Liberty 1/18 to 1/25 quick review

[kona_wahine]

Just a quick trip report with the highlights of our trip. This was the Carnival Liberty Western route, including Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk.

 

Had a couple bumps in the road getting there. We flew from Portland, OR. When we were all checked in and settling in at the gate I checked our email and found out our flight had changed. The plane getting in was going to be an hour late, which meant we would leave an hour late, which meant we would not make our Chicago-Miami flight. Travelocity said to call them, which I did, and am pretty sure I was talking to someone in India who was absolutely no help. I turned around and called American Airlines directly and got it all straightened out. We were on a new flight, just couldn’t get seat assignments. That was ok, when we got to O’Hare we got our seat assignments. Not together, but close. Then we got in to Miami and took the shuttle to our hotel (via Expedia) . Got there with another couple and they had to close 2 rooms, and of course they were ours. They sent us across the street to Comfort Inn and the other couple to Holiday Express. They took us across the street and wouldn’t you know it, Expedia had not made the reservation for us yet. They told us to wait. (it is now 1:00 in the morning) Luckily, a fax came through pretty fast and they gave us our room key cards. First one didn’t work, second one didn’t work, third time a charm and we finally got in our room. (1:30 and I’m TIRED!)

 

Next morning got up, asked for a cab, who swiftly took us to the Liberty. We had FTTF so breezed right in. There were not many people there yet anyway, but it was still nice to be whisked through. BTW, they had a list of all the FTTF people. It was about 1.5 pages long looked single spaced. We did have a bit of a wait before they started boarding. We were on ship about 12:00.

 

Went right to our room which had the soda, water, beer we ordered beforehand waiting for us. We were in room 9266 on the lido deck. Now that we’ve gone lido it would be hard to go to a different deck. 9266 was directly across from the main stairs so super convenient. Cleared out the fridge (I can actually handle this on my own!) and loaded it with our stuff. Put our valuables in the safe. Tried to use the key card from the hotel room and it wouldn’t work for the safe either! Had to use my safeway club card. Lol Went exploring as we had not been on the Liberty before. (2 previous cruises on the Dream)

 

Casino: I’m going to start here because it made my trip! We are not big gamblers, stay away from the local Indian casino, don’t really play the lottery unless it really gets big, Vegas is just too much, etc. I saved up $100 per day for us to share. First day I decided what I bank on my card I would just save up and cash in at the end of the cruise to see how much I could accumulate. (instead of giving it all back) First night I hit an $80 on a dollar machine. I ended up banking $88 so we were only down a couple dollars. Second night DH was playing roulette and I played the slots. I decided to try my dollar machine again and hit **double- 7- double**, for a total of $640! Yeah! I banked it to my card and decided my gambling was about done for the week. DH won a couple times on roulette, and at the end of the week our $700 became over $1,300. We won more than enough to pay off our S&S card. Oh, I did try that machine a couple times after and it was definitely tightened up.

 

FOOD: Started at Guys. We had both been dieting since Labor Day and both lost 30 pounds. Diet was definitely out the window. I had the Ringer burger. It was fabulous. I didn’t find it greasy at all. We did have a second one later in the week. I had the Pig patty. I have to say I did not like it near as much. I thought the bacon patty was dry and tasteless. I would definitely stick with the Ringer next time.

Dining room. They did have the American dinging and Feast going on. We had table clothes every night. The tables were still the old white cushion. I was going to ask on the last night if they were changing them out but we ended up eating at the buffet. Anyway, we tried the following and liked pretty much everything: Beef Brisket (tender!) Flat iron steak, lobster (so small, had two dinners each) BBQ ribs were very tender but we both didn’t care much for the BBQ sauce. Grilled Shrimp was pretty skimpy also, 4 shrimp per plate. They were nice size shrimp but 4 shrimp for an adult dinner? DH ordered Filet Mignon/short ribs with his. He gave me a taste of the Filet. It was tender but seemed like it should have more flavor. Apps: Ham Croquets with Empanadas and black bean salsa was good. DH had 2 shrimp cocktails every night. 4 seasons salad, stuffed mushrooms, calamari. All were pretty good. Nothing outstanding. We had the WCMC almost every night. I did try the smores parfait and that was good. Nothing over the top terrific, but it was all good. Definitely never went away hungry.

 

We also had the buffet one night. It was usual buffet food, nothing outstanding. The breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana were YUMMY! Never did try them for lunch. Shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake from Jardin café. It was ok. Had pizza late one night. It was ok. Two guys working and the only place to get food and the line was really backing up. Seems like something they need to work on. Had a hot dog from the deli, it was ok. Did the seaday brunch because we wanted to use our free drink coupons and I wanted to try the frosted flake French toast. It was ok, wouldn’t order it again. Got beers for DH and asked the waiter not to open. Took them back to our room to the fridge.

 

Dive In movie. We watched two. It was nice laying out watching the movies. Really enjoyed that. Last night was Hunger Games, and it was COLD. There was a medical emergency so we were going faster back to Miami, got in around 2am. I had my sweatshirt, robe, beach towel, and then got a blanket. Then I was ok. Popcorn is a nice addition to the movies. First movie we saw early in the trip was family night, Despicable Me 2, it was pretty cute.

 

Half Moon Cay: Unfortunately, it was cold. And as the day went on it seemed to get colder. I really wanted to get in the water, a lot of people were. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Just a reason to go back.

St. Thomas: We did a snorkel trip to Trunk Bay St John. I thought we were taking the ferry over but they had a large boat for us right at the pier and loaded us on and took us over. They had buses at St. John waiting for us and took us to the beach. We had about 2 hours there. Of course, it’s never long enough. Snorkeling was not that great. (I’m used to Hawaii snorkeling) the beach and water were beautiful though.

 

San Juan: We got right off the ship and headed to El Morro. We found it no problem. Opened at 9:00 so we looked at the cemetery there and then into the fort. IT was interesting. Spent the rest of the day shopping. Not really much else to do there unless you take a tour. We did go to Barrachina and have a Pina Colada. (this is where they were invented) Also shared some nachos. It’s a very small hole in the wall. I was expecting more up hill and long walks but it really isn’t that big. We walked outside the wall until the last gate, went in and headed up towards El Morro. It was a very easy walk.

 

Grand Turk. We just spend the day at the beach. Got off in a hurry because we wanted to chair out front. Did a bit of shopping and had to have a perfect margarita at Margaritaville. (note, I’m on a quest to hit up as many Margaritavilles as I can. I have Vegas, Honolulu, Universal Orlando, and now Grand Turk. Vegas is still the winner of the best) I found a guy selling conch shells for $15. Very nice, pink, polished. (I collect them from different ports) We also wandered down to the point and picked one up ourselves. Not near as pretty, but pretty special! 

 

What else: Mini Golf is a fun time. I went to the cooking demo at the steakhouse. They give you recipes and quickly go through them and give tastes. It’s ok, and I really liked the spinach salad so will try that at home. Went to Wonderful World show. It was ok. Not something DH liked, I could tell he was getting antsy but too bad!! Lol There were two different male singers performing off and on on the lido and in the lobby. One was very good, the other, eh. Played a little in the arcade. Never many people there, mainly because it’s so dang EXPENSIVE! I would keep my kids out of there. Had pictures taken the first elegant night. Wow, they must really air brush because some turned out fabulous! I did end up buying one.

 

I also liked looking at other’s cards. (lanyards) I found it interesting how many blue cards we saw. Lots of newbies. Also, lots of gold cards.

 

FTTF: Definitely worth it this trip. We had priority boarding, but it seemed to go really quick. I did see others with zone 30 and above. I had to go to guest services 3 times on Friday because of the luggage express problems. This was on the last sea day so the line was LOOOOONG. If I had to wait in that line each time I would have went mad. Especially since the problem wasn’t my fault. Everyone was putting money on their S&S card. I do wonder why more people just don’t let the cost hit their credit card and just pay it off when they get home. Myself, I get miles so am glad for the charge.  Also, we had priority tendering to Half Moon Cay. I would have enjoyed it more if the weather was better.

 

We did the luggage express and for some reason they couldn’t check me in so DH had it and I didn’t. Kind of a pain, as I wish they would have cancelled both. Anyway, with FTTF I had zone 1 tags so got off with him anyway. Walked down to where the luggage was and right there was my bag. We grabbed it and got in a cab. $24 flat rate to MIA. AA had curbside check in so seriously, wish we had saved the $20 on DH’s luggage express, as it was so simple. But I would only do it with FTTF or Zone 1 tags, otherwise I’m sure the airport gets CRAZY. We were there very early and had to wait about 3 hours for our flight, but that was ok.

Well, that’s about it. The cruise was very nice, enjoyed ourselves immensely. Oh, and I gained 3 pounds and DH gained 10!!! I have my weight watchers meeting today and I think I’m downed were I started. Yeah!!

Edited January 30, 2014 by kona_wahine

[kids-in-2-centuries]

I was there with you and I noticed there were alot of Blue Cards too! Thanks for the review :)

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Thanks for the review of the Eastern route, this is what we will be taking in March. (Western- includes Mexico, Jamaica, Belize, Roatan etc...)

 

Happy Sailing!!!

[kona_wahine]

Our last cruise was on the Dream, western route. We went to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and costa maya. We really enjoyed that route and would do it again.

[Engineerstar]

Hello kona and thank you for the great review! Was it quiet around your cabin? Any aggravating noise?

[kona_wahine]

Other than the occasional loud people walking by it was very quiet. (But there is no getting away from that) I would definitely book that room again.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Mary49]

Could you tell me if they still do the Ticket to Ride show and if you saw Music Boardwalk cover band? Thanks.

[Pellaz]

Thanks for the review!

 

Out of all the cruises and itineraries I've done so far -- admittedly not many :) -- this ship and this itinerary remains my favorite!

Seemed like we were always running a bit early, we were always alone in port with no other ships, and the port-times were generous; no short 5-hour stays. LOVED it.

[kona_wahine]

Could you tell me if they still do the Ticket to Ride show and if you saw Music Boardwalk cover band? Thanks.

 

I don't remember seeing either of these items in the funtimes, but couldn't tell you for sure.

[kids-in-2-centuries]

Could you tell me if they still do the Ticket to Ride show and if you saw Music Boardwalk cover band? Thanks.

 

Mary they do not still do Ticket to Ride in the theatre. Music Boardwalk WAS the cover band, and they were great! ;)

[Pinkfloydfan]

Mary they do not still do Ticket to Ride in the theatre. Music Boardwalk WAS the cover band, and they were great! ;)

kids-in-2-centuries, I'm not Mary49:D but thanks for the information on Music Boardwalk. I met them in 2004 on the Miracle & they gave me my CC name:cool: Pink

[kids-in-2-centuries]

kids-in-2-centuries, I'm not Mary49:D but thanks for the information on Music Boardwalk. I met them in 2004 on the Miracle & they gave me my CC name:cool: Pink

 

You are welcome ;)

[Mary49]

Mary they do not still do Ticket to Ride in the theatre. Music Boardwalk WAS the cover band, and they were great! ;)

 

Thanks for the info. I'm sad that they don't do Ticket to Ride show. I had a feeling that it was gone along with the orchestra band. But at least I will still get to see them in May. Glad you had a good cruise.

[RFB143]

FYI we were on the Liberty January 25 - February 1. there were table clothes on the tables in the MDR's each night

[cruiseclues]

Pretty good review for a quick one...We found it was better to use the great bacon from the fixin's bar, instead of the Pig Patty, because it seemed tasteless to us, also, and seemed to be made of mostly bacon fat. :):):):)