Cruising on Carnival Liberty – Bahama Cruise

“One of the great things about travel is you find out how many good, kind people there are.”

Edith Wharton

Bon Voyage day! Joe and I were dropped off at the cruise terminal around 12:30 by the shuttle from the Radisson Resort. When we got off the shuttle the porters were right there to help us with our bags. They were very helpful. We just kept our carry on with us that had our two bottles of wine and 12 pack of soda and seltzer water since that had to be in a carry on to get it on board. Joe had preregistered on the ship so they sent us to the express line. That was a breeze and went very fast. We showed our passport, ID, and boarding pass to the cruise personnel at the registration desk. They took our picture and got us checked in and told us to go ahead and board the ship. We headed up the ramp and out to the ship where we walked up the gang plank and were warmly greeted by the cruise ship staff. The whole process didn't even take 15 minutes. This was the quickest we ever got on board a cruise ship.

We were told to go to the 9^th floor and get something to eat and relax till 1:30 when we were allowed to go to our cabin. The ship seemed very busy near the pool but that was because everyone was there. Still the lines for food were not bad and went quickly. We sat down to eat and relaxed. The food was very good. At 1:30 we went to our room. Now was the time of reckoning when we could see the room.

We went to our room, 9244 and found our key cards in the mailbox outside our door to get into the room. We opened the door and we were pleasantly surprised. The room was an inside cabin but had a king size bed and a newly redone bathroom. I am claustrophobic so I was very nervous about getting an inside cabin but was very satisfied and found it doable. Joe had found this great deal for a trip on the Vacation to Go site for a three day cruise to the Bahamas and it was an almost too good to be true deal. From the time Joe called about this trip (the Monday of the week the ship was leaving) and spoke Darla Chow, our travel professional at Vacations to Go who helped him get the best deal possible and get preregistered on the boat. She was lovely and did everything possible to make it work out for us. We were very satisfied with them and we got an excellent deal. We will be working with them again.

Today was a leisurely day on the ship. The ship was not departing the port till 4 so we explored the boat. The Carnival Liberty is a nice boat and the crew were all very helpful and kind and welcoming. It is a conquest class cruise ship that was built in Northern Italy and christened on July 19, 2005 at a cost of 500 million. It is 952' long and 116' wide with a 27' draft. There are 13 deck and it carries 2,974 passengers and 1,160 crew members. The passenger crew ratio is 3.18. The boat was refurbished seven years ago and has 1489 cabins. Its décor is very nice.

We scheduled early dining in the Silver Olympian Dining Room at 6:00. This is such a beautiful dining room with silver trims throughout. We were guided by the dinner staff to our table which was a table for four. In walks our dinner companions, Mike and Lillian. We couldn't have been happier sharing a table with them. They were both a joy and the more we got to know them, the more we loved them. They came on the cruise to celebrate their 41^st wedding Anniversary and we were celebrating our 40^th. Mike is a Pastor of a church near Leesburg, Florida near where my sister lives and also runs his own Lawn Care Service. The funny stories he told about his workers and the troubles they got into. They both had really had a good sense of humor. We laughed and joked the whole meal and the time flew. I hated for the meal to be over. We felt like we knew them for a long time after just one meal. 

Later that night we went to see a dancing and singing show on the boat. Their music troop is on the small size and the work very hard to entertain. They have a very exhausting job and I'm not sure how they do it. It was enjoyable.

After the show, we spent some time on the tenth floor and enjoyed looking at the stars and the ocean. So relaxing. After that we decided to do a pass by the clubs on the fifth floor and stopped at the Piano Bar to watch Gilbert play. The Piano Bar is such a neat space on the ship. I just loved this room. We walked in and Gilbert was saying, “Come on in and join us. Take a seat” We did. He played sing along songs that everyone sang along with him. It was so much fun and he had a great personality and was very talented. I stood up to take his picture and he saw me and stood up to pose right in the middle of a song. How funny. What a fun night.

After that it was lights out. What a great start to our mini vacation. Lights out.