Honeibee
<font color=darkgreen>Lives in Fear of Sweeps<br><
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2005
- Messages
- 3,080
Last Sunday we flew out of New York to Fort Lauderdale at 6:00am. This was no small feat considering we had to wake up the four kids (two sons 16 & 14) and two daughters (10 & 11) at 3:00am. We had a smooth flight and all went well during embarkation. The lines were incredibly long, but moved very quickly. The Liberty is a fairly new ship, having just been put in the water last fall. And it's so beautiful! It was build in Italy and the Italian craftsmanship shows everywhere. I was totally blown away by the Venetian Palace theatre. It was so gorgeous! 
We set sail Sunday afternoon and Monday morning we docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Our shore excursion was swimming with the dolphins, which was an absolute blast! We all loved it!
Next day was a day at sea. There is so much to do, no one in our party was ever bored. There are clubs and activities for every age group.
Wednesday we went to Grand Cayman, and to be honest I don't know what town we were in. I love Grand Cayman, but man was it crowded. I was there 22 years ago and we were the only two on Seven Mile Beach. This time you could barely find a place to sit. My DH went diving with #1 son and they thought it was fantastic.
Thursday we went to Costa Maya, Mexico, which is really just a little shopping area and a pier. We took an excursion to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins and it was great. I really don't have an interest in Mayan culture but the guides were so entertaining and knowledgeable it was really interesting and a lot of fun.
Friday was at sea. A nice relaxing day in the sun!
Debarkation was a breeze. We had a 3:00pm flight so we didn't have to rush.
I give Carnival very high marks for....
Dining...the food and service were superb!
The ship....besides being gorgeous, it was clean everywhere all the time.
The shore excursions....Carnival must have screened their vendors very carefully as they were all fabulous.
Being so organized....Everything was always so efficient, from embarkation to getting off at the ports, to debarkation....everything went quickly and without issues.
The staff...everyone, from the Captain to the Cruise Director, the room stewart, the pursers, the headwaiter, waiters, sommelier...everyone was friendly, helpful and professional.
And for my WISH buddies.....I did walk three times. The gym was, of course, outfitted with all the latest state of the art equipment, so I hopped on a TM the second day but the seas were a bit rough and the gym is on the 12th level so you could really feel the ship move. It was kind of hard on my knees. I had to hold on most of the time to keep my balance. The next day I went up to the track. Even at 6:00am there was already a fair amount of people up there. Which I applaud. However, many of them were either casual walkers, or just plain nuts. Let me explain.
The casual walkers were the ones who didn't have any clue about track etiquette. Not that they necessarily needed to, but come on. If you are walking around the track drinking your coffee, with people running, jogging and walking around you, don't you think you'd figure it would be a good idea to stay to one side?? Well, many of them didn't. Then there was the three people all walking very slowly next to each other, ahead of me. I came up behind them and said "Excuse me" and snuck around the inside of them. Then on the next lap, same thing. Except this time a fast runner came up and passed me and tried to squeeze past the three. The husband tried to tell the wife to move so what does she do? She starts jogging. (BTW these people were in street clothes and shoes.) Then she turns around to look behind her and trips and falls into her husband. The runner leaps over her legs and keeps going. I almost plowed into them. Thankfully no one was hurt, but a couple of us could have easily been. Could you imagine if I fell and twisted my knee??? On my next lap....there they were again, spread out across the track. I couldn't believe it.
I'm going to suggest to Carnival that they put up a sign. Something like "Slower runners/walkers to the outside of the track please." I suppose in a way it was good practice for me. I got to dodge people. But geez, it was kinda of dangerous.
Then you have the people who, well, really, I don't get. The 300+ pound lady who, in jeans and flip flops, is running full steam ahead, in the middle of the track, her arms flailing, whacking into everyone. Somebody's gonna get hurt there, and it might have been her. And the older gentleman, standing, just standing, in the middle of the track, having his coffee, looking out at the sea. Well, that's nice, but instead of standing in the middle of people running, why don't you try the view from one of the other 8 decks available? Same view. Honest!
The next day I went back to the gym. The seas were still rough so I only did 30 minutes. But then I tried the elliptical machine. Man, that's a great workout! I think we need one of those!
Well, we all had a great time.
The kids want to go again next summer. I'd recommend the Carnival Liberty to anyone, even if it's not Disney. 
Judy
We set sail Sunday afternoon and Monday morning we docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Our shore excursion was swimming with the dolphins, which was an absolute blast! We all loved it!
Next day was a day at sea. There is so much to do, no one in our party was ever bored. There are clubs and activities for every age group.
Wednesday we went to Grand Cayman, and to be honest I don't know what town we were in. I love Grand Cayman, but man was it crowded. I was there 22 years ago and we were the only two on Seven Mile Beach. This time you could barely find a place to sit. My DH went diving with #1 son and they thought it was fantastic.
Thursday we went to Costa Maya, Mexico, which is really just a little shopping area and a pier. We took an excursion to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins and it was great. I really don't have an interest in Mayan culture but the guides were so entertaining and knowledgeable it was really interesting and a lot of fun.
Friday was at sea. A nice relaxing day in the sun!
Debarkation was a breeze. We had a 3:00pm flight so we didn't have to rush.
I give Carnival very high marks for....
Dining...the food and service were superb! The ship....besides being gorgeous, it was clean everywhere all the time. The shore excursions....Carnival must have screened their vendors very carefully as they were all fabulous. Being so organized....Everything was always so efficient, from embarkation to getting off at the ports, to debarkation....everything went quickly and without issues. The staff...everyone, from the Captain to the Cruise Director, the room stewart, the pursers, the headwaiter, waiters, sommelier...everyone was friendly, helpful and professional.And for my WISH buddies.....I did walk three times. The gym was, of course, outfitted with all the latest state of the art equipment, so I hopped on a TM the second day but the seas were a bit rough and the gym is on the 12th level so you could really feel the ship move. It was kind of hard on my knees. I had to hold on most of the time to keep my balance. The next day I went up to the track. Even at 6:00am there was already a fair amount of people up there. Which I applaud. However, many of them were either casual walkers, or just plain nuts. Let me explain.
The casual walkers were the ones who didn't have any clue about track etiquette. Not that they necessarily needed to, but come on. If you are walking around the track drinking your coffee, with people running, jogging and walking around you, don't you think you'd figure it would be a good idea to stay to one side?? Well, many of them didn't. Then there was the three people all walking very slowly next to each other, ahead of me. I came up behind them and said "Excuse me" and snuck around the inside of them. Then on the next lap, same thing. Except this time a fast runner came up and passed me and tried to squeeze past the three. The husband tried to tell the wife to move so what does she do? She starts jogging. (BTW these people were in street clothes and shoes.) Then she turns around to look behind her and trips and falls into her husband. The runner leaps over her legs and keeps going. I almost plowed into them. Thankfully no one was hurt, but a couple of us could have easily been. Could you imagine if I fell and twisted my knee??? On my next lap....there they were again, spread out across the track. I couldn't believe it.
I'm going to suggest to Carnival that they put up a sign. Something like "Slower runners/walkers to the outside of the track please." I suppose in a way it was good practice for me. I got to dodge people. But geez, it was kinda of dangerous.
Then you have the people who, well, really, I don't get. The 300+ pound lady who, in jeans and flip flops, is running full steam ahead, in the middle of the track, her arms flailing, whacking into everyone. Somebody's gonna get hurt there, and it might have been her. And the older gentleman, standing, just standing, in the middle of the track, having his coffee, looking out at the sea. Well, that's nice, but instead of standing in the middle of people running, why don't you try the view from one of the other 8 decks available? Same view. Honest!
The next day I went back to the gym. The seas were still rough so I only did 30 minutes. But then I tried the elliptical machine. Man, that's a great workout! I think we need one of those!
Well, we all had a great time.
The kids want to go again next summer. I'd recommend the Carnival Liberty to anyone, even if it's not Disney. Judy
