Our Fabulous Vacation: My Liberty of the Seas Photo Review

[Host Faith]

I ordered the crab cake BLT, Crystal ordered the popular fish tacos, and Rae had the bratwurst sandwich. We started with the conch fritters. Never had them before, but I will be ordering them in the future. Very good with a great texture, the taste is hard to describe but delicious. The sauce that went with them was rich and sweet, so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crab Cake BLT. Who knew those flavors would go together so well? This was Crystal's favorite:

 

 

 

Fish Tacos. A nice contrast to the heavier sandwiches, the mahi mahi was fresh and the flavors were clean and bright. Very refreshing. The mac and cheese was "okay." Crystal and I can make that from scratch at home and it tastes much better:

 

 

 

 

Bratwurst burger. Rae's and my favorite. Mind-blowingly good! So much flavor packed into one bite. It's a must if you go to Coconuts! This one was the special of the day, so if it's available when you're there, order it, you won't be sorry.

 

 

 

[MikeNJ1109]

The waiter came by and let us know about the specials of the day. One thing stuck out for Rae; they had a bratwurst burger with caramelized onions. She grew up in Germany and always talks about how she missed having a good brat, so this was right up her alley. We all decided to order a sandwich/entrée, and split each one into threes so we could try everything.

 

My wife is from Germany as well (a small town a couple hours west of Munich, on the border between Bavaria and Baden-Wurtemburg), so we readily admit to being quite snobbish in reviewing German restaurants ... did Rae enjoy the bratwurst burger? Would you recommend going back there again?

 

Michael

 

Edited to add that I see she enjoyed the sandwich ... never mind. Should read ALL the posts before posting a question, LOL. Sorry!

Edited March 14, 2012 by MikeNJ1109

[Host Faith]

The waiter came by and let us know about the specials of the day. One thing stuck out for Rae; they had a bratwurst burger with caramelized onions. She grew up in Germany and always talks about how she missed having a good brat, so this was right up her alley. We all decided to order a sandwich/entrée, and split each one into threes so we could try everything.

 

My wife is from Germany as well (a small town a couple hours west of Munich, on the border between Bavaria and Baden-Wurtemburg), so we readily admit to being quite snobbish in reviewing German restaurants ... did Rae enjoy the bratwurst burger? Would you recommend going back there again?

 

Michael

 

Edited to add that I see she enjoyed the sandwich ... never mind. Should read ALL the posts before posting a question, LOL. Sorry!

 

haha! No problem! Yeah as soon as she bit into it, she sat there with her eyes wide and exclaimed, now that's good!!!! She said she hadn't tasted anything like that since being in Germany, and she's a picky eater. I highly recommend Coconuts.

[Host Faith]

A couple more shots around the restaurant. We spent a good 90 minutes here. We hadn't seen Crystal in such a long time so it was nice to catch up. The lunch crowd dissipated and we had a nice quiet deck pretty much to ourselves. I was still getting the hang of my camera at this point, the pics got better as I went along ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

they should give you free cruises for the good of your reviews!! lol:D:):D

 

Well that's the best idea I ever heard! Wouldn't that be nice?! :D

[ryano]

Excellent pictures! Looking forward to the rest! :)

 

That food is making me HUNGRY! :eek:

[Host Faith]

We drove around a bit with no place in particular in mind. It was pretty cool to see the town I had been reading out for months in preparation for the trip! We ended up stopping at a beauty supply store (couldn’t believe the prices for haircare- so sad I couldn’t fit anything in my suitcase!). Crystal got some headbands, and I bought a couple pairs of sunglasses. Mine broke the day before the trip so it was nice to get a couple cute pairs.

 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Publix across the street from the hotel. It was about two blocks down. A nice market, we picked up some cheese and water crackers, some pepperoni, fruit, and a bottle of wine. Because of the heavy lunch, we planned to eat light at dinner and come back after dancing to enjoy our food. We put everything in the fridge to keep cool.

 

We tried to take a nap back in the room but were so excited to show each other our dresses, shoes, etc, and talk that that didn’t work at all, lol. We originally had a dinner reservation at Truluck’s for 8:00, but I ended up pushing it back to 9:15 because of our chattering away and primping for dinner. :rolleyes::)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

It was a rainy and cool night, and while Truluck’s was literally the next block over (as was the Galleria Mall), we decided to drive. Plus, it was a trek in our heels. We had to circle around and take two U-turns to get into the parking area because we missed the entrance. No biggie, we laughed the entire time. We gave our car to the valet, and he parked it a few yards away in front of the Blue Martini, where we planned to end the night.

Truluck’s restaurant was lovely, and the perfect way to start our birthday celebration. I made a note in our ressie that we were celebrating our birthdays (seeing a pattern here? :cool:), and we were pampered from start to finish.

The restaurant’s décor was rich, with deep reds and mahogany furniture. This would be a very romantic place for a date night. I fully intend to return here with Wes when we sail the Allure.

 

 

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

Our waiter was awesome, and helped us make our selections. Rae and Crystal ordered the crab cake entrée. Since I heard so much about the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, I just had to make a meal out of that. I ordered a wedge salad to go with it.

We were served a warm raisin bread while we waited for dinner. It wasn't too sweet and didn't have any cinnamon. Some of the best bread I've had.

 

Everything was DELICIOUS! The crab cake was about 95% crab, no filler. Fresh and wonderful. Rae had the mashed potatoes and marinated mushrooms with hers. Crystal enjoyed the mashed potatoes and steamed broccolini.

 

My BBQ shrimp was amazing. It didn’t have a traditional barbecue flavor. They make a compound butter with Creole spices, a little beer, and sautee the shrimp in the butter and spices. Divine.

 

 

 

Wedge salad. Out of focus, but it was very good:

 

 

[Host Faith]

Crystal said the mashed potatoes were the best she ever had. She told the waiter how much she loved them, and he brought her out a box of them to take back with her. I thought that was so sweet of them. So glad we had a microwave in the room so she could actually enjoy them! She was so happy when he brought them out:

 

 

At the end of our meal, the waiter came by to wish us a Happy Birthday. He brought us each our own chocolate melting cake with a scoop of ice cream and a candle.

I appreciated the fact that they didn’t sing Happy Birthday, just kept everything low-key, simple, and elegant. We took a picture with our cakes:

 

 

 

[Host Faith]

...and this was the result about 5 minutes later...what a delicious dessert!

 

[Host Faith]

Now after all that rich food, it was time to burn it off by hitting the dance floor at the Blue Martini next door- and that, we did! My view of Truluck’s. You can see the Gallery One hotel down the street, it’s the building with the red square.

 

 

We were let right into the club and were blown away at how lively it was. There was a live band finishing up their set. We caught the last 20 minutes of their act, and they were awesome. Young and energetic with great singing. Everyone was dancing already, and it was PACKED.

It was ladies’ night, so they offered free three olives martini’s to all the ladies. I had a pomegranate martini, and I think Rae had an Amaretto Sour. Crystal had a couple shots. The bartender subtracted the cost of the three olives martini from our orders, so we each paid about $3 or so for our drinks :D

 

 

After the band finished their set, the DJ got started. I think we danced until about 2 AM. They played R&B, Hip-Hop, Latin, Reggaeton, 90’s, and even threw in a couple Bon Jovi songs (LOVE!). There were all kinds of people there, all ages (well, over 21), all backgrounds. We had a blast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2012 by Host Faith

[Host Faith]

Told you that Crystal tends to be the life of the party, lol:

 

 

Headed back to the room around 2 AM. We rearranged our bags for embarkation the next morning while snacking on the items we bought earlier. All that dancing made us hungry! We forgot that we needed a corkscrew- fortunately, room service brought one up for us.

 

 

Up next- first day of the cruise! I'm going to take a break for a while. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Thank you for reading so far!

 

[BillOh]

I find some value in every review I read, and I will definitely consider a Freedom class ship out of Port Everglades when the time comes again to book, but please, I never want to see the NJ Turn pike again! (kidding) Get on the ship already!

[Host Faith]

Excellent pictures! Looking forward to the rest! :)

 

That food is making me HUNGRY! :eek:

 

haha! Thanks ryano! :)

[yj2cute]

Looking forward to your review! Looks great so far. And you girls look Fabulous! :)

[Host Faith]

I find some value in every review I read, and I will definitely consider a Freedom class ship out of Port Everglades when the time comes again to book, but please, I never want to see the NJ Turn pike again! (kidding) Get on the ship already!

 

Now that's hilarious!!!! :D

[Daghis]

Thank you very much for putting together this review! I'm really enjoying it so far and am also anxiously awaiting for you to board! :)

[Host Faith]

Looking forward to your review! Looks great so far. And you girls look Fabulous! :)

 

Thank you so much! Looks like you have two amazing cruises coming up, enjoy! :)

[ter31598]

I've read a couple of your reviews and I love them! Can't wait for the rest of this one!

[Host Faith]

Thank you very much for putting together this review! I'm really enjoying it so far and am also anxiously awaiting for you to board! :)

 

My pleasure! I decided not to take a break right now, I'm having so much fun writing I'll just keep going. About to board the ship! :cool:

[Host Faith]

I've read a couple of your reviews and I love them! Can't wait for the rest of this one!

 

Thank you so much Terri, and welcome to CC! I see you're sailing the AOS, she's a great ship. :D

[Host Faith]

I'll start each day of this cruise review with the Cruise Compass. We didn't get this until we boarded the first day, but wanted to keep each day uniform.

 

Also, when on an RCI ship, check out the floor of the elevator. You'll see the day of the week. This helps me keep track of my photos. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

[sazzifrazz]

Great review, nice pics. You girls seem so fun...can i come with you next time?! :D

[Host Faith]

So, we got about 4 hours of sleep that night. We stayed up talking and packing. We could tell that this was going to become a pattern….

 

Woke up and dressed for our cruise. I decided to wear a free-flowing strapless dress. Figured it would be comfortable and would carry me into dinner that night if my luggage hadn’t arrived to the stateroom. Dresses like these make for light packing!

 

 

 

 

Since the sun was trying to come through the clouds, I decided to take a walk around the hotel property and explore a bit. We didn’t eat breakfast (I had some fruit and crackers), since we knew we were making a beeline for the Windjammer once we boarded.

 

 

I watched the bridge open to let the boats through from the hotel pier. I saw the water taxi and a couple boats pass. So cool.

 

 

 

 

Used the free internet for a couple minutes, then went back to the room to grab my suitcase.