Review: Carnival Liberty, Eastern Itin, 3/7/2009

[Guienevere_Arianette]

OK, I will be doing this in segments; right now I'm at the shop while the love of my life, my cruising buddy for life, is working on a tattoo...

 

I never know how I should break down the review; by day or by category? I'm going to do category this time...

 

PART I: THE SHIP DECOR AND CREW

What can I say...it was actually a bit understated, compared to previous Carnival decor experiences. While we still think the Conquest was the most beautiful (we love Impressionist art) and the Ecstasy is the most, um, neon and glitzy (to put it nicely), the Liberty and Freedom have been so so. I mean, beautiful atriums, glass elevators, carpeting, etc, but as far as the theme, it was subtle. The Piano Bar was pretty interesting; crazy black and white keyboard decor everywhere: walls, carpet, chairs, tables...very fitting.

 

The crew was also fantastic; our room steward Abdullah was not used by us much (our second inside cabin; we don't really dirty the room or spend a lot of time there, so...) but he was helpful when needed :) our wait team in the DR, Crisalgo and Antonio, were so sweet and attentive, but unfortunately we only got to spend two nights with them (more on that in the food section)...

 

As many people do, we found our favorite chill spots, and for us it was the Tivoli bar by the pool with Karl and Argie, or the casino bar with Liza and Amelia. We did visit the Paparazzi martini bar once for a tiramisu martini (he spelled my name in chocolate in the glass, with a heart...and my name isn't short :) It tasted fantastic! But these bartenders above were hands down phenomenal people; loved them!

 

OK, more later...oh, have I mentioned yet that it was an amazing fourth cruise with Carnival!? We had the best time...as we always do!

[Donna n Francis]

Thanks so much for you review Guienevere Arianette. I look forward to hearing more. Do you recall what time you arrived in San Juan? I understand from another post here that you will be scanning the Carnival Capers too. I look forward to see them too...only 30 more days till I go. Donna:D

[gracie65]

Thanks for posting, your itinerary is same as the one I'll go on so I can't wait to read more.

[rebeljohn]

......looking forward to the rest...........

[Pyro Tec]

more! more! more ! :D:cool:

[WAcruisers]

Can't wait to read the rest!:D

[Guienevere_Arianette]

EMBARKATION

 

Well, no problems here :) We always carry on our luggage (one bag each), so we, of course, couldn't really bring any liquids such as wine and sunblock. But as were staying at the Hyatt Regency near Biscayne Blvs and the port, walking to the local CVS was no problem. So precruise, Friday night, we went to CVS and picked up four bottles of wine and a large bottle of sunblock, SPF 50.

 

We arrived at the port of Miami at 11:30 a.m.; we carried our bags on and stood in line for about thirty minutes. Once we made our way up front, it was no problem. She confirmed our prepaid OBC (through funship dollars), gave us our cards and dining room assignments (inside cabin on deck two, late dining in the Silver Olympian dining room, traditional). When our bags went through security, they did see the wine; asked me if they could look in my bag, I said of course, they unzipped, saw the wine on top, zipped it right back up, and carried on their business with the next passenger.

 

We arrived on ship, had our cards "binged" by the security crew at Carnival, and were welcomed aboard :D We went off to our rooms to drop off our bags. While the fire doors were put up/cabins blocked off, we simply quickly and quietly opened the doors and found our room to drop our bags off. We were greeted by three or four crew members on the way, and we smiled and said hello and hurried on our way; we didn't want to be in their way, but at the same time we didn't want to drag our bags around on ship so people could trip over them...we found our room, dropped off our bags, and scooted out for our first drink of the day ;)

 

DEBARKATION

 

Again, this was a breeze. We did not have bags to be picked up on the last night, so I assume we were on the "self-assist" debarkation group, meaning we didn't have to wait for them to call our decks. So at 7:00 a.m. we get up because the cruise director is on the intercom telling us we have arrived :eek: So we get washed up and out of the room by 8:00 a.m. By 8:30 we were hearing that all self-assist people were free to go; they were simultaneously calling decks. But we took our sweet time as we were not in a hurry. Had a leisurely breakfast and around 9:30 while decks were still being called, we decided to get off. No problems whatsoever, except we didn't want to leave :( We were "pinged" off of the ship where we went to stand in the security/passport check line.

 

That took about thirty minutes, total; they were quick and efficient. We grabbed a taxi, were dropped off at the JW Mariott Hotel, and checked in. I had called before we left and asked if we could have early check in as we were getting off the cruise ship and had no where to go :p She said yes, and sure enough, our room was ready. By 10:00 a.m. we were back in bed, but sadly, not our Carnival bed...flew home the next morning, Sunday, at 7:30 a.m.

 

Any questions? Please ask; I'll answer any I can. More review coming up...

[gracie65]

I know you're probably playing catch up since you just returned but wanted to see if you'd been able to scan the capers? My e-mail is beachfloyd@aol.com if you don't have a way to post them try this & I'll see if I can post them & provide a link.

[Guienevere_Arianette]

Taking a break from lesson plans...so let's talk about ports...

 

PART III: PORTS

 

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

Well, as you can see from the signature, this is our second time to do this itinerary, so we thought we'd try some new things. We thought this year in San Juan we would look for some soccer shoes at the Puma outlet, find some paella and wine at a reasonable price (just got back from Spain and we still have the paella itch :D), then end the night with some Senor Frogs. All new things for us, so good times, right?

 

Well, it was OK. I mean, unless something horrific happens, we always have fun on vacation, but we got off the ship at 6:00 and were back on board by 9:00, so... we wandered amongst the crowded shopping area for some time, but didn't find the Puma outlet. So off we went to find food; surprisingly, none of the restaurants appealed to us; we are not picky eaters, and we love to try new things, but nothing in this touristy area seemed particuarly authentic or desirable. So, we ate somewhere we knew we were bound to enjoy...the Turkish kebab diner :p We love Turkish doners while we are abroad, and you can find them anywhere...proof lies here in San Juan! So we had a nice tasty lamb and chicken doner with a side of rice and nan.

 

After dinner we went to Senor Frogs...and saw the huge line and people being charged ten dollars a head to get in. Not my idea of fun :rolleyes: But, thank goodness we saw people being carded because we realized...we left the ship without our picture ids! We have never made such a crazy mistake...we immediately realized our problem and began walking back to the pier. We spoke to a guard at the checkin point, and in San Juan their guards are definitely on top of things! I told him about our dilemma; he asked if either one of us had a CC that matched our sail and sign; we said yes, produced them, he inspected them closely, then told us not to forget our ids again...we apologized, thanked him, and boarded the ship :o

 

All in all, our port stops at night in San Juan are OK, but I think I'm done with sightseeing here. I'd like to try some new itins in the future (more on that at the end of the review), but let's just say for right now that if we go to San Juan again, my visit will probably be even shorter than three hours, as this visit didn't even last that long...

[Guienevere_Arianette]

ST. THOMAS

 

We really had a good time; there were a few bumps, but no big deals. Last year we spent the whole day at Sapphire Beach; this year we decided to do something a bit different, so we signed up for the Sunny Liston tour. It was a good price and a good time, but I'm not positive I would do it again. But it was great to see more of the island.

 

So, we got off the ship at 10:00 after a leisurely breakfast. Sunny himself picked us up on time, and off we went to the Charlotte Amalie shopping area. He dropped us off until noon for shopping and lunch on our own. We wandered around the area; saw great prices on liquor, but since you can't drink it on ship and since we are from TX and they have arcane liquor laws on what we can and can't bring back, we didn't buy. I did buy a lovely beaded bohemian bag from a vendor on the street. For lunch we ate at a local food stand; for 8 dollars we had a lunch big enough for both of us: jerk chicken, caribbean peas and rice, pumpkin casserole, mac and cheese, cornbread, and coke :D The local school choir sung in the middle of the gazebo/park area and it was a delightful way to spend the morning.

 

I tried to win a necklace at the Diamonds International giveaway...only twenty people in the box to start with, and you had to be present to win, and only seven people were there, so you'd think my odds were great, right!!?? Then, Andrea the port shopping guide, asked ME to pull the lucky name out of the box...and the lucky winner was not me :( Rick, I hope your wife enjoyed the necklace that should have been mine...

 

At noon, Sunny came back to get us; then, off on the rest of our tour! The ride up the mountain was lots of fun; crazy and breathtaking with Sunny jamming his radio and singing on the loudspeaker...yes, that did get to be a bit much after a while, but I'm a good sport, so...;)

 

We took a tour up the mountain to the very peak, allowing us beautiful views of the Caribbean side of the island (and the little islands surrounding it). Then we had an opportunity to try banana rum ( I passed as I detest banana flavor)...then a crazy ride DOWN the mountain for the Atlantic side view. Around 1:30 he dropped us off at Coki Beach for snorkeling and beach fun. Said he would be back around 3:45.

 

Coki Beach was small, rocky, but well worth the two hours we had to snorkel. I'm not good at snorkeling, so I didn't even rent a mask...no need to have done so! I waded out to my chest (I'm less than five feet tall, so not far) and I was instantly SURROUNDED by about 30 bright yellow clown fish and some pretty red fish I can't identify; it was magnificent :D

 

At 3:45 Angela, Sunny's wife, came to pick up the nine of us who got off at Coki. We pulled up to Sapphire Beach...where Angela promptly said, "OK, get off. Sunny will be back to get you in a moment." Um, what? We were in a parking lot about a mile from the beach entrance...and a group of people were waiting there. Apparently, this was Angela's group of people. For whatever reason, Sunny was late so Angela came to get the Coki people; but then she wanted us to vacate the bus so her Sapphire people could get on and she could take them to the ship while we waited in this parking lot for Sunny...needless to say, this idea didn't sit well with the bus.

 

Well, I don't know what happened really...I walked away (I was part of the group asked to get off the bus) to look at some interesting flowers, and about ten minutes later, still no Sunny. Angela came up to us and asked how many were in our party; we said 2; she said get on the bus with her people, so we got on, much to the dirty looks of some of the other pax who were left behind. In any event, as we sped down the driveway, we passed Sunny coming in, so they only had to wait a few minutes :D

 

We got dropped back off at the pier area around 4:15; we boarded and had late lunch and sailed away at 6:00. All in all a nice day ;)

 

I would say that while we had fun this trip, St. Thomas is an OK island that I would visit again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get there.

[welovetotravel]

I am enjoying reading your reviews. I will be on the Liberty Eastern Caribbean itinerary at the end of April (however, our itinerary is a little different from yours -no St. Marten and the addition of Turks and Caicos and Half Moon Cay). I can't wait. I too would love to see your Capers when you get a chance to get them posted.

[lollylew]

Keep the review coming!! I really enjoy reading about other peoples' trips. :D

[Guienevere_Arianette]

ST. MAARTEN / ST. MARTIN

Last year we took a taxi to Orient Beach on the French side of the island; we stayed there all day. It was nice...ok...you know, a beach day. $40 for a roundtrip taxi for two. Well, this year we decided to take the water taxi to the Dutch side of the island, Philipsburg. $6 for an all day water taxi bracelet; great deal! So, we got off the ship around 11:00 a.m. and took a water taxi; we were on the Dutch side by 11:30 a.m.

 

What a lovely time we had! I would definitely return to this island and explore more of this side of the island. The boardwalk and free beach area, Great Bay and Little Bay, was nice. Plenty of room and great deals: for example, two beach chairs, one umbrella, two beers/soft drinks, and free internet access...for $10 total! I mean, that was not out of the ordinary at all to find...

 

Our lunch was a delicious grilled red snapper, whole; the cook grilled all the food outside on the boardwalk, so we got to watch and smell while we waited; delightful! Then we played in the water for a while; while the water is not as clear as Coki Beach in St. Thomas, it is warmer and fun to play in. After some water fun, we strolled the back streets/ shopping area behind the restaurants on the boardwalk. Great perfume deals (3 bottles, your choice of great authentic scents, $45 total), great liquor prices, etc. Found some cute bags (huge, lots of room, zippers, etc) four for twenty dollars, so guess what the family got for souveniers :D

 

At 4:00 we took the taxi back and were back on ship by 4:20 or so...lovely day.

 

I'd say of the three port days we had, this was the funnest. And, as I've now done this itinerary twice, I'd like to visit somewhere new...but I'll never turn down a good price, so who knows...these islands might see me again someday ;)

 

Up next...review of the sea days...

[Guienevere_Arianette]

Dining Room

 

For the first time, we didn't eat in the dining room hardly at all :( We ate there the first two nights and didn't go back. Our waiters were wonderful, but the food was not worth the upset stomach I constantly had upon being seated. We were in the aft, second floor, Silver Dining room, for an 8:15 seating. I could feel the motor constantly vibrating under my chair and it really upset my stomach. So, I can't comment much on the DR food. I do know that instead of having the lobster on Captain's night I went for the duck, and I love the new recipe! It used to be stuffed with this dry, flavorless stuffing, but now it's just sliced (on the bone) with some delicious sides like the wasabi potatoes. Yum!

 

Buffet/Lido Deck Burgers/Dogs

 

The food was, as usual, just fine. I had a burger, a chili dog, and buffet food several times. The pumpkin thai soup and lemon shrimp soup on the buffet at lunch one day was great. I skipped the chocolate buffet because I don't want a plate of chocolate for my lunch...I'd like that better at night, like a midnight offering or something.

 

Room Service/ Deli / Pizza

 

Had the Chevre pizza, which was divine! I love to order whole pizzas and take them to my room for late night munching. I ordered every sandwich from the deli menu...but in the form of room service! Fantastic stuff. As usual, the room service chocolate cake with chocolate mousse is fantastic...the creme caramel that is new on the room service menu? Yucky...I mean, it's flan. I don't like flan; call it what it is and don't trick me with Creme Caramel :rolleyes:

 

Fish and Chips / Supper Club....

 

to be continued...work calls....

[Guienevere_Arianette]

Supper Club

 

...wonderful! We felt like we were imposing because there was a wedding going on on the left side of the supper club, a private wedding between two Carnival employees and attended only by Carnival employees...and they put us in the midst of it! I mean, everything was fine; we just felt like we were probably intruding on their pictures and fun, and they felt like they had to keep the fun level down because we were paying customers in the supper club :o

 

In any event, we had a great time; the chef always sends a complimentery bite of something; I had the asparargus soup and DH had ??? (sorry; I was having too much fun with my own food@!)

 

Tried the new Pumpkin Feta Parfait as an appetizer...really nice!

 

The neatest part was that I told our sommelier Andrei that I collected wine corks; he went to the back and gave me two corks, one from a $260 bottle of wine (obviously not drunk by us!) that he thought I would enjoy...very nice!

 

I had the leg of lamb with potates and the mango biscotti tart...yummy!

 

Fish and Chips

 

I always adore this place; it's one of the reasons I choose the Conquest class ships. The ceviche portions are much bigger than usual! Normally you get a scrape of ceviche on a small saucer; now you get a heaping spoonful in a small bowl. The bouillabaisse is still delish; however, they don't cook it to serve anymore; it premade and simmering in a pot. Also, they got really skimpy with the scallops and the crawdads are non-existent.