Walking through the promenade in the evening was impossible. Not only were 2900+ people trying to walk through the area, the ship photographers were taking seated portraits and blocking off much of the aisle.

2. The food was very disappointing. I have had better in the local restaurant in my small town of 800. Our head waiter Peter and his helpers were wonderful. The service we received from them was terrific. We ate one evening at Harry's and the food and service were spectacular. However, our head server rolled up a cart of raw meat and proceeded to tell us about each cut. If that wasn't bad enough they then placed the cart of raw meat directly behind our party so I was looking at raw meat throughout my dinner. One of our party is a vegetarian and was not pleased. We did request moving the cart which was done, but halfway through dinner it reappeared. Yuck. On our last day at sea I stood in line for 35 minutes at lunch to try the Mongolian Grill. My plate of food looked amazing, yet I managed to eat 3 bites. Even after a lot of salt and pepper the stir fry was so bland it was inedible. I felt terrible about throwing away a large plate of food, but I could not eat it. Read more