Pictorial Review of the Liberty Looneys CC Cruise - 1/15 - 1/22/2011

[Koval]

Very nice...One day I will be on a cc cruise, it is my dream as I am a people person. Can't wait for more. For some reason seeing everyone meet and have fun got me misty eye'd.

There is a great group going on the Magic out of Galvaston, come join us. If you read how fun it was to cruise with us, well the group going is where it all started. 3 sets of leaders will be helping Rich (the Leader of the SMDer's) to have the Best CC Group cruise ever.

 

I know that the Liberty stays at Cozumel until 10:00pm. Does the village shops stay open in the evening?

I am not sure they stayed open past 8 or so, but they were open that late for sure, as I had run back for a key chain. One of my grandsons gifts bags, he had left somewhere in the shopping area, so I ran back to get another key chain, to replace the one he had bought for his brother who could not come with us.

 

 

Thank you to all of you who have such Praise for Chelle and I...

We may lead again, but with the cost of baggage, we may not show up with all those goodies LOL

It was a blast, and our pleasure in organizing, the best cruise ever for all our Looney's....

Hearing it was your best cruise ever, is our reward!

You do know, they next one can also be the Best Cruise Ever, so come on along with us on the Magic :p

 

Steve, Great Review, I have been working or sick for the last couple days, and only found it this morning!

Great Review, and Wonderful Photos...

[remharri]

Loving your reviews and your photos. I have a Canon T1i I'm still learning the ropes on. I need to take you with me on my Liberty cruise in April so that you can show me some tips and catch some awesome photos.

[dodger501]

The Hairy Chest Contest continues. This guy was having way too much fun:

 

Lawrence called this guy Chippendale. I don't know what he was doing in a hairy chest contest but he was definitely a crowd-pleaser:

 

What do you say we wrap up the Hairy Chest Contest? They all lined up and did 'YMCA':

 

And Do-Rag Guy won:

 

The contestants, the judges, the emcee, everyone was happy:

The End

 

Let's get a DoD in the aft pool area and hit the jacuzzi!

 

I'm sure they had their reasons but it seemed to me they pulled the roof back over kind of early, a little after sunset. It would have been nice to sit here under the stars.

Let's get ready for another sunset.

[dodger501]

First a stop at the Pizzeria, which is open 24/7. The times we were there, the slices weren't fresh although you can ask for one if you feel like waiting:

 

Then ask the nice lady for a tall, cool one:

 

And while away the rest of the afternoon:

 

Another sunset. I'm thinking I should have used the amber filter on this one maybe, I don't know. My biggest gripe is that with no tripod, I cannot get any distance with which to use the zoom, making the horizon appear closer to the foreground subject. Had I been able to do that, I could hold the flash unit nearby and trigger the shutter with the remote control.

Maybe next cruise.

 

We head back to the room to get ready for dinner. Easy to find our door, for sure:

I'll post a bigger size version of the door sign later. I made one for all the CC Looneys.

This is the exact same cabin we had in the 2010 cruise. We like Deck 7 (Empress) as it is 2 decks above Promenade, 2 below Lido. Peace and quiet.

 

A little friend awaits us:

 

Next up: Grand Cayman. Post tomorrow.

[dodger501]

 

Look who is delivering the drinks!

The top picture is from Half Moon Cay last year, the temp was so cool that only Karen and a couple of other people went in the water.

We gave each poster a set of removable stickies that did not leave a residue on the door.

[LizaMM]

Still thoroughly enjoying your review!!!!THANKS!!

 

I totally agree about those Empress Deck cabins. I see you were in 7385 I booked 7375 for our next cruise and am very excited! Just wondering.....I know it changes but.....were you actually port side facing at all?? I have experienced facing the port both in portside and starboard side cabins and I was just wondering what your experience was for this cruise.

[dodger501]

What an amazing review so far! My Liberty cruise leaves in just under 9 months now.... 2nd sailing after the drydock. Do you have any pictures of Harry's Supper Club? My fiance and I are holding our wedding reception in there for 88+ guests - we are a little worried about how people will see us since it is a U shape (head table will be on the dance floor). Any extra pictures of the interior would be extremely helpful!

 

I look forward to the remainder of your review!

 

Thank you kindly.

I do not have pictures, no. Kind of odd, I was standing right there, I mean geez, I could have just walked in, snapped a couple and left. Sorry.

[dodger501]

Loving your reviews and your photos. I have a Canon T1i I'm still learning the ropes on. I need to take you with me on my Liberty cruise in April so that you can show me some tips and catch some awesome photos.

 

The t1i should do ya. My advice is: read the fine manual. When finished, read it again. Go forth and practice, a lot.

[dodger501]

Still thoroughly enjoying your review!!!!THANKS!!

 

I totally agree about those Empress Deck cabins. I see you were in 7385 I booked 7375 for our next cruise and am very excited! Just wondering.....I know it changes but.....were you actually port side facing at all?? I have experienced facing the port both in portside and starboard side cabins and I was just wondering what your experience was for this cruise.

 

Had to think long & hard about this. I think for the western itinerary we were port side-to in Cozumel and Jamaica and anchored out in Grand Cayman. A year ago, in the eastern itinerary, let's see . . . San juan, port. St. Thomas, starboard. Half Moon Cay, anchored. Grand Turk, starboard:

 

[dodger501]

Loving the review so far- especially the photos! I use a similar Nikon with the same "walking around lens" - and I'm in the market for a good wide angle -

 

keep the review coming, and thanks for posting the capers!

 

Tell me more, trvlqueen: make & model, picture gallery, etc. I'd love to see it.

[Koval]

Just catching up with your review...Wish we were still there...

[dodger501]

 

Why didn't I think to take that stupid ball cap off, first? :o

[dodger501]

Here we are, bright & early, after getting off the tender:

 

Ready for some excursioning! My spell checker says that isn't a real word.

This is called The Grand Cayman Buccaneer Stingray City Snorkeling Catamaran. We booked this through Island Marketing, the same outfit as that of Nachi Cocom. Scheduled as a 4-hour jaunt, $78 for the 2 of us.

Now we're on our way, a bunch of Looneys on this trip. Marie in the front seat:

 

Here is her whole crew:

 

On our way to the Stingray City sandbar. It's about 3 or so miles out in the ocean:

 

We're both ready to go:

 

Mike & Sherri gear up:

[dodger501]

Let's get them stingrays!

 

And we're there, what a crowd, there were 3 or 4 other boats there:

 

Alright, who's going to be first to meet the ray?

 

Dawn, trying to be her bravest:

 

Now Karen gets a backrub:

 

And a little smooch for Mr. Ray:

[doddsm]

 

Why didn't I think to take that stupid ball cap off, first? :o

Because it would have been one more thing to hold or keep track of.

[dodger501]

Here is our next stop, at the barrier reef. Lots to see, living coral, tons of fish:

 

Karen never could get her mouthpiece to fit right. Says salt water kept coming in. I'm thinking operator error . . .

 

Heading back now (wide angle):

 

Crew members cleaning up conch shells they dived after:

 

Karen got one, I had to tip the man generously:

 

Toward the shore:

[dodger501]

On the ride through town back to the pier:

 

The Liberty is still there. We had a long line for the tender but they had 2 of them going so it did not take too much time:

 

 

One last look at the harbor before boarding:

 

Another beautiful sunset:

 

Intruder alert!

 

I have to admit, this guy gave us a start when we walk in and turn on the lights. He stuffed pillows and towels inside one of the bathrobes, beach towels for legs and my shoes. Very clever, for sure!

[Koval]

I love your room steward, I don't know who he was, but boy did he make good fun of your room.

[LizaMM]

Now that is the most amazing towel ....creature....that I have ever seen!!! WOW!!

[tmt218]

Loving the review and the pictures. Sounds like all the Looney's had a great time. Cool door poster. Was that on regular paper or photo paper?

[Koval]

Loving the review and the pictures. Sounds like all the Looney's had a great time. Cool door poster. Was that on regular paper or photo paper?

Those were on 11X14 photo paper.

Steve made one for each of the Looney Cabins, personalized with our names.

They were so nice, I brought mine home.

[Mrs.C05]

Intruder alert!

 

I have to admit, this guy gave us a start when we walk in and turn on the lights. He stuffed pillows and towels inside one of the bathrobes, beach towels for legs and my shoes. Very clever, for sure!

 

OMGoodness!!!!!! I would've flipped out. How funny, sneaky and clever of your room steward....I'll have to keep an eye out for my room now! HAHA!

[dodger501]

Our room steward's name was Wayon, from Indonesia.

He had a healthy tip waiting for him on Last Day, besides these novel creations, he took good care of our room.

 

Your perceptions are correct, this was a great cruise and a fun bunch of Looneys to enjoy it with.

 

Tonight: Ocho Rios

[Mrs.C05]

I'm loving your review! Great colorful pictures too! I got a new camera for my bday that I can't wait to use on our cruise and play with the settings for different lightings.

[dodger501]

This was the worst experience of the cruise, at least how it started out. This was the only excursion we booked through Carnival, too.

So we leave the ship and go to the excursion meeting place (for lack of a better term) at the end of the pier. Our excursion is the Bamboo Beach Club. It was not clearly apparent which line we were supposed to go in but we figured it out. And we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We were about a third of the way back and I wasn't paying attention. Apparently a bus arrived and they took the first bunch of people. We should have been among them but, as I said, I was distracted. Well, there's too many for one bus so the rest of us, about 8, waited. And waited. And waited some more. The Jamaicans seem to spend a lot of time bickering and arguing with each other, I have no idea what was going on. I asked the girl, Tracy, if the excursion was ove-booked or something, she didn't know.

Finally a bus comes and off we go. Tracy tries to make the best of it. I try my hardest not to be a sour puss, it was difficult.

We finally get to the beach. Nachi Cocom, it ain't:

 

But it is an AI, the area is clean, so is the water, the staff is attentive, and the sun is hot. They are doing hair braiding, the coconut water thing (with our without a shot of rum):

 

There were dancers and entertainers pretty much the whole time, including a DJ. When we first got there he was playing all reggae, then switched to rap, which put a lot of folks off:

 

I swear, this guy was double-jointed:

 

Nice scenery (wide angle):

 

More dancing: