Just got back - Liberty - Thanks to all of you

[blindrid]

I just got back on the Liberty and just wanted to thank all of you that put up with me in here over the past six months even though some of my posts may have been a bit terse.

 

See you around.

[wimsiecruise]

I hope you had a good time ! I'll be sailing on her in three weeks, are you posting your review here? Any and every tidbit of information helps ! :)

[golfadj]

Happy to have helped. We were on the Liberty in Oct and had a great time.

[blindrid]

I hope you had a good time ! I'll be sailing on her in three weeks, are you posting your review here? Any and every tidbit of information helps ! :)

 

If I get a chance. Do you have any specific questions? - this was the one to the E. Carib.

[cruisingreena]

I did the exact same cruise last november, unfortunately due to a medical emergency we missed our stop in grand turk, i have always wanted to go there..is the stop worth booking this itinerary again? did you love that stop?

[tamyrussell]

I was on the November 27th Eastern Carb. sailing of the Liberty. I, personally, was very disappointed with Grand Turk (we did have rainy weather); however, even if it was sunshiny beautiful...I would still have been disappointed. I was really excited about Grand Turk...so it was such a let down.

[wimsiecruise]

If I get a chance. Do you have any specific questions? - this was the one to the E. Carib.

 

Thanks blindrid...I'm looking forward to your review because the latest reviews (Thanksgiving), were dismal. I'm doing the E. Carib. too, but this one includes St. Maarten, which I've always wanted to visit! I'm looking forward to lots of rest and relaxation and leaving just before Christmas is a good stress-buster ! No pre-Christmas shopping-'til-you-drop this year, but I did promise to bring back some goodies from St. Maarten and St. Thomas. :)

[blindrid]

I did the exact same cruise last november, unfortunately due to a medical emergency we missed our stop in grand turk, i have always wanted to go there..is the stop worth booking this itinerary again? did you love that stop?

 

Overall, it was no big deal.

 

We went down by Jack's Shack (no big deal either and it wasn't the friendliest place to be (contrary to what I read). Has the overpriced jerk chicken ($9 if I remember right) and $5 beers and rented our $5 chairs. Anyway, water was OK and overall the island isn't much. Had more fun playing with their dog than anything as he was cheap entertainment.

 

Stopped by Margaritaville on way back and had snacks a few drinks and people watched. It was lively and enjoyable but certainly "touristy". The CCL built retail area is pretty nice and fun to peruse. Prices there were not as bad as I expected.

 

I would consider staying on the ship next time I take one that takes me there. Or maybe just go off for a few hours and head back onboard.

[nightshifter]

Not trying to hijack the post but my family and I were on the same cruise. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. We have only done one other which was on Disney. I was not expecting it to be as good as Disney but there was just things I didn't care for and I should have done more research before I told the wife to book it.

 

Food was not as good. Main dining not bad but buffet was not close. There was always long lines for any food and CCL can't make a burger without burning it. The burrito bar was very good and the deli was good also. The times they had for lunch were just not convenient with the excursions we had planned. I know, we are just 4 people among 3,000 but it was lack of options.

 

Kids loved camp carnival but was only till 10 before you had to pay. Seemed like anything that my wife and I would find we wanted to do we would have to pay for the kids to be babysat. We did it a few times

 

On Disney we always felt like we had multiple things to do most of the time and were almost missing out. CCL was just the opposite. Didn't find much to do and the things we did find was an "extra charge".

 

Not as family friendly. (figured this going in) Lots of drunk idiots everywhere. No shortage of rude people either. CCL has all kinds of rules that seemed fair to me but they just don't enforce any of them.

 

Staff was not as friendly or helpful. Much of the time they just didn't seem to understand what I was saying but I had more than one shrug their shoulders and walk away. They did smile while they did it tho..... Main dining room wait staff was slow and unorganized. One of the assistants just couldn't stop dropping things on us.

 

Our room steward was great and there were a few others that were really nice to the kids but that was about it for staff. My son cut his foot in the pool and asked staff where to get a band aid after not being able to find the ones we packed. I was told the medical office. I said it was currently closed. I got "oh well then I don't know". She got into an elevator and left.

 

The ports were nice. Half moon was beautiful and we loved the beach. A few more signs of where stuff was would have been helpful. I did feel like the tender boat was going to tip over when everyone got up to get off at the ship. I think they could provide a little entertainment while waiting for your number to be called. Even some info on the island being played before you went would have been great. I could have skipped the drunks behind us making an anatomically correct female out of sand but oh well.

 

St Thomas was awesome. We did the tram to the top which was great. We screwed up and didn't know if excursions were on ships time or island time so we didn't get to spend much time up top as we thought we would be late. It is ships time btw. Meagan's beach was gorgeous. Kids had a blast and didn't come out of the water. Would have loved a little more time in the shops but had a great time overall.

 

San Juan was a surprise! Not as tropical as the other islands. We had nothing planned here and walked to the fort. It was a bit warm and we ran into some very strange people here and there walking. A little uncomfortable for me but I am in law enforcement and my wife believes me to be quite paranoid. We took the trolley to the other fort and was told by one of the park workers it would take us back to the ship. It doesn't! I was later told there are two routes. One that goes between the forts(white) and one that goes downtown and to the ship (green). Never saw the other trolley. This was the only port I saw anyone being arrested....

 

Grand Turk was nice but didn't seem like a lot to do. We did the Gills Cay sting ray adventure. Shops seemed overpriced here but the sting ray excursion was a lot of fun for us and the kids. We also had the destiny in port with us and that was neat to see but seemed like it crowded things up a bit. Not horrible tho.

 

Sea days were uneventful. The first we spent in the adult only pool and hot tub it seemed as it wasn't the nicest weather for a while. Not bad at all. Second was very warm and sunny so it was packed on all the decks in the sun. I did not see anyone staking claims to chairs and not using them for the most part.

 

I don't think we will be trying another carnival cruise for a while. Our sign and sail account was more than I was planning as all the extras that were tacked on. I also didn't care for the automatic gratuity. I would have dropped the wait staff a bit and upped the steward.

 

It was a fun vacation with lots of good memories but just less than what I expected.

[elcuchio24]

Overall, it was no big deal.

 

We went down by Jack's Shack (no big deal either and it wasn't the friendliest place to be (contrary to what I read). Has the overpriced jerk chicken ($9 if I remember right) and $5 beers and rented our $5 chairs. Anyway, water was OK and overall the island isn't much. Had more fun playing with their dog than anything as he was cheap entertainment.

 

Stopped by Margaritaville on way back and had snacks a few drinks and people watched. It was lively and enjoyable but certainly "touristy". The CCL built retail area is pretty nice and fun to peruse. Prices there were not as bad as I expected.

 

I would consider staying on the ship next time I take one that takes me there. Or maybe just go off for a few hours and head back onboard.

 

I tend to agree. I actually liked Grand Turk, but that's because we went on a really great excursion. The port area is nothing special, and has about as much local flavor as a McDonalds in Hong Kong. Plus the day we were there there was also a HAL ship in port...busy busy busy. Once we left the dock area and went out on the excursion it was a blast and a beautiful place.