Review Liberty Of The Seas 3/6 -3/13 2016

[Larry&Darla]

Falmouth, George Town Grand Caymans, Cozumel

 

Howdy folks

 

Just getting around to putting my thoughts together about this cruise.

 

We drove over from Southeast Texas so we came the scenic route along the Bolivar peninsula and rode the ferry into Galveston. It's a free ferry and if you ever have a little time to kill in Galveston you ought to give it a ride. You can get on , go across and then turn around and come right back.

 

 

Spent the night at The Inn at The Waterpark, nice enough and had a restaurant on site for a quick bite Sunday morning.

 

Saturday night we went to hear Lisa Morales at the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe

downtown. It's owned by Wrecks Bell, who played with and was a friend of the late great Townes Van Zandt. Little dive bar, cold beer, and a good place to hear music.

 

 

Sunday morning we got to the pier about 11 am , dropped our bags off with a porter, then parked the car at Park N Cruise and walked back. It was a little more crowded than usual ( we usually get there a bit earlier) but the line moved well. I think it was about 11:40 when we got on the ship.

We went to the Cafe Promenade for a light snack and a place to sit and watch our fellow cruisers get on board.

 

 

We walked around and looked at the ship just a little bit before they said we could go to our room and then we headed up to Deck 9 to check out 9642, our home for the week.

 

 

While we were looking out our balcony at the channel we watched a couple of tugs turn a ship around and dock it behind the Liberty

 

 

I liked having the Hump balcony, had a good view

 

 

After checking out our room we decided to stroll around a bit and see what The Liberty looked like.

[Beachiekeen]

Following! :) I had no idea Galveston had a ferry!

[Larry&Darla]

FOOD !! The menu order for this sailing was Mojo, Saffron,Basil,Shiitake,Jasmine,Pimiento and Pomodoro. There are no pictures of the food. I was much too busy eating to mess with that.

 

We totally missed the Basil menu due to an extreme nap caused by a trip to Sabor. That's the second time we have done that. I think I know why and it has to have something to do with margaritas.

 

Mojo: We ate Mojo Marinated Grilled Pork Chops and the Aged Hand Cut Manhattan Strip Steak, Caesar Salad, Shrimp Cocktail and the Blueberry Peach Crumble. All of those were good, no complaints and the Peach Crumble was excellent.

Saffron: Lobster Bisque, Carved Filet of Beef Tenderloin and Chocolate Sensation. All 3 were excellent , really enjoyed the Beef Tenderloin.

Basil: Somebody else will have to tell us about this one !

Shiitake: New England Clam Chowder, Veal Scaloppine Oscar, Creme Brulee and the Warm Chocolate Cake. MMM MMM MMM I got the cake because of a recommendation from a previous cruisers review. She was right, just order it.

Jasmine: Lobster night so of course we get it. Maybe 2, yeah Ok it was definitely 2 because our wait staff brought us 2. Escargot and Baked Alaska. All good stuff.

Pimiento: Escargot, Chilled Strawberry Bisque, I had the Garlic Tiger Shrimp which was GREAT, my wife had the Eggplant Parmigiana, which she said was WAY too salty for her and BBB Creme Brulee. Loved the shrimp and I really like that Chilled Strawberry Bisque.

Pomodoro: Escargot, Fish,Seafood and Mash, ( yes thats the name of the dish) and Key Lime Pie. The Fish dish was battered fish, scallops and shrimp. When they brought it out we thought we had messed up because it didn't look all that great but we both enjoyed it. Loved the Key Lime Pie.

 

All in all the food in the MDR for dinner was very good, sometimes great and definitely worth the time. Our wait staff did a great job as well.

 

That doesn't mean there wasn't a few mishaps where food was concerned though. In the MDR for lunch one day we ordered our food and had nearly finished when our waiter came back and said that what we ordered for dessert was not available and handed us completely different dessert menus.

Ok, no big deal and we order new desserts. At about the same time at the table next to us we overhear their waiter tell them that what they ordered for food was not available and hands them new menus. I'm not sure what happened but it seemed they had handed out the wrong menus for their schedule that day.

I wouldn't have even mentioned that one incident but the same thing happened again at lunch on our desserts one day and then that night in the MDR for dinner it happened to us again and to the people sitting close to us.

For some reason they just seemed a bit disorganized this week.

 

Sabor: This is the only specialty restaurant we went to this week. We loved it. Prepare to nap afterwards. The Perfect Margarita is aptly named but there is one I really enjoyed. Jalapeno and Cucumber. Great taste once you get over the idea of cucumber in your drink.

 

 

As far as the rest of the food on the ship all I can say is the Windjammer was fine, it's a buffet. Nothing really stood out for greatness and nothing stood out for grossness. It's a buffet.

I enjoyed more than my share of sandwiches and cookies from the Cafe Promenade and way too much pizza from Sorrentos. I swear I have looked around my house all week for late night pizza, sadly there is none.

[Larry&Darla]

So on this trip we had 2 sea days to start with and it was pretty windy but warm enough to enjoy being out on deck.

 

It was also a Spring Break trip so there were plenty of young ones on board and they seemed to love the pools, and splash zones and slides. And Ice Cream. They really really liked the Sprinkles Ice Cream Station on Deck 11.

 

 

 

 

They showed movies on the pool deck in the afternoon and some evenings. For at least one movie they had snack foods, ice cream, cupcakes and popcorn during the movie. I thought Deck 11 looked really good at night.

 

 

On all the sea days I hit the gym and it was more crowded than I ever remember seeing it on a cruise. Might be because of the windy conditions. I had trouble doing my walking/running on the open decks.

 

The Gym was very nice, plenty of treadmills, elliptical's, weight machines and other stuff to do that could make you feel like you weren't just eating the whole day for an entire week.

 

I have got to tell you, at least try the Steam and Sauna rooms one time while you are onboard if you have any bit of interest at all. They are very nice, and they are the least crowded thing on the whole ship. There are also showers there and I would shower after my workouts which meant my wife could have the whole bathroom in our room to get ready.

 

I have no pictures of the gym area or the steam and sauna area. You should thank me for that.

 

We don't do the art auctions, jewelry sales, port presentations, cupcake decorating, bingo, or any of the other things they offer but there is plenty to do or NOT do as suits your style.

 

The Casino apparently works as intended because my wife spent some time there and came back with less money each time. They do fix good drinks there though.

 

In the interest of coming back with no broken bones I did not do the Flowrider or Rock Climbing Wall ( although if it had not been so windy I was going to try that wall). We also didn't try the slides but that was just because we never seemed to be able to stay out of the hot tubs when we had our bathing suits on.

 

THE SPA: My wife loves to go to the Spa, especially on Sea Days. She booked a massage the day we got on the ship. She loved it, it relaxes her and allows her to really enjoy the trip. BUT this time the lady who worked on her might have made a big mistake. After her great, long , wonderful massage the lady pushed, really pushed, like to the point of not taking NO for an answer when trying to sell the products they use. My wife said she politely told her no, no thank you as many times as she could before telling her NO in a not so polite manner. My wife actually says she is considering NOT getting any more massages because it took away from her relaxation having to fight off the pushy sales lady. They need to realize that she can also lose that money in the Casino just as easily !

[Larry&Darla]

Excursions

 

Falmouth, Jamaica

 

For Falmouth we wanted to do something we hadn't done yet so off to Mystic Mountain for the chair lift, zipline and bobsled tour we went. It's an hour long bus ride ( each way) so we also got to see some of Jamaica along the coast. We booked it through the ship to make sure they would wait for us if we couldn't get back in time. The trip was fine, a little long but interesting for us, kids maybe not so much if you have any with you.

 

Chair lift ride

 

 

Zipline

 

 

Bobsled

 

 

It's hard to keep a cap on riding that thing, pretty fast !

 

All in all we had a great day in Jamaica. There is quite a bit of waiting around as you wait for your group to do the zipline or boblsed but there were a lot of ships in ports and vacationers staying in Ocho Rios. While you are waiting there are scenic outlooks and nature trails and hummingbird watching places to spend time at. There is also a restaurant but we didn't eat, mainly because we don't like to eat when we are nervous ! My wife wasn't sure she would like this because she is afraid of heights a little bit but she had a blast !

 

No excursion planned for Grand Cayman, just got off the ship and walked around town. Ate at Breezes, had some Conch Fritters and that was about it.

 

Nachi Cocum, Cozumel

 

Awwww, back to Nachi Cocum. We really like this place. Food, sun, sand, drinks and enough time to enjoy it. Planned this one on our own, taxi to there is 17$ for 1-4 people. Has a pool, hot tub and massages on the beach.

Good service and relaxed kind of crowd. Limited to 100 people . Perfect.

 

appetizers on the beach

 

 

 

 

[Larry&Darla]

Nightlife and Entertainment

 

So at night you can find stuff to do pretty easily until it starts getting late, then it's not so easy to find very much to do.

 

Comedy shows were ok. Nothing spectacular but entertaining enough with a drink in your hand, a comfortable chair and your favorite person sitting next to you.

 

Production shows were very good we thought. We didn't go the ice show because the one we planned to go to got cancelled due to rough seas. Thats ok because we had seen it before. Saturday Night Fever was very good ! In The Air was very entertaining as well. I would go see any of these again.

 

We always enjoy the Love and Marriage show as well.

We didn't go see the Quest, can't remember why not, probably alcohol related !

 

Music Shows

We didn't really enjoy the Elton John Tribute show that much. Good piano player but didn't sing well enough to pull off Elton John I thought. I probably would have enjoyed it more if he just came out in regular clothes and played Elton John songs instead of doing the whole costume thing. Personal opinion.

We went and saw a group called Sonic Eve, 3 ladies from Canada I believe.

Oddly enough we weren't super impressed with them either. Their singing was fine, voices were good, it just wasn't clicking with us for some reason.

The funny part about it is that later in the week we saw all 3 of them sing individually in the Hoof and Claw Pub and loved it. Talented singers but as a group it just wasn't my thing.

I thought the ship orchestra was very good, especially during Saturday Night Fever.

 

As far as the music in the clubs and pub goes I have to say it seemed a little weak this trip.

The country band was okay but nothing to remember.

The reggae band that played all week at various locations had a good sound.

Had some fun in the karaoke club, some good singers, some bad singers but lotta fun singing !

The Hoof and Claw pub was where we ended up most nights. Derek Lewis is the entertainer in there and he puts on a show along with his crowd. It is loud, probably obnoxious, occasionally inappropriate and that is just fine with most ( or all) of the ones in there. Its A Bar ! It really was fun but I can see where it could get old after a while.

The Schooner never did attract me this week, the piano player in there just didn't click with my musical tastes at all. I think I just missed having Phil Anderson in there. I know I did.

 

As far as the Olive and Twist we only went there once and that was mainly to say we went. The late night crowd seemed to be enjoying it just fine and there was a good crowd in there that night. There were 2 large groups of Baylor and TCU students on board and they seemed to like it just fine.

[sdcantrn]

Thanks the review! I take it you did Sabor for lunch? I had read somewhere the cost is cheaper at lunch than dinner. We would like to try it in a couple of weeks. Any comments on the cost?

[Larry&Darla]

Thanks the review! I take it you did Sabor for lunch? I had read somewhere the cost is cheaper at lunch than dinner. We would like to try it in a couple of weeks. Any comments on the cost?

 

We did do Sabor and we did it at lunch. The cost was 20$ each which is 5$ cheaper than dinner I think.

[Clarea]

Nice photos! Enjoying the review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[Larry&Darla]

Spring Breakers

 

I have to admit when we scheduled this trip I had no idea it would be a Spring Break cruise. Our kids are grown and I don't think about Spring Break much.

I was actually pleasantly surprised watching as the kids seemed to have a great time and they didn't ever appear to get out of control as far as I could see. So good job Parents ! You made some great memories and I am sure it wasn't always easy dealing with them on a ship.

No I am not so blind that I didn't see kids misbehaving some but I didn't see anything that would make me turn into a curmudgeonly old man and scream Get off My Lawn at them.

We actually spent a lot of time with the spring breakers from Baylor and TCU

in the pub and even there I was impressed with their behavior.

 

Disembarking: Went so smooth I kept thinking something was wrong. We had a low number (6)

and after waiting just a little while on Deck 5 in the Dining Room for C&A members, they called our number. Grabbed a porter in the terminal, walked to our numbered section, found our luggage and headed for the checkout. We breezed through that with no waiting in line and out the door we went. I went and got the car, loaded up and then it got even better. We drove right onto the ferry, no waiting and off we went. We were literally back to Nederland, Tx and unpacked before noon. Awesomeness.

 

 

Overall

 

So to wrap it up I have to say we had a great time. We just enjoy cruising. We enjoy cruising on Royal and other lines as well. Never had a bad cruise.

 

The Liberty is a pretty ship. I like how it is layed out.

 

The Cruise Director did a great job getting people excited during the shows and along the Promenade and Deck 11 when putting stuff on there.

 

BUT for some reason this trip seemed a little off, not any one thing or even anything that is easy to figure out. For the first time in many trips we did not buy a Next Cruise Cert. I'm still not even sure why not.

I am still trying to decide what it might have been.

 

I would love to hear what any of your thoughts on this cruise are.

If you were on this cruise with us, Thank You for making it as enjoyable as it was and once again a tip of the hat to the parents !

Edited March 17, 2016 by Larry&Darla

[BecciBoo]

THX Larry, enjoyed it....just hope everything is back together by our cruise......:D

[jessv12]

Going to Nachi Cocom for the first time next month, Thanks for the pictures and info!

[comoceva]

Great trip report. Enjoyed the pictures and the details about the stuff to do on the ship.

[Ladysilver]

Loved your review and photos! :D

[Wilson]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review and pictures. We look forward to boarding next month.

[Keith1010]

Following this. Thank you.

 

Keith

[TnTWalter]

Thank you

[Larry&Darla]

So we didn't do an excursion here but we did get off the ship and take a few pictures. I had these to post but they didn't make it through the 6 picture cut per post.

 

Almost to George Town

 

 

Saw this on the tender ride into port

 

 

This little church is on the street in front of the dock area, it's open to walk into and look around.

 

 

like I said earlier , a good photographer could take some really nice pictures here but hey ya'll got me

 

 

 

The Liberty from George Town

 

[texasweather]

I was on this cruise too and agree there was something "off" - I don't know what it was either. The winds I guess put a big damper on things. We had a 5 and 7 year old, who always wanted to be in the pool but most of the time with the winds it was just too cold. And then to have it closed half the time due to winds too.. Usually one of our favorite things to do is sit outside on the top deck and just watch the ocean go by, but it was too windy for that.

 

This was our first cruise with kids and it went well, but I would like to see more family activities. My girls complained that the cruise seemed to be aimed at adults, and besides their class in adventure ocean there weren't a whole lot of activities meant to be done with/as a family.

 

I too was pleasantly surprised that the ship wasn't overrun by kids. Maybe we just had a good group but I was never annoyed by kids, they were around but not everywhere, and we were worried about space in Adventure Ocean (they can only take so many) but they were never full.

 

Food was eh. We don't spend extra money on specialty restaurants so we typically ate windjammer for breakfast and lunch, MDR for dinner. We really enjoyed MDR this time around. Previous cruised we found we had been eating there less and less. My oldest daughter cried when we had to leave our waiter. [emoji177]

 

We did the cupcake class for kids.. It was ok, but I don't know that I'd do it again.

 

Sorry to hijack but I'm not going to do my own review post so I thought I'd jump on yours. :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited March 17, 2016 by texasweather

[Larry&Darla]

I was on this cruise too and agree there was something "off" - I don't know what it was either. The winds I guess put a big damper on things. We had a 5 and 7 year old, who always wanted to be in the pool but most of the time with the winds it was just too cold. And then to have it closed half the time due to winds too.. Usually one of our favorite things to do is sit outside on the top deck and just watch the ocean go by, but it was too windy for that.

 

This was our first cruise with kids and it went well, but I would like to see more family activities. My girls complained that the cruise seemed to be aimed at adults, and besides their class in adventure ocean there weren't a whole lot of activities meant to be done with/as a family.

 

I too was pleasantly surprised that the ship wasn't overrun by kids. Maybe we just had a good group but I was never annoyed by kids, they were around but not everywhere, and we were worried about space in Adventure Ocean (they can only take so many) but they were never full.

 

Food was eh. We don't spend extra money on specialty restaurants so we typically ate windjammer for breakfast and lunch, MDR for dinner. We really enjoyed MDR this time around. Previous cruised we found we had been eating there less and less. My oldest daughter cried when we had to leave our waiter. [emoji177]

 

We did the cupcake class for kids.. It was ok, but I don't know that I'd do it again.

 

Sorry to hijack but I'm not going to do my own review post so I thought I'd jump on yours. :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

glad to hear from you about this cruise ! i missed our meet n mingle, for some reason i thought i could stay out late at night and get up early enough to hit the gym before the meet.

You may be correct about the wind throwing things off.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Larry&Darla

[silvermcs]

Enjoyed your review. We have not sailed on LOB (yet), but have really enjoyed the other two Freedom class ships. Our DD is strongly considering TCU; glad to hear they were well behaved. If we are paying, maybe she will do a spring break on LOB with her dear old parents. ;)

[cruiseapril]

Nicely organized review and great photos.

[JaniceB]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.

[Larry&Darla]

One thing I didn't mention and have seen questions about on other threads is the tendering at George Town Grand Cayman.

 

We were in no hurry to get off since we had no excursion planned but about 10:00 we went down , climbed right on the the tender and took the very short ride into town.

 

The tender boats there are big, like 300 passenger capacity big. We also had no trouble at all getting back to the ship although we did come back earlier than the last tender.

 

In my very limited ( this was first and only !) experience I would say don't worry too much about tendering !