Liberty of the Seas - Not a wow.

[MattInFLL]

OK, before I get into this, I will start by saying that, thanks to being with many old and new friends, I had a great cruise and nothing that I am about to say would "ruin my cruise". I am now Diamond Plus and this was my 21st Royal cruise and I will continue to be loyal to Royal. But Liberty was just not a wow by any means.

 

Embarkation - what a mess. Luggage drop off was not a breeze and disorganized, and then there was a port worker trying to keep us from going to the Midport garage. He said it was full and that we had to go to the Northport garage and get a shuttle back. Anyone familiar with Port Everglades knows this is not a simple task. My friend who was driving did something I would not have done, and drove in anyway. I'm glad he did, because the garage was actually not full at all. There were plenty of spaces.

 

Then after walking back to the terminal, the lines were incredibly long. Even the Suite and Diamond access was out of control. The Suite lines were not even moving. It took forever to check in and get on board.

 

The Cabin - I had a JS on deck 9. The first thing I noticed was that my Diamond welcome letter and Diamond amenity were not there. It took almost 3 days to straighten that out (and not just me - happened to two others in our group). The cabin was not especially clean feeling, and the cabin steward was constantly doing things like forgetting to replenish towels and knocking on my door when the "do not disturb" sign was out - "oh, did I disturb you?" I have never had a problem with a cabin attendant. I certainly did this time. And I had tipped her at the beginning.

 

Crew in general - on other ships, the crew almost always tries to fix anything that might be off. Not on Liberty. Most seemed to be anxious for their contracts to be over. As examples - went to get my free Diamond photo, and the photo people were all flummoxed because the discount was not coming up automatically and told me to try again the next day. On another ship, someone would have sold me the photo and figured out how to get the charge corrected. The bars were constantly out of various beverages and popular choices. On other ship, they would go and restock or the bartender would try and find what you were looking for. On Liberty, it was "we are out, go try another bar". Not that that would have helped because they were all out. (Yes, there were still some exceptional crew members, and I will get to them.)

 

Dining Room experience - again, I don't believe I have ever complained about a waiter and assistant waiter team before. The two we had were just way sub-par. We would ask the assistant waiter for things like butter, iced tea, coffee, etc and, the first night, we were lucky to get them without waiting 15-20 minutes. The waiter did not do the simple things like offer fresh pepper for the Caesar salad, forgot orders and was just very slow. We did, politely, address it with our head waiter and the second night was vastly improved. But by night 4, it was back to the night 1 experience. That really did not sit well when we had to sit through the "give us 10s, please" speech. For the first time, I did not. One positive - food quality and taste were very good.

 

Miscellaneous - late night food issues. This was a holiday cruise and many people were up and out into the wee hours in the club and the casino. Sorrento's closed at 2, which is a downer (even Freedom kept it open until 3), and then instead of having any staff at Cafe Promenade, they basically shut it down, too, and put out two trays of sandwiches on top of the glass case. Within a few minutes not only did that look pretty unsanitary, but also extremely unsavory. That's cost cutting that just gets on your nerves. (And it was the same each night, with lots of unhappy people showing up expecting Cafe Promenade to be truly "24 hours.")

No Quest - Liberty no longer offers Quest on the 4 day and one of the 5 day itineraries. Why? I happened to be standing next to the cruise director at one point and asked. He gave me a very long explanation that there was no way to fit it into the schedule given the number of other things Royal wanted him to schedule. So, one of the most popular Royal traditions goes poof to make way for some other event that probably produces more revenue. Has anyone ever been to a Quest that was not jam packed? Again, just smacks of cost cutting to the extreme and at the expense of things that people come back for and enjoy.

 

Stupid stuff - anyone that sails Royal knows that they make you sign out beach towels for shore excursions. On Liberty, they tell you the towels will be at the gangway, but once down there, they were not actually there. They were back up on deck two. So all these people get down there, many who are not so mobile, and well, confusion ensues. There's no real reason for this, because on Freedom, with the exact same layout, they actually do know how to have them by the gangway, or they could have actually said they were on deck 2. And returning towels on when you came back was no better. One of the gangways had no way to actually return them, unless you crossed an area they did not want you in, and then they yelled at people. But you have to return them or get a $25 charge. (Brilliance, which was next to us, put the whole towel operation out on the pier - great idea.)

 

As I said before, none of what I just said ruined my cruise. It's just that it all adds up to leaving you with the impression that Liberty is not particularly well run and is not a ship you particularly want to return to.

 

OK, the positives - Chops was excellent as always and the steaks were cooked perfectly. I also recommend the new bacon appetizer and the onion soup. Our waiter was a gem.

 

Diamond Lounge - Oana, the concierge obviously does care about her job and went out of her way to make people feel welcome. The Viking Crown bar staff was also excellent. We ended up there quite a lot because their attitude was so refreshing.

 

Sky Bar - another bright light of servers who were fun, enjoying themselves and enjoying the guests.

 

Windjammer - usually I think the WJ is just a so-so experience. On Liberty I thought the food was more tasty than usual and they were completely on top of keeping the tables bussed and walking around to offer to help with drinks and other things.

 

I booked Independence for Thanksgiving next year.

Edited December 2, 2014 by MattInFLL

[maureencruiser]

Thanks for the info, sounds like a real mixed bag for you.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your review.

[vrock]

Just curious what time did you get to the port? It seems like I have been reading a lot of posts saying similar things aboard the liberty of the seas lately. I am a little worried we board on Saturday. I guess I should lower my expectations and hope for the best.:)

[BonTexasNY]

Sorry the ship didn't offer the WOW factor as in past cruises. Hopefully, by the time I get on her next December, she will be "Texanized". I can't imagine an RCI cruise without The Quest :eek:. Best fun and laughter. Yes, always standing room only.

 

I had read at one point that checking out towels was done away with. Sorry the procedure is back :(

[Ashland]

This isn't the LOS we have sailed on...just goes to show you how quickly things can change.

 

Hopefully you'll have a better experience on Indy..she's actually our favorite.

 

Thanks for your post and enjoy your next cruise.

[ILuvCruisin']

Thanks for the review. I hope they change things when she comes to New Jersey. Especially since she is being sent to appease people due to the Qunatum switcheroo! :o

Edited December 2, 2014 by ILuvCruisin'

[mpoole3]

I was on the Liberty 11/13 sailing and had the exact same experience as you did. In all my cruises that was by far the worst. In fact, I booked the Enchantment for this weekend to wash that memory away.

 

Dinning service was so poor I just got up and left the first night. I will also agree with you zero late night food, unless you wanted left over sandwiches just sitting on the counter.

 

My experience was so poor on the Liberty they actually called me to offer a 15% certificate to use on my next cruise. Which I did not go down and complain, but between having to wait until 7:30pm for my luggage night 1 and head waiter asking me why I was leaving, they probably thought it was needed, which I agreed.

[bouhunter]

I have to say our last RCCL cruise (Jewel last March) was the poorest we've had. Not complaining, just noticed a lot of things lacking compared to the past. Very little help in WindJammer, hardly any pool waiters, empty soda freestyle machines........etc. I think they've cut way back on staff. Ship was still beautiful and we have Adventure booked for 2016. But for 2015 we're trying Celebrity. We've only travelled RCCL for 9 years, but the last two cruises would seem to indicate a lot of cost cutting and cutbacks. We could care less about C&A freebies in the room and such, but the staff cutbacks do impact the vacation.:rolleyes:

[trev71]

Nice detailed review.

 

Sad to see the ship that made me fall in love with cruising go downhill

[nednrom]

My sister just got off the Liberty and called me last night. Her experiences were a little different. She sent me a picture of the time they were on the ship--the clock said 11:10. She said curb to onboard took 20 minutes. She said the rooms showed some age but was clean. We just got off the Independence and she said that the Liberty was not as polished but the service was great and she thought that that Portofino's was awesome.

 

The towels would aggravate me too.

Edited December 2, 2014 by nednrom

[setsail]

 

Sad to see the ship that made me fall in love with cruising go downhill

 

Why do you think that, LOTS cruises 52 weeks a year. We had a nightmare debark off her a few years ago but that had nothing to do with anything other than that cruise/week/day

Edited December 2, 2014 by setsail

[krisko]

I was on same cruise as OP and I'll offer some thoughts.

 

I completely agree on the embarkation, checking in luggage was a mess and I had a feeling someting was wrong. We didn't have any of our bags by dinner and I was sure they were left in the port. After dinner they showed up and I was relived, had a buzzing headache to that point.

 

Checking in was weird, took about 30 minutes even though we were there early. We were in the Diamond line and we had dedicated check in windows. But every time a pinnacle walked up, they were directed to our windows even though they had their own windows. Later, we saw there was open windows in the regular line as we boarded the ship. Minor inconvenience, no biggie.

 

MDR, our waiters were not very personable but service was good and food was good.

 

Windjammer was the windjammer, decent enough.

 

Chops, service was excellent but steak was a tad well done and not particularly tasty. I'd never go if we didn't get free specialty dining as a perk from our TA.

 

Stateroom, Dale was excellent and out of sight mostly which we like. We had a major issue with the room, the balcony door was off track. This made for a very loud whistling noise and when I opened the door the waves kept my daughter awake (weird!). Was fixed one morning but I guess opening the door unfixed it. One night it was so bad that guest services moved us into an interior room at 4am. Kudos to guest services. Next morning the door was fixed and I instructed the kids not to open the door until morning we got back.

 

Diamond Lounge was excellent and Oana was the best. This was the first time we were diamond and it really is a luxury touch. I'd go in the every morning for coffee and pineapple before going to breakfast and every night for a drink or two before dinner. They have computers for use, of course you need and internet package. The free hour of internet was good enough to send an ocassional email. Best part is Oana was very helpful and friendly every time.

 

Liberty...ship was clean and maintained well except for my balcony door. We were very pleased, Freedom is our favorite class.

 

This weekend I've got 8 day Independence with my girlfriend...life is good!

[Ocean Boy]

Why do you think that, LOTS cruises 52 weeks a year. We had a nightmare debark off her a few years ago but that had nothing to do with anything other than that cruise/week/day

 

Where did the poster say that he was basing his comment on the debarkation process? Two long time posters here have noticed some issues with the ship on recent sailings. Their opinion and concerns have certainly gotten my attention.

[krisko]

A note on the towels, you had to check them out to take them off the ship. You no longer have to check them out poolside.

 

And I'd hardly say Liberty is going 'downhill'. We had a great time, the ship looks just as good as ever.

[marci22]

Thanks for your review. The night time food situation bothers me: we usually book the bigger ships, with more available food hours, because we found that to be a problem on smaller ships like Enchantment.

 

The understaffing seems to be a general trend over the past couple of years. I don't see it changing anytime soon.

 

As for the nightly speech at dinner, I'm over that. If they try to do it to me on my next cruise I'll stop them mid sentence.

[marci22]

And I'd hardly say Liberty is going 'downhill'. We had a great time, the ship looks just as good as ever.

 

Please do not dismiss someone else's perspective. You can't really criticize someone else's experience. Start your own thread.

[krisko]

Please do not dismiss someone else's perspective. You can't really criticize someone else's experience. Start your own thread.

 

'Downhill' is quite the statement and she wasn't even there. I'm allowed an opinion, aren't we all?

 

(did anybody else notice someone dismissing my perspective by telling me not to dismiss somebody's perspective?)

[CRUISEBOY305]

as always Matt I love reading your reviews and thanks for sharing. I did Liberty last year for thanksgiving, I felt the same way you felt this cruise which is part of the reason why I didn't book thanksgiving this year. I'm very surprised that Quest and L&M was not offered on this cruise. It was last year. It really is a shame because back when Liberty was doing the longer cruises out of Miami she truly was a wonderful ship with a great crew. And I was always so excited to return but after last year I really don't think I'll be returning for the short cruises. Maybe when she's in Galveston I'll give her another chance. I'm booked on Independence next year for thanksgiving so we'll see how that goes. I'll be on Independence next month for two weeks as well.

[marci22]

'Downhill' is quite the statement and she wasn't even there. I'm allowed an opinion, aren't we all?

 

(did anybody else notice someone dismissing my perspective by telling me not to dismiss somebody's perspective?)

 

Someone posts a disappointing review, with specific details, and you come and post 'we had a great time'. Yeah? So what??

 

What has that got to do with anything? It's nonsensical.

[krisko]

Someone posts a disappointing review, with specific details, and you come and post 'we had a great time'. Yeah? So what??

 

What has that got to do with anything? It's nonsensical.

 

I was just pointing out that the ship isn't going 'downhill'...everything looks great and works and I found the crew to be good to great.

 

As far as the 'disappointing' review, I didn't find it to be disappointing really. I agreed with some of it, disagreed with other parts of it.

 

My opinion has everything to do with this thread because I was on the EXACT same cruise! By the way, OP said he had a great cruise, as did I.

 

Go stir up trouble somewhere else!

[Colorado Babe]

We experienced some of the same things you did back in January. We also had a run in with one of the port security officer's as we were disembarking and reembarking for the second leg of the cruise. I won't get into specifics as Captain Par, Guest relationss and the Diamond Concierge (male) rectified the situation and really went out of the way to make-up for the experience we had with the Security Officer.

 

Oana was the Concierge in the Concierge Lounge and she really did go above and beyond for both legs of our cruise. I would love to see her again someday.

 

I agree the service in the main dining area was subpar. The waiters were like robots and didn't really interact with us at all on the first leg of the B2B but on the second leg of our cruise our waiter was fabulous but the food wasn't great so we just stuck with Caesar Salad and Shrimp Cocktail each night . I guess it all depends on your table and who you have for a head waiter and assistant.

 

Our room steward in our RFS was never around but he did a good job in cleaning our suite. When we switched to the OS on the second leg of our B2B the room steward was awesome and interacted with us. One night we had a party in our suite and Oana and our steward made sure that tons of snacks were set up in our room and beautifully set out on the table.

 

Even though we had some hiccups we really did have a good time on the Liberty but I have to agree with the OP there are some things that need to be rectified on the Liberty and appears that no one is listening.

[ncurcio]

Well that is really disappointing that the quest is nowhere to be found. I have taken a 3 day on the Majesty and it had a quest so the lack of time on 4 day is curious.

 

Anyhow, I sail on the Liberty in 9 days. Do you happen to have your compasses?

 

 

Thanks in advance

[Ken Greco]

I can understand your disappointment with this cruise. Like you we have had things go wrong that frustrate us. People must understand that with 1500 or so crew there are times when you get someone that does not do their job up to standards we expect. But look at the bright side; you are on a multi million dollar ship, the views on the water can not top anything else, staff are at your beck and call, and 99% of the people want to be on that ship.

[Aquahound]

Embarkation - what a mess. Luggage drop off was not a breeze and disorganized...

 

Isn't It??!! I hate Terminal 25 and Liberty is way too big for that berth. Drop off is a mess...almost as much of a mess as disembarkation where you have to walk to the other building to clear CBP.

 

Then after walking back to the terminal, the lines were incredibly long. Even the Suite and Diamond access was out of control. The Suite lines were not even moving. It took forever to check in and get on board.

 

On my cruise last month, Gold, Emerald, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus were all grouped into the same check-in line. The line was longer than the regular check-in lines. It was pointless.

 

The Cabin - I had a JS on deck 9. The first thing I noticed was that my Diamond welcome letter and Diamond amenity were not there. It took almost 3 days to straighten that out (and not just me - happened to two others in our group).

 

Same thing happened to me. My D+ amenity and extra gift for however many points I have is a bottle of water and a bottle of white wine. I had neither. When I finally asked about it, they sent two mini bottles of red wine. I gave up on that one.

 

Diamond Lounge - Oana, the concierge obviously does care about her job and went out of her way to make people feel welcome. The Viking Crown bar staff was also excellent. We ended up there quite a lot because their attitude was so refreshing.

 

You're so right. Oana is a sweetheart.