Better Really Late Than Never - Liberty of the Seas Mediterranean - mais318 Review!

[ucfalli]

Enjoying your review! There aren't nearly enough non carribean cruise reviews on here.

[mais318]

Enjoying your review! There aren't nearly enough non carribean cruise reviews on here.

 

I agree. I wasn't planning on doing a review, until I saw a thread asking for information on Liberty of the Seas. I looked for reviews and really couldn't find many. Its hard work, but is bringing back a ton of great memories. Thanks for following along!

[nlcentralchmps03]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We leave in 3 weeks and I've been looking for a recent Liberty Med review.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your posts and photos.

 

Keith

[mais318]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We leave in 3 weeks and I've been looking for a recent Liberty Med review.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read the review :), but it isn't exactly recent. I took the cruise 2 years ago, but same ship and same ports so it shouldn't have changed that much.

 

Enjoying your posts and photos.

Keith

 

Happy to hear that, there is more to come!

[Deebs2]

Great review and pictures. Thank you.

 

Did you notice if the Florider was open when you boarded the ship?

The kids couldn't get enough of this on the oasis, but because we are in port so much, I think the first day is key

[joey1]

Your review is great!! I have been looking for Liberty Med reviews for a while, so very glad you decided to write it!! Do you remember if your apt/hotel was available for just 1 night stays?

[RicardoC]

Review Introduction

 

To introduce myself, I am a 19-year-old guy born in California and raised Connecticut with a brief stop in Orlando, Florida. I just finished my first year at Northeastern University in Boston, and spent my first semester studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland. [/img][/url]

 

I was waiting for the Oasis review and then I see this one! :D You're right, though, never too late! Maybe one day I'll catch up with the reviews I never wrote...

 

Brief stop in Orlando? When? Also, I have two friends going to Northeastern, one of them (my really good friend from high school) did his first semester in Australia :eek:

 

Thanks for the review and pics and can't wait for Oasis :D

[Aurora2143]

We will be doing W. Med on Liberty in September. We are also staying in a GS. Do you remember which room you were in?

Thank you so much for doing this awesome review! Keep it coming. :)

 

Also, you're going to love the Oasis.

[mais318]

Great review and pictures. Thank you.

 

Did you notice if the Florider was open when you boarded the ship?

The kids couldn't get enough of this on the oasis, but because we are in port so much, I think the first day is key

 

I don't remember it being open once we got on early in the day, but I am pretty sure it was open later in the evening.

 

Your review is great!! I have been looking for Liberty Med reviews for a while, so very glad you decided to write it!! Do you remember if your apt/hotel was available for just 1 night stays?

 

Thanks!! I am so happy to hear people are enjoying it. I am almost positive you can rent the hotel for one night. Here is the hotels website. We were happy with the hotel. It was great for a few nights, but not much longer.

 

http://www.citadines.com/es/spain/barcelona/ramblas.html#.Ua-WzpW5e5Q

[mais318]

I was waiting for the Oasis review and then I see this one! :D You're right, though, never too late! Maybe one day I'll catch up with the reviews I never wrote...

 

Brief stop in Orlando? When? Also, I have two friends going to Northeastern, one of them (my really good friend from high school) did his first semester in Australia :eek:

 

Thanks for the review and pics and can't wait for Oasis :D

 

Yeah, I am actually really amazed I can remember so many details from the trip for the review. I am so happy I am doing it. It brings back a ton of memories.

 

We were living in Orlando from 1997 to 2001.

 

Thats hilarious! Small world, I am sure I met him at some point. I know a ton of people who went to Australia this year.

[mais318]

We will be doing W. Med on Liberty in September. We are also staying in a GS. Do you remember which room you were in?

Thank you so much for doing this awesome review! Keep it coming. :)

 

Also, you're going to love the Oasis.

 

We were in 1598, I circled the room on the first page on the deck plan of the ship. The GS was great, we loved it and the concierge really made the trip. Make sure you get your money's worth from the concierge lounge. We were in there all the time for the different perks they were offering. Thanks, I am glad you are enjoying it, and I am sure we will love Oasis, can't wait!!

[Aurora2143]

We were in 1598, I circled the room on the first page on the deck plan of the ship. The GS was great, we loved it and the concierge really made the trip. Make sure you get your money's worth from the concierge lounge. We were in there all the time for the different perks they were offering. Thanks, I am glad you are enjoying it, and I am sure we will love Oasis, can't wait!!

 

Yay, that's the room we're in!!!

 

I'll give you the same advice with the concierge lounge on the Oasis. Great place to be able to get a bite to eat, away from the crowds. :)

[mais318]

After getting ready for dinner, we walked into to the Concierge Lounge before going down to dinner. My parents got a drink and my sister and I got a soda or something. We met a few others in the lounge, including the family staying in the Royal Suite. It felt like they were celebrities or something haha.

 

After some nice conversation, we took the elevator down to Deck 5 for the Botticelli dining room. We sat down and met our servers. We had amazing servers. I know one of our server’s names was Erlando, but none of us could remember our main servers name. She and Erlando were really amazing, and made our experience in the dining room wonderful. We looked over the menus, and ordered, but our tablemates had still not showed up. After a while we were thinking that maybe there was a mistake and we were not assigned with another group. Like I had mentioned earlier, we were not completely keen on sitting with another group.

 

Then maybe 15 min after we had sat down, a family of 5 walks in and appears to be walking toward the table. We were all silent, and watched as they came closer and closer to the table. We could tell by their faces, that they were just as unhappy as we were to sit with another group. The father looked especially pissed, one because we needed another chair and place setting, but also because they had to sit with us. The family sat down, and we introduced ourselves, and they introduced themselves. After a seriously awkward first impression, the ice began to break and we started to have a really good time with them. The family was made up of a girl three years older than me, a boy one year older than me, and a boy three years younger than my sister, in addition to the parents. We quickly learnt that sitting with this family had been a godsend, since we instantly started having a great time with them. Our tablemates gave us people to hang out with after dinner, and made the dinners much more enjoyable. We seriously lucked out that we got along so well.

 

Oh and funny story, the father’s sister and my dad’s brother knew each other for years and had lunch together about 3 weeks before the cruise. Small World!

 

They ordered as our appetizers came out. I really have no idea what we ordered but I do know that all of our food was cooked well and tasted great. The rest of the dinner was great eating good food and enjoying everyone’s company.

 

After dinner ended, we headed up to the top deck to watch the sun setting over the Spain, and take a few photos as a family. The sunset was really beautiful, and made a great backdrop.

 

 

 

We also hit the Viking crown lounge for the first time and took a photo of the pool areas.

 

 

The sports area and mini golf would quickly become a favorite area.

 

 

We then treated ourselves to cappuccinos from the Concierge lounge before calling it a night and going to bed.

 

 

We went to bed knowing the next day we would be in France!

[mais318]

Yay, that's the room we're in!!!

 

I'll give you the same advice with the concierge lounge on the Oasis. Great place to be able to get a bite to eat, away from the crowds. :)

 

It was a great room, we really loved it and I am sure you will too :) On Oasis my parents are staying in a GS, but my sister and I are staying in a connecting balcony room. Thanks for the tip, Looking forward to the cruise. :)

[mais318]

Day 2 - Toulon, France

 

I am usually an early riser, especially if there is a reason to get up early. I woke up, I think at 6:45 to watch us sail into port in Toulon. It was a beautiful day and the surrounding area was really picturesque.

 

 

 

My dad soon joined me on the balcony and enjoyed the view and binoculars. We then walked up to the top deck before we finished docking.

 

 

My sister and mom joined us and we headed to the Windjammer for breakfast. We got a table by the window, and enjoyed this meal much more than the lunch we had the previous day. It was still crowded but not to the extent that it was the day before. We also discussed what we would do for the day.

 

Toulon was the only port that we did not book an excursion. There was not much in the area that we wanted to see, and I think my mom actually stayed on the ship.

 

We had seen somewhere that there was a water taxi to the city of Toulon so my dad, sister and I decided to do that. We left breakfast and headed off the ship.

 

 

The port area was pretty rundown with a fair amount of abandoned buildings. We followed other people who were also looking for the water taxi. It was about a 10 min walk, but maybe a little longer than that. It wasn’t exactly a nice walk, next to a busy road and rundown boat storage facilities.

 

 

We finally came up on a big crowd of people waiting to board the taxi. We could tell it would be close, if we were able to get on this ferry or not. As people boarded, the ship filled up and sure enough we were the only 3 people not allowed on the boat.

 

 

[mais318]

The Taxi leaving us.

 

 

This wasn’t that big a deal, because it gave us time to walk around the area and take photos.

 

 

There were a few fishing boats and sailboats tied to the dock.

 

 

The Liberty was also doing a lifeboat drill, with all the boats motoring around the harbor.

 

 

About 20 min later a group was forming and the next water taxi boarded us. I have no idea how much this cost, but I believe it was pretty reasonable.

 

The ride was about 10-15 min and gave us great views of Liberty.

 

 

We jokingly called this boat "The might of the French Navy" haha!

 

[mais318]

The boat dropped us off right in the center of Toulon on the main promenade. The city was nice but a little rough around the edges. Along the promenade there were boats tied up on one side and nice open-air restaurants on the other. It looked like a nice place to enjoy a meal, and the nice weather.

 

 

 

We were given a map and walked around to a few of the marked attractions. We saw a nice church, but it needed a little work on the inside. We also went to the main market, which was pretty cool. The stands were selling everything from antiques, to fresh produce and different foods. We also went to a store to buy a couple bottles of water, because it was starting to get warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toulon was nice to see for an hour or two, but the town was pretty compact and staying longer would mean seeing the same things over and over again. We were happy to see the city, but there wasn’t much reason to ever go back.

 

We got back into a waiting water taxi and headed back to the ship.

 

Once we got back to the ship, it was still pretty early maybe 1 o’clock, so we got lunch in the windjammer. The meal again was decent but nothing to write home about.

 

After lunch we split up, and my sister and I went down to the schooner bar for a trivia competition we saw on the Cruise Compass. We had a really good time, but I think we came in last. Oh well, we needed our dad; he is great with trivia like that.

 

The rest of the afternoon is pretty foggy, but I am pretty sure we relaxed by the pool and played some mini golf. It was a pretty low-key day, but it was nice.

[mais318]

After we felt that we had seen a good amount of the city, we got back into a waiting water taxi and headed back to the ship.

 

 

Once we got back to the ship, it was still pretty early maybe 1 o’clock, so we got lunch in the windjammer. The meal again was decent but nothing to write home about.

 

After lunch we split up, and my sister and I went down to the schooner bar for a trivia competition we saw on the Cruise Compass. We had a really good time, but I think we came in last. Oh well, we needed our dad; he is great with trivia.

 

The rest of the afternoon is pretty foggy, but I am pretty sure we relaxed by the pool and played some mini golf. It was a pretty low-key day, but it was nice.

 

After a relaxing afternoon we went back to the room to watch the sail-away and get ready for dinner. We had a really nice time out on the balcony watching the ship pull away from Toulon.

 

 

 

 

I am not a 100% sure, but I think day 2 was formal night. Again we went to the Concierge lounge for drinks before going down to dinner.

 

 

We again were impressed by the dinner in the MDR, and really enjoyed the company of our table mates. One issue that we did have and thought was weird, was the fact that there is a special server for beer. My parents both ordered a beer, and never got them. This would happen on other nights as well. It didn't make any sense why you cant order beer from our main servers but rely on someone else who rarely would come by and often never get the drinks we ordered. That was one issue we had but not a huge one, because when the drink never came, we were not charged for them.

 

After dinner, my sister and I went up to the pool deck to relax in the hot tubs with our table mates. We had a really good time, and got all along really well. The sun was just setting and it really was perfect end to the day. We knew we had a huge day in Nice and Monaco the next day so we called it an early night.

 

When we got back to the room, we had this guy waiting for us!

 

[LovesCruising]

Really enjoying your review - who was your concierge on Liberty?

[mais318]

Day 3- Nice/Monaco

 

Our day in Nice and Monaco was going to be busy, because this was our first day that we had booked an excursion. I am almost positive we booked “Nice and Monaco on your own”, which gives you a few hours in each city and bus transfers on the corniche roads between the two.

 

Again we woke up early to watch the ship pull into the Villefranche Sur Mer port. The area surrounding the port was beautiful with amazing yachts and impressive hillsides full of mansions overlooking the bay. The weather was cloudy and cool, which for a day of sight seeing was perfect. There were a few sprinkles of rain throughout the day but didn’t cause that much of an issue.

 

The pilot boat guiding us into port.

 

 

 

The port really is beautiful.

 

 

We watched from our balcony before throwing on some clothes and grabbing a quick bite to eat in the Windjammer before heading down to the Platinum Theater to get into our group for the excursion.

 

The whole process of hurry up and wait will become a defining factor of our RCI excursions. We sat down in the theater and waited while group after group were slowly called to go down to the tender station. It really felt like we were all at a children’s camp and we had to wait for your chaperone to allow you to move. I do not know how long we were there but I remember it taking a very long time before we were called and on the tender.

 

The tender ride was quick and gave us great views of Liberty and the other yachts in the bay.

 

 

How hilarious is the purple 007 yacht!

 

 

Once off the tender we waited as a group for the whole excursion to join us before we walked to the buses where we again waited for everyone including the few people coming late, then waited for the bus to leave. It was a whole process that could have gone quicker and prevented us from seeing more of Nice and Monaco, but I guess that is to be expected in a big excursion.

 

After the bus filled up completely, we were off and headed to Nice.

[mais318]

The drive to Nice was really beautiful. On the way out i snapped a photo of Liberty.

 

 

The road winded through the seaside cliffs and soon enough we were driving through Nice. We stopped at what I think was a train station near to the city center and we were allowed to walk around the city. Nice is much much nicer than Toulon, and we had a great time walking around the narrow streets exploring the city. There were beautiful bakeries and craft stores and other beautiful shops.

 

 

 

The food and candy was all beautifully laid out.

 

 

 

I love this next picture.

 

.

[mais318]

We also walked down to the beach and promenade. The beach was made up of large rocks and didn't look very comfortable.

 

 

At the end of the beach, there is a stairway that leads up a cliff with amazing views of the city. We took a few photos and walked back to the city center.

 

 

 

We loved this rock shaped bathroom; I mean there is only so much you can do to camouflage a bathroom.

 

 

There was also a really cool antique market, and we walked around there for a while but didn't buy anything.

 

 

Out time was coming to end and the weather was taking a turn for the worse so we walked back to the bus. We really enjoyed Nice but didn't see much reason to stay there for more than a day. We felt we saw a good amount of the city even I am sure there is a lot more to see. We were really looking forward to Monaco.

[mais318]

People slowly started trickling in until the bus again was full and we were on our way to Monaco. The bus ride was great. Our tour guide told us a lot about what we were driving by and her voice was so relaxing, we all loved it. We drove by the ship and some other interesting landmarks. We did hit a fair amount of traffic, as we got closer to Monaco.

 

 

 

The next photo is of Eze. There were a few excursions that went here. Our tablemates went here and raved about it.

 

 

The Carnival Magic and a Princess ship were in Monaco that day.

 

 

 

 

[mais318]

Really enjoying your review - who was your concierge on Liberty?

 

Thanks! I do not remember her name, but she was great. If I saw a list of concierge's names, I'm sure I could figure it out.