Liberty - New England & Canada Cruise Review 27/08/15

[strachan01]

Where to begin....! We boarded our flight 3 days prior to boarding the ship, as this would be me and my girlfriends first time in New York and indeed the East Coast we wanted to try explore New York as much as possible. We boarded our flight from Oslo and couldn't have got better seats, it was our first time using SAS for a Lang haul flight but we were not disappointed. We were allocated twin seats just before 'premium economy' with great leg room.

Once we landed in Newark we had a short wait in immigration before we picked up our bags and headed to Penn Station, the train was so easy to use.

Day 1 - Bayonne

We had a lovely 3 night stay in New York, our highlight being Top of the Rock! It was soon time to board the Ship, we had pre-booked a taxi to take us from our hotel on 35th st to Bayonne with Dial 7, the service was fantastic! We arrived at the terminal at 10AM, earlier than expected! We got checked in and were giving boarding card No. 3 which got us on the ship around 11:30. Once on-board we explored the ship and sat down at Sorrento’s for our lunch, not quite as good as the pizza we got in NY but still nice and filling! We were all amazed as to just how good the ship was for not having a dry dick in a while, everything seemed like new! After lunch we headed up to the pool deck to have a drink before heading down to see our cabin, we had booked a cabin midship and absolutely loved it! Here is our cabin and the view we had of the 9/11 Teardrop memorial from our balcony.

For sail away we headed to the helideck with a drink in hand, it was really quiet which surprised me! The views we got were fantastic – don’t laugh at my appletini, I’ve always wanted to try one!

We had prebooked our table at night for 7:45, slightly later than when we normally go. Before heading down to the restaurant we visited the diamond lounge where we met the concierge and had a few drinks. I loved the Budweiser bottles on the cruise!

When we arrived at the dining room we were taking straight to our table and instantly greeted by our waiter Romerio and our assistant Mathew, they were great to us the whole cruise! I know the food always causes discussions but we thought the service and quality was great, we never had a bad course, maybe just too many of them!

[strachan01]

Day 2 – At sea

We ordered room service and had our breakfast on the balcony, the weather was lovely! Afterwards we got changed and headed up the pool for a relaxing day, we had no problem finding a deckchair the entire cruise, our favourite was on the area just to the front of the sky bar, not only was it nice and sheltered but it allowed us to have a great view of the pool events. Later in the afternoon we headed to the putting green before retreating to our cabin to get ready for formal night.

After our meal we headed to the champagne bar for a few drinks before working our way along to the hoof and claw for some live music. The guitarist was OK but not as good as others we have seen on past cruises, he did however have a good selection of music he played each night, which was refreshing.

Day 3 – Boston

We had an earlyish breakfast at the WJ before heading off the ship, we originally had planned on taking a taxi into the centre but the queue for was massive, I think it was a mixture of guests from Liberty and disembarking passengers from the 2 Holland America cruise ships that were also docked. Instead we took the SL1 bus into South Station (was $2.80 each or something) where we then walked to Boston Common and started the Freedom Trail. We thought the trail was great, with plenty information! Our first real stop was at Faneuil Hall where we stopped for lunch, plenty to choose from. I know I should have waited until Bar Harbor before tasting some Lobster but I couldn’t wait!

After having a look around Quincey Market we walked another mile or so along the Freedom Trail before heading back towards the centre for a quick drink and a look around the stores. As we still had plenty time left we just decided to walk back to the ship, the walk longer than I had anticipated but still nice!

Once we got back to the pier the lines that greeted us was huge, this would be our only complaint about the holiday. We were not prepared for the wait and so had no water, there was no water supplied when we were waiting and my girlfriend fainted under the heat. The medical staff did respond promptly and take us on board; I noticed they were beginning to take water out to the pier just when we got on.

Because of what happened on the pier we just decided to have a quiet and relaxing night.

Day 4 – Portland

We headed to the windjammer for breakfast where we both had omelettes from the ‘Egg Harbour’; there was a 5 minute wait or so but it was worth it! After breakfast we headed off the ship and started to explore. Around 3 or 4 streets up from the pier we noticed signs and leaflets for a duck boat tour, we enquired and decided to buy tickets. There was only one boat and it ran every 90 mins or so, we were lucky that it hadn’t left when we arrived. The tour was only $27 each and well worth it, the guide explained everything and was very funny! Definitely recommend it, it’s the only duck boat in Portland so it should be easy to find!

Aftewards we headed to the Holy Donut shop which had donuts made from fresh potatoes, our tour guide had pointed our earlier so we were eager to try. They were delicious, I had a maple syrup one and my girlfriend had a blueberry one! With our fully bellies we headed back to the shops on the main street and browsed through them, eating cheese and chutney samples from various stores along the way! We stopped at a local baker before heading back onto the ship to try a whoopie pie,it tasted different from what I expected but still nice!

We headed to the show at night and then top the schooner bar for some live music with the pianist – he was brilliant the whole cruise. Really got the audience going with his crowd interaction songs! Albeit it resulted in us drinking several drinks more than we should have!!

Day 5 – Bar Harbor

This was the only port we had a pre-planned tour booked and so we wanted to be off early to not be caught in the tendering crowds, again we ordered room service to start the day! We had purchased tickets in advance for the 10AM tour of Acadia National Park with Olis Trolley, the tickets were $30 each and included a 2.5 hour tour of the park and surrounding areas. We got down to the tender station around 8.30 and had no wait to get on to a tender; I do believe we were lucky as we got onto a smaller tender which filled up sharpish. Others seemed to get onto much larger tenders which took a while to fill before heading off. We popped into the Oli’s Trolley office right beside the tendering station to exchange our printed voucher for a trolley ticket. We still had around 40 minutes to spare before our tour started so we popped into a nearby café and had a slice of blueberry pie and a coffee!

Our your guide and driver was brilliant she explained and talked through everything as we drove around the national park and even when we got off for our 15 minute stops. The views from the Cadillac Mountain were fantastic!! We seemed to have got lucky with the weather in every port on the cruise!

On our way back from the trolley tour our guide pointed out good food spots for local lobster so we decided to head back into town for them! It was a good shout as the restaurants seemed to be less crowded than those right beside the port tender station. We both had Lobster rolls, clam chowder and fries with a local IPA, it was soo good! Wish I could have some more just now!

After lunch we headed back to the tender station picking up an in ice cream long the way, where we noticed a lobster flavoured ice cream, of course we were too scared to try this though!!

Like when we got off the ship we had no queue to get a tender back to the ship, I thought the port handled the Liberty very well. I was told it was the largest ship to visit Bar Harbor but not sure if this is correct maybe someone can confirm?

At night we went to see the Broadway show Saturday Night Fever, we both loved it! As we were still stuffed from lunch we skipped on the dining room service and opted for the windjammer instead, it was my first supper in the WJ in many years! We both had the Mongolian noodles; we just had to pick our veg and meat and then give it to the chef who then fried it right in front of us. They were really tasty!

At night we headed back to the hoof and claw again for some drinks before going to bed at around midnight.

Day 6 – St John

Like all the other ports we had no excursion or tour booked, we got off the ship and grabbed a map on the way. There was a small marquee right outside our ship selling local gifts and food which was pretty quirky. I ended up buying some sports memorabilia for my wall!

We used the pedway system to take us to the shopping centre and then onwards to the city market, this was a small but nice market selling local fresh seafood, salads and homemade gifts. We exited the market onto kings square which was a nice open public area, right beside the market we were told to stop at Billys seafood for lunch, which we did. It did not disappoint I had fresh lobster and my girlfriend had the grilled halibut, both were lovely and very reasonably priced!

We slowly headed back to the ship stopping at local shops along the way. Once we got back on board we had time to relax and use the hot tubs before getting ready for supper once again. We spent the night moving between the hoof and club and the schooner bar which was nice and relaxing.

Day 7 – At Sea

We had a very similar routine to the first day at sea, room service followed by a day at the pool. The ice show was at 4pm so we headed down at around 3:30 and had no problem finding a seat. We had pretty central seats so got to see everything with no obstructions from the pillars. The show was really impressive with lots of tricks I hadn’t seen at any ice show onboard before! A must see really!

Tonight was our 2nd formal night and so after the show we grabbed a drink before getting ready, we headed down to the dining room and got some formal photos. Here is Mathew our brilliant assistant waiter and the next one is of my girlfriend and my parents.

In the evening we went to the hoof and claw for drinks again but only stayed until around 11 before heading off to the late night comedy show – this was really funny.

Day 8 –Halifax

We really enjoyed Halifax, it felt as though it was the hottest port we were in although the humidity might have been to blame for that! We headed to the maritime museum as we were particularly interested in the titanic exhibition. The museum was only 9 Canadian dollars each to enter so pretty reasonable! We really enjoyed it.

After we had explored all we wanted in the museum we headed down to the harbour front to grab some haddock Gijon’s and sweet potato fries, a lovely treat! There looked to be a thunder storm approaching so we began to head back to the ship, we entered the brewery directly opposite where the ship had docked and spend some time in there sampling the different beers , in doing so we missed the rain!

Day 9 –At sea

As always our last day is always a sad one! The morning was warm but really foggy, we decided to go up to the sports deck and play a round of mini golf before heading onto the rock climbing wall. The afternoon was mainly spent packing with a visit to olive and twist for some cocktails.

Day 10 – Bayonne

We had luggage tags 12 which got us off the ship around 9am, we picked up our bags no problem and were clear of immigration just before 9:30, we had a private taxi waiting to take us to a local mall before heading to Newark airport late afternoon. We had no issues at all with disembarkation or even at the airport!

 

I guess to summarise, we loved the cruise – i enjoyed it that little bit more than our trip on the Indy earlier this year!

I hope you have enjoyed my review of our recent cruise, hopefully it wasn’t too boring! If you have any questions I’ll try and answer them!

[jsswish]

Nice review, I was on that cruise as well and already wanting to do it again! Though watch your spelling for dry "dock".

 

Love the view from the mountain at Bar Harbor, and love the kilt too! Very cool formal look, I remembered seeing a group of guys wearing them for the formal nights.

[strachan01]

Nice review, I was on that cruise as well and already wanting to do it again! Though watch your spelling for dry "dock".

 

Love the view from the mountain at Bar Harbor, and love the kilt too! Very cool formal look, I remembered seeing a group of guys wearing them for the formal nights.

 

Haha, Just noticed that, sorry!! I have tried to edit it but the option to edit it doesn't seem to be there!

 

Thanks, Yeah the view from Cadillac mountain was fantastic!

[Jiffymom]

We will be sailing October can't wait

[windjamming]

Aww, thanks for this review! Just got off the Liberty this morning and miss her already! We did the same itinerary last year (albeit in reverse order) and really enjoyed all the ports. I loved Holy Donut, too!

 

Thank you for sharing your vacation!

[Kowhai17]

Great review! Also sailing in October and can't wait.

[nbsjcruiser]

Great review. We live in Saint John and this was the first time the Liberty was in our city. I had to make the trip into town to get some pictures. Here was one I took. You guys had a great day weather wise.

 

[bhanback]

Nicely done review! Thank you, we'll be boarding next week!

[cruzinlady1947]

Great review. Loved the formal photos. We will be doing our Liberty cruise on Sept. 24th, with the same itinerary, but they cancelled our St. John port, due to the tide schedule. I am looking forward to visiting Holy Donut when in Portland. I have been to Portland at least 6 times and never heard of it before. Can't wait to try one of their donuts.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to do a review. Really enjoyed reading it.

 

 

Gwen :)

[TotallyAngelic]

Brilliant review - thank you. We are sailing on this cruise on 24th September and I am really looking forward to it, even more so after reading your review and seeing your wonderful photos.

[telecruiser]

Terrific trip report. Do you remember the name of the restaurant in Bar Harbor where you ate? We will be there in October! Thanks.

[msocen]

Great review and pics! Glad you had a great cruise! We are on the Sept. 24th cruise also! Hi, fellow cruisers*****:)

[strachan01]

Thank you all, was my first review so wasn't too sure how it would go!

 

Great review. Loved the formal photos. We will be doing our Liberty cruise on Sept. 24th, with the same itinerary, but they cancelled our St. John port, due to the tide schedule. I am looking forward to visiting Holy Donut when in Portland. I have been to Portland at least 6 times and never heard of it before. Can't wait to try one of their donuts.

 

Thats a shame about Saint John, we had originally been scheduled to leave port around 7pm when I first booked the cruise, this then changed to 3am a few months before we got on and then the 12.30 am when we actually arrived on the day, the tide seems to play a big roll in allowing the ship in and out.

 

Terrific trip report. Do you remember the name of the restaurant in Bar Harbor where you ate? We will be there in October! Thanks.

 

Yes the Resturant was called Rupununi, its on 119 Main Street, here is a picture of what it looks like on the outside!

 

[DonnaK]

Wonderful review. Love the photo with the kilts!!!! :)

 

We did the Canada/NE route a few years ago (on Princess, not RCI) and had a lot of the same impressions as you. We'll be on Liberty in October, our first time on this ship, but doing the Bermuda route.

[strachan01]

Wonderful review. Love the photo with the kilts!!!! :)

 

We did the Canada/NE route a few years ago (on Princess, not RCI) and had a lot of the same impressions as you. We'll be on Liberty in October, our first time on this ship, but doing the Bermuda route.

 

Thank you Donna! Would definitely do the route again sometime. I'd say out of all the cruises I've done it comes second only behind the Baltics cruise we did on Princess.

 

I'm sure you will have a great time on her!

[2005pony]

Thanks for taking the time to post this fantastic review. It is helping me plan and prepare for our cruise on Sept 24!

[batoryfirst]

Kilts are kool. You kilt wearers seem to outshine all the other men on the ships!

[grace#11]

Thanks for the great review! We are looking forward to our NE/Canada trip on Liberty.

[Paulette3028]

To the OP -- thanks for the details of the ports you visited. We are considering a New England/Canada cruise leaving from Baltimore on Grandeur and although a different ship, I was very interested in what you did in Boston. So thanks!

[strachan01]

To the OP -- thanks for the details of the ports you visited. We are considering a New England/Canada cruise leaving from Baltimore on Grandeur and although a different ship, I was very interested in what you did in Boston. So thanks!

 

Not a problem! We did ponder booking an excursion in Boston but we're glad we did it ourselves. Every section of the freedom trail where we stopped was full of information that we could take our time and read by ourselves without too many crowds.

 

Although we only did he freedom trip in Boston we would have had plenty time to head out to Fenway park if that was something that interested you.

 

For the cruise in general If you don't have any excursions booked, like us, there are plenty of local tours offered at each port for lower prices than that on the ship too. It also meant that you missed the ships excursions queues!

[Paulette3028]

Not a problem! We did ponder booking an excursion in Boston but we're glad we did it ourselves. Every section of the freedom trail where we stopped was full of information that we could take our time and read by ourselves without too many crowds.

 

Although we only did he freedom trip in Boston we would have had plenty time to head out to Fenway park if that was something that interested you.

 

For the cruise in general If you don't have any excursions booked, like us, there are plenty of local tours offered at each port for lower prices than that on the ship too. It also meant that you missed the ships excursions queues!

 

We are looking into this and hope that if we do it with friends that there actually is a baseball game at Fenway Park to go to. It appears as if the T-System, isn't far from the port either. We would get tickets in advance once the baseball schedule is out, since the cruise will have already been booked.

 

It is on the vacation plan for 2017, so we have lots of time to figure it out.

[ROYALBOY]

Great review... We were on that cruise also, and I do remember seeing 2 gentlemen with kilts, and the fainting was a topic of conversation at our table as two of our table mates were also on that line. very glad we did it as it was a nice change from Caribbean cruises.

[denatravels]

Ah, memories!! I, too, was on that cruise. I did try the lobster ice cream-- didn't really like it!!

Maple donuts at Holy Donut were too sweet, but loved chocolate sea salt!

I did Dave's taxi tours in Saint John and absolutely loved it!!! Well worth it!

Thanks for the great review.

[Rodoverer]

Nice report. Would you happen to remember what time the last tender leaves Bar Harbor? And what time the ship left BH?