Review: Carnival liberty – september 20, 2015 – southern itinerary out of san juan,

[kimmiloulovestocruise]

Great job! I had fun reading along and went through the emotions right along with you. The first few days home post cruise (or any vacation) are always difficult on me so I'm sure I know how you felt. I love the pictures of the "boys." They are so sweet! I'm sure they made coming home enjoyable. :)

 

Looking forward to reading your final thoughts and still waiting on that picture... Thanks for sharing your experiences on Liberty. You gave me some good ideas for our stop in St Lucia next March on Adventure OTS.

[frozenrope2001]

Thank you for doing this review. I really enjoyed reading it and looking at the photos.

[frozenrope2001]

You mentioned you left a nice tip after the Spencer Ambrose tour . On a tour like that who do you give the tip to ? The tour owner or his workers who have helped him out all day. I notice most people leave the tip to the owner but lots of times I feel the tip should go to the assistants as I am sure they don't make much money and they do help service the customers during the tour.

[aztekpm]

Fabulous review and pictures, definitely brings back memories from our May Liberty cruise, so far my favorite ship and route!

 

 

I'm in the freight industry and your husband is correct, that plane is a Russian cargo plane, known as an Antonov AN124, booked on a charter basis, moving large cargo payloads, oversize and overweight (for standard and/or commercial aircraft) freight around the world.

 

The underside of the fuselage drops down and becomes a ramp and the nosecone flips up to load the plane, plus, they can also load large machinery by an overhead crane or roll on.

 

Believe it or not, as large as it is, they have a larger one, the AN225. They can't operate into every airport as they need sufficient runway length to land and take off, as well runway weight limitations come into play. I was lucky that Toronto International Airport could/can handle them and arranged/observed many a charter for Ford and some of our other customers back in the day!

Edited November 18, 2015 by aztekpm

[JKirkN]

Darn quote isn't working AGAIN! :(

 

Re: Maho... we went there around 2pm local time and saw 2 or 3 large planes. I'm not sure when L was there, but I guess she must have left before...or maybe she was there after??? There was an Airbus 320 I think... (Air France I think) and couple others that size...

 

As for your picture of the peninsula whilst leaving SJ, I thought you had made it to the left of that bridge in the top left of the picture...

 

I actually drove to that point and enjoyed the beach a bit around that corner and went quite a ways down...hopefully K will put some of those pictures in her review...

Edited November 18, 2015 by JKirkN

[moniquet]

Wonderful photos and dialogue....sorry it's over:)

 

Love your cats, the black one looks exactly like one of my Daughters cats. He was a rescue and always looks surprised.

[pghsteelerfan]

Wow, such an amazing cruise review. You really went in depth with things and it was very informative, let alone interesting and fun. Even helped me cure my excitement for Splendor in 5 days. Such a GREAT job! :D:D

 

Thank you so much and so glad you have enjoyed this. You know I love your reviews and am really looking forward to your Splendor review. No rush, I will be happy to wait. I hope you have a really great time and great weather too. We really lucked out on this cruise with some of the best weather ever and the calmest seas we've ever witnessed, so I'm hoping for the same for you. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

Great job! I had fun reading along and went through the emotions right along with you. The first few days home post cruise (or any vacation) are always difficult on me so I'm sure I know how you felt. I love the pictures of the "boys." They are so sweet! I'm sure they made coming home enjoyable. :)

 

Looking forward to reading your final thoughts and still waiting on that picture... Thanks for sharing your experiences on Liberty. You gave me some good ideas for our stop in St Lucia next March on Adventure OTS.

 

Thanks so much! I'm am so happy you enjoyed following along and feeling the emotions with me. I've read other reviews, where I kid you not, I feel like I'm actually on the cruise with them and hate to see it end.

 

It wasn't as bad being home as I thought because the cruise was one of our best and I'll have those memories for ever. We also made some friends on the cruise that we've been in touch with, so we weren't going through the "post cruise blues" alone and that helped. But "Mt. Washmore"...I do dread that after any vacation. Two days of laundry...the folding and ironing are the worst! But it's done. :D I was also happy to see our "boys", I did miss them and three of them greeted us as a dog would, all by the door. Except for one, but it's always that way, even after we come back from grocery shopping. He'll come out ones he knows it's us and only us. LOL!!!

 

I'm hoping to get to the final thoughts recap this afternoon and I will be re-posting that picture. I'm curious to see if anyone figured it out. :)

 

Thanks again for following along and I really hope you have a great time on AOS and hope your weather is just as nice as it was for us.

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you for doing this review. I really enjoyed reading it and looking at the photos.

 

You mentioned you left a nice tip after the Spencer Ambrose tour . On a tour like that who do you give the tip to ? The tour owner or his workers who have helped him out all day. I notice most people leave the tip to the owner but lots of times I feel the tip should go to the assistants as I am sure they don't make much money and they do help service the customers during the tour.

 

Thank you so much for following along and so happy you enjoyed this. :)

 

The tips...at the end of our tour, we gave the tip to Spencer. His daughter, Shequana, and another of his assistants, Shaggy, were also there. We never thought to break it down to tip each though. We had Spencer most of the day and I can honestly say he doesn't just stand around and let the others do the work, he's working right along with them. They all kick back for a bit at the beach portion and will mix and mingle with guests. The only portion of the tour we didn't have Spencer was the land tour portion and Shequana was with us for that whole portion. They have other tours in addition to the one we were on and at least one (maybe more) boat(s), so I'm sure that when others on those tours tip (hoping they do), the tip goes to those assistants. I don't know if they divide the tips afterwards or not.

[pghsteelerfan]

Fabulous review and pictures, definitely brings back memories from our May Liberty cruise, so far my favorite ship and route!

 

 

I'm in the freight industry and your husband is correct, that plane is a Russian cargo plane, known as an Antonov AN124, booked on a charter basis, moving large cargo payloads, oversize and overweight (for standard and/or commercial aircraft) freight around the world.

 

The underside of the fuselage drops down and becomes a ramp and the nosecone flips up to load the plane, plus, they can also load large machinery by an overhead crane or roll on.

 

Believe it or not, as large as it is, they have a larger one, the AN225. They can't operate into every airport as they need sufficient runway length to land and take off, as well runway weight limitations come into play. I was lucky that Toronto International Airport could/can handle them and arranged/observed many a charter for Ford and some of our other customers back in the day!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed this and that it brought back memories for you. May is our favorite time to cruise but this year September was really the only time a vacation was possible for us. We really lucked out with the weather and we had a great cruise. This is also our favorite itinerary and Liberty is now my favorite ship. We've now been on her twice. :)

 

Thank you for the information on that plane. I really thought it was a neat looking plane, especially since I'm so used to seeing the regular passenger jets. We're not far from Washington Dulles International and the flight patterns are over our area. It depends on wind direction whether they land or takeoff overhead. When landing, they are lower and easier to see, but nothing like Maho Bay. A few years ago I was on my way home and in the car and got a glance at a large plane that had wings over top, like this one. That must have been a rare cargo plane coming in. I've seen pictures of military cargo planes with the nosecone flipped up. That explains why there were no windows. Again, thank you for this information. Now I know more about this plane and I had been curious about it.

[SoloSailorII]

Ah so many memories, thanks for bringing it all back to life. So the question is when are we doing it again ;)

 

Fair Winds And Following seas~~~~

[pghsteelerfan]

Darn quote isn't working AGAIN! :(

 

Re: Maho... we went there around 2pm local time and saw 2 or 3 large planes. I'm not sure when L was there, but I guess she must have left before...or maybe she was there after??? There was an Airbus 320 I think... (Air France I think) and couple others that size...

 

As for your picture of the peninsula whilst leaving SJ, I thought you had made it to the left of that bridge in the top left of the picture...

 

I actually drove to that point and enjoyed the beach a bit around that corner and went quite a ways down...hopefully K will put some of those pictures in her review...

 

I agree, darned quote....:( I tried quoting a few responses, but if I try to quote three, only the first two show up. If I try to quote two, only the first. Then at times, it didn't work at all. Oh well.

 

I don't know what time they were at Maho. They said they saw a couple planes that were larger than the small puddle jumpers, but they were basically the everyday medium sized planes. I'm sure it's also a much better experience when there is actual beach there were you can stand right under them as they land.

 

I was wondering if this was the area you thought I walked to. No, I definitely did not walk that far. I only walked to where the Isla Verde Beach and water park is. I sure do hope K uses some of those pictures. I thought that area looked really neat from the plane. Hopefully next time we can get to that beach.

[pghsteelerfan]

Wonderful photos and dialogue....sorry it's over:)

 

Love your cats, the black one looks exactly like one of my Daughters cats. He was a rescue and always looks surprised.

 

Thank you so much for following along and I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

 

Awww, I love how your daughter's cat always looks surprised. All of ours do if they get into something they're not supposed to or do something they're not supposed to. The top two are litter mates from a friend when their cat had kittens that needed homes (they're 6 yrs. old) and the two on the bottom are our two rescues who we got as kittens (now 2 yrs. old).

[pghsteelerfan]

Ah so many memories, thanks for bringing it all back to life. So the question is when are we doing it again ;)

 

Fair Winds And Following seas~~~~

 

The memories...I know. This will definitely go down as one of our favorite cruises. So glad that this brought back memories for you too. Too bad we didn't get to meet.

 

The question...I'd do it again this weekend if I could. :D

 

Thank you so much for following along and so happy it brought back memories. I did for me too. :)

 

Holly

[cruisexlife]

Thank you so much and so glad you have enjoyed this. You know I love your reviews and am really looking forward to your Splendor review. No rush, I will be happy to wait. I hope you have a really great time and great weather too. We really lucked out on this cruise with some of the best weather ever and the calmest seas we've ever witnessed, so I'm hoping for the same for you. :)

 

I was going to say! The weather on your cruise looked PERFECT, other than the liquid sunshine in Barbados I didn't recall anything crazy. The weather forecast shows sun and temps even up at 90, but in St.Thomas it shows rain, as well as San Juan. I was using Apple's weather app, so that is probably why. If it is going to rain for 20 minutes, that's what they use ;)

 

Any luck with finding a future cruise? Do you mind flying for the cruise?

[pghsteelerfan]

I was going to say! The weather on your cruise looked PERFECT, other than the liquid sunshine in Barbados I didn't recall anything crazy. The weather forecast shows sun and temps even up at 90, but in St.Thomas it shows rain, as well as San Juan. I was using Apple's weather app, so that is probably why. If it is going to rain for 20 minutes, that's what they use ;)

 

Any luck with finding a future cruise? Do you mind flying for the cruise?

 

I would consider the weather perfect. The liquid sunshine we had in Barbados wasn't bad and it was actually kind of cool, especially while snorkeling. Even just before leaving port, we also thought that was pretty wild. It also caused the decks to get soaked, making for great pictures. :D

 

I think a lot of times in the Caribbean there will be passing showers. That's pretty much what we had in Barbados, rain one minute, the next it's done.

 

We actually aren't looking for future cruises right now since my husband will only have two weeks vacation a year until he's been at his current job long enough to get more. We'll be doing the family vacation again next year and some friends also want to start doing "beach week", either in Myrtle Beach, OC, MD, or OBX, NC. We will be cruising again, but just don't know when yet, just probably not the next couple years. Of course, I didn't expect to be cruising this year either, so we'll see.

 

No, we really don't mind flying for cruises...except when hubby books a flight that leaves so early in the morning like this time. LOL!!!

[Stinger-pr]

Darn quote isn't working AGAIN! :(

 

Re: Maho... we went there around 2pm local time and saw 2 or 3 large planes. I'm not sure when L was there, but I guess she must have left before...or maybe she was there after??? There was an Airbus 320 I think... (Air France I think) and couple others that size....

 

When I went on my Aug 2-9 sailing on the Liberty we also went to Maho but arrived just before 2pm as well. I had done some research prior because I didn't want to waste the day wondering when the big plane arrive or leave and found out that on Saturdays (the day Liberty is in port) there is a slow-down in air traffic between about 10am and 1:30pm when most (if not all) of the planes coming or going are small island hoppers. After 1:45pm and usually starting with the arrival of that Air France plane, traffic ramps up with quite a few big planes landing or taking off. We were at Maho from 2-3:30pm and saw no less than 5 big planes come in and rode the fence with big planes taking off three times and enjoyed watching from the sidelines about three more.

 

Regarding beach conditions, well there's not much to say... there's not much beach left. Just a wave breaker.

[Stinger-pr]

You have no idea how much I have enjoyed your review. And those pictures!!! I certainly got some photo ideas for my next cruise. Thank you so much for all the hard work I know you've put into this. My cruise was 7 weeks prior to yours and I still got excited reliving memories with you review even though I did one of my own.

 

BTW.... not only did we certainly cross paths at the Courtyard, we almost did again at the airport the day you arrived. I left around 10:30am from terminal C as well while on my way to the Las Vegas trip that made me move my cruise plans to August instead of the same week you all were on. Small world indeed...

[dltvermont]

What a fantastic review! Definitely one of the best Ive seen here on CC for sure. This itinerary has been at the top of our bucket list to do and this review seals it for sure.

 

Your pictures were phenomenal! I bought a DSLR for our first cruise in 2014 and little by little am working on getting better with it.

 

Trying to remember which island, St Maarten maybe? The one with the deep reddish purple colors in the sky, you had two pics of the same, one looked "lighter" than the other. Was this a change of your ISO or some other setting?

 

You must have amazingly steady hands to get low light and night shots like that with a long exposure and no tripod!

[pghsteelerfan]

You have no idea how much I have enjoyed your review. And those pictures!!! I certainly got some photo ideas for my next cruise. Thank you so much for all the hard work I know you've put into this. My cruise was 7 weeks prior to yours and I still got excited reliving memories with you review even though I did one of my own.

 

BTW.... not only did we certainly cross paths at the Courtyard, we almost did again at the airport the day you arrived. I left around 10:30am from terminal C as well while on my way to the Las Vegas trip that made me move my cruise plans to August instead of the same week you all were on. Small world indeed...

 

Thank you so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed this, and the pictures. I really love the pictures you've gotten from reading your reviews. It was definitely a lot of work and I was hoping to get this up much sooner, but it was fun reliving our cruise. I'm glad that you got to relive your cruise as well.

 

I do remember you mentioned in your review that you were almost on the same sailing but had to reschedule since you'd be flying to Las Vegas the morning after getting off the cruise. I totally forgot about that while we were in the airport, but yes, we were definitely there at the same time. We may have even seen each other but just didn't realize it. Next time we do this I'll have to let you know so we can hopefully at least meet to say "hello".

[pghsteelerfan]

What a fantastic review! Definitely one of the best Ive seen here on CC for sure. This itinerary has been at the top of our bucket list to do and this review seals it for sure.

 

Your pictures were phenomenal! I bought a DSLR for our first cruise in 2014 and little by little am working on getting better with it.

 

Trying to remember which island, St Maarten maybe? The one with the deep reddish purple colors in the sky, you had two pics of the same, one looked "lighter" than the other. Was this a change of your ISO or some other setting?

 

You must have amazingly steady hands to get low light and night shots like that with a long exposure and no tripod!

 

Thank you very much! I am very happy that you have enjoyed the review and pictures. And yes, I definitely recommend that itinerary if you get a chance. Some people stay away from it because it is a port heavy itinerary, but that's what we love. The scenery alone makes it well worth it. We've been on cruises on other itineraries but none compare when it comes to the scenery you get on this itinerary.

 

I got my DSLR (it's a Canon Rebel t1i, the older "Rebel") in 2010, but I needed practice and wasn't happy with the pictures, which appeared out of focus when viewing them on the computer. I finally decided to take it on our Valor cruise (same itinerary out of San Juan) but also used my point and shoot. I used the point and shoot mostly. I started getting a little better with the DSLR on our 2014 cruise when I was told about the "P" setting on the Mode Dial. I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to DSLR's, but it had been explained that if I wanted crisp, clear landscape pictures, to use that "P" setting. Unlike the automatic setting, which I had been using, I could adjust the ISO. Since I was happy with the pictures on our Liberty cruise in 2014 (western Caribbean), I brought it again and used it a lot more and was pleased with a lot of pictures this time. I'm not great at it but since I'm using it more, I am getting a little better with it.

 

For a lot of the low light pictures I got with the DSLR, I used that "P" mode but also set it to a high ISO. There are some, which I posted, that did come out but I have double the amount that didn't and those are probably times I wasn't as steady with it. For some of the pictures, I used Liberty's railing but had the strap around my neck, just in case.

 

Those pictures in St. Maarten, I know exactly what you mean. I had my smart phone with me got pictures with that and the DSLR. I didn't take too many pictures with the phone. Even though the phone pictures looked really good in the display, I wasn't sure how they'd actually look on our computer once we got home. I was surprised, but my best low light pictures are actually from the phone. All of the pictures on the open deck after dark with Liberty's lights on were taken with the phone. With that it was just hold it up and press the button, no setting to mess with. I guess that's why it's called a "smart phone". :) The colors on the pictures I got with the phone are exactly how it actually looked. So that was the difference in those two pictures - one was with the DSLR and one with the phone. The phone was the "lighter" picture. I think I was using ISO 200, then 400, for the sunset pictures on the DSLR.

 

Again, thank you for following along and I really appreciate your nice comments and hope you get to cruise on this itinerary. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

As promised, I’m closing with my final thoughts of our cruise on Carnival Liberty. I will also rate most of our experiences as well. Again, these are just my personal opinions on the experiences that we had.

Booking: When we booked this cruise, it was kind of last minute. We were originally going to book directly through Carnival’s website but we really wanted a starboard (right) side balcony cabin on the Veranda Deck (Deck 8). We wanted the Veranda Deck since we loved the cabin location that we had when on or Valor cruise in May 2013, same itinerary for the following reasons:

1. For this itinerary, we love the starboard side since we love seeing other islands as we pass them from St. Lucia and for the rest of the cruise.

2. On Veranda Deck 8, there are other passenger cabins below and the Lido Deck 9, is above. The section of the Lido Deck that we were directly below was the inside area where the tables along the windows are, so there isn’t much chance of a lot of noise when we’re trying to sleep. We also enjoy spending a lot of time up on the Lido Deck 9 and Panorama Deck 10, so there is easy access and we can easily take the stairs.

3. We prefer a mid-ship cabin near the stairs/elevators for easy access and to avoid a lot of movement since I am prone to motion sickness. I take something for that every day anyway, just in case, but having a cabin mid-ship does cut down on the motion, especially if seas are rough.

When looking at what was available through Carnival’s website, the cabins where we wanted to be didn’t seem to be available. There were several still available on Upper Deck 6, but that’s running the risk of hearing late night noise from the Promenade Deck 5 (night club). There is also a TA that we’ve used in the past who is a friend of DH’s family, so we contacted her to see what she had available and what the cost would be. She had a cabin exactly where we wanted to be and the cost was the same, so we ended up booking through her. We have been very happy working with her in the past and this time was no different.

Flights: We wanted to fly down to San Juan and stay one night, pre-cruise…just in case. We were hoping to book a flight with the airline that has a direct flight to San Juan that leaves around 8:00am and arrives in San Juan around noon, but by the time we booked our cruise, that flight was no longer available (already booked). Since we booked late in the game, we had to book a connecting flight though Charlotte, NC, with another airline. The best flight we could get was a very early flight, meaning a very early wakeup. That was our choice since we wanted to get down to San Juan as early as possible and this flight would be getting us in San Juan between 11:30am and noon.

The flights themselves were fine, however, since DH’s luggage was lost in transit due to what we both consider an avoidable error by a ticket agent at our airport of departure who was taking shortcuts (not checking the tags for destination when affixing it to DH’s suitcase) and didn’t want to be bothered, we weren’t very pleased. The airline did get his suitcase to the ship before we left, so it did work out, but the inconvenience of that whole situation was unnecessary.

Pre-cruise Hotel: We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, Isla Verde in San Juan. We stayed at the same hotel one night, pre-cruise, before our Carnival Valor cruise (same itinerary) in 2013 and were pleased. We love the location and it’s very close to the San Juan International Airport and the fact that it was right on Isla Verde Beach, which both of us really like. The hotel is very clean, beautiful inside, has great views, their staff is exceptional and very nice, restaurants right on site, and things to do at night (dancing, casino), a beautiful pool (which we didn’t use), and beautiful landscaping. We will stay there again next time we cruise out of San Juan and I’d definitely recommend it.

Embarkation: Well, this depends on how you look at it. We DID receive an email from Carnival with the following:

“As a reminder, check-in for your cruise is scheduled from 2:30PM to 8:30PM. For your comfort and convenience, please do not arrive for check-in prior to 2:30PM, since seating is limited at our cruise terminal.”

However, we’ve received the same email prior to other cruises, including our cruise on Carnival Valor in 2013, which was also sailing out of San Juan on the same itinerary. We showed up at noon for our Valor cruise, breezed through check-in and security and were on Valor, with drinks in our hands, by 12:45PM. This time, we arrived between 11:15AM and 11:30AM, again getting right through check-in, but boarding was delayed. We’ve heard a few different reasons for the delay in boarding, but we don’t have any solid facts on the actual reason. Once we checked in, we ended up waiting about an hour and a half before we actually boarded. Since others had the same idea, the cruise terminal was packed and the lines to get in after that were very long. We did know this was true since others we knew had been in this line and told us about it.

So, to be honest, my final thoughts on embarkation are mixed, but we had received an email from Carnival ahead of time and knew this was a possibility, so there is no sense on blaming Carnival.

 

 

 

Embarkation staff: The porters, check-in agents, and others controlling traffic flow were all great and on top of things. In addition, they were all very pleasant.

Guest Services Staff: This time we needed to make a trip to Guest Services since DH wanted to let them know about his suitcase, which was supposed to be delivered to the ship and how he would go about getting it. The gal who assisted us was pleasant and let us know how his luggage situation would be handled and let us know if we didn’t receive it by a certain time, we were to stop back down and they’d be there to help us in locating it. That was the only time we had to go to Guest Services.

Carnival Liberty (her appearance, layout and décor): This is the third Conquest Class ship we’ve been on but the décor on Carnival Liberty is my favorite. Very nicely done and the colors are very easy on the eyes and we love Liberty’s atrium. We had no problem with the layout since we were already familiar from our previous cruises on Carnival Glory and Carnival Valor.

Liberty is 10 years old now and it’s been awhile since her last upgrade. I don’t make it a point to look for imperfections but there are areas where she has a little wear and tear, just as most of the other ships do. What may have shown as wear and tear on our cruise may be repaired by now. Cruise ships out on the ocean for months and years at a time, so they will be affected by weather and constant exposure to salty, humid air and ocean water. They aren’t like a car that can be washed once a week and waxed when needed. In addition to observing constant cleaning of Liberty, there were also crews doing touch-up painting and cosmetic work/repairs. On our cruise, they were working on the trim up on Panorama Deck 10, the outside stairway between Lido Deck 9 and Panorama Deck 10, and the main pool, all on the last day of our cruise. Liberty is a clean ship and a beautiful ship. DH complained that the exterior Panorama Deck wasn’t squeegeed off after the rain we had in Barbados just before sail away that was still there that night. I didn’t care, I thought the reflections were pretty and made for some good photo opportunities.

Another thing I’ll mention about Liberty. While I liked the addition of Guy’s Burger Joint, the Blue Iguana Cantina, the Red Frog Rum Bar and the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, I wasn’t fan of the new layout. In order to make room for the toppings at Guy’s and Blue Iguana, the bars that had originally been there were removed. The Red Frog Rum bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar were added, but located on the sides in the middle section of the main pool area, so lounger space and tables along the windows in that section were removed to make room for the bars. This created a shortage of loungers and table seating areas. On sea days (we had two, and a “bonus” due to a missed port), it got very crowded there. At times, it was so crowded that we’d have to go up to Panorama Deck 10, then come back down if we wanted to get to the other side. With the loss of that lounger space, it made it very difficult to get loungers on sea days unless you got one early. On the sides of Panorama Deck 10, they were stacked three rows deep (two rows in the sun, and another under the covered area. They were also set up so close to each other that it was hard to get in and out of them. Although the locations are the same, none of that was an issue this cruise and the traffic flow of passengers seemed to move freely. Over all, I will give Liberty an A.

 

 

 

 

Our Cabin: The cabin we had, #8353, was a category 8D, an outside balcony on the Veranda Deck 8. It’s the layout as the other cabins we’ve had all of our Carnival cruises since 2006. We love, love, love the location; there was plenty of room for both of us to move around in; there was enough drawer and closet space for both of us; the bed was very comfortable; it had the nice little seating area (small couch) and table; there was enough room under the bed to store our suitcases under; the bathroom was typical and it works for us. Great cabin and great location. My rating: A

Our Cabin Steward Crew: Our cabin steward was Kendrick and his assistant was I-Ketut. We also had the pleasure of meeting, and getting to know, their manager, a gal named Snezana. They were always busy and Snezana worked right along with them doing the cleaning, but it didn't keep them from taking time for their passengers. The three of them, by far, have been our best housekeeping crew yet, in all of our cruises. Not only did they do a great job with keeping the cabin and bathroom cleaned and stocked up (toilet paper, shower gel, soap, shampoo, towels, and wash cloths), they were also very nice. The three of them were always smiling and even though busy, they actually made time to get to know their passengers. I could tell they had a sense of humor and all seemed very happy go lucky, so I pulled a prank on them with something I left in the cabin and they were great sports about it and it became a running joke throughout the duration of the cruise. They told me they loved what I left them, they loved a sense of humor, and they played along with it. I can’t say enough good things about them. I really do miss all three of them. My rating: A

Food (breakfast):

Lido Buffet: We went through the Lido buffet several times and the food was decent and typical of most breakfast buffets on land or other cruises. The eggs aren’t the best but they’re certainly not the worst either. The potatoes…I really wish they’d mix the potatoes up some. For this cruise, they only had the roasted potatoes. I was hoping to see some hash browns, baked or fried. Just a variation to mix it up a little. They also have cereal, yogurt, fruit, bacon, sausage, toast (wheat & regular), pancakes, French toast, and the pastries. I’m probably missing something.

In addition to the actual food, there is a drink station with coffee, decaf coffee, orange juice, fruit juice, ice tea, and water. During the second half of the week, one of the coffee machines seemed to be closed so I’d have to go over to the other side for coffee. One day, one was closed for cleaning. Busy times in the morning aren’t the best time to be running them through the cleaning cycle. This should have been done earlier or after the main breakfast time. One of the coffee machines was broken down toward the end of the cruise. This was more of an inconvenience, since coffee was still served, but thought I’d mention it. My rating: C

Blue Iguana Cantina: I made it a point to try a Blue Iguana Breakfast burrito this time and it was delish!!! It was very filling but I really love these. My rating: A

Omelet Station: I decided to try the omelet station one of the mornings. These are made with real eggs and they have a nice selection of toppings that you can choose from and they make them to order and they seemed to be making three at a time to keep things moving. This was very good and quite a lot too. My rating: A

Food (Lunch):

Guy’s Burger Joint: We ate hear most of the week. It’s not your typical “burger joint”, these burgers/cheeseburgers are the best. The burgers/cheeseburgers are served with fries that are also very good and service is very fast. Even when there are lines, they move quickly. There is a topping section with a large variety of toppings as well. My rating: A

Blue Iguana Burrito Bar: We finally tried Blue Iguana on embarkation day. The setup is similar to Chipotle that we have here. You choose what you want in it and they make it for you. There is also a topping section with a variety of toppings that you can add to the burritos. My rating: A

We never had lunch anywhere other than Guy’s Burger Joint or Blue Iguana Cantina, so I can’t rate those.

Food (Dinner)

Main Dining Room (Silver Olympian Dining Room): On all but two nights, we ate in the Silver Olympian Dining room the menu is the “American Menu”. In the review I gave an in depth description of all that we had and really liked most of it. We did attend one of the “American Feast” (formal) nights this time. We hadn’t been to a formal night on a Carnival cruise since 2006. I also gave a detailed description of that. Overall, we through the food served in the main dining room was very good. There were a couple things I could take or leave, but overall, it was very good. My rating: B

Emile’s Lido Buffet: We ate at Emile’s Lido Buffet on the evening of our second “American Feast” (formal) night. We each wanted to start off with salad, but the lettuce bowl was empty and seemed to have been for a while. The other selections were there and they seem to have a lot of what was served in the main dining room. They actually had the Fusilli mushroom cream, which I love. All was not lost with the salad. In the line that we were in, they may have been out of regular lettuce/salad greens but they had a nice, big bowl of Caesar Salad, which I love, and it was as good as the Caesar Salad served in the dining room. There was a variety of desserts, but I usually pass on those anyway and didn’t have any. My rating: B

Late Night Snacks (Lido Deck, aft by the adult only pool): This was a first for us as we finally ate here after our sail away from San Juan. I had a ham and cheese sandwich (heated) and a cookie. This was the first time we’ve tried this. Very good. My rating: A

Soft Serve Ice Cream machines: I had several. I love these. Need I say more? My rating: A

We never ate at the Steakhouse or anywhere else for dinner, so I can't comment on those.

 

 

 

Wait staff in the main dining room (Silver Olympian for us): Our wait staff was very good, service was fast, and they were very friendly. I didn’t get the name of one of the guys, one of our assistants and I wish I had. I was hoping I’d be able to see his nametag in one of my pictures, but he was turned to the side and I couldn’t see it. I wear glasses for distance (mainly for driving), and don’t bring them on cruises so I actually couldn’t make out his name. Our head waiter was Jorge and his other assistant was Marko. All three of them were very nice and we really enjoyed having them as our wait staff. I don’t know if he’d be considered part of our dinner wait staff or not, but our bar waiter who would come around every evening with the tray of cordial after dinner shots is named Yoki. We adored Yoki and had actually met him on the Lido Deck, with trays of shots, right after sail away. We were happy when we saw he would be at our dinner table too. My rating: A

 

 

 

***Speaking of restaurants/food places on Liberty, I’m listing all of the restaurants & other places to eat and the locations for anyone who may be interested. If there are any I failed to list, please feel free to add them***

 

 

Silver Olympian Dining room: one of the two main dining rooms; located on Lobby Deck 3 and Atlantic Deck 4, very back (aft) of Liberty.

Golden Olympian Dining room: the other main dining room and most of it is “Your time dining”; located on Lobby Deck 3 and Atlantic Deck 4, midship.

Emile’s Bistro: Located on Lido Deck 9 and includes the buffet, deli, Mongolian Wok and Pizza Bar (Pizza Bar is located by the Versailles Pool, which is the adult only pool at the back of the ship).

Guy’s Burger Joint: Located on Lido Deck 9 right by the main pool area, midship and on the right (starboard) side of Liberty.

Blue Iguana Cantina: Located on Lido Deck 9 right by the main pool area, midship, and on the left (port) side of Liberty.

Fish & Chips: Located on Panorama Deck 10, above Emile’s Bistro (toward the back) of Liberty.

Harry’s Steakhouse: Located on Panorama Deck 10, midship, and above Emile’s Bistro. There is a charge to eat here.

Jardin Café: located on Promenade Deck 5, just outside the casino area. Service specialty coffee drinks, pastries, and desserts. You’ll have to pay extra $$$ here as well.

Sushi Bar: I’m sure there is one, and probably on Promenade Deck 5, but we never saw it or bothered to look for it.

 

Drinks & Bar Service: There are many bars on Carnival Liberty and you can get almost anything to drink. Last year, I didn’t rate the bars, or bar service, on the Lido Deck very high (B’s & C’s) and the reason was because the Red Frog Rum Bar didn’t seem to have enough bartenders staffed to keep things moving. There were long waits for drinks and that resulted in crowds around the bar. The Blue Iguana Tequilla Bar was only open for short periods of time, so the Red Frog Rum Bar was it for portions of the day/evening. Add to that, there were hardly any bar waiters making rounds taking orders on the Lido or Panorama Decks. Again, that was last year.

This year…wow!!! A major improvement. There were always plenty of bar waiters making their rounds on the Lido and Panorama Decks.

The Red Frog Rum Bar: This was our “go to” bar this cruise. The bar was fully staffed, usually with three or four bartenders. There may have been five occasionally during deck party nights (two). They were fast, accurate with orders, were able to keep track of who was next to order, etc. The three bartenders we saw mostly were Antonio, Joseph, and Winston. All three were very nice and very personable, quick with getting orders out and the drinks they made were great. My rating: A

Blue Iguana Tequila Bar: We drink tequila and Margaritas, but on cruises we prefer mixed rum drinks, so we were only at Blue Iguana Tequila Bar right after embarkation, but service was fast and very friendly. They didn’t have the Blue Iguana Tervis Tumblers stocked up yet, and when I asked if they’d be getting any, one of the bartenders went to look for them and came back five minutes later with a box and I was able to purchase one then. He could have just told me they’d have them out later and to come back. I went through that last year, then they sold out. I finally got one when more came in, but this time, the bartender went out of his way to go and get them. My rating: A

Versailles Aft Pool Bar: I was only there once. It was evening and not very busy. The bartender there, didn’t get his name, was very nice and I spent a few minutes talking to him after I had gotten a beer. My rating: A

Bar waiters: There were always plenty making their rounds on the outer Lido and Panorama Decks. The only name I can remember is Erick, but besides Erick, there were two others we also got to know during the week and they were all very attentive. Erick went out of his way to find us one of the souvenir cups that this sailing apparently didn’t get a shipment of. My rating A

 

 

 

***As I mentioned in my comments about Carnival Liberty towards the beginning about the layout of the Lido Deck with the addition of the Red Frog Rum bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bars and the congestion created in those areas that we experienced last year on Liberty, none of that was an issue this cruise. I don’t know if it was because there were more bar waiters and the Red Frog and Blue Iguana bars were staffed better or not, but that was not an issue this cruise. With more bar waiters and more bartenders working the bars, there weren’t the crowds of people lining up at the bars, which created congestion and poor traffic flow through those areas. With the addition of more bar waiters and adequately staffed bars, that issue seemed to have been resolved on this cruise***

 

 

 

Pools/hot tubs: There were two pools on Carnival Liberty, the main pool that is located mid-ship (the Tivoli Pool) and the adult only pool, the Versailles Pool, which is located at the back of the ship. We did not go into either pool this time, but I did go down the waterslide (I’d been on Valor’s, which is the same) and really enjoyed it. It’s not one of the fancy new ones, but I like it. There is a smaller pool right by the waterslide, the Coney Island pool, and we didn’t go in that one either. There are also hot tubs by the pools and we didn’t go in those this time either. With the busy itinerary, we didn’t have time since we did get off Liberty and go to all of the ports and were there for most of the day. The pools looked clean and the hot tubs are definitely chlorinated. I was really able to smell the chlorine by the Versailles Pool (aft, adult only) one evening when the retractable roof was closed over the pool area while they were cleaning it. On our last day of the cruise, which was a port day, they had the Tivoli Pool (main pool) drained and were working on it. It appeared that they were doing something with the tile, but I don’t know if they were re-tiling, repairing, or replacing individual tiles. I’ll rate the pools on appearance and cleanliness: My rating: B

Activities: There are always plenty of activities going on, even during the day on port days. There is always some kind of trivia going on somewhere on the ship. On our sea day, there was entertainment, of some kind, all day by the main pool where we were. We didn’t participate in any trivia. We’re the types that can always find something to do and it’s not a “must” or a “need” for us to be entertained constantly, but that’s our choice. For those who love to be entertained on vacation, there’s no shortage of it. It seems that there is something for everyone and there also seemed to be some type of activity going on during the day and evening and that’s not just this cruise, but every Carnival cruise we’ve been on. My rating: A

 

Entertainment:

Shows in the Venetian Palace: We never went to any of the shows that were held in the Venetian Palace but there seemed to be something in there every night. I can’t rate the shows because we did not attend any.

Seaside Theater: Carnival also has the Seaside Theater where they’ll have movies under the stars on most nights. We never did watch any of the movies, but they were showing some movies that I do want to see and most seem to be recent, popular movies.

Punchliner Comedy Club: This is held in the Victoria Lounge, Panorama Deck 5, aft. We are very happy with the Punchliner Comedy that Carnival offers now and this is something my DH really enjoys and really looks forward to when we cruise. He loves watching comedy and what better place to watch comedy than in a comedy club. There are usually four different comedians during the week and usually four days of comedy shows. There are two the first part of the week for two nights and they do several shows, both PG and adult only, and they both perform both those nights and alternate. Mid-week, they get off the ship and two more get on. Again, both doing PG and adult only, and alternate. Most of them are pretty good but some are better than others. Regardless, we enjoy the comedy shows and we really enjoy seeing the shows. My rating: A

 

Cruise Director: For our cruise we had "Classy Cassie". We were supposed to have Felipe but he was at a CD meeting, so Classie Cassie was filling in for him that week. You know, we're just the types that we make our cruise, not the CD. Classie Cassie always sounded very upbeat and pleasant and to me she did fine. There was an assistant CD, but I forget his name, but I thought he was fine too. I know others were a little disappointed that Felipe would not be our CD for our cruise but we've never had him before and to us it didn't matter. Although she was just filling in, we thought she did a good job and always seemed happy and pleasant and her assistant did too. My rating: A (she apparently had big shoes to fill while filling in for Felipe)

Music on board: There was a variety of music whether it was a DJ, bands (usually on Promenade Deck 5 right by the Promenade ‘casino’ bar), the music performed in the Piano Bar, and I’m pretty sure they brought back the steel drum band, but we didn’t see them. I think they performed in the main lobby, but again, not sure since we really weren’t down there much. We never went into the Piano Bar but our table mates at dinner went often and said it was great. They DJ was very good at getting the crowd going and played the popular line dances (Cupid Shuffle/Wobble and others I can’t name). They also have music in the dance club, but we’ve never gone in there since neither of us are into dancing. We did hear bits and pieces of the music in the Promenade and one or two of them weren’t that great. Overall, there is a variety of music for all tastes in music. My rating overall: B

Deck Parties: There were two deck parties, one when we sailed out of San Juan and another the night we left Barbados. We usually enjoy both, although the deck party on the evening after leaving Barbados is nowhere near as large as the one during sail away from San Juan. When I say large, I mean attendance. We love that they have those because it’s nice being able to be on deck at night with a party going on. My rating: A

 

Itinerary:

Sailed out of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI; Sea Day; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Philipsburg, St. Maarten/St. Martin; returning to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This is, hands down, our favorite itinerary. We prefer the port heavy itineraries and this itinerary has five different ports on a seven day itinerary. The islands on this route are all very mountainous and scenic. We also pass several other islands that we don’t stop at during the cruise and we really enjoy the views sailing past. Each of the islands also have so much to see and do, so this itinerary can be repeated numerous times and you can get a different experience on each cruise. This is our second time on this exact itinerary and I’d be happy to do it again. I would definitely recommend this itinerary, even to those who prefer sea days to port days, just to at least experience the beautiful scenery of these islands is worth it. My rating: A

 

 

 

***Throughout the review I made a special note of how Liberty docked in each port, whether she was pulled directly in or backed in; which side the pier was at after she docked; and where we got off Liberty in each port. This will most likely vary from cruise to cruise, so this isn’t a set routine***

 

 

 

Carnival Excursions: We booked the Sky Ride to Paradise Point through Carnival. With this excursion, there is no assigned time, other than they time you are in St. Thomas. It’s a little cheaper booking through Carnival then if you just go over and purchase tickets directly for the Sky Ride. There is no transportation needed as it is in walking distance and just outside of the Havensite Mall area. I would definitely recommend this, at least once. The views are beautiful. My rating: A

Privately booked, non-Carnival tours: We booked two this time. In Barbados we used JP’s Taxi Service with Patsie Nurse and it included snorkeling with turtles at Payne’s Bay Beach and then a tour of Barbados’ east coast, which offers spectacular scenery. Patsie asked before the east coast part of the tour if we liked beer, so she got a cooler of beer and she also had bottled water, which was included in the price of our tour. In St. Lucia we booked the “Land, Sea, and Beach Adventure” through Spencer Ambrose. The tour was a speedboat from Liberty to Soufriere then we took air conditioned vans to some of the sights (the drive-in volcano, Touraille Waterfall and Gardens, a banana farm, and a stop at an overlook with great views) and back to Soufriere where we got back in the speedboat and had about 2 and a half hours at Jalousie/Sugar Beach to swim, snorkel, or just enjoy the beautiful beach. A full meal was provided, along with unlimited drinks (rum punch beer, coke, diet coke, and bottled water). The trip back to the ship from Jalousie/Sugar Beach was by speedboat, but we had several stops at points of interest (the “sea tour”) on the way back. My rating for both: A

Taxis: We used taxis for the other islands we visited and I have to say, each and every driver we had was great. Very friendly, each told us about the island we were visiting and some history, we always felt safe, the vehicles were comfortable and air conditioned, all of our drivers were safe and we never felt we had a “white knuckle” ride; and most of all, they were very reliable and timely when they’d come to pick us up if we needed picked up. My rating for all, including those in San Juan when we weren’t exactly cruising: A

Weather: We took a risk of taking a cruise during hurricane season and had been really sweating it out with each tropical wave that would develop off the coast of Africa. Knowing this, I was prepared to experience some not too desirable weather. To our pleasant surprise, we probably had some of the best weather on this cruise than we had on a cruise, or any other vacation, in a long time. Even though we had some rain in Barbados, it was not an all-day rain and we did see the sun that day. The ocean was also the calmest I’ve ever seen it while on a cruise.

 

 

 

Fellow passengers: OK, just being honest here. We really did have a “mixed bag” this time. There was definitely an age range, so there wasn’t a majority of passengers that were certain ages. We had kids, teens, young adults, middle aged adults, and older folks. Overall, most of our fellow passengers we encountered were very nice and easy to talk to and really seemed to be enjoying their vacation.

This was our first experience with this, ever, on a cruise. On this cruise there were a few larger groups that hung out in large groups and most of them appeared to be anywhere from their 20’s to late 30’s, maybe some early 40’s (Class reunions maybe???). They seemed to act like Liberty was their ship and to heck with anyone else. They were loud, and if there groups were coming, you’d better get out of the way or you’re going to get plowed over. We didn’t feel like getting plowed over, so there were several times that DH and I would have to walk single file and stay as close to the walls as possible, until they passed. If they were coming behind and wanted to pass, they’d just push their way or bump their way through without even saying “excuse me” or an apology. The impression we got was “you’re in my way, move”.

Line cutting…we actually witnessed it this time, first time since our Glory cruise in 2010. Twice we saw middle aged men cut in front of others in the Lido breakfast buffet line right near the bacon then shove cereal bowls at the gal serving the bacon, ordering her to “fill it”. Did this bother us? To be honest, yes it did. No reason to be rude to total strangers who also paid for their vacation or to be rude to the gal who was passing out bacon. Did it bother us enough to ruin our cruise? Oh h*** no! We live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and this is an area that seems to attract the “me first” types. So a lot of what we saw on the cruise, we see every single day here. Many others we talked to had the same complaints, so others witnessed the same thing. It may have bothered them more, but again, we deal with it on a daily basis here. We may live in Virginia, considered a southern state, but we’re too close to DC for the southern influence (manners). There were some things that others told us about that we did not witness ourselves but I believe them, since I heard some of those complaints from more than one person.

Balcony door slamming. This was the worst experience we’ve ever had with balcony door slammers and it wasn’t just occasionally, the cabin next door was constantly slamming because they were in and out, in and out and at it constantly. On past cruises we’d always here an occasional balcony door slam, but it was very sporadic. Once others realized, they’d hold the door and let it close gently. Not this time.

Chair Hogs…there may have been some but it wasn’t really an issue, unless you consider the St. Kitts morning, but those were cute. I'm referring to the towel animal "chair hogs". On our sea day, there were still plenty of loungers available, even very late morning once we got up there.

We did not witness obnoxious, fall down drunks or any alcohol fueled brawls. Yes, there was drinking – it’s a cruise, but I never saw anyone out of control. I’ve seen comments about perceptions that some have of Carnival as being a “Spring Break” drunken atmosphere. We’ve been on six Carnival cruises and never experienced it. All of our cruises have been seven days, so that may have something to do with it.

To end that, I will say that we met some really nice people who we really enjoyed getting to know. Whether it be the others we’d gotten to “know” before the cruise on “that other” roll call, our table mates at dinner, and several others we’d meet at the Red Frog Rum Bar, elsewhere on Liberty, or in port. They more than made up for the other groups because we enjoyed their company and getting to know them. I will not rate our fellow passengers.

 

 

 

Debarkation: We did the “self-assist” debarkation, meaning we kept our luggage with us and had to carry it off ourselves. It was DH’s decision to do this and it was for the convenience of having the main suitcase with us. We both had items that we needed that night/next morning that are restricted by the airlines and aren’t permitted in carry-on luggage. It’s nice to have our actual suitcases with us so we can just back them in those instead of having to move those items from the carry-ons to the suitcases that we check at the airport.

The morning of debarkation, our CD, “Classy Cassie” was very good with announcements and communication with debarkation instructions. Since we were self-assist, we were one of the first groups to be called. We carried our own luggage off Liberty and went down to Deck “0”, as instructed. They made several announcements letting us know that we needed our Sail & Sign Cards, photo ID, and completed US Customs Forms out. Even the Carnival staff assisting with debarkation were helpful with the reminders. We got right off Liberty and there was a very short line for US Customs and after a few of the typical questions, we were on our way. My rating: A

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Last but not least, my favorite picture. This started when fellow CC member, Cruisin Karen, told me she hopes I have a "very big wall to hang those pictures" on at home. We don't have that kind of wall space, but I replied to her with "I have have one that is definitely going to get enlarged and put in a frame to hang up. It may be my "stand out" picture of this cruise. When I post it, I'm sure you'll know which one it is."

 

Because our our posts about this picture, a few of you had asked which picture it was, so here it is:

 

 

I don't know if its the colors in the picture or what, it's one of my favorites. This was taken with the phone, believe it or not. It's basically point and shoot - hold the phone up and press the button, but I love it. I love the ones of Liberty lit up at night and will get a couple of those enlarged.

Again, in this review are just my personal thoughts on what our experiences were. We had a very enjoyable cruise on Carnival Liberty and this will probably go down as one of our favorite cruises. There are probably many reasons why I say that.

 

The itinerary is my favorite. Another chance to sail on Carnival Liberty, meaning that we had the opportunity to sail on a ship that we’d been on before, which is a first for us. I'm just happy when I do get to see one of the ships we've been on in the past. Getting to go on a cruise this year instead of an AI was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

When thinking of cruising, we all imagine sunshine and gorgeous weather, but because we were sailing during hurricane season, I had to lower my expectations. I had to keep in mind that we may actually have a lot of rain. I always wanted to be on a cruise with smooth seas like we had, but I had to consider it was a good possibility that we’d have strong winds and choppy seas, and maybe even having to miss one or more of our scheduled ports. Then two weeks before our sailing, the engine fire and the realization that we may not be going on a cruise on Liberty at all. And last but not least, DH’s luggage being MIA (well, not exactly missing…we knew where it was). I was beginning to wonder if these were signs that our cruise was going to be a cruise from “you know where”. Again, expectations were set very low.

With all of this taking place, DH and I weren’t going though that roller coaster ride of emotions by ourselves…we were on “that other” roll call with the others we’d gotten to know. We could commiserate with each other in the weeks leading up to September 20, whether it be for each tropical wave that developed that could potentially turn into a tropical storm/hurricane, or the possibility we wouldn’t be sailing at all. We had all been looking forward to our cruise and were all dealing with the ups and downs leading up to it. As I mentioned earlier, DH and I had booked last minute, but the others on "that other" roll call had booked quite a while back, having a long wait, but really looking forward to it. One of them had put in A LOT of overtime at work to make this trip possible. Yes, we would have been disappointed but I felt terrible for the others and even more so than ourselves.

But it wall worked out and we got to sail on Liberty, the weather was perfect, the seas smooth, and we made some great friends through “that other” roll call and our table mates at dinner and I’m happy that we are still in touch. You guys know who you are and I couldn’t have asked for a better group to cruise with and we’d love to cruise with all of you again. And DH…I want to thank my DH for a wonderful “surprise” birthday present…one of our best ever cruises AND for being such a good sport throughout.

Well, this wraps up my review of our September 20, 2015 sailing on the southern Caribbean itinerary out of San Juan. I want to thank all of you who have been following along. I know this was a long review, but I enjoyed reliving our cruise by doing this review, and sharing our experiences with you. I hope it’s been helpful, or will be helpful, in planning for any of you who currently have a cruise booked out of San Juan to the southern Caribbean or are planning on booking one. Whether it’s on Liberty or Fascination after she takes over that itinerary, this is one itinerary where the ship isn’t the “star”, the itinerary is.

I also want to thank all of you who commented for your kind comments and encouragement…I almost gave up on this a few times, but knowing you were following along and enjoying it let me know that it was worth finishing. Again, much thanks!

 

 

Holly

Edited November 19, 2015 by pghsteelerfan

[luvndabass]

Thank you for such a wonderful and informative review. I enjoyed every bit of it!! I really appreciate your attention to detail. My family and I will be on the Liberty Dec 19. I am so excited and better prepared thanks to your review. It has been awesome to have not only insights from you but as well, from others who are also reviewing their experiences on this itinerary.

I've been lurking but felt that it was necessary to express my gratitude for the time that you took to complete this.

Thank you so very much!

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you for such a wonderful and informative review. I enjoyed every bit of it!! I really appreciate your attention to detail. My family and I will be on the Liberty Dec 19. I am so excited and better prepared thanks to your review. It has been awesome to have not only insights from you but as well, from others who are also reviewing their experiences on this itinerary.

I've been lurking but felt that it was necessary to express my gratitude for the time that you took to complete this.

Thank you so very much!

 

Thank you so much and I'm so happy you enjoyed it and found it helpful in preparing for you upcoming cruise on Liberty. December 19? You don't have much longer to wait and I'm sure that time will fly by. :) I know it did for us. There are a lot of great reviews on this itinerary and I haven't seen two that have really been the same yet. We will probably do it again, but when, I don't know. It is our favorite and there is so much to see and do. Thank you again! :)