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

[cruisexlife]

Great review!

 

 

Thanks so much for following along! :D

[JKirkN]

I'm enjoying your review! My wife and I are taking this cruise in Sept. and I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to all the pictures of the ship and of the menus so I can plan ahead.

I was curious...you mentioned bacon mac and cheese, but I didn't see that on the menu...sounds very yummy...is that something you can just ask for any time?

 

Thanks again!

[cruisexlife]

I'm enjoying your review! My wife and I are taking this cruise in Sept. and I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to all the pictures of the ship and of the menus so I can plan ahead.

I was curious...you mentioned bacon mac and cheese, but I didn't see that on the menu...sounds very yummy...is that something you can just ask for any time?

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Thanks for following along, and I hope I can be of help throughout the review!

 

I may not have had it tonight, I'm not sure. I don't really remember. But it is a side dish on some nights, and you will be able to order it with a meal, or by itself, like I did one night of the cruise. It's very good :D

[EpcotBill]

You say you were in the Golden Olympian dining room but your pix are of the Silver Olympian. I'm confused.

[RiotAct]

Great review so far!!! Did you notice if a taller European gentleman named Aleksandr was the maitre d' (or maybe one of the assistants)? We had him in October, and Petre as our MDR waiter in the Golden Olympian - they were all great.

[cruisexlife]

You say you were in the Golden Olympian dining room but your pix are of the Silver Olympian. I'm confused.

 

 

Sorry, it's been over a month, I forgot. It was the Silver Olympian. Service is the same in both, it doesn't really matter, but thanks for reminding me so others aren't confused!

[cruisexlife]

Great review so far!!! Did you notice if a taller European gentleman named Aleksandr was the maitre d' (or maybe one of the assistants)? We had him in October, and Petre as our MDR waiter in the Golden Olympian - they were all great.

 

 

Aleksandr sounds familiar. He was great!!

[cruisexlife]

Now would be a good time for questions is anyone has any! :D

[cruisexlife]

Since I had a long day of traversing Charlotte Amalie the day before, I woke up around 8:30, ready to start my planned day at sea on the right foot! But this didn't last long. There were no lights. The only light was the light from our window. There was a group of ladies all lined up at the rail of my secret deck taking pictures. And to top that all off, I felt NO motion. Not even from the front of the boat!! HOLY (insert favorite cuss word here) WE CAUGHT ON FIRE. I grabbed my camera to take the picture of the medevac and the choppers and the Carnival Something pulling next to us to drop off supplies. But, it just turns out that we were cruising on the calmest seas I've ever seen at 15 knots.

 

 

Well I felt really stupid after this. I had a genuine fear. But once I saw us moving and the lights on in the hallway, I was back on track for the best sea day ever :D

 

 

Here is the balcony for the Captain's Suite on Liberty for anyone who has booked it. While I thought the room was gorgeous, I think the balcony is a little too non-private. I could see everything from the secret deck. I mean, they call it a secret deck for a reason, but the privacy was very minimum.

 

 

I went back to the room to freshen up a bit, so I wasn't running around the boat in pajamas. Yeah that promise didn't last too much longer into the voyage. Mom was still sleeping, so I headed out myself. I went down the hallway to the pool (being on deck 9 is the most convenient thing) and saw the TV working. Okay I can now sleep easy knowing that I'm not headed for Mobile!!!! They had this morning show with out Cruise Director Felipe and the shopping expert Bruce (they must have forgotten his name lol) which was a new addition to sea day mornings.

 

 

[cruisexlife]

After hanging around the pool for a little bit, at around 9:00 that it was time to get Mom, my stomach was roaring! I went and woke her up, and she freshened up, and we headed out to breakfast. Not a regular breakfast, but our favorite type of breakfast, the SeaDay Brunch.

 

It was held in the Silver Olympian Dining Room, the restaurant in the aft of the ship. I started around 9AM and was going on until 1. I'm pretty sure they were having the Dr.Suess Brunch in the Golden Olympian Dining Room, but I think there was a charge, and I was craving the curly fries from the SeaDay Brunch! We waited about 5 minutes in the line, and then proceeded to be seated in a booth for 4, by ourselves. Here is a menu shot, excuse my photography skills.

 

 

We sat down, and received our basket of breads and pastries with no problem. The butter was like no other butter I've ever had ever, let alone on a ship. It was the regular butter, with shredded cheese on top?? I don't know but we scraped it off and had our butter like normal. I assume these stand for Carnival Liberty, but I thought they were cool, they are one of my good friend's initials.

 

 

I had an omelette with tomatoes, green peppers, onions and bacon inside, a side order of bacon, and two orders of curly fries, with orange juice! By far my favorite breakfast of the cruise. While I do wish we could've had an all-port cruise with Dominica between St.Thomas and Barbados, I do like the Sea Day Brunches a lot. The drink people came around asking if anyone wanted a drink, and I will say that I really missed my coupon, even though I really like the water bottles. I guess I got my wish, and I'll have my coupon back soon, according to recent announcements! ;)

 

We left brunch, and I snapped this picture of the wake.

 

 

They were having the ice carving at the pool, with Felipe hosting it.

 

 

10:15AM and the Carnival Liberty is ready for an amazing day at sea!!

 

[cruisexlife]

The clouds were moving pretty fast, which I actually like, so I can get super hot with the sun, and then have a natural break. Here is a picture of the clouds. But they eventually loved out of the way.

 

 

We got our bathing suits on and went up to the secret deck above the sports deck. If you don't know about this deck, let me explain. I found it on my glory Canada cruise while I played mini-golf with my friend who I was with. Basically, when you walk into the sports cage, make a hard left, and walk up the stairs, and you're there. It's a half circle shaped deck, and the chairs were stacked. I can understand why they're stacked, as we are in port most of the cruise and it's not a popular space, but we unstacked them ourselves. SInce it's an undiscovered place, you can do the chairs how you want them, to better fit the sun. There is also a little shower-head thing up there if you get hot, so if you bring up a towel, sunscreen, a drink, and a book, you'll be set all day.

 

We enjoyed the sun for about an hour, until it began to downpour. I left my camera in my room when I changed, so I have no pictures, but it was very rainy out. We ran back to the room to change. Well, Mom ran to change, I ran to save my phone, which I brought for music! We got back to the room and changed into daytime clothes, it was about 1:30. We were getting hungry, so we headed to lunch.

 

When I got back outside 15 minutes later, the rain had stopped, but the clouds were not giving any signs of stopping. But people had went back out to enjoy the air.

 

 

Since I hadn't really heard about it until my Glory cruise (which they removed it from), I wanted to try the Mongolian Wok. I got chicken, and lots of vegetables, in the black bean sauce. It was very good!!!! I don't know what ships still have it, but I know Liberty does, and so does Splendor, my next vacation. It's a great food option!

 

 

I went to go get a slice of pizza for mom and I to share, and the roof on the aft pool was closed, but the sun had returned. I would've stayed in there, but it smelled like chlorine and sweat, so I opted to go back outside to my favorite deck. Until I realized that it was 2:20, and it was almost Tea Time, a favorite of Mom and I.

 

 

We hung out at lido with our pizza and some lemonade, people watching until about 2:55. We headed down to the Silver Olympian Restaurant again for tea. I really loved the chandeliers of Liberty, and her design in general, but the little aft atrium was gorgeous.

 

 

We were seated in the aft left corner (looking at an aerial view, facing the front of the ship) of Deck 4. Not a very popular event, the turnout was very small compared to other cruises. However, all of Circle C had decided to come without their leaders, so it was a little loud. Whatever, they were having fun. I had two glasses of Earl Grey, and I think mom had Chamomile. We both had macaroons and small pastries, as well as some fruit. Great little part of vacation I really look forward to when I cruise.

 

 

Next: More Sea Day Fun!

[cruisexlife]

After tea, we wanted to spend some more time relaxing on deck and maximizing the rest of the day. It was 3:45 and the sun wasn't giving up until 6. Since PR hadn't done their daylight savings yet, they were on EST. SO the sun set on our cruise around 6, and at home around 7.

 

To the port side of the ship, we could see Dominica. At first I thought it was a mirage, but it was in fact Dominica. For the rest of the night, we cruised past numerous islands!

 

 

It was party cloudy over the ship, but not so much towards the island.

 

 

From numerous stories and reviews (*cough* GAPearl *cough*) I have placed Dominica high on my bucket list of places I have to go. Heck if Carnival doesn't get its act together and began sailing back there, I'll take a land vacation. I spent a long time staring at the island, but felt the sunburn coming on and sat down In a chair, starboard side, aft, Deck 12.

 

Cruise Ship bliss. :D

 

 

We sat there until around 5:00 until Mom hinted about not wanting to go to formal dinner. I brushed it off. at 5:20, I went to start leaving, but she persuaded me to stay. We hung out at our spots until about 6:05. So many people walking around in dresses and tuxes, getting pictures done on deck. I went back to the room, showered, and got some daytime clothes on. I headed out to the secret deck to see the sunset, when I saw Martinique in the distance. We would slide between Martinique and Saint Lucia later in the night.

 

[cruisexlife]

The sunset tonight was very pretty. Didn't top the sunset from the night prior, but it was still very beautiful to see. Sunsets at sea are always my favorite!

 

 

 

 

Around 6:30 we headed to Lido for our dinner tonight. Some were dressed up, but I had on a polo and sandals. Here was the menu tonight. We had checked after leaving Tea Time and it was very similar to what was offered in the MDR, just without Lobster. The Prime Rib, Buttered Broccoli, and Baked Potato with Bacon Bits were delicious, with the Tiramisu Crème with a few watermelon slices for desert. We really liked the Lido dinner, It was a nice alternative. We had some coffee and talked for a few minutes afterwards.

 

 

It was now 7:30, and we were ready for the night. I get chills remembering the beautiful atrium at night. ;)

 

 

Next: Night Fun

Edited May 9, 2015 by cruisexlife

[gapearl]

I'm finally getting around to reading your review. Great start! But are you going to keep yourself and your mom anonomyous the whole review? lol

 

My first trip to St. Thomas was on a land trip and I fell in love with it. Do you have any pictures of all the stuff your mom got for free? I also have enjoyed the 4J cabins and felt like it was "my" secret deck. Also thanks for the shout outs. You have to try the grilled cheese though on your Splendor cruise. Now come back with more! :D

[cruisexlife]

I'm finally getting around to reading your review. Great start! But are you going to keep yourself and your mom anonomyous the whole review? lol

 

 

 

My first trip to St. Thomas was on a land trip and I fell in love with it. Do you have any pictures of all the stuff your mom got for free? I also have enjoyed the 4J cabins and felt like it was "my" secret deck. Also thanks for the shout outs. You have to try the grilled cheese though on your Splendor cruise. Now come back with more! :D

 

 

Dang, I'll make sure I snap some pics next cruise. I know she got a free diamond studs, a free chain, a couple free postcards, some rum punch, a free charm for a charm bracelet, free socks, and other little goodies. She loves getting her free stuff, it's almost like we could go with no money into the stores and we'd still get back on the boat with shopping bags :D

 

I will make sure I try it! Is Splendor one of those ships that is going to begin charging for room service?

[cruisexlife]

We went down to Deck 5 and people-watched for a bit after dinner. For those who care, everyone I saw walking out of the dining room was dressed up. I personally never understood how other's apparel effects someone, but it's not my place to talk ;)

 

We went to the Taste Bar. Tonight was Cuciano De Capitano. Great food! I can't wait to try this restaurant on one of the newer ships one day. The chandelier lit up again!

 

 

Mom wanted to work out and go sit in the sauna. I had a few hours to blow until they played Mockingjay on the big screen, so I went down to the promenade and listened to some music, sipping a drink. I met a guy from Alberta, Canada, who still had issues with snow and getting down here! That's insane! But then I realized that it was time for the movie. I went to my cabin to get a jacket, and I happened to look on the map and see this.

 

 

We were passing in between Martinique and Saint Lucia! I ran outside. Here is Saint Lucia...

 

 

Here is Martinique

 

[cruisexlife]

I roamed the upper deck before watching the movie. The ship is very pretty at night.

 

 

What are these makeshift deck connector things?? :confused: They look a little trashy. I mean where they are everywhere (they are all over the deck) they may seem normal, but do not be fooled. That is tape. You can see them lined up along the deck.

 

 

I watched the movie. I had seen it before, and I really enjoyed the first viewing. I'm really excited for the second part to come out! I have read the book, and I'm not one of the those people who ALWAYS says that they do a bad job with the movies. The Hunger Games Movies have been nice. It finished around 12:10AM.

 

I tried to get a typical "I'm watching a Dive In Movie" picture.

 

 

I went back to my room to a nice swan. I had brought back some cookies and fruit from the aft snack bar. Basically, every night they had this snack bar on the other side of the deck, opposite of Pizza Pirate. I never really understood why they didn't add Tandoor, the Indian restaurant that they had to remove to put in Guy's, wasn't put in this space. It isn't used on Glory, Freedom, or Liberty! Tandoor had good food too! But the midnight snack bar was nice, and since I got food from there, no BLT.

 

 

Next: Bridgetown, Barbados :D

[cruisexlife]

So I'll pause the review for a bit to answer questions. Ask anything you have been wondering about San Juan, St.Thomas, the Sea Day, or the ship. I have not had much response from the review, so I want to pause and see who's out there. Feel free to ask any questions, I'm sure I could answer them! ;)

[cruisexlife]

I will resume once I get a few questions! :p

Edited May 10, 2015 by cruisexlife

[kmarie10531]

I will resume once I get a few questions! :p

 

Love reading your review . I sail on the liberty at the end of the month . Silly question.....was there alot of bingo on the cruise ? Its very port intense so im assuming no

 

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[fozzy]

Nooo, don't stop reviewing! I just started reading this afternoon! Going in September. I love the pointed and panoramic pictures. Plus your review is hitting all the points I'd want to know. I'm going in September. I can't wait to go on the Liberty. Although the Valor, which was originally doing this trip, is one of my favorite ships. Btw, when doing research I did find a ferry to St Croix. I think there's a link for the ferries on http://www.visitusvi.com

Edited May 10, 2015 by fozzy

[cruisexlife]

Love reading your review . I sail on the liberty at the end of the month . Silly question.....was there alot of bingo on the cruise ? Its very port intense so im assuming no

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

 

I wouldn't define it as a lot, as we only had one real sea day (we missed Saint Kitts so we had an unexpected one). I think they had it at night, and maybe one during the day during port days. On the unexpected sea day, they added a Bingo session. But no I'm afraid there was only one real bingo session, and then the Win A Cruise Bingo too. The others were for small prizes.

 

Liberty is an amazing ship! :D

[kmarie10531]

I've said on the liberty a few years back when she went to Panama . It's a wondeful ship I agree , very excited for the 2.0 upgrades

[cruisexlife]

I've said on the liberty a few years back when she went to Panama . It's a wondeful ship I agree , very excited for the 2.0 upgrades

 

 

The upgrades are great, make sure you visit the Taste Bar and have a Guy's Burger! :)

[Mdchris]

My biggest questions are on things to do at the ports! I am also trying to decide if the Cheers package is worth it on such a port intensive cruise. Any ideas on either of those?