Liberty “Funship-Two-Point-'WHOA'!” Review; Eastern Caribbean; 31 March 2012; Pics

[lymah]

I feel like I'm at the end of a great book and sorry it's over..

:p thanks for the review!

[dear23]

I'm sailing this same itinerary in October. Reading your review makes me wish I was sailing it tomorrow instead. *sigh* The waiting, is the hardest part....

 

Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to write this awesome review. :)

[tattoos]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to post it. You mentioned early in your review that you used an off-site parking facility in Miami. Did they meet your needs and provide satisfactory service?

 

Thanks.

[tiff123]

San Juan is our first port of call with a late dock time of 3pm - midnight (which will also be July 4th). As we'll barely have enough time to see one fort before it closes, did you prefer one over the other, or should we make a bee-line for the closest one?

I'm eagerly awaiting your "more on that later" info on the trolley ;)

Thanks for the review.

 

Sorry for the hijack, but you are lucky to be there 3-midnight. Old San Juan is absolutely beautiful at night.

[tiff123]

Throughout the week, she realized I wasn’t a stalker, just a drunk, so we got along fine!

 

 

ROFL......you're killing me.

[MisterMom]

4/7 Day 7 – Debarkation in Miami and travel back to Atlanta (with a “wrench” thrown in)

 

Well, we awoke in our usual fashion – me sleepless waiting to pull into a debarkation port and gearing up for a long drive home.

 

Location check. In Miami. Blech….

 

 

 

A pretty sunrise show over the Port of Miami (POM)….

 

 

 

Even Cameron gets a little depressed as we pull into debarkation port….

 

 

[MisterMom]

We said goodbye to our stateroom and Eben. We headed to Emille’s for a light breakfast to await Jaime calling our debarkation zone (we’re well-behaved passengers and wait our turn). While we were having our “last meal,” I remembered, “Oh cr@p; I forgot to look for the Liberty coin!” Anung un Rama and ardnassac79 had posted in their review that they found the coin. (I purposely skipped over that section of their review so I could go on my own “scavenger hunt” to find it myself.) And, stupid me, I waited until the last minutes to find it! Well, I had a theory where it was and rushed to that location. Lo and behold,

 

 

Freddy always thinks he has to be the center of attention….

 

 

We got a couple departing shots with Freddy….

 

 

Freddy – did you pee in the hot tub again?

 

[MisterMom]

Our debarkation zone gets called and we head out pretty quickly. Sigh – Freddy is sad to leave….

 

 

It takes a bit for our luggage to show up on the carousel but, it does, and we head out to pick up our shuttle to the parking lot. I nostalgically get a few last glimpses of our home for the past week….

 

 

 

I would end the photo review here, but we had an unfortunate yet fortuitous return journey home. Please stick with me a little while longer.

[MisterMom]

We make it painlessly to our car, load up the luggage and we’re on our way. I program my Android phone using Google maps to head home. We get a “code orange/red” that there are traffic jams along the way. As we make our way, I use Google maps to find detours using back roads that parallel the interstate. Cameron is impressed and we make really good time using these back roads – we save about 1 hour and 15 minutes according to the phone!

 

However, on one of these rural Georgia back roads, the “battery not charging” light comes on. Oh, crud. Derrell gets on his phone to find an auto parts store (on the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday) and we literally coast into the parking spot before the battery dies. Long story short, Alyssa at the Advanced Auto Parts in Perry, Georgia installs a new battery, realizes we need a new alternator and contacts a reliable mechanic, Justin. Justin is in his shop this late in the evening; he installs the alternator and we’re on our way.

 

Freddy thinks he can install an alternator….

 

 

The family with our hero, Justin….

 

 

We make it home safely and actually pass some of the cars we had passed earlier that were stuck in traffic while we were saving time on back roads! We are thankful and blessed to have had such good folks to help get us home.

 

A few closing thoughts and pics to follow….

[MisterMom]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to post it. You mentioned early in your review that you used an off-site parking facility in Miami. Did they meet your needs and provide satisfactory service?

 

Thanks.

 

The offisite parking was fine. It felt a little "weird" when we parked the car and checked in with the attendant. However, she didn't give us a sense of confidence that it would be safe and so would we. On the trip to POM, the driver received multiple calls on a couple cell phones which didn't instill confidence for our return trip.

 

For the return trip, the shuttle arrived as anticipated. The driver loaded our luggage in an attached trailer and we headed to the parking lot. Luckily, our vehicle was in the lot in the same condition we left it (with some additional grime, bird poo and, sadly, a defunct alternator). The shuttle, actually, broke down as it pulled in the parking lot! I hate it for the other passengers waiting to get back to the parking lot.

 

We just weren't used to depending on a shuttle to get to our car. It felt like there were too many variables that could go wrong (shuttle not show up, car broken in to/stolen, luggage disappearing) but nothing did. It just felt weird for us.

[MisterMom]

Closing and/or Random Thoughts

 

Overall, I highly recommend the Carnival Liberty and this itinerary. This ship was great and the ports are awesome. I look forward to hitting them all again.

 

I’d like to share a few last pics that I’m particularly proud of.

 

From Half Moon Cay….

 

 

 

 

[MisterMom]

From San Juan….

 

 

 

 

Grand Turk….

 

 

[MisterMom]

And from the ship….

 

 

 

And I leave you with my favorite pic. My buddy from the Alchemy Bar, Adri. Thanks for the good times!

 

[TheTravelista]

Loved your review and especially loved the watch story! You're such an amazing dad =)

 

Thanks for taking the time to write. I hope you plan on cruising again sometime soon...can't wait for the next review!

[Sarapdot]

You have some really great pics!!! The one of Freddy on the beach looking at the ship incompasses what a cruise is to me though. Love it!! :D

[Missjamis3]

The offisite parking was fine. It felt a little "weird" when we parked the car and checked in with the attendant. However, she didn't give us a sense of confidence that it would be safe and so would we. On the trip to POM, the driver received multiple calls on a couple cell phones which didn't instill confidence for our return trip.

 

For the return trip, the shuttle arrived as anticipated. The driver loaded our luggage in an attached trailer and we headed to the parking lot. Luckily, our vehicle was in the lot in the same condition we left it (with some additional grime, bird poo and, sadly, a defunct alternator). The shuttle, actually, broke down as it pulled in the parking lot! I hate it for the other passengers waiting to get back to the parking lot.

 

We just weren't used to depending on a shuttle to get to our car. It felt like there were too many variables that could go wrong (shuttle not show up, car broken in to/stolen, luggage disappearing) but nothing did. It just felt weird for us.

Which parking lot did you use? We are torn between 2 different ones around that area.

[MisterMom]

Which parking lot did you use? We are torn between 2 different ones around that area.

 

We used premiere parking usa. The link is usually at the top of this page in the ad banner! $8/day with shuttle to and from POM.

[FL Naturelover]

Loved your review and pictures. Considering this itinerary.

[MisterMom]

Loved your review and pictures. Considering this itinerary.

 

You definitely need to consider this itinerary. All the ports were great! (we got a little tired of Cozumel, Nassau, and Costa Maya. These were cool.)

[Cjh1975]

I'm sailing this same itinerary in October. Reading your review makes me wish I was sailing it tomorrow instead. *sigh* The waiting, is the hardest part....

 

Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to write this awesome review. :)

 

We will be cruising with you :)

[jobell]

Loved your review! Thank you for taking the time to write it and share your insights with us. You have a beautiful family and I'm glad that you guys could have this time with Cameron even though I know Malik was very much missed.

 

We will be doing this itinerary in January and I canNOT wait! :)

[Ginnyfyr]

Thank you SO MUCH for such a fantastic review! My hubby and I are pretty limited in when we can travel due to his teaching schedule so we're currently toying between this itinerary and a Carnival southern itinerary for Sept 1st. Honestly, we were both just slightly leaning toward the southern itinerary this afternoon, but after reading your awesome review and seeing all the fun things you did, I'm totally on team Liberty now, lol, and have no doubt that the hubby will agree once he reads this. Great job - thanks again for sharing your vacation with us!

[Lejardin]

This was truly a very enjoyable review. Thanks for sharing your vacation...I loved it!! :)

[shipshape3]

Closing and/or Random Thoughts

 

Overall, I highly recommend the Carnival Liberty and this itinerary. This ship was great and the ports are awesome. I look forward to hitting them all again.

 

I’d like to share a few last pics that I’m particularly proud of.

 

From Half Moon Cay….

 

 

 

 

love the HMC pics, can't wait to be there myself :)

[hockeyluver]

no plans on going on the Liberty but I am loving your review, I remember growing up my dad would stop at every historical monument that we passed on our road trips. Out of 6 kids I was the only one that loved it :D