Girls' Carnival Cruise

Carnival Liberty Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 91

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Carnival Liberty

4 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 27, 2016

Ship: Carnival Liberty

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1452

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The ship itself was probably the best part of the cruise, it was very nicely decorated.  Unfortunately, though it had insufficient quieter areas.   The food was adequate (apart from the first dinner on board) but not anywhere near as good as the 2 previous cruises I've been on with Royal Caribbean & Princess.   Again, in comparison with these two companies, Carnival's alcohol prices are extortionate & a drink package had to be purchased by both people in the cabin & not just one.  Useless when 1 person drinks & the other person doesn't.   Part way in, we learnt it was cheaper to by drinks as "doubles" as they only charge $3 extra as opposed to 2 full charges.

 

Sadly, as a result of an injury on board, the ship got 2 hours out & returned to Galveston.  Tried to make up time overnight & blew something in the engine which prevented it from achieving it's highest speed.  Therefore, we arrived half a day late at Cozumel &  only had 5 hours there.  On return to Galveston, we were 10/12 hours behind schedule.

 

Carnival refunded our wifi costs but cut me off on the last day. The other 7 in my party still had theirs!  In addition, they refunded some people's gratuities but not everyone's.  I've complained to Carnival as this is an unfair practice but have not received satisfaction.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Apart from the meal we purchased in the steak restaurant, which was excellent.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Pools too small & too many people

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
Didn't have children with us so don't know. I suspect inadequate............

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Could not believe how friendly & helpful (and apparently happy in their jobs!) they were

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Other than there being insufficient "quieter' areas

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
I was pleasantly surprised. it was very nicely decorated and adequate space for 2 people. We had more than enough storage space - 1 closet sections, 1 closet with just shelves and plenty drawers & cupboards. Bathroom was adequate other than the shower area which was just a shower curtain & a very small (2/3 ins.) ledge around the base. As a result, the bathroom floor got very wet after someone showered & we had to put the bath towel/s on the floor to mop up the water so we didn't slip. Hence we ended up low on towels!

Ship tip

1. Try to go with another company! 2. Resolve issues before you leave the ship-after they don't care at all. 3. If you share, try 2 make it with someone who drinks alcohol if you do so you can both buy packages.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5
Port terminal is, frankly, old & too small. Didn't have time to see hardly anything of Galveston itself.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
You basically only see an area of shops that's designed for people coming off the cruise ships unless you take transport & head inland............. Prices were the same as in the US!
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10 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

mistyblue13    7 years ago

im going jan 19th on the liberty. im super excited as its my 1st cruise

judymutt    8 years ago

I am going on Dec29th just 15 days or so after it comes out of dry dock.

larrywest    8 years ago

Thanks For the correction, Lisa. We'll be on the Liberty for her last voyage before drydocking. I think it would be kind of cool if we could get on her 1st voyage after retrofitting & updating; just to see the differences 1st hand.

loves2cruise2    8 years ago

larrywest    8 years ago

img1988, the Liberty goes in to dry dock for refurbishing on Dec 5th, 2016 (+/- a few days) so it should be really nice & update by the time you get her in June '17.

LMG1988    8 years ago

I just got an email that they have changed is from the Valor June 2017, to the Liberty... just checking reviews. 😕

cynthiagrant    8 years ago

Understandable.

alicia53    8 years ago

We sail on the 10th and they have change our port of call from Cozumel to Progreso due to the problem. We are very disappointed.

loves2cruise2    8 years ago

So sorry 😢😢

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