Our Liberty cruise via Miami, FL(with pics) 5/27-6/4/11

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Then we made the HOT ride back to the ship. You could be dropped off to do some shopping (which we had less than an hour to be back on the ship) then make your own way back to the ship or you could be dropped off at the pier. We choose the pier. We did our shopping inside the terminal. We went out and watched the sail away and got to see the pilot boathttp://

Then showered for dinner. After dinner we went to our show. Tonight was the deck party (Blue, there it is!) We danced and enjoyed the music and people watching.

DBF and I went back to the room and found a dino on the bed. DD stayed with my sister and boy watched..I think she got back around 2am. But never talked to any of the boys. We were already asleep so we woke up long enough to hear her story then went right back to sleep. Tomorrow is Grand Turk and Harry’s Steak house.

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Day 7: Grand Turk and Harry’s

Grand Turk is another port I haven’t been to. Talk about beauty! Carnival has spent lots of money (and we found out is spending another million) to help fix up this port. It is a very small island and it was hit by a hurricane in 2008. When you get past the port you can still see the damage as most people didn’t have the money to rebuild or do the repairs. As we pulled into port you could see all of the beach chairs just waiting for us. Today we took the Grand Turk Experience. We learned a lot of history of the Island from our tour guide. And today we had A/C J We went by a replica of John Glenn’s space capsule which landed near the island. http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb332/reeree1009/SDC17422.jpg[/img"]http://]

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Toured the salt flats and saw how Sea Salt is made. GT used to be the main producer until the U.S. learned how to make the sea salt. That took a lot of the money from GT. We saw the last remaining donkey carriage that was not destroyed by the hurricane

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There are cows and donkeys just wondering around.

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After the salt flats we went to the end of the island to see the light house. It was a rusted out light house, but light house none the less. You couldn’t climb it (it was totally closed off) but there were still very pretty photo ops.

We were dropped off at Bohio Resort where buses would come back every 15 min through the day to take us back to the pier. The resort offered snorkeling (equipment rental that is) for $20 per person. There was a bar/snack shack there as well. We walked out on the beach but decided to go back to the port.

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We went back to the ship for a quick snack then headed back out to the beach which was right off the pier. That was awesome! We took a dip in the ocean. The beach right next to the pier is very rocky. We didn’t go further down so I cant say if it was better or not. I suggest water shoes. After our cooling dip we walked over to Margaritaville to check out the pool and flow rider. This area is great. You can just get off the ship and spend the day at the pool or the beach (free). The pool is HUGE! We watched a few people on the flow rider then went to do a little shopping.

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On the way back we saw some barracuda in the water next to the pier.

We got back on the ship and DBF decided to try out the waterslide and we sat in the hot tub.

Then we sat on the balcony watching the stragglers get on the ship at the last possible minute.

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Tonight we decided to go to Harry’s for dinner. My group gives it an “OK”. I would try it again on another ship. I know lots of people have gone and given it rave reviews. I guess we were there on an “off” night. I take that back. Michelle had lobster (surf and turf) and said it was the best meal she ate all week. The rest of us have had better steaks at Outback. Harry’s is $30 per person. Here is my only food porn for yall.

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[ShelleyUM]

Thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us. My family and I travel on Liberty in 7 days. Needless to say, we can't wait!!! :)

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Time for bed again. Tomorrow is our last sea day L . Tonight we found this little guy hanging around

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Day 8: Last Day At Sea

Today was finally bright and sunny!!

DBF and I went out and grabbed a rocking chair next to my sister and Michelle (all of the lounge chairs were of course taken by towel people aka chair hogs). DD slept in and watched movies over half the day. We enjoyed sunning and taking dips in the pool. But we really enjoyed the chocolate bar! At lunch today they had one of the bar as a chocolate bar with cakes, ice cream, pies, cookies, milk shakes and even chocolate sushi. After lunch we all decided to take a trip down the water slide. That was fun. After we had all the sun we could take we went in and started packing L . DBF showed off his mad towel animal skills.

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We showered and put our bags in the hall and made our way to our final dinner. On the way we caught our last sunset.

Of course the waiters sung to us and we had a good time. We headed down to our show then got ready for bed. It was a sad night knowing we would be leaving the ship in the morning. We thought it was “bull” that it was over..as did our cabin steward apparently because he left this for us.

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Day 9: Debarkation and flying home (tri rail experience)

Today was a sad day. We didn’t wake up to an island, we woke up to this. http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb332/reeree1009/SDC17601.jpg[/img"]http://]

We went up to fish and chips to grab a table for breakfast and to wait for our zone to be called. We had zone 9. Deb and Michelle were one floor below us and directly under us (we literally could talk to each other from our balconies) and they were zone 31. We didn’t get that. But we decided to get a hotel room and split it and just spend the day by the pool since we all had late flights. I have to say this was the longest debarkation ever. I have never been on the ship later than 9:30 and we have been all over the ships. It was after 10:00 when they called zone 9. We were through customs in no time and in line for a taxi. We went ahead to the hotel and waited for Debbie and Michelle. We were checked into the hotel before they even got off the ship. Once they got there we went down and got a lounge chair with no problem..lol We hung out until time to go to the airport. They were flying out of Miami and we out of Ft. Lauderdale. I had heard the tri-rail was very easy to use so we shared the free shuttle to the airport and they went to their gate and we went to look for the tri-rail. It was quite a walk to the shuttle that took you to the rail station. Keep in mind there were 3 of us with a weeks worth of luggage. We got off that shuttle and had to run to catch the train. We got on the train and had to store our luggage in racks for the ride to Ft. Lauderdale. The conductor seemed to be in a hurry so we started taking our luggage down early and waited to get off. Then we had wait for yet another shuttle to take us from the rail station to the airport. What looked like it would take about 45 min ended up taking about 1 ½ hrs. (the last shuttle left early and we had to wait 20 min for the next one). We finally made it through security and to the terminal with just enough time to get something to eat and get on the plane. In short, I would not recommend the tri-rail with lots of luggage!

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In summary, we loved the cruise and cant wait for the next one. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Liberty is a very pretty ship. We all loved the color changing lights and the décor. The comedy club is a great idea but they need to work on the schedules so families can go at two times instead of having 3 adults only shows. Jen, the cruise director was good, we actually saw her all over the ship, not just at shows. DD did not try any of the teen clubs so I cant comment on them and since we had DD we did not go to the adult clubs either, sorry. Our service was great everywhere with the exception of getting a coke brought to you anywhere with the soda card. If you went to the bar, no problem, but if you ordered from the waiters on the island, on the ship or in the dining room, you could pretty much forget getting it. Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I hope you all enjoyed it!

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April, sorry we missed Larry, we were in the late night show. But we all loved edge. And fendere, you were in the same family friendly show with us..lol too funny! On my next cruise I am going to make sure we have a meet and greet. Thanks again for the support!

[Duanerice1]

Thanks for the review - very entertaining!

Duane

[mommiemudd]

We are doing this cruise in October! Thanks for the review! I have already book the Puerto Rico Favorites excursion. I was happy to read about it. We are ok with just hitting the highlights. Really hope we have A/C or DH will not be happy. Wanted to see the rain forest and the forts but were afraid to do it on our own because I read that traffic out there could be bad. We have a ten yr old with us. Were there places to potty? Also, do you remember if you could go swimming as soon as your boarded the ship? Thanks again for the review!!

[homeofthedogs]

Wonderful review. Your pictures were awsome and I loved all the information. Thanks for taking the time to post.

:)

[sk84fungirl]

Thank you for this awesome review. I will be headed to Miami in 60-days for this cruise. Woo Hoo!!!!

[Cantwait4mycruise]

Awesome review!!!! I leave on this cruise NEXT SATURDAY!!!! I can't wait! Loved your pics and details!! :)

[fendere]

We are doing this cruise in October! Thanks for the review! I have already book the Puerto Rico Favorites excursion. I was happy to read about it. We are ok with just hitting the highlights. Really hope we have A/C or DH will not be happy. Wanted to see the rain forest and the forts but were afraid to do it on our own because I read that traffic out there could be bad. We have a ten yr old with us. Were there places to potty? Also, do you remember if you could go swimming as soon as your boarded the ship? Thanks again for the review!!

 

We were on this very same sailing with Ree and DID do San Juan on our own with 2 children, ages 9 and 12 (turned 12 the next day actually). We walked to San Cristobal first from the pier. Honestly, I don't think the walk was more than 5 minutes. Public restrooms here. Then we walked over to El Morro, the other fort. That took maybe 10 minutes or so to the tip of the huge, green lawn. After that we walked around the shops for about 2 hours and then back to the ship. We did not visit the rain forest, so I'm not sure about that portion, but we had no problems with the walking. It is hilly, though.