Our Lovely Liberty cruise (with pics) 8/9/14

[Jamman54]

Ahoy Everybody! My name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I’m a cruise addict! Welcome, to my review of the Carnival Liberty, an 8 day cruise from Port Canaveral to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk. This cruise was the second half of an almost back to back with the Carnival Fascination, which we boarded the week before. If you have not already read my review of that cruise, a link to it can be found in my signature.

 

Cruising with me, are my beautiful wife, Patti, our darling 17 year old son Ryan, and with us in spirit, our son Kevin, who made it well known to us on the Fascination that he was with us! As always, I want to bring you along for the ride, share some photos, and perhaps give you a few tips, in case you are considering a cruise aboard the Carnival Liberty, doing this itinerary, or just to stir up some past happy memories. Glad to have you aboard. I think this one may be a long one!

 

We booked this cruise for our summer vacation for a variety of reasons. First, we had not sailed on the Liberty before. Second, we had not sailed on a Carnival ship that had the 2.0 upgrades before. Thirdly, It had been a very long time since we had cruised to the Southern Caribbean. I remember sailing from San Juan on a 7 day cruise with five ports, and only one sea day, and leaving the ship when it was over, more tired than when I got on! I vowed never to do a port intensive itinerary like that again. But this itinerary was perfect, since it had FOUR sea days, which we love, and just the three ports.

 

We will begin where we left off, in Jacksonville. After leaving the Fascination, we made the two and a half hour drive down I-95 to Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. We are getting close…..

 

 

Our first view of the ships in today at Port Canaveral…..

 

 

We are here……

 

 

Our home for the next two days…..

 

 

 

We have arrived a couple of hours before the scheduled check in time, but our room was ready, so we checked in. The front desk at the Radisson…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

For those that are interested, the Radisson does run a shuttle to the Orlando airport for a fee…..

 

 

Our room is all the way in the back of the hotel, which is fine because it was quiet, and I was able to get a nice close parking spot…..

 

 

We booked the cruise and park package, and had a whirlpool suite…..

 

 

Our bedroom…..

 

 

The whirlpool was in our bedroom…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[janiejake]

To be continued…..

 

Well, don't stop now!! I was all settled in for a big read! Cruising on the Liberty in January, so looking forward to what you have to share...

[Jamman54]

Ryan has the living area and the pull out bed again…..

 

 

I’m enjoying the free wi-fi, but if I took my laptop into the bedroom, the service would get spotty…..

 

 

Once we were settled in, as Patti often does, she grabbed the camera to do a photo tour of the property. Here are the nearby tennis courts…..

 

 

A couple of shots of the beautiful pool…..

 

 

 

My favorite spot, the Pool Bar…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here is the rear entrance to the lobby and restaurant…..

 

 

They have a GREAT breakfast buffet here at Flamingo’s…..

 

 

 

This way to the Gift Shop…..

 

 

 

The entrance to Port Canaveral…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

A view of the Exploration Tower…..

 

 

We were getting hungry, so we stopped at Fishlip’s for a bite to eat, and to watch the ships sail out of Port Canaveral…..

 

 

 

 

There are three ships in port today. The Disney Dream on the left, and the Carnival Sensation on the right. These ships were embarking passengers for cruises to the Bahamas. The Carnival Splendor, in the middle, was there because she was diverted from Grand Turk , due to TS Bertha. What a bummer!!

 

 

Obviously not a real gator!!

 

 

To be continued…..

[EpcotBill]

Jeff, is the buffet included with the Park & Cruise package?

[Jamman54]

The Disney Dream. We had just seen her last week in Nassau…..

 

 

The Carnival Splendor, our ship from last summer…..

 

 

The Carnival Sensation was our honeymoon ship back in 1994…..

 

 

Fishlip’s sign…..

 

 

The upstairs patio at Fishlip’s…..

 

 

The view of the port from our table…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[funinthesun1964]

Was it a nice hotel ? We are thinking about going on Liberty out of PC in March, and don't know about any hotels in the area. Thanks for doing the review.

[Jamman54]

The Carnival Sensation is the first sail…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Some more views of the Carnival Sensation as she sailed from Port Canaveral…..

 

 

 

 

 

The Disney Dream was next to sail…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The Disney Dream sails from Port Canaveral…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great meal here at Fishlip’s. We didn’t hang around to see the Splendor sail, because we didn’t know what time she would be leaving.

 

To be continued…..

[just4steven]

Thanks for sharing! I love the enthusiasm and my favorite pics are the ones of the highway overpass signs! :D

[babsee101]

Subscribing. Sailing on the Liberty when after she moves to San Juan.

Looking forward to the rest of your review! :)

[Jamman54]

Jeff, is the buffet included with the Park & Cruise package?

 

It can be. It is an option.

[Jamman54]

Was it a nice hotel ? We are thinking about going on Liberty out of PC in March, and don't know about any hotels in the area. Thanks for doing the review.

 

I thinks so. A lot of people like the Radisson. The Country Inn and Suites is also popular, and has a parking package.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for sharing! I love the enthusiasm and my favorite pics are the ones of the highway overpass signs! :D

 

Subscribing. Sailing on the Liberty when after she moves to San Juan.

Looking forward to the rest of your review! :)

 

Thanks for reading. Much, much, more to come!

[Jamman54]

The next day it was brutally hot, so we just hung out at the hotel until later in the afternoon, when we took a ride over to Ron Jon’s Surf shop, and Cocoa Beach…..

 

 

Looking out to sea, we could see the Enchantment of the Seas, which had just sailed out of Port Canaveral…..

 

 

Cocoa Beach sign…..

 

 

Cocoa Beach Pier sign…..

 

 

The fishing regulations were posted…..

 

 

Time to take a walk out on the pier…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti took these next shots while on the pier. The beach volleyball nets…..

 

 

Looking south at the beach…..

 

 

The surfers are waiting for the next wave to catch…..

 

 

Another view of the beach looking south…..

 

 

Looking at the beach on the north side…..

 

 

The Tiki Bar…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We were feeling hungry by now, and decided to go back to the port and try another restaurant. We chose Rusty’s Seafood and Oyster Bar…..

 

 

 

 

They had outside seating, but we decided to stay inside, because we saw black clouds in the distance. Sure enough, within a half hour it started pouring, and everyone had to scramble inside…..

 

 

Here’s looking forward to another great cruise…..

 

 

We had another great meal here, but now it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for tomorrow.

 

 

Coming up next: We board the Carnival Liberty!!

[MrBanana1240]

Everywhere I look I'm finding one of your reviews! :D

 

Thanks again for writing one, great pre-cruise start! Cant wait for the rest.

 

Happy cruising!

[erewhon]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks for sharing your great photos.

[mackatty]

Subscribing since I love your reviews! I'm so happy you guys took this trip after the devastating loss of your son. It is warming my heart to see your family enjoying this trip.

[Jamman54]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks for sharing your great photos.

 

Subscribing since I love your reviews! I'm so happy you guys took this trip after the devastating loss of your son. It is warming my heart to see your family enjoying this trip.

 

Thanks for reading and for your kind words. I just want to remind everyone that Patti takes the majority of the pictures. I'm just the back up! :)

[Jamman54]

Everywhere I look I'm finding one of your reviews! :D

 

Thanks again for writing one, great pre-cruise start! Cant wait for the rest.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Thanks for reading! Much more to come.