Liberty Of The Seas 1/23-1/27 Review With Pics & Menus

[clean1owner]

DAY 2 FIRST SEA DAY

 

 

I'm an early riser, so I was up by 6:30. Esther wasn't quite ready to start moving, so I went out walking around. I was one deck up from the Pool Deck, right above The Oasis, when I spotted it. One of the ever elusive Chair Hogs! Please excuse the blurred photos, but she was quite quick and hard to capture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Miss Piggy finished hogging a Deck Chair, she decided to cover her tracks by taking a few pictures, making it look like she had a legitimate reason for being there.

 

 

 

E and I had breakfast in the MDR. We both had an omelet, which came with hash browns. We also grabbed a plate of fresh fruit from the buffet line.

One thing I will never understand, is why you can't get buttered toast at breakfast. By the time the toast arrives at the table, it's cold, and the butter doesn't melt.

[CamaCama]

omg so funny you took pics of the chair hog.. she's still in her pj's!! :rolleyes: There were tons of hogs on this sailing, i always got a chair but sooo many were empty for hours with just towels and sunscreen laying on them...

[Cruzn Fool]

Loving the review.

 

But, is it just me, or does it seem wrong to post pictures of a fellow passenger without them knowing it? I know many pictures people post have others in them just because there are so many people on board and to get pictures it just happens, but they usually aren't pictures of specifically them. These chair hog pictures were blurry and you really couldn't see them clearly so that helps protect the persons identity.

 

I'm not trying to flame the OP for posting them, just wondering if there might be some sort of ehtical issue here and to see if it bothered anyone else like it did me? It felt kind of sneaky like being voyeuristic. I guess I feel that even chair hogs have some rights to privacy ;) and wondered how I would feel if that were me and found this thread :confused:

[slg1979]

If I were the chair hog and found my pic on here I would be rightfully ashamed. I would amend my ways and realize that people are watching and I wouldn't want to see my pic on CC again. I don't believe there were any infringements made by anyone other than the chair hog. The pics are too blurry to be able to tell exactly who it is..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[yakers33]

Thanks for the review. We will be traveling on liberty in March and it's our first cruise! I was excited to see your room photos as we are in 6632!! Do you happen to have a menu for chops?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[SzaSza]

Love the review and the pictures. I especially like the "chair hog" photos. Since they are blurry, no harm in posting them! :)

[clean1owner]

Loving the review.

 

But' date=' is it just me, or does it seem wrong to post pictures of a fellow passenger without them knowing it? I know many pictures people post have others in them just because there are so many people on board and to get pictures it just happens, but they usually aren't pictures of specifically them. These chair hog pictures were blurry and you really couldn't see them clearly so that helps protect the persons identity.

 

I'm not trying to flame the OP for posting them, just wondering if there might be some sort of ehtical issue here and to see if it bothered anyone else like it did me? It felt kind of sneaky like being voyeuristic. I guess I feel that even chair hogs have some rights to privacy ;) and wondered how I would feel if that were me and found this thread :confused:[/quote']

 

 

 

I don't feel one bit bad about posting pictures of chair hogs. As far as I'm concerned, if they get called out, they get what they deserve. No different than posting pictures of people who violate the law.

 

They are demonstrating their disregard for the rules in a public place. They have no right to privacy.

 

 

Stay tuned

Edited January 31, 2014 by clean1owner

[clean1owner]

After Breakfast we headed up to the pool deck. It was cloudy, and the breeze was pretty cool. We had to laugh at all the people sitting on deck chairs all wrapped up in towels. It was like they were forcing themselves to sit around the pool and order cocktails, just so they could go home and tell everybody that's what they did.

 

 

 

 

I grabbed a frozen yogurt cone and we headed down to our balcony, where there was no wind, and what little sun that shined was on our side of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

It was so comfortable there that I actually dozed off for a short while.

 

 

At 11:00 was the Caribbean Shopping with Liberty's shopping Guru, Ian. We signed in, got our packet of goods, and listened for awhile about all of the "approved, recommended, guaranteed, preferred, etc., etc." stores in Cozumel. We lost track of time and the next thing we knew it was 11:30, so we dashed up to the pool to play Bingo, but the game had already started. We hung around long enough to have a frozen yogurt cone and see who won, then went to the Windjammer for lunch.

 

The food was pretty good, except for the salad dressing. It was very runny and short on flavor. I had Ranch and Thousand Island, and they were both the same.

 

After lunch was the Win A Cruise Slot Tournament. The way the slot tournament works is:

 

You pay $20 to enter. Having C&E gold status gets you a 20% discount on your first tournament entry, so it was only $16.

You are randomly assigned a machine by the computer.

When the tournament starts, you have to push the PLAY button as fast as you can for 5 minutes.

During your play, pictures pop up on the screen, and you have 3 seconds to touch the picture for bonus points.

The top 10 overall scores advance to the final round.

 

Esther entered and finished 9th in her round.

 

 

We hung around and played the penny slots until 3:00 when our CC Meet & Mingle group had a slot pull. 16 people showed up, so we had $320 to play with. Everybody got several pulls, and it took a while, but eventually the machines got all of it.

 

After the slot pull, we went back to our balcony until dinner. It was still pretty cloudy, but once again, because the balcony is protected, it was very comfortable.

 

[clean1owner]

Thanks for the review. We will be traveling on liberty in March and it's our first cruise! I was excited to see your room photos as we are in 6632!! Do you happen to have a menu for chops?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

We didn't do any of the Specialty Restaurants, so the only menu pics I have are from the MDR.

[slg1979]

FINALLY ON BOARD

 

After finally getting on board, the first order of business was to check out our table in the MDR. We had requested a table for 2, next to a window, and Royal did not disappoint.

 

 

 

We have requested a table for two for our cruise. We are still gold level C&A. This will be our first cruise utilizing the My Time Dining. We have it on our reservation a table for two, I love your table. I am going to follow your lead and update our reservation to request a table for two near a window. Love your review. Love your pics! Will also head to Dining Room upon arrival to check table location.

 

Sarah

[lhanson38]

Hello did you notice if they had tables for 6 or 8 by the windows?

Thanks

[anandaindonesia]

....

This will be our first cruise utilizing the My Time Dining. We have it on our reservation a table for two,... ...

 

Is it possible to "reserve" the same table every night with My Time Dining?

I thought you can get a table of two. However it may or may not be a particular table, subject to the availability at "your timing".

 

CMIIW.

 

Michael

via Tapatalk. sorry for typo.

[clean1owner]

Hello did you notice if they had tables for 6 or 8 by the windows?

Thanks

 

 

 

I do remember seeing tables for 6 and 8 next to windows.

[clean1owner]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we watched the Belly Flop competition at 2:00. These are always great to see. Being a past Collegiate Spring Break Flopper, I know first hand the pain those guys endured. Scoring was done by audience input, combined with the opinions of 6 of the Ship's Officers. After the first round, there was a tie for first place, so they had a flop-off. For the flop-off, only the Officer's scores counted. I'm not saying the fix was in, but in my opinion, as well as most of those watching, the wrong guy won.

The competition, and having a couple frozen yogurt cones, was a very fun way to spend some time.

 

 

 

Tonight was formal night. I had rented a Tux online about 2 weeks prior to sailing. It was waiting in the closet when we arrived, and fit perfectly.

 

We arrived at the MDR about 6:05. The 6 table to our left was already there, and the empty 4-top from the night before now had a couple, with their daughter who appeared to be around 10, sitting at it. It was the mother's birthday, and after they were done eating, Mariano brought out a small birthday cake and He and a few of the other waiters sang happy birthday.

Everyone in our section dressed for the evening, so it was quite nice, for a while.

 

About 6:20 a group of people arrived and started sitting at the table where the group of 50 year old women were the night before. A girl in her mid 20's, her mother, another girl around 18, and twin girls around 12 or 13. For whatever reason, the girl in her 20's, who seemed to be in charge, slid one of the chairs against the wall, right behind Esther. Everyone in the section already ordered, and Mariano had already served salads and appetizers to the 6 table and the family of 3 behind me. He stopped what he was doing and asked the girl in charge to see her Sea Pass. She showed it to him, and he started pointing to the other side of the dining room. She then told him they switched tables. Mariano got a very confused / surprised look on his face and just said "OK" He gave them menus and Gerry started filling water glasses. Finally Mariano had time to bring us our salads. About this time, the Headwaiter came by, and Mariano went over to talk to her. I could easily tell by the body language that neither one of them had any idea these people were going to be there. About 10 minutes later, a guy in his 20's, I'm guessing the Husband of the girl in charge, shows up carrying a baby girl around 10-12 months old. The girl in charge waves Mariano over and says to him "Where is our high chair?", like he was supposed to know they needed one! It took just about all I had to not ask her where the H*** her manners were! Mariano was trying to serve the Main Course, so Gerry brought out the high chair. Immediately after being set in the chair, the baby started screaming. Mom takes her out and she stops. This went on for about 6 cycles, until Mom just gave up and kept the baby on her lap. Except now the baby is mad enough that sitting on Mom's lap wasn't enough to stop the screaming. :mad: So we got to listen to that battle for the rest of Dinner.

 

Back to the good

 

 

 

I had the Lobster Bisque, Shrimp Cocktail, Fillet Of Beef Tenderloin, and Strawberry cheesecake for dessert. E had Cantaloupe And Honeydew Melon, Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast, and Raspberry Sherbet. As is the norm, the food was great. The beef was so tender and tasted so good, that if the Screaming Baby Family had not completely disrupted things, I would have asked for a second serving.

 

After dinner we got our pictures taken at each of the 4 different stations that were set up. The first one had a background that was supposed to look like you are standing in front of a staircase, the second one was plain white, the third was standing on the bridge entering the Promenade, and the fourth was standing on the first landing of an open stairwell going from the Promenade Deck to Deck 4. The Photograph shop has kiosks where you slide your Sea Pass, and you can view all of your pictures, then decide which one you want. According to the Photographer, it used facial recognition software to sort the pictures. We slid our Sea Pass at the first station, and sure enough, all of our pictures showed up on the kiosk. It was a whole lot easier than looking through row after row of pictures to find ours. We ended up purchasing the one standing on the stair landing.

 

After the pictures we visited the casino, until the Battle Of The Sexes Gameshow. It was pretty fun, and the women won, as usual.

 

Back to the casino for a while, and then the Stateroom. Standing on our balcony, we could see 2 other cruise ships all lit up, and a freighter that was mostly dark.

Spending time on the balcony before going to bed became a nightly routine.

[clean1owner]

Is it possible to "reserve" the same table every night with My Time Dining?

I thought you can get a table of two. However it may or may not be a particular table, subject to the availability at "your timing".

 

CMIIW.

 

Michael

via Tapatalk. sorry for typo.

 

I have never done My Time Dining, but I have read where others have requested, and received, service from the same wait staff. As far as getting the same table, I really don't know.

[clean1owner]

DAY 3 COZUMEL

 

 

I woke up pretty early again, and E wanted nothing to do with getting up yet, so I went out and decided to monkey around with the Manual settings on our camera, and try to take some nighttime pictures around the pool area.

 

The H2O Zone

 

 

 

The Main Pool

 

 

The Main Pool from the other end, standing at the Sky Bar. That blasted big screen TV kept changing pictures, which made it real hard to get a picture that wasn't completely washed out.

 

 

The Solarium

 

 

The walkway on deck 12. Facing Aft.

 

[clean1owner]

We had no shore excursions or real plans for Cozumel, so we took our time about getting going, and had Breakfast in the Windjammer. The food was good, but not as good as the MDR.

 

 

While we were eating breakfast, the Ruby Princess arrived.

 

 

 

By the time we finished eating and got what we needed for the day in port, it was after 9:00, and there was practically no line to get off the ship. We made our way down the pier, and grabbed a cab to town.

 

We arrived at the Main Plaza about 9:30, and nothing was open. A guy at an "Information" booth called us over, for "Information only. I'm not selling anything." He let us know that none of the stores open until 9:00, which is 10:00 Ship's time. Even then, several of the stores weren't open yet.

 

 

MY FIRST TIP

 

Since you stay on ship's time while in port, don't be in any kind of hurry to get to town. You will just sit around with nothing to do.

 

 

After giving us our information, the guy starts asking if we would ever consider coming to Cozumel and stay for a week. I immediately thought "Here comes the pitch", and I was right. All we had to do was take a "short tour" of some resort and we would get I don't even remember what. I just let him know we weren't interested in a Time Share.

 

When the stores finally opened, we just shopped around and saw the sights.

 

Check out the seats in this Bar / Grill

 

 

Looks like the Chef got a little careless with the Meat Cleaver.

 

 

 

We have a picture of our kids on these horses during our 1997 Leeward cruise, now it's my turn.

 

 

 

I have to give a little background for the next two pictures.

While sitting in the MSP Airport waiting to board our flight to FLL, I looked at my watch to see how much time was left, and my watch wasn't there (When we got back home, it was on the bed, right where I left it). After eating dinner Wednesday evening, we walked up the block to a national chain, Discount Department store, and I bought a $9.99 special.

 

 

 

During the shopping talk onboard the ship, Ian talked about a store that sold Shinola watches. These are USA built, made in Detroit, and are supposed to be quite superior in quality. We found the store, and the lowest priced Shinola watch was over $600.00. I didn't get a decent picture of the actual watches, but here is a photo of the sign above them.

 

 

 

I can now say with great confidence that I DO know S**t from Shinola!

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the shopping talk, Ian said that we should expect to pay asking price in the stores, because they don't negotiate. Other than Diamonds International and the other stores that are in just about every Cruise Port, people were anxious to negotiate.

Esther got a real nice leather purse for $20 (asking price started at $32), and we also got a Cozumel Christmas ornament for $5 (asking price started at $13).

[Ourusualbeach]

Loved seeing the picture of the bar with the swing seats. I actually stopped in there in December as I was looking for some rope to be able to hang the hammock that I had just purchased. They didn't have any extra for sale but he did direct me to the "local" market about 4 blocks back into town.

[clean1owner]

After we finished our shopping excursion, we decided to have a little fun with our banner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the guy E bought the purse from

 

 

 

 

This is actually in a mall they are trying to fill, right across the road from the pier. Everything is very new, and they have FREE BATHROOMS

 

 

 

 

[clean1owner]

We docked next to Brilliance Of The Seas, so naturally I had to take some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Solarium on Brilliance is glass enclosed

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I thought was really neat on the Brilliance is the outdoor seating for the Windjammer

 

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Triumph was also in port. This is when she was leaving.

 

 

[clean1owner]

Saturday evening Dinner was going great, until 6:30, when the screaming baby family arrived again. This time they had even more people in the group, and instead of sitting all nine around the table for ten, four of them decided to sit at a 4-top next to the wait station. Once again, the baby, who has the adults trained quite well, would start screaming as soon as they tried to put her in the high chair. This time, however, they didn't fight her to the point of no return, so once Mom gave up and put Baby on her lap, the screaming stopped and they were able to get Baby to eat.

 

 

 

 

The Menu

 

 

 

Esther had Spinach Dip With Tortilla Chips (which tasted so good she ordered a second serving), Chicken Caesar, and the Warm Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream( "An excellent choice" said Mariano).

 

I had Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad, Fillet Of Sole, and Crème Brulee. When Mariano brought out the Desserts, he brought me one of the Chocolate Brownie plates "Just in case you might want to try one." He was truly looking after my best interests!

 

The food was, once again, fabulous. Even with the Rude Family disrupting things, we found ourselves walking out of the dining room by 7:15

 

After Dinner, was the main show, which was a singer named Gary Williams. Gary sings Rat Pack music (Sinatra, Davis Jr., Martin ). I'm not old enough to have listened to these guys on a regular basis, so I didn't know what to expect. The show was very good, and something like I haven't seen in a long time. It was just the Singer, and an orchestra. No back up singers, no back up dancers, no videos playing on a big screen during costume changes, just an Entertainer and his music. I would definitely recommend seeing this show.

 

After the singer we went to the 60 Seconds or Less Game show. People from the audience get up on stage and do funny tasks, with 60 seconds to complete them. It was OK.

 

Later that evening was the Love And Marriage Game Show.

For those who don't know what this is:

 

First they pick three couples. A honeymoon couple, the couple in the audience that has been married the longest, and an in between couple.

When they asked for Honeymooners to stand up, only two couples stood. One of them was a couple that had just been married on the beach in Cozumel that afternoon, and were still in their wedding clothes. With very little prodding from the crowd, the other couple sat down, so the NEW newlyweds were picked by default.

The longest married couple had been married for 62 years.

Then came the in between couple selection. Six couples stood up, so they had to have a competition to decide who plays. The competitions are always very funny to watch, and the audience chooses the winner. In this case it was a couple married for 16 years.

Once the contestants are chosen, all the women go to a "soundproof booth". The men are asked 4 questions about their spouses, the answers are recorded, and the women come back out. The women are asked the same questions, and if their answer matches the Husbands, they get a point. After they have gone through all 4 questions, the men leave the stage and the women get 4 questions about their husbands. The Men come back out, and go through the questions. The couple with the most points after the 2 rounds is the game winner.

 

The questions are ALWAYS intended to create maximum embarrassment, like "Who, in your wife's family, is the biggest trouble causer", "What is your husbands most annoying habit", "Where is the most unusual spot you have ever made whoopee".

Most times, the couple that has been married the longest wins the game, and a bottle of Champaign plus a couple of ship trinkets. This time, the Honeymooners won. They got the bottle of Champaign, plus His and Hers watches.

Cruise Director Chris did a great job running the game, and even handled the annoying drunk families of the Honeymoon Couple quite well.

This show is a must see.

 

After Love And Marriage, we hung out in the Casino until bed time.

[jalee7]

Thank you for the review :)

 

Hello, How did you create this signature?

[clean1owner]

FINALLY, I have time to try and finish this thing. The worst thing about going on vacation is trying to get caught up on everything that didn't get done while you are gone.

 

 

 

DAY 4 SECOND SEA DAY

 

 

I must have been tired because I slept until after 7:00. By the time I got upstairs, the Chair Hogs had been out in full force.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pig is apparently using the "If I use Royal branded merchandise to hog a chair, maybe they will leave me alone" strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

Why even have this sign?

 

 

 

[clean1owner]

DAY 4 CONTINUED

 

 

With patience, I was able to catch a couple Hogs in action!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little piggy was trying for Chair Hog immortality by hogging a full row of 7 chairs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon her Hog Apprentice arrived, and took his orders dutifully.

 

 

 

 

And then they just disappeared into the background.

 

 

 

 

Dear Royal; Why do you even bother to post a sign stating that reserving deck chairs is not allowed, yet at 7:30 am your pool attendant will hand out stacks of towels, watch someone reserve an entire row of chairs, and do nothing about it?

[clean1owner]

After catching the Chair Hogs in action, I went back to the cabin to get Esther, then we went to the MDR for Breakfast. Once again, the food and service was great.

After Breakfast we headed up to the pool and just hung out in a couple UNHOGGED deck chairs.

 

NOTE TO FUTURE CRUISERS: String bikinis and / or Speedos are NOT for everybody. Please get an objective opinion before wearing that thing in public!

 

At Noon we played Bingo poolside, but didn't do worth a darn. I once read in a post by a cruise line employee that Bingo and the Casino aren't for profit, but more for entertainment reasons. To that, I say BALONEY. I saw a minimum of 50 people buy cards at a minimum price of $16, and they only paid out $300 to the winner.

After Bingo it was off to the Windjammer for lunch, and then down to the casino for another qualifying round in the Slot tournament. This time things went a lot better, as E won her qualifying round, which put her in 2nd place overall.

 

 

 

 

There were 2 more qualifying rounds, and 1 more person scored better than E, which put her in 3rd place overall, thus qualifying her for the final round.

 

 

The final round was quite nerve-racking to watch. For the first couple of minutes, E was in the top 3 places. In an instant she was in 7th, then 10th, then 5th. She went back and forth between 1st and 5th, and with 30 seconds to go she was 7th. 15 seconds to go and she was leading, down to 4th, up to 2nd, and when the timer ran out she ended up 3rd, which paid $236.