B2B Liberty Review Oct.6 & 13th, 2012 Picture Heavy !

[Ykgorbie]

Greetings fellow cruisers ! Let me start off by saying that I feel a little guilty as I write this review since I am reading about all of the changes and cancellations that hurricane Sandy is causing. Having a cruise cancelled would be horrible and I really feel for you.

 

My husband and I live in Canada's Arctic in a city called Yellowknife. For those of you that aren't familiar with the TV show "Ice Road Truckers" or "Ice Pilots", we are 1000 miles straight north of Edmonton, Alberta OR east of Alaska. That should give you an idea of the distance we travel to get to the eastern US to do a Caribbean itinerary! This was our 6th and 7th cruise, our second Back-to-Back and our fifth cruise with our good friends from southern Alberta. Our good friends did the first cruise with us, Western Caribbean departing from Miami on Oct. 6th.

 

We departed Yellowknife on Sunday, Sept.30th as DH and I planned to spend five nights in Miami pre-cruise. I am going to try to insert larger pics from here on in the review....so am going to do a test before I go on.

 

..............continued

 

[AndrewD65]

Looking forward to an awesome review, I love heavy picture reviews.

[EmmasNana]

Perfect timing! We are doing B2B on the Liberty in December. Can't wait to see your review.

[hockeyluver]

Looking forward to your review too, love love love pictures :D:D. We are doing our first b2b in February :D

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Love the B2B cruises .. looking forward to all the pics .. : )

[vivavegas]

Looking forward to reading your review!:)

[Ykgorbie]

Great ! It's working....

 

In any case we flew the first day from Yellowknife to Edmonton then from Edmonton to Toronto and overnighted there. The next morning, we flew from Toronto to Miami. I got a fantastic deal on airfare and including all taxes it was $780 per person Yellowknife to Miami return. Yes, we Canucks pay dearly to fly. We decided to stay at the Doubletree in Miami and were put in a suite on the 31st floor - a beautiful suite with a fantastic balcony. This was our first time in Miami, having departed out of Fort Lauderdale in the past, and we discovered that Miami was more costly to get around and seemed much more spread out. We managed though....

Another pic of our suite at the Doubletree:

 

 

We had a fairly good view of Biscayne Bay, but unfortunately, not of the port.

 

 

We mainly relaxed in Miami. Managed to get a round of golf in (tremendously difficult with a humidex reading of +42C) "So, THAT'S why we're the only golfers on the course this afternoon" said I as I nearly melted down to a puddle, lol. Also went to the Miami Seaquarium - that was a nice afternoon even though we got caught in some liquid sunshine :) at one point. Pics from there:

 

 

 

....to be continued

[Crazy4Koko]

well HI! saw you on your balcony on the 10/6... we were on the other end...

[Ykgorbie]

We also spent one day at the Bayside Marketplace. A taxi from our hotel to there was about $16 for the 4 of us and we ended up taking the water taxi back and I honestly can't remember what that cost but it was more expensive than the taxi. It was a nice ride as we tried to get acclimatized to the humidity !

From left, DH and I and our friends Susan and Don.

 

I very recently found out I am severely gluten intolerant so the day before the cruise, we headed over to the grocery store about 2 blocks from the hotel. They had a pretty great selection of gluten free things and I stocked up on pre-packaged snacks that I would be able to take ashore on excursions. They also came in handy late at night when the only thing open was the pizza place.

Also bought a nerfy style football to use in the water !

 

Saturday came (Embarkation Day - wahoo!!) and I checked my emails on my iPad and lo and behold there was an "Urgent Message" from Carnival. It advised us not to head to the port terminal until 1:30. Well, we didn't head their advice and arrived there at about 11:40am. We didn't have priority boarding and found the line ups moving along rather quickly. My hubby who HATES lineups even commented to me "Well, another really smooth embarkation." And that says something, believe me. A photo of DH and I on our aft wrap balcony (#6452):

 

 

...to be continued.....

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review.

[Ykgorbie]

As I mentioned, embarkation was quick and painless. We were up on the Lido having a beverage by 12:25. Muster drill was called and after attending that, we got unpacked and changed for dinner. The skies were quite gray at sail away, so the next picture isn't all that exciting. We got a kick out of all the people honking their horns when we went by South Beach - fun waving to everyone !

 

 

Oh, to digress, earlier that afternoon I paid a visit to the maitre'de to discuss what gluten free options there were for me and also to get a table for four for our party. I was told that the hostess would visit me at our table that evening and let me choose my dinner for the next night. Sure enough she did and continued to do so throughout the week. I was extremely happy with the attention she paid to me. They even had gluten free bread (although not the best I have tasted) for me when they were serving the dinner rolls each evening. I thought it was a nice touch.

 

DH pre-dinner

 

 

A partial shot of our balcony

 

 

...coming up a few shots of the interior of the ship....

[Ykgorbie]

well HI! saw you on your balcony on the 10/6... we were on the other end...

 

COOL ! And hi ! Isn't it great to be home ? (not)

[Ykgorbie]

A few photos I took of the Liberty. Just for the record, I found her to be in fine shape, workers were constantly cleaning, no real visible wear and tear that I noticed anyway.

 

 

 

Loved the 2.0 upgrades !!

 

 

 

 

...and since I can only post 5 images at a time, to be continued....

[seadancer]

love it so far

[Ykgorbie]

Monday, Oct 7th was a Sea Day and we spent it relaxing. And still trying to get used to the humidity. :o Yellowknife is extremely dry; the humidity in our home last winter averaged 16% :eek: in the winter months. But as I glance out of my window now at the snow falling, how I wish now that high humidity was my biggest problem of the day, lol.

 

Tues, Oct 8th we docked in Cozumel, our first time there. We were there from 7am to 5pm and had booked an excursion through Carnival over to Passion Island. I think it was advertised as a catamaran trip, but we were on more of a tender type boat, one with an upper deck. Didn't matter, and we had a nice 45 minute ride over to passion Island.

 

 

Once there, we did a lot of swimming, tossed the football around a bit and joined in the beach games which were a lot of fun. The excursion included a buffet and drinks (alcoholic); I couldn't eat most of what was in the buffet, but I do recall they had simply THE best guacamole I have ever consumed.

Beach was great, no vendors there at all and service was fantastic.

 

 

 

...next up, Belize....

[Rainbowfalls]

love your review so far! Picture reviews are always the greatest. :D I feel for you with the snow I am already dreading our under a foot of snow winters here lol,

[Ykgorbie]

Oct 9th was Belize from 8am to 5pm. Our friends booked a Carnival excursion, the Cave Tubing and had a great time. DH and I took a general tender to shore later in the day, but only hung out in the port area for a couple of hours before heading back to the ship.

 

 

Wednesday, the 10th was Roatan and after having read wonderful reviews about Victor Bodden's tours, we arranged one for the four of us. My friend looked after booking it via the internet and did this weeks prior to the cruise. We got off the ship around 8:45am.

 

 

We continued up the road (a bit of a hill if you have trouble walking) and found Victor Bodden's tours no problem. We were introduced to our private driver, "Big Al" and piled into his van. Al was fantastic and we headed off to the monkey farm:

 

 

 

Al then took us around the island, providing info as we went and answering all of our questions. After stopping for a couple of photo ops, he took us to the Marriott's resort and we spent a couple of hours swimming and relaxing.

 

 

...to be continued....

[pacarolinagirl]

Great review so far. I love all the pics. We loved the Liberty & that was before the 2.0 upgrades. :)

[SMSACE6]

Oh thankyou thankyou so much for your review and photos! I was supposed to be on the October 13th sailing, but had to cancel due to some problems at home. I was on the Liberty in October 2009, and loved that ship and the cruise so much, that I wanted to go again on her one more time, alas it was not to be.

 

I am from Canada also, ( Ottawa ), and yes we Canadians do pay dearly for air travel from this country. But hearing what it cost you, makes me realise that it costs many people here in Canada much more to fly to the port, than it does me.

 

Im loving the photos, and the review....so looking forward to reading/seeing the rest. Thanks again for the review!:)

[Ykgorbie]

Victor Bodden's Tours was fantastic - would highly recommend using them. Big Al was informative, funny and although we gave him a huge tip, the charge was only $25 per person !!

 

Here's "Big Al" at the Marriott resort:

 

He had us back to the port area when we asked and we spent a little bit of time shopping, though the stores were all very busy.

 

Here's the last photo I took from our balcony using my zoom lens once we had re-boarded the Liberty.

 

 

We spent the rest of the day enjoying dinner (we had early seating which we have always preferred) and losing $$ in the casino. ;) Woke up the next morning, had some breakfast and got ready to get off in Grand Cayman. We hadn't booked an excursion here - we just wanted a nice, close beach to hit so we hopped in a taxi and headed to the other end of Seven Mile Beach.

It was nice there - my DH and our friends rented snorkel gear (I have glasses and really really need to get me a prescription mask!) and surprisingly, saw a small stingray only about 7' from the beach, saw all kinds of fish and an urchin half hiding under a rock. I swam quite a bit and at one point ended up in about 6" of water and scraped my knee on the coral (klutz), but water was warm and we had a great time that day. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have many pictures - must have been in the water too much !

 

Friday was a Sea Day and although DH and I were staying on for another week, it was sad knowing our good friends had to leave. That evening we rec'd instructions on our bed for the B2B turn-around for us. We were to meet in the atrium lounge at 11:00am - niiiiiiice ! We were awakened by Karl with a K (cruise director) announcing disembark instructions from about 7am on and joined our friends for breakfast on the Lido before they left the ship around 10am. :( At 11am, we were met by a Carnival rep and given our new Sail and Sign cards and led off of the ship and downstairs to the Customs guy, who looked at our passports and gave us the nod. Within 20 minutes, the group of us were back on the ship. I love that hour or so that you have the ship all to yourself !

 

Miami was extremely windy that day and turns out we had a rough ride out to sea that evening. Luckily, DH and myself aren't bothered by it, but there were numerous people leaving the dining room mid-meal looking a little green under the gills. By around midnight that night, I was sure we wouldn't make Half Moon Cay the next morning - the seas were rougher than we had ever experienced before. Turns out we were contending with the outer bands of tropical storm Patty. But, miracle of miracles, we DID make it to Half Moon Cay on Sunday ! So happy as we had rented a cabana and it was also our first time there.

 

 

 

....more pics of Half Moon Cay to follow....

[Ykgorbie]

More Half Moon Cay....

 

 

 

 

 

[Ykgorbie]

Loved, loved, loved Half Moon Cay ! IMHO, the cabana was too expensive for the two of us, but we certainly did enjoy it. Loved that it had it's own shower, a mister on the fan and comfy furniture. It was scorching hot that day so the shade was welcomed. Enjoyed the snacks provided to us as well: salsa, guacamole, corn tortilla chips, sour cream, fresh fruit...) I do have one question that maybe someone could answer: While we were in the cabana, there was an unusually loud "hum" that was coming from one of the trees next to us. I'm talking really loud - was the noise from an insect? Or some other critter??

 

We enjoyed another Sea Day on Monday and got some laundry done. The self serve launderettes were a bit of a walk from our cabin, but machines were available and I had remembered to get lots of quarters from the casino the evening before.

 

Tuesday was St. Thomas - so excited as we had booked a Carnival excursion to go over to St. Johns. We had never been there before and I was anxious to see their gorgeous beaches.

 

With the zoom lens, coming into St. Thomas:

 

 

Threatening skies before excursion:

 

 

[Ykgorbie]

Rained pretty hard for a few minutes, but by then we were aboard the ferry to take us to St. Johns. The captain of the boat gave a good narrative on the way over in semi rough seas. The ride over took some time, but once we were there the weather had cleared up (for awhile, lol) and we got in a bus for the ride to Trunk Bay. This is what we saw on the way:

 

 

 

...and finally, our destination, Trunk Bay. Ahhhhh

 

 

[Ykgorbie]

 

Beautiful place! We rented some chairs and DH snorkeled for awhile and I swam and relaxed. There was a lifeguard on duty, but really weren't many people there. We had been forewarned by Carnival that the snorkeling conditions weren't going to be ideal that day because of a storm the day before, but DH said it was alright. I could have spent all day there, but alas, we had to head back. This was a shot I snapped from our balcony before we departed St. Thomas.

 

 

Next up....San Juan

[soccersharon]

Great review! We're on the Liberty December 15th - can't wait!