Carnival Liberty to Nassau and Princess Cays
Carnival Liberty Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 17
4 Night Bahamas (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 13, 2023
Ship: Carnival Liberty
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 7235
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
Overall we had a great cruising experience, while the ship needs some repairs the crew still does a great job keeping it clean and looking nice. The crew are all very friendly, and welcoming of everyone, including children. If you're looking for a great family friendly cruise line this is the one to go with!Embarkation
The port is a large area and parking was hard to find due to multiple parking garages but having to park in a specific one and the others being blocked off. Boarding the boat was a quick and easy process. The employees are all very efficient and help it go fast.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The main dining room was nice, the menu had new options every night and the food was delicious. The buffet had lots of options and they changed the meat options every day so you didn't have to have the same thing every day.
Onboard Activities
There wasn't a lot to do, it was mostly the same thing every day, a rock concert and comedy show. There was a different movie on the lido deck every night, which was a nice way to wind down the night with children.
Entertainment
Children's Programs
We didn't use the kids club, but the crew is very welcoming to children and even helped me with my autistic son at dinner when he was hiding under the table overwhelmed. Our waiter got him out from under the table, got him to dance with him during dinner performance and then my son sat back at the table in his chair after that. They also looked out for the children, he spilled his drink at breakfast buffet and a crew member appeared out of no where with a towels then grabbed my son a new cup of milk.
Service and Staff
The service was excellent. The room stewards remembered our names, including my sons, on the first day. He greeted us and asked about our day each time he saw us coming or going from our cabin. The servers were all quick to take your order and bring food/drinks. They even returned a tumbler to us that was left at our dinner table to the night before. They found it, put it away for safekeeping, memorized our names, then returned it without us asking the next night. The crew we interacted with throughout the cruise were all very friendly.
Ship Quality
The crew did a great job keeping the ship clean, but there were a lot of issues with the boat. By one of the hot tubs there was broken glass that was just taped to stay together. There was work being done on the lido deck during the start of the cruise and throughout the cruise. I understand closing a ship to sailings to repair it cost money and the cruise line loses money, but sometimes it's necessary and with Carnival Liberty I think the ship could definitely benefit from a month break to have some repairs done. Another thing that wasn't really the cruise lines fault, the smell of Marijuana was everywhere. I don't mind what others choose to do, but it came a bit much. The hallways where the cabins were constantly smelled bad because of all the marijuana being smoked, then the smokers trying to cover it up with cheap perfume and cologne. This was something I didn't experience with Royal Caribbean.
Cabin / Stateroom
We stayed in a cabin with a king bed and upper pullman. The beds and pillows were much more comfortable than Royal Caribbean's beds and pillows. There are even extra sheets kept in your cabin closet in case you need them between housekeeping cleans. There were so many storage areas, way more than Royal Caribbean. So we had plenty of space to keep all 3 guests belongings. Even the bathroom had more shelf space. The only downfall was we only had one outlet in the room area near the bed, then one in the bathroom up above the mirror. So charging out phones was a little tricky, we had to rotate them.
Ports of call
There are lots of things to do in the surrounding area while waiting for your boarding time.
Thumbs Up
0
There were a lot of people on the streets shoving products at you as you passed, just like an tourist area. We just smiled and continued walking and they left you along after that. We visited the pirate museum where the staff were very friendly. We visited the beach as well which was very packed and busy, but a beautiful, clean beach with a bar right on the water. We visited a seafood restaurant for lunch which was also very clean and delicious.
Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)
Since Princess Cays is owned by Carnival we were the only boat there, and it was very peaceful. We chose to go to the area with just a beach rather than where excursions and products were sold. We still had staff walk up ready to get us whatever drinks we wanted. Unfortunately even though you use your sail and sign card on the island the drinks aren't included in the drink package. The beach was a little dirtier than the bahamas, a few cigarette butts were just laying in the sand, but it was overall clean and beautiful.
Disembarkation
No matter what a cruise line does, there are still hundred of people trying to exit all at once, so the line was long and wrapped around most of deck 5. However, Carnival has definitely figured out a great system. When exiting Royal Carribeans ship they just had everyone line up all at once to exit whenever, which was a nightmare. With Carnival they called you by muster station to exit, the staff were all quick and efficient about getting everyone off the ship. We were off the ship and in our car leaving within 30 minutes of disembarkation begining (we were muster station A)