Liberty – Eastern Caribbean - May 26th – 3 Generations

[hayesktrm]

Hope you'll come back soon! I am really enjoying your review and it helps to hear you all had such a great time with all the negativity going on right now on this board. I know we'll have fun...a lot of it is what you make of it. I am worried a little about the dining room. We have early seating and really have never had a bad waiter (okay, once, but we moved because we wanted a table for 4 and the new waiters were awesome).

 

Question, in the evening were there lots of things to do? It seems they don't have a show in the main theater at least one night. I really do enjoy the shows and enjoy the comedy shows, too. If nothing else, we'll go sit and watch a movie on the lido.

[CruzinScotty]

Hope you'll come back soon! I am really enjoying your review and it helps to hear you all had such a great time with all the negativity going on right now on this board. I know we'll have fun...a lot of it is what you make of it. I am worried a little about the dining room. We have early seating and really have never had a bad waiter (okay, once, but we moved because we wanted a table for 4 and the new waiters were awesome).

 

Question, in the evening were there lots of things to do? It seems they don't have a show in the main theater at least one night. I really do enjoy the shows and enjoy the comedy shows, too. If nothing else, we'll go sit and watch a movie on the lido.

 

I'm back! Hope to get more posted the next few days.

 

You have the right attitude; I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip. Where/when are you going? Are you going on the Liberty?

 

There was one night that didn't have a lot scheduled in the Venetian. If you like the parties on the Lido; those are a lot of fun. That night, they did have some game show and trivia type things going on. A few from our gang went and did enjoy it. Plus, there's the casino, strolling the decks, the pools/hot tubs are open. Also, we really didn't spend much dedicated time in the Deck 3 Lobby or the Promenade near the casino where there was always live music in the evening. I don't think you'll have trouble finding something you like.

 

For dinner - you already have a plan. If you don't like where you are in the beginning; ask to change.

[CruzinScotty]

I was awake early today; out on the balcony at 6am. There was lots of relaxation time this morning watching the coast of Puerto Rico.

 

Today is the 3rd day in a row we met outside the Silver Dining Room at 8:30. Today, all 9 were ready for breakfast. I’ve been really positive about this trip because we had a FANTASTIC time. But, I’m also being realistic and giving some mild criticism where it’s warranted. If you hear something is 100% good or 100% bad – can you really trust the source? :D

 

Having said that, I must say, the service in the MDR for breakfast was not as good as we remembered from previous cruises. Juices that were requested when ordering were delivered after asking a 2nd time (when someone ordering juice later had theirs delivered quickly). After 8 of us had been served, our last person was just asking where their meal was when it was delivered. Maybe they had to get the stone out and make the cream of wheat from scratch since it’s not ordered much? :p Did any of this ruin our cruise? Nope. Is it a legitimate decline in service over the years. Yes, it is.

 

Back to the good: the pastries in the morning were always great! The raspberry quickly became my favorite. We had more general breakfast fare. I just LOVE the bagel/cream cheese/smoked salmon. We can see we are getting close to St. Thomas now.

 

We liked deck 10 for arrivals and sail aways. This morning was nice because there is a lot to see on both sides of the ship in St. Thomas and deck 10 is easier to go back and forth.

 

St. Thomas - port side:

 

 

[CruzinScotty]

St. Thomas starboard side:

 

Havensight shopping area

 

[CruzinScotty]

See the Ferris Wheel at the top of Paradise Point?

 

People started getting off at 10:15. We decided to let the crowds go first. At 11:00, debarking was a breeze. We did a little shopping in Havensight.

 

DW just loved the license plates:

 

Havensight is quite convenient for those that don’t want to venture far from the ship.

 

Next - Some of us decide to do an island tour.

[hayesktrm]

I'm back! Hope to get more posted the next few days.

 

You have the right attitude; I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip. Where/when are you going? Are you going on the Liberty?

 

There was one night that didn't have a lot scheduled in the Venetian. If you like the parties on the Lido; those are a lot of fun. That night, they did have some game show and trivia type things going on. A few from our gang went and did enjoy it. Plus, there's the casino, strolling the decks, the pools/hot tubs are open. Also, we really didn't spend much dedicated time in the Deck 3 Lobby or the Promenade near the casino where there was always live music in the evening. I don't think you'll have trouble finding something you like.

 

For dinner - you already have a plan. If you don't like where you are in the beginning; ask to change.

 

Thanks! We leave on July 7th Liberty...same itinerary as you!

[jrmende63]

Loving your review! We are going on this same cruise in April! I am excited to go back to St.Thomas...been there once and loved it.

[CheckersMidwest]

Does the liberty have the sports square rope course?

 

How do you get tender tickets? Which ports on this itinerary were tender ports?

 

 

Hi kc people! I'm just over an hour from you. Marceline: we play you in football:) small world.

[gsxr_moe]

Does the liberty have the sports square rope course?

 

How do you get tender tickets? Which ports on this itinerary were tender ports?

 

 

Hi kc people! I'm just over an hour from you. Marceline: we play you in football:) small world.

 

Couldn't tell you about the rope course, but I can help with the Tender questions..

 

You get your tender ticket and line up/wait in the theater.... the only tender port is Half Moon Cay..

[GuitarPlayer]

THat's pretty funny, because I was the "guy in the middle".. LOL I actually whispered to the girl next to me and told her I was going to say my name was "Jeff" and I wanted her to do the same. I was afraid that she wasn't going to do it and was going to make me look bad..LOL.

 

Ok, If Jeffette shows up here, I'm going to buy a lottery ticket!

 

Too funny!

 

I still don't know how she caught the thing on the last attempt, because she didn't seem too interested in making an effort on the previous attempts!

 

I guess you *really can't* make up stuff as good as real life.

 

GP

[GuitarPlayer]

Couldn't tell you about the rope course, but I can help with the Tender questions..

 

You get your tender ticket and line up/wait in the theater.... the only tender port is Half Moon Cay..

 

No ropes course. (But the "Guy's Burgers" more than make up for that!)

 

For tendering, find someone that's platinum, buy them a drink and ask them to "escort you" to the front of the tender line when you want to get off the ship in HMC. :D

 

GP

[KC Crew#3]

Does the liberty have the sports square rope course?

 

How do you get tender tickets? Which ports on this itinerary were tender ports?

 

 

Hi kc people! I'm just over an hour from you. Marceline: we play you in football:) small world.

UM CHECKERSMIDWEST.....I LIVE in Marceline...i am the Blacksheep of the KC Crew. I work at Walsworth (like most do in Marceline)

[CruzinScotty]

We headed to the taxi area and requested a private air-conditioned van for six. It cost us $20 per person for a 2 hour tour. Not bad. They have open air vans, but we wanted the AC and a smaller vehicle so we had our own personal tour.

 

Hint: If you’re doing your own tour and looking for a taxi in Havensight– walk straight up the main street in the shopping area – at the end are the taxis. (We started heading back to the ship to ask at the information booth. Turns out if we had just turned around where we were shopping, we were 40 feet away. LOL)

 

We saw part of the city of Charlotte Amalie, then headed up the mountain. Henry was our driver and tour guide, he did a nice job.

 

The famous 99 steps as seen from the van:

 

 

 

We start heading up the mountains:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop: Mountain Top

[CruzinScotty]

Everyone knows this view of Magen’s Bay taken from Mountain Top:

-

 

 

 

Mountain Top has been a St. Thomas landmark for many years. They had a fire a few years back and had to rebuild quickly. Yep – it’s now a warehouse.

 

-

 

 

 

I wish they had rebuilt with a little more personality. But, it is what it is and the view is worth it. Plus, with the size of all these mega-ships that come into port; I guess they did need to enlarge things a bit.

[CruzinScotty]

It's time to cool down with a nice banana daquiri.

 

 

 

We stopped by Drake’s Seat on the way down the north side of the mountain. We didn’t stop but were told this was Sapphire Beach:

 

 

 

We made our way by Red Hook, where you catch the ferry over to St. John.The van brought us back directly to the ship. Pop and I decided we needed a light lunch, so we headed up for some pizza and a piece of pineapple upside down cake. Yummo on both counts. Isn’t this a great view for lunch:

 

 

Next – I lose the camera!

[Missjamis3]

As we toured, I was all excited to show everyone the Hot and Cool Disco. When we arrived, I realized that during the 2.0 – they must have painted the large hand and feet. It’s more sleek now than tacky, I guess. But, it doesn’t have the same WOW factor to me. Here is Hot/Cool from 2008:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the hands/feet are black fading to silver. I didn’t look nearly as impressive to me; I didn’t think to take a photo to compare. It was dark in the room, but even so - it was hard to tell the difference between the hand and feet now. I looked on the Carnival website. There’s an icon for Hot/Cool – but no photo (old or new). Anyone got a photo of the new Hot/Cool Disco they would like to share to compare???

 

Here's a new pic from the same cruise.

[CruzinScotty]

MissJamis3 - THANKS so much for posting new pics of Hot/Cool!

 

Your pictures look better than I remembered. I'm glad I got the "sleeker" and the room feeling darker part right . ;)

Edited June 11, 2012 by CruzinScotty

[CruzinScotty]

After our pizza, I dropped Pop of at his room and went to my own. This is when I realized I had lost the camera. And I knew exactly where. After I took the last picture I posted; I put the camera on the table instead of my pocket. In 10 minutes – it – was – gone.

 

I made my way to Guest Services. In less than 20 minutes – the camera had been turned in by the busboy. I went back later to give a personal thank you to David from Peru. Way to go – Carnival staff! (I did make a special mention of him in my on-line comments to Carnival.)

 

After surviving that mishap, it was time for some quiet time and people watching from the balcony.

 

DW and I decided to forgo dinner in the MDR to watch the sailaway.

 

 

The others went to dinner and came back with mixed results. They had a different wait staff, who were efficient, but not as friendly as our normal crew. The Filet got mixed results – from very good to mediocre. At the buffet, DW and I combined to have salad, sushi, lasagna and turkey with all the fixin’s. For dessert, the raspberry torte was a winner.

 

We met up with the gang to see the show, “Swingin’ with the Big Band”. This show, like EDGE, was a one night show by a performer that moves from ship to ship. Chrisopher Alan Graves was the one man show. This show was OK, but our least favorite of the trip. He did a lot of Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr; which we like. But, the sound system was off. Everything was very loud and muffled; it really took away from the show.

 

There's new comedians on board, why no comedy tonight? LOL Time for the balcony and to bed at the somewhat normal time of 10:30.

 

 

Next: A Blast from the past.

[CruzinScotty]

I’m gonna take a little tangent if you’ll indulge me.

 

Any “Golden Girl” fans out there? In your best “Sophia” voice, say, “Picture it, June 1978”…LOL

 

Way back when I was a teenager, my parents took me on a 7 night cruise on this mammoth ship called the” Carnivale” from a small cruise ship company called Carnival. It was a mind boggling 25,516 ton behemoth that was a whopping 640 feet long. The ports of call for this trip included St. Thomas, San Juan and St. Martin. This trip and the wonderful memories are why I’ve been promising DW that we would get to the Eastern Caribbean some day. An additional treat is that my Pop is with me as well.

 

So, lets take a quick down Memory Lane. Look at the Carnivale. It was so big, it took two who pictures to capture 25,000 tons of fun!

 

With these newfangled cameras, I can get the Liberty in one shot in Grand Turk:

 

I guess there’s something to be said about camera angle. ;)

[CruzinScotty]

.....well after the motion sickness the first day of boaring full speed ahead then eating....not a good combo for a first time cruiser! :p

 

KC Crew #3 - I didn't want to say anything earlier. Maybe with the comparison of sailing on a ship literally 1/4 the size: I barely felt the ship movement at all. ;)

[CruzinScotty]

Here's the Funnel - before the "Whale Tail" was born:

Do you think my Pop has aged well?

 

One of the first photos I posted was of the Promenade. Here's it is on the Carnivale:

Don't ya just love the old wooden lounge chairs? Also note - before the day of TV's in the room - there was a "Cinema" on board. And, look how massive the Gift Shop looks like it might have been. NOT.

 

Charlotte Amalie - St. Thomas: do you think the city has grown much since way back when?

 

Magen's Bay - do you think the view has changed a lot?

Of note: can you make out the "Fun Ship" logo at the top of my t-shirt? And......what I couldn't find this trip, that I could find in 2008 and in 1978 - a t-shirt with the name of the ship. :D

 

Thanks for indulging in my memories. ;)

 

 

Next: Low expectations = lots of fun!

Edited June 11, 2012 by CruzinScotty

[happylady]

Your old pictures remind me of my parents first and only cruise (dad spent 4 days sea sick :() aboard the MS Boheme back in 1971. Great memories.

[Atomic911]

Great review, nice pics. :D

[rtw68]

Great start! We go on Liberty April 2013. :D

 

Looking forward to more!

[CruzinScotty]

I was on the balcony at 6am today. The starboard side is not the best for watching the arrival in San Juan. But, really – is any arrival view really that bad?

 

We decided to switch things up for breakfast. My hope with the early arrival time was that the Emile’s would not be too crowded with some people opting to sleep in.

 

Good guess, the crowd wasn’t bad. Items at the buffet that I consider better than the MDR are the personally made omelettes (fresh and more ingredient options), the guava juice, choosing the type and amount or fresh fruit and the banana bread. The banana bread. Yep – worth saying twice ;)

 

Our expectations for San Juan were very low. I had researched and knew we didn’t plan on venturing out of Old San Juan. Even with the early start; the heat would be a deterent. Anything we saw would be just fine. I had done lots of research and had printed out the free trolley route with the blue/green/red bus routes.

 

Hint – go to the Port-of-Call message boards for every port you visit. You will find lots of great info there, like the map mentioned above.

 

As we were leaving the cruise terminal, they were guys selling 2 hour city tours that included a few stops. Did you say air-conditioned vans? For only 20 bucks? SOLD!

 

We waited a few minutes for the van to fill up and then off we went. We saw the construction near the pier and were told in 5 years the entire area would be different. There are to be more piers, with lots of shopping and hotels in the area. It should be very nice; but it will take more of the “old” out of “Old San Juan”. ;)

 

Our tour went to the hotel district with a stop for pictures of the beach and a gift shop to use the restroom. We snagged a few t-shirts here.

 

 

DW also liked the license plates here: