Review: Carnival Liberty Southern Caribbean 12/6/15 to 12/13/15 – “…I’LL MURDER YOU!

[djshagadellic]

12/9 part 3

 

After the second snorkeling spot, we headed to and anchored off a lovely resort beach. We dined on some classic Bajan grub served buffet style, BH grabbed a couple of floating noodles, and we swam to the shore and back. Just as the captain had warned us, it was a longer swim than at first glance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crew and passengers on our catamaran cruise were phenomenal! It was an intimate 15 person cocktail party on the water: great rum drinks, sweet island music, and pleasant conversation. I chatted up a couple that lived in Cupecoy and hit them up for some local intel about SXM. John, one of the crew, answered all my island geography questions and whipped up some tasty piña colada's on our return. This was our most expensive excursion of the cruise, but man was it ever worth every penny! My only real complaint? It was too short!

 

[djshagadellic]

12/9 part 4

 

On our way back to 1042, we stopped at the cruise terminal to find some drinks and snacks. I’d read over and over that Barbados is not the greatest shopping port. Well I’m sad to say those reports were quite accurate. The port shops are really small and way too crowded! Poor BH tried many stores and finally found the only place that had canned soda.

 

Back to 1042…pool time…trivia…drink at Alchemy

 

BH was justifiably sad to have missed on the mixology class and hearing me rave about some of the Alchemy concoctions wasn’t helping matters. So we decided to go back and have one of my favorite drinks there, the Martini Seduction. It was just as good as the first time!

 

Back to 1042…dinner…Sleepy Time!

 

 

 

 

[peachesncream4u]

I'm enjoying your review.

[bowulf]

Looking forward to the rest... We are leaving in less than 55 days on a last minute Christmas present cruise on the 21st of Feb.

[djshagadellic]

I'm enjoying your review.

Thanks!

[djshagadellic]

Looking forward to the rest... We are leaving in less than 55 days on a last minute Christmas present cruise on the 21st of Feb.

That's awesome! Enjoy!

[djshagadellic]

12/10 St. Lucia

 

Our St. Lucia excursion with James Touring Service didn’t meet till 9 am, so we had time to take a couple of port pics and eat breakfast in the MDR. Breakfast was quick and tasty! If I wasn’t chatting up our tablemates, we’d have been out of there even faster than the 35 minutes it actually took. The drizzly morning gave us the second rainbow of the trip!

 

 

 

 

Met James at the appointed place and time and were pleasantly surprised to learn we were the only two on the billed group tour. I guess with only our cruise ship in port, demand was a bit low and we got a private tour!

 

Perhaps more than in any other port, weather hampered our efforts in St. Lucia. We didn’t get hit with torrential downpours, just on and off drizzle and light rain, but it was enough to mess with traffic a bit, and wet roads meant going even slower on the super twisty ride out. James was an excellent driver, though, and neither one of us experienced any motion sickness. The ever changing light and moisture conditions also wreaked havoc with my photog duties. All day the weather was a little drizzly, a little rainy, a little sunny, just couldn’t make up its damn mind!

 

James asked if we could skip the Castries market portion of the tour so we could mitigate the traffic and get out to Soufriere. We were ok with this as neither one of us felt like shopping in the drizzle, and the sights we were most anticipating were close to Soufriere. We also agreed to skip the mud baths, opting instead to snorkel.

 

We chatted during the 45 minute drive through lush twisty roads. I shared that I had selected James over some of the bigger tour operators because I wanted a more intimate experience. We talked family histories, St. Lucia, and Pittsburgh Steelers. James is a huge Steeler’s fan! His van and all his umbrellas proudly don the Steeler team logo. Along the way we traded some cringe worthy jokes, mostly about the cows we spotted. BH pointing at a group of cows: “Those cows are out standing in their field!” James countered with: “what do you call a cow sleeping? ....ground beef!” We also learned another meaning for KFC: Keep you From Cookin’

 

James, a native St. Lucian, was an exceptionally knowledgeable tour guide and showered us with colorful anecdotes of local history and daily life. He also served what was undoubtedly the best damn rum punch of the trip! It had a little body, so I’m thinking some sort of tropical fruit puree, local spiced rum, and his wife’s magic touch! They really ought to bottle this stuff!

 

Our first stop was the banana plantation. I had heard these St. Lucia bananas were the stuff of legends, but honestly the ones we had weren’t all that. Maybe we got a bad batch. The stop was just at the side of the road and there was a small vendor hut from whom I bought a bottle of banana ketchup and a small trinket. We also got to sample a super strong, homemade, spiced rum that James affectionately dubbed “just in case.” Rumored to increase the male libido, a bottle of this brew is kept bedside, just in case!

 

This is where BH would like me to lend credence to her claim that I made her get out of the van, trip through plants, and scratch her ankle. While it’s true I asked her to get some black sand for our growing collection, I reasonably assumed she would use the little pathway a few steps away from where she chose to tackle the sharp shrubbery!

 

We stopped at a few lookouts and vendors on our tour. Vendors were nice and not too pushy. But buyer beware! Prices are quite arbitrary. The same bottle of Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum that was selling for $30 at some roadside stands was $15 at one of the port Duty Free shops. BH picked up a lovely pussy willow necklace, kind of like fuzzy beads, and I have to concur they are “so cool!” I got a giant conch shell as well as a hollowed out gourd stuffed with small ground spice packets and whole nutmeg.

 

The scenic stops included views of the Pitons, Marigot Bay, and the arch allegedly featured in Pirates of the Caribbean. While some of the scenes in the PotC franchise were indeed filmed in St. Lucia, the famous arch hanging scene was filmed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines near the north entrance of Wallilabou Bay. Perhaps this arch was featured in another scene, but I could not independently verify the voracity of this oft cited claim. I did verify that the original Dr. Doolittle and one of the Bachelor shows were filmed in St. Lucia. As lush and gorgeous an island as St. Lucia is, I’m puzzled as to its relatively low media presence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[djshagadellic]

12/10 part 2

“Sometimes bamboo falls on the road and you have to move it out of the way”

-BH

As promised our drive included a nice portion in the rainforest where we encountered a fallen bamboo tree. Apparently in the right conditions these suckers can grow 24-36 inches a day! Fallen bamboo/excess vegetation is a daily normal occurrence in these parts, as attested to by the least menacing machete wielding locals I ever expected to encounter. James took a couple of whacks with his small machete, the big one he had left at home, but we figured it would probably be easier to just lift it out of the way.

The waterfall stop, though brief, was highly memorable. As expected a few tourist groups had descended on the falls, but after waiting a couple of minutes for folks to clear out, we had the whole thing to ourselves! The water was a little cold, check that, not as warm as the tropical waters we’d grown accustomed to. BH recommends goggles to go under the waterfall, as she almost lost a contact trying to open her eyes. Water shoes came in handy at this stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[djshagadellic]

12/10 part 3

I mentioned to James I’d read about a couple of good snorkeling sites, but he seemed reluctant about trying them out. One, Anse Chastanet, had a very steep approach and he didn’t feel it would be safe in his van, and the other, Anse Pitons, would likely be crowded and only have boat access. He said perhaps he could find a local boat to take us to Anse Chastanet, but instead he ended up arranging for a couple of locals to take us snorkeling in the North end of Soufriere Bay (adjacent to the Hummingbird Beach Resort and in between the 2 places I had mentioned). With the on and off grey skies and the impromptu nature of picking the spot, I was initially skeptical about this snorkeling outing. Oh my, were my misgivings ever unfounded! Other than a couple of boats and a catamaran, we had the whole area to ourselves! Our local guides were experts and the snorkeling was divine! We even got up close and personal to the famous bat cave. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but we saw and heard tons of bats and crabs that live in this cave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[seannyice81]

Thanks for the nod'!

 

Great review so far!

 

You did the same thing as me in the US Virgin Islands. St. John is a wonderful place!

[djshagadellic]

12/10 part 4

After snorkeling we headed to the Golden Apple Restaurant for lunch. The sweetest lady you could ever meet ran this small joint, and we were treated to some wonderful down home Caribbean cooking. Marlin and tuna with provisions (breadfruit and plantains), divine black eyed peas and dumplings (I had seconds!), and an amazing, refreshing, and delicious fresh golden apple juice, easily the best damn apple juice that’d ever touched our lips!

Got back to port a little before three and did a bit of shopping at the port shops.

Trivia…Quick snack at the Deli…back to 1042 to rest & digest…Dinner

At some point we were walking on the ship and Felipe our Cruise Director started announcing the evening activities, among which was an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. Before I could get out “Who in their right mind would bring a Christmas sweater to a Caribbean Cr…” a wicked Grinch smirk took form on the BH’s face. I just shook my head in disbelief and said “of course YOU would bring one!”

It turned out to be a contest of 2 and BH won! Here she is pictured in the sweater with all her winnings: Ship on a stick, medal, cheap champagne, and her absolute favorite, the sweater cozy around the cheap champagne!

 

 

 

 

Later, out at the Seaside Theater, BH made me watch the live action version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Back in San Juan I was on a losing end of a foolish bet over how long it would take us to get into our cabin. As the loser, I was to suffer through a whole night of Christmas movies! BH promised if I agreed to this one movie, this one night, that debt would be considered paid. I personally prefer the much shorter animated classic but managed to survive the 1.7333 hours nonetheless!

[pghsteelerfan]

I was so happy to get back on CC after a trip to PA for Christmas and find a Liberty review!!! I just can't get enough reviews of this beautiful itinerary! :) I love reliving our own cruises and getting even more ideas for another...and there will be another on this itinerary but just don't know "when" yet.

 

I just sat down and read your whole review up to this point. I really love your writing style and humor and your pictures are gorgeous!!! I'd have loved to have had all the extra time in St. Thomas that you did. We did the Carnival excursion for snorkeling at Trunk Bay in 2010, but we're going to do it, on our own, next time we make it to St. Thomas.

 

Thank you for your kind words about the review I did and I'm hoping it was helpful to you in some way. And all of the other reviews that you mentioned...I've also read them and really enjoyed them all. Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your trip and I'm definitely following along and looking forward to the rest. Oh, I saw your "Duck Diaries", that's great idea, love it and those pictures. :) .

[djshagadellic]

Thanks for the nod'!

 

Great review so far!

 

You did the same thing as me in the US Virgin Islands. St. John is a wonderful place!

Right back at ya!

 

I know! The girlfriend and I were grateful we had you as a guinea pig! Telling us catching the 8am ferry was no big deal set both of our minds at ease.

[djshagadellic]

I was so happy to get back on CC after a trip to PA for Christmas and find a Liberty review!!! I just can't get enough reviews of this beautiful itinerary! :) I love reliving our own cruises and getting even more ideas for another...and there will be another on this itinerary but just don't know "when" yet.

 

I just sat down and read your whole review up to this point. I really love your writing style and humor and your pictures are gorgeous!!! I'd have loved to have had all the extra time in St. Thomas that you did. We did the Carnival excursion for snorkeling at Trunk Bay in 2010, but we're going to do it, on our own, next time we make it to St. Thomas.

 

Thank you for your kind words about the review I did and I'm hoping it was helpful to you in some way. And all of the other reviews that you mentioned...I've also read them and really enjoyed them all. Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your trip and I'm definitely following along and looking forward to the rest. Oh, I saw your "Duck Diaries", that's great idea, love it and those pictures. :) .

 

Thank you so much! Your posts were quite helpful and helped me fact check some older info.

 

I was bummed when I read you hadn't ventured off to the Panorama not so secret deck. Next time you're on the liberty you must check it out. I have a feeling it's right up your alley, especially during sunrise and sunsets. Just keep going forward on 10 and you can't miss the double door entrances on either port or starboard side.

 

We did have an awful lot of fun with those silly ducks and they were always a great conversation starter!

[pghsteelerfan]

Thank you so much! Your posts were quite helpful and helped me fact check some older info.

 

I was bummed when I read you hadn't ventured off to the Panorama not so secret deck. Next time you're on the liberty you must check it out. I have a feeling it's right up your alley, especially during sunrise and sunsets. Just keep going forward on 10 and you can't miss the double door entrances on either port or starboard side.

 

We did have an awful lot of fun with those silly ducks and they were always a great conversation starter!

 

Thanks for letting me know about the Panorama "not so secret" decks. I just thought those were only accessible to those staying in the cabins in that section. It actually sounds like the access to the secret deck on 6 and 7. Thanks for letting me know that. I can always get more information from others' reviews and I love reading them. :D

[TRAVELCRUZIN]

Looking forward to the rest... We are leaving in less than 55 days on a last minute Christmas present cruise on the 21st of Feb.

 

We are going on the 21st as well!!!! I look at my countdown every day!!!

[Beeslilmama]

12/7 STT & STJ

 

We snorkeled the trail for a bit and BH even spotted a decent sized octopus. Sadly by the time I got there it had vanished!

 

 

 

 

What kind of camera are you using?

[Kelsey D]

I would also love to know what camera you used. About to purchase one for my 1/31 Liberty cruise. Loving your review!

[crewsweeper]

Okay so...I'm trolling dis review, gawking at the pics of ST, SJ and Trunk Bay and the colorful fishees, when all of a sudden there on top of a snorkel vest is my ol' bud, Joe Bruin:eek: How'd da heck did he get there when he shudda been flapping around da pool wit does giants in speedos, aka a water polo team, trouncing da $$$ from across town.:D Dang if he don't pop up in strange places! Then disappears entirely!:p

 

 

Nice review dj. Taking notes for St Lucia, if the missus ever lets me go there.

[cpshaye]

Subscribing. Loving your review and pictures. We're going on this awesome trip Jan 24!

[LuCruise]

12/7 STT & STJ

 

Upon entering the cruise terminal in San Juan, we were handed a letter from Carnival informing us that our stay in St. Thomas would be extended. In order to complete scheduled repairs. We’d arrive early at 5AM (debark at 7 as scheduled) and the ship would not sail till 10 PM (back on board at 9:30). Though this meant we would not be able to have a sunrise arrival at Havensight, thus missing the picturesque views of all the yachts and the Charlotte Amelie hillsides at dawn, we were both ecstatic as it allotted us a lot more time to explore USVI. I realized during the whole fire episode back in September that if one is to be stranded in port, there are far worse places to be than St. Thomas. There is a ton to do in the USVI: Trunk Bay, Cinnamon, Hawksnest, & Maho beaches in St. John, Lindquist, Magens Bay, Sapphire, Coki, & Secret Harbor beaches in St. Thomas, Bushwhackers @Paradise Point, Corral World, Magic Ice, and Shopping at Havensight and Downtown Charlotte Amalie to name a few. Of course as we made it back to the ship mid-afternoon under the cover of the unrelenting sun, I thought of all those poor passengers who had to spend hours out on the same dock, some with nothing more than their S&S cards on them. Even in paradise, I imagine standing out in the hot sun gets old quick!

Getting to leave late is a luxury I wish I had in all ports, especially St. Maarten. I wouldn’t even mind a few overnight stays! Whether it's due to the conspiratorial idea that cruise ship operators prefer passengers to spend money on board vs. in port or as I suspect because of highly exorbitant overnight docking fees, scheduled overnight stops just don’t seem to happen in the non-luxury cruise world.

Having read everywhere about how pristine and picturesque St. John is, I had made a mission early in our trip planning to not miss this jewel. We decided to do this on our own and based on previous accounts, if we played our cards right, we’d be able to visit St. John and get back to the ship with no problems. Of course initially the BH was a little concerned about the time crunch, but I assured her it would be well worth it, and now we had an extra 5 hours!

As planned, we got up early, had in-room continental breakfast, and were off the ship a few minutes after 7. We walked right through, no lines or anything (deck zero for all stops). The drizzling grey skies I suspect contributed to not too many early risers. Hopped on a safari style trailer taxi, but since it was only the two of us, we got to sit inside and chat up the driver. He was a native and confirmed the sad history of the Caribbean natives.

Reader’s digest version: 2 native lineages, Caribs (warriors) & Arawak (peaceful). Both sets practically wiped off the face of the planet by colonial powers. The Europeans brought the sugar trade, slavery, and countless wars to protect “their” goods. Once slavery was outlawed and the sugar demand fell, most of the Caribbean was/is in dire financial straits. Those that have been able to take better advantage of tourism are faring better than those who could not.

Back to the review:

Caught the 8am ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. There are ferries out of Havensight as well, but they run less frequently and the ride is longer and over choppier waters. Each leg of our journey took between 15-25 minutes (cab to ferry, ferry, and cab to Trunk). We got a nice slice of local life in the cab and on the ferry as plenty of uniformed school kids and working stiff were out and about. We even saw some kids on their way to school in St. John!

By the time we docked in Cruz Bay, the rain had stopped and we got to enjoy a wonderful rainbow!

Hopped on another safari taxi and a short while later were at Trunk Bay. ¾ of St. John (including Trunk Bay) is a national park and is federally managed. Trunk boasts modern facilities, paved parking lot and walking paths, showers, changing areas, and snorkel, locker & chair rentals. We got there so early that neither the rentals nor the admissions booths were open (minimal $4 entrance fee when open).

Our reasons for getting to Trunk so early were two fold. One, we wanted to make it back to St. Thomas with plenty of time to spare and two, this place gets much more crowded as time passes. When we arrived there were maybe 5 people total on the beach and in the water. By the time we left around 11, it was much more crowded, but even at 11 there were plenty of space to be had on the beach. Counting Liberty, there were 3 large cruise ships in port that day. St. Thomas can get as many as 6 or 7 so YMMV.

We picked Trunk over the other beaches in St. John for the underwater snorkeling trail. Cinnamon was our back up if throngs had descended upon Trunk. We settled on a shady spot to the right of the Cay as facing the ocean. BH especially liked the easy beach entry on the soft sand and the pristine waters of our location. We laid out our stuff, put on our snorkeling gear and headed in. It’s really difficult to find superlatives that do this beach and bay justice. The sand is talcum powder soft. The water is a surreal crystal clear shade of aquamarine. The water temperature is like dipping into a warm freshly drawn bath. And the distant cries of tropical birds and frogs, and the soft surf gently echo in the wonderfully green lush landscape.

We snorkeled the trail for a bit and BH even spotted a decent sized octopus. Sadly by the time I got there it had vanished!

 

 

What a beautiful beach. The sand looks so soft and white and water so clear and blue.

 

Amazing review so far.

Looking forward to the rest... We are leaving in less than 55 days on a last minute Christmas present cruise on the 21st of Feb.

 

 

Sent from my ONE E1005 using Tapatalk

[Stinger-pr]

First up, cruise critic and the wonderful CC members who provided wonderful, dead on accurate info.

Specifically:

 

Stinger-pr (Lot of info and local knowledge packed in a relatively small space and one of the sweetest accounts I’ve read)

 

Hey!! Thanks for the shout-out! I am so glad that you liked my review and found it useful in planing your trip. Just found your review and can't wait to catch up and compare experiences. Have a good one!!

[djshagadellic]

We are going on the 21st as well!!!! I look at my countdown every day!!!

 

LOL. Yes counted down pretty much from when we booked! Enjoy!

[djshagadellic]

What kind of camera are you using?

 

Well between us we had a total of 5 cameras!

 

His and her smartphones (Samsung Galaxy S5 & Iphone 5S), a borrowed original GoPro, a Sony point and shoot, and a Canon T2i SLR.

 

In St. John we had my iphone, her Sony, and the GoPro.

[djshagadellic]

I would also love to know what camera you used. About to purchase one for my 1/31 Liberty cruise. Loving your review!

 

Please see my previous response regarding cameras we have.

 

We loved the GoPro for water pics, though we had an older one with no viewfinder. But the lens is so wide, you really don't need one. It's light, compact, and you can find some cheap accessories like a float so you don't accidentally lose it!

 

I've also heard good things about the Nikon CoolPix, Panasonic, and Fuji Waterproof cameras. If you're going to go with just one camera, I'd pick one of these three as they are more versatile for regular picture taking (more modes, zoom, etc).

 

Enjoy the cruise!