ticktoneer

Hilton Doubletree Orlando Airport has free wi fi.

Yoo Hoo !!!!! :-)

I mean hotels such a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt types, not residence inn, hampton inn, etc.

Thanks for clarifying it.

The Marriott next to SeaWorld FL did free wi-fi last year and a lot of the large chains like Hilton, Marriott, Radisson etc. do free wi-fi in Europe.

:-)

I still say lets start a campaign Static events :-)

Hotels don't and will never do this, so why do you think RCI should do this. Cruise vacations are so cheap anyway. Internet is a big moneymaker. Remember they are in business to make money. Sorry, IMHO, dumb idea.

Many hotels do give you free wi-fi

Despite what people are saying static events, I say go for it !!

:) ;) :) ;)

I don't think it would happen, but I live in hope !

Despite thinking it wouldn't happen that wouldn't stop me joining in a campaign. Let me know what you're going to do and sign me up !

:)

Not on a cruise but one vacation I forgot to pack any underwear.... blush

I daren't even imagine ! Aggghhh

Thanks, will be avoiding that area like the plague. Cigar smoke is unbearable to me, glad they have given you a place to go that is a great clublike atmosphere so that all passengers, including those inclined and uninclined to cigars, can be happy. Where else are smokers allowed to smoke? Keep in mind, I am not judging or complaining, I just want to plan accordingly. I grew up in a smoking household and since I moved out have always lived in a non smoking household but at least I understand and have watched the wild transition.

I think you are judging and complaining :-)

I spent my lunch hour today reading your review. Didn't manage to finish and had to pull it back up when I got home. You did a great job. I've been eying the TA cruises for a couple years now and was drooling over the incredible breaks on the pricing a month ago ... they were practically giving the cabins away. Cruising as a single with my diamond balcony discount I could have had my pick of several different ships for under $1500 total. I'll do it one of these days.

 

In any event, I'm booked on the Liberty next year for spring break and I'm bringing the whole fan-damly. I actually prefer Vision or Radiance class, but the grandkids will have more options on this ship.

 

Thank you for all the detail. It's helping me clarify some of the things I wondered about. I'd really like to find a few friends to cruise with, but I'll try solo if I can't drum up any interest.

I'm glad it helped :);):)

Really enjoyed reading your review - really makes me want to do a transatlantic crossing - just have to convince my partner that its something she really would like to do as well - in the meantime looking forward to boarding Liberty in May for our Med cruise - thanks for all the info on the ship.

 

Karen

Go on . . . Convince her. Get her to read my review.

TA's are such good value :-)

Ticktoneer, thank you for taking your precious time and keeping us posted on your TA. Totally enjoyed it from start to finish. BRAVO.:)

:):):)

I took my DD on her first cruise when she was 8. The following year I took her on her second trip to WDW. And I asked her while we were at Disney what was better ... Disney or a cruise. She didn't hesitate. She said "Cruise!" I was stunned. I knew which one I preferred, but I never thought a 9-year-old at Disney World would say she could think of a better way to spend a vacation.

 

I've never cruised on anything bigger than the Voyager class yet ... but am booked on the Liberty a year from now, so I'm looking forward to your experiences.

I've just posted a Liberty review :-)

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1823446

If we like the room host we usually provide double the suggested tip. Funny thing happened on the 2nd Alaska DCL cruise. Our host on the Wonder last 2011 was Dom from the Philippines. We loved him and he treated us well. He even changed my daughter's bed sheet (sofa bed) to a pink sheet. We were so surprised!! so every night her bed sheets were pink and not the regular white that we always receive. When we returned on the Wonder the following year we searched for him on the same deck and found him. He remembered us, hugged us and even asked if my Mom was joining us in this cruise knowing that she had joined us in 2011. At around 11 pm at the last day of the cruise I was surprised to hear a knock on our cabin door. He surprised us with a gift of candies from the Philippines. Man, that really made our cruise better than we had ever expected.

Double the suggested tip - I'm shocked !

A lot of people on CC must have enough money to burn. I wish I was that well off

I just found this thread and had to read it from start to finish. Thanks very much Tictoneer.

Ha ha ha ! Glad you enjoyed it :-)

hi i enjoyed ur review sounds like a great cruise. we are sailing on liberty for thanksgiving for four nites we booked a js on deck 7 at the very back of the ship. cant wait havent been on liberty yet.

You'll have an amazing time :-)

Great review thanks! We board Liberty next Tuesday.

We will try your airport route out next week. How far is the walk along las ramblas (sp?) please? We will have a suit bag and small case both on wheels so hopefully our luggage won't get in the way on the stroll.

We were going to tour Barcelona on arrival but just want to have a leisurely amble to the ship and flop.

Steady walking I'd say about 20 - 30 minutes. We had a really large suitcase each (with wheels) and 3 shoulder bags. It is a lovely walk. When you get to the top the aerobus services go from the right hand side of the plaza - numbers A1 & A2.

I am not the fittest of people and I was fine - ha ha ha !!!

Sorry the last 3 reviews were late :-)

Day 13 - 20 April 2013 – Disembarkation (Boo Hoo Hoo !!!!)

(Only 4 weeks until the next one on Indy though to Norway – hooray !!!)

We had number 7 luggage tags which were a 7am disembark but as we weren’t flying until 3.40pm we were advised we could get off the ship any time up to 9.30am and our luggage would just be waiting for us.

We got up at 8am after a great night’s sleep to find a beautiful day in Barcelona. The temperature was 22 degrees Celsius or 72 degrees Fahrenheit with totally blue skies.

After taking breakfast in the Windjammer (and having my last horrible orange water – ha ha ha) we had a last walk around the ship and at 9.15am joined the line to disembark. When I got to security I didn’t hear the ‘bing’ I wanted to hear I heard “you have a message”. Oh my – what now ???

We were advised to walk to the fwd gangway as we could be assisted there. When we arrived there we were advised we couldn’t be assisted as the computer had been unplugged and that we needed to go up to the guest services desk on deck 5.

We made our way up there after being stopped and reprimanded several times by crew who didn’t listen to us regarding why we were wanting to get back onto the ship. Aaaggghhhhhhh !!!

At guest services we were advised that our credit card hadn’t authorised. When we asked why we hadn’t been advised until now the officer became very nasty and defensive and didn’t listen at all to what we were asking. We were quite shocked by her manner. She asked if we wanted them to call our credit card company for us and before we said yes or no she had started dialling them.

I sorted out the credit card issue while my buddy sorted out the room account with the assistant guest services manager who had now taken over our matter. We asked him why we hadn’t been advised about our card in the way we were told we would be on day 12. He said they had forgotten to let us know. He then proceeded to ask if we had cash as they were on a tight deadline and we were holding up the ship.

This was the first time I had been wound up on the cruise and if he had of been nearer I think I’d have thrown the telephone at him !! They forget to let us know so we could sort the problem out, but we were holding up the ship !!! Nice one RCI.

Phew ! Glad this review let me get that off my chest !

One of the only negative issues I would comment on with Liberty was the guest services staff. The Spanish speaking female GS officers (I’m not being sexist it was just the female members of staff) would never answer a question you asked them. They would always cut you off in mid question and answer what they thought your question was going to be. This led to even more confusion as they were usually wrong and you then tried to explain again and would then be cut off again – it was like a merry go round – ha ha ha. We did actually have a conversation with the assistant guest services manager (same one as above) earlier in the week and he did agree with us that this is a problem that happens a lot with the Spanish speaking female GS staff, lots of guests complain about this and that it has been identified as a training issue.

None of the above on the last day spoilt the cruise in any way and we disembarked at 10.15am.

It had been a WONDERFUL cruise. One of the best I had been on with RCI. Liberty of the Seas is a great ship, well run and very friendly and accommodating.

Freedom of the Seas has always been my favourite ship, but I now have a joint favourite in Liberty of the Seas.

When we had left the ship we took the port bus to the bottom of Las Ramblas for 2.60 Euro each. We walked to the top of Las Ramblas and took the Aerobus for 5.90 Euro each making a journey cost of 17 Euro and journey/walking time of 1hr 30 mins in total. It was great doing it this way as we had plenty of time and a taxi to the airport would have cost us 50 Euro.

We flew Ryanair to East Midlands airport which was smooth with no hitches. The cost of this was £40 ($58) each including taxes and luggage costs.

Day 12 - 19 April 2013 – At Sea

If you’ve read my review from Day 11 you will realise we got in at 5.30am! This means you aren’t going to get much of a review for today I’m afraid as we were like lethargic zombies all day – ha ha ha !

We got up at 12 noon as we heard the Captains announcement. Today was 20 degrees Celsius / 68 degrees Fahrenheit with 1ft seas and for the last 3 days our speed had been 17.4 knots.

We went to the Windjammer for lunch as we were hungry and really thirsty and de-hydrated from the evening before. It was sad thinking this was our last lunch in the Windjammer on this particular cruise.

After lunch we went to settle our on-board account so far as we had set it up as a cash account. We also put our credit card on file as there was a small balance outstanding. The guest services officer advised us that if there were any problems with the account or credit card authorisation they would let us know no later than this evening before dinner (you need to keep this in mind when you read my final morning disembarkation review).

At 2.30pm we were feeling really sluggish and tired so we went to bed “just for an hour” and woke up at 5.30pm – blimey!!!!!!!! (told you it wouldn’t be much of a review today – ha ha ha).

5.30pm to 6.00pm – We packed our luggage. (It was more like ‘threw everything in’). We put these outside with our disembarkation tags on ready to be collected by 11pm.

We showered, shaved and dressed ready to go and meet some friends we had made in the Diamond lounge at 7pm. It was great having a final very relaxing evening with very calm seas and the fantastic bartenders and servers in the Diamond lounge (in The Sphinx).

We had our final dinner in the MDR – our waiter Reynauld and Assistant Waiter Raj had both been excellent for the whole cruise. The final dinner was a good menu. We had scallops, French onion soup, lamb shank, roast turkey, key lime pie and apple pie.

After dinner we wandered around the ship saying goodbye to people we’d met and swapping contact details with some of them. We were exhausted by 11pm so we went off to bed again……..

More review tomorrow of disembarkation day

Some of the entertainment and things to do on this sea day

Fit ball class

Boxing class

Yoga

Napkin Artistry

Ice Carving demo

Win A Cruise Bingo

Ice Skating

How was the weather in Cadiz?

The weather in Cadiz was beautiful. Sunny with blue skies - 20 degrees celcius / 68 degrees fahrenheit. A nice little breeze.

Day 11 - 18 April 2013 – Cadiz, Spain

Ship arrived - 9.00am

Gangway opened - 9.30am

All aboard - 5.30pm

I can’t believe it . . . . . . . . . . . . another morning we’ve actually made it to breakfast at the Windjammer (I LOVE the Oatmeal).

There were Regent and Crystal ships in port with us on this day.

We left the ship and walked into Cadiz at 11.00am. The ship docks nearly in the central plaza of the Town Centre – ha ha ha – it’s great. Cadiz was a lovely town with many lovely shops, markets, gardens and plaza’s. Next time we visit I’d love to take a red hop on hop off tour bus around to see more things and hear more about the history.

We were very naughty in Cadiz (please forgive me !). A really rude and ignorant person stopped and asked for directions to the cathedral by saying “cathedral, directions now” when we didn’t respond straight away she said “did you hear me – now”. Of course she got directions, but to the totally wrong end of town !!!!!!!

We returned to the ship around 3pm and had a late lunch in the Windjammer. What a nice day !

Until 6pm we just sat on the Promenade people watching and chatting with some friends we had made.

After a quick shave, shower and spruce up we went to the Diamond lounge at 7pm for drinks before dinner. We decided not to go to the show as it was ‘Backbeat Beatles’. We’ve seen them before and neither of us likes Beatles music.

Dinner at 8.30pm in the MDR was great. It was lobster night – hooray ! Even though this has been a 12 night cruise the menus have been different every day. I assumed that they would start the rotation again after the 7th night.

We were in a dilemma about what to do later this evening. Dancing with the Stripes (a cast dancer and officer dancing together in a competition) was planned for 10.45pm, but also a special evening in the Olive & Twist had been planned by the Beverage Manager for ‘Friends of Dorothy’ (i.e. gay men/women and their guests for those who have wondered for years what ‘Friends of Dorothy’ means). This was at 10.30pm and was in a private party area with free champagne and rum punch.

Well . . . . . . . . . . knowing me a little bit after this series of reviews I’ll let you guess which event won over (answer at the bottom)

We finished off the night at Catacombs and got to bed at 5.30am after having a snack in Café Promenade. I was sooooooooo tired. I’m too old at 41 for these late nights.

More review tomorrow (last day – boo hoo hoo)

Some of the entertainment and things to do on this Cadiz port day

Fab abs class

Water aerobics

Daily trivia

Music trivia

Nintendo Wii

Shuffleboard

Adult Soccer competition

Wine tasting

Evening event – Friends of Dorothy won ! (free alcohol and partying !)

Impressive.

 

You all better now? x

Yep, I'm all better now thanks x x

Hi Ticktoneer

 

We are seriously considering this cruise next year! I honestly believe your reveiw has helped swing our decision.

 

With regards to your flights to Florida - when did you book them and who did you book them through (ie direct or agent)? I am not overly concerned about the flight back from barcelona but the single flight to the states gets me a little jumpy (especially as my hubbie is an awful flyer and if we go next may our DD will be 20 months which will be an experience on a long haul!) Because of the above I would like to have everything planned as quickly as possible with the flights

 

Keep it coming...

 

Only 14 days till I see liberty - will say hi from you

x

I booked with the company direct online and also checked Choice Air to see if that was cheaper :-)

Please note. The kazoo is NOT a classical instrument. Just saying :p

Ha ha ha !!! Cheeky mare !

I play the classical stringed descant recorder actually !!!

Hello Ticktoneer,

I hope you are feeling a little better.

Could you please find out if Rich Edwards will be the CD on the return TA? We have had him on the Liberty as the Assistant CD and really enjoyed him.

Thank you!

Hi, I asked Rich Edwards about the return TA and he said there are some changes to schedules after September so they aren't sure of rotation dates yet. Sorry I couldn't be more help.