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

[pghsteelerfan]

Loved the cruise!! It was my 1st time to the Caribbean by ship. I also loved St Martin (Maho Beach) and the Boatyard in Barbados. I'm definitely going to cruise again.....

 

Yes, your review was very helpful - especially with all the photos - found my way around the ship no problem, recognized a lot from your photos so felt "at home". I believe it was also you that gave me the idea of using key chains for Christmas ornaments?? Paratripping's review was also a great help.

 

Loved St Lucia/Ambrose tour...

 

I'm so glad to hear you loved your cruise. We'd love to try some of the places you mentioned (Maho, Boatyard), so that will be my excuse to twist DH's arm for another cruise on this itinerary again. I'm so happy that the pictures were helpful to you and helped you feel at home on Liberty. She has our favorite decor of all the ships we've been on. I just love the colors, the wrought iron, and the color changing lights.

 

That probably was me that gave you the idea to use key chains as Christmas ornaments. We weren't able to find actual ornaments in San Juan, so I bought two key chains and converted them. :D

 

There are so many reviews that have helped me in the past, the ones I mentioned at the beginning, including Trippingpara's. They are actually going on Carnival Vista's inaugural cruise this year and I'm really looking forward to his review. :)

[trippingpara]

There are so many reviews that have helped me in the past, the ones I mentioned at the beginning, including Trippingpara's. They are actually going on Carnival Vista's inaugural cruise this year and I'm really looking forward to his review. :)

 

Thank you guys so much for the shout outs and kind words. You have no idea how excited we are for the inaugural run of the Vista. I've already started my review with all of the pre-work its taking to get ready for this cruise. I'm also planning on incorporating more videos with this review (mainly of the ship).

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you guys so much for the shout outs and kind words. You have no idea how excited we are for the inaugural run of the Vista. I've already started my review with all of the pre-work its taking to get ready for this cruise. I'm also planning on incorporating more videos with this review (mainly of the ship).

 

Hey there! You are very welcome and your reviews have been very helpful to so many, myself included and your pictures are spectacular! I just saw the countdown in your signature...only 41 days left!!! That is going to be a very nice cruise and I'm so happy you'll be doing a review, which I am really looking forward to. Glad that you'll be adding some video. I hope you have a wonderful time and great weather. :)

[Shih-tzu]

Trippingpara - hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Vista. Look forward to your review.... Pghsteeler fan - hope you get to go visit Maho and Boatyard on your next trip.

[carolinagalcruise2011]

I found your review while trying to find info on St. Kitts and read the whole review! I really enjoyed reading your review & will definitely be checking out the Brimstone Hill Fortress when I cruise in May.:)

[pghsteelerfan]

I found your review while trying to find info on St. Kitts and read the whole review! I really enjoyed reading your review & will definitely be checking out the Brimstone Hill Fortress when I cruise in May.:)

 

Thank you for letting me know you found and enjoyed it. :) You'll love St. Kitts! I could seriously spend a week (or more) there and we really did enjoy Brimestone Hill Fortress. I hope you have a great time and great weather on your upcoming cruise.

 

And Shih-tzu...thank you about Maho and Boatyard. :D

[skidawg79]

The last time we did this cruise on Valor, I had just missed a great photo opportunity for a sunrise picture, due to a fogged up lens. I was able to get pictures, but the ones I missed would have been much better. This time I wanted to be sure not to miss another opportunity. As I mentioned earlier in the review, the sunrise and sunset times are both listed at the top of each day’s “Fun Times” and the sunrise for the morning of St. Thomas was 6:10am.

 

I was going to set my alarm clock to go off at 6:00am, but was having trouble with getting the alarm set, so I got it back to 5:30am. That also happens to be our “normal” wake up time during the week, so I just left it. When the alarm went off at 5:30am, I got up and let DH sleep. I had my cameras ready but in order to prevent the fogged over lenses, I took the cameras out and set them on the balcony table then went back inside and got ready for the day, trying to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn’t wake DH. I was ready by 6:00am and went back out to the balcony. This was going to be a beautiful sunrise!

I could see St. Thomas (we were actually getting pretty close) and we were also passing “Sail Rock”, which is a tiny little island off the coast of St. Thomas. The first time we saw it was on our Glory cruise in 2010 and we also saw it when we got up in the morning of our Valor cruise in 2013. When we see “Sail Rock” now, we know that we’re about a half hour from the pier at Havensight, where we will be docking. Since I didn’t have to deal with fogged lenses this time, I got a lot of pictures. The water was calm, the clouds were beautiful and their reflections shown on the water. Then the actual sunrise. I definitely took a lot of pictures. I had to make up for the last time, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely incredible pictures. Well worth the 5:30am wake up call!!! I know this was a few month ago, but i remember you commenting when i wrote my review on the Valor with this itinerary 2 years ago (link in my signature haha)!! I'll probably make more comments haha. first of all, LOVE Puerto Rico, glad your bag situation worked out and can't wait to read the rest!

[pghsteelerfan]

Absolutely incredible pictures. Well worth the 5:30am wake up call!!! I know this was a few month ago, but i remember you commenting when i wrote my review on the Valor with this itinerary 2 years ago (link in my signature haha)!! I'll probably make more comments haha. first of all, LOVE Puerto Rico, glad your bag situation worked out and can't wait to read the rest!

 

I do remember commenting on your review (about both being from Pittsburgh). :) I just took a few minutes and looked through your review again (cruise withdrawal) and didn't realize you'd never finished. LOL!!! I can't believe that was 2 years ago already.

 

Thank you about the pictures. The 5:30am wake up was worth it, even though we got to bed much later than we'd planned. I also love Puerto Rico and I would love to do this itinerary...again...so hopefully next time we can plan for some extra time. The luggage...we just laugh about that now and we're just glad we got it.

 

Thanks for reading this one! I noticed you'll be on Magic next month, will you be doing another review?

[skidawg79]

I do remember commenting on your review (about both being from Pittsburgh). :) I just took a few minutes and looked through your review again (cruise withdrawal) and didn't realize you'd never finished. LOL!!! I can't believe that was 2 years ago already.

 

Thank you about the pictures. The 5:30am wake up was worth it, even though we got to bed much later than we'd planned. I also love Puerto Rico and I would love to do this itinerary...again...so hopefully next time we can plan for some extra time. The luggage...we just laugh about that now and we're just glad we got it.

 

Thanks for reading this one! I noticed you'll be on Magic next month, will you be doing another review?

 

I definitely plan on doing a review, not only does it help people planning a trip but it also helps me relive it and get over the withdrawal! Also getting a go pro and hopefully try to put together a little video, we will see how that goes though lol.

 

I'm no longer in Pittsburgh as I moved to Colorado about a year ago although Pittsburgh and PA in general (grew up in Allentown) will always be close to me! I'm up to St Lucia on your review. Have me hooked!

[pghsteelerfan]

I definitely plan on doing a review, not only does it help people planning a trip but it also helps me relive it and get over the withdrawal! Also getting a go pro and hopefully try to put together a little video, we will see how that goes though lol.

 

I'm no longer in Pittsburgh as I moved to Colorado about a year ago although Pittsburgh and PA in general (grew up in Allentown) will always be close to me! I'm up to St Lucia on your review. Have me hooked!

 

Great, I'm looking forward to it! :) We've been to all the ports so it will be kind of like reliving a couple of our past cruises. I saw you mention that in the last page of your review (I did skim through it again)...how do you like Colorado? I've never been but heard it's beautiful. I have friends who moved there a few years ago and love the pictures they post (including all kinds of wildlife) on a certain social media site. Being in Virginia, I'm a "displaced yinzer", but PA will always be home. We still have family and some close friends up there. At least we don't have very far, a four hour drive.

Edited March 30, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[jpm1973]

I know I'm a bit late but glad I found your review...just incredible and loved all your great pictures. I'm stopping at four of these ports next month when Fascination moves from Jacksonville to San Juan so it was nice to get a preview and help in planning!

[pghsteelerfan]

I know I'm a bit late but glad I found your review...just incredible and loved all your great pictures. I'm stopping at four of these ports next month when Fascination moves from Jacksonville to San Juan so it was nice to get a preview and help in planning!

 

It's funny how older reviews pop again every now and then. There are several that I'll see pop up that I somehow miss the first time around and enjoy reading to get a "cruise fix" in. :) Now that Liberty is no longer sailing the itinerary out of San Juan, I'm so glad that you found it helpful for your upcoming cruise on Fascination for some of the same ports and hopefully others reading who are planning on sailing on Fascination can still benefit as well. I have gotten so many great ideas from other reviews that have really helped us get the most of our cruises. This is, by far, our favorite itinerary and the islands you'll get to are just gorgeous. Thank you so much for your nice comments. I notice you have several reviews yourself...so glad you have the links in your signature because I'm definitely going to read them (I'm going through "cruise withdrawal"). We were also on Glory in 2010, same itinerary except we also went to Grand Turk. Will you be doing a review of your Fascination cruise? If so, I'll look forward to it. Thank you again.

Edited March 31, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[jpm1973]

Will you be doing a review of your Fascination cruise? If so, I'll look forward to it. Thank you again.

 

 

I'm definitely planning on it!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[skidawg79]

Great, I'm looking forward to it! :) We've been to all the ports so it will be kind of like reliving a couple of our past cruises. I saw you mention that in the last page of your review (I did skim through it again)...how do you like Colorado? I've never been but heard it's beautiful. I have friends who moved there a few years ago and love the pictures they post (including all kinds of wildlife) on a certain social media site. Being in Virginia, I'm a "displaced yinzer", but PA will always be home. We still have family and some close friends up there. At least we don't have very far, a four hour drive.

 

I finished your review and thank you again!! Getting more and more excited for my trip by the day. Colorado is absolutely beautiful, have pictures of me walking by elk, huge deer/buck, go skiing every weekend. Love it here. I post a ton of pictures on that other social media site and make all my friends jealous.

 

Back to your review, i loved that itinerary and my mom has showed interest in doing her first cruise and was thinking about that one to take her on next year. You are 100% right as they are the most beautiful/mountainous islands I've been to. She retires in June and thought it'd be a nice retirement present!

Edited April 1, 2016 by skidawg79

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm definitely planning on it!

 

I'm really looking forward to it, especially after seeing some of the pictures you got! I just finished your Glory review and really enjoyed it and will be starting the Victory one next, and then the RC cruises. Really looking forward to your Oasis of the Seas one. I love the picture you got of Glory lit up at night while in San Juan. As you saw, I finally got my opportunity for a picture of a ship at night on this cruise. Congrats on winning the slot tournament! When you get to St. Thomas this trip, I sure hope you get to do what you plan to this time. That was a great excuse for a "re do" cruise to hit St. Thomas.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

You are quite welcome. I enjoyed reliving our cruise while doing it, but I also hope that it can assist others in planning.

Edited April 1, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

I finished your review and thank you again!! Getting more and more excited for my trip by the day. Colorado is absolutely beautiful, have pictures of me walking by elk, huge deer/buck, go skiing every weekend. Love it here. I post a ton of pictures on that other social media site and make all my friends jealous.

 

Back to your review, i loved that itinerary and my mom has showed interest in doing her first cruise and was thinking about that one to take her on next year. You are 100% right as they are the most beautiful/mountainous islands I've been to. She retires in June and thought it'd be a nice retirement present!

 

 

Living in Colorado and pictures of elk and huge deer...that's what my friends are posting pictures of. They even posted a picture of a rattlesnake they saw on a trail that looked like it was in the mountains. They used the zoom and didn't get close. Yikes! And skiing, I've never been skiing out west but heard it's a lot better than the PA skiing. Did you ski at Seven Springs while living in the Pittsburgh area? That's where we always went with ski club in jr and high school. I was never really good at it, but it was fun.

 

A cruise on this itinerary would be a great retirement present for your mom and what an itinerary for a first cruise! Thanks again for reading and Happy Weekend to you!

[bjcruiser]

Thank you so much for doing this review. DH and I are doing this same itinerary in Sept. 2017 on the Fascination. I can not wait. I have wanted to the southern route for a long time.

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you so much for doing this review. DH and I are doing this same itinerary in Sept. 2017 on the Fascination. I can not wait. I have wanted to the southern route for a long time.

 

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm so happy that you'll finally be getting to do this itinerary, it is our favorite and also very scenic. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

[Crusin Karen]

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm so happy that you'll finally be getting to do this itinerary, it is our favorite and also very scenic. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Holly, someone was commenting on Jamman's Fascination review and wanted advice about St. Lucia. I told her about Spencer Ambrose and also directed her to your review and awesome pictures, starting on page 393. This is such a darn coincidence lol. Would give ANYTHING to go back there, especially with this horrible weather we have had for SO LONG!

[pghsteelerfan]

Holly, someone was commenting on Jamman's Fascination review and wanted advice about St. Lucia. I told her about Spencer Ambrose and also directed her to your review and awesome pictures, starting on page 393. This is such a darn coincidence lol. Would give ANYTHING to go back there, especially with this horrible weather we have had for SO LONG!

 

Thank you Karen. I haven't been on CC for about three weeks now, so I appreciate you helping out. I'm actually in my hometown near Pittsburgh for a family emergency and now that things seem to be looking brighter, I'm hoping to get back home to my DH sometime next week. I'm glad I subscribed to the thread to my review so I can receive email notification and respond.

 

I'm with you in wishing I was in St. Lucia right now. We'really having the same cruddy weather in PA and my DH told me it's been the same in VA, where they've had 10 days of rain in a row. Hope this make sense...I'm thumb typing on phone. Here's my email to keep in touch since I can easily check it. I can also fill you in later as to what happened. Thank you again for helping with the St. Lucia question.

[Crusin Karen]

Thank you Karen. I haven't been on CC for about three weeks now, so I appreciate you helping out. I'm actually in my hometown near Pittsburgh for a family emergency and now that things seem to be looking brighter, I'm hoping to get back home to my DH sometime next week. I'm glad I subscribed to the thread to my review so I can receive email notification and respond.

 

I'm with you in wishing I was in St. Lucia right now. We'really having the same cruddy weather in PA and my DH told me it's been the same in VA, where they've had 10 days of rain in a row. Hope this make sense...I'm thumb typing on phone. Here's my email to keep in touch since I can easily check it. I can also fill you in later as to what happened. Thank you again for helping with the St. Lucia question.

Holly, don't see your email but will be keeping good thoughts for you. Went thru a family emergency myself a few months ago and I know how heartbreaking it is. Hoping EVERYTHING is brighter very soon!

[pghsteelerfan]

Holly, don't see your email but will be keeping good thoughts for you. Went thru a family emergency myself a few months ago and I know how heartbreaking it is. Hoping EVERYTHING is brighter very soon!

 

Thank you Karen. The email...reason you didn'the see it is because I forgot to add it. So much on my mind and I've been on auto pilot. Here is that email before I forget: dgieh@comcast.net.

 

Things are looking on brighter side, and my family got a miracle. I know Jamman mentions their Kevin is still with them and I believe. We lost my brother exactly five years since ago last week and we all believe he had a part in my dad's survival of this. Thank you for your thoughts. I'may so sorry that you went through a family emergency too. I'm hoping you had a positive outcome and will keep you in our thoughts.

Edited May 6, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[zazou]

I love your detailed review. I stumble onto your post about St-Lucia but it was so interresting that I found myself read most of your review. LOL! even to place that I won't go.

 

I will book with Spencer Ambrose land and sea adventure because of your beautiful picture.

 

Thanks a lot!

[pghsteelerfan]

I love your detailed review. I stumble onto your post about St-Lucia but it was so interresting that I found myself read most of your review. LOL! even to place that I won't go.

 

I will book with Spencer Ambrose land and sea adventure because of your beautiful picture.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Awwww, thank you for your kind words about my review. I was surprised to see it pop up again. Last year at this time, we were counting down the days for this cruise.

 

So happy you'll be booking with Spencer and we loved the land and sea adventure, St. Lucia is just beautiful, by land and sea, and Spencer and crew are so nice.

 

Thank you again for your kinds words and I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise. :)

Edited August 3, 2016 by pghsteelerfan