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Good Trip on the Carnival Liberty

Palermo (Sicily)

Loyal Carnival cruisers will defend Carnival even as they receive subpar product. The condition of the ship is abhorrent & is long overdue for dry dock. Carnival is prioritizing profits at the expense of their core demographic by operating these older ships like slumlords. As someone who prefers older and smaller trips because they normally have unique itineraries, I will stick other cruiselines where the guest experience is comprehensive. The amazing crew and entertainment on the Liberty are the only saving graces since your consistently assaulted with the scent of raw sewage, broken seating, leaking ceilings, inadequate wifi that doesn't even consistently support their own app, clogged plumbing, understaffing, poor deck designs (we thought someone was coming through the ceiling during our spa treatment), rusted pools, dirty windows, lack of outdoor seating, and broken in cabin fixtures/furniture. The crew are truly the gem of this ship and they cannot be thanked enough for their hard work and dedication.

Whew

The food is terrible. The main dining room seems to have the same food every night. And what food they had was not tasty. We ate mostly in the buffet. Again even that food didn’t taste good. The sweet section had no taste. 

We had an ocean view balcony. It only had one electrical outlet. Had to take turns changing our phones. 

And oh the sewage smell. 

Our cabin didn’t cooldown. I had the thermometer turned down all the way and it didn’t do anything. 

The ship needs to be decommissioned and scrapped. 

Customer service had an attitude when you asked a question. 

We couldn’t wait to get off this ship. 

Entertainment was lacking. No great performance acts. 

The bad news is we have a 14 day future cruise on the same ship in 77 days to the Panama Canal and South America. I’m thinking seriously about canceling our cruise.

Disappointed 

First cruise so I don't have anything to compare to but I really enjoyed the trip.  There were a few issues with the ship smelling like sewage which several other passengers complained about as well.  I understand Liberty is an older ship and realize things happen so I still rated 4 stars.  The crew were awesome, service was great, everyone seemed happy!  The food was great, the shows were fun and the sunrises were out of this world.  I felt safe at the ports we went to and have no other complaints than the ones listed above.  I will be using Carnival again, and may even give Liberty another go b/c it truly is a beautiful ship and has a nostalgic feel to it.  All in all a very nice experience.  Would go again in a heartbeat!  Carnival did me well and prices on board were cheaper than I expected.

First Cruise

Pros: Amiable and friendly staff throughout the ship, nice variety of activities aboard.

Cons: Horrible sewage smell often in our cabin and other areas around the ship. Wish the A/C worked better in our cabin and throughout the ship. Dirty and dingy condition throughout - not unclean - just beat up looking walls and fixtures and rust streaked windows. Small pools that you aren't allowed to jump or splash in that are full of the saltiest water imaginable constantly burning your children's eyes. Extremely overpriced drinks and shady billing practices - don't forget to check your itemized receipts. You will get nickel and dimed for everything on this trip, so budget accordingly. Long lines and over-crowdedness everywhere. Expect 1.5 hours for each dining restaurant dinner. Dress codes not enforced - don't be surprised to see folks in their swimsuits in the dining rooms. Often found buffet lines closed around meal times. Buffet food was not great, and you get tired of eating the few things that are actually good.

In my opinion, they need to refurbish this ship and increase the staffing to meet customer needs and shorten wait times. In reality, they should probably just retire this ship.

Time to put the Liberty down.

Embarkation was fine, we enjoyed the port of New Orleans it was a different experience than those from Florida.  The ship was mid-size and lacks the newer amenities but overall it is in good shape and really all we need is a pool and a drink.  

The cabins, while dated, we overall ok.  The bath seemed a bit larger than the newer ships.  The main bed was a bit too soft and worn out.  There was dust on the furniture, so upkeep is lacking.  But our steward was very friendly and did the towel animals which the kids loved.  We had a balcony which was decent sized.

The ship is from the Carnival era of garish decor with a central atrium.    I kind of enjoyed that, as we sailed the Panorama last year and it seemed a bit dull.  The layout of the ship however left much to be desired, especially if you had a set time dining.  It is in the back of the ship, and you had to go through the huge casino to get there.  There was a disappointing amount of choice when it came to bars, mostly pool bars, lobby and the Alchemy.  Which, by the way, watered down its drinks profusely.  There also seemed to be a lot of underused spaces that could be positioned better.

Dining was a triumph of mediocricy.  Poor choice meats, overcooked fish, limp vegetables (which we joked came off the buffet).  Just not a good experience.  The lobster and prime rib were the only highlights. 

 There isn't much of a choice either, as alternatives are the limited buffet or the steakhouse.

The shows were good and had variety.  The kids clubs were pretty good.  

We enjoyed all three ports - Jamaica, (private beach), Grand Cayman (Turtle Center) and Cozumel (Paradise Beach...beautiful!).  None were booked through the cruise line.

Sadly, cost cutting is evident everywhere.  The tablecloths in the dining room are long gone, which gives it a diner feel.  But now they even took away the drink straws (except frozen drinks).  That is too much for me.   

This may have been my last Carnival cruise.

The Final Straw

Ship is pretty old and small. We had 17 people in a hot tub at one time. If you were on the 1st or 2nd floor and your room is in the middle of the ship you will smell sewage after the 2nd day. Also there was a cafeteria over my room and would wake me and my family up everyday at 4 am clanging and banging. They only served bacon 3 days on the cruise. They would also randomly just not open half of the lido deck buffet and lines would be really long. The ship was hot the whole time. On elegant night I sweated terribly. My room was so hot I never used a blanket. The crew was always nice and did a good job cleaning. Just an old, small, crowded ship. Also got tired of the upselling at every meal. Parking at the port is nice.

Old and overcrowded 

The wait staff at the restaurant was rude and impatient causing us to not return to the main dining room. The staff at the jewelry store was discriminatory and rude causing us to not return. The food on the buffet was cold and flavorless. The hot tub burned my wife and was even admitted to by the staff after they had to close the hottub. Multiple fights and a missing child. Children banging on the doors all evening. Not once did guest services care or even acknowledge any of it. When we returned home we found out us along with multiple others had bed bugs which explains the red marks we thought was caused by the linens as well as covid. This was our first and definitely last cruise ever thanks to carnival. And carnivals response since the cruise has been " we provided what we feel is a fair experience".

First and last time cruising.

The ship was in good working, but seemed understaffed. They don’t clean the rooms like they used to, I think they have more rooms assigned to them now.  I have been on 8 cruises with Carnival and the food in the main dining room was horrible! 1 out of 7 days was good. Soup was cold everyday, the chocolate “melting” cake lacked any cake and the menu was bad. I don’t like to complain and maybe it is just the port. So no more New Orleans for me and if my next cruise is like this there are other cruise lines that want my business. Wanted to talk to the Mater Di and he didn’t show up. Maybe the Captain should walk around and see what is going on, I didn’t see the officers out and about the ship like others in the past. Quality control is needed for the ship.

Bad Experience 

Monaco (Monte Carlo)

So we've been on 5 cruises now and this was unfortunately the worst one, and made me rethink if it's time that I just moved away from Carnival to one of the more upscale brands. Here's why:

- The balcony we booked at the front of the ship flooded every morning due to the bridge using a window washing system. It soaked everything and rendered the balcony unusable until the afternoons, which is a shame because usually we like to eat breakfast out there

- The ships is old and the doors to the balcony don't properly latch. Until the tech came out there twice, the door would whistle at night and allow humid air into the room.

- The people on the ship were not friendly for the most part or pleasant. We try to sit in shared tables as an example to meet others. The only other couple that showed up did so 30-45 minutes late, and then proceeded to look at their phones or ignore us. The people in the cabin next door spent most of their time fighting with each other loudly and then "making up" just as loudly. Others spent time loudly complaining in line or jumping lines entirely. Rough crowds across the board.

- $61 worth of Miller Lite was charged to my card somehow on the private island. I don't drink Miller Lite ever. When I brought this to the attention of guest services they say they would clear it up and send me an email. They did neither.

- We were on a 4/3 back to back. We never received a letter in our room telling us what to do or where to go on the first disembarkation. We had to ask three different people (steward, guest services, and officer) where to go and got three different times told to us. Showing up to the earliest one at the room that wasn't marked on the actual map, we had to wait 45 minutes because it was actually the latest time. Upon arrival of the staff, they didn't have our information and had to go find it. Meanwhile about 80% of the other guests on the B2B got their envelopes and information with no issues. Just an unfortunately few of us were lost. 

- My wife had about $70 left after playing in the casino and tried to cash out her money to her card. This then failed apparently because nothing was on it. We challenged this and the casino host looked both that he was bored with us and didn't believe us. Luckily, I know the exact amounts and machine she was on when it happened, which when he actually did some checking was still on the machine. Suddenly he was apologetic. Nothing like getting treated like a liar to really make dropping hundreds of dollars in the place less fun.

- Tea time on this ship is a massive disappointment. Compared to the Mardi Gras, you get basically three cake items and some lukewarm water. There were no scones, no strawberries, no cream, and no other tea sandwiches. I watched a video of another ship to remind myself recently what it was supposed to look like and this was nothing close.

- The Deli guys is completely overworked. Sandwiches are good, but the line is so long because at most there are two guys working it and usually just one of the same guy for almost 12 hours a day. It's crazy what kind of hours they put on that guy, so the lines stack up. Pizza was much faster as an example.

Why I gave it 2 stars instead of one star?

- Our steward Gusti was excellent. He provided more pillows, ice in the room everyday, an excellent job cleaning, and he was always smiling and greeting us by name in the hallways when we passed. The guy really tries and he was one of the few staff I could say that about on this ship.

- The steakhouse experience was excellent although it's an upcharge. I had the Dover Sole and it was as good as I would expect on land, and you get a free bottle of wine if you go on the first night. Service was good, but like most service on this ship very little of it was "friendly" like I've seen on other ships. I get the feeling people working here don't like their jobs, which is a stark contrast to the Mardi Gras or Elation which I went on.

- The Fun Squad really tries hard to engage on the events and did a good job pumping people up. It's one of the true difference makers for Carnival and I enjoy watching them work.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this ship, and I'm looking to likely try Princess in the future to see how the next level up in Carnival's brand works out. Honestly, it feels like post-pandemic Carnival has really made the food hit or miss in quality and the staff looks harried. I honestly don't care about most of the cuts made, but when I can't remember a standout meal other than the steakhouse, and I know I spent a lot of nights eating pizza to make up for mediocre dinners, that's not a good sign.

This ship isn't like the others, in a bad way

Terrible! This is not my first cruise and this experience was terrible. All of the staff were rude, the food was terrible and they closed things like the bbq place, the burger place and some of the bars very early (about 6pm). I have never had such an experience. My elderly mother was in the buffet at breakfast and told an employee that they were out of coffee and he said “go somewhere else.” The bartenders and servers were not even friendly. The room steward said hello and did an ok job cleaning up the room but never spoke to us again. Trash laying around, ashtrays not emptied and had to ask for a server to get a drink after waiting an hour on the sun deck. Our day at sea consisted of stopping and floating along the Florida coast with buildings in sight all day. Do not recommend this ship!

Do not recommend 

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