Liberty cruise report | 032016-032716 | Falmouth, George Town, Cozumel

[Clarea]

How easy is it from Houston airport to Galveston or is it better to take the RC transfer service

Lots of info here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=414

[traveljunkie08]

Ooh, I'm debating taking this same cruise with my friends next year. They're iffy about Jamaica but your pics look promising! I'm excited to hear about Grand Cayman.

 

 

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[QCAZ]

Really enjoying your review ..... Lots of great information, tips and super photos. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more:)

 

Of note .... When looking at your scanned excursion booklet, tours seem to be a bit more if booking onboard .... by about $5 pp ..... not a big difference unless you have a number of people I guess. :rolleyes:

[Cruzin-K]

 

This cruise, the Texans were the minority. What really surprised me were the International cruisers. I met people on board from Norway and England. What I hadn't considered fully was that our cruise ended on Easter Sunday, March 27th. In Mexico, many take off the week of Easter. About 2,000 Mexican nationals decided that Liberty of the Seas was the perfect locale for this important Catholic week. That helped explain the complete Customs/Immigration cluster boarding the ship.

 

I got to speak Spanish about 20% of the time, making many new friends from Mexico. Many of them were from Monterrey, Mexico and most of those drove to Galveston. My Spanish is conversational while my comprehension lacks a bit, as many speak way to fast for my brain to process.

 

There were three or four groups from Mexico that were bachelorette's. They especially seemed to be having an enjoyable time.

 

 

Were there really 2,000 from Mexico? That's half the passengers. Other than the bachelorette parties, were there any other large groups (families? church groups?) I just try to avoid cruises where "mob mentality" can take over, at the pools, bars, past guest parties, etc.

 

I'm booked on the Liberty cruise the week before Easter next year :eek:

[7leagueboots]

Those pool deck pictures look so strange without people in them...

 

I thought the same thing.

[M_BA]

Ooh, I'm debating taking this same cruise with my friends next year. They're iffy about Jamaica but your pics look promising! I'm excited to hear about Grand Cayman.

 

 

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There were a lot of people who didn't get off the ship in Jamaica, or who waited until later in the day. Many like to stay on board and use the pools, spa, etc. It's a vacation with no requirements to be anywhere!

 

Falmouth concerned me very little in terms of safety. It's a small town whose local population predominately now relies directly, or indirectly, on cruise ships for their employment. Crime does occur, like anywhere in the world, but I'd surmise you're more likely to be in a vehicular accident than a victim of a crime (much like most of the USA).

[M_BA]

Really enjoying your review ..... Lots of great information, tips and super photos. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more:)

 

Of note .... When looking at your scanned excursion booklet, tours seem to be a bit more if booking onboard .... by about $5 pp ..... not a big difference unless you have a number of people I guess. :rolleyes:

 

It's not uncommon to constantly find inconsistency on RCCL. :rolleyes:

 

We didn't look hard at RCCL online excursions, nor at the booklet, so I never noticed that.

 

When we choose excursions, they're generally done directly with the provider. Many of those providers also service cruise ships, but direct booking cuts out the 20-40% surcharge that RCCL gets for excursions. We are aware of disemark times and always have a backup plan, or two, if transportation back to the ship becomes a cluster.

[caseythegr]

On board now. Bought the drink package and used your tip, gave a dollar bill with my seapass card, no receipt to sign... thanks

 

 

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[ARCruisinNana]

Were there really 2,000 from Mexico? That's half the passengers. Other than the bachelorette parties, were there any other large groups (families? church groups?) I just try to avoid cruises where "mob mentality" can take over, at the pools, bars, past guest parties, etc.

 

 

 

I'm booked on the Liberty cruise the week before Easter next year :eek:

 

 

Yes! I was also on this cruise. Our spring break is almost always the third week in March. Fortunately Easter is in April next year.

[M_BA]

On board now. Bought the drink package and used your tip, gave a dollar bill with my seapass card, no receipt to sign... thanks

 

You are quite welcome, it's so simple and eliminates all the $1.00 or $2.00 receipts for an alcoholic beverage. Have a wonderful cruise and week at sea!

[Cruzin-K]

Yes! I was also on this cruise. Our spring break is almost always the third week in March. Fortunately Easter is in April next year.

 

Fortunately for you, maybe :eek: :p

 

Unfortunately for me, my birthday is always in April :(

[M_BA]

Were there really 2,000 from Mexico? That's half the passengers. Other than the bachelorette parties, were there any other large groups (families? church groups?) I just try to avoid cruises where "mob mentality" can take over, at the pools, bars, past guest parties, etc.

 

I'm booked on the Liberty cruise the week before Easter next year :eek:

 

Hi Karen,

 

It's only my best guess but I would easily say 50% were Mexican nationals. Guest services never mentioned ethnicity but did tell me they were at their maximum 4,900+ passenger capacity this week.

 

There were several wedding parties. I don't know if they were simply bachelorette parties or weddings on ship or in port.

 

There were a lot of large family groups from Mexico. It was not uncommon to see a ten top in the MDR with nine small children and one adult to chaperone. What I can say is the manners of the Mexican children were far superior to the American children.

 

I never experienced any 'mob' mentalities. Though, Bolero's was jumping every night with Mexican and Tejano music. We thoroughly enjoyed the night life and ambiance of the ship's diversity.

 

Would next Easter week be similar, or the same? Who knows, but I'd re-book the same week again in a heart beat. If anything, it added to the overall experience that's not common on a cruise out of a US port.

[aprilcruisers]

Enjoying your review!

 

We leave next week!!!

[Cruzin-K]

Hi Karen,

 

It's only my best guess but I would easily say 50% were Mexican nationals. Guest services never mentioned ethnicity but did tell me they were at their maximum 4,900+ passenger capacity this week.

 

There were several wedding parties. I don't know if they were simply bachelorette parties or weddings on ship or in port.

 

There were a lot of large family groups from Mexico. It was not uncommon to see a ten top in the MDR with nine small children and one adult to chaperone. What I can say is the manners of the Mexican children were far superior to the American children.

 

I never experienced any 'mob' mentalities. Though, Bolero's was jumping every night with Mexican and Tejano music. We thoroughly enjoyed the night life and ambiance of the ship's diversity.

 

Would next Easter week be similar, or the same? Who knows, but I'd re-book the same week again in a heart beat. If anything, it added to the overall experience that's not common on a cruise out of a US port.

Thank you for the information. that makes me feel a lot better about sailing that week.

 

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[M_BA]

Devon was on time to pick us up. He even called my US cell number ten minutes out to let us know his ETA. Our ride back to the port was uneventful and we arrived back at the port entrance intact.

 

We spent the next hour or so shopping within the port walls. The misses must have mistaken me for a personal shopper, as she added bag after bag to my hands. My saving grace was always having one hand empty to hold a cold beer. I would somehow survive.

 

We then boarded Liberty and headed to our room to clean up for early MDR seating at 5:30 PM. We both got burned at the beach. I was rosy red on my legs, and the misses was scorched everywhere. While we put on suntan lotion, it wasn't enough. We planned to walk the city but the beach sun was too much.

 

We arrived at dinner on-time, after buying aloe lotion onboard for my suffering better half.

 

We enjoyed disembarkation from Jamaica, and the subsequent sunset, from our table. I continued my predicable dinner start and ordered a ceasar salad and shrimp cocktail. After my strip steak, I was no longer messing around with my entree choice. :) I ordered the filet mignon, medium, from Chop's for $18.95. the filet was excellent, on par with a $50 a la carte filet mignon stateside. I even gave the misses one teeny-tiny bite and she concurred. My asparagus was crisp and full of flavor. This was the second time I had asparagus and it was very good both times. The other veggies were good, too. The potato was good, but quite small.

 

 

The misses ordered an unknown appetizer (no photo evidence) and then chicken for dinner. I tried a bite of her garlic mashed potatoes and they were good.

 

 

After dinner, I grabbed one more Heineken and we headed back to our room. We were exhausted from the lazy day and she was really hurting due to her burns. I watched some CNN International and she crashed early.

[M_BA]

The end of day four brings the Day 5 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5 Compass download:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9DWThq8FEXDUUpBS1lRTE5GSUU

[M_BA]

I thought the same thing.

 

Here are a couple more empty pool shots from Falmouth on Wednesday morning:

 

 

 

[LuCruise]

Following your review (a little late). It's a great one.

Funny as Marcus Monroe just preformed on the Allure (not as the headliner but at an act at the end).

[Sun Lakes Cruiser]

Love, love your review!! We are on Liberty 12/4 and was wondering if it was difficult to get chairs at the S pool or did the "spread a towel..come back later chair hogs" do their usual thing and make it impossible to relax at the grown-up pool???

[M_BA]

Love, love your review!! We are on Liberty 12/4 and was wondering if it was difficult to get chairs at the S pool or did the "spread a towel..come back later chair hogs" do their usual thing and make it impossible to relax at the grown-up pool???

 

The Solarium filled up quickly each day, though we also had almost 5,000 passengers on board. I did see pool attendants removing towels from some loungers, so maybe the habitual offenders are being reigned in a bit?

 

Your December cruise is likely to have only 3,500-4,000 passengers. Then again, there won't be as many children in December so it could be just as crowded in the Solarium.

 

Regardless, have a wonderful trip!

[nativetexan]

There were a lot of people who didn't get off the ship in Jamaica, or who waited until later in the day. Many like to stay on board and use the pools, spa, etc. It's a vacation with no requirements to be anywhere!

 

 

 

Falmouth concerned me very little in terms of safety. It's a small town whose local population predominately now relies directly, or indirectly, on cruise ships for their employment. Crime does occur, like anywhere in the world, but I'd surmise you're more likely to be in a vehicular accident than a victim of a crime (much like most of the USA).

 

 

 

Phone error

[M_BA]

Panoramic of George Town - NCL cruise ship tendered next to us; 3:45 PM

 

As the sun began to rise on the edge of the Cayman Islands, a Princess ship cruised parallel to us.

 

 

These moments on the balcony are why we justify the cost of this type of accommodation.

 

The calm sea was equally serene and beautiful.

 

 

Waves were down to a 0.5 meter lull.

 

 

I filmed some video of the Princess ship sailing next to us:

[M_BA]

I filmed this second video of the Princess ship about ten minutes later. Were were a bit closer to one another, and 2km or so closer to our tender location:

 

 

The Princess ship anchored next to us just before 7:00 AM:

 

 

Harbor views:

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2016 by M_BA

[M_BA]

The large local tender boats began to appear about seven minutes after the ship set anchor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While waiting for the masses with shore excursions to depart, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Windjammer.

[cricketts]

Great review! Thank you [emoji3] I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip [emoji572]️