Carnival Liberty Review - Eastern Caribbean -January 4th, 2014

[wings34]

Hi everybody! This is a picture review of my family’s recent cruise on the Liberty to the Eastern Caribbean. This was my third cruise and second time on the Liberty. Last year, we did the western itinerary, so we decided to pick up where we left off and go to the other side, which included Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. Since this was my second time on the Liberty, I didn’t take many pictures of the ship, but I’ll post some I took last year anyways because, if you are like me, a good review better have some pictures of the ship. So, away we go…

 

We are from Arizona, so just getting to the ship is an ordeal in itself. After waking up at 3 am (who can sleep before vacation anyways?) a two hour drive down the mountain to Phoenix, two hours in the airport, and four hours on a jet, we finally made it to Miami! :) Luckily for us, our flight was probably one of only a few that was on-time that day due to the snowstorm over the much of the country. Once we landed in Ft. Lauderdale, we had an arranged ride with SAS to take us to our hotel. Our driver arrived shortly after we called, and we were on our way. As we were pulling into downtown Miami, the Carnival Imagination was spinning around in the turning basin, ready to head out to sea.

 

We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. The hotel was very nice, especially our room, which had a king bed and sofa sleeper. I don’t know if we just got lucky, but this room ended up to be the largest room on the floor, according to the little map on the door. The room was on the corner and had large windows all the way around, looking over Bayside Marketplace and Biscayne Bay. Another great thing about this hotel was the location. Right across the street is the Bayside Marketplace, which has a whole bunch of shops and restaurants. Also, two blocks away is a CVS, where we went to get some soft drinks and wine for our cruise. We had dinner at Tradewinds Bar and Grill at Bayside. The fish was fresh and delicious, and the key lime pie was AMAZING! I wish I had their recipe! I would definitely recommend both the Holiday Inn and Tradewinds to anyone traveling to Miami for any reason. Up next, the CRUISE!!

 

I see some whale tails!

 

[wings34]

The cruise!

 

After having breakfast at the hotel restaurant (which was not very good by the way), we took a taxi to the port around 10 AM, which took a whole 5 minutes! It was a busy day at the Port of Miami, with 5 large ships there: Celebrity Reflection, MSC Divinia, Carnival Liberty and Breeze and Norwegian Epic. Although it was busy, we encountered no problems and made our way through the check in process in less than 15 minutes. We had Faster to the Fun, which didn’t do much to help us bypass lines, because there were none this early, but we were among the first to board, which was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, me and my brother’s room was not quite ready, but my parents’ was, so we just stashed our carry-on baggage there until later. Our room was 6203, at the very front of the ship overlooking the bow. It’s considered an inside room, but has a large window overlooking a deck. The view is obstructed by some railings, but you can still see the sea and sky. The only catch is that the curtains have to be shut at night for the safety of navigation.

 

After boarding, we headed up to Lido to grab some lunch. Since I didn’t try it last time, I went to the Mongolian wok before it got too busy. For anyone who hasn’t had the wok before, you should go. After the muster drill, we all headed up to deck 10 for a sunset sail away from Miami, on our way to Nassau. For the evening, we had dinner in the steakhouse, which was delicious. I ate so much that I was not hungry the next morning! Sorry though, I don’t have any food porn.

 

Some ship pictures:

 

Interior with picture window room (6203):

 

 

View from room:

 

 

Atrium:

 

 

Lido Pool (sorry its dark):

 

[wings34]

Ship pictures continued:

 

Covered Pool

 

 

 

Promenade

 

 

 

Piano Bar

 

 

Sorry, I guess that's all the pictures I have

[wings34]

Nassau:

 

We arrived to Nassau just as the sun was coming up. For today, we had purchased the excursion through Carnival to go to Balmoral Island, with lunch. Our tickets said to meet on the pier at 8am, I believe. Once the group had gathered, we made our way over to a boat (which is really slow), that took us over to the island. The island is very nice, with plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas, a pool, a restaurant, and a good beach. Unfortunately, it was pretty windy that day, which stirred up the water, but we still had an enjoyable day.

 

However, there were two things that we did not care for. First, the lunch was sort of pathetic. There were only a few basic options, such as burgers, hot dogs and chicken. Lunch was included in our cost, but if you have to buy it separately, it’s going to be really expensive for what you get. Second, my aunt and uncle, who were also with us, did the Balmoral Island and dolphin swim excursion. They were very unhappy with their experience with the dolphins. They said it was crowded and that they had next to no time interacting with the dolphins. Anyways, our time on the island came to an end after about 3-4 hours, and we were then brought back near the pier. They dropped us off outside of the port area, so we had a longer walk back to the ship.

 

Overall though, we thought the island was pretty nice and we enjoyed our time on the beach.

 

Balmoral Island Beach

 

 

The Liberty

 

 

 

[wings34]

Sea Day

 

I can’t remember a whole lot about what I did during the sea day, though I will let you know about two things, and some other stuff here. I do know we started the day off by going to brunch. I really enjoy the brunch. The food is good and there is a large variety of things to choose from. Later in the day, I was a contestant in the Red vs. Blue mixology challenge. I remember seeing this last year, so I decided I wanted to try it out. To be honest, I was pretty nervous about being in front of a huge crowd, so I was relieved a little bit when they said it was going to be done at the casino bar instead of on Lido due to the weather. I was going to represent the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and concoct a drink I normally make at home, which is sprite, tequila, and orange juice mixed together on ice, then raspberry syrup to create a neat sunset color fade. Turns out, there are only a few different things to choose from, so I tried to adapt it as best I could. It ended up being tequila, triple sec, orange juice, and raspberry liqueur and grenadine, and had a really strange purple color. The judges didn’t like it too much, so I didn’t win, but it actually tasted alright and I had a lot of fun.

 

I can’t remember what we did the rest of the day, so I’ll just mention some other things. Our cruise director was “Big Sexy” Josh Waitzman. I personally thought he was a great CD. He is very friendly and approachable, and just seems very genuine. I found his humor to be right up my alley as well, so that was entertaining. Also, I would say the entertainment staff on the Liberty right now is the best I have encountered so far. On a different note, the service in the dining room was on the slower side, but still very friendly and helpful. I think this may have been an issue in the kitchen, possibly due to the transition from the old to new menu, which was going to happen on the next cruise. I think they were probably pulling some people off of their normal tasks each night to train them with the new procedures, which slowed things down a bit. However, that being said, our food was still pretty good, though not quite at the level of last year.

[wings34]

St. Thomas

 

We pulled into St Thomas right on schedule, around 11 am. St. Thomas is a really beautiful island, and reminded me of Maui in some ways. We had originally planned on going to Sapphire beach because everyone seems to say it’s one of the nicest beaches and has great snorkeling. We went and found a taxi, but he informed us that Sapphire Beach was closed for renovations. Instead, he suggested that we go to either Secret Harbor, or Coki Beach. At this point, we were kind of irritated because we thought he was just trying to steer us away from Sapphire for other reasons, because, how could a beach be closed for renovations? It turns out, there is actually a lot of construction going on there and he was not being dishonest with us.

 

Anyways, we decided to go to Secret Harbor. It turned out to be a good thing because it was closer to the port and not very busy at all. The beach there is beautiful and had calm water for swimming and snorkeling, though the water wasn’t terribly clear that day. There is also a restaurant and dive shop at the beach, where you can rent snorkeling or scuba gear, kayaks and paddle boards, among other things. I am glad we ended up at Secret Harbor, we had a great day there and would definitely go back.

 

 

 

At Secret Harbor

 

 

 

Beach

 

 

[wings34]

San Juan

 

 

We arrived to San Juan pretty early in the morning, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Once we left the ship, we hopped onto the free trolley and went to both of the old forts. Both were really neat and had so much history behind them. Although, after a while, everything began to look the same so we decided to move on. After the forts, we spent some time walking around Old San Juan, which was my favorite part. I really enjoyed the vibe and sights of the city. To me, it is what I imagine an old European city is like. We stopped for coffee at Caficultura and just took everything in. We then continued to wander around the old city, stopping for souvenirs in a few places, as well as at Mallorca for some pastries. Moving on, we then had lunch at Toro Salao, where we sat outside and shared a pitcher of refreshing sangria and tapas. Everything was delicious, especially the empanadillas. Unfortunately, it was time to go back to the ship again. Just before we set sail, the huge Norwegian Breakaway pulled into port, which was a neat sight to see. We all really enjoyed our time in San Juan, and we really want to go back and explore more. Until next time…

 

 

 

 

[wings34]

 

 

 

[wings34]

Grand Turk

 

After a long steam from Puerto Rico, we arrived into Grand Turk in the late morning. For the day, my brother and I went scuba diving through the ship excursion. The rest of the family walked down the beach to Jacks Shack, where they enjoyed a beach day. For our dive, it was operated by Oasis Divers. From the start, we had some problems with this company. My brother’s equipment was faulty and had several air leaks. When he asked them to exchange it (while still at the shop), they just ignored his concerns and said it wasn’t a problem....which it was, big surprise. My brother is a very experienced diver, so his concerns were definitely warranted. Because of the air leaks he had, our dives were shortened, though in a way that was a good thing, let me explain.

 

For anyone who is not familiar with scuba diving, it is very important as a diver to monitor depth and time under the water, because gas behaves strangely under the pressure of the water and can bubble up in your blood. This is extremely dangerous, and to prevent it from occurring, there are certain guidelines with depth and time that divers should follow. The crew at Oasis seemed to completely ignore this, as we were under the water too deep for too long. It is amazing that we didn’t get decompression sickness, and I feel really stupid for following them blindly.

 

Despite these major issues, we both really enjoyed the underwater sights. The reef seemed very healthy and colorful and was full of life. For anyone who is considering doing a dive while at Grand Turk, I would recommend diving, since the reef is beautiful; but definitely use another operator and don’t book through the ship like we did. And if diving is not your thing, the rest of my family had a great time on the beach at Jack’s Shack. Also, I took a video during the dives, and I hope to have that posted sometime in the next few days, so if you would like, keep a look out for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wings34]

Sea Day

 

Again, I don’t remember many specifics from this sea day. My brother and I participated in the digital scavenger hunt, and we won a ship on a stick for the first time ever! We also participated in some other activities, listened to the musicians, and did our best to stuff our faces before leaving the ship the next day. That’s about all I have for the sea day, so I will just mention a few other things.

 

Ship on a stick!

 

 

The Liberty still has the old shows. I ended up seeing Singin’ with the Big Band and the Legends show. Both were alright, but not my favorite. I heard from others that the other show, Wonderful World, was excellent. The comedians were not the best I’ve seen on a ship before either, although I missed one of them, who I also heard from others was much better than the others. I guess I just missed the good ones this time. We also saw a ventriloquist act, and he started off pretty rough. At the beginning, he seemed like a rip off of Jeff Dunham, but as the act went on, he became much more original and funny. In the end, I really enjoyed this show and I’m glad I didn’t walk out half way through.

 

We really enjoyed our cruise and did not want to come home. I really like the Liberty, it is clean, kept, beautiful, and has an awesome crew. Though I think it is time to mix things up and go on a new ship. But for anyone considering the Liberty, it is a great ship and it is clear why it is consistently rated one of the best in the fleet; I would definitely recommend it. I think that is it, so if anyone has any questions about the ship or ports (including the western itinerary), feel free to ask. I’ll do my best to answer them for you. Thanks for reading and happy cruising!

[ffmikey]

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Liberty in 12 days or so. We will be diving at Grand Turk thru the ship but have our own equipment. I will however keep my radar up for problems.

[Midwestgal]

We sailed her Dec7th for the first time and loved her....loved Alchemy bar!

[2 cruzen]

Still have over 2 months before our cruise on Miss Liberty, but getting excited.

 

Thanks for the review and pictures. I have a question about OSJ. When the ship arrives so early, are the trolleys already going? I read the forts don't open until 9:00.

Edited January 21, 2014 by 2 cruzen

[LWiening]

Thank you for the review. Looking forward to being on the Liberty also in 12 days.

[afcruiser]

Great Review.

DH and I are booked for next year going to Curacao, Aruba, and Grand Turk.

First time in Grand Turk and will turn 50 in Aruba.:p

 

Interested in Diving. Having never done this before is this doable for us.?

Have this crazy notion to Knock Stuff Off My Bucket List. :p

[2 cruzen]

Great Review.

DH and I are booked for next year going to Curacao, Aruba, and Grand Turk.

First time in Grand Turk and will turn 50 in Aruba.:p

 

Interested in Diving. Having never done this before is this doable for us.?

Have this crazy notion to Knock Stuff Off My Bucket List. :p

 

We had a fabulous day in Aruba on a private excursion aboard the Black Pearl. Don't remember the company name, but you can find thru Google. It was about $75 pp 2 years ago. Still think about it!

[afcruiser]

We had a fabulous day in Aruba on a private excursion aboard the Black Pearl. Don't remember the company name, but you can find thru Google. It was about $75 pp 2 years ago. Still think about it!

 

Wrote it down to research. Thanks.

 

Have a year to research and help this snowy winter pass.

 

Have been to Aruba once and did the whole island tour and then a beach, would love a different type of excursion.

[NeedBlueWater]

Thanks for the review. I sailed on Liberty with my sister in October and loved it so much that I am going on her again next month with DH and kids.

I am very disturbed about your diving experience as I have already booked the ship excursion for DH and DD. I think I will cancel (if they let me) and try to find another dive op.

I thought I had heard of a diving accident in GT with the Carnival sponsered tour a couple of years ago....

[JustCruiseMe]

Thanks for the review. I sailed on Liberty with my sister in October and loved it so much that I am going on her again next month with DH and kids.

I am very disturbed about your diving experience as I have already booked the ship excursion for DH and DD. I think I will cancel (if they let me) and try to find another dive op.

I thought I had heard of a diving accident in GT with the Carnival sponsered tour a couple of years ago....

Rose, is this you??? Hey we are going in next month again too! I hope it's the same one on the 22nd.

Yolanda and Bobby

Edited January 21, 2014 by JustCruiseMe

[wings34]

Still have over 2 months before our cruise on Miss Liberty, but getting excited.

 

Thanks for the review and pictures. I have a question about OSJ. When the ship arrives so early, are the trolleys already going? I read the forts don't open until 9:00.

 

Hi, although the ship arrives into San Juan at 7 am, Puerto Rico is actually an hour ahead, so it is really 8am when the ship arrives. I think we got off the ship around 30 minutes after we docked, and were able to find a trolley at that time. By the time we got to the fort, it was already 9am and they were open.

[wings34]

Interested in Diving. Having never done this before is this doable for us.?

Have this crazy notion to Knock Stuff Off My Bucket List. :p

 

Hi, normally you have to be a certified diver to do something like I did, but I do know that many places offer introductory scuba trips, though I don't know how much they actually do. Another option you may want to consider is SNUBA, its like scuba, but the tank is floating on the surface and has a long hose down to you. For this, you do not have to be certified, and it seems to be fairly common.

[michelle1836]

The cruise!

 

After having breakfast at the hotel restaurant (which was not very good by the way), we took a taxi to the port around 10 AM, which took a whole 5 minutes! It was a busy day at the Port of Miami, with 5 large ships there: Celebrity Reflection, MSC Divinia, Carnival Liberty and Breeze and Norwegian Epic. Although it was busy, we encountered no problems and made our way through the check in process in less than 15 minutes. We had Faster to the Fun, which didn’t do much to help us bypass lines, because there were none this early, but we were among the first to board, which was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, me and my brother’s room was not quite ready, but my parents’ was, so we just stashed our carry-on baggage there until later. Our room was 6203, at the very front of the ship overlooking the bow. It’s considered an inside room, but has a large window overlooking a deck. The view is obstructed by some railings, but you can still see the sea and sky. The only catch is that the curtains have to be shut at night for the safety of navigation.

 

 

Some ship pictures:

 

Interior with picture window room (6203):

 

 

View from room:

 

 

]

 

thanks for posting the cabin pictures. we have the same cabin one deck up this July (but on the Freedom)

[islandway]

Really enjoyed your review as this will be our 1st cruise ever on the Liberty the end of March. Just curious, our itinerary includes Half Moon Cay, yours seemed to include Nassus, was this planned or substituted.

Thank you

[afcruiser]

Hi, normally you have to be a certified diver to do something like I did, but I do know that many places offer introductory scuba trips, though I don't know how much they actually do. Another option you may want to consider is SNUBA, its like scuba, but the tank is floating on the surface and has a long hose down to you. For this, you do not have to be certified, and it seems to be fairly common.

 

Oh Yeah, That actually sounds much safer. I'm afraid I'll panic if I see a shark or something.:eek:

Haven't researched to much yet.

Thanks for the info and your post.

Have a great cruise.:p

[wings34]

Really enjoyed your review as this will be our 1st cruise ever on the Liberty the end of March. Just curious, our itinerary includes Half Moon Cay, yours seemed to include Nassus, was this planned or substituted.

Thank you

 

Hi, Nassau was planned for our cruise from the beginning. I think they like to have only one ship at HMC at a time, so since another ship was scheduled to be there, we ended up with Nassau. We wish we could have gone to Half Moon Cay though, it looks so nice!