We've been on the Magic and Mardi Gras within the past 4 months, so we're a bit spoiled with the new ships. We were last on the Liberty about two years ago, so we knew what to expect. I think in the future, we'll stick to the newer ships. This cruise was different in that there were so few guests onboard. With a capacity of 2,900+ I don't think was more than 1,000 guests. It seemed that there was actually more crew than guests. Never any lines anywhere, and the main dining room and Lido restaurant were nearly empty. Very few people were using the deck chairs around the pools and the Serenity areas, which are normally full. Of all the times we used the elevators each day, there was only one time that we "shared" an elevator with someone else. Normally, you would think that a low occupancy would be good for guests, but it seemed a little eerie and I was concerned about the crew being compensated from gratuities with so many cabins being empty and so few people in the MDR. Even with so few guests, as a credit to Carnival, every station on the ship was fully staffed, even if it meant that some crew members would be spending most of their time doing nothing.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We had an early check-in time (10:00-10:30), and there were no lines at all. Emabarkation was at the new, large Terminal 3. Upon boarding, we attempted to check-in at our muster station, but no crew was present until later.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Fairly typical Carnival fare in the MDR, and there are usually 2 entrees from the MDR available at the Lido dinner buffet. On this cruise, because of the low passenger count only 1 of 4 dinner buffet lines was open and yet there was no line. The entire Lido buffet area was nearly empty the entire cruise. In addition, most of the MDR wait staff were standing around with nothing to do because there were so few guests. We ate dinner in the MDR 3 nights (each night at a different time), and there were no more than 12-15 tables occupied on the lower level, and fewer on the upper level. Even so, service was a bit slow with one couple at another table complaining that they had to wait 45 minutes for their food. At the Seaday Brunch, my wife's order was brought to the table after a few minutes, but mine wasn't brought until 30 minutes later. Guests at the next table arrived after us, ordered their food and finished their meal by the time mine was delivered. Again, the restaurant had just a few occupied tables. The Lido buffet always had a good variety of food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I tried the Ol' Fashion BBQ for the first time, and it was actually better than expected.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We had already seen the two Playlist Productions shows on a previous cruise several months ago, so we skipped these. There were two comedians - the one we saw for the "all-ages" show was so-so, however I can see it's hard to play to a sparse audience. We particularly enjoyed the violin trio that played in the main lobby.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Room steward service was perfect, as usual. One thing I noticed on this cruise was that wait staff made no attempt to address guests by name. This is something that was mandatory on the Mardi Gras a couple of months ago - and verified by managers when exiting the restaurant.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The Liberty is beginning to show her age, especially when compared to some of the newer, larger ships. The Lido restaurant appeared to have all new seating, giving it a fresh look. Some of the chairs in the MDR were beat up and in need of refinishing. Everything onboard was clean and the crew seemed to be doing a good job of keeping everything clean and sanitized throughout the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Everything was in good working order, and clean. We always choose an oceanview or balcony cabin because they're considerably larger than the inside cabins. Bed was a little soft, but yet comfortable, and the linens and pillows are good quality.
Disembarkation was quick and easy. Guests could begin leaving the ship at 7:30am, and because the ship didn't have many guests, all zones were called by 8am.
Thanks for your review. I sailed on the Liberty 3 years ago and had a great time. This was pre- pandemic. I can understand that with low occupancy rate that it felt eerie! I too was on Mardi Gras recently and loved that ship!
Was on the same ship. I agree with everything you said. We were told that there were 800 guests. We noticed that a few of the elevators were out of service but not marked, the drink machines on the lido were mostly out of service and they had people pouring the drinks and we experienced no water at all one morning and the next morning we had no hot water.
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7 Comments
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