Carnival Liberty- April 2017- Post Two
[Archived from April 2017]
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017- EMBARKATION:
Thursday morning we woke up ready for our true cruise adventure! We packed up all of our stuff and headed down to breakfast at the hotel. We were told to bring our breakfast tickets because someone would be checking at the door- they weren’t. Which didn’t bother us at all but if they advertise to have a process to keep breakfast for patrons only, they clearly weren’t enforcing it that day. Breakfast was typical waffles, yogurts, cereal, fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, etc. Nothing fancy but it was good and it was included in the price, so I was happy. We checked out of the hotel and waited in the lobby for the shuttle to pick us up. We had a scheduled check-in time at the port for 11am, so when we were told the shuttle would pick us up at 9:45, I was a little concerned we would get turned away at the port. So the shuttle comes and loads 20+ people and their luggage on, and off we go. The first corner the shuttle turned, the AC unit dripped a very large puddle on me, which was not fun.
We get to the port at 10:15 and weren’t turned away! I know there’s mixed review about enforcing check in times, but let me tell you that based on our personal experience, we were able to walk up a ramp, inside the pier terminal and start the check in process at 10:15. There were no lines and security was a breeze. As a side note, they didn’t look at our pop/wine/red bull cans in our carry-ons, but I know sometimes they do inspect those drinks. We did receive our Sign & Sail Cards at check in, so they’re not putting them at the doors like some people had said. Also the card were pre hole-punched, which I’m not really sure what that meant or if it’s just because so many people ask for the hole punch to put their lanyard on. They took my fiancé’s passport to scan the photo of at check-in but not mine. Turns out, Carnival used my photo from when I sailed last in 2012, which I wasn’t too thrilled about. We got zone 2 for boarding and sat right near the front of the boarding area by 10:35, which means that from entering the building to finishing the actual check-in took only 20 minutes. We heard a staff member tell another passenger that boarding would start at 11:30, which I thought seemed sort of early, but I’m not complaining!!
The boarding process did begin at 11:30 as previously mentioned, and we were on the Carnival Liberty by 11:45, and had a drink in our hands from the Red Frog Rum Bar by 12. So excited to finally be on the ship, especially since it was earlier than we expected. We walked around the pool decks, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and headed up to the Serenity deck to try out a pod/cuddle clam. It was such a quiet area and a great place to hang out, we definitely knew we’d be hanging out here more. We walked around different parts of the ship to take photos and explore what there was to offer inside. After hiking up a hungry stomach, we headed to the BBQ station in the upper part of the Lido restaurant. The mac and cheese was really great, the baked beans were a little spicy for me, the pork was very tender and authentic, and the chicken was pretty good too. There weren’t a lot of people up there for lunch, which I had read on CruiseCritic reviews before, so we’re glad we tried it out before other people discovered it.
First Boat Drinks!:
Lunch Options for Embarkation Day:
My fiancé in the cuddle clamshell thing:
We headed to our room at 1:30 as the announcement was being made that they were ready. Now when we had booked our cruise a year prior, we decided on an inside room (which would’ve been new to us) but we wanted to save money. A few weeks after booking, the price of the room dropped $30, so I called and got the lower rate. About 6 weeks before the sailing I received an e-mail to upgrade to an ocean view room for only $30. In my mind it was a no-brainer; for the same price as we originally booked an inside for, we’d now have an ocean view. I kept the secret from my fiancé, who was fully convinced that we still had our interior room. He was a little confused why I was filming our walk down the hallway or why the door to our room wasn’t where he thought it would be, but upon opening our door and seeing the window, he was very excited. YAY!
We had room 2483, an aft oceanview with a really fun view of the water. Overall the room was fine, with the exception of the vibrations we could feel as well as the swaying of the whole boat. Not sure if it’s because the Liberty is smaller than the last ship we were on or if it’s due to the propulsion issue that the ship has, but the vibrations in our room were pretty strong. It didn’t keep us up or wake us up, but it’s definitely noticeable and something to consider when considering the room. The bed was comfortable, the room easily had enough space for the two of us, and the hallway was pretty quiet at nights. It was a somewhat longer walk since it was all the way aft.
The bed and window:
The couch/vanity/closet area:
The view from our tilted window while moving:
We very quickly realized that our sink was clogged, so we called guest services and they said they’d send over a plumber. For those keeping track of the upcoming clogged sink saga, again that was 1:30pm on Thursday. (Yes, there is a small saga and drama about the sink. No, I won’t let it ruin my review or opinion of the ship/staff/Carnival. What happened was pretty annoying, but a sink sure isn’t going to ruin my cruise). We met our room steward Sheila as we exited our room around 1:50pm, and she introduced herself and asked if we wanted morning or afternoon cleanings. We selected afternoon. I know there’s also been a lot of back and forth about cleaning schedules on the CC boards, so I was expecting to be asked my time slot preference and it wasn’t a huge deal. We also asked Sheila for a corkscrew and she said she’d bring us one. We mentioned the clogged sink and that a plumber was coming, just to give her a heads up. As we said goodbye to Sheila and walked down the hallway, I pointed out to my fiance at how awesome it is that Carnival still makes it a priority to meet their guests and that I really love that about their service. Having sailed on RCL and NCL after cruising Carnival as a teen, I haven’t had the same level of friendliness and connection with RCL/NCL room stewards like I have on Carnival.
A brief intermission to add more pictures from walking around the ship.
Main Pool, Deck 9:
Circle C (teen club, ages 12-14):
Gold Olympian Dining Room (Deck 3 and 4 mid, view from 4):
The Stage Bar, Deck 5 aft:
Casino/Promenade, Deck 5:
Link to Next Post: Thursday, Embarkation continued
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017- EMBARKATION:
Thursday morning we woke up ready for our true cruise adventure! We packed up all of our stuff and headed down to breakfast at the hotel. We were told to bring our breakfast tickets because someone would be checking at the door- they weren’t. Which didn’t bother us at all but if they advertise to have a process to keep breakfast for patrons only, they clearly weren’t enforcing it that day. Breakfast was typical waffles, yogurts, cereal, fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, etc. Nothing fancy but it was good and it was included in the price, so I was happy. We checked out of the hotel and waited in the lobby for the shuttle to pick us up. We had a scheduled check-in time at the port for 11am, so when we were told the shuttle would pick us up at 9:45, I was a little concerned we would get turned away at the port. So the shuttle comes and loads 20+ people and their luggage on, and off we go. The first corner the shuttle turned, the AC unit dripped a very large puddle on me, which was not fun.
We get to the port at 10:15 and weren’t turned away! I know there’s mixed review about enforcing check in times, but let me tell you that based on our personal experience, we were able to walk up a ramp, inside the pier terminal and start the check in process at 10:15. There were no lines and security was a breeze. As a side note, they didn’t look at our pop/wine/red bull cans in our carry-ons, but I know sometimes they do inspect those drinks. We did receive our Sign & Sail Cards at check in, so they’re not putting them at the doors like some people had said. Also the card were pre hole-punched, which I’m not really sure what that meant or if it’s just because so many people ask for the hole punch to put their lanyard on. They took my fiancé’s passport to scan the photo of at check-in but not mine. Turns out, Carnival used my photo from when I sailed last in 2012, which I wasn’t too thrilled about. We got zone 2 for boarding and sat right near the front of the boarding area by 10:35, which means that from entering the building to finishing the actual check-in took only 20 minutes. We heard a staff member tell another passenger that boarding would start at 11:30, which I thought seemed sort of early, but I’m not complaining!!
The boarding process did begin at 11:30 as previously mentioned, and we were on the Carnival Liberty by 11:45, and had a drink in our hands from the Red Frog Rum Bar by 12. So excited to finally be on the ship, especially since it was earlier than we expected. We walked around the pool decks, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and headed up to the Serenity deck to try out a pod/cuddle clam. It was such a quiet area and a great place to hang out, we definitely knew we’d be hanging out here more. We walked around different parts of the ship to take photos and explore what there was to offer inside. After hiking up a hungry stomach, we headed to the BBQ station in the upper part of the Lido restaurant. The mac and cheese was really great, the baked beans were a little spicy for me, the pork was very tender and authentic, and the chicken was pretty good too. There weren’t a lot of people up there for lunch, which I had read on CruiseCritic reviews before, so we’re glad we tried it out before other people discovered it.
First Boat Drinks!:
Lunch Options for Embarkation Day:
My fiancé in the cuddle clamshell thing:
We headed to our room at 1:30 as the announcement was being made that they were ready. Now when we had booked our cruise a year prior, we decided on an inside room (which would’ve been new to us) but we wanted to save money. A few weeks after booking, the price of the room dropped $30, so I called and got the lower rate. About 6 weeks before the sailing I received an e-mail to upgrade to an ocean view room for only $30. In my mind it was a no-brainer; for the same price as we originally booked an inside for, we’d now have an ocean view. I kept the secret from my fiancé, who was fully convinced that we still had our interior room. He was a little confused why I was filming our walk down the hallway or why the door to our room wasn’t where he thought it would be, but upon opening our door and seeing the window, he was very excited. YAY!
We had room 2483, an aft oceanview with a really fun view of the water. Overall the room was fine, with the exception of the vibrations we could feel as well as the swaying of the whole boat. Not sure if it’s because the Liberty is smaller than the last ship we were on or if it’s due to the propulsion issue that the ship has, but the vibrations in our room were pretty strong. It didn’t keep us up or wake us up, but it’s definitely noticeable and something to consider when considering the room. The bed was comfortable, the room easily had enough space for the two of us, and the hallway was pretty quiet at nights. It was a somewhat longer walk since it was all the way aft.
The bed and window:
The couch/vanity/closet area:
The view from our tilted window while moving:
We very quickly realized that our sink was clogged, so we called guest services and they said they’d send over a plumber. For those keeping track of the upcoming clogged sink saga, again that was 1:30pm on Thursday. (Yes, there is a small saga and drama about the sink. No, I won’t let it ruin my review or opinion of the ship/staff/Carnival. What happened was pretty annoying, but a sink sure isn’t going to ruin my cruise). We met our room steward Sheila as we exited our room around 1:50pm, and she introduced herself and asked if we wanted morning or afternoon cleanings. We selected afternoon. I know there’s also been a lot of back and forth about cleaning schedules on the CC boards, so I was expecting to be asked my time slot preference and it wasn’t a huge deal. We also asked Sheila for a corkscrew and she said she’d bring us one. We mentioned the clogged sink and that a plumber was coming, just to give her a heads up. As we said goodbye to Sheila and walked down the hallway, I pointed out to my fiance at how awesome it is that Carnival still makes it a priority to meet their guests and that I really love that about their service. Having sailed on RCL and NCL after cruising Carnival as a teen, I haven’t had the same level of friendliness and connection with RCL/NCL room stewards like I have on Carnival.
A brief intermission to add more pictures from walking around the ship.
Main Pool, Deck 9:
Circle C (teen club, ages 12-14):
Gold Olympian Dining Room (Deck 3 and 4 mid, view from 4):
The Stage Bar, Deck 5 aft:
Casino/Promenade, Deck 5:
Link to Next Post: Thursday, Embarkation continued
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