Carnival Liberty Review (5/23) Eastern Caribbean

[brendak28]

I am not too fond of heights either, but it wasn't that bad. You are in an enclosed cart. We were talking to the people riding with us and it didn't take but about 5 minutes to reach the top. My husband said that he saw taxis at Paradise Point. I did not,but wasn't looking for them. So, you may be able to take a taxi up there. The view was much better than the pictures show!!

 

My Camera is a Kodak Easyshare Z740. Thank you for the compliment. We have had this camera for several years now. It is bulky, but takes good pictures. I am trying to convince me husband to get me a smaller more streamline camera. I think he is about to give in ( I usually get what I want!!!). ;)

[brendak28]

Grand Turks

 

We arrived in Grand Turk around 11 am. The island is about 7 miles long by 2 miles wide. Carnival Cruise Lines owns the Cruise terminal. Since we arrived so late, we decided to get an early lunch at Margaritaville. Our food was awesome (burgers for the guys and chicken fajitas for me). Hubby said that the Pina Colada was also very good but not as good as the one in San Juan. Most of the people either headed for the beach or the pool, but we decided to go and do our shopping while it wasn't crowded. There are some pretty neat places (Ron Jons Surf Shop and Pirana Joes, as well as some local vendors). Once we got done shopping, the pool was covered up with people (very crowded). I had read on Cruise Critic about a man that rented Golf Carts. So, we walked to the Cruise Port entrance and rented a golf cart. It cost $80 for all day, and was worth every penny. This was my husbands favorite activity on the islands. The people on the island are so friendly, they would wave when they passed us on the streets. The island has a lot of hurricane damage due to Ike, last year, but they are working on rebuilding and repairing everything. We did not feel that we were in any danger at any time on the island. We rode out to the Lighthouse (after getting lost, but that was ok). The hardest part was driving on the left side of the road. The most unusual part was seeing donkeys, cows, and horses just walking down the road (WILD). The water was so beautiful. It was 101 degrees that day, but there was a constant breeze blowing across the island and it wasn't humid, so it was a wonderful day!!

 

Picture from the Cruise Terminal

 

 

Sailboat docked off of Grand Turk

 

 

Grand Turk Lighthouse

 

 

Donkeys walking on the side of the road

 

 

Water seen from the golf cart while riding

 

 

Margaritaville

 

 

 

We were back on the ship by 4:30 and Son went to swim. My husband and I decided to go swimming as well. So, we went to the Aft pool and enjoyed the cool water. It was great!! This was our second elegant night, and dinner was great as always. The show was Singing with the Big Band (featuring Christopher Alan Graves). This show was ok. He did a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra. However, he changed some of the lyrics, and his backdrops weren't just of Sammy and Frank, but also of himself, which struck us as odd. But he did have a good singing voice, just sort of stuck on himself. Then we stayed for the midnight show of the R Rated Adult Comedy Hypnosis Show with Puck. It was ok,but not nearly as good as his regular family friendly show. I probably wouldn't stay up till midnight to see it again!! After a slice of 1 am pizza it was off to bed. The pizza was VERY GOOD!! We enjoyed a piece of pizza and some ice cream at some point throughout the day everyday!!

 

NEXT FUN DAY AT SEA....Time to pack up.... I DIDNT WANT TO GO HOME!!!

 

[brendak28]

Fun Day at Sea!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We slept late (9am) this morning, since we had no where to be early. We went up to the Lido deck for breakfast. It was very good again, but super crowded. Had to look for a while for a table. Seems that everyone waited later to eat. We went and donated some more money to the Casino. WE did win a little over the week, but didn't stop while we were ahead and gave it all back to them. That's ok...that is what I plan for! We wrote a letter to the Cruise director for his morning show about us celebrating our Anniversary, hubbys Bday and son's Eagle Scout on the cruise and he read it on the Morning Show, so we got a bottle of champagne from Carnival. It was a nice surprise. We went to the Debarkation Talk, so that we would be sure to have everything in order to get off the ship. Thought about staying, but didn't want to have to serve food or clean rooms to be able to stay....oh well! Lunch on the Lido Deck (we ate at the Mongolian Grill). IT WAS AWESOME. There was a 20 minute wait in line, but it was so worth it. The food was hot and since you picked your food, it was what you liked. Went to a Shout out Trivia Game, which was very fun. Then of course had to attend the Marriage Show with Butch. Too Funny!! We then donated our $20 for triple card for 7 game bingo. Didn't win, but that's ok!! Went back to the room to begin packing (husband says that part of the cruise - SUCKED!). But it has to be done. Walked around the ship and took some pictures, did some shopping on the ship, donated some more to the casino, had a couple of final DODs. Then we got ready for dinner. Food was great, we loved our wait staff. They both did an awesome job. WE were at table 196!! Our room steward also did a great job, we never saw him - maybe once, but that was ok, he made sure we were taken care of!! After dinner, went back to change and to put our suitcases out for pickup. I was tired, so I went to bed. Husband and son went to the show. The Legends show was very good. They said that some of the singers were very good!!

 

TIME TO GET OFF THE SHIP!!!

 

This part is so sad!! None of us were ready to have to come home, but we had to!! Got up about 6:30 as we were pulling in at the terminal. It was a nice day. Got ready to leave and packed up the rest of our stuff. We went out on the balcony and waited to be called. We were called about 8:30, and we were in the terminal waiting for our luggage by 8:40. Luggage came through quickly and we walked through customs and was outside by 9:00. Once outside people were sitting everywhere. We didn't see a shuttle to the parking deck, so we started walking with all of our stuff (figured that we made it too the ship with all our luggage we could make it to the car with it as well). As we walked up to the Parking deck, the shuttle pulled up to drop 2 people off. GO FIGURE!! We had an awesome cruise!!! This is our new favorite cruise. Husband and I cruised to Roatan Island, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman in Feb of 2008, and thought it was awesome, but these stops were equally good (actually better). Grand Turks and Half Moon Cay are at the top of our "Places we must visit again list".

 

This is a picture of Miami as we arrived back into port

 

 

Note about some of the negative parts of our cruise -- There were lots of people on the cruise ship that didn't understand that they weren't the only ones there. There are close to 3000 people on the ship, your food may not be perfectly made to order. There was a table of 2 behind us that complained to or about their wait staff all the time. Either the food was too big, or too small. It was either too cold or their wine was too late arriving. The two of them argued every night during dinner. I felt sorry for their waiter because he was told more than once that "they were from New Jersey and worked in New York and they were just used to better food." I would hate to know what might have happened on the many occassions that they returned food to the kitchen to be fixed." Our table started referring to the as "dinner and a show". Also, there were some very rude people on the ship. They didn't want to have to wait for anything, just try and remember that these waiters and waitresses are working their rear ends off so that you can have a good time. The sea was a little rough on a couple of days, but no one is to blame for that, but it didn't stop us from having fun. :cool:

My husband is already looking for our next cruise, and I can't wait. ;) If you have any questions, please post them and I will try my best to answer them for you!!

 

Happy Sailing!!:cool:

 

 

[brendak28]

OOOOOO thats how my room is going to look im in 7341 cool are the chair comfortable???? on the balcony.......

 

 

The chairs on our balcony were comfortable. They are sort of like patio chairs you might have on a deck at home. We spent a lot more time on the balcony than I thought that we would. We will definitely be getting a balcony room again!!:cool::D

[calicruise74]

Great review and awesome pictures! The one with all 3 Carnival Ships in a row was terrific! I was on the Liberty in 06 and found the confusion with Deck 3 &4 as well :o

 

I saw the comment about bad drivers in Miami....then saw you went to Puerto Rico. We spent 2 weeks in PR last year and let me tell you, Miami is childs play compared to San Juan! Luckily you didnt have to drive in PR.

[schakfoo]

Thanks for your thorough review! We're traveling on the Liberty in December. Our first cruise was this past April on the Crown Princess and their 6th deck was confusing as well.

 

Question: I noticed you mentioned ice cream every day... Any tips on where I can find it every day (same times, same places?) and are there "fixin's" for the ice cream: ie - sprinkles, syrups, cookies, brownies, etc :)

[GAMOM4]

I love your pictures! I want to cruise on this ship...I have never been to Miami and this ship is beautiful! After I read your review I looked at some of the sailing dates for 2010 and at the prices - I know I could never afford a balcony but I may keep an eye on the rates going down. Thank you so much for posting a review of your trip.

[cccer]

Great review. We will be on her in July and can't wait. Congrats to your son on his Eagle Scout, I did that many years ago but I did not get a cruise out of it:)

[pamouselover]

Great photos. Looks like you had a wonderful time. I can not wait to go to grand turk and half moon cay!

[DarthGrady]

Thanks very much for the review and pics. I'm taking the same cruise in three months, cant wait!

[NCEMT]

Your review is very informative and the pictures are great, we are going on the Liberty October 10th! Can't wait, 9 of us are going. My 6th cruise. Thanks for the great review. :)

[cruisng4fun]

Hi brenda I was wondering if you could tell me if there is a basketball court on board as my daughter loves to play.

thanks

Tom

[brendak28]

Question: I noticed you mentioned ice cream every day... Any tips on where I can find it every day (same times, same places?) and are there "fixin's" for the ice cream: ie - sprinkles, syrups, cookies, brownies, etc :)

 

They have 4 soft serve ice cream machines on the Lido Deck between the pools and the entrance to the Buffet area. They had bowls and cones, but I never saw any "fixins". They have ice cream and frozen yogurt in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the review, I hope that it helps everyone out or at least gets them excited about cruising on the Liberty.

 

Oh, and if the drivers in San Juan are horrible (which they looked to be), I am so glad that we didn't have to drive anywhere!!

 

ENJOY!!:)

[brendak28]

Hi brenda I was wondering if you could tell me if there is a basketball court on board as my daughter loves to play.

thanks

Tom

 

 

Hi Tom,

 

Yes, there was a basketball court on the deck behind the big screen. It was a full court (as far as I can remember, just walked by there a few times). They also had mini golf and a walking/jogging track. We meant to go play mini golf, but my son was too involved with the water slide and swimming pool!!

 

Y'all have a great trip!!

[Cruisin G-Mom]

Is the first night formal night after Haf Moon Cay or the first at sea day?

[Blissed Out]

Brenda, we're on the Liberty Feb. 20th and we're booked in your room!! So cool to see the actual pictures of it. So...rest assured, I'll take good care of your room, and tell it you say hi and send your best.

 

Great review so far!!! *giddy clapping*

 

trece

[crow99]

Thanks for the post - I'm doing the same cruise and can't wait - will show this to the Mrs tomorrow she will love it!