Day 7: On the good ship Lib-er-ty

On the final day aboard our fun ship we sailed across the ocean back to Miami. So since our last day was on the ship, I thought I'd reflect on our experiences on the ship away from the ports of call. This was our very first cruise and it's true that cruising is a great way to travel.
I definitely recommend getting a balcony room if possible. I had originally thought we would just do an interior room to save some money, and then we found the great deal we got on our balcony. I think it probably ruined me for any future cruises.

This is the view from our level of the ship, all the way down to the main floor. In our research before booking we found that many people recommended being in a room on a high floor toward the middle of the ship. I have to say this seemed pretty accurate too as we didn't feel or hear much during the night.

Would we choose Carnival again? Probably. Since it was our first cruise I don't have anything else to compare it too but they have a lot of activities and try to make your time on the ship lots of fun. One prime example of this was The Fun Hop. The cruise director kept talking up the Fun Hop as the "can't miss event" and "one of the funnest things you could do on the ship." I hate to say it but he was right. The Fun Hop was a series of team competitions that took place in various spots on the ship after dinner the night of my birthday. The whole ship was divided into teams depending on what floor your room was on. We were part of the BLUE. I was a bit skeptical about doing it but figured we could at least check it out. Well once the blue war paint went on we were all in. With the rest of the blue team, Nate and I karakoed, then we all made our way to the casino where we learned your not-so-typical line dances and watched a few of our men do a butt shaking competition, then we made our way to the night club for a dance off, and then we ended up on the main deck with the rest of the ship where we did a huge team conga line, and danced the electric slide with a couple hundred of our closest cruise mates. All the while we roamed the halls chanting war cries of "Blue there it is" (to the toon of whoop there it is) and "Olie, olie, olie! Blue, Blue, Blue!" We ended the night hoarse and with only these pictures because we were so busy having fun.

Dinner time was also fun as our waiters sang and danced for us.

And how can I forget the towel animals. We eagerly awaited coming back to our room to see what creation awaited us. It was fun to try and guess what they had made out of a few towels. Some of them I'm still not quite sure about.

Then there's the question about sea sickness. Did I get sea sick? Yes and no. I did really good for the first 2 days and then things started to move a bit more when we got into the open water and away from the shore. I'm glad that we took motion sickness patches with us just in case, then again I don't have the strongest stomach and Nate did just fine. The thing they don't warn you about is when you get off the ship. I was not prepared to continue moving for a good 4-6 days after we got home. Apparently it's fairly common and some jokingly call it Post Cruise Stress Disorder that lasts until you go on your next cruise. Thankfully I'm all better now, and we would definitely do it all again.

Day 6: Darlin' it's better down where it's wetter

Our final port of call was Grand Turk which is part of the Turks and Caicos. The island apparently isn't as grand as its name would lead you to believe. With the Carnival Liberty's 3,300 passengers and 1,000 crew we out numbered the island's 4,000 inhabitants. Our cruise director, Noonan, informed us that the island could be ours to over throw if we wanted to. So imagine what it must have been like on a day when not one but two cruise ships rolled into town. For a period of 6 hours, Grand Turk tripled its population.

Since Grand Turk has a reputation of great snorkeling, including a 7,000 foot drop off, we decided this would be a great place to take a peak at what goes on under the sea. In typical male fashion, Nate really wanted to take our snorkeling to the next level. Why just snorkel the old fashioned way when you can POWER SNORKEL? So equipped with our snorkel gear and our personal propellers (with top speeds of 3 mph), we got to devotin' some full time to floatin' under the sea.

Such wonderful things surround you, what more are you lookin' for?


Down here all the fish is happy, as off the waves they roll.

We got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea.

With our handy propellers we were able to cover a lot of ground during our trip. Some people in our group, however, were questionable drivers and kept bumping into us or getting in the way. On the way back in we passed over a big bed of these prickly fellers.

Sea urchins! As we past over them I kept pulling my knees up to avoid grazing them. Our dinner friends weren't quite as lucky as Steve somehow ended up stepping on one. In typical island fashion, after Jill had spent 10 minutes trying to pull them out of the bottom of his foot, our guide said, "No worries mon, just leave 'em alone and they'll come out on their own in a few days." Somehow we weren't completely convinced or comforted by that but there wasn't anything else to do.

After snorkeling, with not much available within walking distance to see, we found a spot on the beach. All that power had left Nate tuckered out. Out in the sun they slave away? I guess not.

Back aboard the ship we hunkered down for our last day at sea as we made our way back to Miami.

Day 5: Feliz Cumple Anos

The fifth day of our cruise fell on my birthday and we spent the day in Puerto Rico. For my Puerto Rican birthday we wandered through Old San Juan visiting the forts and doing a little bit of shopping. In all I think we walked about 5 miles all over the city.

At the recommendation of my aunt who loves Puerto Rico, our first stop was to El Morro. El Morro is a cool old fort, with great views of the ocean, which was originally built to guard the entrance to San Juan Bay and defend Puerto Rico against enemies at sea.

The fort had just a few stairs, and no elevator.

Wandering around the fort put Nate in a swashbuckling mood.

That was later over come by his lazy surfer side.


One of the things I enjoyed most about Old San Juan was the architecture. Each building had it's own character and vibrant colors were every where. It makes the cookie cutter stucco homes seem a bit boring back home.

We loved our day in Puerto Rico but it was just too short to see everything Puerto Rico had to offer. One day I hope we get to go back.

Day 4: Up Where the Air is Clear

After a day at sea, we woke up in the Virgin Islands. St. Thomas to be exact. Here we signed up to do something I've wanted to try for years. PARASAILING!!! As we waited for our scheduled departure we decided to browse some of the shops nearby in search of a sun hat for me. How about this one? Just a wee bit understated don't you think? We need something a bit bigger.

Then it was time to make our way to the boat for our parasailing trip. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous. Our trip was a tandem ride so Nate and I got to ride together, and what do you know we were the first one's up.

The part I had been most worried about was how it was going to feel as we lifted off. I half expected my stomach to end up in my feet but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was as the parachute just smoothly took us into the air.


The views of the water and the island were beautiful. While the boat bounced along the choppy seas below we floated in the air and took in the sites around us.



Then it was time to come down.It was a great ride and I can finally check that one off my bucket list.

After parasailing we made our way downtown to do a little shopping. Then with a few hours to spare we decided to grab a taxi cab and go to the beach. At the recommendation of our parasailing guide, we instructed the cab driver to take us to Sapphire Beach versus Meagan's Bay which is apparently more popular with the tourists. Our parasailing guru had assured us that it wasn't really any farther than Meagan's, maybe a 15 minute cab ride. A half hour later we arrived at Sapphire Beach after getting a nice scenic ride of the island.

We enjoyed playing at Sapphire Beach but as the minutes ticked by, my anxiety about missing the ship grew as we were much farther away than we had originally anticipated. With about an hour to spare we caught a taxi to take us back to the pier.

Our cab driver, while willing, was obviously not thrilled about taking 2 people all the way across the island and he tried flagging down a few other cabs to see if he could find someone else to take us. The first cab was packed full, the second empty, the third was just right...sort of. While the third cab (which actually turned out to be a tour group) looked pretty full, he managed to convince the driver/guide, Sunny, to squeeze us in. Literally. On separate rows, sandwiched between several cushiony ladies, Nate and I prepared for one crazy ride. At speeds of probably up to 50 miles per hour, Sunny zipped through the rolling, and winding two lane mountain road that circled the island. With no seat belts and no real doors on the cab, we all gripped the rails in front of us. White knuckles all around, and we all gasped as he narrowly missed pedestrians. Then came the traffic jam. We sat and waited as time ticked by. After what seemed like forever, Sunny had waited long enough and proceeded to do a 6 point u-turn to turn the big cab/bus around on the two lane mountain road to go the other direction. Free of the bonds of traffic, Sunny zoomed the other direction. "I've never got anyone back late yet," he assured over the speaker. "He's been driving like this all day," said the lady seated next to me. Somehow that didn't make me any less nervous. Sure enough we made it to the ship in one piece and no pedestrians harmed with about fifteen minutes to spare. Plus we came away with a ride equally as memorable as our one earlier in the sky. Nate attests that he's been on some roller coasters that weren't nearly as exciting as Sunny's drive. So if you ever make it to St. Thomas and are looking for a good tour, check out Sunny Liston. It will be an experience you'll never forget.

Day 2 & 3: The Fun Begins

The first stop on our trip was Carnival's private island, Half Moon Cay, in the Bahamas. In the words of our Cruise Director, Noonan, this private paradise was ours to enjoy. We took advantage of the time to just relax and recover more from our busy travel day the day prior, while we enjoyed the sun, and the water...



Or both at the same time.

The water was clear and a bit cool to the point that we eased our way in the water inch by inch as our bodies adjusted to the "refreshing temperature." Once we got into the water and away from the shore we had the perfect spot to people watch. From our vantage point, Nate gathered more empirical evidence for his increasingly accurate hypothesis that there are only two groups of people who do not look ridiculous dancing...women and minorities. The beach at Half Moon Cay seemed to be no different.

Shortly thereafter as I was enjoying floating in the water, Nate decided to embark on some impromptu treasure hunting. (FLASHBACK) Earlier that morning as we got ready to leave the ship for the day, I decided it would be best if I left my wedding ring in our room safe. I asked Nate if he wanted to do the same, and he told me, "No, it's not going to come off, and even IF it happened to, it wouldn't be as big a loss as if we were to loose yours." (FlASHFORWARD) I heard Nate call my name and I looked over to see him motioning me to come to him. "I feel like such an idiot," he said when I stopped next to him. "I lost my ring. I went down to do a handstand and it just slipped off my finger here in the sand." As panicked thoughts of "I warned you," swirled through my head, we scanned the beach for kind people with idle snorkel gear. Luckily old married couples are sympathetic to a panicked wife concerned with her husband's wedding ring becoming buried treasure. The old guy even came out to help search. Even more luckily, with the mask Nate was able to find his ring on the first dive, or this could have been the first and last happy picture of us that day.

Later we waved goodbye to Halfmoon Cay and wouldn't step foot on land again for another 41 hours as the next day we were sailing the open ocean.

During our day at sea we played Scattergories, and watched the ice carving demonstration for the ice sculpture that would be displayed at the infamous late night buffet.


We also watched "The Game of Love," which was basically a spin off of the Newlywed game as Noonan pulled a couple of newlyweds (married less than 24 hours), some oldie weds (celebrating their 50th anniversary), and a couple smack dab in the middle. From this game we learned that A) the wife is always right even when the husband has a different answer and witnesses to back up his claim, and B) you can always embarrass your kids/grandchildren/parents by making out on stage and confessing the craziest place you ever "got down to business time" (wink, wink) in front of a theater of strangers.

That night the sea rocked us in our seats and in our sleep as we sailed on towards St. Thomas.

Day 1: Come Sail Away

Our cruise vacation started Friday night at 10:30pm as we boarded our red eye flight to JFK airport in New York where we would catch our 8am flight to Miami. I've never taken a red eye flight before and I'd probably have to think really hard about it before we did it again, but at the time it was our best option to make it across the continental US in time for the cruise departure, without incurring the extra cost of a hotel room. The late night flight, paired with the time change made for a very long travel day. Nevertheless, we made it on the ship with no problems and may have taken the opportunity to catch up on a few Zzz's, after we checked out the lunch buffet.

It was a cloudy day as we waved good bye to Miami and set sail for the Caribbean. But that didn't dampen the spirits aboard the ship as soon the deck was busy with people doing the electric slide and the Cupid shuffle, and every five minutes some server was trying to offer us an alcoholic beverage. I guess there's a reason Carnival's called "The Fun Ship."


Once we were given the all clear that our room was ready we escaped the noise of the party for the serenity of our balcony and watched the ocean roll by in peace.

That night we met our dinning table. I have to admit I was a bit nervous to find out who we were assigned to eat with. Would they be nice? Would we have anything in common to talk about or would we sit there in awkward silence? Would we they think we were cool? It was high school all over again. We ended up sitting with one other couple, Steve and Jill from Long Island, who were about our age and had been dating for about 9 months. Over the course of the week, we ended up seeing them quite a bit on and off the ship.