This was our 11th cruise on Carnival and our first on the Liberty. We have also cruised with Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, and Norwegian.
We have sailed on the smaller cruise ships up to the "huge" 6000+ passenger ships - I must say that ships the size of the Liberty are my favorite - less people = less crowds.
We sailed out of San Juan with stops in St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, and St Maarten. We were originally scheduled to visit St Kitts instead of Antigua but ship thruster problems forced Carnival to change our itinerary. My wife and I have sailed on this exact cruise (different ship) before.
Small, showing some age but clean and adequate!
We have been to St Thomas many times so we didn't book an excursion. We walked to town - less than 2 miles. My wife shopped and I looked at condos to purchase.
My wife and I took a cab to Maho Beach (I think that's what it's called) to watch the jets land and take off. You've got to experience this place.
Then my wife took a cab to the French side (to shop) and I took a cab back to the port where I visited a realtor inquiring about condos for sale. St Maarten is one of my wife's favorite islands - just below St Lucia.