Review - Liberty of the Seas - June 3, 2018

I have used the boards at cruise critic many times in the past to get information about an upcoming cruise, and hope this review and information is helpful to someone.

My family of 6 (75 to 28 years of age) just returned from the June 3, 2018 sailing of Liberty of the Seas. Our ports were Roatan, Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico. My sister and I have been on several cruises, but for our other family members have never cruised before. We loved the itinerary with two days at seas, then each day a new port, then a final sea day upon returning to Galveston. We had balcony rooms on the 7th deck, and our parents had an accessible room, which worked great for them.

My sister and I arrived at Houston Hobby the day before. We took a Lyft to Galveston. We were warned to make sure the driver knew we were going to Galveston, which we confirmed several times. About 20 minutes into the ride, the driver said it was too far, and pulled off the highway and dropped us off at McDonalds. Never had this happen before. We called another driver, and continued on to Galveston. Our other family members were driving and the traffic through Houston was beyond terrible - over 3 hours just getting through Houston. So much so that no one was talking by the time we arrived in Galveston. LOL.

We stayed at the Lost Bayou Bed and Breakfast, and HIGHLY recommend it. Great breakfast, close to cruise terminals, and nice people. They also have special cruise parking for their guests, which was very convenient, but still a good walk to Liberty of the Seas carrying bags. We all carried bags on the ships as we all travel light. We did each have one bottle of wine, which weighted us down. We arrived at the cruise terminal around 10:30 am and found no lines, and easily got on the ship around 11:00 am.

It was very hot and humid, so we found a place inside at a bar on the 11th floor until cabins opened at 1:00 pm. The "up-selling" starts immediately. We had already made reservations for the Mystery Dinner at Giovanni's for the first night, and Sabor Mexican for another night. We had MTD for the other nights. We made reservations before we left in cruise planner.

We opted for the "refreshment drink package" which includes coke products, fresh juices, bottled water, virgin drinks, etc. We also ordered before we left through the "gift section" a bottle of rum and vodka for our rooms. We saved lots of $ by buying virgin drinks, and adding our own rum:)

We used Victor Bodden's tour company for a private tour of Roatan. Our guide was Owen, and he was great. We had him stop at a store upon arrival to stock us up on local beer, sodas, and water. We did Carambola Gardens, Victor's Monkey business, Halfmoon glass bottom boat, and a private fishing tour (for my nephew and my father). It was a great private tour, and highly recommend Victor Bodden's tour company.

Our next port was Belize, and we had to "tender" to land. We did the ship's excursion Lamanai Mayan Ruins and Riverboat Safari and Lunch, and highly recommend this tour - our guide was Nuri and he was fantastic! My mom has mobility issues, and stayed on the ship this day.

Our next port was Cozumel. We did not have any plans for this day. My sister and I went to negotiate a private tour, and essentially just made a deal with a taxi driver to drive us around the island with a stop at the Tequila Factory for tastings - recommend! After about 2 hours, he dropped us off in town to eat lunch and shop before returning to the ship.

We did experience mosquitos at each port so bug spray is important to bring.

Also the weather forecast ahead of the cruise said "thunderstorms, rain, etc" each day of our cruise. So I threw in rain gear at last minute, but we didn't see one rain drop the entire cruise. It was very HOT and HUMID.

Around the ship, my sister and I both participated in the Art Gallery Auction, and both walked away with our first purchase of "real art". It was fun and we are very happy with our purchases through Park West Gallery. We also played ping pong and shuffleboard.

I haven't cruised in a while and was disappointed in the "up-selling". I understand the speciality restaurants, but even in the Main Dining Room - there's up-charging if you want filet steak ($16 extra) or lobster ($36 extra).

Additionally, there are great new activities and tours on the ship but all with additional fees. I remember when the tour of the ship was included in the price of the cruise. No more:(

I also mis-understood the room service, and told my parents they could get a cup of coffee in their room in the afternoon, but they were charged $8 for the delivery of two cups of coffee. (it's only free for a few hours in the morning.)

I am very curious if other cruise lines also have all the "up-selling". I would prefer to pay one price and get everything included.

This was the biggest disappointment of the cruise - the up-selling. We were very cautious on the extra $ items, but few fellow travelers nearly had heart attacks when seeing their final bill.

The fellow passengers were mainly from Texas, and were very friendly, and beautiful people.

All in all - it was a great family vacation, and we are happy we did it. I loved the LOS ship, and the itinerary.

Happy cruising!

Thank you for sharing.. Too bad you didn't read all the out-rage threads on the room service charges. It is also stated on the menu, I believe. Yes, the upcharges for the Filet and Lobster is not the same as the MDR serves. They are bigger and better, hence the extra $$$. Glad you had a good time!!!!

Thanks for your review! :)

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.

Yes, other main stream cruise lines up-sell on board as well.

I am so sorry about your Driver from Hobby taking you out of Houston into Galveston. What a jerk. The driver knows Houston to Galveston if he is a true Houstonian. Give me a break. The Houston traffic can be horrific but there are ways to navigate and this driver should have known. I live in San Antonio and if we head east, there is always a mapping out of our timing to get through Houston. We left at 2:00 in the morning to head to Florida for one vacation. That got us to Houston at 5am before the morning traffic. I would think that there are plenty of transportation options to Galveston cruise port from both airports in Houston.

Thanks for sharing, what I can't find enough information about are the shows that are happening. Anything to share on that front?

Thanks for you review! (I was also on this cruise, but just haven't had time to get my thoughts together for a review;);).)

I didn't notice much of the upselling, or maybe I just ignored them. We did want to try lunch at Sabor (the only thing we wanted and were not able to purchase in advance), so stopped by there and made reservations.

I most definitely second your recommendation for Bodden Tours!!! We used them as well and loved our driver, George.

It really sucks about your driver from Houston! I think I would have totally gone ape-s*** on him!!!

I live in Fort Worth, so we always head down on Sunday morning to Galveston - which means we hit Houston on late Sunday morning and it has always been smooth sailing with no traffic. I know that isn't an option for everyone, but has worked great for us several times. I think if I was flying in, I'd want to get there a day early. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

Did you see any shows? Wondering what musical show they are doing on LOS?

Also, do they still have lobster night (with obviously the smaller lobster tails?) in the main dining room?

And strawberry pavlova - is that still a dessert item? My favorite!!!

I am so sorry about your Driver from Hobby taking you out of Houston into Galveston. What a jerk. The driver knows Houston to Galveston if he is a true Houstonian. Give me a break. The Houston traffic can be horrific but there are ways to navigate and this driver should have known. I live in San Antonio and if we head east, there is always a mapping out of our timing to get through Houston. We left at 2:00 in the morning to head to Florida for one vacation. That got us to Houston at 5am before the morning traffic. I would think that there are plenty of transportation options to Galveston cruise port from both airports in Houston.

I did Super Shuttle last Feb - very pleased - no problems and was about $50 round trip.

I hope you had your credit card company disputed the Lyft charge, that’s really crappy.

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I hope you had your credit card company disputed the Lyft charge, that’s really crappy.

 

 

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We did the Liberty in April no humidity

And the weather pleasant.

We also did Galveston Express both ways. I would of reported that driver

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This time of year will always be hot and humid. We haven't had an issue with upselling - just walk right by them. The ice show on Liberty is very good. Saturday Night Fever - meh. I'm a huge musical theater fan but the show itself is just not great. Lobster night is still the 2nd formal night - Fishermans plate with a few shrimp and the lobster.

Thanks for your review! Hope you reported the Lyft driver - that's bizarre.

I live in Fort Worth, so we always head down on Sunday morning to Galveston - which means we hit Houston on late Sunday morning and it has always been smooth sailing with no traffic. I know that isn't an option for everyone, but has worked great for us several times. I think if I was flying in, I'd want to get there a day early. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

Depends on the time of year for smooth sailing to Galveston. We live halfway between Houston and Galveston. During holiday weekends, spring break, and many summer weekends the traffic can be a mess as so many go to Galveston for a beach day.

How do you book the shuttle services? Do they pick you up at the airport? Is one airport better than the other (IAH vs Hobby) when cruising out of Galveston?

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How do you book the shuttle services? Do they pick you up at the airport? Is one airport better than the other (IAH vs Hobby) when cruising out of Galveston?

Hobby is much closer to Galveston (45 minutes or so) and beyond a good amount (but not all) of the traffic congestion potential. If you can fly Southwest, you will find many flights to Hobby.

Galveston express is online and they’re

Reservations is easy. They serve both airports both ways.

We are new to cruising and just returned from a Holland ship to Alaska, which was wonderful. I'm looking at going to the Caribbean next, and am thinking about trying Royal. There was no upselling on our Holland ship. They charged for Bingo which cost $30 but the prizes were great (a free cruise for the first bingo and a $1000 for the second!). They sold art and jewelry but they were in separate rooms - not in your face. We had a promo for the one fee restaurant (normally costs $35pp) and the drink package so all that was included. The food in the included Main Dining Room was incredible - filet, lobster, shrimp cocktail, grilled salmon, fresh-caught halibut - all included. We bought sodas for our kids using our drink package, but a couple of times they bought them themselves for $2.50 each. I think our bill at the end was about $10 for those sodas! All that being said, Holland doesn't have the bells & whistles that Royal has. In Alaska, my son saw the huge Royal and Norwegian ships with their waterslides so now the cat is out of the bag and we're looking at those for our next trip. I hate the upselling too though and that discourages me. Thanks for your review!

With kids I think you’ll enjoy Royal. The liberty had lots to do. And I found Galveston a easy port.

How was the tendering process in Belize? We are thinking bout booking an excursion through a third party and concerned how long it will take to get off the ship for an early tour.