Carnival Liberty 7 Days of smooth sailing review from April 26-May 3

[tawaik]

Thanks for the review Tawaik!! We're sailing on Liberty 12/13/15, and doing the same itinerary that you did. Question....all of the excursions you did, were any of them thru Carnival or did you book on your own?

 

Thanks for reading :) We booked all of our excursion through independent companies.

 

I know it is recommended to book through Carnival. My BFF told me about these companies and I always trust her opinion.

 

We did not have not one problem with timing and always got back to the ship in enough time. The companies want the word of mouth since they rely on tourism for their income.

[tawaik]

What port duty free shop did you get the wine at? I thought the would have confiscated it until the end of the cruise.

 

Great review, we will be on the Liberty on December 13th so keep it coming!

 

 

The port of San Juan has two duty free shops. One is located directly to the left as you enter the cruise terminal and the other is planted right at the security check in line. You will see them offerings samples. They also sell water and soda packs. I do not recall how much these items were. It is really convenient to grab on your way in.

 

You are allowed to bring in your carry-on 1 bottle of wine per person over the age of 21, 1-12 pack of soda and a case of water.

 

After we checked in and dropped off our carry-on we went back off the ship and went to duty free so we could purchase wine. Prior to boarding the ship the TSA officer asked my husband what we had in the bag. I stepped in and told him it was 2 bottles of wine which was true. He said, oh your fine and have a great trip :) Mind you, we could of had some hard liquor. The bag that we were given was not see through.

 

After checking in, I saw people switching bottles and placing them in a carry on bag and it was not wine! They were able to achieve this because after you go through security there is another walk prior to boarding and that is where the exchange happened.

 

In St. Thomas, we each purchased a box of the Cruzan Rum and it was not taken from us nor did they ask us to leave it at the table. I did not consume it while on board, but this just shows how laid back they were. The rest of my booze I purchased at Duty Free in the airport. This is not counted as a carry on and there was not need pack it in our bags to risk breakage.

[tawaik]

Out of the cabin by 8:00 AM? We were a little tardy.

 

I found our room steward and gave him a tip. His name is Ugi and he simply great. I requested to have a bucket of ice each day and he did so. He cleaned very well and always greeted us with smile. Plenty of towels, lots of soap (which I did not use, I bring my own), and loved the towel animals. No chocolates on the bed anymore, just the bed turned down.

 

Carnival no longer leaves complimentary toiletries in the bathroom. This was no big deal to me.

 

I actually like having the bottle of water instead of the drink coupon and did not miss it at Sea Day Brunch. Cranberry juice did me just fine.

 

Navigating the ship got easier with time. Decks 1-2 & 6-8 are all cabins. The rest are "cruisers" areas for activities. We never made it to Serenity the furthest I went was deck 11. During the entire week I probably saw about 2 shows and the Michael Jackson show. Hubby went to more than me.

 

 

 

The Liberty is a beautiful ship that is well maintained and the staff was excellent from the dining room to the cleaning crew. If you seemed lost one of the crew members would ask if you needed help with anything. The Guest Services staff needs to be rewarded for some of the abuse that I witnessed. There was a young lady that wanted to remove gratuities from her bill saying that she did not eat in the dining room every night and does not want to leave a tip for them. She was not pleasant and the staff smiled her way through.

 

Due to the incidents I had the MJ show and the dining room, I did stop at GS to let them know to please use make their staff more mindful about dark venues where beverage staff can have an accident and for the wait staff to check their tea pots for defects to avoid any problems. They apologized and I no I was not offered anything. OH, they did ask me for the staff members names and I told them that I did not bother with that. I just do not want to mess with anyone's livelihood. They were simply accidents, I survived and I refused to let those things ruin my cruise!!

 

This was port intensive itinerary and worth every effort to get up and go! The islands were worthy of our time and money spent. All of the tour guides we encountered were pleasant and entertaining. The history we obtained from each port (minus St. Maarten) was enlightening to me and every beach was breath taking my eyes. I sincerely recommend this ship and its ports of call. This will be one trip that you will never forget. Well, I forgot a few things and cause some confusion during this review but for the most part, I wanted to share and give back to the CC community.

 

 

We had breakfast at the very crowded Lido and should have opted to have breakfast at the Silver Olympian instead. It was a scramble to find a clean table. Once we finished our final meal we headed Pixels to purchase more pictures since we had time due to being in group 16 to disembark. After our final ding, your cruise is now over :( we waited on a longggggggggggg line to enter the baggage and TSA area. Our luggage was not at #16. I found it all the down at 20, no big deal. Got back in the long TSA line finally made it through. We were in the cab by 12:30 for a not so long ride to the San Juan airport. Our flight was scheduled to board at 4:30 for wheels up at 5:10,we were super early. After our luggage was scanned we proceeded to United Airlines, check in again (we checked in on the ship the day before) paid those lovely baggage fees and off to a long line at the security gate. After arriving at Dulles International we trudge our way through traffic and got off due to some kind of construction going that night. Hubby went through Washington D.C. and we soon after were home in Maryland. Home Sweet Home! There is no place like your own.

 

Thank you to those of you that took the time to read this and I wish you happy sails!

Edited May 18, 2015 by tawaik
typo

[mrpayroll]

We were on Liberty on May 3rd. The itinerary was the best of any cruise we have taken. It was quite a hectic week with only sea day. Enjoyed reading your review.

[tawaik]

We were on Liberty on May 3rd. The itinerary was the best of any cruise we have taken. It was quite a hectic week with only sea day. Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Thank you for stopping. Did you see the faces of the people that were disembarking :( the cruise was over? I agree this was one of the best cruises I have ever taken.

[tawaik]

I know CC members loves reviews with pics. Well, I must admit that ours are still in the camera and I have to figure out how get them posted here. If you do not mind just reading for now I will make an effort to get some up when time permits.

 

Hi. I became a cruise lover in the tender year of September, 2013 I now have 4 cruises under my belt of which one was a very long time ago so I thought I would include that in my number of sailings.

 

 

I cruised with my husband who was a cruise virgin and now he has been found!! When we returned he chatted up about when we would take our next cruise. When we returned home, he wanted me to book another cruise for jut the two of us. I already have one booked with two of my BFF's for next year so now I must add an additional sailing to the same year satisfy the man :D

 

 

Pre-Cruise

We had a 8:12 flight out of Washington/Dulles International Airport with an arrival time of 12:12 in to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since my husband is a past "hurry up and wait" kind of guy we were parked in economy parking before 4:00 AM and through security, on to the tram then at our gate by 4:25 AM. Before we knew it was wheels up. The flight was ok until this poor cranky baby starting up within 15 minutes of the flight and continued to cry through the entire flight. I had a brief conversation with the mother who was trying to calm baby by walking her up and down the isle. She said it was her first time on a plane and the noise and altitude probably disturbed her. I told her that I get the same way and there is no need to apologize for an uncomfortable baby and it made no difference to me and hubby. We both did not see or feel take off due to a lack of sleep the night before. Who sleeps well the night before going on cruise?

 

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan which was not far from the airport at all. The hotel was fine and the Managers reception, hot breakfast in the morning and pool area was really nice. The beach is located a few blocks away and heard it was beautiful. Outback is located directly in the hotel and opted to just plop down there and had few appetizers for lunch. There is a Walgreens within walking to purchase last minute items and to grab the allowed 2 bottles of wine. About one block and half there is a Mini Mart for snacks and smaller bottles of wine and spirits. Check out time was 11:00 and we headed out and caught cab to the port which was less that 15 minutes. In the distance there she was!! That ole' red, white and blues logo tail!!! I felt like a kid about go Trick or Treating on Halloween anticipating all of the treats that will be coming my way in a matter of minutes!!

 

 

 

Time to get on the ship

We have finally arrived!! The porters quickly took our luggage and we made our way to check in. The line was wrapped around two and a half times around those long ropes. The wait time was about twenty to the front. After getting out S & S cards we proceeded to the security line which was not to bad also. Finally the last "DING" and we were on the ship!! Ooooo La La!!! I wanted to break out and sing the Happy Song.

 

We went over to the guest services desk and picked up a copy of the layout of the ship to figure out which elevator was nearest to our cabin. After finding the elevator we went to see our cabin and the door was open and we met our cabin steward.

[babsee101]

You are amazing Tawaik! Here you are writing a review and I haven't even uploaded my pics to that social media site that they prefer we not mention here! lol

 

Great job! :)

 

Barb

[glentally]

You are amazing Tawaik! Here you are writing a review and I haven't even uploaded my pics to that social media site that they prefer we not mention here! lol

 

Great job! :)

 

Barb

 

I didn't know that you can't mention that site. Did they ever say why?

[tawaik]

You are amazing Tawaik! Here you are writing a review and I haven't even uploaded my pics to that social media site that they prefer we not mention here! lol

 

Great job! :)

 

Barb

 

Hi Barb :) LOL!! I know what you mean. I'm still in the process of getting my pics off my camera to use the Free stuff I got from Pixels on another site.

 

Thanks for reading. BTW, I have not idea how to upload pics on here after the review is written. Tried everything and gave up.

[tawaik]

I know CC members loves reviews with pics. Well, I must admit that ours are still in the camera and I have to figure out how get them posted here. If you do not mind just reading for now I will make an effort to get some up when time permits.

 

Hi. I became a cruise lover in the tender year of September, 2013 I now have 4 cruises under my belt of which one was a very long time ago so I thought I would include that in my number of sailings.

 

 

I cruised with my husband who was a cruise virgin and now he has been found!! When we returned he chatted up about when we would take our next cruise. When we returned home, he wanted me to book another cruise for jut the two of us. I already have one booked with two of my BFF's for next year so now I must add an additional sailing to the same year satisfy the man :D

 

 

Pre-Cruise

We had a 8:12 flight out of Washington/Dulles International Airport with an arrival time of 12:12 in to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since my husband is a past "hurry up and wait" kind of guy we were parked in economy parking before 4:00 AM and through security, on to the tram then at our gate by 4:25 AM. Before we knew it was wheels up. The flight was ok until this poor cranky baby starting up within 15 minutes of the flight and continued to cry through the entire flight. I had a brief conversation with the mother who was trying to calm baby by walking her up and down the isle. She said it was her first time on a plane and the noise and altitude probably disturbed her. I told her that I get the same way and there is no need to apologize for an uncomfortable baby and it made no difference to me and hubby. We both did not see or feel take off due to a lack of sleep the night before. Who sleeps well the night before going on cruise?

 

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan which was not far from the airport at all. The hotel was fine and the Managers reception, hot breakfast in the morning and pool area was really nice. The beach is located a few blocks away and heard it was beautiful. Outback is located directly in the hotel and opted to just plop down there and had few appetizers for lunch. There is a Walgreens within walking to purchase last minute items and to grab the allowed 2 bottles of wine. About one block and half there is a Mini Mart for snacks and smaller bottles of wine and spirits. Check out time was 11:00 and we headed out and caught cab to the port which was less that 15 minutes. In the distance there she was!! That ole' red, white and blues logo tail!!! I felt like a kid about go Trick or Treating on Halloween anticipating all of the treats that will be coming my way in a matter of minutes!!

 

 

Time to get on the ship

We have finally arrived!! The porters quickly took our luggage and we made our way to check in. The line was wrapped around two and a half times around those long ropes. The wait time was about twenty to the front. After getting out S & S cards we proceeded to the security line which was not to bad also. Finally the last "DING" and we were on the ship!! Ooooo La La!!! I wanted to break out and sing the Happy Song.

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you for posting your review. I started reading a couple of days ago and just finished up now. So glad you did make it to St. Kitts since I know it was missed several times due to the thruster issues Liberty is having. We were on Liberty last year for a western Caribbean and loved her. We also did the southern itinerary out of San Juan on Valor in May 2013 (loved Valor too). The southern out of San Juan is my FAVORITE itinerary. We do plan to do it again, but just don't know when yet. I love reading reviews of that itinerary since I always love to get more ideas of different things to do or places to see the next time we do it.

 

Washington/Dulles is our favorite airport of the three in the area and it's also the closest and most convenient. We're about 15 - 20 minutes away, non rush hour. We're actually under the flight pattern in/out of Dulles, but it depends on which way the wind is blowing whether they're landing over or taking off.

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

[tawaik]

Thank you for posting your review. I started reading a couple of days ago and just finished up now. So glad you did make it to St. Kitts since I know it was missed several times due to the thruster issues Liberty is having. We were on Liberty last year for a western Caribbean and loved her. We also did the southern itinerary out of San Juan on Valor in May 2013 (loved Valor too). The southern out of San Juan is my FAVORITE itinerary. We do plan to do it again, but just don't know when yet. I love reading reviews of that itinerary since I always love to get more ideas of different things to do or places to see the next time we do it.

 

Washington/Dulles is our favorite airport of the three in the area and it's also the closest and most convenient. We're about 15 - 20 minutes away, non rush hour. We're actually under the flight pattern in/out of Dulles, but it depends on which way the wind is blowing whether they're landing over or taking off.

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

 

Thank you so much for reading my review. I wish I knew how to include pics after it was written. My pics stayed in my camera all the way until last weekend.

 

We are about 35-40 minutes from Dulles and had a smooth trip the morning of our flight, however, coming back, there was heavy traffic due to construction.

 

I loved this sailing so much that I want to do it again in the future.

[babsee101]

Hi Barb :) LOL!! I know what you mean. I'm still in the process of getting my pics off my camera to use the Free stuff I got from Pixels on another site.

 

Thanks for reading. BTW, I have not idea how to upload pics on here after the review is written. Tried everything and gave up.

 

 

Pictures must be on a host site to post here. I have found Facebook to be the easiest since I post my pics there anyway and it is a simple copy/paste procedure.

Open the pic on Facebook, right click on pic and select copy, and then right click in desired spot on post in Cruise Critic and select paste. Easy Peasy! :)

 

 

Edited May 28, 2015 by babsee101

[tawaik]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not planning to post my pics on FB but will try the copy and paste from the site where my pics are loaded.

[tawaik]

I didn't know that you can't mention that site. Did they ever say why?

 

Lets just say that I received a "warning" email from a moderator. I mentioned the placed that people "like" things :)

[DopeyRN1]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like my Hawaii itinerary. We got up every day picked up our rental car and headed off to explore the island. Every evening we showered, ate and passed out from exhaustion! I have no idea what happened onboard at night! Planning to do the same thing on this cruise. Wish the sea day was later in the week to recharge the batteries! :)