WOW!!! What an incredible vacation & 1 year anniversary celebration! We are so glad we could share our first cruise experience with Brad and Rachel Helzer.
Carnival was the cruise line and Liberty was the name of our ship. We departed out of The Port of Miami after a 13 hour drive from Birmingham. For Brad & Rachel about 36 hours total since they drove all the way from CO. We all were astonished at the size of the ship...truly a city on the sea. The ship was well kept and the staff were very kind. We dined each night in the Silver Olympian dining room. The serving staff were very fun and entertaining. They sang and danced on a couple different occasions. Most of the crew including the captain were from different countries. We only saw one crew member from the states (Louisiana). Everyone else we saw were from Indonesia, India, Peru, Croatia, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and Romania.
We missed our first port of call in the Bahamas because a young lady died on the ship (reason unknown to us). The captain made the decision to turn the ship back to Miami to drop off the woman and her family. We were then at sea for two days until we arrived at St. Thomas- what was planned to be our 2nd port of call.
St. Thomas was where Brad and Rachel spent their honeymoon almost 3 years ago. It was special for them to be back...lots of memories ;) Todd and I were in awe of the islands beauty. This was our first tropical encounter...I squealed in happiness when I caught my first glimpse of the water. We rented scooters and spent the day exploring the whole island! Our first stop was Coki Beach. Here Todd and I snorkeled for the first time. Todd was a little hesitant at first, but he ended up loving it and being out in the water longer than all of us. Our next stop was Magens Bay-voted in the top 10 beaches. It was breathtaking indeed! However, more touristy than Coki Beach. We finished the day with dinner at a local grill that Brad & Rachel ate at during their honeymoon. It was sad to leave the island. St. Thomas was definitely our favorite for touring and the beaches were the most beautiful. We hope to return one day!
San Juan, Puerto Rico was our next stop. This was my least favorite of our three ports. simply beacause I would have rather been on beach. However, I did appreciate the rich history of Puerto Rico's capital, and the architecture of the buildings and cobblestone roads. There was a lot of beauty in the city and the San Cristobal Fort we toured. The history of San Cristobal was incredible. It had endured many enemies since the 1500's. In both World Wars the United States used it as a lookout for the enemy. Our time in San Juan was short, but enough time in my opinion :)
Grand Turk was our final port. Grand Turk is a flat small island. You can easily see from one end to the other. The beach was nice, but crowded. Shopping was good. I ended up getting the perfume: Burberry Brit (no tax!). We went on a catamaran & snorkeling excursion to end our time on the island. The excursion was so much fun! We snorkeled off the boat in 30 ft. deep water right above the Grand Turk coral reef. On the opposite side of the coral reef the water dropped about 6,000 ft. Here we saw many colorful fish, and the water was the most incredible blue. One of the guides scuba dove and filmed us from below. Soon we will be receiving the video in the mail! Grand Turk was our favorite island for snorkeling!
I posted all our PICTURES on my facebook. You can go to this link to check them out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2240788&id=42108074&l=5fd159f265
We are thankful for the opportunity we had to visit these islands. It was a much needed vacation and we look forward to planning our next...we are thinking snorkeling/scuba may have to be incorporated! For now its back to reality...
Love and miss you all,
Todd & Amy
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