Review: Carnival Liberty Southern Caribbean 12/6/15 to 12/13/15 – “…I’LL MURDER YOU!

[djshagadellic]

“If we miss the ship, I’LL MURDER YOU!”

– My dear girlfriend and better half (while we’re walking back to the ship at Philipsburg, St. Maarten)

More on that on that in the SXM section of the review.

This was an amazing trip and before I get into the nitty gritty of our experience, I wanted to thank some of the people and resources that made this the brilliant trip it turned out to be.

First up, cruise critic and the wonderful CC members who provided wonderful, dead on accurate info.

Specifically:

Trippingpara (The first long read review I found of this ship and itinerary. Wonderful read, great pics, and tons of useful info. Finished the 30+ page thread in one day. Starting block for our trip planning)

Stinger-pr (Lot of info and local knowledge packed in a relatively small space and one of the sweetest accounts I’ve read)

Pauleydm (wonderful updates on the fire situation back in September)

Pghsteelerfan (Amazingly detailed account, great informative tips, lots of pics, all the Fun Times, and at last check over 40,00 views!)

seannyice81 (Well written and composed travel blog)

valentinebaby1 & JKirkN (Gorgeous pics and great detailed review)

Buffettfan 225 (Complete menu scans/pics)

snoopy_leogirl (Tons of SXM info from a resident’s perspective)

gtaylor (Wealth of SXM info from a visitor’s perspective)

CC (forums, ports of call, cabin info & reviews)

The wonderful folks at Rumtherapy dot com (Possibly the best travel blog I’ve come across)

Fodor's Caribbean 2015 (Basic overview, where I learned about St. John, what each region/island has to offer, the nuts and bolts)

 

Cruise TT (For ships in port info)

 

Cruiseable (Destinations Section)

Now on with the show…

We had just returned from a quick 4 day trip to Huatulco in Oaxaca, Mexico in late July. The trip had only left us wanting more. (You can check out my trip report here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150789-i740-k8741749-Huatulco_Trip_Report_7_24_to_7_28_15-Huatulco_Southern_Mexico.html )

So just for laughs I started looking at Caribbean cruises and stumbled upon the Southern itinerary on the Liberty. Saw a 10th deck balcony state room that looked too good to pass up and a couple of days later had it booked!

4 months of research and planning later, December came around and we were off!

An amazing wealth of info resides within the CC community and the accuracy of the info was beyond my wildest expectations. I just had to be mindful of the date of some of the posts with the standard YMMV, subject to the whims of Mother Nature caveats.

Some tips that came in quite handy:

• Porters rock! Saved a tremendous amount of time and hassle, both getting on and getting off the ship.
  
• Staterooms are metallic, so magnets worked great
  
• Packed a power strip as there’s only one outlet in the room
  
• There’s an agricultural luggage inspection at the San Juan airport prior to checking bags
  
• Customs forms filled out prior to getting off the ship in San Juan. We saved receipts
  
• Passports: We decided to keep passports in the room safe which we accessed with an old gift card. Figured the odds of missing the ship and needing the docs off ship were far less than our losing them on shore.
  

A note about timing as I maintain it can greatly affect my level of enjoyment. Sure, for some things crowds don’t matter, and for fewer still the crowd enhances the experience. But for me the vast majority of experiences are severely hindered by large crowds. The way I see it, I’ve got a limited time to vacation, so if I can plan out my day to do things when fewer other folks do it, I waste less time waiting and get to do more.

Most of us stick to regular patterns, even on vacation. People basically eat, rest, and recreate. Other than sleep, I tried my best to not eat or recreate when/where most others did … Now BH didn’t care much for my strategy as she is a normal person who likes to do things at normal times. Too bad she negotiated away 5 evenings of late dinners for help getting a Christmas tree!

 

[djshagadellic]

12/5-12/6 SJU

Travel to San Juan was thankfully uneventful. We caught a cab to our hotel, the Doubletree in Condado. Loved the location as it was across the street from a 24 hour SuperMax, was within short walking of distance of our brunch spot, and had a Starbucks on site (BH is a giant fan of the Evil Green Empire!) Check in was painless, and our room was cozy and well appointed, though the frosted glass bathroom wall and door were not a hit with the BH. The pool area is open round the clock and looked amazing (had a couple of hammocks as wel)l. We didn’t get to jump in as it was around midnight and we were quite hungry.

We walked over to Waiter’s Bar & Grill on Ashford and had our first wonderful meal in Puerto Rico. Roasted pork over tostones and mash for me, mofongo for the BH, and of course a couple of mojitos!

In the morning I got BH an ungodly EGE concoction and picked up some snacks for the trip at the SuperMax. We checked out, left bags at the hotel, and went off to Café Marquesa for a decadent brunch. She went with their version of French toast and I with red velvet pancakes. OMG, these were the best damn pancakes I’ve ever had, and I’ve long been a pancake connoisseur. I was raining/sprinkling on and off so we ended up inside a bit, but by the time we were done the skies had cleared.

Took a cab from the hotel to port and by now it was raining pretty good! Got there around 2 and flagged a porter ASAP, and headed through the multiple check points. Main entry, boarding pass (we’d already printed ours ahead of time), and the terminal entry. What looked to me like a giant rat maze line to check in, moved at a constant pace as they had about 2 dozen agents working the counters. This obviously was not their first rodeo. After check-in we headed to the security scanner line, where a large collection of confiscated liquids in CVS bags stood to be seen by all. We entered the ship via gangway to deck 4, only to be greeted by ridiculously blaring music. I don’t care if this was my favorite band on stage, but at that volume I’d still been borderline homicidal. Yeah I get it you want a festive environment, but this was at the level the military uses to snuff out barricaded holdouts! Thankfully, this was never an issue the rest of the time and all music was played at appropriate, possibly even too low, levels.

Grabbed a pocket deck plan and headed to our home for next week, #1042!

 

 

Unpacked, tossed suitcases under bed, installed the anti-crack device aka Twins to King Bed Strap, and headed to Guy’s burgers, which did not have a line. I got the Ringer and BH got a plain one. They were just as advertised. Well crafted, moist, well seasoned with lots of toppings!

Later we met our cabin steward and asked him to empty our fridge and to make sure we always had ice. He was very pleasant and attentive and remained so throughout the trip.

Next we headed to the Lido whirlpools as they were not crowded. BH got us a couple of funship specials in Whale Tail cups and we enjoyed a lovely soak in the tropical Caribbean air with calypso playing in the background. This moment, just as many on this voyage, was idyllic.

 

 

Muster…BH nearly fainted…quick peek at the sail away party…back to room to watch Antonio Brown return a late kick for a touchdown and bust my under pick in the pool!

[pcvtmom]

Enticing beginning! Love your style!

[riclop]

Sounds like you were off to a great start.

[trippingpara]

djshagadellic - thank you for the kind words and I'm so glad that you found my review helpful! I'm loving your review so far and looking forward to reading the rest and checking out your photos. Glad to see you made the ship in St. Maarten on time! Can't wait to hear that story!

[NoName]

I am booked on the Liberty Repo cruise in March. Thanks for doing the review, will be following along.

 

Kim

[djshagadellic]

Enticing beginning! Love your style!

 

Thanks! I hope BH appreciates my style too :-)

[djshagadellic]

djshagadellic - thank you for the kind words and I'm so glad that you found my review helpful! I'm loving your review so far and looking forward to reading the rest and checking out your photos. Glad to see you made the ship in St. Maarten on time! Can't wait to hear that story!

 

Thanks! Especially high praise as yours is the standard by which all reviews should be measured. I couldn't believe your cabin was so close to ours.

[djshagadellic]

I am booked on the Liberty Repo cruise in March. Thanks for doing the review, will be following along.

 

Kim

 

Thanks for following. The Liberty is an absolutely wonderful ship with a top notch staff! I have no doubt you will have a blast!

[djshagadellic]

12/7 STT & STJ

 

Upon entering the cruise terminal in San Juan, we were handed a letter from Carnival informing us that our stay in St. Thomas would be extended. In order to complete scheduled repairs. We’d arrive early at 5AM (debark at 7 as scheduled) and the ship would not sail till 10 PM (back on board at 9:30). Though this meant we would not be able to have a sunrise arrival at Havensight, thus missing the picturesque views of all the yachts and the Charlotte Amelie hillsides at dawn, we were both ecstatic as it allotted us a lot more time to explore USVI. I realized during the whole fire episode back in September that if one is to be stranded in port, there are far worse places to be than St. Thomas. There is a ton to do in the USVI: Trunk Bay, Cinnamon, Hawksnest, & Maho beaches in St. John, Lindquist, Magens Bay, Sapphire, Coki, & Secret Harbor beaches in St. Thomas, Bushwhackers @Paradise Point, Corral World, Magic Ice, and Shopping at Havensight and Downtown Charlotte Amalie to name a few. Of course as we made it back to the ship mid-afternoon under the cover of the unrelenting sun, I thought of all those poor passengers who had to spend hours out on the same dock, some with nothing more than their S&S cards on them. Even in paradise, I imagine standing out in the hot sun gets old quick!

Getting to leave late is a luxury I wish I had in all ports, especially St. Maarten. I wouldn’t even mind a few overnight stays! Whether it's due to the conspiratorial idea that cruise ship operators prefer passengers to spend money on board vs. in port or as I suspect because of highly exorbitant overnight docking fees, scheduled overnight stops just don’t seem to happen in the non-luxury cruise world.

Having read everywhere about how pristine and picturesque St. John is, I had made a mission early in our trip planning to not miss this jewel. We decided to do this on our own and based on previous accounts, if we played our cards right, we’d be able to visit St. John and get back to the ship with no problems. Of course initially the BH was a little concerned about the time crunch, but I assured her it would be well worth it, and now we had an extra 5 hours!

As planned, we got up early, had in-room continental breakfast, and were off the ship a few minutes after 7. We walked right through, no lines or anything (deck zero for all stops). The drizzling grey skies I suspect contributed to not too many early risers. Hopped on a safari style trailer taxi, but since it was only the two of us, we got to sit inside and chat up the driver. He was a native and confirmed the sad history of the Caribbean natives.

Reader’s digest version: 2 native lineages, Caribs (warriors) & Arawak (peaceful). Both sets practically wiped off the face of the planet by colonial powers. The Europeans brought the sugar trade, slavery, and countless wars to protect “their” goods. Once slavery was outlawed and the sugar demand fell, most of the Caribbean was/is in dire financial straits. Those that have been able to take better advantage of tourism are faring better than those who could not.

Back to the review:

Caught the 8am ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. There are ferries out of Havensight as well, but they run less frequently and the ride is longer and over choppier waters. Each leg of our journey took between 15-25 minutes (cab to ferry, ferry, and cab to Trunk). We got a nice slice of local life in the cab and on the ferry as plenty of uniformed school kids and working stiff were out and about. We even saw some kids on their way to school in St. John!

By the time we docked in Cruz Bay, the rain had stopped and we got to enjoy a wonderful rainbow!

Hopped on another safari taxi and a short while later were at Trunk Bay. ¾ of St. John (including Trunk Bay) is a national park and is federally managed. Trunk boasts modern facilities, paved parking lot and walking paths, showers, changing areas, and snorkel, locker & chair rentals. We got there so early that neither the rentals nor the admissions booths were open (minimal $4 entrance fee when open).

Our reasons for getting to Trunk so early were two fold. One, we wanted to make it back to St. Thomas with plenty of time to spare and two, this place gets much more crowded as time passes. When we arrived there were maybe 5 people total on the beach and in the water. By the time we left around 11, it was much more crowded, but even at 11 there were plenty of space to be had on the beach. Counting Liberty, there were 3 large cruise ships in port that day. St. Thomas can get as many as 6 or 7 so YMMV.

We picked Trunk over the other beaches in St. John for the underwater snorkeling trail. Cinnamon was our back up if throngs had descended upon Trunk. We settled on a shady spot to the right of the Cay as facing the ocean. BH especially liked the easy beach entry on the soft sand and the pristine waters of our location. We laid out our stuff, put on our snorkeling gear and headed in. It’s really difficult to find superlatives that do this beach and bay justice. The sand is talcum powder soft. The water is a surreal crystal clear shade of aquamarine. The water temperature is like dipping into a warm freshly drawn bath. And the distant cries of tropical birds and frogs, and the soft surf gently echo in the wonderfully green lush landscape.

We snorkeled the trail for a bit and BH even spotted a decent sized octopus. Sadly by the time I got there it had vanished!

 

 

[djshagadellic]

12/7 Continued

 

Joe Bruin and I chilled on the beach while BH took turns taking a soak and sunning on the sand. This turned out to be our favorite beach of the whole trip and I never let BH live down the fact that she almost didn’t want to visit here!

Just as we were pondering heading up to Cinnamon for a bit, we were greeted by a downpour. It was as good a time to leave as any, so we opted to head back to Cruz Bay, explore, and grab lunch. On the way back to Cruz Bay, I, BH, and another aisle seat passenger were wacked in the face by an errant branch! Happy to report no major injuries, but it was quite a wakeup call and the way it happened in rapid succession was worthy of a 3 Stooges short.

We walked around Cruz Bay for a bit (rain had stopped) and ended up at the Beach Bar, where we dined on crab dip, fish tacos, buffalo shrimp and Painkillers! For more on the wonderful Caribbean drink that is the Painkiller, head over to Rumtherapy.

Stopped at the St. John Spice Shop, a wonderful 2nd story gift shop adjacent to the ferry dock and picked up a bottle of local hot sauce I had sampled at the Beach Bar. We made our way to the dock and took the 2pm ferry back to Red Hook. This time we sat at the top and enjoyed the gorgeous sunny weather on the ride back.

 

 

 

[djshagadellic]

12/7 part 3

 

Picked up aloe for BH’s crimson back at Havensight mall and asked how late the mall was open. The clerk said when the ship leaves to which I replied “well, we’re leaving at 10” because of repairs. Her face dropped! “Oh ****, now I gotta stay here for another 5 fu@&ing hours!” screamed her thought bubble. She confirmed they’d be open till 10, which turned out to be highly inaccurate.

Back to 1042…Nap…Taxi to Paradise Point

The sun was close to setting and per local consensus Paradise Point was the place to be. We saw the tram go up as we got into the cab, but by the time the cab made it up the ridiculously steep hill, all the businesses had closed up shop and a man was closing the vehicle gate. We got off and confirmed we could walk back down and the man told us if any of the gates are closed along the way to just push a button. As it happened all the gates were open on our descent.

BH and I were both bummed that everything was closed. We both had been waiting with great anticipation for our first Bushwhackers at Paradise Point. Talk about first world problems! I’m in the Caribbean with my beloved about to enjoy a gorgeous sunset…

Took some pictures and explored the mostly empty area (couple of tourists, a photog and pal taking time-lapse sunset pics, certifiably insane and ought to be committed locals going up and down the hill for exercise).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where BH wants me to note the “long scary downhill walk.” While I will concur that it was a downhill walk, I heartily disagree it was long and scary. Of course I had proper footwear and don’t have an irrational fear of the dark, bugs, mushrooms, sharks…

Anyways, yes it is a steep hill and a bit narrow, but it was still dusk and we had enough ambient light, IMHO. She felt more comfortable with extra light so we used the good ol cell phone for part of the trip. We made it back down in one piece and noticed a lot of the shops in the Al Cohen Mall were closed. We got lucky and caught the folks at Majestic Jewelers, where we bought a few knick-knacks (god awful loud Caribbean shirt BH picked out for me to wear on elegant night, a lovely three toned bracelet she got and sported the rest of the trip, & some rum cake which I loved, but BH didn’t care for).

 

We were still jonesing for Bushwhackers and Wi-Fi so we stopped in next door at the Shipwreck Tavern. For the uninitiated, the Bushwhacker is a local boozy milk shake smoothie kind of drink made with Bailey’s. Again see Rumtherapy for more details. Our drinks were excellent, and while there we got to witness a slew of bar patrons taking simultaneous shots from a drilled plank thing. Apparently this is a thing with the kids these days as my youthful BH informed me. It was quite entertaining!

We headed back to the ship with the idea of doing some shopping at the Havensight Mall, but alas, all the shops were closed. This was around 7:20 and other than a couple of tiny bars, the place was deserted!

Had dinner in the Silver Olympian MDR (at 8:10 pm there was a short 15 min wait). While we were waiting for our table, BH tried her luck at the casino and actually won 14 dollars! The service and food were outstanding! Our waitress Milka from Macedonia, was superb. Funny, sweet, & informative. We asked for her every night we were at the MDR, but only got the privilege twice during the cruise (More on meals in an upcoming post).

After dinner we went back to 1042 to rest before heading to see a movie I’d been dying to see, “The Martian.” BH was the first to notice the night’s movie (listed in the For Your Information section of the Fun Times) and gleefully pointed it out to me when we were leaving San Juan. Shortly before the movie they announced our departure had been delayed to 1:00 am, but none of our port stops would be affected. This was great because we got to watch the movie while in the calm port without fear of possible high winds out on the open sea. I loved the seaside movie experience, but then again I’m a sucker for outdoor movies! Other than the infinitesimally small annoyances of some obnoxiously loud kids next to us for part of the movie, a block of slow pixels on the screen, and the Red Frog running out of popcorn, it was a fantastic time!

I realized this was a full day as it was happening but reliving it just now puts it into a whole other perspective. We did take a nap and the next day would be a wake up when you want Sea Day, so I guess it wasn’t totally crazy!

 

As BH would say, sleepy time!

[djshagadellic]

Oops, meant Golden not Silver :-)

[Mr2Scents]

We were in this sailing too and thought it was our favorite cruise, and favorite vacation ever. Can't wait to read your thoughts.

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your review.

Keith

[skrufy]

What a bummer, Paridise Point closed. This is our last stop on our trips to St. Thomas. Those Bushwackers are so good, and along with the sunset its a wonderful place to end the day. We are heading to St. Thomas next month, do you know the reason the point was closed?

[dolfndreams]

Great start, loving your style and the pics are amazing.

 

Heading there in just 19 days so keep it coming. You will help me pass the time utnil I can see the sights again:)

[KPfromCT]

Great start to your review! Cannot wait for more!!

Really wanted to do this itinerary next summer (2016) but refuse to do it on that old, small ship.:mad::mad:

 

Wish the Liberty could stay a bit longer......

 

Keep up the great work!

[djshagadellic]

Enjoying your review.

Keith

Thanks!

[djshagadellic]

What a bummer, Paridise Point closed. This is our last stop on our trips to St. Thomas. Those Bushwackers are so good, and along with the sunset its a wonderful place to end the day. We are heading to St. Thomas next month, do you know the reason the point was closed?

 

Yeah we were bummed too! We speculated the early closure was due to lack of demand and it being a Monday. They had closed just prior to our arrival. They also had some signs advertising late Wednesday night events, so I think our experience was an anomaly.

[djshagadellic]

Great start, loving your style and the pics are amazing.

 

Heading there in just 19 days so keep it coming. You will help me pass the time utnil I can see the sights again:)

 

Thanks! I wish I was going again in 19 days.

[djshagadellic]

Great start to your review! Cannot wait for more!!

Really wanted to do this itinerary next summer (2016) but refuse to do it on that old, small ship.:mad::mad:

 

Wish the Liberty could stay a bit longer......

 

Keep up the great work!

 

Thanks!

 

While the Liberty is a fantastic ship, for us the highlights were often in port. I know a lot of folks are none too happy about the switch.

[djshagadellic]

12/8 SEA Day

 

Slept in a bit and headed to Silver Olympian for the Sea Day Brunch. We joined 2 solo diners (communal seating) and traded stories and tips. BH and I went with steak and eggs, which we both very much enjoyed (perfect temp on the steak AND they honored my request of real scrambled eggs!). Finished it off with a delectable salted caramel cheesecake.

Of course this being Sea Day, the Lido was hopping! Ice sculpture demo, hairy chest contest, Groove for St. Jude’s etc. We opted to escape the crowds and enjoy some pool time at the adults only aft pool. It was so refreshing to see age restrictions enforced on this sailing. This certainly was not the case on our previous Carnival sailing to Mexico.

By now BH had discovered the Jardin Café and while not exactly the EGE, it was good enough for her fix. FYI there are daily crossword puzzle and Sudoku sheets at the Jardin Café.

Back at 1042 while perusing the Fun Times, BH engaged in another of her favorite activities and gleefully exclaimed “Found another typo!” I think by the time it was said and done, she had spotted 3.

On embarkation day we had signed up for a mixology class at the Alchemy Bar. I think they schedule them based on demand. Our class was at 3:30 and our bartender had strongly encouraged us to eat beforehand. We heeded her advice, split a Guy’s burger, and headed over. As it happens the arcade and the rubber ducky claw machine was on the way so we tried again to get the BH’s ducky of choice, the Bumblebee. Alas, we were not successful this time, but did add to our growing collection. For more on the ducky adventures see:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2291260&highlight=liberty

BH was starting to look a little green under the gills and excused herself from the class. She headed back to 1042 and put on the motion sickness patch we had brought just in case. Thankfully, this would be the last time either one of us felt ill.

While the rest of the trip was mercifully illness free, the same was not true of injuries. In the course of fussing with her snorkeling gear, BH managed to drop a full size fin on her foot. Ouch! Poor thing was in quite a bit of pain. She did, however, make a quick recovery! (Full injury report in an upcoming post)

This was our first elegant night and BH gets up for these like Buddy does for elves and Santa! She got to dress up and made me wear the god awful shirt. Dinner was fantastic with great food and service and minimal wait to be seated.

After dinner we did a turn on deck 3 and posed for some pics in our fancy get ups. I think cruise ship pics rank awfully low on the value scale, but BH begs to differ.

Shortly after pics we headed back to 1042 and called it an early night. Foot injury, laziness, honest to goodness motion in the ocean had all taken their toll, and we had an early morning/long day in Barbados.

[djshagadellic]

12/9 Barbados

We were very excited about our Silver Moon catamaran excursion in Barbados. We were to meet at Gate 2 and 8:30 am so we decided on a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana Cantina. At 7 am there was no line, and we got to play newbie patrons without the guilt of others waiting on us. As advertised, the burritos were delicious!

Grabbed our gear and headed to deck 0 where we were greeted by a sign to wait at deck 1. On deck 1 there were a few people waiting and by the time they let us through (shortly after 8) a small crowd had gathered, including a group who totally cut ahead of the rest of us.

We quickly made our way to our meeting spot. The driver initially had trouble finding our name and asked us to wait while he sorted it out. We took advantage of the fast cruise terminal Wi-Fi and BH found a Barbados cutout. There seemed to be some confusion about who was going where, but we eventually made our way to the catamaran dock and off we went!

BH described our catamaran trip as “awesome sauce.” Though the trampoline I could’ve sworn I’d seen on the power catamaran photos was not present (sorry for the bad intel honey), our cat was a thing of beauty! The three man crew was phenomenal and we lacked for nothing. We had rum punch, snacks, bathrooms, sun, shade, and lots of places high and low to lounge and chat.

[djshagadellic]

12/9 part 2

 

We sailed to our turtle and shipwreck snorkeling sites in Carlisle Bay. It was amazing to see so many fish and turtles up close. BH counted three turtles (one big, one med, & one little). The tour operators feed the turtles daily and so they’re used to humans and come up real close. We were instructed to avoid chasing or sneaking up on them, as well as not to wear fins. Unfortunately, the area was littered by tour group folks dropped off by the dozens. All those people moving around in the water at the same time made for murky waters. I opted to avoid the crowds and despite being a bit away from the feeding centers, the fish and turtles managed to find me.