Liberty ???'s

[LWcalif]

I am so glad I found this site! After reading many posts, most of my questions have been answered.

After much research, we just booked Liberty 5/31/08 7 night Caribbean to celebrate my 50th birthday.

We were torn between the Junior Suite and the one we booked, Superior Ocean View Balcony (which appears to be slightly larger than the other balcony rooms). We will only be in the room to sleep, shower, and drink coffee on the balcony enjoying the view. Based on past cruises, the balcony is a must.

We are 3 adults, and wonder if there is much difference (in size) between the different balcony rooms. Is the sofa sleeper long enough to sleep an adult on top without opening it up to a bed?

We've only been on Carnival Mexico cruises from So. Calif. in the past. This is our first Caribbean venture.

Carnival guests in suites can priority board. Which was a big reason to book a suite. Is this the same with RCI, or is it based on your "platinum, etc. status" and not the room you've booked.

Thanks in advance.

[Dave]

First of all, welcome to cruise-chat! I am glad you found us and also glad that our site was able to answer most of your questions.

I have been in both cabin categories you mentioned....we were in an ocean view balcony on the Freedom Of The Seas on it's inaugural voyage, and we were in a JS suite on the Liberty this past June. We definitely preferred the JS suite. Lots of room and a huge walk-in closet.

But the balcony cabin on the Freedom was nice, and it will do you fine for three adults for a week. The sofa bed has to be opened up to be a bed, unless the adult sleeping in it is 4 foot tall or less. As with most cruise ship "sofas", it is really the size of a love seat.

Suite passengers have their own check-in line, but beyond that I think priority boarding is by loyalty status with RCI. However, don't worry because they really keep the passengers moving and you will most likely be on the ship within 30 minutes of your arrival at the pier. It is an extremely efficient embarkation operation.

[drlivingston]

a junior sweet (sic) beats a superior balcony any day, in my honest opinion...
this is not meant to pick on you or anyone but the term "ocean-view balcony" has always cracked me up.

[Dave]

"ocean-view balcony" has always cracked me up.

I never thought about it, but that is silly! The only way to make it valid would be if they had inside balconies - something that could be done on the ships with promenades.

Another good thing about a JS is that it counts for two cruise credits. An important consideration for those of us trying to make diamond level.

[Sandy]

the term "ocean-view balcony" has always cracked me up.

I've toured old-style ships several years ago (Vistafjord comes to mind) where some of the balcony cabins face the lifeboat! You could almost touch the lifeboat from your balcony. Maybe that's why the clarification was started, although ships are no longer built that way.

Sandy

[TrvlPro]

They do actually still build ships with fully obstructed balconies. The QM2 (built 2004) Cat's B5 and B6 are both fully obstructed by the lifeboats. Not the way you or I would design a ship but they still do it.

Cheers, Neil

[Dave]

I must be suffering from brain fade. I just realized that we've had balconies that were obstructed - on the Holiday - although they aren't entirely blocked.

[TrvlPro]

Yep Dave, Carnival has a number of ships (I think Fantasy Class) that have Cat 11 Suies that are obstructed view. Not all of them but if you're booking a suite be careful, they are not clearly distinguished on all the deck plans. A suite guarantee on a Fantasy class ship might be a mistake, choose your cabin wisely.

Cheers, Neil

[LWcalif]

The sofa bed has to be opened up to be a bed, unless the adult sleeping in it is 4 foot tall or less. As with most cruise ship "sofas", it is really the size of a love seat.

Hmmm....may need to re-think this and switch to a JS. We were thinking that the 3rd person could sleep on top of the sofa bed without folding it out. Do you know how much room there is to walk past when the sofa is opened up?

[Dave]

Do you know how much room there is to walk past when the sofa is opened up?

Very little. It is better in the JS.