Review of our Spring Break '12 Cruise on Carnival Liberty

[PaulMedik]

Karen and Spencer are huge TJ Maxx fans and there's a store a few blocks West of South Beach so we walked there with plans to buy just a few things.....

 

Along the way we watched a man so smitten by a Rolls Royce convertable that he nearly got ran over;

 

 

 

 

Spencer found a car or two he liked along the way too;

 

 

 

Spencer said; 'You're gonna see my pull up one day in one of these.' I said not likely to see that in WV; our roads won't allow such low vehicles to pass;

 

 

 

 

Spencer bought enough Under Armour socks to last him thru High School and a couple years of college at TJ Maxx (He's a freshman in HS this year). Janet bought a new carry on bag and Karen bought a dress and a few other small items.

 

When we got back to the hotel I remembered where I wanted to be and hadn't been because I saw the full moon already up (I had planned to get pics of it with my DSLR out over the ocean);

 

 

 

Oh well, it will still be there next year...

 

 

The Savoy has two pools; one heated and one not. Can you guess which one Karen prefers;

 

 

 

We spent the late evening playing in the pool and making sure that nobody that went to bed early got to sleep early;

 

[PaulMedik]

We had takeout food from some place on South Beach and Spencer discovered that his favorite food, chicken wings, is a little hotter in South Florida than he's used to. I've never seen anyone literally pour Diet Coke down their throat, but that's what he was doing;

 

 

 

 

After a full day of sun, surf, and quite a bit of walking we were all ready for a good nights sleep. The Savoy provided all the relaxation needed to get us refreshed for boarding the next morning.

 

We all gathered for breakfast at The Savoy's restaurant;

 

 

 

 

When our made to order breakfasts arrived it was obvious that we were all ready for a cruise;

 

 

 

 

Breakfast food porn;

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure who's French Toast this was because I think everyone ordered a little of everything and every item was prepared to perfection;

 

 

 

 

We had reserved a 10:30 pickup with Larry's Limo for Saturday morning and like always the driver was on time and in fact was early but patiently waited for us. Our vehicle was identical to Karen's which takes some getting used to; it's like someone else is driving our vehicle;

 

[PaulMedik]

To give you an idea where The Savoy is located, this pic is from in front of the hotel facing North. This is the Southern end of South Beach's famous ocean drive;

 

 

 

Our first glimpse of OUR Whale Tail in the distance;

 

 

 

 

 

Passing our ship on the way from South Beach to Port of Miami. Soon we'll be able to turn left just a little further along and go thru a tunnel straight over to Dodge Island and the ships. If they'd have hired a mining company to do their tunneling we'd be turning left on this trip....

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at my family I see that all but one is looking out the window and the one that's not lookings is most likely uploading a pic to FaceBook of the ship. I also noticed that this Expedition doesn't have the DVD in the roof like Karen's and the seats are black instead of tan.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Whale Tail of Carnival Liberty towering over the pier buildings;

 

 

 

 

As our bags are unloaded the porters check each one and make sure it's properly tagged. At some point we ended up with a Carnival Glory tag, but the bag arrived is all that matters. I guess our two Liberty tags made the Glory tag go unnoticed;

 

[PaulMedik]

The porter insists that we not help with the bags. He says it's his job and for us not to fuss over things while we're on vacation. I look around for the infamous Porter 150, but don't see him anywhere. After our bags are all loaded I tip him $20 and we proceed to the pier building;

 

 

 

We enter and go thru security with only one bag causing an issue; Janet's bag with cans of cola. They open and verify it's not beer and we're on our way. Once upstairs we encounter a stampede from the VIP checkin area as boarding has just begun. After at least 300 people file out of VIP checkin we enter and obviously have no line to wait in;

 

 

 

 

I handed her our passports and FunPasses @ 11:15 and by 11:20 we are making our way up the escalator to the boarding photogs;

 

 

 

There was only a brief wait while passengers ahead of us posed for boarding photos;

 

 

 

And then it was time for our boarding photo;

 

 

 

My brood crossing the gangway behind me;

 

[Jeffy294]

Great review Paul, always enjoy reading them. Keep it coming man.

[pbmsmile]

Enjoying your review as always! :) can't wait until you board the ship...

[PathfinderEss]

Great review so far, and awesome pictures, can't wait for the rest.

[PaulMedik]

First pic on board in the Atrium @ 1128. Not bad. Our luggage was left with the porter @ 1102, we were @ VIP checkin @ 1115 and on the ship @ 1128. Perhaps not a record, but very quick for checking in three cabins.

 

 

 

What I like about boarding Liberty is that every one of us is immediately at ease and knows where we want to go and how to get there. It's kinda like coming home. You can just see how relaxed the boys are.

 

We head up to Lido mainly because it's what we awlays do, but our normal motivation is to eat and since we just ate a huge breakfast we're all a little lost as to what to do when we get there;

 

 

 

Instead of eating first I opted to swing down by our room and drop off our carryons. My laptop bag is heavy and my camera bag is way beyond heavy. I check with our steward and leave the bags in a closet so they'll be out of the way. Our room is fully cleaned already, but we leave to get out of the staff's way;

 

 

 

When I get to our traditional location for eating (Deck ten above the Lido buffet near the Fish & Chips, I find the boys already there and that their plates are very lightly loaded for them;

 

 

 

Bryson began a powerlifting program @ school in February and works out every day after school until 5:30 then feasts on protein like there's no tomorrow. He was very excited to checkout Liberty's gym so we made our way there;

 

 

 

You know he's excited when he's walking fast and determined to get where he's going;

 

[Catrin]

We have been waiting for this review!!

 

Loyal "Paul Medik Review Junkie"!!

 

It seems we always follow your cruises... this year again!

Liberty in November.

 

Looking forward to the entire story.. and once again.. THANK YOU for doing this!!

 

Catrin

[Catrin]

Love me some PaulMedik reviews! And.... anxiously awaiting pics & info on that aft wrap you were in as we have that same one booked for our next Liberty cruise.:D

 

And we have the one across the way (7440) booked!

[t1adams]

Love reading your review! We were on The Liberty last year at spring break, except we did the Eastern...St. Thomas, San Juan, etc. I love looking at all the familiar pictures. Can't wait to see more!:)

[Missjamis3]

Loving this review. Can't wait to read more. I cruise on May 26 on the Liberty. so many great pictures already and you haven't even pulled away from port. Making it hard for me to keep my patience while waiting 24 more days. Keep up the AWESOME work.

[gapearl]

Loving your review so far. LOL @ your workout in Miami.

[PaulMedik]

They did get distracted along the way by the chess set that used to be on Panorama near the center;

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Bryson and Britt in that same area playing ping pong back in 2006;

 

 

 

Wow....I had no idea they had grown so much. Here they all are on deck after boarding back in Spring Break 2006;

 

 

 

 

My apologies for the detour down Carnival Liberty's memory lane. Now lets get back to heading for the gym;

 

 

 

 

Bryson won first place in the dead lift and squat last weekend at his first state wide powerlifting tournament. He has dozen's of childhood trophies from the various sports he played, but his two powerlifting trophies are proudly displayed on his desk. I don't know how much time he spent in the gym on Liberty, but I know he was there at least once per day and some days he made several trips. He liked the equipment that's for sure;

 

[PaulMedik]

After trying all of the machines out and seeing all there was to offer in the way of workout equipment, I took them to the steam and dry heat saunas. As you can tell, they're a little tuckered out and hot hot hot;

 

 

 

 

After their workout we found Karen in the Serenity area;

 

 

 

 

I also found me a spot and uloaded this pic to FB;

 

 

 

 

 

And then I uploaded this pic right after it was delivered to my hammock;

 

 

 

 

Bryson has a few more years before he's old enough for the Serenity deck, but on boarding day he's allowed so he enjoyed some time in the hammock too;

 

 

 

 

I booted him out of my hammock and he and Spencer shared lounger for a nap;

 

[PaulMedik]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I plan to spend two - three hours at a time posting to this thread. So far the internet is cooperating and CC seems to be running a lot smoother than last year so hopefully I'll get this one done then finish the other two....wish me luck on that. ;) Thus far I have lost no posts and haven't had anything go poof after posting so hopefully that trend will stick with me.

 

I'm off the next two days so hopefully I'll get us out to sea and maybe even back on board from Cozumel which was after a full day at sea. Cozumel was Paradise Beach with tattoos, pools, food, jet skis, and lots of water toys so it should go quick. :cool:

 

Belize was a simple attempted assault and battery by a local and a promise to break their arm and whip any ten security guards they summoned.....yeah my redneck came out in me just a little, but they did ask for it and it was very very little redneck. I wrote the incident up in detail for Carnival via their email review; not as a complaint but as an issue they may wish to address of shoreside store keepers in Belize. The incident had no impact at all on our cruise enjoyment and may have made it just a little more interesting. :cool:

 

In Roatan we rented a Cabana for the day, had some awesome drinks, went zip lining, four wheeling, swam with turtles, and spent over an hour playing in a down pour, enjoyed a great meal in the cabana, and then had the whole beach to ourselves for our walk back to the sihp. Then the redneck was summoned again when a gentlemen named Lucef opted to be a jerk. Pics of Lucef will be included at no extra charge :D

 

Grand Cayman was a nice beach day complete with beach toys similar to Paradise Beach of old....

 

Our post cruise stay was also at The Savoy and I have a ton of pics of the hotel from just about every angle.

 

Stay tuned.......just don't expect too much all at one time. :o

[Payd]

Fantastic Review...looking forward to more:)

[BC Gal Ann]

So enjoying your review. I really like your sense of humor.

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us. :)

[MIZZ_K]

Loving your review so far,cant wait to read more,I will be sailing on The Liberty in August.

[rdler]

Paul, you absolutely write the best tour accounts on this board. Every year in April, it seems, I look for another one. Thank you very much.

[girlscruise2011]

Loving the review. I'm on the Liberty in November for Thanksgiving doing this itinerary. I plan on doing Paradise Beach again for Cozumel. Great time there.

 

Can't wait to see all your pics of the ports.

[pe4all]

Belize was a simple attempted assault and battery by a local and a promise to break their arm and whip any ten security guards they summoned.....

Now you REALLY have my attention! Always love reading your reviews, but can't wait to hear the scoop on this. Also would like to hear where you found beach toys on GC - you must have gone to a hotel for the day??

[fun!melis]

Thank you for this GREAT review!!! :D

[TakeMeAway1001]

Wow, seeing the older pictures of the boys was eye opening...so happy we've been able to experience your cruises along with you. Your reviews are the best! Thanks so much for sharing :)

[skittl1321]

Really love your reviews! I feel like I've cruised along with your family multiple times.