Liberty of the Seas 2/21 - 2/28/2010

[FastFreddie]

Let me sart out by saying that this was a fabulous cruise. DW and I flew to Miami on the 19th and stayed in the HI Bayside. The Holiday Inn is showing its wear but it was a fine room and the Bayside Expo is really a fun place to explore.

 

When we arrived we caught a cab and we said a little prayer after we got to the hotel that the cab actually made it there. Stupid me! I didn't read that the cab fair downtown was a fixed rate of $24 ( I think we were charged 26 bucks). A note to the wise. It was cold in Miami by Florida standards, that meant I had to wear long pants and a short sleeved shirt :D. I like the HI Bayside because you can see the ships coming in, there is a CVS within 2 blocks of the HI, and If you need to eat something inexpensive there is a Mickey D's 2 blocks away. Of course there is the Bayside expo with all kinds of restaurants and shops. And there was only 1 annoying vendor trying to entice me into the shop. I did find the magic shop there quite well stocked and purchased a few tricks. Barb and I got our pics with the Parrots ($20) but the owner also took a pic of us on Barb's digital camera too for freebies.

 

Sunday we decided to leave as late as we could from the Hotel (around noon) and took a cab to the port. I think the cab was less than $10 from the HI. We went through the Disney Land type of line to get to the lady who gives you your credentials in just 3 or 4 minutes. Then we took the inclined walkway to the ship. I had never seen all of the Photographers on the main deck taking pictures before. And after we ran the gauntlet of them we wandered to the ship and made our way to Deck 7 to see if I could get my rental scooter from the room 7624. There we met Anthony our room steward a very nice layed-back Jamacan gentleman with a great sense of humor. He let us stow our bags, and get my scooter. We made it down the elevators (Which seemed much larger than to ones on the Jewel of the Seas) to deck 5 one of the 3 promenade decks. We stopped in to the English Pub and met Roderick and Miss Wu and Claudia (Clou di ah) barb had a draft and I did a diet coke ( I had way too much alcohol @ the Bayside expo). It seemed a fun place to be. There were the ship vendors selling coke thermoses for the week supply of soda. Spa people showing off their wares (Barb made an appointment on the spot) A Pizza joint, Jewelry store, Ben and Jerrys (A bit pricy) a Barber Shop and at the end the Spinx lounge and the Connoisseur Club (Cigars) I went in and no one was there. They are open all the time but there is a lady there only from 8 pm to 1 am to sell cigars and Alcohol. It's very nicly layed out! lots of thick puffy leather chares and love seats with glass tables.

 

That evening we went to the Portafino's Mystery Theatre dinner. It started on the 14th floor @ Olive or Twist with some hors d'ovres and champagne. It's really Hammy but fun. We were assigned tables and made our way down to deck 11 to Portofinos. There we had appetisers etc. We ordered dinner and the show went on. All in all it was fun, there was a lot of wine and the meal was nice.

 

The next day we were sailing for Costa Maya (Mahajual). We had a lazy day breakfast @ the dining room on deck 3. I find the dining room for breakfast a huge dissappointment in the food. The service was outstanding, so Barb and I opted to do Breakfast @ the Windjammer for the rest of the cruise. The Windjammer is outstanding! It has every variety of food you could ask for in Breakfast. I especially liked the East Indian dishes to help spice things up. The only complaint I would lodge is that it's difficult finding a table at peak times.

 

We had a balcony and I noticed that it was quite deep, which was a plesant suprise we utilized it a lot.

 

We docked @ Costa Maya on Tuesday. Had a leisurely breakfast and wandered off to find a taxi. We had reservations to spend the day at the Maya Luna Hotel in Mahajual. So off to find a cab! We had to go out of the port and walk a block into the town they are building outside of the port. I asked the cab driver to take us to the hotel (In Spanish) and off we were through Mahajual. They seem slow to be recovering from the Hurricane, however there is a LOT of construction going on. The roads are horrible however. It was maybe a 10 or 15 min ride and there we were. The cab was $6.00 for the both of us, and I asked the driver to pick us up @ 3:30, he said he would. Let me tell you the Maya luna isn't fancy but it is really really nice! The people working there are amazing; the beach is amazing; the food was better than amazing! I have had an email conversation going on w Caroline (The owner) for 4 years and this was our first opportunity to actually dock @ Costa Maya (Our other attempts were failed because of weather). She asked us to send her a $25 deposit by paypal. The Guacamole was the best I have ever eaten anywhere! We had several beers and water, I had the fish and Barb had the cevechi (Spelling sorry) they were both amazing! They also had a pinapple dish that would feed an army. Some folks from the Liberty had found their way to the Maya Luna as well and had it and were raving about it! Those folks also went on a snorkling tour for $25 a piece. The food and drink for us was $33 Which included 4 beers and 2 bottled waters and the gorgeous beach! This is FastFreddie Recommended! We took a cab back and I tipped the driver a lot, because the other folks were charged $9 apiece to go to the hotel and this guy was an honest Joe!

 

More to come

[travelgyalrox]

i like it! keep going :)

[momofmab]

Thanks for your review - anxious to hear more! We'll be on the Liberty in a few weeks :)

[FastFreddie]

After Barbara dragged me back through the Port .. The Port area of Costa Maya has built up quite a bit since the last time we were there. The "Hole in the Wall" area to the right where there were palapas on the beach and a nice bar/restaurant area is completely devistated. The shop area at the pool is like going through the shops at Cozumel ... annoying sales people beconing you in to their shops for a "good deal". There were 3 ships in port that day and the area was packed. It's really nice and has a huge pool area with pleanty of places to have libations! That evening we had reservations @ chops. Barb had the filet and I had the rack of lamb. BOTH were truly amazing. I found Chops to be a bit stuffy, ambiance wise, but the food made up for it :o. Plan on spending at least 2 hours for dinner.

 

The next port was Belize. It's a tendering port, so there is always the 3 level mad rush to get to shore. The excursions which have the highest priority; then the rush to get tendering tickets; then those who arn't in a rush and want to have a leisurly breakfast. We did not opt to do anything in Belize. We had been there before and went on a Beach Break, Manatee watch. The beachy had been on a private Island. Very nice beach, ok food a 4 on a scale of 10. Barb went to the spa I was fighting a cold and decided to get a lot of sleep. I do like tendering days where you have the ship to yourself. Things are very slow but the Windjammer is always hustling, but it's easy to find an open table.

That evening was the first dinner in the dining room. We were on Deck 5 @ a table for 6 and there were 3 other's there. Our table mates were from the same area of NY, and really nice folks. We had Bernado as the Head waiter and "Elvis" as our asst. waiter. The food in the dining room was good, even though we had been spoiled By Portifino's and Chops. I had lamb again (on the shank) and it was tasty.

Unfortunately we didn't go to any of the shows so nothing to report there. We seem to miss the shows when we have late seating. If I had it all over to do again I think we will do anytime dining and concentrate on going to specialty restaurants. The food and service is impeccable.

 

The next day was Cosumel, we had reservations at Nachi Cocum but because it was so cold and windy we decided to NOT go. This was our 3rd or 4th time in Cozumel, and I never realized that there were 2 places about 10 miles or so apart for the ships to dock. We docked at the place where Senior Frogs was located. It's the typical tourista trap but we bought 2 "T" shirts for the fat guy and an inflated price, BUT we did get 3 Sol's (Local beer) for $3 <-- that is NOT a typo. Sol's is a lot like Miller to me so it was ok.After that we went to Senior Frog's for a few drinks and some food. The food was good, the party atmosphere was at 75% and rising, and the music was blasting.

We decided to head back to the ship and passed a Drug store on the way. I needed something for my pounding sinus headache. The prioces in that store were VERY good!! Costa Maya the drug store was outrageously high buyer beware.

 

 

more to come

[jlovely]

We'll be on Liberty in 13 days so loving this review so far! :)