Liberty Review (2 days in) - May 9th - 16th

[cabbam]

Day 3 – Fun Day at Sea – May 11th

Today was relaxing. We slept in until 7am!!! That is late for us :-) !

We ate breakfast at Emilee’s on the Lido deck. We split a ham and cheese omlete and had various pastries, cereals, etc. Oh and bacon!! After breakfast we went to the Shopping talk with Andrew. It was very informative if you are going to be shopping for jewelry. After the talk we came back to the room and got ready to head up to the Lido deck for some sun at the pool. We were actually able to find two chairs right by the pool as soon as we walked in. We had lunch from the Burrito Bar and the Mongolian Grill. Both were great!! During the day they had the ice carving demo and the Carnival mixologist contest. We hung out there for a while then came back to the room changed and hit the casino. No big winning today, it was a bust. The ship movement has been pretty bad since last night. Hopefully it will get better after we have visited some of the ports.

Dinner tonight was formal night. Everyone dressed up and looked nice. I had the prime rib and lobster dinner and DW had the Prime Rib. These were both excellent! We skipped out on the show tonight; it was a singing and dancing show.

Tomorrow is St Thomas and Harry’s for dinner!!!

[cabbam]

I will answer all the questions when I get back. We are just on and off the computer in the mornings.

[Aplmac]

When we pulled in to SXM, Liberty was already docked.

I took a few pics while we were there..

Liberty backs away, as she departs

 

 

Liberty alongside Victory

 

 

22nd. April 2009

 

 

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[cabbam]

Please don't flame me for this......

But I would like to understand better why someone would want to spend money and time to write a day by day review of their cruise while they are still on it?

 

Don't get me wrong, I love reading reviews, but I would think one would want to enjoy the time away from everything (especially computers) while they on a cruise.

 

Just thought.

 

I do enjoy them!

 

Hey guys - Wife is in the shower, we are getting ready to head to our St Thomas excursion, I found free wifi while at port and figured while I was waiting on her I would jump on and check the thread out. I can answer some of the questions real quick....

 

As for this one, I just enjoy doing it day to day so things are fresh in my mind. I have learned so much from this board on cruising I figured I would at least try and give a good review. It's my time on vacation, so I spend it the way I want to. Thanks!

[cabbam]

Looks like there's no noro? Yes?

 

:)

 

 

Have not seen any sign of noro. They are keeping the ship very clean, it is a very beautiful ship!

[cabbam]

I know this might be something I should know but is the food on Half Moon Cay free like on the ship? Thanks!

 

 

Yes food is free on Half Moon Cay. You have to pay for the alcohol, clam shells, cabana's.

 

The food was hot dogs, hamburgers, jerk chicken, and all sides like potato salad, cole slaw, broccoli salad, etc.

[Georgiagolfer]

Hey guys - Wife is in the shower, we are getting ready to head to our St Thomas excursion, I found free wifi while at port and figured while I was waiting on her I would jump on and check the thread out. I can answer some of the questions real quick....

 

As for this one, I just enjoy doing it day to day so things are fresh in my mind. I have learned so much from this board on cruising I figured I would at least try and give a good review. It's my time on vacation, so I spend it the way I want to. Thanks!

Good, neat answer. By the way, thanks for the daily journal. We sail this beautiful ship on 5/30 and can't wait.

[Georgiagolfer]

Yes food is free on Half Moon Cay. You have to pay for the alcohol, clam shells, cabana's.

 

The food was hot dogs, hamburgers, jerk chicken, and all sides like potato salad, cole slaw, broccoli salad, etc.

HMC is beautiful. DW and I have been there twice and loved it each time.

[kjunea]

Nice to know they have the burrito bar on the ship! I thought only Splendor had it! Awesome!

[cabbam]

Hi! We're from Atlanta as well, starting our drive to Miami on Friday to board the Liberty on Saturday. How much was this LaQuinta and how long did it take you to get there?

 

Also, did you end up parking in a surface/open lot or a parking garage? Is it a tight garage or is it easily navigatble by larger vehicles (trucks)? And could you give any additional tips to us on how to get to it (like go right instead of left or which signs to follow, etc)?

 

THANKS! I would really appreciate any information you could give us.

 

The LaQuinta is about 8 hours or a little more from Atlanta. We stopped twice on the way there. It is a nice hotel and was $70/night for a king and $60/night for two queens. Parking was in a garage and I drive a Chevy Silverado and no problems getting in there.

 

Pretty much the signs are straight forward for dropping off your luggage, when trying to park follow the parking signs for Terminal A (I think) and that takes you around to the garage right next to cruise terminal you will be in for the LIberty.

[MzOhioLady]

Thanks for giving us this day-by-day review!

[poundcake09]

I'm lovin it!!! Those pictures were awsome of the liberty in port... Keep'em comming....

[ausofte]

The LaQuinta is about 8 hours or a little more from Atlanta. We stopped twice on the way there. It is a nice hotel and was $70/night for a king and $60/night for two queens. Parking was in a garage and I drive a Chevy Silverado and no problems getting in there.

 

Pretty much the signs are straight forward for dropping off your luggage, when trying to park follow the parking signs for Terminal A (I think) and that takes you around to the garage right next to cruise terminal you will be in for the LIberty.

 

Thanks for the information!

 

And I loved the gorgeous pictures above. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the cruise (and an easy and safe drive home.)

[Aplmac]

I'm lovin it!!! Those pictures were awsome of the liberty in port... Keep'em coming....

Not exactly a LIBERTY shot

but it does show her off to the right, docked at St. Maarten

 

 

 

 

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[ColoRockiesFan]

Thanks for this review! My parents are on this cruise and must be having a blast as I haven't heard from them since Miami ....

[chubby1]

Thanks, I will have to look around at the Warner Robins area. We really only want a cheap, clean, and safe place to sleep. We will be getting in late and up early to leave!

 

I work at a hotel in Macon GA and if you are looking for something quick, cheap, safe and easy to get to, let me know. It is the Candlewood Suites just off of I-75 on exit 169. Lots of good resturants and 24 hour grocery stores near by. Name's Kelly, BTW

[poundcake09]

It's still a nice shot of Liberty. A even better one of Victory. Any picture is better than the one I am looking at every morning. MY JOB(LOLOLOLOLOL) :D I can't wait until 5/30.

[cabbam]

Day 4 – St Thomas – May 12th

Today was St Thomas! We got up early to watch us pull into port from our balcony. This is a very beautiful place pulling into. It was my first time here and my wife’s second. All the islands hills and going in and out of them is truly a sight to see. Once docked it got real overcast and rained a time or two before we headed to our excursion. It also rained a few time during our excursion, but we had some small umbrellas to keep us dry. After 10am or so the rain stopped and it was very nice and pleasant the rest of the day. We did not take a ship sponsored tour, instead opted for Godfrey tours. There are several to choose from and if you Google St Thomas Island Tours you will see all the people who run these tours. The tour itself was awesome. We spent two hours in the down town shopping district, followed by a two hour tour of the island, and finally and two hour beach break at Megan’s Bay. The tour of the island was very neat with all the views you had from different vantage points going up the mountain. It made a stop up at the top of the mountain and time to get a refreshing Worlds Famous Banana Daiquiri. They are great! From there you could see St John, Tortola, Water Island, and other various islands. Every picture we took up there looks like a post card. We finished up the day at Megan’s Bay and it is truly beautiful.

Once back on the ship my wife and I took a quick nap. We got back up to watch and see if there were going to be any “runners” trying to catch the ship late. There weren’t so no excitement there. The Glory was docked at St Thomas with us so when were leaving it was fun standing on the balcony waving and cheering at everyone. The captains of each ship even got into a battle with the horns back and forth. After this we got ready and went to the show. The show times tonight were different. They had a 7pm show for the late seating and a 9pm show for the early seating. So the late show actually went to the show before dinner. We had reservations for Harry Supper Club at 8pm so we went to the 7pm show. It was very good. The show was “The Big Band Show – a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra”. The singer and dancers were very good. The lead singer would get the crowd into it and also during the song Candy man called some of the kids in the audience up on stage with him. We ducked out a little early to make sure we were not late for our dinner reservations. Dinner was incredible! For those who do not know Harry’s Supper Club is a step up above the main dinning at night, you have a $30 cover charge to eat there. It is worth the money to us and all the rave reviews are right on! It is definitely a step up from main dining and if you have the time and money to go take it in, I highly recommend it. I had the surf and turf and my wife had the filet. Comparing it to the night before it was no comparison. That is about all I can say., but you have to go check it out for your self. The ship starting rocking some last night and it bothered my wife some, but it seemed to rock us both to sleep.

I forgot to mention the Captain’s Cocktail party was yesterday evening before your dinner seating. All drinks were free for the hour, but like everyone has said there are no more appetizers. Wife missed them, but I never really cared for them anyway.

We are headed to San Juan tomorrow and will be doing our own self guided walking tour.

PS – I will be posting some pictures once we get back. It takes the internet a long time to upload pictures. I type the review in MS Word and copy and paste so I am only online for about 5 minutes at a time, unless I can find a free wireless connection out there as I did in St Thomas ;-).

[Aplmac]

Thanks for this review! My parents are on this cruise

and must be having a blast as I haven't heard from them since Miami ....

Man..are they having a good time or WHAT?! :D

 

 

 

Are these your parents?

 

 

.

[ColoRockiesFan]

Man..are they having a good time or WHAT?! :D

 

 

 

Are these your parents?

 

 

.

 

Yep! Looks just like them! Both my parents are extremely youthful looking, 70+ years old .... :D

 

(BTW I absolutely love your pics! All of them!!)

[FIREKILLER]

cabbam,

 

Thanks for your time for your Liberty review, we all appreciate it. We cruise on the same Itinerary in June. My request to you is to see if you can find out on the ship if they are selling the excursion for the Flowrider Experience for Grand Turk. Carnival's website has yet to put this excursion on sale for us to purchase. Thanks, happy cruising:)

[cabbam]

Day 5 – San Juan – May 13th

We docked this morning in San Juan at 7:00am and were leaving at 3:00pm. It was pouring down rain when we arrived. My wife and I got up around 7:00am, took showers, and hit the Lido for breakfast. I had an omelet and a variety of breakfast meatsJ. My wife had an omelet and some danishes. As always this cruise the food was very good. We finished and went back down to the room to get everything ready to go on shore. My wife had planned a “do-it-yourself” walking tour of old San Juan. It had slacked off raining so we headed out. When we left the pier we took a left and walked all the way down past the city walls, some museums, statues, and up to El Morro. This was the big fort located on the end of the island. It was very neat. It took us about an hour to explore the fort. As we were getting ready to head away from the fort it started pouring again. We rushed out of the fort and down street following the tour. We tried to use our umbrellas but the wind was too strong. We found a little bar tucked away in a squared so we nestled up to the bar and got a rum drink and waited on the rain to slack off. It finally did and we continued our tour. This last leg of the tour took us through some more squares, plazas, and some really cool old churches. In addition it took us down the shopping district. It started raining again at this point so we ditched the final two spots and got back on the boat around 1:00pm. Old San Juan is a really neat place; we did not let the rain get our spirits down. The architecture is outstanding! The old cobble brick streets are something to see as well. We took some really neat pictures which I will post later when I return.

Tonight we had invitations for the past guest party so we attended it. It was like all the others we have attended in the past. They did have free drinks and appetizers. They also had the video of all the past and present cruise ships and everyone cheered for each ship they had been on. That is always fun! It was a fun party. We had dinner in the dining room at our late seating time. I had the Lamb and my wife had the Pork Chop. They were both very good. We finished dinner off with Tiramisu and Chocolate Melting Cake.

The show tonight was the Comedy Hypnosis. It was pretty and funny as always. I have seen these shows on the former ships and this one seems a little better than the others. He kept the crowd in it and laughing.

Tomorrow is Grand Turk and the last formal night.

[cabbam]

cabbam,

 

Thanks for your time for your Liberty review, we all appreciate it. We cruise on the same Itinerary in June. My request to you is to see if you can find out on the ship if they are selling the excursion for the Flowrider Experience for Grand Turk. Carnival's website has yet to put this excursion on sale for us to purchase. Thanks, happy cruising:)

 

Hey FireKiller - No problem, yes they are selling this excursion on the ship. It is avaiable......

[MzOhioLady]

I am so hooked on this review! I look forward to reading each segment.

[FIREKILLER]

Hey FireKiller - No problem, yes they are selling this excursion on the ship. It is avaiable......

 

 

Thanks cabbam,

 

I continue to get emails stating that they can't help me or I'll call and the rep states it's not offered on the Liberty. Good to hear it's being offered. Thanks:)