Carnival Liberty - Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships 2017 (Berlitz Cruise Guide) (2016)

Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships 2017 (Berlitz Cruise Guide) (2016)

Carnival Liberty

★★★ +

Berlitz’s Ratings

Ship: 361 out of 500

Accommodation: 144 out of 200

Food: 218 out of 400

Service: 252 out of 400

Entertainment: 76 out of 100

Cruise: 258 out of 400

Overall Score: 1309 out of 2000

Carnival Liberty Statistics

Size: Large Resort Ship

Tonnage: 110,320

Lifestyle: Standard

Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines

Former Names: none

IMO Number: 9278181

Builder: Fincantieri (Italy)

Original Cost: $500 million

Entered Service: Jul 2005

Registry: Panama

Length (ft/m): 951.4/290.0

Beam (ft/m): 116.4/35.5

Draft (ft/m): 27.0/8.2

Propulsion/Propellers: diesel-electric (63,400kW)/2

Passenger Decks: 13

Total Crew: 1,160

Passengers (lower beds): 2,974

Passenger Space Ratio (lower beds): 37.0

Passenger/Crew Ratio (lower beds): 2.5

Cabins (total): 1,487

Size Range (sq ft/m): 179.7-482.2/16.7-44.8

Cabins (for one person): 0

Cabins (with private balcony): 574

Cabins (wheelchair accessible): 25

Wheelchair accessibility: Good

Cabin Current: 110 volts

Elevators: 18

Casino (gaming tables): Yes

Slot Machines: Yes

Swimming Pools: 3 (1 w/ sliding glass dome)

Hot Tubs (on deck): 7

Self-Service Launderette: Yes

Dedicated Cinema/Seats: No

Library: Yes

Onboard currency: US$

Carnival_Liberty

This is an ultra-colorful ship for first-time casual cruising

Overview. Carnival Liberty shares the same fairly well-balanced profile as sisters Carnival Conquest, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Triumph, Carnival Valor, and Carnival Victory. A giant Seaside Theater LED movie screen adorns the open pool deck, and a new Serenity area provides an adults-only escape.

The Ship. The decor in the public rooms, hallways, and atrium adopts a design theme saluting master trades such as ironwork, masonry, pottery, and painting. The layout is logical, so finding your way around is easy. Most public rooms are located off a main boulevard (an interior promenade that is great for strolling and people-watching - particularly from the Jardin Café or Promenade Bar). Other hangouts and drinking places include The Stage (live music/karaoke lounge), the Flower Bar (main lobby), Gloves Bar (sports Bar), Paparazzi (wine bar), and The Cabinet.

Amidships on the open deck is a long water slide (200ft/60m long), as well as tiered sunbathing decks positioned between two swimming pools, several hot tubs, and a giant poolside (Seaside Theater) movie screen. It’s all about imagination and sensorial fantasy and is more reserved than Carnival’s Fantasy-class ships.

There are two atriums: the largest, in the forward third of the ship spans nine decks (the Grand Villa Garden Atrium combines all four of the design themes), while a small aft atrium spans three decks. The large Czar’s Palace Casino, with its Russian motifs and theme, is action-packed, with more than 320 slot machines.

Carnival Liberty is a veritable floating playground for the young and young-at-heart, and anyone who enjoys constant stimulation and lots of participation events, together with the three ‘Gs’ - glitz, glamour, and gambling. This really is cruising Splash Vegas style - a fun, all-American experience. Because it’s a large resort ship, there will be lines for things like shore excursions, security control when re-boarding, and disembarkation, as well as sign-up sheets for fitness equipment.

Forget fashion - the sine qua non of a Carnival cruise is all about having fun. While the cuisine is just so-so, the real fun begins at sundown when Carnival really does excel in terms of sound, lights, razzle-dazzle shows, and late-night high-volume sounds.

Niggles include: many pillars in the dining room make it difficult for proper food service by the waiters; public toilets that are somewhat utilitarian and could do with some cheering up. It is impossible to escape from noise and loud music (it’s even played in cabin hallways and lifts), not to mention smokers, and people walking around in unsuitable clothing, clutching plastic sport drinks bottles, at any time of the day or night. You have to carry a credit card to operate the personal safes, which is inconvenient.

Families. Youngsters have their own play areas, with children’s programs divided into five age-specific groups under Camp Ocean (ages 2−11 - with children ages 2−5 called ‘Penguins’; 6−8-year-olds called ‘Sting Rays’; 9−11-year-olds called ‘Sharks’). Tweens have ‘Circle C’, while teenagers have their own ‘Club O2’ - a chill-out (no adults allowed) room/disco.

By the end of 2015, the words and world of Dr. Seuss will have been rolled out as part of Carnival’s children’s program (check before you sail) − from ‘green eggs and ham’ for breakfast, served by waiters in Dr. Seuss-inspired uniforms, and characters such as the Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two, and Sam attending, to special showings of movies such as The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (these will be shown outdoors on the poolside Seaside Theater screen on Lido Deck).

Accommodation. There are numerous cabin price categories, in seven different grades: suites with private balcony; deluxe outside-view cabins with private balcony; outside-view cabins with private balcony; outside-view cabins with window; cabins with a porthole instead of a window; interior cabins; interior cabins with upper and lower berths. The price reflects the grade, location, and size.

Five decks of cabins have a private balcony - over 150 more than Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Triumph, or Carnival Victory, for example. But many are not so private, and can be overlooked from various public locations.

There are 18 ‘fitness’ cabins, located directly around and behind the SpaCarnival. This gives fitness devotees an opportunity to get out of bed and head straight to the treadmill without having to go through any of the public rooms first.

The standard cabins are of good size and are equipped with all the basics, although the furniture is rather angular, with no rounded edges. Three decks of cabins (eight on each deck, each with private balcony) overlook the stern. Most cabins with twin beds can be converted to a queen-size bed format. A gift basket is provided in all grades of cabin; it includes aloe soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, breath mints, candy, and pain relief tablets (all in sample sizes).

Dining. There are two main dining rooms, Golden Olympian Restaurant, forward, seating 744, and Silver Olympian Restaurant, aft, seating 1,122. Two additional wings (the Persian Room and Satin Room) can accommodate large groups in a private dining arrangement.

Other dining options. There is a casual self-serve international food court-style Lido Deck eatery, the two-level Emile’s, which morphs into the Seaview Bistro in the evening to provide a casual alternative to the main dining rooms. The specialty dining venue is The Steakhouse, for prime meats and seafood.

Entertainment. The Venetian Palace Showlounge is a 1,400-seat multi-deck showroom for large-scale Las Vegas-style production shows and major cabaret acts. The Victoria Lounge, located aft, seats 425 and typically features live music and late-night cabaret acts, including adult comedy. The Tattooed Lady Dance Club is the ship’s discotheque; it includes a video wall with projections live from the dance floor. Piano bar lovers should enjoy the 100-seat Piano Man piano bar.

Spa/Fitness. SpaCarnival is a large health, fitness, and spa complex that spans two decks (the walls display hand-painted reproductions of the artist’s poster work). It is directly above the navigation bridge in the forward part of the ship and is accessed from the forward stairway.

Facilities on the lower level include a solarium, eight treatment rooms, lecture rooms, sauna and steam rooms for men and women, and a beauty parlor. The upper level consists of a large gymnasium with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, including forward-facing ocean views, and an aerobics room with instructor-led classes, some at extra cost.