I've written about the five islands we visited on our recent southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Liberty, but I haven't yet written about the ship itself.
We sailed on Carnival Liberty for three reasons: First, it sailed out of San Juan. I really wanted to revisit San Juan because I fell in love with the city on our previous cruise (see that blog post here). Second reason was it was a ship we had never sailed on before, and third, it sailed the particular itinerary we wanted, specifically to the islands of Barbados and St. Lucia which we had never visited and had always wanted to.
Compared to the last two ships we sailed on, Carnival Liberty is a smaller ship, though at 952 feet in length and 2,974 passengers, it is no dinghy. It is one of Carnival's Conquest-class ships, and in 2011, the ship went through a major refurbishment as part of Carnival's $500 million Fun Ship 2.0 initiative.
Before I continue with this post, let me reiterate that we loved our time on Carnival Liberty. However, if this ship was refurbished just 4 years ago, it has gone through a lot of wear and tear since, and Carnival has neglected to maintain a few of the refurbished spaces (pools needing paint, light bulbs needing replacement). That being said, 95% of the ship is beautiful, and we enjoyed the majority of our cruise. Therefore, I'm going to give you a tour of the ship by sharing some of my favorite photos.
Our cabin: We had a standard balcony cabin on Deck 6. We are simple travelers; we don't need a suite. However, I must have a balcony...no compromising there. One of the best features of the room was the mattress. The exclusive "Carnival Comfort Bed" was one of the best mattresses I've slept on: firm without being hard and great cushy pillows.
The food: Many other Carnival cruise passengers will agree that a Guy's Burger and fries is one of the best food experiences on a Carnival ship. We agree!
As far as rating the food and the dining overall on this ship, our eating experiences ranged from pretty good to awful. Most of the food was delicious, and the dining room service got better as the week progressed (the first night's service was simple terrible which left us wondering how it would be the remainder of the cruise). The main issue was temperature of the food. Lukewarm really isn't a good thing, but after so many complaints to our waiter, it got to the point where we just dealt with it. I believe one factor was not enough waitstaff per table.
The decor: Here is where I will give a thumbs up. I really liked the way the ship was decorated.
The wrought-iron chandeliers in the public areas had multi-colored lights which changed color constantly. The different colors showed reflections in the floor.
The staircase railings were also wrought-iron scroll work. Decorative scroll work was on the tiles lining the atrium walls and the walls of the elevators.
Czar's Palace Casino: A major highlight of our cruise was winning $175 on the slot machines in a period of less than 10 minutes. Needless to say, we left right after that.
The interior bars and lounges:
Casino Bar: I love those multi-colored lighted chandeliers!
Hot and Cool Nightclub:
The Stage Lounge:
The Alchemy Bar:
Piano Man Bar:
Victoria Aft Lounge:
This is where we saw two really good comedy acts. I really loved the chairs they had in this lounge.
Venetian Palace Main Show Lounge:
with the Venetian carnival masks decorating the tables...
We saw musical song and dance shows here including a darling Towel Animal Theatre, a puppet show featuring talking and singing towel animals. It might have been targeted to children, but this big kid loved it. I still something sing in my head: Towels Just Wanna Have Fun, a parody to Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
These photos show you that Carnival Liberty really is a beautifully decorated ship, and we had a wonderful time aboard. The few issues experienced with dining room service and food temperature did nothing to deter us from having a wonderful time on our cruise. We can't wait for our next cruise!
Thank you for visiting,
A Great Europe Trip Planner
All photos were taken by my husband and me during our Carnival cruise in April, 2015.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.
We sailed on Carnival Liberty for three reasons: First, it sailed out of San Juan. I really wanted to revisit San Juan because I fell in love with the city on our previous cruise (see that blog post here). Second reason was it was a ship we had never sailed on before, and third, it sailed the particular itinerary we wanted, specifically to the islands of Barbados and St. Lucia which we had never visited and had always wanted to.
Compared to the last two ships we sailed on, Carnival Liberty is a smaller ship, though at 952 feet in length and 2,974 passengers, it is no dinghy. It is one of Carnival's Conquest-class ships, and in 2011, the ship went through a major refurbishment as part of Carnival's $500 million Fun Ship 2.0 initiative.
Before I continue with this post, let me reiterate that we loved our time on Carnival Liberty. However, if this ship was refurbished just 4 years ago, it has gone through a lot of wear and tear since, and Carnival has neglected to maintain a few of the refurbished spaces (pools needing paint, light bulbs needing replacement). That being said, 95% of the ship is beautiful, and we enjoyed the majority of our cruise. Therefore, I'm going to give you a tour of the ship by sharing some of my favorite photos.
Our cabin: We had a standard balcony cabin on Deck 6. We are simple travelers; we don't need a suite. However, I must have a balcony...no compromising there. One of the best features of the room was the mattress. The exclusive "Carnival Comfort Bed" was one of the best mattresses I've slept on: firm without being hard and great cushy pillows.
The food: Many other Carnival cruise passengers will agree that a Guy's Burger and fries is one of the best food experiences on a Carnival ship. We agree!
As far as rating the food and the dining overall on this ship, our eating experiences ranged from pretty good to awful. Most of the food was delicious, and the dining room service got better as the week progressed (the first night's service was simple terrible which left us wondering how it would be the remainder of the cruise). The main issue was temperature of the food. Lukewarm really isn't a good thing, but after so many complaints to our waiter, it got to the point where we just dealt with it. I believe one factor was not enough waitstaff per table.
The decor: Here is where I will give a thumbs up. I really liked the way the ship was decorated.
The staircase railings were also wrought-iron scroll work. Decorative scroll work was on the tiles lining the atrium walls and the walls of the elevators.
Hot and Cool Nightclub:
The Stage Lounge:
This is where we saw two really good comedy acts. I really loved the chairs they had in this lounge.
with the Venetian carnival masks decorating the tables...
We saw musical song and dance shows here including a darling Towel Animal Theatre, a puppet show featuring talking and singing towel animals. It might have been targeted to children, but this big kid loved it. I still something sing in my head: Towels Just Wanna Have Fun, a parody to Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
On the Pool Deck:
Blue Iguana Tequila Bar
Pools, whirlpools and waterslide:
Below also shows the Red Frog Rum Bar from where I got all those delicious strawberry daiquiris!
Lit up at night:
Thank you for visiting,
A Great Europe Trip Planner
Unauthorized use is prohibited.
