Liberty review - August 28 2016 sailing

[ukintheus]

We ordered another drink, and although mine came out quickly, Scott’s took forever and eventually even the server suggested she put it in a to go cup once it arrived. We were done by 7:40 pm and went back to our cabin.

 

This guy was waiting for us, and I have to say it's probably my favorite towel animal of all time.

 

 

We sat out on the balcony for a while and listened to the waves crashing on the front of the ship. Both of us were pretty tired, and, sadly, neither of us drank the second margarita we had brought back to the room. The stars were also bright tonight and it was a beautiful temperature outside.

 

After chatting about it again, we decided to switch our reservation AGAIN for tomorrow night from Giovanni's back to Chops. LOL. We really felt that we had had much better service at Chops and had enjoyed the food more. By 8:20 pm we decided we weren't about to go back out to do anything - we were the epitome of lazy at this point! After an early morning and a day out in the sun, sea and sand we were pretty tired. We decided to read and watch TV and chill out for the rest of the evening and went to bed at about 10 pm.

[mam11]

I absolutely LOVE this review!! Your pictures are SO good. Since we were on the 9/11 sailing it all brings back good memories. Thanks.

[CapeCodCruiser]

 

...After chatting about it again, we decided to switch our reservation AGAIN for tomorrow night from Giovanni's back to Chops. LOL. We really felt that we had had much better service at Chops and had enjoyed the food more. ...

 

So glad you switched back!

 

"The drinks took a long time to come out though. 20 minutes from when we ordered...we were almost twitching!! Ha ha."

 

OMG - this will be me in 30 days!

[2Ccruisers]

Following along. We'll be on her in 16 days!! I'm SO enjoying your review!

[BlueCollarCruiser]

For what it was worth, we went on Liberty in July and again last week:

 

Giovanni's we had the filet -- loved it. Loved the pasta. Loved Romeo (moustache -- looks like Inspector Clouseau). Loved the bread and the oil. Hated the table next to us.

 

Chops we had NY Strip -- loved it. Loved the mushroom soup. Loved the sauces. Hated the lady next to us talking about black lives matter. Disliked the cocktails.

 

Sabor we had lots of different things. Disliked the cocktails. Wished we had booked Giovanni's twice. But didn't have anyone next to us, which was great.

[LHARTWICK]

We were told that the last shuttle would leave at 12:30 pm/1:30 pm ship time and so the day was fairly short. [/img][/url]

 

Pardon my ignorance, but why did you have to leave so early when the ship is in port until 4:30? At least that's what our itinerary indicates? How far is LFK from the port? LFK looks amazing. Were there plenty of lounge chairs in the shaded areas or just the tables to eat at? Thank you for your review!

[wolfganghowell]

And yet another perspective on the specialty restaurants - we LOVE Sabor. Last time we did Giovanni's and we agreed that their filet was better than Chops. Granted - we didn't do Chops on Liberty but have done it about 6 times in the past. At $42 per person now, it's crossed off the list unless it's comp'd. I can get a better steak meal 3 minutes from my house for around $30. :)

 

Continue on - great review. Mr Wolf doesn't allow me to get much sleep on cruises - he makes us get up early and party late so I might be a little jealous of all this sleep you're getting. :)

[ukintheus]

Pardon my ignorance, but why did you have to leave so early when the ship is in port until 4:30? At least that's what our itinerary indicates? How far is LFK from the port? LFK looks amazing. Were there plenty of lounge chairs in the shaded areas or just the tables to eat at? Thank you for your review!

 

All aboard for us was 3:30 pm which is 2:30 pm local time. It took about 20 minutes to get there once we got into the van. There were several lounge chairs in shaded areas, and we noticed that people moved chairs into the shade that weren't in the shade to begin with.

 

And yet another perspective on the specialty restaurants - we LOVE Sabor. Last time we did Giovanni's and we agreed that their filet was better than Chops. Granted - we didn't do Chops on Liberty but have done it about 6 times in the past. At $42 per person now, it's crossed off the list unless it's comp'd. I can get a better steak meal 3 minutes from my house for around $30. :)

 

Continue on - great review. Mr Wolf doesn't allow me to get much sleep on cruises - he makes us get up early and party late so I might be a little jealous of all this sleep you're getting. :)

 

 

There are so many things that can affect perspective when it comes to dining, that it can change for anybody at any time! LOL We paid $80 pp (plus gratuity) for the 4 night specialty with pre-cruise purchase. Seeing as we ate at Chops twice, I thought it was a really good deal.

 

We were horribly lazy this cruise, in fact the more I look at what we DIDN'T do the more embarrassed I am at how lazy we were! :)

Edited September 23, 2016 by ukintheus

[Pinkcruzr]

"There are so many things that can affect perspective when it comes to dining, that it can change for anybody at any time! LOL We paid $80 pp (plus gratuity) for the 4 night specialty with pre-cruise purchase. Seeing as we ate at Chops twice, I thought it was a really good deal."

 

How did you get the deal of 80.00 pp on the 4 night dining, did you purchase on the ship or on line?

[ukintheus]

Friday, September 2nd – Cozumel, Mexico

 

So after another early (boring) night, I woke up early again. We were due to dock in Cozumel at about 8 am and so went outside to see what I could see from the balcony.

 

 

We were still quite a way from docking but Scott got up too and we watched our approach until we decided we definitely needed coffee.

 

 

We went down to the Promenade Cafe to get our caffeine fix. It was pretty quiet down there. This photo is taken looking aft, toward Cafe Promenade.

 

 

This is taken looking forward with Sorrento's the last place on the right just past the walkway. The staircase on the right hand corner leads down to the casino. We never noticed any smoke smell from those stairs but maybe they didn't go directly into the casino.

 

 

As soon as we got our coffee we headed up to deck 11 to see what was going on and take a look around. Freedom of the Seas was already docked and we pulled in next to her.

 

 

I believe Freedom is a sister ship to Liberty, but she didn't have all the slides. I'm guessing she hasn't been through dry dock?

 

[ukintheus]

We were at International Pier which was a new pier for us and we were down a little way from town so we knew we would need to take a taxi if we wanted to go there. We didn't have any plans for the day and were still mulling over what we might do, so we headed to Windjammer to grab a quick bite to eat and see what we thought sounded good to do for the day.

 

Windjammer wasn't too busy, the breakfast food offerings were the same as the previous days I think. Here are my two fried eggs, an english muffin and some breakfast potatoes. I made a mistake getting them off the buffet instead of having them cooked at the omelette station.

 

 

Scott went with the same type of thing.

 

 

I gave up on the fried eggs, and I got muesli instead and it was good - very similar to the one I enjoy on DCL.

 

 

We wandered back along the deck and I found the Sprinkles ice cream cart. It wasn't open but I assume it has the same self serve type machines that are pretty standard. It looked a bit sad and lonely there all by itself and I wish I had tried it to compare but we never passed it when it was open.

 

 

After about 30 seconds of debate...maybe 10 - LOL - we decided to have another "at sea" day and stay on the ship seeing as it seemed to be so quiet. I'm sure that's no huge shock to anyone seeing as it goes right in line with our constant ability to do nothing!! We went down to our cabin and said a quick hello to Walid who was trying to get his work done so that he could get off the ship and go and shop at the Mega supermarket. We got changed into swimwear and went up to the Solarium and found a couple of loungers in the shade. Ahhhhh.......perfect!

 

 

After an hour we switched to some different chairs where we could see the shore and watch what was going on, which is perfect for me because I'm a nosey Rosey and there was nothing to see going on at the pool! There was also a nice breeze through an opening right in front of us. So, another thing to throw in here is that we noticed that the Solarium on RCI was breezier than the adult area on the Classic ships on DCL. The ability to slide windows open on the sides really made a nice difference.

 

[ukintheus]

I went to the pool bar and so now the day is absolutely perfect.

 

 

We tried out the cantilevered hot tub which was right next to our loungers.

 

 

There was lots going on around the port and it kept me busy. Scott also had to buy another day of internet as he had finished his book and once again I took the opportunity to get in touch with my Mum and sister.

 

 

 

Scott went and grabbed us some food from windjammer (I think I have a photo on my ipad I need to upload here) and while I started off by saying that there was way too much food, I ended up eating it all. It was a burger and fries and a hot dog. The burger tasted a little different to me but I ate it anyway and hoped it wouldn't come back to haunt me later. (It didn't). The food wasn't bad at all this time around. We continued reading and enjoying the peace and quiet. The drink service around the pool wasn't great, but we figured it was a port day so it was understandable. I went and grabbed some cash from the room to tip the servers and that seemed to do the trick.

 

 

 

[ukintheus]

They had a life boat drill going on so that was something else to keep us busy. Ha ha!

 

 

The island had several big rain showers sweep across it but none of them made it to the ship.

 

 

Back with the life boat, they don't look too thrilled. My guess is that they have to use their precious few hours off to complete it.

 

 

Mid afternoon as it began to get busier we migrated down to our balcony and watched the excursions coming back. We also chatted briefly with our neighbor's before realizing that it was 5:20 pm and we had to be in Chops for 6:00 pm. Seriously, how can we possibly be late when we have literally done NOTHING all day?! LOL We hurried and showered and got ready and made it right at 6 pm.

 

The have a plate like Palo does on DCL that magically gets whisked away never to be used.

 

 

We started with a couple of yummy cocktails. I ordered the lemonade again figuring I'd been brought the wrong thing the other night, but it was the same and still tasted like grapefruit to me :rotfl:

 

 

We had the same server and he was friendly and we chatted with him a bit about his home and family. We went with 4 courses again, my waistline is still recovering. :rolleyes:

 

[ukintheus]

I had Caesar salad and Scott had endive salad.

 

 

 

Scott then had the scallops and said that they were really good. They were on a bacon and caramelized onion base which he said was delicious.

 

 

I got the Berkshire pork, which was basically a piece of pork that had been fried and then caramelized in BBQ sauce - it was off the charts good.

 

 

Our server also brought us a shrimp cocktail to try.

 

 

We both ordered the filet again with mashed potato, asparagus and mushrooms. It was really good again and I got a photo this time!

 

 

[ukintheus]

We got talking to the couple sitting next to us who were also sailing without kids. They had been to Giovanni's and had had a fantastic experience and thought the service and the food were better there. In fact, they sent their steaks back that night at Chops as they said they just weren't good. So, it just goes to show that everyone has different tastes and things that appeal to them to make things "better" than something else.

 

We also got the same desserts as the other night, cheesecake and mud pie, although we were still talking to the couple at the table next to us and so I forgot to get a photo. It was about 9 pm when we got finished and decided to go down to Hoof & Claw to see what was going on.

 

The bar was busy but the tables and chairs were fairly empty when we got there.

 

 

We grabbed a seat and decided to see what the live entertainment was going to be like as they were due to start. Literally within a few minutes of sitting down the crazy two couples from Monday night had found us again! Ha ha. They all decided to join us at our table although tonight we were all much more subdued. Luckily I had my camera with me and so we could show them what they had got up to the other night as memories were a little sketchy! We watched the singing duo for one of their sets and left there at about 11:30 pm. I couldn't resist grabbing a couple of pieces of pizza as we went past Sorrentos. I had read before our trip that it wasn't good, but we both thought it was decent enough.

 

We got back to our cabin and Walid had been in and we had another towel animal waiting for us.

 

 

There was a storm off in the distance and I went out to watch it. After I few minutes I wondered where Scott was and went back inside to find him involved in unblocking our sink which was barely draining. LOL OK, so, remember those margaritas we didn't drink? Well, I poured them down the sink and evidently there was some kind of screen that stopped various chunky bits :eek: and so the sink had been floating cilantro and jalapeno whenever we ran a lot of water into it. :rolleyes: Scott is a whiz at fixing things, even when he is only armed with his pocket knife and cotton buds, and of course got it all sorted out despite me saying we could have called maintenance. It was about midnight when we finally went to bed but we no longer had cilantro staring at us when we brushed our teeth. :D

[ukintheus]

Saturday, September 3rd – At sea day

 

We got up reasonably early at about 8 am. The day didn't look too bad considering the weather forecast was for a rainyish day.

 

 

I always wonder where the birds come from that show up randomly. I'm never sure if they are hitching a ride or if they are on an epic journey. (There's two white birds in this photo in case it isn't obvious.)

 

 

Seeing as it was the last day and we were at sea, we figured we'd better go to the Solarium pool to see what was available chair-wise.

 

 

Love these windows that open....nice.

 

 

There were many hats, flip flops and magazines occupying chairs with hardly anyone in sight, so we decided to join the club. We grabbed a couple of chairs, left our stuff on them, and then went down to get coffee from the Promenade Cafe. While we were there we decided to skip Windjammers for breakfast and just got a couple of pastries and took everything back up to the pool and settled into yet another day of doing nothing but people watching and reading. I'm claiming consistency at this point...it's all I've got. LOL

 

 

A couple that we had met during the snorkeling at Little French Key in Roatan stopped and said hello. It had been her first time and she was very nervous about it and wasn’t sure if she could convince herself to get into the water. In the end she did, and after a while she said that she had really enjoyed it. They came over to tell us about their excursion in Cozumel which was on the mainland and involved swimming through caves, which she also was scared to death about – LOL Evidently this was a trip to push her boundaries. Anyway, she had a good time again and we chatted with them about their day.

 

Not long after it absolutely poured rain with thunder and lightning and everyone that had loungers around the pool had to scrambled to get their stuff out of the rain.

 

 

[Yorkiegirl3]

I would also like to know how you got the 4 speciality restaurant discount? My cruise is still a ways out and there's no options for any dining packages other than the beverage packages. We've already purchased the deluxe package and can't wait to try it out, lol.

[ukintheus]

There were some lone towels and flip flops that didn’t have the owners anywhere close by that were drowned out.

 

 

We were glad we had picked the chairs we had as we were nice and dry and could just watch the flurry of activity and not have to move at all. Ahh...when you are king and queen of lazy it all works out. We decided to see what Windjammer was offering for lunch at 11:30 am. It was a very pleasant surprise to find it not too busy and we also found some curries that we really enjoyed.

 

 

We took a plate of desserts back to the loungers and spent another hour there. After deciding that we had enough of the grey day and being at the pool, we grabbed a drink, took the towels and checked them back in and went back to our cabin.

 

 

I was the one that took a nap this afternoon and Scott watched a movie. We had to get packed so we decided to get that over with, which didn’t take an awful amount of time but it’s just sad that it comes around so quickly!

 

Tonight was our last night and I was determined to see a show!! We got ready and went to see Saturday Night Fever in the Platinum Theater. The show started at 6:30 pm and we got there at 6 pm and there were still plenty of seats.

 

 

Scott got us a glass of wine (loved that they conveniently had a bar inside the theater) while I went to get a seat. We enjoyed the show and it was nice to see a more adult themed show for a change and we both thought it was good. I snuck these photos in right at the end.

 

Catching one of them shooting the confetti...proud of myself for actually catching a photo of it! pixiedust:

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by ukintheus

[ukintheus]

Scott didn’t want to do the main dining room again, and I was happy to agree with him, so we decided to go to Johnny Rockets for dinner. I took a few quick photos of the wet and dreary pool deck this evening.

 

 

 

We were seated quickly at Johnny Rockets which was fairly empty when we got there.

 

 

 

We had fries and onions rings to start.

 

 

And they made a smilie face out of the ketchup.

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by ukintheus

[ukintheus]

I decided to have a root beer float. The total bill including tip came to about $22. (which to be honest kind of surprised me - maybe we tipped on top of tip?

 

 

The food came out fairly quickly. Basically it seemed like just a regular hamburger to me but I'm not familiar with the Johnny Rocket's franchise at all, so not sure if I missed something there. :)

 

 

By the time we were finished it was really busy in there and several people had to wait a while to get a table so we didn't hang about. We headed back to our cabin and stopped at the pool bar to grab a couple of bottles of water.

 

 

Walid was still in the corridor working and told us that they had a really busy morning ahead as they had to do a lot of extra stuff because of the Norovirus. I felt bad for him, he was sweating away and obviously working really hard.

 

So, shocker I know, but it was another very low key evening and we were in bed by 9:30 pm but Scott watched movie until gone 10 pm (oooohhh late!!! LOL) while I read my book.

 

Coming up - disembarkation and my final thoughts.

[ukintheus]

I woke up early and could feel a small roll of the ship as it was coming into the ship channel. It was the first time I'd felt any real movement at all. I finally got out of bed at 6 am and took a look outside. We were at the dock and were getting ready to moor up.

 

 

We had decided to do self assist for the very first time and so we had all of our suitcases in our cabin. I actually liked not having that feeling of having to get them all ready and out of the stateroom the night before, but of course you are left juggling all your luggage getting off the ship.

 

Galveston was looking like it was shaping up to have a nice day.

 

 

I could make out the Pleasure Pier off on the seawall in the distance.

 

 

It was about 7 am when the immigration guys arrived and walked across the parking lot. I figured that wasn't a good sign that we would be off particularly early.

 

 

We were supposed to be in the second self assist group, which was scheduled to meet on deck 4 in the Platinum Theater at 7:50-8:20 but I had read here they don't do anything to check, so we went down to deck 4 at about 7:20 am and there was a group already gathered in the Schooner bar that was overflowing by the elevators. We just decided to hang out there as the doors to the Platinum Theater weren't open and there weren't any employees there telling anyone what to do. After about 15 minutes one of the other guests came around the corner and told us the doors to the theater were open on the opposite side and they were putting people in there. We took our luggage and they stacked it at the back of the theater and we took a seat. The ship wasn't cleared by customs and immigration until about 7:50 am and they let the other side of the theater go first, and then our group. The walk off the ship was pretty easy, and the line continued to move most of the time although it was a longer walk with the new buildings being open. We had a long wait in immigration because I don't have a US Passport. Scott was about beside himself (he has global entry and never has to wait) waiting with me but that's what patient, loving husbands do, right??? (Wrong - LOL - if we are flying he leaves me in immigration and goes through the US line! ha ha!!) Anyway, eventually they did let me back into the country and we were on the shuttle bus to Lighthouse Parking very quickly with no wait for them at all.

 

At 8:53 am we pulled away from the pier heading to the parking lot. Uggg....another vacation over just like that *snapping fingers*.

 

[ukintheus]

How did you get the deal of 80.00 pp on the 4 night dining, did you purchase on the ship or on line?

 

It was available online. There were several discounts offered for this cruise, we also got our drink package discounted.

[ukintheus]

I would also like to know how you got the 4 speciality restaurant discount? My cruise is still a ways out and there's no options for any dining packages other than the beverage packages. We've already purchased the deluxe package and can't wait to try it out, lol.

 

We were lucky that we had a bunch of discounts offered for our sailing. In addition to the drink package and dining they also had discounted internet and photograph packages available.

[njmomof2]

Enjoyed reading about your lazy trip on Liberty. She was the first ship my ex and I took our boys on, and it started their love affair with the flowrider. We now only cruise ships with one, and the boys won't go if there isn't one.

 

Just a mention...you kept referring to stopping on the promenade on Deck 4 for snacks or drinks. Café Promenade, Hoof and Claw and Sorrentos are on Deck 5, and those stairs in the middle do indeed go straight into the casino. Deck 4 is the casino, the photo area, Schooner Bar, Boleros and Sabor, as well as the Theater.

 

I really think my younger one would love the slides (we have sailed Freedom multiple times, but they are not on her) so I keep thinking we'll have to get to TX and try to sail on Liberty again.

Edited September 23, 2016 by njmomof2

[Cindy]

This is a great review...thanks for all your time and effort!

 

 

On our way back I took a quick photo of these interactive guides that are by the elevators. I used one once to find a restroom, they were handy!

 

 

My husband thinks those boards are toys. He can't resist changing the language every time he sees one!:rolleyes:

Edited September 23, 2016 by Cindy