Review: Liberty West Carrib 11-21/11-28

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Wed -Grand Cayman Island! (This is going to be a long one...)


Cayman! I've been really looking forward to this as we're swimming with the stingrays and I expect it to be another 'good day'. Sherry and I had spent a week on Cayman about 20 years ago. We had a good time and were looking forward to going back.


Up at 6:45 for buffet breakfast (bacon, french toast and fruit. Btw, I think I had bacon EVERY day on the cruise. Man, I'm missing that now.)


Woke up with a bit of a headache and a bit nauseated. Gooba smash after effects? 2 advil and breakfast helped. Off to find the tenders.


Ok... something sad to report here. I've lost all my pictures from this morning. From the tenders, all the Liberty pictures I took as we tendered away, the time we spent on the shore waiting to go out. All gone. I feel like I've lost part of my memory! :) Anyway... its pure words for now.

Hmm, hold that thought. I'm looking though the pictures at work and I can see them! I wonder why I'm missing them at home. Anyway...memory found! On with the show... and the pictures.


We went down to deck 0 and out to the tenders. Keys were scanned and we went out to the boat.
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Very quick, no waiting. Sat on the boat for a little while as the boat filled up.
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Looked like they were filling two boats at a time while a 3rd would wait just off a bit and move in when a door opened up.
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We sat up on top (because the kids wanted too and so I could bet better pictures.). Another ship was there at the same time as us... the Celebrity Equinox was tendering as well.
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We could also see a 'pirate' ship waiting for the fun to start.
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]I'm not sure what kind of birds these are but they are big and were flying all around. It was hard to catch one on the camera while zoomed in but finally got one.
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You have to love this shade of blue.
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Quick trip in and we disembarked.
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Off to find the snorkel company. We used [FONT=Verdana][B]ISLAND MARKETING LTD (CAYMAN)-Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions[FONT=arial] to book the [COLOR=#CC0000][FONT=Verdana][B]EXCURSION: GRAND CAYMAN BUCCANEER CATAMARAN [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial]by [COLOR=#000088][FONT=Verdana]Capt. Bryans Sail and Snorkel Tours. [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] Sherry had wanted a catamaran and this is what we found.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/B][/FONT]


There was some confusion. I had added my sister's son Austin to our reservation after the fact. It seemed to go smoothly but when we were checking the details while on the ship (yeah, a bit late) I noticed that he had a different arrival time then we did. And different directions on where to go. Oh oh... I thought he was given a different company to sail with then we were via Island Marketing.


My brother (Mike) and Liz wanted to try and come with us on the trip so we all headed off together. Austin's mom, boyfriend and my Mom were going to send the day shopping. Which is why I asked if the 14 year old boy if wanted to go swim with stingrays instead of shopping...


I gave one set of directions to my brother and Sherry took another set and we headed off. We had to leave the port area and make a left. As we were walking a gentleman from Captain Marvin's watersports stopped us to see where we were going. We showed him our papers and once he figured it out he said we were both going to the same place they had just given the directions differently. He pointed us to the building we were going to turn at (an old bakery) and sent us on our way. Very nice.


We turned at the bakery
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went around to the back and found... a shack.
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There was an empty lot with a small shack at the back with a bit of shade and a porta-potty on the side. And some chickens running around. I told my brother I hoped they had all their money tied up in the boat. He said we were defiantly not paying for overhead. Or air conditioning.


We checked in with the lady working there. We made the final payment for us and Austin and she said they had room for Mike and Liz. We had an hour to kill until we need to be there at 9:45.
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We wander down the street continuing away from the ship. I see an opening in the buildings across the street from us and there is a great view of the Liberty. More pictures!

We head over, having to be very careful as they drive on the WRONG side of the street there. : )

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The open space turns out to be some raised coral and there are a few tide pools and blow holes. The boys are in boy heaven. We see a sea urchin, a crab, some small fish, some lizards. They easily spend the hour poking around.
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It was here that Nicky claims "Dad, this is the best vactaion ever! There is so much cool stuff." And we hadn't even gotten to the stingrays yet.

We also saw these things clinging to the rocks. What they heck are they?
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Yeah, I don't know either.
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We head back and I'm happy to see another family show up. At least we were not the only people to sign up for this.


A van shows up and the driver climbs a nearby tree and cuts down a few coconuts and uses a knife to open them up. Alex goes over and they give him one of them. He's beside himself with joy.
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The lady thought it was funny that we had never had 'coconut water' before. Strangly, they don't grow in the Chicago area. : )

I had a taste. It a strange taste... not like coconuts at all. Like water with a green/plant taste to it.


We get in the van... and it drives back to the port to pick up more people. While on one hand I'm not sure why we had to walk there and others were picked up I suspect it was people making reservations though different methods and each getting different instructions.


We drove off and on the way to the boat stopped off and picked up yet another family. This one was spending the week on Cayman and was going out to do the stingrays. They were staying in a place with a full kitchen and they had bought a turkey so they could do a full Thanksgiving dinner.


We drive to where the boat is docked and find a decent crowd of people already on the boat. The boat is nice! Clean, seems in decent shape. We meet the captain
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and a lady who is going to take pictures to try and sell them to you later (of course).

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I think we end up with about 40 people total on the boat.
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Its a little crowded but not bad. Everyone has a place to sit and you can move around.

The captain explains we are going to use the engine on the way out and the sail on the way back in. It was a 15 min ride out to the sand bar where the rays are. On the way out we all get our snorkel gear.


You can see the spot we are going to in the distance by the cluster of boats.
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As we get close you can see dark shapes in the water... stingray!
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We are told we will not be using our flippers here. We get our gear on and get ready to hit the water.
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The boat backs into place in circle like formation with the other boats with the sandbar in the middle.

 

When the kids first got into the water they couldn't really touch bottom but if you move further into the middle it gets shallow and they could stand up.

 

 

We are there about 30 min. There is a small amount of squid that is available to feed the rays. They are NOT shy and if they know you have food, and they do know, they come up to you and bump up against you. Some of them rise up out of the water a bit. It can be a bit unnerving. Even my brother, who has parachuted out of an airplane, was a bit put out by them. Nicky was almost climbing Sherry to get out of the water when the rays came by.

 

 

 

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As you are in the water and get used to them it becomes very fun. They hold a ray still so people can kiss it. 7 years good luck they say if you kiss one. The lady photographer says if you french kiss it you have a life time of good luck! I tell Sherry there is no way I'm licking a ray.

 

 

Liz does kiss the ray. And then gets a flap massage afterwards.

 

 

Somewhere between this photo.

 

 

And this one my brother gets a life time of good luck!

 

I'm bummed I missed the actual 'kiss'. The on site photographer missed it too.

 

One kid that kissed the ray said it tasted like a shrimp cocktail. I'll take his word for it.

[Manetamers]

Really looking forward to your review!

 

We are on the Liberty the end of February for the western itinerary too. We're doing a Captain Marvin stingray tour in Grand Cayman. We've used him before and this will be our son-in-laws first time there.

 

I'm especially anxious to hear everything you have to say about Peat Taylor in Jamaica. We booked his Dunns River Falls/tubing excursion just based upon favorable reviews from these boards.

 

We still haven't figured out what we will be doing in Cozumel.

 

Tell us everything and take photos!

 

 

 

We Balcony Babes(nohubby) are going to Cayman in April...how was the Capt. Marvin tour ? price? thanks in advance... TrudyBB#1:o

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After this we go to a nearby reef. You can see the sting ray spot in the distance.

 

30 more min of swimming this time with flippers. The water was about 10 feet deep. There was some current and choppiness with the water going over the reef but not too bad but it might be enough to cause people to feel 'off'.

 

 

 

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Last stop, 30 min at the Coral Garden. The captain says we'll see more fish here then at the reef. There were quite a few!

 

If you don't want to go down the ladder and are adventurous enough you can just jump off the side of the boat. Here's Nicky taking the plunge (I got pretty lucky timing on pictures of him on this vacation).

 

 

 

 

Austin shows off his underwater swimming skills.

 

[MnParrothead]

Thanks for the great pix and information. I'm leaving on the Liberty tomorrow. One of your photos showed an alarm clock in the room. Great reminder. I almost forgot.

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Thanks for the great pix and information. I'm leaving on the Liberty tomorrow. One of your photos showed an alarm clock in the room. Great reminder. I almost forgot.

 

Nice! That was not information I had thought I was passing on. :)

 

Have a great cruise.

 

rv

[cruzmax]

Thanks for the pix and review - we love Liberty and Valor (3 cruises on each). Did you try the Mongolian Grill? Our favorite food on these two ships - it's awesome!

Pam in KY

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Someone brought up a starfish.

 

 

No worries to the animal lovers out there... after the photo op he was tossed back into the water.

 

The boat provided free punch and water. Needed it to wash the salt water out of your mouth. If you want anything more you need to bring it yourself. There is a small shop right near the shack where we signed in.

 

The crew were friendly and it was a very fun trip. They asked for tips at the end and we put some money into the jug they had. My brother bought the dvd with the photo's on it. I think it was $25 and they tossed in some pictures they had of our family as well. I've not seen them yet to tell how good they are.

[pe4all]

Enjoying this review very much! Sailing on Liberty (same itinerary) in Feb., and you have really have gotten me excited to get back on the ship!

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OP great job. I love reading the road trip parts.

 

Oh good. I was wondering if people would want that part or not. Glad you liked it.

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Thanks for the pix and review - we love Liberty and Valor (3 cruises on each). Did you try the Mongolian Grill? Our favorite food on these two ships - it's awesome!

Pam in KY

 

Just getting to that now. :)

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We ride the bus back to the dock and get back around 1:30.

 

 

We do some shopping at the shops right by the dock. Alex has a bit of a melt down about buying something he wants. He wants it but thinks $12 is a lot of money and didn't want to spend that much. Though he has $25 to spend. Some tears on his part and frustration on mine as I don't understand why he's crying when he's being told he CAN buy something. Kids!

 

 

Sherry, Nicky and Krista head off for the tender but Alex is dragging his feet because he doesn't want to leave without buying his stuff. I finally tell him 'Fine. The ship leaves in an hour. We can stand here until then". It takes about 30 seconds for him to look at me and say "I guess I can buy it..."

 

 

Off we go to buy the glass thing for him and then back to the security line to get to the tenders... and I can't find my Sign and Sail card. Ummmm... I know I had it when we first went to the line as I had it in my hand but I stopped on the Cayman Island side with Alex. Krista runs up from the other side wanting to know what is going on. I send her off to see if I had given Sherry my card... no but I get my drivers license. I search and search my pockets hoping its going to show up but no luck.

 

 

Ok... I know I had the card before we went to buy Alex's 'stuff'. Maybe it fell out when I took the money out. I tell Alex to stay 'right here and don't move' and walk to the store. About 15 feet along and I find my card laying on the ground. Phew!!!

 

 

Alex wanted to know why I had cussed. I guess I said something I shouldn't have under my breath but he heard it. I told him because I was upset and didn't want to spend the night on Cayman and miss the boat.

 

 

Get back to the boat and drop off the stuff. Someone got cute with my Monky Head.

 

Its 3:20 and Emile's buffet is only going to be open for 10 more min and we hadn't eaten lunch yet. I get a piece of pepperoni pizza from the pizza place. Its... ok. The crust is poofy. I like flat crust. Its not bad but if I was ordering pizza from a place that made it like that I would't order it more then once. I did get more of this pizza later so I guess for 'free' its ok. :)

 

 

I wanted to get a burger but the back grill was closed and the front one had a huge line. I tried to get into the Mongolian bbq line but there was a sign saying 'this side is closed'. I went to the other side and they were just putting up a sign on that side too. I looked at the sign and said 'oh man...' and the lady putting it up said this side was close. I said the other side was closed too and gave her a sad look. She took pity on me and let me in! I was the very last person allowed though the line.

 

 

I'll tell you... I wouldn't want the job of standing there and telling people that the bbq line is closed. The poor guy there must have told 15 people that it was closed. They pulled the food from off the counter and people were still ignoring the 'closed' sign and getting into line and then couldn't figure out why there was no food there and asking for some.

 

 

It took 15-20 min to get the food cooked. The guys back there were working as fast as they could but it just takes a while to cook the food. You pick what veggies you want, tell them what kind of meat you want and what kind of sauce. I got the hottest they had with some beef and veggies. It was REALLY good. I'm not sure I'd want to stand in a line that was any longer then I had too for it but way worth it if you can catch a decent sized line.

 

I also grabbed a spiced carrot cake and was suprised when it was handed over by our waiter Nyoman who said 'hello'. The carrot cake was only 'ok'.

 

I want to listen to some music and read so I take the boy up top with some books. They read for a short while and then start to people watch.

 

 

While we were up there I could see a ship passing by us back lit from the sun and thought it would make a good picture.

 

 

Turned out to be our friend the Equinox leaving Cayman.

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I'm not very hungry at dinner since we had such a late lunch. I get the Peach soup (weird texture but good)

 

shrimp cocktail and seafood newberg (good but I couldn't eat it all)

 

No desert for me.

 

And now a word about our waiters. I've not said much about them as I knew they would get their own moment here.

 

Nyoman and Eric.

 

Nyoman is softspoken and can be a bit hard to understand at times when it gets noisy. Very nice man. Made a point to learn the kids names and we never had any issues with ordering or service. He gives the impression of having seen it all before.

 

Eric is cheerfull and quick to fill glasses, bring bread or what ever else is needed. We were very happy with the both of them.

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The dancing waiter bit...

I know some people don't like the 'shows' they put on and I'd guess some of the waiters don't enjoy doing them. Just from temerment I'd have put Nyoman into this group. But, tonight they did a music number from Slumdog Millionair and Nyoman brought our boys up with him. If he's not having a good time he's a good actor.

 

 

 

 

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Uncle Mike and Liz give the kids some money from Cayman which earns them huge brownie points.

 

 

 

 

We go to the comedy show where I get the DoD which my Mom pays for. We talk about it and we're pretty sure its the first time ever that she's bought a drink for me. I'm not a big drinker... I've probalby had more drinks this trip then I normally do in a year.

 

After tasting it we wonder what was in it. I don't have access to Goggle so I have to do some leg work.

 

It was tasty but nothing I felt like I had to have a 2nd of.

 

Mom and Krista at the show

[magictam]

 

 

This is where I want to be today. It's 16 degrees here in Wyoming today with the windchill factor, it's really on 4 degrees.

Would you mind very much sending me this picture too?

Enjoy your review very much. Can't wait to share it with my sisters in hopes they will book too. The reveiw and pictures should make this much easier.

Thanks again.

Tammie

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The show was good... some of the comedy wasn't really for the kids (prep-H being flamable). I'm sure the late night one was way beyond.

 

Time to go to bed after another busy day.

 

 

Likes:

1. Kids had a lot of fun with sting rays.

 

2. The tide pool unexpected side trip. "Best vacation ever..."

 

3. Brother Mike and Liz were able to come with us.

 

 

Dislikes:

1. Alex having a meltdown. Ah well, it happens.

 

2. Losing my card. Holy moly. I'm sure there is some sort of process I could have gone though to get back on the ship but I'm also sure it would have been a hassle.

 

3. There should be some late lunch option for a day you are going to be in port late like at Cayman. Something besides the burgers and pizza... a later buffet or something.

 

4. Music very loud downstairs tonight. :(

 

 

 

Review stuff:

 

After a shaky start where I wasn't sure if Austin was going to be on the same ship with us or not and then seeing what kind of building our tour company was working out of it turned out very well.

 

I didn't keep an exact count but I'm sure we came back with some extra $$ out of the $400 we brought. Other then paying for the tour, a few tips and shirt we didn't buy anything else.

 

The dinner show thing with the waiter was fun and the kids got a kick out of being included.

 

It was nice being able to go to one of the shows finally.

[bzymom22]

I am really enjoying your review. Your pix are great. I especially like your Likes/Dislikes. On our Bahamas cruise this past May, the waitstaff did the Slumdog dance too. Our head waitress was really excited about it.

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I am really enjoying your review. Your pix are great. I especially like your Likes/Dislikes. On our Bahamas cruise this past May, the waitstaff did the Slumdog dance too. Our head waitress was really excited about it.

 

My brother talked to someone... Eric I think, about the dancing. They have a training class they have to go though that lasts a few weeks where they learn the moves they need to make for the songs they will be playing. Then they do those songs for 8 months or so. The person my brother was talking to was out of work at the time they did the training and he had to get all the notes and such from a friend and learn them.

 

rv