Huge DCL fan and cruiser returning from first Carnival cruise Trip Report

[pensfan8771]

due to the quick popularity of my topic I decided to make my own trip report to describe all the aspects of my overall cruise. This is going to be just my opinions on here since it will be rather lengthy and I am going to link this to my thread with the exact same title called "Huge DCL fan and cruiser just returning from first Carnival cruise". So I would apperciate all responses and questions to be on that original thread so I can get to everything at one spot!! Alrighty then...ENJOY!!

 

[pensfan8771]

ok so heres my break down that everyone has been anxiously awaiting
im going to try to do all the main aspects of a cruise and if i forget anything please dont hesitate to ask!!


Embarkation
Port of Miami: My family and I stayed overnight in fort lauderdale and then had a shuttle ride us about roughly 45 minutes to Miami to the terminal. Very beautiful city with it being the first time we have ever been there. While it definatley isn't quite as big as DCL's in Port Canaveral and not decorated in the cruise lines motif, the terminal was actually very nice inside. You walk in at first and there are two seperate sections on the right and left for passangers and to go through security (more security areas that DCL terminal). Following that you go up a set of escalators and open up to a giant area that also has two areas that are the same (A and B) where you wait in line (which went rather quickly) to check in all of the guests in your room on rows of multiple touch screen kiosks where you slide you passports like a credit card at stores...very cool. You recieve a sort of receipt and then wait in a short line that takes about a minute to get the desk and recieve your "sign and sail card" just like the KTTW card on DCL. After that you go up another set of escalators and walk across the platform and step onto the ship. One downfall was that two long lines were formed outside on the deck to enter the ships lobby, one going from lobby to forward and another going opposite to aft.

 

[Curtis McCrea]

Looking forward to some more!

Curtis

 

[pensfan8771]

Sail Away
Prior to our cruise we always heard that there is no sail away party what so ever and people just sit around with drinks to celebrate leaving the home port for Carnival. But surprisingly alot of people were out on the Lido Deck (the 9th deck) gazing out at Miami while a fantastic calypso band that was comprised of two guys played music (they actually played everyday outside underneath the big screen on the funnel) and a few of the entertainment staff were dancing to some music to get the cruise off and running. Not quite as up beat as Disney obviously but it was still a very great job and definatley got me ready for a cruise that was awesome to say the least!!

Cruise Directors (thought I would discuss this)
On my 6 DCL cruises I have had the good fortune to have Brent, Christian(sp.?) and Clayton as our cruise directors. All 3 with different personalities as we all know but also very funny and entertaining. But one thing I have come to notice from those 3 that was different from Butch, cruise director from my Carnival cruise is, they actually dont really participate in onboard activities at all. I mean you will see them in a signature signing, talking before and after a show at the walt disney theater, on the announcements multiple times, maybe catching them walking around once in a while, and with the officers on formal night. But think about this for a second...do you ever see them dancing at deck parties, dancing in the clubs, or participating in events around the ship? Our cruise director on the Carnival Liberty was Butch from Minnesota and he might have been one of the most upbeat, entertaining, friendly, and outgoing crew members we have ever had on any of our 7 total cruises. Not once did he wear the white outfit that I was used to seeing DCL cruise directors in, more polos and everyone clothing that passangers wear. He was always dancing in the clubs and attended every party during the week...also hosting things like karaoke, peeking in and watching comedy acts in addition to hosting his own live morning show everyday at 9 in the morning that was shown in every cabin and on the big screen on the funnel. I hate to admit it being the diehard DCL and Disney fan that I am and will always be, but my family and I gave the nod to Butch for being a better overall cruise director than any of the DCL ones

 

[pensfan8771]

Cabin/Stateroom
Being in a family of four, we were in an Inside Stateroom on the 1st floor on the far aft side of the ship. Most of the public areas on the Liberty are on the midship to forward area of the ship so that was one slight downfall of the location of our stateroom. Actually according to layouts, our stateroom was 2 sq ft. bigger than DCL's inside stateroom...but does 2 sq ft really make that much of a difference really?? Our room contained a two beds that were actually put together already to make a king when we came in the first day and two top bunk beds that were above the king bed. Bathroom was about the same size as inside staterooms on DCL but shower was definatley smaller. Closet space and area around the TV like the mantel and dressers about the same between DCL and Carnival. I will give the nod to Disney because of better bathroom accomidations but rooms were about the same

 

[pensfan8771]

Pools
There was 3 pools onboard the Liberty: The Tivoli and Coney Island ones were for everyone which were actually right near each other and accompainied by 3 hot tubs. and the Versailles was the Quiet Cove Pool equivalent. All were saltwater which I really had no problem with since I eventually got used to them because we all know sea water is usually like that...so arent we all pretty much used to it!! I came to figure out that the hot tub nextto the coney island pool and the waterslide ending was usually empty or had 1 other person in their so I always went there
All of the pools and hot tubs closed at 11pm but what seemed interesting was that the Versailles pool actually had an overhead cover made of panels of glass that made the area enclosed at night and opened up in the morning. Waterslide...very fun to say the least!! Better waterslide on the Liberty that on the Magic for DCL. 42 inches or taller for the Liberty's slide but I always saw little kids going down so it wasnt enforced that much at all

 

[pensfan8771]

Buffet:
Right off the bat on my first visit upon embarkation I gave the nod to the Liberty over the Magic/Wonder because there were so many more choices and seating at Emile's (buffet on the Liberty) than Topsiders/Beach Blanket. Before you actually enter Emilie's there is a "grill" area that has your traditional hot dogs, burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc on both the right and left side entrances to Emile's. After that comes not just an ice cream machine, but also a frozen yogurt machine...also on the the left and right side entrances. So already alot of food!!! Enter into Emile's and you first see the Mongolian line that is similar to the Chinese area on DCL where they prep noodles with your choice of sauces and seafood or meats. It is made to order in giant woks in front of you and it seemed to have been a very popular place to get food. Turn around in that line and you have the "Grand Buffet" line which is similar to the standard line topsiders has that changes daily to a certain nationality. There are 2 of these lines that are on opposite sides. Now the best areas I thought were in between the two grand buffet lines were the "Deli" on the right side and the "Burrito Bar" on the left side. These were made to order stations that always had a decent line but was totally worth it!! Deli had cold and hot sandwiches like pastrami, reuben, smoked salmon, turkey wrap, etc. Burrito Bar had a long list of choices to put in your custom burrito, pretty big ones, that came with chips. And outside of Emile's was the Pizzeria which was open 24 hrs unlike Pinnochio's on DCL and 2 more ice cream and frozen yogurt stations. Definatley the advantage goes to the Liberty for buffet area

Quick note that Emile's was open for breakfast, lunch, dinner while the pizzeria and ice cream stations open 24 hrs

 

[pensfan8771]

Outside activities
9 hole mini golf course
basketball court and volleyball court
"Seaside Theater" that played movies..just like big screen on Magic and Wonder
Small kiddie pool
Waterslide
Golf Cage for instructions
Ping Pong tables

 

[pensfan8771]

Dinner Time
There were two main dining rooms, The Golden Olympian and Silver Olympian. Both were very beautiful inside and are both take up 2 floors You are actually only placed into one of them and you stay in there for the entire cruise. My family happened to have the "anytime dining" where you could come in for dinner from 6 til 9:30. Staying in the same main dining room did get old for my family and I cause were are so used to the rotational on DCL. So I will give the nod to Disney with that aspect for sure.
Carnival does actually have shows everyday during dinner with a small band playing a song or turning on a song that played over the speakers while the waiters danced around near you and on the steps up to the 2nd floor. First time also having a Maitre d' that entertained everyone during dinner and was the most energetic of the group during showtime. Ours in the Golden Olympian was very crazy and outgoing!! Now on to something everyone wants to know about and has been debated about many times, the food at dinner...whos better Disney or Carnival!!! Menu wise they are very similar in variety and number of choices for appetizers/salads/soups. Main courses also similar but disney might have maybe 2 or 3 more main courses on the menu's everyday. Dessert variety, nod to Disney definatley. Taste of food and quality at dinner...I am not the best to judge that because I basically eat and like anything I eat at dinner on cruises But I will give the nod to Disney just because I have experienced it more haha. If anyone needs more detail elaborate on other aspects pretaining to dinner, I will surely answer it!!

Other things that I should mention is the Origami Sushi Bar and the Jardin Cafe that were both located along the promenade on deck 5. The sushi bar was fantastic (I happen to be a huge sushi fan) and the chefs were making it right in front of you! Only downfall about it was that it was only open from 5pm til 8:30pm, so not much time to go there in addition to being open at the same time as every passanger's main dinner time. The Jardin Cafe was a couple steps away from it and served speciality coffees, espressos, milkshakes, in addition to variety of cakes and cookies.

 

[pensfan8771]

Photo Taking and Photo Store
As always the crazy photographers wanting to take your picture during dinner right in the middle of you trying to enjoy that piece of steak, lobster, etc happens on Carnival too, can't get away from that, that's for sure!!! The photo store area on the Liberty took over two sides of the 4th deck and is definatley more room than Shutters. It also included selling alot of frames, memory cards, different ways your picture can be made into (like a giant piece of canvas), and alot of other photography stuff. On formal night and even on casual nights, there seemed to be around 7 or 8 different backgrounds to choose from daily for photo-ops in the lobby or along the long Promenade area. Photographers are definatley more aggresive on Carnival then on DCL because they do not alow personal cameras when getting the picture taken so you cant get another person to take one and they also patrol the area looking for people who takes pictures of their pictures I witnessed a guy having to delete all of his on his own camera right in front of one of the photographers because the worker would not allow him to leave unless they were deleted. Nod to Disney

 

[pensfan8771]

Ports
We stopped at San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Maarten; St. Thomas; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands. It was intended to stop at Half Moon Cay, Carnival's private island, on the 2nd day but due to very high winds we could throw in the anchor and recieve the tender boats from a neighboring island. My family is not a big fan of doing excursions through the cruise line and have only done 1 through DCL amongst the family during our 7 Disney Cruises. We are more of the exploring the port of call or finding a deal for an excursion once we step out at the port. In San Juan we decided to just part our own ways with the family we were cruising with and do our own thing since we only had 6 and a half hours there. I went deep into the city by foot since it was rush hour at the time, looking around by car would take forever. St Maarten we spent the entire day relaxing at the Great Bay beach while also looking around downtown Phillipsburg. St Thomas was spent on going to Paradise Point, Blackbeards Castle, Fort Christian, Charlotte Amalie, and the souvenir market. Finally, one of the best ports we have ever been to, Grand Turk, was the last port of call for our cruise before another sea day to cap of a fantastic cruise. It was another beach day but also got to sit by the giant pool at Margaritaville and ride the FlowRider as one our only excursion the entire trip. We loved Grand Turk so mucht that we hope we get to go back there again on a cruise soon or even an all enclusive trip (which won't happen, we are cruise people!! ).

 

[pensfan8771]

Getting tired, will do more tomorrow!! All responses and questions on my original thread would be fantastic!!

 

[DMMarla07860]

great review. I've only done DCL cruises love DCL and seeing friends who work on the ship, but I've been looking into Carnival because I always here good reviews about the food, haha and that's one of the top reasons I'd try Carnival

 

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your review so far of Carnival! I've read very good things about Carnival Liberty.

 

[WilliamK99]

Thanks for your review so far of Carnival! I've read very good things about Carnival Liberty.

Liberty is the best Carnival ship we have ever sailed, it's a fantastic vessel.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

What was your impression about the amount of smoking onboard the Carnival line? Did you notice a difference from DCL? Also, was the casino a real "presence" on Carnival? We sort of like the idea of no casino/less smoking on DCL but wonder if it is a significant difference in reality? THANKS!! Please continue with your trip report/comparison!!!

 

[RickyMouseMom]

We are considering a trip in Feb on the Carnival Imagination. Thanks for your viewpoint on the cruise.. we have only cruised DCL so we are hesitant to try a new line. Your trip report is putting me at ease a little...

 

[loveysbydesign]

Great review! Makes me want to hop on Liberty right now!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Good review, thanks!

 

[acomasdiaz]

Thanks for the comparison. We currently have reservations on the Carnival Valor for spring break and I have been apprehensive about it. But now, I definitely think they are worth a shot.