Liberty 1-7 to 1-14. My Take

Ok, just got off the Liberty on the 14th. Cozumel, Georgetown and Falmouth. Here’s my take on the Liberty. Nice ship. A very decent size for getting around. Seems like it’s just a short walk to anymore. This is in contrast to the Harmony we took last year. Seems like you have to walk a mile to get anywhere. I still love that ship though. My wife agrees and wants to go back. She also liked the Liberty but just felt the Harmony had better shows and such, which I agree. Will get to the shows in a bit.

As I stated the ship itself is very nice, easy to negotiate. I’m a very early riser, usually 5 am and like to go wander the ship at this time to see what’s what. Learn the layout very quick this way. I like to let my wife lead at times and see how many times she goes the wrong direction. Just one of my little pleasures. I know, silly right?

Anyway, was not a huge fan of the Promenade. Just seemed too tight to me. Too narrow, way to many choke points. They always have some type of sale out there and just adds to the narrowness. Add on to this the people who for some reason feel they need to congregate right in the middle where you are trying to walk and seem oblivious to what they are doing, really causes backup at times. Just my opinion, for the most party you could zig zag back and forth ok, would just be easier if they would step to the side to have their indepth conversations groups.

I’m not a casino guy, but found we spent a good bit of time down there. A friend we traveled with likes blackjack so we would hang with him while he played. Well, we would sit at the bar. Met three awesome bar tenders who I would hang out with any day, Dana, Angelita, and Joey. If anyone goes on the Liberty go to the bar and look them up. Quick though, Dana is going on her vacation in a month and Angelita next week. They were truly awesome and a blast to hang with. One other thing, I hate cigarette smoke, but was very pleased I could rarely smell any while sitting in there. While wandering around in the early hours I smelt no smoke at all in there. Very good cleaning. On the Harmony it just seemed to constantly reekall the time. We visited several of the bars and all were staffed by greatworkers. Smiling and ready to help.

We only saw two shows, the Headliners, which were the LongRun, an Eagles tribute, and Saturday Night Fever. Plenty of seating in the maintheater. We tried the Ice Show but the lines were crazy. Great shows, both ofthem.

The outside areas were very nice. Seemed to be plenty of deck chairs around. It was a bit cold and windy on our cruise but there were times it sunned up and still seemed spacious. I don’t do ship pools or hottubs but they seemed fine. The sports deck was a little small on the rear of the ship but I’m sure it was adequate. Didn’t really hang back there. Did a slide one time. Was disappointed it was so slow. Either I’m too big at 230 or therewas just not near enough water running. Had to assist myself to get going at times.

For our dining choices we are always super simple and probably get looked down on here as we only do the Windjammer. I know there are people here who absolutely despise eating there and say the food is garbage, Wesay It’s Not. It’s good food to us. God gave is free will to choose what we want and like, and we like the Windjammer. Plenty of choices in our opinions.We are not a fan of the layout though. Seems a bit chaotic and poorly laid out. Again, too narrow for me. My wife agrees. She feels it’s way too small. But I’m sure if you plan it right when there are the fewest people there it’s ok. We for the most part found a table pretty quickly and one of us would camp while the others grazed. We ate well. Levin, an attendant up there was always a hoot. Just a fun guy and remembered my name the whole trip. He was rewarded the last day just for entertaining me. We did not come close to starving.

Our stateroom, in my opinion, was the best located room I’ve ever sailed in. Deck 8, 8636, right near the rear elevators, from which weheard no noise. 3 floors up to eat, 3 floors down to shopping and shows andsuch. Hardly needed an elevator. This of course helps with all the eating and drinking calories a little. The room was plenty nice. Clean, well laid out for us. I liked the bed near the balcony. Helps to open up the room when you walk in to the sofa area. Our attendant James was awesome. Whatever we needed he was on it. Great guy, hard worker, and made good towel animals, which we got 4 of the 7 nights. Not bad. Did have two issues with the toilet. One morning my wife used it and flushed. It would not stop filling. She had to keep flushing whileI called maint. They sent a guy down and it was fixed quickly. Another time Iused it and it would not flush at all. Again, I called and they fixed it in an acceptable time. Called us later to make sure all was ok. No complaints there at all. I would like to add there were three cabins in our group. We asked James to open up the balcony dividers for us and he did it with no problems at all.

Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. We got there about 11 or so, minimal lines for the number of people that were getting on, checked in and walked right on. I think that took about 30 minutes total. Getting off, even easier. We got up around 6. Went to eat in Windjammer, which filled up pretty quickly after we got there. We did self assist and were scheduled to start leaving around 830. Hear the call that self assist was starting around 8, so headed to elevators and hit a snag. No way were we getting on one of those.So I told my wife to take the two little bags and I grabbed both of our bigbags and humped them down the stairs. Luckily only 4 flights but I’m still feeling it in my biceps and forearms. Got to 4, walked out, well, after I ran back to Guest Services to close out my account and get my left over OBC. Anyway, walked off, headed down to customs. Went to Passport line, well, no line there, just walked up to agent, showed our PP’s, he asked if we had anything to declare, Nope, ok, have a nice day, 15 seconds of this and we were out. Car was across street at Park N Cruise, and we were on the road in record time.

Here are two things that I’ve read in these forums and myexperience. As I said I get up early and wander. Not one time in those wanderings did I come across a worker who did not wish me a good morning. 100%of the time if I was in speaking distance of someone they smiled and greetedme. I’ve read here about rudeness. I saw not one tiny iota of this. Everyone was super. Also, I’ve read many times about hard sales from the employees trying to get you to buy things or book specialty restaurants. This did not happen once to us. Not once person came up to us asking to buy something. The only people coming up to us while we were eating were workers asking if we needed anything or wanting to pick up our empty dishes or just saying hi and asking how we are doing. Walking down the Promenade there were plenty of tables set up selling things but no one tried to stop you. They just smiled, and if you stopped they would ask if they could help you. So for us, not an issue.

My overall view of the cruise is it was fantastic. Weather was not the best but that’s nothing I’m concerned with and not Royal issue anyway.

Thumbs up all around, as for the Captain, James I think, man that dude can ramble. But I loved hearing him talk. Very down to earth, and easy to understand. Seemed like a great guy.

The Liberty of the Seas appears to be a good ship in good shape.

Thanks for your review! We are excited to be sailing Liberty again on 4/1. We have not been on Liberty since her inaugural sailing and are looking forward to seeing what our 8 year old daughter thinks of the ship.

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time. We sail the Liberty a lot because we can drive to port and love the ship. We also find the staff to be very friendly.

Thanks for your review. We are sailing on her in a couple of weeks.

Good review. Of course comparing the promenade between any ship and an Oasis class is a no comparison. Since the Oasis (Harmony, Allure, Symphony) is just so much wider.

JC

Very true. I love the hugeness of the Harmony. Is that a word? I'm very much into protecting my personal space.

Very true. I love the hugeness of the Harmony. Is that a word? I'm very much into protecting my personal space.

I would suggest you don’t go on Voyager class then. However I have to agree I found the Liberty much more cramped when we sailed a few weeks ago than I remember feeling on the Independence. Not sure if it is as you say because they are trying to cram so much stuff down the middle of it half the time and people are just oblivious to the fact it is a passageway.

Nice review! Thanks for sharing your impressions.

Good to hear Liberty is still in good shape!

Thank you for the review! Haven't been on Liberty yet (cruised twice on her sister Freedom and 5 times on her smaller sisters in the Voyager class). But I will be boarding Liberty on Sunday! First time cruising out of Galveston. One of my favorite things to do is people watch in the Promenade while having a cocktail or two (or three) at the pub. You're right... too many people seem completely oblivious to those around them and don't rectify their situation (i.e. standing in the middle of a walkway) even after passerby have said "excuse me" while trying to pass by them. People congregating on the stairs (or right near them when there's plenty of other open space around) is a pet peeve of mine, too. :rolleyes:

Oh Don't get me started on stairs sitters...Yeah, we had sitters during embarkation when people were trying to carry their bags. Oblivious. Or just don't care.

There are some good places to people watch with a beverage of your choice. I would do it too. Way out of the way.

You're right... too many people seem completely oblivious to those around them and don't rectify their situation (i.e. standing in the middle of a walkway).... People congregating on the stairs (or right near them when there's plenty of other open space around) is a pet peeve of mine, too. :rolleyes:

Despite the packing guides, planning spreadsheets and schedules, there is one thing that most cruisers leave behind. Somehow it's never on that checklist that the Type A person just has to have! Now before people get all twisted up and angry, I am not knocking you planners. I am one too. Maybe not as obsessive (read organized) as some, but I like a little sense of direction and order. Despite all the planning and all the packing and re-packing. Despite making your list and checking it twice (or maybe 3 or 4 times), it seems that once people forget this almost every time. And the crazy part is, the person who has forgotten it doesn't seem to realize they forgot it. Or maybe it was confiscated and is being held in the naughty room. Hmm, what could it be? Why yes- it is.... wait for it.....

The brain! The good sense they have that gets them through the world on a daily basis!!!!

The minute they get that cruise card (set sail pass, whatever your line calls it) and they cross the threshold for the ship- all bets are off. They forget basic social skills. They do things they would never think of doing when they are living their daily lives. It's not even so much that they are oblivious. It's like they think it's a magical world where ordinary things like passageways and stairwells somehow expand to create room for everyone.

I just have to practice my "excuse me" a lot more on ship. We all do.

Yes, Freedom class ships have much less "space" in their Promenade- but I generally prefer the Freedom class ships over all.

I was very pleased with the layout of the Liberty other than the small, to me, Promenade. It was great at 5 in the morning though. Drinking coffee and watching the few other early risers walking around. Peaceful.

Thanks for the review. Can you give some more detail on the weather? I know it has been cold in Galveston. How long did it take to warm up as you were going south. Were the pools usable on the 1st sea day at all?

It was cool and very windy the first day. I didn't look much but I can't imagine anyone would be in a pool. Hot tubs got usage a lot though. Seemed to have warmed up pretty nicely but was still very windy the next day. People were using the pools. Not so much the first day but the rest of the trip they were. Coming home got cold fast. Not a lot of deck activity that last day.

The main issue really was the wind. Without it the temps would have been very bearable to me. I have a higher cold threshold than a lot of people.

Good review! Love the Liberty! :D

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to the same itinerary 4-15-18.

Thanks for the review, will be on Liberty 4-5-18, Does anyone know if there is a ship transfer to Hobby airport.

Last cruise was on Navigator they had transfer with stop at space center. Thanks

Thanks for the review, will be on Liberty 4-5-18, Does anyone know if there is a ship transfer to Hobby airport.

Last cruise was on Navigator they had transfer with stop at space center. Thanks

Yes, last time I saw the price it was $32 per person.

Thank you , I knew you would know. Can't wait to be on Board.

Thank you , I knew you would know. Can't wait to be on Board.

You're welcome.

Thank you for your review. I am going with bestie on 4-8-2018, our 2nd time on this ship.

We have been Diamond members last 2 cruises.

Anyone comment on the Diamond club in this ship?

Thanks for the review and completely agree with your assessment and glad you had a good time. We have sailed on every RCCL class of ship, and one that doesn’t exist anymore, and find they all have their unique positives. We really like Allure but just booked Liberty for August. Once you sail on Oasis class everything is going to seem a little smaller and more congested, but we just stay off the promenade during T-shirt sales...lol.

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Nice review, thanks. We board April 8 for our first time on Liberty. So looking forward to it.

Thanks for the review.