Liberty of the seas review 1/9-1/16

[Stevie44875]

My husband and i have went now on 3 Royal cruises. Fly into Ft Lauderdale cause it was cheaper. Rented a car and drove to Miami and stayed at the Runway Inn.

 

Boarding: Rated D - Worst we have ever been in. We found out since the ship went to Belize it would take extra time to board. We have never had to wait this long to board a ship. Arrived around 12 and boarded around 2:30. Thanks for all that send go to Sorrento's pizza! it was super dead!

 

Ship: Rated A - We have only been on the Monarch and Enchantment which we liked. Liberty was very clean and amazing. Hand sanitizer all over the place. Plenty of deck chairs...although never enforced no saving chairs with towels.

 

WJ: Rated B/C - Breakfast was good as usually but disappointed in lunch. Not many options. If we were in port we ate there.

 

MDR: Rated B - We only made it there for one breakfast and lunch. Food was better than WJ. Dinner was good. Nothing over the top tasting. I usually chose paste most the time and it was wonderful. Steak was OK. Chicken was good. Little disappointed in deserts on some nights.

 

Ports: Rated A - Labadee isn't as great as Coco Cay. There is plenty to do at Labadee but the sand and water is better in Coco Cay. No snorkleing area in Labadee. We did the Dragon's breath coast which is super fun!!!!

San Juan - we docked near the forts. Its worth the $3 fee per person to visit the forts. Easy walking but take the free trolley thing. Street vendors are a great option for lunch and cheap.

St Martin - Nice place. Did the Benards Tour - highly recommend.

 

Production shows: Rated C/D - I was VERY disappointed in these shows. The ice skating was good but the rest weren't that entertaining for my husband and I. The last night they did "Ever after" and i thought i was on a disney ship! It was all about jack and the bean stalk and snow white... it was all very strange..

 

Disembark: Rated A - Walked off with our luggage at 6:15 and out of port at 6:30!

 

Overall we had a really good vacation. We kept busy the whole time and they had plenty of activities to do while at sea. Will continue to use Royal!

[alexkrn46]

Thanks for the report, we will be going on after drydock. Miami is also a very tough port for embarkation.

[Rockfordcruiser]

For anyone sailing LOS which happens to have Belize as a port of call on the previous sailing. Please be advise, boarding will take longer. RCL has no control on this. It's caused by US Customs not RCL. Just an FYI

[ziggy]

Hi, we also sailed on this cruise...

 

Beautiful ship!

 

I found the shows to be quite good for "cruise ship entertainment". The ice show and the Circ du soliel (inspired) shows were a real treat on a cruise.... yeah, the pace was a little slow at times but so is "O" and "La Reve" in Vegas... 2 of the 3 Headliners were very good.

 

My Wife and adult Daughters found "Mike the Cruise Director" just BAD... I didn't mind him,

in fact I thought he was entertaining. Overall, the Activities Department was average at best but with so much do do on this ship, that mediocrity did not impact my vacation.

 

Our Rembrant Dining Room experience was outstanding! The entire staff assisted and recommended and pampered us with seamless dexterity... we had 8 in our party including a 6 year old and a 19 month old.... we generously tipped our team they rocked!

 

The ports of call were an excellent match to the 3 sea days (2 out going and 1 on the way home). I was in LaBadee before all of these additions were made... all I can say is PROGRESS IS GOOD! Labadee ROCKS! You should wander around, there are a lot of hidden gems throughout the property.

 

St. Maarten is always wonderful! Some guy told us that Bernie Maddoffs Yacht was sitting there and our Government can't touch it... great story, don't know if it's true; cool yacht though...

 

The view sailing into San Juan is worth getting up early for (they take the Pilot at 6:15am) and even though we were in San Juan only from 7:30am-2pm, I took "the guys" Fort hunting (TIP: if you buy the pass for both forts at one time, the cost is only $5).

The walk between the 2 forts along the coast is cool.

The annual San Sebastian street festival was happening when we were in town and many street vendors were around that normally wouldn't have been there...

 

Now that we are Diamond Crown and Anchor Members, we definitely will be back on Royal. We will probably be on a Freedom Class or smaller vessel... Oasis Class on a 7 night voyage doesn't make sense unless we never leave the ship!

 

By the way, The embarkation was a bit unusual on this one but it is a good thing to always expect delays and challenges when sailing out of Miami. (TIP: don't get to the Miami Airport too early, you cannot check in more than 4 hours before your scheduled departure).

 

Bon Voyage!

[Stevie44875]

Hi, we also sailed on this cruise...

 

Beautiful ship!

 

I found the shows to be quite good for "cruise ship entertainment". The ice show and the Circ du soliel (inspired) shows were a real treat on a cruise.... yeah, the pace was a little slow at times but so is "O" and "La Reve" in Vegas... 2 of the 3 Headliners were very good.

 

 

 

The view sailing into San Juan is worth getting up early for (they take the Pilot at 6:15am) and even though we were in San Juan only from 7:30am-2pm, I took "the guys" Fort hunting (TIP: if you buy the pass for both forts at one time, the cost is only $5).

The walk between the 2 forts along the coast is cool.

The annual San Sebastian street festival was happening when we were in town and many street vendors were around that normally wouldn't have been there...

 

 

Bon Voyage!

 

 

 

Yes it is worth getting up early. It is beautiful view!

Don't know if this picture link will work...

 

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5855988009/a=18581020_18581020/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

[CruisinDawn]

Never know which ports are worth getting up for, thanks for the tip!!

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[Caughrons]

hi there, Hope we saw everyone at the Meet and Mingle..

 

we were on this cruise as well...review to follow..it is being edited by the DW. She won't let me put everything i wanted in the review..but

 

I agree on the boarding trouble. We were told three different stories by RCCL staff at the Port. We found out late in the cruise that boarding was delayed because they had to search the entire ship a few times looking for someone who jumped from the ship during the last night of the previous cruise.

 

I am sorry for the young mans family, but why were we lied to. Don't much care for that.

 

Take care and look for my review in the next couple of days.

 

Caughrons

[jack278]

We found out since the ship went to Belize it would take extra time to board.

 

What is going on in Belize and why would it effect boarding time? I've seen a lot of people on here referencing that same statement but I have yet to see an explanation. Does anyone know?

[maggieq]

We were on the same cruise.....

 

The entertainment was ok...the temptations group was the best of the week.

 

Ice show - outstanding skaters

 

Food.......same ol same ol

 

Weather....better than last 2 cruises but not warm enough for me...Labadee was about the best day.

 

 

Could we be "cruised out"? I left just feeling blah about the cruise.....

[Stevie44875]

 

 

Could we be "cruised out"? I left just feeling blah about the cruise.....

 

I don't think i'm cruised out, maybe just time to check out a different cruise line. I still very much enjoy having everything done on a cruise vs doing it all yourself. I'll take it any day even if its just same ol same ol as every other cruise i've been on. :)