Carnival Liberty
December 10th, 2005
8-Night Eastern Caribbean
by George Taylor
Age: 45
Occupation: Technical
Number of Cruises: 9
Embarkation - fairly smooth
Cabin - Very nice. Had balcony on Lido deck # 9214. Very clean and nice. Best beds I've had on any cruise. We went with a group so we had staff open up balconies. Great for gathering and private party.
Food - Average. It was eatable. That's all I care about. Not one of those food mongrel cruisers. I have better things to do while on vacation. I don't as others do, rate eating and food as the primary purpose of my trip. I never went hungry.
Service - Acceptable and that's a bit generous. New ship also came with new crew. Very inexperienced. Several instances there would be no bowls, cups, spoons etc.. Very unorganized on lido deck. They would only have part of the food areas open, which caused very long waits to eat. I have never seen anything like it on a cruise ship before. Kind of reminded me of driving by soup kitchen lines at the local YCC's. Very frustrating. I would hope that this will improve over time. But the staff definitely looked lost.
Dining Room - very nice, Service there was acceptable but far from the best.
Entertainment - Shows were very good. great sets on stage. Comedian Percy Crews a must see, extremely funny.Band at the Stage Lounge was very good. They do several theme nights. Disco, Beatles and Oldies.
Ship - Beautiful. Nicely decorated. Casino is quite large compared to other ships. Shops are nice. Lounge areas, Sports bar, Piano bar are all very nice. We rousted up Duane at the Piano bar several nights and had a good time. Did lots of sing a longs and specialty songs.
Ports - San Juan. Very nice to sail into and that is about it. Wandered into town for a couple hours and returned to ship. Good liquor deals at the port building. We were there at night so our options for activities was limited. Had been there twice before and would just recommend walking around town. friends of ours went on the night kayaking tour, and they said it was ok.
St Thomas - Again have been there several times. Went to Megans Bay this trip. Beautiful place to go to spend day on the beach. All the facilities you need are readily available. Coki beach however was better. Went there last year. The have a beginners Scuba class and dive tour right there. Give yourself a few hours to wander through town and shop. good deals available on diamonds if you know how to shop for them.
Antigua - First visit there for me. I was pleasantly surprised. Beautiful Island. Locals were very friendly. I would recommend the Catamaran Beach and snorkel tour. Not the best snorkeling in the Caribbean but was pretty good. Shopping is Ok. Most of it is right off the boat.
Tortolla - Unbelievable !! What a Gem of an Island. we went out to the Baths at Vigin Gorda. This is a must see and do. However the ship charges 69.00 dollars a person. We did it on our own for only 35.00. Just get off the boat and walk into town, catch the ferry. Its a 30 min. ride to Virgin Gorda. Absolutely stunning beauty. When you arrive at the dock a cab will take you to the baths. If you like hiking this is the best. Once you get to the baths after a ten min. hike you won't believe the scenery. Make sure you get off the ship as early as possible though. You will need to catch the 9 am ferry going, and the 1:30 coming back. If you don't get on the 9 am don't bother going.
Summary - I wanted to keep this as short as possible. We had a great time as always, but were very disappointed in the crew and service. Still beats my best day at work though. I decided in the future that I will not go on a new ship again. As nice as the ship was it certainly cost us in the services we are used to seeing on other ships. There were just a lot of not so normal things that happened on this cruise. A lot of what would seem to be petty things, but they add up.
