Southeast Sea Islands Itinerary American Liberty - December 2024 My 9th cruise with American Cruise Lines explored the east coast from Florida to South Carolina

American Liberty in Port Royal, South Carolina

My final cruise of 2024 was on a new ship in the American Cruise Lines fleet.  The ship, American Liberty, is a sister ship to a ship I've sailed on twice already...  but they tweaked a couple of important ship features on this new ship.  So, I enjoyed seeing how the new tweaks to the design improved things.  This was my ninth cruise with American Cruise Lines.

Even more interesting than the design tweaks, the itinerary is what interested me the most...  because it took me to a state I've never been to before:  South Carolina.  Thanks to my working relationship with ACL, where they send me to cruise on their various ships in order to shoot pictures and videos for them, I'm making a really good attempt at visiting all 50 US states in my lifetime!  I flew in to Jacksonville, and then met the ship on Amelia Island and spent the week cruising north on the intracoastal waterway to Charleston.

Prior to boarding the cruise ship, I had two nights in a hotel on Amelia Island, Florida.
Because it was mid-December, they had Christmas events downtown both nights.
The way they had decorated the downtown oak trees with lights was gorgeous!

American Liberty is one of 19 cruise ships in the American Cruise Lines fleet,
and four of them feature a catamaran-style bow.
These ships have an especially shallow draft, making them perfect for the intracoastal waterway.

An interesting part of the intracoastal waterway is a section known as the Elliot Cut.
They cut out a narrow channel to make a shortcut for ships sailing to Charleston, South Carolina.

During our 7-day cruise, I saw three beautiful lighthouses.
This one is on St Simons Island, Georgia...


 

Savannah, Georgia, was my favorite city on this itinerary.
Among the many things I liked about Savannah,
was this wide boulevard with with big oak trees in the center divider.

The top of City Hall in Savannah is adorned with this beautiful golden dome...

They love their cable-stayed bridges in this part of the USA.
I saw three of them during our 7-day cruise.
This one was in Charleston, South Carolina...

After nine cruises with American Cruise Lines,
I've gotten very good at launching and recovering my drone while the ship is moving.
It's one of the trickiest things a drone pilot will ever do!
It allows me to get some fantastic pictures of the ship in motion.

Here I am in full American Cruise Line gear...


When I dress like this on the ship, some people assume I am an employee.
They frequently see me with a camera, or flying my drone, so they think I'm the ship's photographer.
When I tell them that I'm just a freelance photographer and drone pilot
 that ACL sends on free cruises, they usually say I have a great gig.  And I agree with them!

The still photos I shot were nice, but you should see the video!
Here's a video I made about the trip, the ship, and why it's a great cruise for seniors:

To start the video playing, click the triangle in the middle of the video screen
To make the video fill the screen (recommended) click the little symbol in the lower right corner of the video player

Need A Travel Agent?

Booking a cruise can be confusing, especially if you haven't been on many cruises before.  There are lots of first-time cruiser mistakes that a travel agent can keep you from making.  Also, the call centers of some of the big cruise lines are severely understaffed these days...  creating extremely long wait times to talk to a customer service representative.  When you book a cruise through a travel agent, you'll never have to get stuck on hold with the cruise line...  your travel agent does all that kind of stuff for you.

If you're interested in booking a cruise with any cruise line...  please feel free to use the services of my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher.  She's extremely pleasant to deal with, easy to talk to since she lives in the United States and speaks without any kind of an accent, and quite experienced and knowledgeable about different types of cruising.  Caitlin is the owner of Ambren Travel.  Visit her web site, check out the Ambren Travel Facebook page, or contact her using the information below.

Other Cruise Ships I've Been On

If you've enjoyed this page, you would probably also enjoy reading my web pages about:

My first river cruise: American Harmony
My second river cruise:  American Melody
Viking's new Expedition Ship:  Viking Octantis
July 2021 Iceland Cruise on Viking Sky
January 2020 Carnival Panorama
December 2019 cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Joy
May 2019 Carnival Horizon cruise
April 2019 Norwegian Breakaway cruise
January 2019 Caribbean cruise on the Viking Sea
December 2018 country music cruise on the Norwegian Getaway
May 2018 Panama Canal cruise on the Norwegian Bliss
January 2018 cruise on MSC Seaside in a suite with a private Jacuzzi
September 2017 Carnival Vista cruise in a Havana Suite
October 2017 Norwegian Sky cruise in the owner's suite
The $1600 per night owners suite:  January 2017 Norwegian Pearl
An Un-crowded Small Ship Experience:  Viking Star
One Of The Best Waterslides At Sea:  Liberty Of The Seas
Quite Possibly The Best Cruise Ship In The World:  Anthem Of The Seas
January 2017 Allure Of The Seas
One of the best cruise ships we've ever experienced: The Norwegian Escape
2015 Carnival Breeze back-to-back cruises
Back-to-back cruises on Independence Of The Seas
World's largest cruise ship: Allure Of The Seas
2015 Carnival Freedom repositioning cruise
Our first VIP cruise in The Haven: The Norwegian Getaway
Our June 2014 Alaska cruisetour with Princess
Our first cruise with Princess!  January 2014 Sapphire Princess
2014 back-to-back eastern/western Caribbean cruises on the Carnival Glory
The completely refurbished Carnival Sunshine
One of Carnival's best ships, the Carnival Breeze
A sister ship to the Breeze, the Carnival Magic
Our 2013 cruise on the Carnival Conquest
One of the oldest ships in the fleet, the Carnival Inspiration
Our first Caribbean cruise:  the Carnival Glory
Our many cruises on the Carnival Spirit
Our February 2010 cruise on the Carnival Splendor
Our January 2008 cruise on the Carnival Elation
Our April 2008 cruise on the Norwegian Star
Our first cruise!  1996 on Carnival Cruise Line's MS Holiday

Click here to see the complete chronology of all the cruises we've ever taken.

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