Liberty 6 day Southern Caribbean

Amazing Ports- no sea days!

Sail Date: October 2015

Destination: Southern Caribbean

Embarkation: San Juan

We chose this cruise for our 25th Anniv trip and were very excited that it sailed to places we had never visited- with no sea days! We also had wanted to explore San Juan for quite some time, so we booked two full days at the Condado Plaza Hilton prior to the cruise.

We flew into San Juan with no problems on a non stop Jet Blue flight. Caught a cab from the airport for the 20 min ride to Condado area. This was $19. Taxi service is regulated in San Juan so there is no guessing involved. You know before you take off how much it is going to cost to get to your destination. Our hotel was the very first you come to after crossing the bridge into Condado beach area. It was formerly the Conrad , and located on a beautiful lagoon and ocean front property with mature trees and beautiful landscape. The Palm trees were enormous! You would never guess when you enter the front of the hotel, as its a busy and crowded main street, but the back of the hotel is just so relaxing. There were 3 swimming pools spread over the property, a large hot tub, a small sandy beach, overlooking the lagoon, an ocean front sea wall with palm trees and hammocks surrounding. Plenty of lounge chairs. One of the pools had a small water slide and swim up bar. We arrived Thursday morning and had this beautiful place almost all to ourselves- we didn't notice things getting busy until Friday later in the day.

Our room was on a high floor and was a Jr. Suite. Very spacious and clean. We were so surprised to find a Happy Anniversary dessert plate and bottle of chilled champagne in our room upon arrival! Being Hilton Honors members we had free wifi in the room and the signal was very good. There were many places within walking distance to dine. This area felt very safe to us. Even coming back from dinner after dark. Everything very well lit with a lot of people around.

The next day we took a shuttle bus into Old SJ and explored the forts. Amazing . We also spent some time shopping and walking the cobblestone streets - it's a beautiful authentic place.

Saturday we spent a few hours at our hotel snorkeling in the lagoon, swimming, relaxing and checked out around 2 pm. Took a cab to port ( approx 15 min drive).

Embarkation: very smooth. We had Faster to the Fun and I highly recommend it. Not only for embarkation, but if you have to go to Guest Services even one time, you will know it was well worth the 49.95! You get priority boarding, and a special very short line at guest services, among other things. The whole embarkation process took maybe 35 minutes and we were exploring the ship. The ship itself is typical Carnival glitz, but not hard on the eyes at all. Very well maintained and always very clean. Was not hard to find our way around from day one. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Had our lunch at the seafood place just above the buffet- hardly anyone up there and the food is very tasty . Our luggage was in our room almost immediately- another FTF perk, and we were swimming up on the Lido deck shortly thereafter......

We really enjoyed the late sail away out of San Juan it was just beautiful with all the lights, the forts lit up, etc. We spent most of sail away up on deck 12, and then headed down to our balcony and enjoying that aft wake view before retiring for the night. Our cabin was standard Carnival size which means plenty roomy. Very clean and our steward kept us stocked with ice and fresh towels all week. Very efficient. We also had two cabin cleanings per day with turn down service and towel animals each night.

I'm always one that likes to get up early and see us sail into each new port, but the next morning I must have been so tired I totally missed it . Went out on our balcony to the most awesome view of Saint Thomas- just gorgeous!

Before discussing the ports I would like to talk about dining: I think I could choose Carnival above all others for two items alone- Guys Burgers and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!:)

For evening meals we had my time dining and ate in the dining room 3 times, buffet twice, and ordered room service once. Breakfast was either room service, buffet, and one time we ate in main dining room. Lunch was always a Guys burger ( or two) after returning from our adventures of the day.

With such a port intensive cruise we found that we were just too worn out some nights to even care about dressing up for dinner- so those were the nights we did buffet or room service. One night we were waiting to go catch the Marriage show and we woke up several hours later passed out fully clothed on the bed- bear in mind we hadnt even had a drop of alcohol!:) I am a light packer , but I came home with 2 never worn outfits on this cruise. Could have packed even lighter!

Every port was just beautiful. Saint Thomas: took Carnival excursion to Saint Johns and snorkeled Trunk Bay. So beautiful. So glad we chose this excursion. There was still plenty of time to shop a bit after we returned.

Barbados: Had pre hired Skipper Vance via Internet to take us around on a customized tour. Had a great time. Our favorite part was the 1 hour we got to spend on Bathsheba Beach- literally just a few locals and my husband and I . It was gorgeous and rocky and sandy - we had heard it looks a lot like some areas of Hawaii. The rock formations were awesome.

Dominica: Hired a driver at the pier to take us to Trafalgar Falls. Well worth going to. We swam at the base of the falls and spent as much time as we wanted there. It is a fun hike thru the jungle to get there- longer and harder than I had imagined but so worth it.

Saint Maarten: took the ferry boat over to the mainland and spent several hours on the beach that is in view of the ship. The further you walk down the beach the cheaper the prices are for loungers and umbrella!

Saint Lucia: Had pre booked a private excursion with Spencer Ambrose tours. This was our favorite day of the whole cruise! We did the speedboat tour to the foot of the Pitons and spent 4 hours snorkeling, walking the beach, swimming and enjoying a delicious authentic meal right on the beach. We felt very well cared for by this polite group of staff and they made the day extra fun. On our way back to the ship we stopped in Marigot Bay, saw the cliff diving boys and the batcave. We still made it back to ship with plenty of time. We had such a good time, I ran all the way back to my cabin to get them a bigger tip- it was so well deserved!

This cruise was our very favorite to date, the adventures that were available at each new port just made it for us. The ship was a very pleasant place to come back to after our days adventures, but this cruise was all about the ports! Can't wait to go back with our two teenagers- they will love it!

Aft view extended cabin Deck 7

Very clean, no odd smells, very quiet. Aft extended balcony was a treat, but we didn't use it nearly as much as anticipated. Weather was very hot and humid and with no sea days we never felt that ocean breeze except at night. Also people that were smoking around us put a damper on things. We did complain to security, but I see no good way to enforce the anti smoking policy. This may keep us from spending the $ on a balcony in the future. We did enjoy it a few early mornings and a couple late nights for a few minutes at a time.

Thanks for sharing this.

Keith

Thank you for taking the time to post all the wonderful info! May I ask how much the tours in Barbados and Dominica cost?

Thank you for taking the time to post all the wonderful info! May I ask how much the tours in Barbados and Dominica cost?

Barbados was 45$ pp- private tour ( not booked thru Carnival- prepaid via PayPal prior to the cruise)

Dominica was 25$ pp to hire the driver- we did this when we got off the ship that day! Trafalgar Falls was 6$ pp.

Thanks for the review.

Ooh. You've got me sold on booking this itinerary for our next cruise. Sadly, that won't be for at least a couple years.