Liberty 09/10-09/17---tail of traveling with three kids :)

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I figured since all I did for three months before my cruise is sat on Cruise Critic and read reviews I should return the favor. I hope it is interesting enough to keep you entertained for at least a few minutes. Please be patient---this is my first review.

I guess I should start off with who went……it was me Jen (28), DH Jon (28), my sister Anna (24), my parents Mike and Carol----yes like the Brady Bunch (50ish), my kids Kyrsten and Caleb (1-DS&3DD), another family Catt, Brent, and Jess (50ish-her Mom, 30ish- him, 28- her, and 3-DS), and another couple Dave and Liz (30ish- him and 25- her). Whew! That’s a lot of people!! My family (myself, DH, DD, my sister, and parents) have all cruised before- my 5th and all of their 4th-----well except DD---her 2nd. Dave and Liz went on the same cruise last year for their honeymoon—which was their first cruise---making this their second. Jess and her family have never been before.

We were on the Liberty for seven days and went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. I have to say that this was honestly the easiest group I have ever traveled with. Everyone did their own thing but we were also together very often. It was great.

***I am just going to say a few things here and get them out of the way. Before I do though---I am a HUGE Carnival fan. I have talked everyone that went with us into doing their first cruise. I love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I am also not a hard person to please. Give me a beach and a drink---I am happy. With that being said----I defiantly noticed the cut backs that people have been up here talking about. The Liberty is a beautiful ship and has a wonderful staff----for the most part. Some of the servers seemed a little agitated at times and I totally get a bad day or bad shift but I came across the same servers who over and over again were just plain grumpy. The pizza guy told my husband that he would not make him a calzone. For us---not a big deal at all---give me whatever you have. We found out the next night when we went back to visit him again (still grumpy) that we were not the only people that he had told that to. Ten years ago on my first cruise---this wouldn’t have happened. My only other complaint was that the food wasn’t as good as I remember. Don’t get me wrong---it was good----anything’s good when I don’t have to cook it myself! It just wasn’t quiet as good as I remember it being. I’m done complaining now and the rest of my review will be happy***

We flew down to Miami on September 10---the day we left port. We left Virginia at 750 and were in Miami by 950. We had a direct flight thankfully---which is the only reason I trusted flying in the day of. With my son it was defiantly better to have direct flight---he hates holding still. After about a thirty minute screaming match---sorry to those 100 and some passengers that had to listen to him!!!!!---he fell asleep. I think everyone felt like cheering! My DD on the other had---for being 3 was good as could be on the plane. She LOVED it!!!

When we landed in MIA we dealt with a few fiascos---me thinking someone took my carry on---which they didn’t I just didn’t open it up :cool:. Then we were graciously greeted by the handicapped car (my Dad needs a knee replacement that he hasn’t gotten yet- walking is VERY hard on him) and flew us through the airport to our luggage. Once we piled all of our suitcases together we started making the LONG trip to the rental car side. This did not work in our favor. Apparently, they have gotten a little smart to people “renting” their cars to take the free shuttles. Darn. Luckily we found a cab willing to take us with the two little ones with no car seats. This was fine by us---just get us to the ship!

Finally, at about 11:00 or so we see our first glimpse of the Whale Tail! My DD has been looking at the pics in the reviews I have been reading and I taught her what a Whale Tail was so when she saw it she turned around and goes---Mommmmmmmy I see a Whale Tail!!!!! It was so cute!

Once at the port and out of the taxi we quickly rearrange our plane carry on’s to what needed to be our ship carry on’s and meet up with Jess and her family (they drove down). I text Dave and Liz to see where they were and they were just landing so we told them to meet us on the ship---and away we went!

I'm going to stop and see if my pics posted---this is the first time I've tried to post them.

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Well---I got them to post but can someone help me to get them bigger? They're litttttttttle.

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Getting through security, checking in, and getting our sign and sail cards didn’t take very long and before we knew it we were sitting and waiting for our zone to be called (8). I will say these few things about the MIA port. They do shake every water bottle- which is fine- except the cut right down the middle of the package making carrying it impossible for the rest of the afternoon. They did look at my 5 bottles of wine (me, DH, my sister, Mom, and Dad) but never took them out. I could have uncorked them in put in liquor or whatever I wanted. When we checked in and went to get our sail and sign cards they were suppose to check our birth certificates. They didn’t even glimpse at them---or my ID for that matter. Not a big deal but whatever!

Finally, after what seems like forever our zone is called and we make our way up the escalator to the welcome aboard pic---which was awful :( ! Traveling for six hours now---no thanks!! Away we went until we walk about and hear that DING! That is the best sound ever. From the time the taxi dropped us off to the time we walked about was less and an hour. Like I said, SEEMED like forever but it was super fast! We went straight up to Lido- found a spot that could accommodate 11 people and all of our luggage and the pigging out began. I swear we ate like we had never seen food before! And of course DH and I had to have our drinks :D . Bud light for him and DOD for me! ***I will apologize in advance----I have two kids----at dinner I was always more worried about keeping them from screaming. I do not have one food pic and I don’t think any drink pics either. Nor can I remember what we had to eat----ever. Most of the time I was scarfing it down before my DS decided to run away or start screaming. Just preparing you***

From there we sat and patiently waiting for 1:30 to go to our cabins (most of us on the main deck except Liz and Dave who were on deck 8)---finally that time came and we all ran down---well some of us---my Dad doesn’t do much running. We threw our stuff in and let the kids lay down for a few. The kids had what looked like bunk beds and they loved them. We lost our couch to a bed for my DS but it worked fine. DD got the top bed with a bar and she loved it. We spent a little while in the cabin with them and waiting on our luggage until it was time for the Muster Drill. We lucked out---because of my Dad we go to go into the dinning room and just sit there while everyone else stood outside. It was very nice for him not to have to stand and even better for me not to have the kids in that crowd . From there we went up to the deck for sail away---I love going out of MIA.

Then we went back to the cabin and changed the kids so they could go play in the pool. That lasted about an hour and it was time to go change them to eat (again!). By the time we got back to the cabin our luggage had come---well most of it. We had to go search out one bag eventually but it all got there sooner or later! I forgot to mention we did Bon Voyage for an Absolute bottle and a Jim Beam bottle. They were both waiting in the room when we got there the first time. I was also a BAD person and used the old mouth wash trick. My DH was SO worried about that. It all got through fine and please no flaming---trust me our sail and sign still was well above what most people’s are for alcohol.

Once we were changed we made our way down to the dinning room. We had ATD which I was worried about because with 13 people I figured we would be waiting forever. In the four nights that we all did the MDR we never had to wait---not even for a minute. The first night they did sit us at two tables but after that they did one long one. I would do ATD again in a second. Once dinner was over we explored the ship a little and then me, DH, DS, and DD went to the cabin. It had been a longgggggg day and we were all beat. We did have our first towel animal waiting for us .

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Ok----I've realized that if you click on the pictures they get bigger---so that's going to have to be good enough :D. Here are a few more random pics from the first day:

 

 

 

 

Hubby and I are HUGE baseball fans so this was pretty great :p

 

 

[B and C Blake]

Nice review keep it coming, LOL

 

Have a quick question .. when you went into POM main area did you fill out health forms?

 

We sailed out of POM on 8/28 and were never given them.

 

Also, when you got your S&S you said they never checked your BC. That was because when you went through security the port agent had already done so.

LOL

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Nice review keep it coming, LOL

 

Have a quick question .. when you went into POM main area did you fill out health forms?

 

We sailed out of POM on 8/28 and were never given them.

 

Also, when you got your S&S you said they never checked your BC. That was because when you went through security the port agent had already done so.

LOL

 

 

Nope---no health forms. And that's what I thought---because we had already had them checked buy both my parents and the other couple we were with had their checked again :confused:.

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Sunday- Sea Day

First thing Jess, Brent, and I got up and ran. I have a wedding this Saturday and wanted to eat and not feel bad and worry about the dress that is already fitted! Then we went back to the room and got everyone together to go to breakfast. Today we found the kiddie pool (before any flames are thrown my DD is 19 months and potty trained!). This pool was the best thing in the world. It was away from the crowd but close enough to know what was going on at the main pool. The kids could swim without us having to hold them and it was almost always empty. We got to all lay out and enjoy the sun. We did this for most of the day then went to lunch. This was the only day that I made DD and DS lay down for a nap. They slept for three hours. While this was nice---it also took up a good chunk of the day and we didn’t really get to do anything else. By the time they woke up and we walked around it was time to start getting ready for formal night. Once again at dinner there was no wait which was great. We walked around and did some of the pics that I swore I wouldn’t buy and came home with four. We walked around and waiting until 10 to take the kids to the Night Owls and babysitting. All of the adults wanted to go out together. We hit the casino---most of the people with me did very well----I think I was the only one who lost---which continued throughout the trip. Nice. At 12:30 my Mom’s and Jess’s Mom went to get the kids. Jess and her DH ended up staying in their cabin and DH and I went to get food before coming back to get our DD (DS stayed in the room with my parent’s tonight) and calling it a night. Cozumel was early the next day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday- Cozumel

I actually got up and ran alone this morning. I was awake up the sun so I went alone----well DH and DD joined me to watch the sun rise. We were in Cozumel until 10 but didn’t stay out nearly that late. I have been to Cozumel on every cruise but one so I am comfortable enough to go at it alone. We walked off the ship and went through the stores trying very hard to save the shopping for last. That didn’t really work. We made our way through to find a taxi to Paradise Beach---went past the taxi driver trying to sell us the whole package and found the reasonable ones. Away we went! I have heard great things about Paradise Beach. Its $2 to get into and $12 to rent water toys. My Dad (who can’t walk well :confused:) is the only one who did that. He can’t walk but Lord Knows he can snorkel. He says it uses different muscles. Ok. The beach at Paradise is not the prettiest beach I’ve been to in Cozumel but whatever---it’s a beach. We did end up migrating towards the pool---that was the best thing ever. We sat here and drank and played until about 1:30. It had been raining (hard) on and off and we were all getting hungry so we went to go change. As we were walking to the changing area the skies let loose and basically stayed that way the rest of the day. It’s a good thing we got to the beach when we did. We don’t feel like we lost anything because we were ready to go anyway. We changed and made our way to Carlos and Charlies. If you have never been to Cozumel this is a must do! They are so much fun. The food is pretty good but the atmosphere is awesome!!! After Carlos and Charlies we made our way back to the port to try and shop a little but it was raining pretty good on and off so we did what we wanted/had to do and got back on the ship. It was probably around 4 when we got back on. We headed to our rooms and showered and then explored a little. We did Lido for dinner that night and that was the extent of what we wanted to do. We were beat----I know boring right?!

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Cozumel Pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday- Sea Day

Jess and I got up and tried the AB workout class….it was….interesting. This day is basically just like the last sea day. We went to the kiddie pool and lounged around until it was lunch time. About 12 we went to change the kids and get showered then made our way to lunch. After lunch we went to the Hairy Chest contest which my husband decided to participate in---which is fine----except he shaves his chest (no idea why) and has no hair). He still made it to the second round but only because he can dance. From there we went to the love and marriage show. My parent’s were hoping to get the chance to be the middle couple but it didn’t work out. After that my Mom and I took DD to tea time. This was pretty neat and she really liked it. After that it was more exploring, more eating (Lido again for dinner), more casino, and more karaoke. This time my parents and DH and I switched off with the kids. DD and Jess’s DS actually went to Camp Carnival for a little while this night to a party they were having while my Mom did her gambling. They had fun---and Jess’s DS got his face painted. Kyrsten wanted nothing to do with it for some reason.

 

 

 

This guy surprised everyone---he was so funny and so good :D

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More pics from karaoke---my DH tired our to be Garth Brooks for the legend show but didn't make it :(.

This guy was BEYOND drunk. He sang Born in the USA---and fell off stage :eek:

 

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This guy surprised everyone---he was so funny and so good :D

 

 

Opps. This pic is suppose to actually be this one :o

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Wednesday- Grand Cayman

Once again I’ve been to Grand Cayman enough to know what to do. We walked straight off ready to shop and everything was still closed. Not a problem----flip the day---beach first! We caught a taxi to 7 mile beach and away we went! We hung out there---not renting the beach chairs for $10 bucks----and decided that we would snorkel since we didn’t in Cozumel. My Dad, sister, me, Jess, Brent, Dave, and Liz went---Jess and Liz had never been before but caught on very quickly. We found a beautiful reef and stayed there most of the day. Once we made our way back down the beach we decided it was time to head back. We should have eaten there enough to get us through shopping but we didn’t. Instead we decided to go to Margaritaville. HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake. Our bill for a cheeseburger, appetizer, a kids meal, two drinks, and half a bucket of beer was $106 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!! The atmosphere there is great. We all got into the games on stage and reallllly like their free shots. I would go there again in a heart beat---but just don’t eat there. We went back towards the port and did some more shopping and at this point most people decided they were done. Jon, Dave, and I were not. We stayed out and found an awesome liquor store and they guys went back and did the slide at Margaritaville. Once we finally made it back on Jon and I grabbed the kids and made our way to the kiddie pool with them for a while. This was until Liz reminded us about the Past Guest Party. CRAP! We ran, showered, and got dressed all in about twenty minutes. That’s the fastest I have ever moved with kids. There were plenty of drinks and food going around so it was pretty enjoyable. After that it was back up to the Lido again for dinner. After dinner we tried to watch HOP with the kids but they wouldn’t sit still so off we went to bed again. Once again---I know boring old people!!! I promise that’s the last night we went off to bed!

 

 

 

 

 

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More Grand Cayman pics (it would be great to be able to do more than 6 pics a post :cool:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday- Jamaica

We reserved Peat Taylor for the day in Ocho Rios. We weren’t sure what we wanted to do so this was perfect. We did a self guided tour. $20 a person. This was the BEST money we spent all cruise long. I would recommend him to anyone and everyone going to Ocho Rios! We went to the Falls first---we did have to pay our own way in but that way fine. My family was the only people who went it. Dave and Liz had been there last year and that’s what they did and Jess and them didn’t want to do them. We didn’t climb the Falls----just went to the overlook and waded around. They were gorgeous! I would have loved to have climbed them but that would have never worked with two kids---and my Dad’s knee. We had plenty of fun though and at least feel like we experienced them. The only downfall is what you have to walk through afterwards. It’s a little shopping area where the locals set up shop. You do fine if you keep walking and ignore everything being sold (and offered) to you. Don’t touch anything, don’t look at anything, and don’t get handed anything and you will be fine. From there we did some of the city highlights---the churches and overlooks- things like that. It was all breath taking---and things we would have never seen if we didn’t use this tour. We then went to a beach---I’m sorry---I don’t remember the name of it. It was a resort beach and was awesome. The restaurant was closed but not a big deal---we waded around---snorkeled a bit---then changed. They took us to a restaurant that served smoked jerk chicken and sausage. OH MY GOD! I was soooooo good!!!!!! Then we did the mandatory shopping. DH and I bought a 12 year aged rum---Appleton Estates. WOW! I like rum but I like mixing rum and this is anything but a mixing rum. So freaking good though!! We hit a couple more shops and bought some dresses for Anna, DD, Jess, and I and then ran back to the bus. We were dropped off right outside the port so we could literally run into Harley (my Dad—with his bum knee— rides a bike). We had about 20 minutes to get back to the ship and it was at least a 20 minute walk to we were trucking---the the rain started. Not sprinkling rain-----can’t see in front of you rain. It was great! Once back on the boat we relaxed for about an hour and then started getting ready for the second formal night. We walked around again and took lots of pics----that I wasn’t going to buy remember? After dinner we walked around a little more and did some more pics. My DD and Jess’s DS took some pics that were to die for. They had them pose like they were “dating”---like hands on her shoulders and holding hands---that kind of stuff. TOOOOO CUTE! While we did this my Mom and Jess’s Mom did their gambling. After that we switched off and we got to do our gambling. We also did karaoke again tonight. I don’t’ know what time it was when we got in but it was LATE . See---not too old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday- Sea Day---really this is it???

We started off the day doing something totally different than any of us have ever done. We had breakfast in the MDR. WHY HAVE WE NEVER DONE THIS!!!!! I am going to do this at least twice on every cruise I ever go on again! Beyond that we did the exact same thing we have done every sea day. Kiddie pool, lunch, etc. We did try mini golf today with the kids which was fun but windy. We didn’t do much---the kids needed to lay down. Darnit! We got away with keeping them going all week. So DH and I packed while they slept then we got up and got ready for dinner- watched our last sunset- played bingo (twice this day actually)- switched off for the casino again- then went to bed :( :mad: .

Final sunset---

 

 

Saturday- Disembarkation

I have to say this was one of the most organized disembarkations I have ever been through. We did self assist and carried our own bags off----I don’t know why---my bags where only a little heavier than when I got on---maybe it was the liquor bottles inside! We were off the ship and through customs with no problem in less than half an hour. My DH dropped the box of bottles that we did carry off and I lost 2 . Oh well. We grabbed the shuttle for the rental car (to get back you just need to show your reservation-----not that you paid) and off we went. Bye Whale Tail! After a 5 hour wait in MIA airport and two flights we made it back home at 7:30. Yuck. Back to reality. When can I go again???

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My final thoughts----

My room stewardess was awesome! She cleaned up after my darling children all week and never batted an eye at us (she also earned an extra tip because no matter how much I cleaned it was NEVER clean was she came in).

The kids loved Camp Carnival but didn’t do it a whole lot.

Speaking of kids----it is not that hard to travel with them---and we had three. Just go with the flow---their flow.

The Liberty is beautiful. I can’t wait till the dry dock to see what changes are made (come on WaterWorks!) and I would love to go on her again.

Use Peat Taylor! Do NOT eat at Margartiaville. Try Carlos and Charlies. You do not have to plan excursions in Cozumel or Cayman’s. Bother are very easy to navigate.

I think that’s all but if I missed anything or you have any questions (as long as you are still awake) please ask!

[CRUISING71]

Did you get a rental car at the port and the shuttle transfer you to the rental car? Which rental car company did you use? How long did you wait for the transfer?

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Did you get a rental car at the port and the shuttle transfer you to the rental car? Which rental car company did you use? How long did you wait for the transfer?

 

 

We didn't actually rent a car---we reserved one. The last time we cruised we got away with using the shuttle with the reservation. Sneaky I know :rolleyes:---bad I know :rolleyes:. We used Thirfty this time but didn't actually get on their shuttle. There was one sitting and waiting from the airport and from the port though with no wait.

[lymah]

Great review! Looks like your group knows how to have fun and make the most of what the day throws you.

..and made our way to Carlos and Charlies. If you have never been to Cozumel this is a must do! They are so much fun. The food is pretty good but the atmosphere is awesome!!! After Carlos and Charlies we made our way back to the port to try and shop a little but it was raining pretty good on and off so we did what we wanted/had to do and got back on the ship.

Did you take a taxi over to Carlos and Charlies? Do you remember how much it was roughly? Also how much if you took a taxi back from Carlos & Charlies to the port area?

[gelo7]

Great review, thanks for sharing.