Carnival liberty 7 day out of Puerto Rico...advice needed

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

Barbados go to the Boatyard. It is a nice beach. To get in you need to pay $15.

I am not a big fan of St. Lucia I just stay at the port area. I hope you are going to go to Puerto Rico few days.

I'm sure others will offer some great advise (i'll be reading!)

We're doing this cruise in July, i agree it's a little intimidating with all the ports plus San Juan. I was really stressing too with all the planning i needed to do (and i'm definitely in charge of making all the plans with my family?!!?)

But, here's what i've sort of figured out: after 4 cruises in the last 4 years, i think i've figured out what I like, and what has worked for us and not worked for us on previous cruises (although, honestly, we've never had a BAD day in any port?!?!)

SO - i just took it one port at a time, and after reading the ports of call sections for each port, and reading some very helpful cruise reviews, i made decisions pretty quickly on each one.

Excursions in St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Barbardos, beach day in St. Thomas and St. Maartin. We're going to be in San Juan for 2 days before the cruise, so one day exploring Old San Juan on our own and one excursion there.

My list is at the office (no, of course i haven't been planning a cruise while at work?!?! :D ) but i'll post them tomorrow.

It's going to be a GREAT cruise!!!

Hello,

I am currently finishing up the last portion of my photo review of the trip! You can read it, it's a play-by-play of what I did while onboard and on the islands. I suggest reading it and others like it, and feel free to leave a comment or question!

Since all of your cruises have been our of Galveston, I'm going to assume that you have not been to any of the ports. Here are my suggestions to a first-timer in these ports. I will give two for each, one with an (H) and one with a (L). (H) will mean more expensive / time consuming / adventurous, and (L) will mean cheaper, shorter, more relaxing. (H) may not always mean better, so I will put a * by which I think is the best option.

St.Thomas: *(H): St. John Trunk Bay Snorkel Trails Excursion, (L) Walk / Cab to Charlotte Amalie for Shopping

Barbados: (H) Turtle Swim Catamaran Excursion, *(L) Cab to any beach club on Carlisle Bay

St. Lucia: *(H) Top 10 Best of St. Lucia Excursion (my favorite excursion to date), (L)St. Lucia Mud Bath Excursion

St. Kitts: Can't speak as my visit was cancelled

Sint Maarten: (H) America Cup Regetta Sailboat Excursion, *(L) Port / Phillipsburg Shopping and a cab to any of the beaches, French or Dutch, even Maho if you're feeling adventurous

Hope I helped, feel free to read the review, the link is in my signature, and leave more questions! :D

I just did this cruise.

St Thomas was our shopping day & it was great!

Barbados we went to an all inclusive resort I won't recommend

St. Maarten was an island tour with jo junie. Best tour!!!

St. Lucia we spent the day at Sandals La Toc. LOVED IT!!! Well worth the $100pp

St. Kitts was supposed to be snorkeling, but it was cancelled.

I just got off this cruise a week ago.

St Thomas - we did Godfrey Tours. Included shopping downtown, trip to mountain top with free banana daiquiri and to Botanical gardens and 2 hours beach time for $35. Well worth it.

Barbados - Boatyard - $15pp. Had a great time!!!! Highly recommend. Transportation back to ship is included in the $15 as well as your chair, umbrella, drink and use of facilities.

St Lucia - Rendezvous Couples only all inclusive $65pp. Wonderful experience, great food, can't say enough about it!!

St Kitts - Shipwreck Bar on Friars Beach I believe. I enjoyed it!

St Maarten - Orient Beach.

I did this itinerary on the Victory. Check out the link in my signature for what we did at each port (If it's not the Victory review, try the Valor, I get them confused :) ). It was my FAVORITE cruise to date....although I was wipies out each day!

Ps - since I am posting from my

Phone, not sure if my usual "signature" shows up. Will check in the morning.

This seems like a perfect question for the Carnival board, I wonder why it was moved. Or was it moved from some place else to the Carnival board? Oh well.

I'm liking these responses and am interested in hearing more since we will be on this cruise in December. This will be my 22nd cruise, and although I consider myself a veteran cruiser, this cruise makes me nervous. Never sailed out of Puerto Rico before and never had such a late departure so I'm not sure how everything will play out.

This seems like a perfect question for the Carnival board, I wonder why it was moved. Or was it moved from some place else to the Carnival board? Oh well.

 

 

I'm liking these responses and am interested in hearing more since we will be on this cruise in December. This will be my 22nd cruise, and although I consider myself a veteran cruiser, this cruise makes me nervous. Never sailed out of Puerto Rico before and never had such a late departure so I'm not sure how everything will play out.

This was my first cruise out of San Juan with such a late departure time as well and like you I was extremely nervous. But it's just like any other cruise. We were on the ship by noon. Dropped off our things in our cabin and went for lunch. We got off the ship and explored a little in OSJ. I believe we were back on the ship at 530 and the first night is open seating so we went to the dining room for dinner. muster drill was at 9 I think? Very quick and efficient.

The one thing I do have to say about this itinerary is be prepared to come home tired! It is full days! I was up each morning at 7 to have breakfast and off the ship by 830. Back on the ship by 4 and dinner at 6. I felt like I was back in bed at 10 because I didn't even have time for naps. I got to see one show, one comedy show, the love and marriage show and the MJ tribute. As much as I loved the itinerary I also love the ship and felt like I missed spending time on the ship. All the more reason to book another!!

This was my first cruise out of San Juan with such a late departure time as well and like you I was extremely nervous. But it's just like any other cruise. We were on the ship by noon. Dropped off our things in our cabin and went for lunch. We got off the ship and explored a little in OSJ. I believe we were back on the ship at 530 and the first night is open seating so we went to the dining room for dinner. muster drill was at 9 I think? Very quick and efficient.

 

The one thing I do have to say about this itinerary is be prepared to come home tired! It is full days! I was up each morning at 7 to have breakfast and off the ship by 830. Back on the ship by 4 and dinner at 6. I felt like I was back in bed at 10 because I didn't even have time for naps. I got to see one show, one comedy show, the love and marriage show and the MJ tribute. As much as I loved the itinerary I also love the ship and felt like I missed spending time on the ship. All the more reason to book another!!

Oh great, I was wondering if we start boarding late since we are departing late.

Do you know when is the latest we can board/check-in since it is a late departure? Or is it the same, like everyone must be checked in by 4:30 or something like that? I know we can get on and off but is there a difference in time for the initial check-in?

Okay, my signature didn't show up from last night's post since it was from my mobile. It is the Carnival Victory review that did this itinerary. If you don't have time to read the whole review here's the synopsis:

St Thomas - Godfrey's tour

Barbados - we did a Taxi tour but I highly recommend you book a tour b/c I was bored to death - heard great things about Calabaza and swimming with turtles.

St. Lucia - Cosol Tours - LOVED it - my favorite tour to date - very long but worth every penny.

St. Kitts - Royston - I loved Royston but have heard people have had trouble getting in touch with him. He took us all over the island and included lunch and some beach time for about $45 p/p. We tipped him a lot more than that b/c we felt it was worth more than that for a 6 hour tour!

St. Maarten - Jo Junie - I would not book again. Although it was not his fault we had rude people who refused to stay on schedule and made us miss the bulk of our time at maho beach (which is what I was most interested in seeing), he did little to say anything to them after the first 5x they were late.

Oh great, I was wondering if we start boarding late since we are departing late.

 

Do you know when is the latest we can board/check-in since it is a late departure? Or is it the same, like everyone must be checked in by 4:30 or something like that? I know we can get on and off but is there a difference in time for the initial check-in?

Everyone has to be on board at 830. So you can check in up until that time. Just keep in mind if you want to eat in the dining room you need to be to dinner by 730/8 by the latest to have time to eat before muster. Some people even go, check in and then leave again. It's a different experience leaving from San Juan.

Gotcha. Yeah that's the thing that makes me nervous. I'm use to routine and for me, routine is usually leaving somewhere out of Florida a lot earlier lol

This seems like a perfect question for the Carnival board, I wonder why it was moved. Or was it moved from some place else to the Carnival board? Oh well.

 

I'm liking these responses and am interested in hearing more since we will be on this cruise in December. This will be my 22nd cruise, and although I consider myself a veteran cruiser, this cruise makes me nervous. Never sailed out of Puerto Rico before and never had such a late departure so I'm not sure how everything will play out.

I wonder why it was moved..? I thought I had lost it, had trouble figuring out where it moved to!!

We did this cruise a couple of years ago and are going again next March. Loved being able to get to the ship, leave our stuff, eat lunch, and then went out to explore Old San Juan! We did the following at the ports: St Thomas- Sapphire Beach for pretty decent snorkeling; Barbados- Beach day at Hilton on Needham Point (beautiful but water was rough...wouldn't do it again); St Lucia- fabulous Cosol Tours and it was worth every penny!; St Kitts- Grey's Island Excursion gave a nice overview of the island; St Maarten- took water taxi over to port area and did a little shopping and enjoyed some beer and internet (we were too tired to do anything in this port)

I just did this itinerary on the Valor in February, and I'm going again in July on the Liberty. Don't stress, you'll have a great time.

San Juan: Depending on when you get in, you may want to spend some time in Old San Juan, which is right where the port is. There is a FREE trolley that will drive you all around Old San Juan. Don't bother doing a tour!!! You can pick up a free map at Senor Frogs right off the dock, and they will show you where to catch the trolley (we didn't even eat there at first, but came back for drinks after we toured, because they were SO nice to us.) OR, since you are with cruise newbies, take advantage of the full day on the ship. We boarded at around noon...which gave us lots of time to explore and start eating on Lido!!!

St. Thomas:We didn't do Godfrey last time in St. Thomas...just went to Megan's Bay. We had kids with us, and Godfrey doesn't discount the kids much. This time...no kids, so we're doing Godfrey. His price includes some free drinks, and I've heard great things.

Barbados: I agree with others above...Boatyard. It was fun. $15 for admission, chair, a drink, and a cab ride back. Can't beat it. Very fun!

St. Lucia: We grabbed a taxi tour at the dock. It was OK. We were going to do a boat tour, but we got pretty sunburned at the Boatyard. Oops. This time I'm set on a boat tour...looking at Spencer Ambrose, Herods, and Papa Boat tours.

St. Kitts: We did Shipwreck, too. It's a narrow strip of beach, with a cool beachfront restaurant/bar. VERY laid back. Nothing really special, but by then, you will be tired. As an added bonus, across the parking lot is a wooded area full of monkeys and mongoose (maybe weasels?). They feed them...tourists are NOT to feed them...but they come up close enough for great pics. It rained while we were there, and that actually made it more fun.

St. Maarten: We did Great Bay Beach, which is right near the port. You can walk...not sure exactly how far that is...or you can take a super short water taxi. We had small kids, so took the water taxi. Once you get there, they are pretty annoying trying to rent you chairs...we ended up at a place where we got 2 chairs and a bucket of 4 beers for like $20 or so. Once you get a chair, you can stroll around and shop. Most restaurants have free wi-fi. We are going to do this again. Other than choosing a spot for chairs, it was pretty low stress. And there were some little shops with great prices on jewelry.

It IS a lot of ports, and it can be overwhelming!!!! But they are some of the BEST ports we've cruised to!!! (thus our doing it a second time in 5 months!).

Thanks guys for all your advice!!

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

 

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

 

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

My favorite tours. All are reasonable, great fun and hit the high points

St. Maarten: Bernards (includes Maho Bay Beach)

St. Thomas: Godfreys

St. Lucia: Cosols. All of these are listed on TripAdvisor

We've done this trip twice and I'm looking dr it again. LOVE these ports!!

st Thomas. ~ go to St. John on your own via Red Hook. super easy!

Barbados ~ boatyard. They will also watch your bag if you go out in jet skis or with the turtle people. Happy Hour was every other hour. Your admission includes one drink, clean bathrooms, and a ride back to the port

st Lucia we went with spencer one year and treetop adventures, the triple tour the second

St kitts. My islands with javin all the way.

St Maarten once we rented 4 wheelers and then just hung out at Maho

Barbados go to the Boatyard. It is a nice beach. To get in you need to pay $15.

I am not a big fan of St. Lucia I just stay at the port area. I hope you are going to go to Puerto Rico few days.

I can't imagine staying at the port area in St. Lucia.:rolleyes: It is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean...... There are lots of tour companies, book one that visits the beach near the Pitons.

Probably the best port to just hang out is St Martin. Very nice shopping/dining/drinking in town and also a beach :)

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

 

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

 

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

First time in St Lucia I went on a COSOL Island Tour and it was truly amazing. The things you see, do and taste in one day was remarkable. I highly recommend his tour.

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

 

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

 

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

OK I'm also sailing Liberty and have the same ports. Here is what me and my DH and DS are going to be doing. St. Thomas-Sapphire Beach Barbados-DH and DS going out on a fishing charter (I might go if the seas aren't very high). If I don't go then off to boatyard. St Lucia-Spencer Ambrose land, sea and beach tour ST Kitts-Cockelshell beach as my DS is going flyboarding there. St Maarten=UFO boats and then to little bay. DS will be going scuba diving that afternoon

Hope that has given you some ideas.

We just did this cruise in May and it was simply amazing! Check out my single-post review and my vacation video. The links are in my siggy. Here is a brief synopsis of what we did:

San Juan: Toured Old San Juan. Campo Rico Zip-lining through Ecoquest. Fun!!!!

St. Thomas/St. John: Snuba at Trunk Bay in St. John through Virgin Islands Snuba. Fantastic!!!

Barbados: Went to Boatyard and found Neville to take us on glass bottom boat to shipwrecks and sea turtles. Great time! More laid back than other ports.

St Lucia: Favorite port!!! Did Spencer Ambrose's Land, Sea, and Beach tour. The crew were absolutely hilarious, the island is stunningly beautiful, the activities were unique, and the snorkeling was the best out of all the islands.

St Kitts: Island tour with Javin. The activities were good but Javin was a little less exciting than the tour guides in St. Lucia. A really great mix of activities and Javin takes pictures the whole time which you can download for free. Great deal and great time! The island itself was not my favorite. There is trash everywhere and the beaches are underwhelming.

St. Maarten: Speedboat tour with Captain Bob (Soualiga Destinations boat tours). Outstanding tour!!! This was probably my second favorite port after St. Lucia.

Overall, the whole trip was awesome!

I live in Puerto Rico now so any questions about Puerto Rico or San Juan I will be happy to help with. Thanks for all the advice on the ports of call. I'm looking forward to cruising out of San Juan to these ports.

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

 

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

 

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

I just got back from this itinerary (with a group of 8) earlier this month. Here is what we did (I planned it out after reading various reviews on Cruise Critic).

St. Thomas - taxi to Sapphire Beach and then Paradise Point. I think you might be able to walk around and see what to get into at this port. We enjoyed Sapphire Beach, though. It was very low key and relaxed.

Barbados - HIGHLY recommend Calabaza catamaran tour. They only allow 12 people on the boat, so it almost feels like a private tour. Drinks (alcoholic and non), lunch, and several snacks included in the price. It's only $10 pp more than the Carnival, but it feels like you paid a lot more than that on it! Favorite day of the trip.

St. Lucia - did Spencer Ambrose Land, Sea, and Beach tour. Loved the views and the snorkeling at Jalousie Beach (best snorkeling of the trip) and the boat tour portion was great (possibly contributed by the free flowing rum punch ;)). If I went again, I would just do the Beach tour. From what I read on here before the trip, you should have a planned excursion at this port.

St. Kitts - transfer to Cockleshell Beach (Reggae Beach Bar) with Pereira tours, including a stop at Timothy Hill. Enjoyed Cockleshell Beach - get there early if you can! It's probably very possible at this port to walk and see what to do - lots of taxi drivers and tour operators around offering trips at the port.

St. Maarten - taxi to Mullet Bay and then walked over to Maho Beach to experience the planes. Mullet Bay was gorgeous (the most clear water I have seen) and the bar and food stand, Rosie's, makes incredible frozen drinks and freshly grilled food right there. Some excursions (as mentioned above) make a stop here. This is probably a port you could see what to get into also. This was the nicest port in my opinion. There is a water taxi from the port that goes to a very nice shopping area (high end stores) and also beach access. That being said, I still recommend Mullet Bay!

Hope that helps! Enjoy your trip!