Liberty of the Seas - A Review of My Virgin Cruise

[i will be writing this in parts with pictures and links added for reference.]

My significant other finally talked me into a cruise and so we sailed on Liberty of the Seas on February 5-12. Since I have no prior experience with cruising, I cannot compare this cruise to past service. I can only give you my opinion on how I felt about this particular vacation.

We flew from Fargo to Bush Intercontinental in Houston the night before and took Galveston Limousine Service to our hotel on Galveston Island. We ordered the shuttle online for $50 round trip per person which seemed to be the best deal out there. Thank you to a cruise critic member for suggesting it. Great service.

Being Superbowl weekend, we had some difficulty finding a reasonable room for the night. We were not willing to pay the jacked up prices of $300 - $400 for less than 12 hours in a room so we opted for Travelodge. This was a BIG mistake. I should have read and listened to the reviews before booking. The location was okay, but the rooms and hotel were very old and worn down. We made due since we knew it was short term and we didn't have many options at that point.

The good news is that it was only one block from Guido's Seafood Restaurant and only a short walk from The Pleasure Pier. Guido's service and food were excellent in our opinion and the prices were very reasonable.

Sunday morning, I got up and took a shower and when I got out, the entire room was flooded with water. I got the night manager and brought him down to look at it. There was apparently a burst pipe in the wall which flooded not only our room, but the room behind us. Fortunately our suitcases and clothing was up off of the floor, but it made for a very unpleasant morning as we got dressed right away and vacated our room much earlier than anticipated. We left our luggage with the front desk and went for a morning walk to occupy our time before we could head to the cruise ship. Travelodge reimbursed us for 50% of the cost of the room which considering the circumstances was less than what they probably should have done.

Ourselves and a few other groups had called for cabs to get to the cruise ship that morning, and after waiting for well over an hour it appeared that none were available so we and two other groups set out walking to the ship with our luggage in tow. Fortunately for my significant other and myself a local gentleman saw us walking with our luggage, pulled over, loaded our luggage into his SUV and dropped us off at the cruise terminal. He would not take any money for his effort. Very nice man.

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at around 10:30 and were on the ship by 11:00. Well organized process.

As with everyone else, we looked around the ship a little and made our way to the Windjammer for lunch. We were quite hungry haven eaten only the one meal the day before and having skipped breakfast. It was very crowded on embarkation day which made me feel a bit claustrophobic, but some seasoned cruisers assured me that it wouldn't be like this once the cruise stated and people disbursed. They were right in that we never had an issue finding a table after that first day.

My impression of the Windjammer food is that it is standard buffet food like you would find at a Hometown Buffet or Golden Corral. Nothing special, but adequate for what it is intended to be. We only used the Windjammer for lunch and one or two breakfasts, so I have no idea what they served for dinner.

We had access to our cabin at around 2:00 PM and our luggage was available so we took the opportunity to unpack and organize ourselves for the week ahead. We stayed in cabin 1830 on Deck 12. These cabins were added in the refurbish and ours was very clean and new looking. I did the suggested wipe-down of everything with my Clorox wipes just to be sure, but it really didn't appear to need anything. Upon checking the bed, I was happy to see that my email requesting a mattress pad had been honored and in fact we had two of them for double cushioning.

We were both impressed with the amount of storage in the room, and felt that it was quite a comfortable size. We loved being at the top of the ship and so near several of the ship's amenities.

...to be continued.

Pics not showing for me.

Yeah, Travelodges can be pretty rough. Busted pipes can happen anywhere, but a busted pipe on top of a beat-up room is no bueno.

If you sail out of Galveston again, I recommend the Country Inn & Suites, Four Points by Sheraton, and either Best Western Plus along the Seawall. (There's lots of better hotels, but these are the ones I've stayed in.)

Gaido's has a hotel adjacent to the restaurant (Gaido's Seaside Inn). I haven't stayed in it, but friends have and like it.

Also, check this for hotels that have a shuttle: http://www.galveston.com/parkandcruise/

Pics not showing for me.

Same here.

Pics not showing for me.

I think I fixed them now. First time posting pics so am trying to figure it out. :)

I think I fixed them now. First time posting pics so am trying to figure it out. :)

Yes, I see the photos now. Thanks.

I think I fixed them now. First time posting pics so am trying to figure it out. :)

Working fine now.

Looking forward to your review. Glad to see you made the best of a rocky start before boarding.

We had access to our cabin at around . Upon checking the bed, I was happy to see that my email requesting a mattress pad had been honored and in fact we had two of them for double cushioning.

Enjoying the review so far. Thanks!

Who did you email (address) about the mattress topper?

Enjoying the review so far. Thanks!

 

Who did you email (address) about the mattress topper?

You can e-mail:

special_needs@rccl.com

Day 2 & 3 were sea days. I ordered room service the night before and it was delivered on time each morning. Coffee was hot, breakfast came with plenty of sausage and bacon, but the eggs were not as good as those served in the Windjammer for breakfast. Some of my most enjoyable moments were sitting on the balcony in the morning drinking my coffee, scanning the horizon for ships & land with the binoculars, and reading while enjoying the warm weather and the sound of the ship moving through the water.

Deck 12 was very quiet, so I was quite happy with my cabin selection. One thing to keep is mind if you are at all prone to sea sickness is that you can definitely feel the ship move up here. Fortunately, neither of us had an issue with that. I loved the feeling of being rocked to sleep at night while listening to the water beyond the open patio door.

I'm not much of a sunbather, but we did spend some time out by the pool listening to the band, people watching, and enjoying a bit of sun. I loved the fresh coconuts and my significant other loved the daily specials.

We also spent a fair bit of time looking at art, playing slots in the casino, and or just exploring every inch of the ship.

you can e-mail:

special_needs@rccl.com

thanks!!!!!

thanks!!!!!

You are welcome. When I made a request in 2016, I received an immediate request received e-mail. Four days later I received a personalized confirmation e-mail that the topper will be in the room and on the bed.

special_needs@rccl.com 3/14/16

 

to me

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us with this information. We have gone ahead and made the appropriate notations in the reservation. We will place a mattress topper on embarkation day.

Best regards,

Access Staff

Tracy

Day 4 - Roatan, Honduras

Thanks to cruise critic, we decided on a private tour of Roatan with Victor Bodden Tours. So glad we did. Excellent communication and service! It was so nice to be on our own time schedule and see just what we wanted. Jerry was extremely knowledgeable and very personable. He answered all of our questions regarding the economy on Roatan, politics, and education. He took us to hold monkeys, feed iguanas, look at beaches, shop, and see the cameo factory. All in all, a very enjoyable day.

Beware of getting your hair braided down on the dock. I didn't ask about price and then was charged $4 per braid after the fact. My fault entirely for not negotiating beforehand.

Jerry with Bodden Tours

Liberty of the Seas docked at Roatan, Honduras

Day 5 - Belize

I knew that I wanted to visit some Mayan ruins at some point during the trip and Belize is where we decided to take advantage of this. There are so many to choose from that we had difficulty deciding. We finally agreed on Xunantunich which is located in a disputed territory at the border of Belize and Guatemala.

First we took a tender to the main land. It was 16 minutes from boarding the tender to disembarking on the shore of Belize. We then had a nearly 2 hour bus ride to get to the archaeological site. Fortunately, Pedro Cruz (an award-winning Belizian and Central American artist) was our tour guide for the day. He had extensive knowledge of the fauna, flora, animals, and culture of the area which we greatly benefited from during the bus ride and at the site.

On the way back, we had about 40 minutes for lunch. We were served roasted chicken with rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, a side salad, and a fried plantain. Many chose to try the national Belikin beer and a few even bought some to drink on the way back to the tender.

Port at Belize

Pedro Cruz explaining ancient Mayan blood letting rights

Xunantunich

A view of Liberty from the tender

Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

Despite a lack of any substantial reviews, we decided on Rio Secreto for our shore excursion. We are so glad that we did! It was an incredible experience spending about 2 hours climbing and swimming through caves. It was stunning! There were 7 cruise ships in port that day, so our group included guests from both LOS and Allure. We were thoroughly impressed with our guide, Yayo who saw us through every step of the day from disembarking the ferry in Playa del Carmen to getting back on the ferry for the return trip to Cozumel. He was very professional and friendly.

Word of caution if you are prone to sea sickness at all; the fairy ride from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen is a rough 45 minute trip. Though we did not have any issues, we saw several people with barf bags on the ferry.

The bus ride from Playa del Carmen to Rio Secreto was about 15 minutes. After our tour, we had time to eat lunch and rest before returning to Playa del Carmen. There was only one ferry returning to the ship, so we had about 90 minutes for shopping and walking on the beach. We were warned about the ONE ferry and nobody missed it.

Rio Secreto (Amazing Secret River)

LOS (left) and Allure (right) from ferry

mellowjourney, you mentioned having a hard time getting a taxi while in Galveston. We had a similar experience when we were there. We took a taxi from our hotel to IHOP for breakfast but we could not get a taxi to pick us up and take us back to he hotel. After trying/waiting for over an hour an elderly gentleman noticed how impatient we looked and asked where we were going. He went and got his car and drove us back to our hotel.He would only accept a handshake as a thankyou. He certainly made our day and even 3 years after , we still think of this very kind man.Someone said this is the Texan way, if so,well done Texas

thanks for the very nice review, totally agree with your view of the WJ , we avoid it when possible

Formal Nights & MDR Service

Formal nights were on Monday and Friday. We both would have preferred to NOT have a formal night on a shore excursion day since we had to rush to shower and get ready for dinner and the evening show. We unfortunately had the 5:30 seating for dinner in the MDR, and Friday was also lobster night. We knew that we would likely be late so we asked our head waiter how late would be acceptable as to not throw him off his service. Since we were only a table of 2, he said that we could show up as late as 6:15. We managed to make it around 6:00 PM and tipped him well for his efforts on our behalf.

The prime rib (I ordered mine medium) was excellent and fork tender. I had it twice during the week. The lobster tail was not overdone, so we were both happy with that as well. I only had dessert one night since I am trying to lay off the carbs. My significant other seemed mostly happy with all of his food. I brought two bottles of wine for Cabernet and Engin always had it ready for me at dinner.

Shows

Day 1 - Welcome Aboard Show (just a teaser, and a lot of announcements)

Day 2 - An Ice Spectacular (Amazing what can be done on a moving ship in such a small rink! Get there at least 30 minutes early for a good seat.)

Day 3 - In the Air (Fantastic aerial show in the Platinum theater, Gregg's fav of the week.)

Day 4 - Encore performance of the Ice Show and the Love & Marriage game show (we drank cocktails and watched a movie under the stars this night.)

Day 5 - Comedian Rondell Sheridan (We both enjoyed his style of comedy.)

Day 6 - Texas Tennors (My personal favorite show for the week. Great show!)

Day 7 - Saturday Night Fever (2nd fav for both of us. Great choreography and singing. It's Broadway theater while on a cruise ship. What's not to love?)

Final Thoughts

Smoking - My significant other smokes; I hate it. Smoking was allowed on the port side of the pool deck and in the casino on Deck 4. Be aware that if you are at all sensitive to smoke, all of deck 4 smells like smoke due to the casino. I personally stayed off of deck 4 as much as possible, but my significant other spent some time each evening in the casino playing slots.

Kids - I personally did not encounter any unruly kids and enjoyed seeing entire families dressed up for formal nights. I think this was likely a good time of year to sail, falling between winter and spring break. There were hardly any children on board that I could detect.

Elevators - The only times that we felt like elevators were busy and crowded were right after a show let out. We solved this dilemma by hanging out with a drink for 15 minutes or so while the main traffic cleared out. We did not encounter any rude people on elevators.

Weather - Once we got out of Galveston, the temperature seemed to be a pretty constant 79 F (26 C).

Drink Package - My significant other bought the all-inclusive Deluxe drink package and it was worth it for him. He enjoyed the fresh-squeezed OJ each morning and drank enough of the specialty cocktails and single-malt scotch to make it worth it. I pretty much drink black coffee, water, and tea so I went without a drink package. I used my OBC to pay for my few drinks during the week. The one draw back to the Deluxe Package was that Gregg did not feel like drinking on one evening, but felt obligated to in a sense in order to get his money's worth out of the package. He said he would buy it again on another cruise since it gave him the freedom to explore the specialty drinks and was prepaid.

Service & Staff - Our room attendant (Collin), our head waiter (Engin), our under waiter (Pingxiang), customer service, and all other staff members were excellent in our opinion. We felt very well taken care of.

Disembarkation - This would be our one complaint, but not really a complaint as we understand much of it was out of the control of the ship's staff. The port was closed upon returning to Galveston and we docked several hours late. Due to number assignments for disembarkation, we were not allowed off of the ship until about 1:00 PM. We had a 4:21 PM flight our of Bush Intercontinental and made it with 4 minutes to spare thanks to the efforts of the Galveston Limo shuttle driver. Others were not so fortunate and had to rebook their flights. The complaint (if it is one) comes in the fact that while we were all stuck on the ship, the only place to get water and/or a snack while waiting was at the Cafe Promenade and Sorento's which created very long lines. We do, however understand that other venues needed to deep clean for the next guests so we were not too upset. We ended up eating McDonald's at our layover in Dallas.

Voom - we did not take advantage of the on-board internet packages. I found one of the best parts of the cruise to be the opportunity for unplugging from electronic media (save my Kindle). No news, no Facebook, no email equaled pure ignorant bliss.

Happy Cruising! This was definitely the first of many for me. :)

mellowjourney, you mentioned having a hard time getting a taxi while in Galveston. We had a similar experience when we were there. We took a taxi from our hotel to IHOP for breakfast but we could not get a taxi to pick us up and take us back to he hotel. After trying/waiting for over an hour an elderly gentleman noticed how impatient we looked and asked where we were going. He went and got his car and drove us back to our hotel.He would only accept a handshake as a thankyou. He certainly made our day and even 3 years after , we still think of this very kind man.Someone said this is the Texan way, if so,well done Texas

We met one gal who was not able to get a ride from Hobby to Galveston late Saturday evening. A local Galveston couple was returning from a trip and overheard her. They dropped her off at her hotel and would only accept a handshake as well. Very nice people.

thanks for the very nice review, totally agree with your view of the WJ , we avoid it when possible

I definitely preferred the MDR and Tutti Salad for lunch. Gregg preferred the variety in the Windjammer. Different strokes for different folks. :)

Hi Mellowjourney - on this post a few days ago you said that Formal nights were Tuesday and Friday...

I just got off Liberty. Formal nights were Tuesday and Friday. Friday was lobster night and I highly recommend the prime rib as well. It was fork tender. I was not too thrilled about having a formal night on a shore excursion day. There wasn't enough time to get ready on Friday after a long hot day in Mexico. We were semi-formal when we finally made it to the dining room, but at least we were showered. We also gave our waiter the curtesy of letting him know that we might be late and let him tell us how late would be too late so as not to throw his service off. We were only a table of two so not a huge problem for him, he said.

But in this thread you have said it's Monday and Friday. Can you confirm which one is correct? Thanks!! Glad you had a good trip!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Great to hear you had a good time. We were on the same cruise!

Welcome to the cruising family!

Hi Mellowjourney - on this post a few days ago you said that Formal nights were Tuesday and Friday...

 

 

 

 

 

But in this thread you have said it's Monday and Friday. Can you confirm which one is correct? Thanks!! Glad you had a good trip!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Good catch. I looked back at my cruise comasses when I wrote this review, so I'll need to correct my previous post which was from memory, and a faulty one at that. :)