CruiseXLife Takes Liberty- Maiden San Juan to Southern Caribbean Photo Review

[cruisexlife]

cruisexlife,

 

your review has me so excited. I am so ready to go on this ship. Just paid my balance today. Thank you so much for giving me everything I need for Lady Liberty. Preparing my air to arrive in the wee hours of the morning so I was wondering if there is anything to do at 5am. I was going in the day before but the airfare was strange and times not good for me.

 

Again thanks!!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :D

 

Well, give yourself a break, it's vacation! So think about 6AM just so you can get your luggage and into town. Barrachina's doesn't open until 11AM, so I wouldn't even consider that. I think you should purchase a Carnival transfer. They will take your luggage, and you (separately) to the port. So, that means you can now walk about the city, and you do not have to worry about your luggage. You would probably have to wait in the airport until the first transfer left, but it shouldn't be too long, as they will just keep coming back with passengers from the prior cruise.

 

As for activities, many things will open a bit later, as it's Sunday morning. If you're religious, maybe try to go to church in Spanish? :D I doubt El Morro or Castillo de San Cristobal will be open around 8AM, but they very well could be. I would say walk through the streets, go to breakfast (I LOVE food in Old San Juan), and just wait for everything to open. With your bags taken care of, you won't have to be back at the terminal until 7:30PM ;)

 

Hope I helped! :D

[seannyice81]

Great review!

 

Reminds me on when I went with my mom on Valor in 2013. Stinks you missed a port, but it pretty much rained the whole time we were in St. Maarten.

 

I'll be doing this itinerary again on this great ship with friends. Feels like I'm coming full circle.

[cruisexlife]

Just reading the your last post makes me sad, I feel like we have all been on your cruise with you and now its coming to an end

 

Awe, that makes me feel so good, thank you! I love reading reviews and feeling the emotions. Like when someone describes the sunset sailing away from Gibraltar or the school they visited in St.Kitts, I like to feel the emotion. So I'm glad my writing is helping you with that. Thanks so much! :D

 

But hey, you will always have it as a reference to use before your trip, and then you can compare it with yours after. Actually, that's my assignment to you. After your cruise, come back and tell me how it compared / contrasted to mine. I'd love to hear about it! :p

[cruisexlife]

Great review!

 

Reminds me on when I went with my mom on Valor in 2013. Stinks you missed a port, but it pretty much rained the whole time we were in St. Maarten.

 

I'll be doing this itinerary again on this great ship with friends. Feels like I'm coming full circle.

 

Sean,

 

Thanks for the compliments, I enjoy reading your reviews as well. Loved the Splendor review!

 

But yes, it does suck. I am very glad that we had amazing weather for the whole trip, with some minor rain at night, and some spots on the sea day and Sint Maarten.

 

You will have an amazing time, Liberty is an amazing ship, which I assume you already know. I hope you and your friends enjoy, I expect a review later!

[cinsu]

Awe, that makes me feel so good, thank you! I love reading reviews and feeling the emotions. Like when someone describes the sunset sailing away from Gibraltar or the school they visited in St.Kitts, I like to feel the emotion. So I'm glad my writing is helping you with that. Thanks so much! :D

 

But hey, you will always have it as a reference to use before your trip, and then you can compare it with yours after. Actually, that's my assignment to you. After your cruise, come back and tell me how it compared / contrasted to mine. I'd love to hear about it! [emoji14]

The format you did your review just made it feel like we were there, each day while I'm working I get excited seeing the "new reply" notification on my phone. I'm going to miss that excitement soon and just have to go back to seeing what my wife has decided to start packing today.

 

If everything works out and I have the time I plan to do a live review as we go. I likely won't purchase WiFi but I have international roaming while in port.

[JKirkN]

OMG Yes! Those are AMAZING! My wife had read about the Guavaberry Colada and it was one of the main things we had to do before leaving. I'd never heard of one, so I was kind of skeptical... Then I tried it... WOW! It tasted amazing! We bought a bottle of the guavaberry rum and a bottle of the mango rum and have very much enjoyed them!

 

If (I mean WHEN) you go back to St. Maarten, you HAVE to get one!!! :)

 

We stepped off of the water taxi and it was 4:25, no time to stop! I heard that this is a very famous place while on the water taxi, so I got a picture of it. Has anybody stopped here before? Is it worth the visit?

 

[Froufie]

Love love love those pink guavaberry coladas - and counting the days til I am back in St. Martin so I can enjoy one (especially like having one at the Sunset Beach Bar at Maho as I watch the planes fly in :) )

[Elaine2]

We ran into rush hour (rush hour in the Caribbean is between 3-5, when the people have to get the passengers back to the ship, and then they have to get back to their houses) traffic and took a while to get through the city. No one on our tour was on the Musica, but I like this picture I got of her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to snap this photo when we stopped yet again in traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I missed you Liberty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think there are so many interpretations of culture with this photo. Is it an example of generations, or is it a metaphor? It really got me thinking after I went through my pictures :p

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pulled back into Port Seraphine and said our goodbyes. Denver was a great guide, and I really enjoyed having him. He really knew how to showcase his island, but not the way we think we wanted to see it. No, the way he wanted to see it, the way through a local. Cultural connections are the reason I travel, and I made many today by talking to him, talking to locals at the stops, and just taking in the scenery and way of life when we went through the country. This was such a great tour, I could not get over how many people didn't enjoy their day ashore once we got back onboard! It wasn't the wild stingray encounter we did in Grand Cayman. It wasn't the River Tubing trip we did in Ocho Rios. It wasn't Trunk Bay Beach in St.John. It was a glimpse into the culture of St.Lucia, and the memories I made today will stay with me much longer than the feeling of a stingray while standing on the softest sand in the bluest water ever will. I am so grateful to have taken in this beautiful island, it's most certainly going on the list of favorites!

 

 

 

We got off the bus and headed back into the port. It was 4:10, so we had about 15 minutes to play around in the shops. We walked slow so Mom could window shop. We got back on, dropped out stuff off in the room, and quenched out hunger with a Guy's Burger and a window seat. We watched the first half of sailaway from our window while eating. When we finished, we went up by the waterslide, and watched our amazing departure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next: Departure

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Elaine2]

Hi. Am enjoying ur review so very much. My husband and I are doing the same itinerary next yr for our 40th yr anniversary. Not booked yet, decisions, decisions !! My question regarding your tour in St Lucia. Was the long ride on the bus ok ?? Air conditioned ?? I'm interested in taking that tour but I really dislike long, long drives to get to the destination , especially if it's hot. I wouldn't enjoy the tour if I was miserable on the bus !! Can u comment on that plz. Thanks !!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cruisexlife]

The format you did your review just made it feel like we were there, each day while I'm working I get excited seeing the "new reply" notification on my phone. I'm going to miss that excitement soon and just have to go back to seeing what my wife has decided to start packing today.

 

If everything works out and I have the time I plan to do a live review as we go. I likely won't purchase WiFi but I have international roaming while in port.

 

Thanks so much for the kind words, they mean a lot! I am really glad you are enjoying reading it just as much as I am writing it. :D

 

Well, a live review is a very cool thing to do. I will be on the lookout for it. I hope things work out and you are able to, live reviews always have the best insights into what you'll experience onboard.

 

Thanks again for following along :D

[cruisexlife]

OMG Yes! Those are AMAZING! My wife had read about the Guavaberry Colada and it was one of the main things we had to do before leaving. I'd never heard of one, so I was kind of skeptical... Then I tried it... WOW! It tasted amazing! We bought a bottle of the guavaberry rum and a bottle of the mango rum and have very much enjoyed them!

 

If (I mean WHEN) you go back to St. Maarten, you HAVE to get one!!! :)

 

Wow, I regret not grabbing one while I stood there and waited for mom to finish shopping! I will grab one next time I visit! :)

[cruisexlife]

Love love love those pink guavaberry coladas - and counting the days til I am back in St. Martin so I can enjoy one (especially like having one at the Sunset Beach Bar at Maho as I watch the planes fly in :) )

 

Can't wait to try one, and I hope you get one the next time you go back!

 

Thanks for reading the review! :D

[cruisexlife]

Hi. Am enjoying ur review so very much. My husband and I are doing the same itinerary next yr for our 40th yr anniversary. Not booked yet, decisions, decisions !! My question regarding your tour in St Lucia. Was the long ride on the bus ok ?? Air conditioned ?? I'm interested in taking that tour but I really dislike long, long drives to get to the destination , especially if it's hot. I wouldn't enjoy the tour if I was miserable on the bus !! Can u comment on that plz. Thanks !!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Izzy,

 

Hello and thanks for reading the review! :D The bus ride wasn't necessarily long, as we stopped for many viewpoints and got out several times. The longest section on the ride there was probably 20 minutes. Denver, the tour guide, usually talks for the portions, unless they are long, which he then lets you have a break. The ride back was an hour and a half, but I slept. You will probably be tired as well, so maybe a nap is also a good way to pass that time. I had my ipod and listened to music for parts of the ride. If that works for you, I would definitely bring it along if you decide to go with this tour.

 

It's a great tour and really showed me the island. I would recommend it! :)

[cruisexlife]

We had a big dilemma that I forgot to mention earlier. Basically, Mom had bought the transfers one day. Well, on the last day, we wanted to do something fun in the city. But, we had already bought a ship's transfer. Apparently, we could not get on a later one around 2PM. We would've used Barrachina's, but we would've been out the money. We had planned on getting up at 7AM to do self-assist, have our luggage sent to the airport (which Carnival doesn't do), play around in the city, and then be at the airport at 2:30PM. Wel, that plan was impossible, and we got tired of stressing it, so we just decided to disembark really late and just hang out at the airport.

 

We got up around 8:30AM to a rather stormy-looking morning in San Juan. The rain had stopped at the moment, and ended up being for the whole day.

 

 

After taking a shower and eating our breakfast snacks, I headed outside to see the view.

 

 

Looking East

 

 

Looking West

 

 

After making a phone call, we headed out around 9AM to breakfast. They were just calling debarkation zones 1-5, and we were 28 I think. So we were okay. They were doing some sort of drill today while the ship was in between cruises.

 

[mss22859]

Loving your review so far! It is giving me lots of great ideas for our October Liberty cruise! For the DW and I, this will be our 6th cruise, all on Carnival. My SIL and BIL will be joining us, for their first ever. Your photos are also very good, making me feel like I am there, lol!

[cruisexlife]

Today at the lido breakfast I enjoyed some French toast, an omelette, two bananas, strawberry yogurt and hashbrowns. It was the most leisurely breakfast I ever had on a cruise, as we weren't fighting to get to the airport before 1, we had a 5PM direct flight. Around 9:45, we finished, and headed back to the room. They wanted us out by 10, so we got back to make sure everything was good. I got a couple extra percentage points on my phone (you all know how I am ;)), got the charger sticks ready, and checked under the beds and in drawers for anything we missed. We left our tips for our steward (forgot his name, he was nice and attentive, great guy) and headed out.

 

We toured the open rooms and got the pictures that were in the "Ship Tour" section. Once we were done with that, we came to the conclusion that our best option was on Deck 9, as we thought everyone would be there trying to get off the ship. We sat down at a window seat and took in the sun. You can see the visiting ship pier in the foreground, but another pier in the back. It can board ships, but since the ships are so big (cannot fit on the western side of the terminal, but can on the eastern), it makes no sense to try and maintain a terminal that most ships cannot use. They do use it for visiting ships. It looks like a very nice building though, I hope there is a bright future planned for it later on.

 

 

Right after taking this picture, they made the announcement "We are having trouble with the gangplank here in San Juan, so anyone who is debarking must go to Deck 0 Forward to exit the ship". We still decided to hang out up there, talking to friends and uploading pictures. Happy Easter!

 

Around 10:15, they called us.

 

Goodbye Liberty!

 

 

Finally, once this cruise, we were able to take the glass elevator from the top to the bottom. We then took the stairs from Deck 2 to Deck 0. They scanned our cards as if we were getting off at a port. Ding. Not the fun ding I had heard a week earlier.

 

Here is the gangway.

 

 

They made a walkway for us. We followed the group. I'm pretty sure the 1-30 call was the last one for the cruise, the ship was EMPTY (except for the Barbados guests).

 

 

We got into the building and found our luggage. It was actual chaos. I don't know if it is usually this way, but there were 3 lines (looked more like a clump of people) waiting with their luggage to go through customs. We got into the clump and just followed it. I realized that there were only 3 people doing Customs. In Miami there are usually more. Oh well. We were out around 10:35.

 

[cruisexlife]

As we walked out of the terminal building, we realized that many people were going into the building to board the ship. I have never seen this before, is it usual around 10:45?

 

Adventure docked across the way at the main cruise ship terminal.

 

 

We then walked toward a man that had the sign "Carnival Airport Transfer" sign. I snapped this pic along the way.

 

 

We put our bags into the coach, and then said to the driver "How long until it leaves?" He said "about 10 minutes". Great! We went along the harbor walk, to get some pictures of the ship that we still wanted.

 

Thanks for the great vacation Liberty!

 

 

You will be missed. But, don't frown because it's over, smile because it happened. ;)

 

 

We went back and got on the bus and prepared to go. We started driving away. I plugged in my headphones and enjoyed the ride through the main city and local life. It amazes me how on one side of the street, there are apartments with cages over the balconies, beat up cars and children playing in the front yard in old clothes, but on the other side, there are huge oceanfront resorts with balcony suites, luxury rental cars and limos, with children playing in brand new sundresses....

 

About 15 minutes after leaving the ship, we arrived at the airport.

 

[cruisexlife]

Loving your review so far! It is giving me lots of great ideas for our October Liberty cruise! For the DW and I, this will be our 6th cruise, all on Carnival. My SIL and BIL will be joining us, for their first ever. Your photos are also very good, making me feel like I am there, lol!

 

I'm, glad, thanks for following along! :D They will enjoy the cruise, it is a great experience. You, on the other hand, be prepared for a cruise that will compete hard with the cruise that current holds the title of your "Favorite Cruise"! :D

[cruisexlife]

We got to the airport. It is undergoing some sort of construction, but it doesn't really effect any of your travels. We got to the B gates and went to go check in, when a man asked us to go to this room and have our bags checked, and that they would not allow them on the plane if they didn't get a sticker. Turns out it was USDA checkpoint. I have never seen this before. We got our bags checked, and then sought our bathrooms, and then jumped in the line to check our bags. We saw some of our excursion friends, and they were going to be sitting and waiting outside security for a few hours, so we decided to chill with them for a bit. We talked until about 11:45, when I found the flightboards. San Juan has many flights to the US and the Caribbean islands, and I felt no different here than at BWI. Except the flightboard had cooler places listed!

 

 

On the right, see how there are 2 flights to Baltimore, one at 12:35 and another at 5:00? Well we were on the 5:00 flight, but we decided to try our luck and see if there were 2 seats on a flight back to BWI early, so we could get home 4 hours earlier than expected. We went to check our bags into Southwest, and at 11:58 we arrived at the counter. The man told us that according to Southwest policy, you cannot check bags no earlier than 5 hours before your flight. So we waited 2 minutes until noon, and then checked out bags. We said goodbye to our friends and went into the security line. Mom got busted for sneaking an apple off of the ship, she has gotten away with it a few times. It took around 15 minutes to get into security. At 12:20, we arrived at the gate, and saw the last people boarding. They said that there were no more seats left. Oh well. We thought about going back out, but we decided to just stay in the secure part.

 

Here are many of the small planes going to the smaller islands. I certainly will use my direct flight option into Puerto Rico, and then hop onto one of these for a land trip someday!

 

 

We ventured out of the B gates and headed over to the A gates. There, we just decided to wander until we found a place that we would eat. I wanted some authentic Puerto Rican food (my favorite), but Mom wasn't feeling it. So we just found this place called Mango's Village. I got a hamburger and an appetizer of Chips and Salsa. Forgot what Mom got. It was cheap and the food was good, especially for airports.

 

 

There was a small place to sit where they had many outlets. I remember seeing an Auntie Anne's/Carvel joint store, so beware if you have kids. But we hung out here until about 3, chatting and on our phones. Here is a JetBlue plane, they have done a lot of nice things to this airport. They helped fund the refurbishment, and they use it as a focus-city, with not only flights to and from the US, but flights to St.Thomas, Sint Maarten, St.Croix, etc.

 

 

After leaving, we stopped for a Cinnabun to share along the way. It was burnt and was not very good, so I brought it back, and they gave me a fresh one. We also stopped for a postcard and a bottle of wine for my neighbor for driving us to and from the airport. From 3:30 To about 4:15, we sat at our gate, and waited for boarding. We were B10 and B11 (Southwest flyers are aware of what this means), so we got on very early. We actually scored seats in the 3rd row, on the good side (which is both in and out of SJU, the plane's left side).

 

[cruisexlife]

At 5:00, we took off, on-time. Here are my last pictures :(

 

A pretty marina in Puerto Rico.

 

 

A beautiful beach for locals.

 

 

The airport.

 

 

The Old San Juan Harbor. You can see Liberty's whaletail in the distance!

 

 

Cotton Candy clouds and smooth winds on the 4 hour flight to Baltimore.

 

 

We landed around 9:00. We called our ride, and they were just pulling in. Deplaning took a lot shorter than usual, which probably had to do with us sitting in the front. We retrieved our bags, and found our ride. We dropped mom off. Finally, I stepped into my front door at 10:00PM, with a suitcase-full of new memories and experiences that I will remember forever. My dream cruise, was now over.

[ZanziBarred]

As we walked out of the terminal building, we realized that many people were going into the building to board the ship. I have never seen this before, is it usual around 10:45?

 

Oh yeah. Our last time out of San Juan we exited the port area at 8:30am and there were people already arriving.

 

I have heard at some of the other ports some people arrive as early as 7am.

[cruisexlife]

First off, I want to thank everyone for reading this review. I am so sorry that it took a month and a half, but I hope that it reached you guys in time for all of your vacations. I also want to thank everyone for all of the questions and comments, I do not write these reviews for myself, I write them to help you guys, so I loved seeing the thread pop up under the User CP showing a new comment. I have tried numerous ways of reflecting my travels. I've vlogged, I've made wall collages, I've made movies, etc, and I really enjoy writing photo reviews, so expect some more! :cool:

 

I do ask one thing of you guys: Ask questions! It could be September 18, 2019 and I want people to be asking questions! Do not eb afraid to bring back an "old review", I will be happy to answer / help with anything. The hyperlink will always be in my signature.

 

An Air France jumbojet landing at SXM (got it for you guys!) :p

 

 

This marks the end of my Photo Review of my 2015 Carnival Liberty cruise from San Juan. Thanks so much for following along, and happy cruising! :D

Edited June 2, 2015 by cruisexlife

[cruisexlife]

Oh yeah. Our last time out of San Juan we exited the port area at 8:30am and there were people already arriving.

 

I have heard at some of the other ports some people arrive as early as 7am.

 

Wow, I didn't know that. That sounds a bit off, I wonder why. I would imagine that this cruise would have the most returning guests. Hmm, the more you know! ;)

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm so sad to see your review come to an end. :( The southern itinerary out of San Juan is definitely my all time favorite. As far as Caribbean cruises go, we've been on two western (one of those on Liberty last year); one eastern (Glory); two southern out of San Juan. Our first was on Carnival Festivale in 1992 and not much in the way of pictures since it was only film cameras then. We went again in May 2013 on Valor with two new islands (St. Lucia & St. Kitts) and definitely made up for the lack of pictures the first time around and took around 3000. We'll definitely be doing this itinerary again and hopefully soon. Your review...LOVED IT and I really enjoy the pictures you get. I hope you get enlargements of some of them and hang them up on a wall for display. The pictures you got from the plane are also very nice. We were on the left side of the plane flying into San Juan but were on the right side on the way back. I chose the right for our flight back only because the planes coming into Dulles fly over our neighborhood if the wind is in the right direction (not as low as Maho Beach though) and we were able to see our house from the plane on the way in and was able to get pictures. We also flew over Nags Head, NC, a place we've been to many times. I'll definitely see to it that we are on the right side of the plane flying out of San Juan next time. Thanks for that tip and thank you for taking the time to do another review and I can't wait until you take another cruise and do another review.

[ZanziBarred]

Wow, I didn't know that. That sounds a bit off, I wonder why. I would imagine that this cruise would have the most returning guests. Hmm, the more you know! ;)

 

It was San Sebastian weekend so that could have been the reason, but there are those that get there so early with the intention of trying to say they were the first one onboard.