Just off Liberty of Seas 2/28-3/6

[CU64]

I was with a duplicate bridge group playing in Conf Room, Deck 2 every day. AC was so cold and inconsistent that several of us got sick. The coffee was not drinkable by anyone.

Ship appeared clean and lovely. Our balcony on Deck 6 hump was very nice with a good steward. ALLLLL staff were friendly and accommodating. A+

After 15+ cruises, worst food. MDR: Dry fish, cold, never got better. Best breakfast was buffet in MDR. Sabor = good marg; Food, maybe B.

We were scheduled to get off Sunday at 9:30. Got off at 12PM. Stood in line to get off after last call and then customs' line. Too many "violations."

I would recommend getting the porter when this happens. (worth tip)We were in porter line (about 25 people) and thot the other was just as good. Did not see the snaking line. Bad decision. Luckily, we had Action Limo waiting for us for 3 hrs outside. Made it to IAH 1 hr before flight boarding.

Barbara

[Keith1010]

Barbara, thank you for your report.

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[chukli]

Thanks for the review. What was the problem with disembarkation process? I need to get to the IAH for 1pm flight, hoping taking the RCCL airport shuttle will ensure i get there in time.

What were the beds like? Heard many negative reviews about beds being too hard.

 

How was the Belize tender process? Was it easy to get the tender tickets, which i believe are available on day 3, at the dining venue?

Any not to miss entertainment?

Edited March 9, 2016 by chukli

[JaniceB]

Thank you for the report.

 

I guess you would recommend Action Limo after they didn't leave you. Did you use them to and from the ship?

[Gator83]

I was with a duplicate bridge group playing in Conf Room, Deck 2 every day. AC was so cold and inconsistent that several of us got sick. The coffee was not drinkable by anyone.

Ship appeared clean and lovely. Our balcony on Deck 6 hump was very nice with a good steward. ALLLLL staff were friendly and accommodating. A+

After 15+ cruises, worst food. MDR: Dry fish, cold, never got better. Best breakfast was buffet in MDR. Sabor = good marg; Food, maybe B.

We were scheduled to get off Sunday at 9:30. Got off at 12PM. Stood in line to get off after last call and then customs' line. Too many "violations."

I would recommend getting the porter when this happens. (worth tip)We were in porter line (about 25 people) and thot the other was just as good. Did not see the snaking line. Bad decision. Luckily, we had Action Limo waiting for us for 3 hrs outside. Made it to IAH 1 hr before flight boarding.

Barbara

 

 

I was on the same cruise as you and agree about the coffee. It was either way to strong or they use Nicaraguan coffee, which I do not like at all. I also agree that the service was outstanding in all areas. I did not like the buffet food except for breakfast and only had two things I did not like in the MDR. Sorry to hear about your issues going through customs. I was in a long line but did not have to wait as long as you.

[George C]

Can you say how much action limo was? also true limo or town car?

[sugcarol]

We also were on that cruise. Embarkation went well, ALL crew members we dealt with were just wonderful. We had requested by email mattress toppers and they were on when we got to cabin, they were not egg crates they were memory foam, the beds were great.

 

MDR for breakfast was great. Windjammer for lunch was just ho hum. Both nights in Chops were great as well as Giovanni's. Waited until onboard to book 3 night package with first night at Chops and special was 70.00 pp. Beef tenderloin on first formal night was the best I have ever had on any ship.

Only got off ship in Cozumel so can't speak for tenders in Belize.

 

Disembarkation was a horror, supposed to be off ship at 8:45 and we didn't get off until 10:30. The self assists were pretty upset and waited in line at least hour and a half. They repeatedly announced that delay was due to not enough Customs agents. I counted a total of 6 when we were in line after getting luggage. Getting a porter is the way to go, they cut down a lot of the line waiting.

 

Despite the bad finish we are looking forward to same cruise/same ship January 2017.

Edited March 9, 2016 by sugcarol

[ktex1968]

I was on the same cruise as you and agree about the coffee. It was either way to strong or they use Nicaraguan coffee, which I do not like at all. I also agree that the service was outstanding in all areas. I did not like the buffet food except for breakfast and only had two things I did not like in the MDR. Sorry to hear about your issues going through customs. I was in a long line but did not have to wait as long as you.

 

I agree with this, we've been on the Navigator the last two spring breaks and are leaving on the Liberty this weekend- the coffee is always disgusting. I love RCCL but the bad bloody mary mix and the coffee have to be the two things that are my least favorite.

[nativetexan]

Noticed you only got off the ship in Cozumel. What venues or activities were available in port? I'm thinking about doing that in Falmouth. Just curious!

 

Thanks so much

Edited March 9, 2016 by nativetexan

[BecciBoo]

We also were on that cruise. Embarkation went well, ALL crew members we dealt with were just wonderful. We had requested by email mattress toppers and they were on when we got to cabin, they were not egg crates they were memory foam, the beds were great.

 

 

 

I did the same so that is good to hear, we have Temperpedic bed at home, so will love the new toppers.

[BecciBoo]

I agree with this, we've been on the Navigator the last two spring breaks and are leaving on the Liberty this weekend- the coffee is always disgusting. I love RCCL but the bad bloody mary mix and the coffee have to be the two things that are my least favorite.

 

Wonder if I could take on some Clamato along with my waters??? I think that is the problem with their Bloody Marys....they use plain tomato juice and that awful mixer.

Edited March 9, 2016 by BecciBoo

[margeecruiser]

How do you request a mattress topper?

 

Margee

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[BecciBoo]

email special_needs@rccl.com

 

I think that's it.

Edited March 9, 2016 by BecciBoo

[CU64]

Thank you for the report.

 

I guess you would recommend Action Limo after they didn't leave you. Did you use them to and from the ship?

 

Used them from IAH to Galveston day before: Lincoln Sedan, $155.00/ 2 of us could handle 3 maybe 4. We tip 20%+ in cash to driver. Pickup from ship to IAH: $192.75 + cash tip. I was on phone with driver to let him know the status of when we could get off....starting at 9:30.....He got extra tip for wait but it was NEVER an issue that he would not stay. Would do this again in a heartbeat, particularly with the Customs' issue in Galveston & I understand fog can also be a problem. Drivers in Suits, courteous and wonderful car.

 

Our twin beds were fine. Not too hard or soft.

Did not use tender.

Coffee in MDR was OK for us, just undrinkable in Conference Room.

[ktex1968]

Wonder if I could take on some Clamato along with my waters??? I think that is the problem with their Bloody Marys....they use plain tomato juice and that awful mixer.

 

I don't think they use any tomato juice, just that gross Island Oasis Bmary mix, it's strangely sweet. Give anything to be able to bring on some Zing Zang.

[Sk8ermaiden]

We were on this cruise too. I was very worried about hard beds, but ours had a topper already. Honestly I think it was old/broken down under the topper, because I did end up aching by the end of the cruise, but I'd still prefer that to hard.

 

Our steward was not good, all the other service was great. I know working on cruises is hard work, but so many of the staff really seemed to be enjoying their jobs. The windjammer staff was so upbeat and helpful, as were kids club and sports staff.

 

We have small children and we ate in the Windjammer every night save one. After the things I had read on here, I was so pleasantly surprised by the food. I ate at least some Indian every night (the lamb curry (rogan josh) and the pork vindaloo were real standouts) and my husband had sushi just about every night. Everyone really liked the crepes. There were a few misses, but overall we were pretty happy. We feel dinner is much better than breakfast or lunch in the WJ. The eggs in the breakfast buffet are TERRIBLE though - half liquid every day.

 

Navigating the WJ with small kids is hard - trying to get everyone food without spilling or having your kid run headlong into people... I appreciated the room service breakfast giving me a break sometimes. the food always came on time and was fine. Nothing great but perfectly acceptable.

 

The kids club is OUTSTANDING. So much better than Disney, which is generally a free-for-all in which the adults are basically bouncers. RCI's kid's club is more like a day camp. I walked by the outside windows a lot and the kids were always engaged in fun activities with the counselors. Even though ages were combined, everyone was involved in something every time I went by. I couldn't pry my kid out of there!

 

The nursery staff was really sweet and even my son who's only stayed with family before went several times.

 

The new waterworks area for kids is awesome. The area for diapered babies is better than anything I've seen on other lines.

 

The cupcake class was overpriced, but a really fun activity for my daughter and I to do, and I would do it again next time.

 

I had never been on an RCI ship, and we were 6th floor aft. It turned out to be the perfect location for the things we utilized. A quick trip down the stairs for the cafe promenade or customer service, and a short elevator ride to the windjammer or dining rooms, the splashpad, and the kids clubs and rock climbing. The only things we ever had to go forward for were the platinum theater and mini golf.

 

This was our first balcony and I grossly underestimated how much we were going to like it. It felt like it added so much more space to the room and was also great for days we brought up breakfast or treats - we could have the kids eat out there and not risk spilling or messy hands on everything.

 

We are actually not huge fans of cruising - it's not really our style of vacation and gets claustrophobic for me. But we take an all inclusive vacation with kid's club every spring and this is what we could afford this year. And we would absolutely do RCI again in the same situation. I feel like this line has So! Much! for kids 5-12.

 

The "open house" or playdate or whatever they call it for toddlers is a joke though. I have pictures if anyone is interested in that. I wish there were a little more for that age.

 

The smallest size climbing shoe they have for rock climbing is a youth 2. My daughter (6) wears a 13/1, so she managed OK, but it's something to bear in mind if you have a small-footed youngster!

 

The ice skating and aerial shows were great fun! I feel like Saturday Night Fever was really hyped a lot here and it was not very good in reality. Maybe it's just because I'm spoiled because of living in Houston and the theaters we have here, but we wished we'd done something else instead of going to SNF.

 

People talk all the time about doing away with formal night, but on our cruise, the formal nights were very, very popular. People in fancy evening gowns everywhere. I mean, there were more subtle cocktail dresses too, but if you want to really go formal - you won't look odd!

 

One of our biggest disappointments - the ice skating was open literally one day for three hours. And we were not told at the time that it would be the only open time on a 7 day cruise.

 

Umm...Those are my thoughts...if anyone has any questions about little kid stuff I can probably help with that. It was the week before Texas spring break and there were only 245 kids under 18 on board!

 

We actually did Lamani with a 2 and 6 year old. I feel like that needs its own write up on the destination board, because the only info you ever see on that is; "Don't!"

Edited March 10, 2016 by Sk8ermaiden

[Wilson]

We heard that Tidal Wave was still not operation and would be 2-3 more weeks. Did you hear anything different?

 

So on disembarkation the porter is the way to go to get off the quickest? Did anyone use self-assist?

[Sk8ermaiden]

Porter line was definitely shorter. Self assist got stuck in the same giant lines the rest of us did, probably unless they walked off very early.

 

The lines backed up very early on. Within the first 3 disembark numbers/groups. They kept announcing that customs was asking them to slow down the process. All 10 or so customs lines were open, which makes me suspect there's just something fundamentally wrong with the way the process works in Galveston, but I really don't know much about it.

[journey2002]

 

We actually did Lamani with a 2 and 6 year old. I feel like that needs its own write up on the destination board, because the only info you ever see on that is; "Don't!"

 

I'd love your opinion on Lamani. We're planning to do this excursion this summer with our 12 year old daughter. She's the one who picked it because the Mayan history thoroughly intrigues her.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I'd love your opinion on Lamani. We're planning to do this excursion this summer with our 12 year old daughter. She's the one who picked it because the Mayan history thoroughly intrigues her.

 

12 year old should be just fine. It is just a LONG day of traveling. You don't get to spend near as long at the ruins as you'd like but it was still good. One of those things you are glad to have done but are glad you don't really have to do again. It would have been much nicer to stay in the area and explore at our leisure, but that's really not in the cards.

 

My 2 year old did great. The 6 year old got a bit whiny after the climb, but perked up on the boat ride back after the wind cooled us down and I gave her a snack. There was a 15 year old girl on the trip too, and she had no issues either. Lunch is very late, so if you think you'll need one, bring a small snack. The bus ride there - the tour guide gives info most of the way there but on the way back, if she's not planning to nap, she should bring a book or smartphone or something to do.

[Bonanza]

Do you know if they have Global Entry at Galveston?

 

Thanks for your info? We are on in April.

[ARCruisinNana]

Do you know if they have Global Entry at Galveston?

 

Thanks for your info? We are on in April.

 

No Global Entry in Galveston, yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mtslone]

Can anyone who was on the boat talk about the type of food that the Promenade café has? It is the "sandwhich" shop? I have some picky kids, and I am hoping they have Panini's and basic sandwiches (???)

Edited March 10, 2016 by mtslone

[George C]

Used them from IAH to Galveston day before: Lincoln Sedan, $155.00/ 2 of us could handle 3 maybe 4. We tip 20%+ in cash to driver. Pickup from ship to IAH: $192.75 + cash tip. I was on phone with driver to let him know the status of when we could get off....starting at 9:30.....He got extra tip for wait but it was NEVER an issue that he would not stay. Would do this again in a heartbeat, particularly with the Customs' issue in Galveston & I understand fog can also be a problem. Drivers in Suits, courteous and wonderful car.

 

Our twin beds were fine. Not too hard or soft.

Did not use tender.

Coffee in MDR was OK for us, just undrinkable in Conference Room.

 

We use execucar for town car from hobby had similar problem going a couple years ago there was a accident of bridge to Galveston and what is normally 45 mins was 2 and 1/2 hours, great friendly driver, very comfortable car