Review of Carnival Liberty Jan. 5 -12 Eastern Caribbean

[LadyVolFan]

Where did I leave off? I believe we were in San Juan. I was kind of weary of San Juan since I had never been there, but was pleasantly surprised. It was very pretty. Not exactly the best place to be in a wheelchair, but still very nice. We didn't book any excursion at this port, but no one really needs to. There are tons of vendors waiting at the end of the port to whisk you away for $10-30 per tour. My dad and his friends took a two-hour bus tour and were very pleased. We walked around, went into some shops and visited the forts.

 

If you don't know, there is a CVS near the port if you need any thing. We needed a few items and were pleased the prices were similar to home.

 

Some random pictures from San Juan.

 

By the way, there are plenty of places to walk to in San Juan from the port. We had a great time just wandering around. And we ate a huge sundae at Cold Stone Creamery near the port.

 

The second picture shows all of the buses lined up to take passengers on tours. These are not pre-booked tours. You can hitch a ride right off the ship.

[LadyVolFan]

I am probably getting my nights confused by now, but food is food.

Date and cinnamon cake with rum raisin ice cream

 

Short ribs and fried rice

 

Baked polenta with mushroom ragout (very good)

 

Jerked pork loin

[LadyVolFan]

Some type of seafood medley

 

Grand mariner souffle

 

Bacon mac and cheese with chicken (yum)

[LadyVolFan]

Our last port was Grand Turk. I LOVED this port. It is very small, and we didn't venture out very far, but it was lovely. Of course, we hit the shops and bought our t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. And we went to Margaritaville (no shirt from here though). My niece saved her money to have a few drinks here, and she was very happy by the time we left. The place was just a lot of fun. It might not be for everyone, but I liked it. Music was playing, people were swimming, laughing, tanning, and having a good time.

 

The beach

 

Our margarita and nachos!

 

Beach and pool

[lovestocruise19]

Our last port was Grand Turk. I LOVED this port. It is very small, and we didn't venture out very far, but it was lovely. Of course, we hit the shops and bought our t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. And we went to Margaritaville (no shirt from here though). My niece saved her money to have a few drinks here, and she was very happy by the time we left. The place was just a lot of fun. It might not be for everyone, but I liked it. Music was playing, people were swimming, laughing, tanning, and having a good time.

 

The beach

 

Our margarita and nachos!

 

Beach and pool

 

Awesome pics! It looks like you can walk right from the poolside cabanas to the beach. That makes me happy because I reserved a poolside cabana for my upcoming cruise! Do you happen to remember the prices for the nachos, drinks, etc. at Margaritaville? I've heard it is expensive and I was contemplating eating lunch aboard the ship before we get off, but the ship is supposed to dock at 11 a.m., which is pretty early for lunch. But on the other hand, I want to get off the ship ASAP to enjoy my cabana! We are only in port for 6 hours.

[rfjs0203]

Love your review- and Grand Turk looks like my kind of place- Oh and another TN girl here too! (Right between Nashville and Knoxville :) )

[LadyVolFan]

Yes, you can walk right down to the beach and cabanas. The prices were about the same as at any Margaritaville. The nachos were $18 and the drink was about $15 - too expensive in my opinion, but hey..it's vacation!:D

[paule123]

We were on the same cruise as LadyVolFan and got a cabana. I checked my Margaritaville receipt and these were the prices:

 

Bucket of Turk Head beer (6) $31.50

Rum Punch $7.95 - kinda small 12 oz cup

White wine glass - $7.00 - kinda small - 6 oz pour?

Loaded nacho w/guac - $22.90

Bottled water - $4.00

Calamari or cracked conch - $10.95

 

Service was great in the cabana, just push a button inside the cabana and the waitress appears. :D

 

Don't forget to bring your Carnival towel - otherwise the gift shop sells Margaritaville towels for $39 :eek:

[Pellaz]

Awesome pics! It looks like you can walk right from the poolside cabanas to the beach. That makes me happy because I reserved a poolside cabana for my upcoming cruise!

 

Yep, you can. In fact, you'll walk past the FlowRider beyond the last cabana (I think it's #10) and the beach is right past there.

 

To give you another idea of the (short) distances involved, here are some pics from our cruise -- including the cabanas:

 

http://jet25.hasweb.com/~paulcas/Carnival-Liberty-2012-Part-2/index.html

 

 

 

Do you happen to remember the prices for the nachos, drinks, etc. at Margaritaville? I've heard it is expensive and I was contemplating eating lunch aboard the ship before we get off, but the ship is supposed to dock at 11 a.m., which is pretty early for lunch. But on the other hand, I want to get off the ship ASAP to enjoy my cabana! We are only in port for 6 hours.

 

As others have noted, unless your budget is very tight, you can eat ashore -- it is expensive, but not abnormally so for a 'resort'. I had a very good burger and fries from the Margaritaville kitchen and it was in the $16 range...more than I'd prefer, but less than it could have been.

I just wish I hadn't eaten so much before my second snorkeling 'dip' in the ocean afterward. :)

 

Note that cabanas are assigned first-come first-served at Margaritaville, so if you want a particular location, you might want to get there early. I was the second person to reserve one there, and I was able to get #6, which was far enough away from the noise coming from the bar, and had a ramp for my mom's wheelchair. #2 is the only other one with a ramp.

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

We've got a group of 6 adults and 3 children going with us and none of us have ever been to Grand Turk. I've seen pictures of Margaritaville and that beach right next to the boat and it looks very nice. Is it very kid friendly in that area or would it be wise to leave the kids on the ship if we decide to go to that beach?

[paule123]

We've got a group of 6 adults and 3 children going with us and none of us have ever been to Grand Turk. I've seen pictures of Margaritaville and that beach right next to the boat and it looks very nice. Is it very kid friendly in that area or would it be wise to leave the kids on the ship if we decide to go to that beach?

 

It's kid friendly. Lots of kids on the public beach and also in the Margaritaville pool. With 9 people I would suggest you get off the ship as early as possible, so that you can get 9 chairs together in the location you prefer.

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

With a group of 9 would it make more sense to get a cabana? How many people do they hold? How expensive are they? And how do you book one? Sorry for the many questions, but I'm very interested in doing this now :o

[paule123]

With a group of 9 would it make more sense to get a cabana? How many people do they hold? How expensive are they? And how do you book one? Sorry for the many questions, but I'm very interested in doing this now :o

 

$129 for the cabana. Book it as a shore excursion on the web site under the Grand Turk excursions. They recommend 4-6 people per cabana, but it's not enforced. There's 2 lounge chairs on the deck of the cabana, but you can use the chairs at the pool area which is just a few steps in front of you. There's also seating inside the cabana that would easily accommodate 5 people. We took cabana #5 which was in the middle, with some nice shade from the trees.

 

View from cabana #5:

 

 

Inside cabana: