Liberty of the Seas - 2/10 - 2/15

[danoconnl]

We had a great time on Liberty of the Seas.

 

Stayed at Garden Hilton in Ft Lauderdale on Sunday before leaving on Monday. Easy pickup from the airport, and shuttle from the hotel to the cruise port was easy as well. $36 for shuttle to the port and then return trip to the airport. Except for traffic on the way there, it was easy.

 

Great ship, we got to the port around 11 and we were on the ship and eating in the windjammer by 11:45. Getting on was pretty easy.

 

Had lunch in the Windjammer the first day and one other day. Food was fine. It's a buffet and about what you would expect. Other times for lunch we would get something from Sorrento's and/or Cafe Promenade and eat it on the pool deck in our chairs.

 

At breakfast every morning in the MDR, eggs benedict was really good. The rest of the buffet stuff was ok.

 

Dinner in the MDR was pretty good, we ate there 3 out of the 5 nights. The first night was so/so, but the other nights were pretty good. Service was just ok the first night and much better the other two nights we ate there.

 

We did MTD was fine, only the first night when we wanted a table for 2 did we have to wait past our reservation time, the other times we were seated right away at our table for 2.

 

Ate at Portofinos and chops. Enjoyed both, but the steak at chops that my wife had was more well done than medium, mine was pretty good. Waiter offered to bring her another, but she was full from the sides which were really good. We both really liked Portofinos alot.

 

Pool was really good, crowded by 10:30, but we got there before 10 every sea day and managed to find chairs pretty easily.

 

Loved having the drink package, not having to sign slips and just get what you wanted was great for us. Wife discovered that she liked dirty Martini's on this trip, never would have happened without the drink package. I feel pretty confident we got our moneys worth and I don't think either of us were ever really drunk on the cruise, but feeling good for most of it. Had the premium package and got bottles of water quite often.

 

Entertainment was great. We missed the first night, but saw everything else. Didn't have good seats for the In the Air show so it was only OK, Headliner was Savannah Jacks and they were very entertaining, great show. Juggler on the next night was pretty good, easy light comedian, I imagine kids would love it. Saturday night fever was pretty good, not great, but we had a good time at it.

 

Labadee was a good beach day. Only complaint would be how long the lunch lines got. We just decided to eat lunch later and head back to the ship around 1 instead of waiting in a long line. We didn't do anything in Falmouth except use the free internet in Diamond International and then walk around. We thought about doing an excursion, but we've already done Dunns river falls and the idea of an hour bus ride there and back didn't appeal to us.

 

Cabin 6234 was great. Very quiet, easy access to the elevator and the promenade was one flight of stairs down. View from the balcony was very good, Steward did a great job.

 

Only complaint I would have is that a few of the bar tenders on the ship need an attitude adjustment. Quite often I felt like I was bothering them by asking for a drink. It wasn't all of them, but my wife and I both noticed it. We're disney people, so maybe we are just used to service with a smile, but the bartenders around the pool deck we're always in a surly mood.

 

I would like to commend Lucille in the champagne bar, and the guy(forget his name, Nikolai maybe) walking around the upper sun deck with the beer cart, they were great. Champagne bar is a great place for a before dinner drink and they had some little apps which was nice.

 

Overall we had a great time and as I type this in the snow and ice back here in St. Louis, I'm wondering why I came back.

[jo24]

Overall sounds like you had a great trip, thank you for the review.

 

Do you feel that the 'attitude' of the servers around the pool was down to the drinks package or do you feel that the drinks package was unrelated?

 

Jo :)

[danoconnl]

I don't know if it was the packages. It was crowded around the pool bars, but I was surprised by the amount of people that didn't have the package. We haven't cruised in over 10 years so I don't know if it was the norm or not. The tip is included in the drink so I assume every drink I had they got 15% on no matter if it was the package or not.

[jo24]

That is a fair point, they were still getting a tip, I wonder if it would have been more before or people tip extra if they don't have the package? I have never been to the pool and ordered drinks so it is not something I have ever come across.

 

No excuse for the poor attitude though.

 

Jo :)

[kteachcruiser52]

We board this ship on Monday. How was debarkation? We need to be at the airport before noon to catch our flight to San Juan, PR for our next cruise. I have read on other posts that it is difficult from this ship and that numbers were still being called at 11:30. if you self-assist do you have to carry your luggage down steps? This would not be possible for me. Thanks!

[danoconnl]

If you can carry your own bags, I would do self disembarkation at 7:30 am. I've heard that this is much faster. For us we did the 10am self disembarkation, didn't actually move out of the on the air bar until 10:45, and probably were out of customs and looking for our ride at 11:30. Our flight wasn't until 3:40, so we were pretty calm about it.

 

Far worse actually was FLL, that place was a complete zoo. I'm not sure if it was the bad weather up the east coast this weekend that screwed everything up or what, but it was a complete mess. Someone said that runway construction at FLL was the problem, but it was bad. Took us over 30 minutes to get thru the security line. I've never seen a line that long to security and I flew out of Dulles Washington not long after 9/11.

[danoconnl]

We board this ship on Monday. How was debarkation? We need to be at the airport before noon to catch our flight to San Juan, PR for our next cruise. I have read on other posts that it is difficult from this ship and that numbers were still being called at 11:30. if you self-assist do you have to carry your luggage down steps? This would not be possible for me. Thanks!

 

Sorry, didn't see that part of the message before I replied above. You do need to carry your own luggage down stairs.

 

If you are flying on one of the airlines that does luggage valet, then you can leave the ship whenever and they take care of your luggage all the way to the plane. This is $20 per person in your party in addition to any luggage fees the airline charges.

 

If your flight is that early, I would imagine that you would be in one of the first groups to get off and I think it doesn't start to back up for a little while.

 

Dan

[kteachcruiser52]

Thanks for the information. I think we will check out luggage valet.

[jenbauer]

What airlines do the bag check in on the ship?

[Clarea]

What airlines do the bag check in on the ship?

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithHero.do?pagename=luggage_valet_service

Edited February 19, 2014 by clarea

[plantlady104]

Regarding the self-debarkation, on these 4 or 5 day cruises, does the ship provide a debarkation form to fill out beforehand asking for your requested time to leave the ship? (so we can request the early 0730 self-debarkation.)

[Fetzer_94]

Thank you for the review. We are sailing on the Liberty in April.

 

Thank you for the information regarding the luggage valet. Does anyone know if there is a cut-off time for the luggage valet service? By this I mean, does your flight have to be after a certain time of the morning to qualify for the service? Thanks!

[GMoney]

Regarding the self-debarkation, on these 4 or 5 day cruises, does the ship provide a debarkation form to fill out beforehand asking for your requested time to leave the ship? (so we can request the early 0730 self-debarkation.)

 

I did express walk off on Liberty a few weeks ago. There's no signing up. Just show up early. The staging area is Studio B and the line gets long very fast. I arrived at 645am and there were already 20 people in line.

[danoconnl]

I'm pretty sure that there is a cut off time for the valet service but I don't remember what the time your flight had to be after, I think it was 2 in the afternoon, but that is just a guess.

Edited February 19, 2014 by danoconnl

[hallway65]

Thanks for the review. Just wondering if you can confirm or deny the following menu order in the MDR: Pimiento, Saffron, Shiitake, Jasmine, Pomodoro.

 

We want to make reservations at Chops, but my wife doesn't want to miss lobster night.

[danoconnl]

Thanks for the review. Just wondering if you can confirm or deny the following menu order in the MDR: Pimiento, Saffron, Shiitake, Jasmine, Pomodoro.

 

We want to make reservations at Chops, but my wife doesn't want to miss lobster night.

 

The 4th night had the fisherman's platter.

 

Dan

[rummenroman]

We board this ship on Monday. How was debarkation? We need to be at the airport before noon to catch our flight to San Juan, PR for our next cruise. I have read on other posts that it is difficult from this ship and that numbers were still being called at 11:30. if you self-assist do you have to carry your luggage down steps? This would not be possible for me. Thanks!

 

My aunt and uncle to this trip a few times a year, and like you really can't walk down the stairs with luggage. They have now wised up and started going to the lounge right before they start calling for others to disembark. They always get an elevator to go down. I would say if you show up about 5 minutes before the first number is called, you can catch the elevator with your bags.

[LBumb]

great review

[Retiredprofessor]

We were on Liberty last November and found drink service at the bar exactly as you described. We did not have the drink package so I do not think that is the cause. I love to have a mudslide in the afternoon by the pool and was told they couldn't use chocolate because it was "dangerous" .