Loved the Liberty!

Hi Everyone,

I just arrived back home after an amazing cruise on the Carnival Liberty.

I'll write this review for you and try to give some insider tips.

I flew into San Juan the day before, I was going to take the Segway tour for $95 but found at the end of the day I covered most of San Juan by foot. There is a free trolley that will take you right up to the entrance of El Morro, that trolley is the open air trolley not the enclosed trolleys. I just walked around San Juan, went to both forts they are really something to see.

The first afternoon went straight to Cafeteria Malloraco for a ham/cheese & egg Malloraca it was okay I was hoping to like it more than I did. Went to St. Germain that night for dinner that was good, then stopped by Barrachina for a virgin pina colada and coconut flan. The flan was delicious. The next day went to Waffle Era Tea Room had half of a waffle with fruit. Found the free trolley and went to San Cristobal, then went to Cafe Manolin for late lunch had the shrimp monfongo, it was okay not great. And flan for dessert which was yummy.

There are three trolley's in OSJ, the open air trolley by passes the core of downtown(traffic) and goes on the outskirts to both forts. It's free and will drop you off right at the front of El Morro.

Checked out of SJ Suites, wouldn't recommend this hotel. It was clean and AC worked well but the walls were paper thin I could hear very clearly what everyone around me was talking about. Took a taxi to the cruise terminal embarkation was easy I got there around 3pm or so. It took about an hour or so for my luggage to arrive.

I had the early dinner at 6pm in the Silver Dining room which is hard to find,

you have to get to deck 5 walk all the way through the casino which smells like smoke then walk down the stairs to the dining room. Strange how they

set that up.

First night for dinner they did an open seating which was a cluster trying to get into the dining room, it was open seating but they were trying to speak to each person as they entered which made the line long and dinner that night took the longest 2 hours.

I had the Cesar salad that was good and the beef brisket which was delicious and the apple pie for dessert it was just ok.

First day was in St Thomas, I took a taxi to Red Hook then the ferry to Cruz Bay rented a car from Hospitality Rent A Car and beach hopped. Snorkeled at Maho Bay it was pretty good then left there and went to Watermelon Cay, you have to walk along a dirt path with loose rocks and there a little bit of climbing over rocks to get there it takes about 20-25 minutes but it's a shaded path. Got in the water and swam counter clockwise around the cay, it's kind of far and the current is strong but it' doable. There are huge coral formations out there and all kinds of fish. Very nice. The main reason I booked this cruise is our ship stayed late in St Thomas for the Gladys Knight concert. So I missed dinner this night in the MDR.

The car rental places rent for one day but do not accept reservations you just have to "walk in".

Next day at sea, went to the pool, bingo, Diamonds Steakhouse tasting at 12pm now that is kind of food I'm expecting but it's not free. Oh well.

After that I think I had some pizza and salad, the pizza is good.

This was formal night, I had lobster and it comes with shrimp and I ordered the spaghetti carbonara, didn't stay for dessert. It was all okay.

Barbados: took a tour with Carson's Taxi & Tours. Carson is very knowledgeable about the island, we stopped at the local grocery store and he picked up a couple beers and some water and some kind of fruit bread. The tour was nice, although his AC didn't work.

I had a blister on my toe from the snorkel fin in St John so I didn't get out at the beach. One person did and Carson offered to come back for him in one hour but he chose to walk back.

Overall the tour was nice, but some air in the van would have been helpful.

Dinner that night I had two appetizers: cannelloni and escargot both ok

had some meat can't remember what it is. Chocolate melting cake was good but very rich.

St Lucia: took the Spencer Ambrose land, sea & beach tour. You walk to the pier area and Spencer loads everyone on the boats depending on the tour you are taking.

We headed by boat to Soufriere then he loaded us on vans and we headed to the mud bath or if you chose the volcano, then to the waterfall, quick stop in front of a banana plantation with a banana sample and explanation of how the banana grows. Then off to a local restaurant for a quick lunch then back on a boat for a quick ride to Sugar Beach, we stayed there 2 hours and I snorkeled the whole time. Then back on a boat, made a few quick stops on the way back to get photo ops of Marigot, Keyhole rock, two local fishing villages. Very nice tour.

Skipped the MDR this night, was a little under the weather from all the beer on the boat ride back! :p

St Kitts: had planned on taking the tour with Javin, decided I couldn't do another "van" tour this day. Bought a snorkel and sail excursion with Carnival. We walked right over to the pier and got on a catamaran for an hour sail then snorkeled an hour and came back. Had plenty of time to shop and check out all the stores.

For dinner this night I had some soup, filet and short ribs, ordered my filet medium it came out medium rare my friend ordered hers medium rare it came out medium. Oh well, the short rib was delicious. The mac & cheese is delicious as well as the whipped potatoes.

I had two desserts, one was the vanilla creme brulee I wasn't crazy about that but the Amaretto chocolate cake was delicious.

St. Martin: I rented a car from Coastal Rental car, they are a short walk from the ship I just asked a few people and they guided me in that direction. Once at the kiosk office they take you in a van(newer van) right down the road to where the cars are, got a newer small car with excellent AC. Also ordered a GPS, all the main sights are in there and I zipped around St. Martin no problem and didn't get lost. Made it back in plenty of time, I think it was 3pm.

There are crazy locals on motorcycles that zip in & out of the traffic with no cares in the world. Then there are some tourist on motorcycles they have helmets on and they too zip in & out of the traffic, very strange. I stopped for a quick look see at Orient Beach and there were some nude folks there. Didn't stay because the waves were pretty big and I don't like big waves. I went counter clock wise and ended my tour at Little Divi Beach, hiked up to Ft Amsterdam it's really cool(and free) then took a dip in one of their pools! No one was around so I figured it wasn't going to hurt anyone.

Turned in the car and headed out to the shops.

For dinner that night I had two appetizers: french onion soup, very good a little salty and flatbread didn't really like that. Salmon with veggies and I ordered the mac & cheese on the side that was good too. Had the banana split from the children's menu it was yummy!

Unfortunately we had reached the end of a wonderful cruise, I really enjoyed the ship it's beautifully decorated with the atrium and the changing the lights to all the great art work around the ship.

My cabin was much larger than I expected, at the last minute Carnival called and asked if I wanted to upgrade to a balcony so I did. The cabin was 6237, the cabin was nice and clean. But it's right outside the elevator so that is kind of a plus but it's very noisy the music from the lobby shoots right up and the music doesn't stop until 11:45pm

Overall was very impressed with Carnival, I was on Royal Caribbean in 2013 and that room was much smaller and the food was not as good as on the Liberty.

Oh forgot to mention Guy Fieri's burgers are delicious, made it to the Fish & Chips one day the fish was great, thick cod filet, french fries were ok. Thought about going down to Guys to get his fries but didn't. Mongolian Wok always had a long line so didn't try that.

Did have 3 fresh omelettes, if you get down to the buffet early it's less crazy.

I take a Trevis glass with me and fill up on coffee in the morning and iced tea later. Chocolate ice cream in a cone loved it!! So yummy. :)

The buffet is pretty typical, lots of food but not much quality and typically not hot.

The Versailles pool is nice, less crowded than the other pool, it's in the back/stern by the pizzeria. The Serenity deck is less crowded too but only has hot tubs.

I found the secret decks on 6 & 7 and would go out there each morning to

get pics of the sunrise. They are toward the front/bow just under the bridge.

You can order room service, breakfast is continental and you can get sandwiches. They offer other things but charge for them.

The iced tea is very strong but I just added water to it. Lemonade and OJ was very good.

There were some loud/ pushy folks on board but I guess you get where ever you are. I just tried to ignore them and tried to get down to the buffet around 7am it seemed like at that time everyone was still in their cabins.

Debarkation was easy too, I did the self assist and just walked right off and took a taxi to the airport.

Thanks for your review! Liberty is still my favorite ship! And I love San Juan. That itinerary is wonderful. I would very much like to do that cruise from San Juan some day. On my bucket list. Thanks again:)

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Thanks for taking the time to write the review. The Liberty is also my favorite ship. I will be on her very soon for the 12 day journey sailing...can't wait!

Kim

Thanks for reading my review, I'm trying to figure out how to insert the large pictures in the body of the review? Anyone know how to do that?

I love the review, it helps build the excitement

El Morro from San Cristobal

El Morro in the distance taken from San Cristobal

St John pretty sure this is Cinnamon Bay

Hi Everyone,

I just arrived back home after an amazing cruise on the Carnival Liberty.

I'll write this review for you and try to give some insider tips.

I flew into San Juan the day before, I was going to take the Segway tour for $95 but found at the end of the day I covered most of San Juan by foot. There is a free trolley that will take you right up to the entrance of El Morro, that trolley is the open air trolley not the enclosed trolleys. I just walked around San Juan, went to both forts they are really something to see.

The first afternoon went straight to Cafeteria Malloraco for a ham/cheese & egg Malloraca it was okay I was hoping to like it more than I did. Went to St. Germain that night for dinner that was good, then stopped by Barrachina for a virgin pina colada and coconut flan. The flan was delicious. The next day went to Waffle Era Tea Room had half of a waffle with fruit. Found the free trolley and went to San Cristobal, then went to Cafe Manolin for late lunch had the shrimp monfongo, it was okay not great. And flan for dessert which was yummy.

There are three trolley's in OSJ, the open air trolley by passes the core of downtown(traffic) and goes on the outskirts to both forts. It's free and will drop you off right at the front of El Morro.

Checked out of SJ Suites, wouldn't recommend this hotel. It was clean and AC worked well but the walls were paper thin I could hear very clearly what everyone around me was talking about. Took a taxi to the cruise terminal embarkation was easy I got there around 3pm or so. It took about an hour or so for my luggage to arrive.

I had the early dinner at 6pm in the Silver Dining room which is hard to find,

you have to get to deck 5 walk all the way through the casino which smells like smoke then walk down the stairs to the dining room. Strange how they

set that up.

First night for dinner they did an open seating which was a cluster trying to get into the dining room, it was open seating but they were trying to speak to each person as they entered which made the line long and dinner that night took the longest 2 hours.

I had the Cesar salad that was good and the beef brisket which was delicious and the apple pie for dessert it was just ok.

First day was in St Thomas, I took a taxi to Red Hook then the ferry to Cruz Bay rented a car from Hospitality Rent A Car and beach hopped. Snorkeled at Maho Bay it was pretty good then left there and went to Watermelon Cay, you have to walk along a dirt path with loose rocks and there a little bit of climbing over rocks to get there it takes about 20-25 minutes but it's a shaded path. Got in the water and swam counter clockwise around the cay, it's kind of far and the current is strong but it' doable. There are huge coral formations out there and all kinds of fish. Very nice. The main reason I booked this cruise is our ship stayed late in St Thomas for the Gladys Knight concert. So I missed dinner this night in the MDR.

The car rental places rent for one day but do not accept reservations you just have to "walk in".

After that I think I had some pizza and salad, the pizza is good.

This was formal night, I had lobster and it comes with shrimp and I ordered the spaghetti carbonara, didn't stay for dessert. It was all okay.

Barbados: took a tour with Carson's Taxi & Tours. Carson is very knowledgeable about the island, we stopped at the local grocery store and he picked up a couple beers and some water and some kind of fruit bread. The tour was nice, although his AC didn't work.

I had a blister on my toe from the snorkel fin in St John so I didn't get out at the beach. One person did and Carson offered to come back for him in one hour but he chose to walk back.

Overall the tour was nice, but some air in the van would have been helpful.

Dinner that night I had two appetizers: cannelloni and escargot both ok

had some meat can't remember what it is. Chocolate melting cake was good but very rich.

St Lucia: took the Spencer Ambrose land, sea & beach tour. You walk to the pier area and Spencer loads everyone on the boats depending on the tour you are taking.

We headed by boat to Soufriere then he loaded us on vans and we headed to the mud bath or if you chose the volcano, then to the waterfall, quick stop in front of a banana plantation with a banana sample and explanation of how the banana grows. Then off to a local restaurant for a quick lunch then back on a boat for a quick ride to Sugar Beach, we stayed there 2 hours and I snorkeled the whole time. Then back on a boat, made a few quick stops on the way back to get photo ops of Marigot, Keyhole rock, two local fishing villages. Very nice tour.

Skipped the MDR this night, was a little under the weather from all the beer on the boat ride back! :p

St Kitts: had planned on taking the tour with Javin, decided I couldn't do another "van" tour this day. Bought a snorkel and sail excursion with Carnival. We walked right over to the pier and got on a catamaran for an hour sail then snorkeled an hour and came back. Had plenty of time to shop and check out all the stores.

For dinner this night I had some soup, filet and short ribs, ordered my filet medium it came out medium rare my friend ordered hers medium rare it came out medium. Oh well, the short rib was delicious. The mac & cheese is delicious as well as the whipped potatoes.

I had two desserts, one was the vanilla creme brulee I wasn't crazy about that but the Amaretto chocolate cake was delicious.

St. Martin: I rented a car from Coastal Rental car, they are a short walk from the ship I just asked a few people and they guided me in that direction. Once at the kiosk office they take you in a van(newer van) right down the road to where the cars are, got a newer small car with excellent AC. Also ordered a GPS, all the main sights are in there and I zipped around St. Martin no problem and didn't get lost. Made it back in plenty of time, I think it was 3pm.

There are crazy locals on motorcycles that zip in & out of the traffic with no cares in the world. Then there are some tourist on motorcycles they have helmets on and they too zip in & out of the traffic, very strange. I stopped for a quick look see at Orient Beach and there were some nude folks there. Didn't stay because the waves were pretty big and I don't like big waves. I went counter clock wise and ended my tour at Little Divi Beach, hiked up to Ft Amsterdam it's really cool(and free) then took a dip in one of their pools! No one was around so I figured it wasn't going to hurt anyone.

Turned in the car and headed out to the shops.

For dinner that night I had two appetizers: french onion soup, very good a little salty and flatbread didn't really like that. Salmon with veggies and I ordered the mac & cheese on the side that was good too. Had the banana split from the children's menu it was yummy!

Unfortunately we had reached the end of a wonderful cruise, I really enjoyed the ship it's beautifully decorated with the atrium and the changing the lights to all the great art work around the ship.

My cabin was much larger than I expected, at the last minute Carnival called and asked if I wanted to upgrade to a balcony so I did. The cabin was 6237, the cabin was nice and clean. But it's right outside the elevator so that is kind of a plus but it's very noisy the music from the lobby shoots right up and the music doesn't stop until 11:45pm

Overall was very impressed with Carnival, I was on Royal Caribbean in 2013 and that room was much smaller and the food was not as good as on the Liberty.

Oh forgot to mention Guy Fieri's burgers are delicious, made it to the Fish & Chips one day the fish was great, thick cod filet, french fries were ok. Thought about going down to Guys to get his fries but didn't. Mongolian Wok always had a long line so didn't try that.

Did have 3 fresh omelettes, if you get down to the buffet early it's less crazy.

I take a Trevis glass with me and fill up on coffee in the morning and iced tea later. Chocolate ice cream in a cone loved it!! So yummy. :)

The buffet is pretty typical, lots of food but not much quality and typically not hot.

The Versailles pool is nice, less crowded than the other pool, it's in the back/stern by the pizzeria. The Serenity deck is less crowded too but only has hot tubs.

I found the secret decks on 6 & 7 and would go out there each morning to

get pics of the sunrise. They are toward the front/bow just under the bridge.

You can order room service, breakfast is continental and you can get sandwiches. They offer other things but charge for them.

The iced tea is very strong but I just added water to it. Lemonade and OJ was very good.

There were some loud/ pushy folks on board but I guess you get where ever you are. I just tried to ignore them and tried to get down to the buffet around 7am it seemed like at that time everyone was still in their cabins.

Debarkation was easy too, I did the self assist and just walked right off and took a taxi to the airport.

I just found your review! :D Thank you for taking the time to share! It definitely looks like you had a great time on Liberty like we did. I would just love to be in St. Thomas as late as your sailing was to take advantage of a whole day in St. John like that and I love your pictures. There was another thread posted, last week I think, about Liberty leaving St. Thomas late and asking "why". I had no idea there was a Gladys Night concert...did she perform on Liberty? Again, thank you for taking your time. And if you have anymore beautiful pictures to share, please do. :)

Thanks for the review.

Thanks TMT3698 for your review of Liberty, looking forward to our own cruise. You mention the music in the Atrium, was there any Latin Bands on board? we love that type of music.

Thanks for the pictures also:)

Hello,

Yes they were playing Latin music and other kinds of music too.

There is a live performer in that lobby between 5:30-11:45 and then during the day out by the pool they play other music and may have some live performers out there too.

Liberty is so pretty with nice art all over the ship, really enjoyed that.

Pool deck/ Jumbo Tron

Guy's Burger Joint is right there before you enter the glass doors to the buffet, the line moves quick they make a lot of basic burgers then you can go to the topping station and put on whatever you want.

Me & Skinny Carson, the excellent tour guide from Barbados!