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Just off Liberty

realtrip

By realtrip,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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realtrip

realtrip

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Hi everyone,

 

We were on the Liberty , Jan 4 to 11.

 

My family: me (46, hubby, 49, DD 17)

My mom

My sister's family ( sister 42, hubby 50, DS 7)

 

Pre cruise: January 1 and 2 stayed in Fort Lauderdale at the Embassy suites. Great stay. beautiful pool, nightly manager's cocktail, excellent free breakfast.

January 3rd, met up with my sister's family at the airport we shuttled to the airport with Jiffy Jeff shuttle and then headed to comfort inn and suites Miami airport. Jiffy Jeff was great, quick, efficient. The hotel was so-so. Ok for 1 night but yucky neighbourhood. In the morning we took the free airport shuttle back to the Miami airport and got a taxi to the port ( 24$ flat rate). The hotel did offer a shuttle but at 10$ a person and starting too late for us.

 

I am Platinum , sis and mom purchased FTTF ( they did not need it though, wish we had known... they were told to board with us because we are a group traveling together (3 rooms- separate bookings)), never thought that would work, so 100$ wasted. Oh, well.

 

We were on board , rooms ready , and eating at the Wok station by 12.

 

We were on deck 7 Aft, 2 insides, 1 balcony. Quiet all week. We slept really soundly.

 

Ports of call

Nassau we went to Tiki Bikini beach bar. Got to swim a bit ( water shoes would have been useful, very rocky, shelly bottom), the gyus had the three beers, 3 shots for 10$ deal, the girls got the three Miami vices for 20$ deal. Delicious!

 

St Thomas: we went to secret harbour beach. it was beautiful. Our destination was originally sapphire beach but all the facilities were closed. Taxi cost 8$ per person each way, free for young child. Beach was free, had a margarita for 7$. Chairs were 10.

 

Grand Turk was another beach day. Lovely set up with very soft sand at the beach, and a huge pool and pool bar. We didn't get anything as the ship was literally right in front of us. We reboarded for a late lunch and hopped back off for some late afternoon shopping.

 

Puerto Rico: we were going to do the Segway with Segway tours PR but I don't think the guide was very motivated to give us a tour as there were only 3 of us.

He kept telling us how dangerous Segways are and how we can be terribly injured. I chickened out and he refused to do the tour for just my daughter and hubby.

We ended taking the free trolleys around, went to the castle and fort ( 5$ per person for both) and did a bit of shopping.

 

The ship was very quiet overall. I usually travel in high season, this was very different.

We saw the comedy shows. Lots of fun but surprisingly not crowded.

We never went to piano bar, when we walked by there were few people there.

 

We attended the shows in the theater. We liked the Rock show and ventriloquist. Didn't go to welcome aboard or the final show as we were too tired.

 

The past guest party was nice. Danced a bit, got free drinks ; we tipped a buck each round and got plenty of Champagne for me and red wine for hubby.

 

The main dining room was the old menu. We had dinner at 6. The food was terrific but the service was really slow. I wonder if our team was new as their section was always the last to leave the dining room. No matter, we always made it just in time for the comedy shows at 7:45, only had to skip dessert once. We meant to get some after the comedy at the buffet but we forgot. Goes to show we REALLY didn't need dessert, lol!

 

Let me know if I can answer any questions.

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realtrip

realtrip

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Thanks for the review! We are going on Liberty next month and I'm thinking about Secret Harbor also. Where did you catch the taxi from? Was it very crowded there when you went? Thanks

 

Hi

 

we started to get the taxi right off the ship after the chain link fence but they were charging ten bucks per person each way so we said no and walked away. A few steps later, a lady taxi driver offered to take us for 8 $. Bet we should have kept walking all the way to the end of the shops; we probably would have paid even less. Regardless, we really liked our driver; she was full of info about her home.

 

Secret Harbor was not full. Beware though that if you want a sun lounger these are set up at a not so great section of the beach. We ended up laying out on our towels to get a nicer view and less people. Secret Harbor is actually a resort so they keep their chairs for their guests and would not allow us to rent those prime seats. The bar and restaurant had reasonable rates and the restrooms were clean.

We were told by an American woman who was staying nearby that the sand fleas come out in droves at around 3:30. We left at 3:00 and never saw any.

 

Next time, I think I will go back to Coki beach which I did like a bit more.

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Doug910

Doug910

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...Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Leaving for the Liberty in a few weeks. We will be sailing just in time for the new menus to take effect. Not sure how I feel about them... will go with an open mind and decide after if we like it or not. Thanks again for posting.

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k9_Cop

k9_Cop

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thanks for the review!

Was the cigar bar still open?

 

Last time we were on the liberty it wasn't a cigar bar anymore, just another bar that only had 1 family in, and the kids were running around.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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realtrip

realtrip

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Hello Real Trip, Thank you for the review. We will be on the Liberty in just a few weeks.

 

Wondering what kind of safes did they have in the cabins, the ones that use a magnetic stip card, or the kind you type in a code?

 

The magnetic strip. We used an expired Costco card. But, OMG, one day the safe would not open. I was freaked out. Finally my hubby took a chance and tried his sail and sign card and it worked. He had accidentally locked the safe with his card. Sheesh, every time we got on and off the ship after that they had to punch in his room number. The s&s card still worked on the cabin door so we didn't bother to get a new card. When I was done freaking out, it was really quite funny.:D

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khut

khut

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...Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Leaving for the Liberty in a few weeks. We will be sailing just in time for the new menus to take effect. Not sure how I feel about them... will go with an open mind and decide after if we like it or not. Thanks again for posting.

 

 

When exactly will the Liberty get the new menus?

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