Carnival Liberty Review
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My family and I recently returned from the Carnival Liberty (May 17- May 24). Overall, I believe the ship with wonderful and the ports were equally as beautiful. We left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico which was quite simple. Advice: If you are leaving out of Puerto Rico, take an early flight in. Although the ship does not leave port until 10pm at night, that is considered one of your cruise days. Old San Juan has a lot of shopping and historical sights that are in walking distance of the port. Our flight arrived approximately 1:30pm and we were boarded on the ship, through security ect, by 3:00 which did include a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport to the cruise terminal. The buffet was open along with other food amenities (Guys Burger, Red Frog Rum Bar, Tequila Bar, Burrito/Taco station, Mongolian Wok). The best part was that our room was ready for us at the time of boarding...it seemed most, if not all rooms were ready. This made waiting for our luggage easier and we were able to go back off the ship and explore Old San Juan. The only thing that was not "open" that night was your reserved dining time, providing you chose to have a set dining time...that began the next night.
This ship visited 5 ports throughout the 7 day cruise. This allowed for 1 "Sea Day", which we were fine with as we picked this itinerary based on the ports it visited. The next morning (Mon) we arrived in St. Thomas. There is plenty of shopping just walking off the ship, but if you'd like to visit a beach, you must take a taxi. Taxi's in my opinion were a tad pricey at $9 per person each way. We had a family of 4 adults [Round Trip= $72 + tip]. We choose by recommendation of the excursion desk to go to Coki Beach. This was approximately 30 minutes via open taxi bus. Beach was nice overall. Can get a bit crowded, but there are bathrooms available and a few drink/food huts for purchase.
Next, Tues (Sail Day)...Wednesday was Barbados. This was a personal favorite for our family. We took Five-Star Catamaran (plus lunch) that we booked directly through Carnival...which is highly recommended. I can't stay enough about this tour. Transportation was included from port to catamaran marina. On board the staff took care of everyone and was engaged with the passengers. A buffet lunch was served with an assortment of Caribbean cuisine in addition to soda and alcoholic beverages free of charge. Personally i recommend the rum punch! We were taken to snorkel with the sea turtles. We saw plenty and they even swam close to us. In addition we saw a large sting ray-- no worries, professional divers were in the water with us at all times.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Good Size-- no bigger or smaller than other ships. However, there are a lack of outlets for charging, so bring a portable one. Cabin was always taken care off with clean towels day and night. Two twin beds (converted to king) was very comfortable. Extra bunks was average in comfort. Balcony was a nice size with two chairs.
Overall, very satisfied.
Port Reviews
San Juan
Shopped and explored Fort after checking into the ship. So much to see and do just in Old San Juan. Highly recommend if taking a flight in to arrive no later than 4pm otherwise you 1st day of the cruise you miss out on. Food and most ship amenities are available with exception of shopping and casino.
St. Thomas
We used a taxi service to visit Coki Beach...recommended beach from Carnival Excursion desk. A bit pricy $9 per person one way to the beach. Beach was near Coral World and had bathrooms, few shops, food, and drinks available for purchase. Approximately 25-30 minutes from cruise terminal. Great views of ship from on top of mountain
St. Lucia
Visually beautiful island, but did not want to venture too far out onto this island due to the high crime rate. A small area of shopping was available right off the ship. Weather was a bit cloudy so we were unable to see the Pitons from afar.
St. Maarten
Took watertaxi over the beach and shopping area. Great price, $7 per person all day. We enjoyed the beach that we did not shuttle back and forth. We rented from a person on the beach 2 chairs, an umbrella, and 5 drinks of our choice (water, beer, soda) for only $20. We also rented jetskiis for $45, we got 2...it was for a half hour, but we were out there much longer! So much fun as we had free range of where to ride. It was $45 for the jet skii alone so you were able to have more than one passenger if you liked. Shopping off the ship terminal was available as well.