Carnival Liberty Sea Day

“I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.”

Alaine Gerbault (sailor)

Today was a sea day on our three day cruise to the Bahamas from Cape Canaveral, Florida. I believe most people like sea days as it gives everyone a chance to sleep in and to relax. And we did both. We slept in a little later and got up and got a cup of tea and coffee and went to the room to relax awhile and watch a complimentary movie. They did show some good movies on board even though I do not believe we ever saw a whole movie as there was too much to do. The ship had a special brunch today so we went back to the Silver Olympian Dining room for another great meal. We once again sat at a large table right at the back of the boat and this time met a nice dad with his daughter, who was going to be a senior taking a father/daughter cruise. They were lovely and entertaining as well as another lady with her grand daughter and her mom. Her mom had never been on a cruise and was loving it. It is wonderful meeting new people as hearing their stories. It was a wonderful breakfast and a very leisurely one. There was no need to rush today.

Later that morning, all veterans and those military folks currently serving were invited to a military appreciation ceremony and get together. It was very nice. It started with everyone standing and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Then a Carnival singer came out and sand the National Anthem with everyone singing with him. That gave me goose bumps. The cruise director came out and said some very nice words about those who are serving, those who gave all, and those who had served. They played “Taps” and then we did a moment of silence. That part brought on the tears. They played all the armed forces song and when you heard the service where you served, you stood up. Another tearjerker for me. After that anyone who wanted to say something could stand up and say what they wanted. There was many great testimonials given and many a proud American were in the auditorium that day. We also watched a film from the CEO of the Carnival Cruise line speaking of her fathers service and three of her uncles who served and what that meant to her. Carnival does donate money for the Wounded Warrior foundation as well as giving a military discount for their cruises. We really enjoyed this and appreciated Carnival for having this event. I am definitely proud of Joe (US Army bandsman and computer programmer, retired, Darren, our son-in-law currently serving in the US Navy, as well as well as my brother, Harlan (US Coast Guard) retired, my father (US Navy)retired, my Uncle Lewis (US Navy bandsman – retired) and well as all those serving or have served this fine country of ours. God bless them all for taking the Oath.

Today near the pool, they had a special on pitcher of Margaritas. That sounded pretty good so we went to the top deck and ordered a pitcher. We were very entertained by the waiter and the going ons at the pool. There was great music playing and it was fun with all the different contests going on such as the hairiest chest contest. It was very amusing. We had a great time and noticed while sitting there the clouds formed an angel in front of us praying. We knew it definitely a sign. We all have our guardian angels. You just have to be open to see them when they appear.

After our angelic experience, we explored more of the ship feeling a little lighter in step. We went up to the very top of the ship and saw there was a track to run or walk on, Basketball court, ping pong tables, Miniature golf, shuffle board, and a large chess table. There was two sections on the ship that were adult only if you need a break from the kiddos. One had relaxing area and bar and another had a pool, hot tub, and bar. We found many folks were laying there taking a Siesta.

This boat was wonderful in that you could get a seat anywhere on the boat. They did that right for sure. We went on one ship, quite a few years ago that Joe had to carry a chair with him to sit otherwise there were none available. That was pretty crazy.

While walking around, we heard a nice trio (trombone, Trumpet, and saxophone) playing some great Chicago music on the promenade deck. They were excellent. The Ocean was like glass that day and you didn't even know you were out in the ocean. The boat just crawled along that day which was fun. Joe said, “I think the ship is going at a walking speed.” We saw a few cargo ships out in the distance that day and a couple very small boats cruising around. We wondered where they were coming from and where they were going. It seemed like we were quite far from everything at that point.

Before dinner we went downstairs and listed to a beautiful string quartet. They were very talented and did a great job playing all kinds of music. It was very lovely and a nice way to relax before dinner. We were entertained by them and the acoustics were perfect.

Dinner was amazing as always with excellent food and company. Joe and I ordered veal Parmesan tonight and it was great. It was wonderful seeing Mike, Lillie again and us exchanged phone numbers and addresses so we can stay in touch. We will miss them but promised we would show up some Sunday at their church and worship with them. We shared prayers at every meal we had with them and that meant a lot to us. We did so enjoy their company. At the end of the meal, the staff brought out a small chocolate cake with a heart on it and sang Happy Anniversary to us and we included Mike and Lillie in the singing. That was so special. At the end of the meal tonight, the waiters did another show where they danced and sang to us. One waiter in particular had great talent and you could tell how much he loved to dance and entertain. What a fun ship.

The show tonight was “America Rocks” and it was an energetic show and good. The best part of it for me was the crazy good young guitar player. He was amazing. They gave out red, white and blue bandanas to wear and glow sticks. The entertainers ran up the isles as well as preforming on stage.

After the show we went to the top level of the boat again and enjoyed watching the water and the distance lightning. The lightning gave us an incredible show. After we went to the pool area and enjoyed watching the kids floating in the pool with life jackets on watching a movie. How awesome. What a wonderful cruise. I know I've said it before but it really was a very nice cruise and we were pleasantly surprised by how nice it really was especially for the great price we paid.

I must say the food on this cruise was amazing. They had different stations with many different kinds of foods. There was Mongolian Barbecue, a Sushi station, Seafood, barbecue station, the Best Burgers Ever Station, a Deli that had fabulous food, Pizza, Italian station, and a dessert and ice cream station. These were all on the Lido deck and everything was wonderful. We just didn't have enough time on the cruise to try everything. The picture  with the hand was another club to go to on board.

We had a wonderful cruise and recommend this for everyone. We so enjoyed everything about our time on Carnival and our cruise. If you ever get a chance to go, GO. We are definite fans of Carnival Cruise line now.

The day we debarked the ship, we had a nice breakfast on the Lido deck before going back to the Radisson to pick up our car. It was real smooth going through customs and exiting the ship. It was a great time and we will do this again. The shuttle was waiting for us when we got off the ship. Goodbye Carnival. Hope to be back again soon. This was one of our towel pets left on our bed.   Amazing. Below that is a picture of some towel pets on display near the pool.

Then for our drive home. It took us six and a half hours to get home with no traffic and still had time to relax for getting ourselves geared up to go back to work. Happy cruising everyone.