Liberty 8/21 - 8/28 review

[CA27]

I'm finally getting a chance to write this. I've been swamped at work the past couple of weeks.

 

This was our 3rd Carnival cruise, first time on Liberty. Previous 2 cruises have been on Miracle. We were a group of 5. My in-laws, who are in their 60's, my wife and I (early to mid 30's), and our 4-year old daughter.

 

We arrived a day earlier into FLL and stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. We used SAS for transportation from FLL to the hotel, $13/pp, and I highly recommend them. The Holiday Inn POM is a nice hotel and in a very convenient location, across the street from Bayside Marketplace. Very convenient. Taxis were readily available outside the hotel, and the fare to the pier was $10. The pier is not even 10 minutes away from the hotel.

 

If you do stay at the Holiday Inn, skip the hotel's breakfast ($$$) and go to the Latin American Cafe across the street at Bayside for some good breakfast. Plenty of food and a lot less $$ than the hotel's buffet. The large hunk of Cuban bread slathered in butter went really well with their strong Cuban coffee.

 

Embarkation was smooth and quick. We arrived at the pier at 11:15 and were on-board in 30 minutes. It was the first time we've used the self check-in machines, and found them very easy to use. There were a lot of people in line, but the lines really moved fast. The check-in was a lot faster than our last 2 sailings from NYC.

 

As expected, the buffet area was crowded. Based on the advice found on this board, we went up to the 2nd level for the fish & chips. No problem finding a seat up there, and the fish was very good.

 

The first stop was Half Moon Cay (Sunday) and it was beautiful. It was our 2nd time there and we spent all day at the beach. One piece of advice, if you don't like spicy food, stick to the hamburgers & hot dogs at the barbecue or go back in the ship for lunch. The chili fried rice & jerk chicken had a kick to them, which I enjoy, but those that don't like spicy should stay from these.

 

The next day (Monday) was a sea day and it was a great day weather wise. This was also the first elegant night.

 

Our second stop (Tuesday) was St. Thomas. We took a tour of the island on an open air taxi and had the driver drop us off at Magen's Bay at the end of the tour. It was another beautiful day. There were only 2 ships that day (Carnival Liberty & Explorer of the Seas), so it wasn't crowded at all.

 

The third stop (Wednesday) was San Juan. I really like San Juan. I'm a bit of a history buff, so I love the fact that when you sail into San Juan you're looking at a very similar sight that the Spaniards were looking at 150-200 years ago. The old Spanish colonial architecture is beautiful, and it was great getting there so early (7:30 AM) because the shops weren't open yet and the crowds weren't out there just yet. We pretty much walked around all day just enjoying the sites. Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes, because there are a lot of hills. The dock location is very convenient, right in the middle of everything. I don't know why San Juan gets a bad rap from some cruisers. I love it.

 

Because we got to San Juan so early, we decided to have breakfast at La Bombonera. It's a very old bakery/coffee shop in old San Juan and we had the mallorca, which is their specialty. A mallorca is a sweet roll covered in powdered sugar. The best way to have a mallorca is in a sandwich with a cup of their delicious coffee.

 

The 4th stop (Thursday) was Grand Turk. The ship docks right next to the beach, which makes it very convenient. The cruise center has a large duty-free shop and also a lot of shop just outside the duty-free shop. There's a also a large Margaritaville with a large pool, right at the cruise center. We spent the day at the beach first, then at the Margaritaville pool. The beach at Grand Turk is very nice, but a bit rocky. The pool is very nice. Margaritaville is expensive, as expected, but we enjoyed it. We didn't get a chance to go into town, maybe next time. This was also the 2nd elegant night.

 

The food in the dining room was good but did find their selection a bit limited, especially the dessert section (only 2 or 3). Our main waiter Savio (India) and his assistants Sansanee (Thailand) and Ketut (Indonesia) were excellent and really spoiled my daughter. I asked our waiter why he had 2 assistants when we're used to seeing just one, and apparently the waiters now have to cover larger stations, so that's why they need 2 assistants. The maitre'd Joseph, called himself "the supercharged maitre'd" and was very entertaining. He can really dance!

 

Our cabin was 8378, port side aft. Very roomy, and our steward Matsaya (Thailand) was very efficient and kept our cabin spotless. I will say that if you're a light sleeper, don't get a cabin on this deck because you will hear the chairs dragging and other noises from the Lido deck above. I can sleep through pretty much anything, so it didn't bother me one bit.

 

The entertainment was really good. The production quality of the shows was great, and the singers & dancers really worked to entertain the crowd. There was a headliner for the salute to big band/Sinatra/Sammy Davis Jr. show, but I can't remember his name. Although it wasn't my kind of music, he put on a good show nonetheless. The jugglers, The Village Idiots, were OK. We didn't get to see the comedians, but I like the comedy concept that Carnival is doing.

 

The Liberty is really a beautiful ship. The decor is very understated by Carnival standards, and the ship is kept spotless. The one thing I didn't like was the way decks 3 & 4 are cut-off by the galley, so you have to go up to deck 5 and back down to 3 if you want to walk across to the atrium. It was just a nuisance and not a big deal. We were used to the Miracle, where you can just walk from the MDR to the atrium.

 

The passengers were a good cross section of American society, and everyone seemed to be very polite and having a good time, except for the guy who yelled at me at an elevator. There also seemed to be a good amount of foreign passengers based solely on the amount of men wearing speedos.

 

One quick note, I lost my driver's license at the beach in HMC and yesterday I got a letter from Carnival because they found it and returned it to me. I thought it was lost in the ocean forever. Kudos to Carnival on that one.

 

Overall, we had a great time on the Liberty and would definitely sail on her again. We'll probably do the western Caribbean on our next cruise, and wouldn't hesitate to go on the Liberty again.

 

I have the fun times for this cruise, but I don't know how to post them. I'll be glad to share them if anyone wants them.

[cruzegurl104]

Thanks for the review!! We did this trip August 7-14th. It was AMAZING!!! Me and Hubby had such a great time- All the eastern stops were beautiful..We really liked the Liberty as well!

 

We remember Sansanee from the Aft Silver Dinning Room,,, she was SO sweet!!

 

Glad you had a great time~!:)