The final day on the Carnival Liberty came and went as we spent the day docked in Freeport, Bahamas. Now if you’ve ever been to Freeport, you’ll appreciate me saying, “why the hell would any cruise line pick this as a port-of-call?”
We pulled into port, which looked more like a bombed-out city left over from World War II. Definitely not the ideal place to do sightseeing. The port is a commercial port that just so happens to serve passenger ships such as the ultra-cheap, Bahamas Celebration which happened to be berthed next to us.
Not wanting to leave without at least getting a selfie, I forcibly removed myself from the ship and made my way down the gangplank to the makeshift straw market where I found the “Welcome to Freeport” sign, clicked away, and walked right back.
Remarkably, throughout the day the ship was pretty empty. The Senor Frogs at the dock was not. I gazed down in amazement as people, one by one, went into the watering hole for a booze-filled afternoon of fun and games until vomiting shut you off and one or two of your friends carried you back to the ship.
With everyone off the boat exploring beautiful, downtown Freeport (please, I’m being sarcastic), I made my way up to Deck 10 where I scored a lounger smack dab in the middle of the sun. Once oiled up, I basted away for much of the afternoon until the blisters appeared and I made my way to the bar for a few cold beers and a slice of pizza. The pizza by the way wasn’t bad – if you like a thin crust with barely enough sauce and cheese to make it worthwhile.
I should have gone for another one of Guy’s burgers, but I’m terrified of stepping on the scale after two of those this week.
We pulled out of Freeport around 4pm and I headed back to my stateroom to pack up. Over and over on the television, the cruise director told us that in addition to our luggage tags, we would receive a debarkation packet with information on approximate times and the conditions that needed to be met in order to self-disembark. When that didn’t arrive by 9pm I tracked down my stateroom stewardess to ask her if she had the packet. She explained that the video that has been playing all day is old that they no longer hand out packets, and that I should just wait for my number to be called in the morning.
Really?
Cruise director fail. But hey, he kept me completely informed of every single sale that was going on in the “Fun Shops,” what time the Love & Marriage show was being held, and drilling it into each of our heads that this was a “must-see” show, and I can’t forget to give him credit for pushing the Carnival MasterCard with Fun Points at every given opportunity.
After packing my belongings I headed up to the steakhouse for dinner, where I got the 18oz ribeye which wasn’t bad, although I seem to think it shrunk in the wash because it looked nothing like the beef that was laid out on the presentation tray. Now that was an 18oz hunk of meat, what was on my plate wasn’t. But it wasn’t bad.
No after-dinner cocktails for me as I wanted to get to bed early in anticipation of hearing the chimes wake me up at an ungodly hour saying “time to get off the boat.” Now, I would have had a few libations, but without that information packet telling me an approximate time group 8 would be called, I didn’t know if it was going to be 7am, 8am or 10am.
In either case, I was off the ship by 9:30am and getting through the baggage hall and through customs wasn’t that bad considering 3,400 people were doing the same.
So here’s the recap:
The Ship – The Carnival Liberty as a ship wasn’t bad. Its design is pure Carnival, so if you like gaudy décor, you’ll love it, but after all, this is a “fun ship.” While there are some areas on the exterior that need attention, rust and repainting, the ship is pretty well maintained and I constantly saw the crew out and about scrubbing, polishing, sweeping and shampooing where ignorant passengers would drop ice cream cones and just leave them there. When I was in the elevator the other day, someone left their bowl of Rice Krispies in the elevator – yes, that’s hard to imagine, but someone did do it – a crew member from the spa, who was in the elevator with me, picked up the bowl, apologized for it being there and took it with her.
Some features of the ship left me a bit curious, such as the metal detectors in the atrium stairs, the clocks that didn’t tell the right time, corridors and stairwells that led nowhere, the fact that the outdoor promenade deck was inaccessible except for during the muster drill, and the lack of a walk around promenade deck which is something that I love on a ship.
The Stateroom – I had an extended aft balcony stateroom, which was billed as having a “large” balcony. While the balcony may have been a few inches bigger than a standard balcony, I certainly wouldn’t call it large. The fact that the balcony was not sheltered and had a glass front to it made it a steamy place to hang out during the day as there was no breeze and the sun just baked anyone who sat out there. The room was sufficient for one person and the bathroom stand-alone shower was one of the largest I’ve had on a ship. While I couldn’t get a hot shower for the life of me, it was still ok as far as ship showers go.
The Food – After having dinner in the main dining room on the first night, I vowed not to go back there for the rest of the cruise. Service was very slow, beverage service was even slower. Portions were exceptionally small and the food was not very tasty. I never left a cruise dinner hungry, so congratulations Carnival for making that happen. It’s a perfect sales pitch for the steakhouse! I ate breakfast at the buffet once and lunch there once as well. Typical buffet food. Nothing too exciting. The plusses were the Guy’s Burger Joint and the Diamond’s Steakhouse which is well worth the $35 cover. The Taco & Burrito stand did not look appetizing enough for me to celebrate Taco Tuesday and the pizza was just, eh. Room service breakfast is strictly continental and the all-day menu was blah.
The Passengers – Carnival attracts an audience looking to have a good time. On this cruise, they were well represented. While I like to turn up just as much as the next guy, I like to start my drinking in the late afternoon, not 8am like most people did on this ship. For the most part, this was a booze cruise fueled by buckets of beer, sweet frozen drinks, and free-flowing tequila. The young crowd went wild for it and it got a little old walking around the ship throughout the day and night contending with drunk people. There were plenty of kids on board and only a few seniors. The young crowd was not my cup of tea as I prefer to cruise with an older, relaxed group of passengers who are more concerned about what time High Tea is being served rather than what time the hairy chest contest starts. Some of the passengers made me a little uncomfortable at times but didn’t take away from the overall cruise. One thing I don’t get with some passengers is WHY they feel compelled to litter the hallways with room service trays full of their leftover garbage. I never saw this EVER on another ship until this one.
So…. with this being my first Carnival cruise, would I do it again? I would have to say no. The non-stop action of a Carnival cruise and the frat house environment 24/7 isn’t for me. Perhaps because it was a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise where you’re expected to party as opposed to an Alaskan or Canada/New England cruise where you’re expected to take in the scenery, made me come to this conclusion. But there’s more to that. The food wasn’t up to par, the ship was too large, the service was more relaxed than refined and to be honest, this 5-day Carnival cruise cost more than my previous 7-day cruise last month on Holland America Line’s Veendam. I tried hard to find reasons for the higher price but just can’t find them.
So Carnival it’s been “fun,” but you’re not for me. Maybe if I can go back in time and be 21 again, we can be friends, but I’m going to stick to what I enjoy best – less fun and more refinement. At least I can say “been there and done that.”
Next up, I’ll be on the inaugural sailing of Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Quantum of the Seas over the Thanksgiving holiday. While I’m not really a fan of Royal either, having the opportunity to be on a ship’s first cruise is something I find exciting. I’ll have to contend with 4,000 people on that ship as well, but I’ll have a few months to prepare myself. That is unless I decide to hop on another ship in the meantime, which you never know… I may just do!
Personal Day-By-Day Carnival Liberty Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the Carnival Liberty:
No vacation would be complete without a ton of photos, right? For this particular cruise, I took a bunch of photos of the ship’s interior, pool areas, the stateroom itself, and more. Photos can be found by in the Carnival Liberty Photo Tour as well as in the day-by-day review of the cruise at the links above.