Live from the Liberty, 4/20/15 sailing

[Kteacher]

We are enjoying glorious weather this week! I'll do a more complete review when we return, but so far the service has been spotty, food in the specialty restaurants has been good to very good. The only show we've made it to so far was the ice show, which was good. Chair hogs were out in full force the first sea day, with some folks hogging two sets of chairs, some in the shade, and some in the sun- shaking my head- hadn't seen that before.

 

I've sailed RCI many times, but I'm rethinking our cruise on RCI in April 2016. As I mentioned, I'll do a full review, but the best way to describe it is unlike their advertising of the ships of "why not", it has been for us the ship of "not quite" as things are just slightly off.

[gowensricks]

Well I am looking forward to your full review, as we will be sailing her in less than two months.

[chawkjewel]

We are enjoying glorious weather this week! I'll do a more complete review when we return, but so far the service has been spotty, food in the specialty restaurants has been good to very good. The only show we've made it to so far was the ice show, which was good. Chair hogs were out in full force the first sea day, with some folks hogging two sets of chairs, some in the shade, and some in the sun- shaking my head- hadn't seen that before.

 

 

 

I've sailed RCI many times, but I'm rethinking our cruise on RCI in April 2016. As I mentioned, I'll do a full review, but the best way to describe it is unlike their advertising of the ships of "why not", it has been for us the ship of "not quite" as things are just slightly off.

 

 

Keep her safe. We board on Saturday.

[Jenhem31]

Subscribing! Just got off Liberty Monday.

[Kteacher]

We had a nice meal in Chops tonight, with the only issue being a mix up with the OBC promotion for pre booking specialty restaurants online before the cruise. RCI cancelled one of our bookings, which left us under the number of specialty dinners required to receive OBC. So even though we rebooked the cancelled meal after we found out about it once onboard, it doesn't count towards the promotion. Not a huge deal, but just something that just seemed off as far as customer service.

[sauvichick]

I look forward to reading your review. We are on the July 11 sailing and were planning to book our specialty restaurants onboard since we have OBC. Do you have to NOW prebook to receive the additional obc? Never had to on the Allure.

[Kteacher]

I'm not sure- I'm just going by my experience. When I logged onto my RCI planner it showed OBC if you booked a certain number of specialty dinners ahead of time, so that's what I did. They were also offering a discount on day one when we boarded. We thought we were all set as far as dining was concerned, but on day two we received a message that one of our specialty reservations had been cancelled. We're still trying to sort it out, but the customer service has been a little spotty.

There has been a fairly long line at guest relations every time we've walked by there. Hopefully we won't have any more issues. We are D+ and in a GS. It's been 2 years since we sailed RCI as we did Celebrity last year, so the changes are more noticeable. They are little things, for instance, no dedicated suite line for check in. There was a sign for Suite and Pinnacles, but the line was roped off and closed. No fruit basket on day one, no canapés on formal night ( we received a small plate in our cabin with a cheese spread, but nothing to spread it with or on), an invitation left in the holder outside our cabin for a special brunch, but the date was for last week (4/19).

[jm485]

What GS are you in? DH and I are in 1248 (ALL the way forward) in August. I've been wondering about the balcony furniture situation, as we're hoping the weather cooperates and we can be outside often.

[Colorado Babe]

Go talk to the concierge and let him/her know about all these issues. It will get resolved quickly.

[Kteacher]

To the person asking about the balcony furniture- there are 2 cushioned loungers, 2 chairs, and a small table.

 

We had a great day in Ocho Rios on a private tour. The weather has been beautiful :)

 

As far as asking for help from the concierge(s), that has helped with some of the issues, but not all.

[mermaidgal]

I am also enjoying the wonderful weather as well on the same cruise as Kteacher. I echo many of her observations. First in the check in in Ft Lauderdale the gentleman who checked me in was charming and said enjoy the Concierge with my grandson who was with me and 18, because he's in your cabin he can accompany you no problem! That was incorrect and when I showed up there the first night I could barely get my foot in the door before the not so charming concierge person said I couldn't stay, oddly enough I had no issues in the Diamond Lounge and I am D+. Our cabin attendant has been very accommodating but other staffers seem to be rather sullen. Tried several times to get on the Internet with no success, finally guest services gave me a code that got me on for the length of the cruise.

My room service was a no show this morning so I just went and got my own coffee to start the day. Only ate in the MDR one night, honestly the Windjammer is better! I think I will stick with the specialty restaurants in the future. Celebrity is looking like a better option in the future. Lastly in my opinion the 3 drink option is a waste because the choices of wine in each bar is of poor quality and a Cosmo is out of the question even though they gladly serve those in the Concierge. I don't enjoy all the rules on a vacation. You can't get a correct answer no matter who you talk to, I've been given more wrong info since I booked this cruise Than any previous trip! But the weather has been Glorious! !!

[HyulpyGuy]

Thanks for everyone who has been writing about their cruise experiences this week on Liberty of the Seas. I'm on the same cruise, leaving Ft. Lauderdale on April 25th. I hope to have the same wonderful weather! Sorry to hear the service has been a bit off, but hopefully things will be better on my cruise. How was Cozumel and Belize?:)

[Kteacher]

Thanks for everyone who has been writing about their cruise experiences this week on Liberty of the Seas. I'm on the same cruise, leaving Ft. Lauderdale on April 25th. I hope to have the same wonderful weather! Sorry to hear the service has been a bit off, but hopefully things will be better on my cruise. How was Cozumel and Belize?:)

 

Our sailing visited Labadee and Ocho Rios, so I can't help you with those ports.

 

We had a nice meal in Portofino ( our specialty restaurant issue has not been resolved yet, and my guess is it won't be). Tonight was 70's night and the quest. Looking forward to getting back home- still not sure if we will keep our booking on the Independence for next April.

[skyking]

So crazy that I just got off the ship Monday and had a TOTALLY different experience than people posting from the ship this week. I was on the internet all weekend with NO problem at all, all over the ship. The crew was wonderful, the wine was great, and the drink package was worth every penny, we got our moneys worth the second day. To each there own I guess!

Edited April 24, 2015 by skyking

[Kteacher]

So crazy that I just got off the ship Monday and had a TOTALLY different experience than people posting from the ship this week. I was on the internet all weekend with NO problem at all, all over the ship. The crew was wonderful, the wine was great, and the drink package was worth every penny, we got our moneys worth the second day. To each there own I guess!

 

You never can tell. Our experience has just been a little off this trip. The Internet was acting up in as far as initially logging on. I wasn't able to apply the D+ coupon, with the message saying "we're sorry, we are unable to process any internet coupons at this time".

The Diamond lounge, although a much nicer venue than the CL, has been pretty packed every night, with overflow in the Olive or Twist lounge. We have been warned that the debarkation will be chaotic tomorrow as there are some large ships doing their turnaround day in FLL. Hoping to avoid too much chaos, so fingers crossed.

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

How was your boarding process? We board Thursday. I have heard they have been boarding late these days. What time did you get to port & what time did they start the boarding process? Thanks for doing a live report!

[Kteacher]

We were given a time of 12:00 to arrive at the pier to check in. We arrived around 11:45, and there were a lot of people boarding at that time. The line dedicated to suite and pinnacle passengers was not open, so we got into the line for crown and anchor levels, where we waited around 10 minutes. Check in was fairly painless except for the part where our photos had to be redone because they weren't done properly the first time. We were onboard by around 12:15, went to the Windjammer, which was, well jammed ( no honey stung chicken :( ). Cabins were opened around 1:00

[micruiser2002]

I thought someone posted a menu of the drinks that were available with the C&A coupons and one was a Cosmo? Does anyone remember seeing that?

[Clarea]

I thought someone posted a menu of the drinks that were available with the C&A coupons and one was a Cosmo? Does anyone remember seeing that?

I haven't seen that menu, but we have been able to get a Cosmo with our C&A drink vouchers on several ships.

[roebud]

Bob.....We will be sailing on LOS in May and have a suite. I was wondering if there is any possibility of getting the email address of the concierge. I believe it's Carlos Ortiz but have no idea how to contact him via email.

 

If you have any access to this information I would love to have it.

 

Have a wonderful rest of your cruise

 

Rose

[Clarea]

Bob.....We will be sailing on LOS in May and have a suite. I was wondering if there is any possibility of getting the email address of the concierge. I believe it's Carlos Ortiz but have no idea how to contact him via email.

 

If you have any access to this information I would love to have it.

 

Have a wonderful rest of your cruise

 

Rose

[noparse]LB_Concierge@rccl.com[/noparse]

[roebud]

[noparse]LB_Concierge@rccl.com[/noparse]

 

Thank you :)

[Kteacher]

We had some of our issues resolved on the last night. Did we have a nice cruise? Yes. Debarkation was long, and people were still getting off the ship at 11.

We're spending the day with friends in Ft. Lauderdale before we fly home tonight. I'll post more tomorrow.

[WEGL81]

We had some of our issues resolved on the last night. Did we have a nice cruise? Yes. Debarkation was long, and people were still getting off the ship at 11.

We're spending the day with friends in Ft. Lauderdale before we fly home tonight. I'll post more tomorrow.

 

Debarkation was intolerably long. We got in line to get off the ship at 9:40 and were not through customs until 11:15. I'm just glad it wasn't intolerably hot outside as most of the line waiting was outside. Once we go inside to pick u pour luggage, the line was not bad. It was just getting inside and to the luggage pickup that took forever.

[Kteacher]

I agree, it was ridiculous getting off the ship. I know RCI is not totally to blame as they have no control over the number of customs agents.

 

I'm going to write a more thorough review, but here are a few highlights and lowlights:

 

We stayed pre-cruise at the Alhambra Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale. What a nice place! Close to the beach, but just tucked away from the noise. The grounds were very nice, the staff were excellent. This is not a cookie cutter hotel, so may not be for everyone's taste.

 

Embarkation: we arrived around 11:45, the line for suite and pinnacle passengers wasn't open. We got in the crown and anchor tier line, and then got moved to the handicap line ( neither of us are handicapped). Photos were taken incorrectly, so they had to be retaken when we got to the last check point before walking through the ship's doors.

 

Cabin: GS 1598. Some wear and tear, cigarette burn holes on the cushions on the balcony, pillows were like pancakes. No fruit basket, temperature was warm in the cabin despite attempts to change it.

 

Dining: we dined in Chops, Portofino, Vintages Wine Pairing for dinner. We dined in Chops and Portofino twice. I had booked 3 specialty restaurants online to receive OBC, but on day two one of the reservations was cancelled by RCI, so we didn't receive OBC. The last night of the cruise there was a small adjustment made on our account. We dined in the windjammer 3 times, and Johnny Rockets once ( long wait for food' and surly staff).

 

Shore Excursions: we booked a cabana in Labadee, and did a private excursion in Ocho Rios. The private excursion took us on a tour of the countryside, and ended up with cooking jerk chicken on a little beach. It was a great excursion :).

 

Entertainment: we went to the ice show, which was good, Quest, the 70's promenade celebration, and the late night comedy (horrible).

 

Miscellaneous: the diamond lounge was packed every night. The concierge lounge on deck 10 doesn't have any windows, so we spent most of our time in the diamond lounge. Chair hogs out in full force on sea days.

 

Debarkation : horrible- if you didn't get up at the crack of dawn to get off the ship, you either stood in line for a long time, or waited onboard until almost 11 when the line died down a little.