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Liberty's Memorial Day Review (photo heavy) - Including Extra Days in San Juan!!

trippingpara

By trippingpara,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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Hi Tripp!

What an awesome review!! This time next week, my DW and I will be sailing away on this same trip for our 25th anniversary. My middle daughter is in her sophomore year at University of North Texas getting her degree in hospitality management like Trippette. My daughter wants to study abroad, but I told her she should look and see if she could do an internship with Carnival.

I was hoping you had done some of the same excursions I have booked, but didn't see any that were the same, but it sure looked like you guys had a blast. I bet you guys are a hoot to cruise with!

I'm like you, I do all the research, booking tours and reading the reviews and my wife just comes along. However, she is the one who picked out this itinerary.

We love to snorkel and have 2 snorkel trips (St. Thomas, St. Lucia) and a discover scuba trip planned(Barbados). Would you recommend the GoPro4 for underwater pictures? I saw you have 2 underwater cameras and wondered which camera you used for your snorkel pictures as they were wonderful.

Thanks

George

 

Thank you so much for the kind words! You are going to have a blast on the Liberty! On our first time on this itinerary (on the Victory), we did a two tank dive in Barbados. Got to see some great stuff and the water there is pristine!

 

As for the underwater cameras, we used two different ones and I highly recommend them both. I use the GoPro Hero 4 and my DW uses the Olympus Tough TG-3. Both are great cameras and cost about the same. The GoPro doesn't have as much settings as the Olympus but does have a ton of accessories and mounts that will amaze you with a plethora of different uses. Both cameras can also be used for diving too. The GoPro comes with a dive housing and can go to 138 feet. The Olympus can go to 50 feet or to 138 feet with their optional dive housing (which is sold separately). You won't go wrong with either camera. Hope this helps!

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cherrus

cherrus

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Trippingpara - I am in analysis paralysis looking at the Pacsafe, Travelon and Kyss bag - going to spend a lot in expedited shipping to receive on time - lol

 

Quick question about your Pacsafe bag.....the strap that goes around the tree or chair - is it the arm strap or a stainless steel rope?

 

Thanks,

Cheryl

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trippette

trippette

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First off, Congrats on your DD's graduation. She is absolutely stunning. You have a beautiful family, including ur self !! We are going on the same cruise in May 2016 for our 40th anniversary ! Seems so far off but I know it will be here before ya know it ! My question is twofold, is the alcohol cheaper at the duty free store u mentioned then say a grocery store or walgreens ? Also do they not scan or check your backpack as u are boarding ? Do they check backpacks at each port u stop at when returning to the ship ? (Lol, guess that was 3 questions !"

Enjoying ur review so very much ! Thanks for taking the time to write it !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Trippette here, making my first official appearance:D Elaine2, thank you so much for such kind words - you are too sweet!! Congratulations on your upcoming 40th anniversary, you will LOVE the Liberty Western Caribbean Cruise!

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trippette

trippette

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Loving your review! We've done many of the same activities you've chosen (Barrachina's, Godfrey Tours, Mountain Top w/banana daquiris...) Oh how I'm missing the Caribbean right now! You've also given me some good ideas for the future. I'd love to do the kayak tour in San Juan and the Bacardi tour. Guess I'll need to plan another cruise. What a shame ;-)

Congrats to your daughter upon her graduation from THE best university in the Old Dominion State! Both of our kids are Hokies, too! The way you all cruise and do things together reminds me of our family.

 

GO HOKIES!!! Thank you for your kind words, pcvtmom! - I have never met a Hokie who isn't fun!

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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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Trippingpara - I am in analysis paralysis looking at the Pacsafe, Travelon and Kyss bag - going to spend a lot in expedited shipping to receive on time - lol

 

Quick question about your Pacsafe bag.....the strap that goes around the tree or chair - is it the arm strap or a stainless steel rope?

 

Thanks,

Cheryl

 

Cheryl - it is the arm strap that releases and allows you to hook it around a tree or chair and then reattach it. Both the arm and the hook are very strong and the hook is then tucked back down into a hidden pocket in the bag. If it very hard to figure out how the bag is wrap around a tree/chair without knowing exactly how the bag works. To me, the stainless stain rope looks to inviting to try and break (not that it breaks very easily mind you). The Pacsafe looks more problematic to try and steal. Plus the material is rip and cut proof (has steel mesh inside the material). I hope this helps!

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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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I have a silly question. You did the tour of the Bacardi Factory and sounds like you made purchases. Was there any problem bringing them back on the ship or any special process?

 

Not a silly question at all! Since you are still in San Juan, you will have to go through the port security again. This is the Port Authority of San Juan not Carnival so they could care less if you are bringing liquor on board. I would suggest that you keep it in the Bacardi bag when going through the scanner. When you leave the scanner, you will then walk down a hall and turn left onto the gangway to the ship. At the end of the gangway (on the ship) is a table manned by Carnival security where they will take any liquor that you bring aboard the ship that is not wine or champagne.

 

You have two choices after you go through the security scanner... you can (1) place the Bacardi bag into a backpack when you are walking across the gangway and walk right past the security table, or (2) you can just hand over the Bacardi bag to the security desk who will then tag it and it will be delivered back to your cabin on the last night of the cruise. Those are your options. Either way, you can certainly purchase liquor (or other gear) at Bacardi's and take it back on the ship with you. I hope this helps!

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cruiseonthebrain

cruiseonthebrain

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I love your reviews and I love your pictures and I love that you share your pictures on other threads! Seriously your pics may be my virtual favorite cruise memories of 2015. I also looked up the camera you were using and think I would love it. Any idea how I can convince my DH that in addition to our DSLR and new wide angle lens and the new Fugi 80pt I got him for Christmas that I NEED another camera? I will show him you pictures- maybe that will do it!

Edited by cruiseonthebrain
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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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I love your reviews and I love your pictures and I love that you share your pictures on other threads! Seriously your pics may be my virtual favorite cruise memories of 2015. I also looked up the camera you were using and think I would love it. Any idea how I can convince my DH that in addition to our DSLR and new wide angle lens and the new Fugi 80pt I got him for Christmas that I NEED another camera? I will show him you pictures- maybe that will do it!

 

Thank you so much for such kind words. That just made my new year! Seeing how I'm a camera geek, I subscribe to the belief that one can never have too many cameras! The thing that I love the most with that camera is that it can double as an all around camera. None of my other cameras can do that. If we're going to have a port call that involves touring around with beach time or maybe a day on a catamaran, I often decide to just bring that camera and leave my others on the ship. It wasn't uncommon for me to struggle to see a difference between the ones I took with my dSLR and the ones from that camera. Very rare for an adventure camera! And I bought that one for my wife just a few months after buying a pocket Sony camera for her. Its now her favorite camera. Happy New Year!

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Gallivanting Souls

Gallivanting Souls

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Tripp Family,

Thank you for sharing your cruise with me. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't even realize I wanted to go to these ports!

Trippette, congrats on graduating from college. My oldest son will be graduating from WSU this May with a degree in Civil Engineering. It's been a hard road and will be lots of debt, but in the end a degree will be worth it. I also have my number 2 son at NAU studying Hotels and Hospitality.

Thanks again and happy travels! :D

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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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Tripp Family,

Thank you for sharing your cruise with me. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't even realize I wanted to go to these ports!

Trippette, congrats on graduating from college. My oldest son will be graduating from WSU this May with a degree in Civil Engineering. It's been a hard road and will be lots of debt, but in the end a degree will be worth it. I also have my number 2 son at NAU studying Hotels and Hospitality.

Thanks again and happy travels! :D

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my review. Congrats on your son's graduation. Its such a joy to see your children take such a big step forward in their life after college. The debt that is incurred is so much worth it! Happy cruising!

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QTPieRye

QTPieRye

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The ride back to San Juan was uneventful and quiet. Ricardo dropped everyone off at their respective hotels. We were now able to actually inspect our new home in Old San Juan. As I mentioned earlier, we were staying pre-cruise at Chateau Cervantes which is located on Calle Recinto Sur which is pretty much directly behind the Sheraton Old San Juan. This little hotel has quickly become my favorite in Old San Juan. We still really like Casa Blanca (which is just a couple blocks away) but we got a better deal on a much better room (plus Casa Blanca was already filled up). The service we received at Cervantes was outstanding. I hear that they have a fabulous breakfast but we never partook in it so I really can't comment on whether or not that is true. Even though this hotel is located in one of the original structures of Old San Juan, it actually has an elevator (most of the small hotels in OSJ do not). They will also hold your luggage for you before and after your cruise as well. We will definitely be staying here again.

 

Chateau%252520Cervantes%252520%2525289%252529-69.jpg

Looking into the bedroom

 

Chateau%252520Cervantes%252520%25252812%252529-72.jpg

The living room with the sofa bed made up

 

Chateau%252520Cervantes%252520%25252813%252529-73.jpg

The balcony at night

 

Old%252520San%252520Juan%252520%25252899%252529-4.jpg

Two of our three balconies (I was standing on the third one). Each room had one, the living room, parlor and bedroom

 

41945528.jpg

I didn't get a good photo of the outside so here is a stock photo from their website. Our room was the whole second floor front.

 

Coming up, boarding Liberty, Bacardi's tour and Diamonds Steakhouse

.

 

HI there... do you happen to recall what time you made it back from this excursion? Thanks.

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trippingpara Great Review Rare

trippingpara

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HI there... do you happen to recall what time you made it back from this excursion? Thanks.

 

If I remember correctly, it was around 9:30 pm by the time we returned back to our hotel. It would have been sooner but we ran into very heavy traffic on Avenida Ashford in Condado. It normally takes an hour to drive from the Bio Bay to Old San Juan and we finished the excursion around 8 pm. I hope this helps. Happy cruising!

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  • 2 weeks later...
QTPieRye

QTPieRye

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Not a silly question at all! Since you are still in San Juan, you will have to go through the port security again. This is the Port Authority of San Juan not Carnival so they could care less if you are bringing liquor on board. I would suggest that you keep it in the Bacardi bag when going through the scanner. When you leave the scanner, you will then walk down a hall and turn left onto the gangway to the ship. At the end of the gangway (on the ship) is a table manned by Carnival security where they will take any liquor that you bring aboard the ship that is not wine or champagne.

 

You have two choices after you go through the security scanner... you can (1) place the Bacardi bag into a backpack when you are walking across the gangway and walk right past the security table, or (2) you can just hand over the Bacardi bag to the security desk who will then tag it and it will be delivered back to your cabin on the last night of the cruise. Those are your options. Either way, you can certainly purchase liquor (or other gear) at Bacardi's and take it back on the ship with you. I hope this helps!

 

Just off the Liberty and wanted to thank you soooo much for posting this! Jackpot

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