REVIEW: Carnival Liberty October 12-19, 2013

[bhanback]

Just off the Carnival Liberty Eastern Caribbean cruise going to Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. I have to say that to a large extent, this cruise restored my faith in Carnival.

 

Cruising this week were myself and my sister, who has become my cruising buddy since hubby has to stay home with the dogs! This was her fifth Carnival cruise and we were celebrating my Platinum cruise with Carnival. I have been wanting to branch out and maybe try some other lines but I did want to grab that Platinum status before the end of the year!

 

Ok, so this was my tenth cruise. I have tended to take the shorter cruises only because they were more convenient for me to sail from ports closer to home. So, I've done the Paradise from Miami! them a bunch out of Norfolk....the Triumph, Victory and Glory. Sis and I did the Pride from Baltimore and the Glory from Boston and Norfolk.

 

I wanted her to have the fun of going to Miami and getting on the ship, it is a different vibe, to me anyway! We looked at Western itineraries, which was my preference (more adventure!) but sis had her heart set on Eastern Caribbean, for more beaches, and she was sold on Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. I acquiesced pretty easily, what the heck, a cruise is a cruise, right?

 

After booking and changing cabins three times, and going through the preliminary packing, the "play packing" the pre final packing and then the final packing, scouring Cruise Critic reviews, planning and booking transportation and shore excursions........we were finally ready to go!

 

I left at 3 am from my home on Chincoteague Island to go pick up Rose, and to say it was a dark and stormy night would be a big understatement. I mean, the rain was torrential as I made my way north to pick her up. I knew I would be early, so I texted her before I left.......no response. Once I made my way through Salisbury MD, I pulled over and texted her again.......this was about 4 am, I was scheduled to arrive at her place at 6 but I kept trying to let her know I was early because of the weather and potential traffic issues on the way to BWI.

STILL no response! Muttering to myself, I continued up the highway.....do I mention my van has no defroster or heat? So even tho it's a chilly rainy morning I have to run the AC in order to keep the windows clear enough to see out of. Once at the turn off, in desperation, at the stoplight I picked up the phone and hit send to CALL her. A small, groggy sounding voice says "hello?????" I said, Rose, I am at the turn off to Bridgeville and I will be at your house in 15 minutes, so be ready! Then I got a wide awake "WHAT?????"

 

Got to Roses house and she was ready. We bid farewell to her DH and her two dachshunds, Honey and Sandy, and continued to BWI in more tropical downpours. No one would have suspected seeing us driving up the road swaddled in our coats and blankets that we were headed for more tropical climes. Once at the airport we checked our luggage, stopped at the Hudson Newstands.......Rose loves those darn places. Well, I did pick up something, called Godiva Truffle Flights.....for extra sustenance, You really should try them, they are to die for.

 

We were concerned that our flight would be delayed, but we only ran about five minutes behind schedule before we were airborne. Up above the clouds, the weather was sunny and gorgeous!

[bhanback]

After arriving at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, we went to pick up our baggage and my cell phone rang. As promised, it was Gary from Holland Limo, saying he was waiting outside for us. I booked Holland Limo after reading good reviews on Cruise Critc, and it could not have gone any smoother! Traffic was pretty heavy but we arrived at Marriott Biscayne Bay in about forty minutes after leaving the airport. We had a big beautiful black SUV, which was immaculate!

It was not any more expensive than a taxi fare from FLL, and we did not have the hassle of a shuttle with ten other people and lots of other stops.

[Ehpride]

I have to admit that I'm glad I'm not the only one with a 4 step packing process :)