Eastern Caribbean Cruise ~ The Ship

I did a short highlight of our trip on Monday and promised to come back with two recaps: one of the ship and one of the ports of call.

We sailed on the Carnival Liberty for 7 nights which stopped in Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan, and was supposed to stop in Grand Turk but we turned around as we were pulling into port (more on my extreme disappoint on that in my next post, and how Carnival has done absolutely nothing to compensate us for missing the stop we booked the cruise for).

The ship itself was nice (we sailed on the Dream a few years ago which was newer and nicer), and had recently gone under a major refurbishment which included the addition of the pool side Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar as well as Guy's Burgers Joint *absolutely delish* and the Blue Iguana Cantina *awesome burritos and tacos*.

*Ready for the sail away party*

We chose a balcony on the 8th floor which was super convenient right underneath the lido deck where the pool and the buffets are. Once you go balcony you can't go back.... we always cruise in a balcony stateroom, and it makes such a difference having the extra space, natural sunlight, and your own outdoor balcony where we enjoy room service breakfasts (always free!) and pre-dinner drinks while getting ready or a night cap listening to the waves.

We brought 2 bottles of our favorite champagne, a case of water, and a case of energy drinks for H because apparently coffee isn't good enough. If you're cruising soon don't forget you can bring 1 bottle of wine or champagne per person, a case of water, and a case of soda or energy drinks on board with you, but they must be in your carry on luggage.

One of my favorite parts of the ship was the beautiful atrium, I was so bummed that Norwegian does not have this feature on their ships and really missed it when we sailed on the Norwegian Sky and the Norwegian Epic last year.

*Such a great spot to have a drink and listen to live music*

I loved the Alchemy Bar where the bartenders are mix masters in lab coats creating hand crafted martinis. There are also note pads where you could create your own martini.

One of my other favorite things about cruising is the food. Nothing beats getting dressed up and going to a nice dinner and a show every night. If you're a first time cruiser, I'll give you some advice... don't skip dinner! You'll have a team of fun waitstaff who sing and dance on certain nights, and you can order as much as you like. 3 appetizers? 2 entrees? 2 desserts? No problem!

*The waitstaff breakin' it down*
The shows are a must see! Even if Broadway style shows aren't your thing, it's so much fun to catch a show after dinner. The dancing, singing, and live orchestra are phenomenal! I also really enjoyed the Rat Pack tribute with a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator, amazing talent!

Other after dinner entertainment includes comedy shows, jazz lounge, night club, the casino, deck parties, getting a drink while enjoying songs at Piano Man and other various bars throughout the ship.

*Deck Party*
I wasn't kidding when I mentioned getting dressed up and going to dinner and a show every night. There are 2 formal nights during a 7 night cruise, so we got a little fancy.

For the first time ever, I worked out while on vacation, and it honestly was great! We had room service deliver a light breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and cereal then I'd go work out and then on some mornings we'd hit up the "real breakfast" upstairs of bacon, pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc..

The gym and spa area was beautiful. Plenty of elliptical machines, weights, spin classes, yoga classes, a steam room, and a sauna. Yes... I shamelessly took pictures of said work out because I was so excited I actually had the motivation to get up there 4 times that week!

And my absolute favorite part of a cruise is lounging on the top deck listening to live music with a tropical drink in hand while mixing it up between the pools, the hot tubs, and the water slides.

And who can forget the adorable towel animals you get each night with a copy of the next day's schedule during turn down service?

Thanks for hanging in there for my ship recap, I'll be posting a recap next week of the islands we stopped at, and my explanation of why I'm upset that we didn't stop in Grand Turk.
What are your favorite things about cruising? If you've never cruised before, what are you most looking forward to on a future trip or what's holding you back?