Bethany and Craig's Family T-Day Cruise on Liberty w/ Pics!

[momonthego17]

We joined Mom and Skylar back at the port. They had a wonderful time with the dolphins and enjoyed their lunch and decided to stay in port to shop. Cat, Craig and I went back on the ship to grab a Guy Fieri burger. Very yummy and there was no line! Plenty of toppings, sauces and many variations on the burger were available, so I could see why people would come back day after day to try a “different” take on a tasty burger.

Guy’s burger gone!

 

We left the ship to shop in port. I had a taste from the rum cake shop (nice) and we checked out souvenirs. Nothing jumped out at us, so we went back on board. Craig took a nap as I read my book. So nice to just relax! Soon enough, we were sailing away from Cozumel and it was time to get ready for dinner.

As I mentioned earlier in this review, our MDR waitstaff rocked! Best ever! After dinner, the music started up and the waiters showed off their dance moves. I decided to join them and shook my booty, much to the embarrassment of my DDs . Hey, I’m just burning off calories so I can eat more!

 

Bethany shaking her booty with wait staff

After dinner, we checked out the BlueIguana Mexican Fiesta on the Lido deck. Very lively with dance music, people shaking their booties and waiters selling shots in glasses that light up. We got one for each adult and sipped while we danced on deck.

 

Fiesta!

 

Bethany and Craig at Fiesta!

 

My 12 year old Cat was tired, so we decided to call it a night. I guess it’s exhausting being 12!

[Franklissa]

Great review, looking forward to the rest! You have a beautiful family!

[Cupcrazy]

I'm enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to post it along with your great pictures. I have some great memories from the Liberty and it looks like your family has made some as well.

[LBumb]

nice pics

[momonthego17]

Tuesday, November 20 – Belize

 

Belize is a tendering port, so we got ready early to have a Lido deck breakfast (eggs, bacon, fruit) so we could last the day on our cave tubing excursion. I found out via a CC member review that if you have FTTF you should gather at Guest Services to be able to get priority boarding on the tenders. At least 45 people were waiting with us, some Platinum/Diamond and many FTTF people like we were. A Carnival rep came by and announced it would be ten minutes till our tender. Then she came back and said since there were so many of us, only the first 30 could get on. The crowd grew upset as the realization that passengers who purchased excursions through Carnival were getting priority over FTTF. Fortunately, my family was able to get on the first tender, but it filled up quickly with Carnival excursion people. I don’t know if the rest of the FTTF people boarded, but I hope they did.

 

Tendering to Belize

 

We found Vitalino with Cave-tubing dot bz right outside the terminal and then we walked forever to find our driver, Carlos. Then we walked even farther to get to the van. I guess this was a warm up for the hike to the cave tubing! After an hour and a half drive, we arrived at the park where everyone accesses the path to the river. We loaded up with helmets, inner tubes and life vests and proceeded down a stony path. The path was more strenuous than I thought it was going to be and thankfully, our guide carried my mom’s and Skylar’s innertubes. Craig carried Catlynne’s and I lumbered along with mine. I say lumbered because my water sock blew out about half way through the hike. My feet were feeling every lumpy stone, so I was thrilled when we arrived at the river. FYI, get those Velcro water sandals for this excursion.

 

Hiking the path to cave tubing

Ready for tubing

Sky getting ready to tube

A number of groups were getting ready and I thought we might be joining them, but we remained a group of five which was nice. Carlos led us through caves with forty foot ceilings, stalactites, waterfalls and interesting rock formations.

 

Tubing through the caves

He made sure that we didn’t bump into rocks or get stuck in an eddy. He described points of interest and when we got to the waterfall, he made sure we all got a baptism!

 

That waterfall was cold!

[CanWeGoYet?]

Not a big fan of water recreation but that cave tubing does look like fun. I hope I get to Belize someday and get to try that.

[momonthego17]

Not a big fan of water recreation but that cave tubing does look like fun. I hope I get to Belize someday and get to try that.

 

We had a great time and I would recommend the company we used for the cave tubing excursion.

 

More review to come...:D

[crusinpsychRN]

Your family is beautiful even in the hard hats!

[momonthego17]

Your family is beautiful even in the hard hats!

 

Thanks! I thought it made a nice "fashion" statement as well:eek:!

[momonthego17]

The river ride was a five minute walk from the van, thank goodness! On our way we saw a large family of what I was told was Belizian raccoons.

Go raccoon, go!

 

I limped over and tossed my beaten shoes into the garbage. We traveled back in the van to Vitalino’s place where we had a tasty lunch of stewed chicken, rice and beans and slaw, which was included. The rum punch was interesting, not the same as the rum punch in St. Lucia, but it was welcome. I was concerned about getting back to the ship so we made our way back with 30 minutes to spare. Phew!

Yummy lunch at Vitalino’s

 

We relaxed then got cleaned up for dinner. Delicious and entertaining, I finished off with Bitter and Blanc. I requested more sauce which made it very decadent. Back at the room we popped open some champagne and watched the moon.

 

 

Odd looking half moon on it's side

 

Wednesday, November 21 – Roatan

 

We woke up to gray skies, but a rainbow was gracing the hills of Roatan. We figured that was a good sign. After a room service breakfast, we walked off the ship into port. Very pretty port area, but we were on our way to meet “Pirates of the Caribbean Extremely Extreme” zipline tour! We walked past the parking lot, then up a steep hill and as we crested the hill I saw a number of vendors. We checked in and were assigned a driver, Sammy to take us to the zipline tour. We traveled through hilly jungle for 20 to 30 minutes and arrived at an open air palapa, which was the base for the zipline.

 

Palapa

 

Three monkeys were tethered to perches nearby, but I would suggest staying out of their grasp. Skylar had a monkey jump on her at the end of our tour and she felt it was acting aggressively. I was walking back down from the last zipline, so I didn’t see what happened. Sky was fine, but I don’t know if others would be as lucky.

Back to the beginning of our zipline excursion, we were strapped in like mountain climbers, fitted with helmets and shuttled up a very muddy hill to the top of the first zipline.

 

Shuttle up to top of zipline

 

We walked down a path to a platform that had cables stretched out across a verdant canyon. The distance was over 1,800 feet and the height over 300 feet. Yikes!

Ready to zip!

[Silent Penguin]

I love reviews with pictures, and yours are great!

 

Roatan is my favorite port. I can't wait to go back there one day.

[mj]

Great review and pictures.

[momonthego17]

Thank you for the kind words Jacksmom09, F27TW (you are right, Craig is a hottie:D) Jeffy294, Franklissa, Cupcrazy, LBumb, Silent Penguin and mj. I'm so happy that you all are enjoying my review. There is more to come:)!

[momonthego17]

We were informed that Cat and Sky would need to ride with an adult for the first three ziplines. Craig had Sky strapped to him and off they went! I was next and traveled by myself since Cat decided to ride with my mom. That first leap off the platform is a doozy! Near the end of the zipline there were cows grazing and it seemed like you could touch them with your feet, but not really. We had a blast as we zipped from platform to platform, the brief shower of rain not dampening our enthusiasm.

 

My mom zipping!

 

Cat zipping

 

Back at the palapa, we removed our gear and climbed back into the van. We were taken to a resort near the beach, but not really able to access the beach. A lagoon had been created and we relaxed as the girls kayaked.

 

Cat and Sky kayaking the lagoon

 

The clouds came in and we decided to leave. Our driver got us to the port in a torrential downpour and we practically swam our way through the rain to the ship. We changed into dry clothes and hustled up to the Fish and Chips station. I had two bowls of bouillabaisse, with ceviche on the side. Delish! The girls had fish and chips, which the fish was good but I thought the breading a bit heavy and soggy.

We rested the remainder of the afternoon, then mom, the girls and I attended the hypnotist’s show. Craig decided to keep resting. We thought the show was fun. We met Craig at the dining room where we danced in a conga line with our fabulous staff!

Yoseph strutting his stuff!

 

I was thrilled that escargot was on the menu and I had that along with Chateaubriand. Craig had the bono fish which was divine. I finished off with a rich, fudgy amaretto cake. Came back to the room for champagne and fizzled out.

 

Thanksgiving, November 22 – Grand Cayman

 

Woke up to a beautiful morning, but appearances were deceiving. The seas were too rough to anchor more than one cruise ship off of Georgetown, so we anchored 5 miles south at Sport Bay. As we tendered in, I could see that it was more like a wide spot in the road, not a port town.

Sport Bay

 

Our excursion with Captain Marvin’s was canceled for Stingray City, due to the marine police shutting it down because of too much chop in the water. We were disappointed but decided to catch a ride in a van to Royal Palms, a resort/restaurant on Seven Mile Beach. The van ride was $6 per person, the beach chairs $10 per person and an umbrella was $10. My party of five shared three chairs, one umbrella and a bucket of beers (my DDs drank water, which was free).

 

Royal Palms

[wendaeh]

I am loving your review and the photos of your beautiful family! We are on the same ship/itinerary as you this June. And we are cave tubing and zip-lining also. Good to have an alternative to Stingray sail if the water is choppy - I hadn't thought of that. We have a catamaran trip booked for Grand Cayman. Looking forward to the next installment.

We've also paid for FTTF - hope we don't have a problem with tendering - that's why I bought it. Also didn't realize the van trip in Belize was over an hour -- did they keep you entertained?

[momonthego17]

I am loving your review and the photos of your beautiful family! We are on the same ship/itinerary as you this June. And we are cave tubing and zip-lining also. Good to have an alternative to Stingray sail if the water is choppy - I hadn't thought of that. We have a catamaran trip booked for Grand Cayman. Looking forward to the next installment.

We've also paid for FTTF - hope we don't have a problem with tendering - that's why I bought it. Also didn't realize the van trip in Belize was over an hour -- did they keep you entertained?

 

Hi Wendaeh! I'm glad you are enjoying my review! Yes, the ride to the cave tubing was long! My DH sat up front with Carlos and they chatted. I listened but didn't really get caught up in the conversation. Compared to excursion van travel in St Maarten, St Kitts or Ocho Rios, I would say this was not as "entertaining" but Carlos was very nice and took good care of us. Just make sure you stay on top of your schedule so you get back to the ship on time. Let me know if you have other questions, since we did your upcoming itinerary.

 

Have a great cruise!

[rudechuck]

That's a coatimundi (or coati) and is most definitely a member of the raccoon family.

 

On our way we saw a large family of what I was told was Belizian raccoons.

Go raccoon, go!

 

Edited to add: Obviously, I am enjoying your review and pictures. Thank you for taking the time.

[momonthego17]

That's a coatimundi (or coati) and is most definitely a member of the raccoon family.

 

 

 

Edited to add: Obviously, I am enjoying your review and pictures. Thank you for taking the time.

 

Thanks rudechuck for confirming the i.d.! I thought at first it was a lemur-like animal with it's long tail.

I'm glad you are enjoying the review!

[Danacat222]

Wonderful review and pics, Liberty is on my to do list, how old is your Mom, if you don't mind me asking? It's wonderful to see her zipping, my Mom and i are mother-daughter cruising in March, she is 72 and is active like your Mom is.

[momonthego17]

Wonderful review and pics, Liberty is on my to do list, how old is your Mom, if you don't mind me asking? It's wonderful to see her zipping, my Mom and i are mother-daughter cruising in March, she is 72 and is active like your Mom is.

Hi Danacat222! I'm glad that you are enjoying my review. My mom is 74. She went on all of our excursions and had a great time! Just make sure your mom has sturdy water sandals on that strap on to her feet. This way, if she does the cave tubing, The path won't bother her as much (it is long, about 45 minutes) and her water sandals won't fall off in the water or when she zips out on the zip line.

Let me know if you have other questions. Have a wonderful cruise!

[kelikea]

I love your review! My husband and I, and 2 other couples were on that exact cruise. We loved the Liberty! It was nice to look through your pictures and reminisce.

 

We LOVED the Alchemy Bar. Definitely a high light of ours. Gabor was fantastic and I don't recall the lady bartender, but she was wonderful too. We did the Martini Tasting class on the last sea day. Lots of fun!

 

I see you did cave tubing with CaveTubing.bz. We did as well! Our tour guide was amazing and so smart! He knew more about America and our culture and politics than we did haha.

[crusinpsychRN]

Your mom MUST be lying about her age! She doesn't look 50!:eek:

[pyroguy]

Thanks for the review! Looks like you had a blast. My wife and I were on the Eastern Liberty Itenerary last Thanksgiving. We loved it so much we're going the Western on the Liberty with some friends next Thanksgiving..

 

Did you find the weather cool at all in the evenings?

 

When we did the Eastern on the Liberty last year, we found the seas quite rough. We didnt know if it was because we spent quite a bit of time in the Atlantic or if it was that time of year.

 

Great review!

[Breezy72]

Fun review! It's fun to see the smiles on your kids' faces. :D I'm with hope my photos of our upcoming cruise will be filled with just as many smiles.

 

BTW: Your mother is just as beautiful as you, or vice versa!

[momonthego17]

Thanks for the review! Looks like you had a blast. My wife and I were on the Eastern Liberty Itenerary last Thanksgiving. We loved it so much we're going the Western on the Liberty with some friends next Thanksgiving..

 

Did you find the weather cool at all in the evenings?

 

When we did the Eastern on the Liberty last year, we found the seas quite rough. We didnt know if it was because we spent quite a bit of time in the Atlantic or if it was that time of year.

 

Great review!

 

Hi Pyroguy! We did find it a bit chilly compared to our nights on Miracle the year before. I think because we were farther south in the Caribbean we had warmer temperatures overall on Miracle's itinerary.

 

We noticed some excessive lateral movement of the ship while we were traveling from one port to another. Then I heard that there were some engine issues that were dealt with right after our cruise. Don't know if that had anything to do with it.

 

Thanks for reading my review and if you have questions let me know!