Tons of Fun, Wonderful Staff, Great Value

It's been many too many years since I've been on a Carnival ship.  Last cruise aboard the Victory (in 2001) did not disappoint, and last week's cruise aboard Carnival Liberty was even better.  If I had to pick just one standout element - it was the staff.  While we had excellent service in the past, it seemed like they've taken it to yet another level on this ship.  To a person, it seemed like everybody was in the "going above and beyond" mode, and the friendliness was genuine.  Special shout-outs to: Made, our wonderful room steward - he radiates good energy and took great care of us; Gideon, Laurean, and Steve - our waitstaff - our group had a bunch of tables, but we always sat at the same place so we could have them - they made our dining experience so fun and were just the best.  Speaking of dining, loved the new steak and lobster entree options for just $20 additional - had the Maine lobster tail and a perfectly cooked petite filet one night and you can't get that anywhere on land for only $20.  Also managed to check out Guy's Burgers (split the burger and fries with a friend and enjoyed every bite), Mongolian Wok, and all I can say about Pizza Pirate is if there was a place near me that made pizza like they do, I'd be in big trouble - the PERFECT pizza.  Plenty of options in the buffet - only complaint there was please bring back trays in the buffet restaurant!  Very hard to try to carry everything at once, and a tray would make things so much easier.  Only other negative was I hope Carnival will consider following suit of some of the other major cruise lines and ban smoking on stateroom balconies - and there were still parts of the ship that just reeked of smoke (anywhere near the casino, for instance).

Back to the positives - the ship was super clean, the entertainment was great.  Got dragged to a few shows I'd normally never have attended - they were so silly, yet we laughed so hard - if a person tends to take themselves too seriously or just needs a break from their life, they should get themselves on a Carnival ship as soon as possible - they don't call it "The Fun Ships" for nothing.  Terrific bang for the buck.