Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Liberty Review - October 9-16

LHARTWICK

By LHARTWICK,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

Posted
Posted

Just left Liberty - here's a synopsis:

 

Embarkation - easy; on board at 11:30, and we are only Gold level.

 

Lighthouse Parking - so easy. Will use again.

 

Inside cabin - little storage, but we pack light so not a problem. Quiet except when children were running or drunk adults were returning from excursions - and both happened frequently. Fridge doesn't work well in room. Bottled water was barely kept below room temperature.

AC works great. Best on any of our cruises. Great cabin steward!

 

Food: Wind Jammer - avoid if possible, especially during peak times. Crowded and food is mediocre at best. Dining room lunch - good; fresh salads/pasta. Never made it to dining room for breakfast. However, due to our late arrival back into Galveston, the dining room was open that morning. We tried to eat in there, but the line was very long, so we had to go to WJ. Sorrento's - good pizza and a great place to go on embarkation day. Not crowded. Promenade Cafe - open 24 hrs with pastries, sandwiches and desserts, coffee/tea/water. Formal nights: Monday and Thursday. Dining room dinner: Ivory mousse; lobster; beef tenderloin; eggplant Parmesan; Creme brûlée - all very good. Friday/Saturday night menus aren't quite as great as other nights. Carrot cake - very good! Order escargot early in week - they ran out later. Our dining room waiter was outstanding!! Chops Grille - good, but CCL and PCL are better. Beef tenderloin in dining room was better than the filet in Chops.

 

Entertainment: Ice show - excellent! 4 showings/week so no need to rush to see first show. Ventriloquist show is great! In The Air show - great; get there early for choice of seat. Saturday Night Fever show was very good if you like the movie and the music from it. Get there early if you want your choice of seats. First comedian early in week was good. Friday night comedian was just okay.

 

Pitiful "sports bar" - only showed soccer games; no football.

 

Mattress topper - ask steward even if you've pre- requested. Ours was not there, despite requesting one weeks prior to our departure. Mattress is very firm without it.

 

Olive Or Twist - good during day. Quiet place.

 

HEAVY sales pitches for specialty dining, drink packages, spa. Very annoying.

 

A lot of kids on this cruise - apparently the Texas schools were out for this week. Most seemed to be undisciplined. Sorry, but that's the way it was.

 

Muster drill - no life jacket needed

 

No pens/paper in cabin.

 

Deck 4: go forward to front to stairs: takes you to very front "point" of ship; really great at night.

 

No self serve laundry facilities or ironing boards on board.

 

Solarium pool is great - quiet and a crew member makes sure kids don't enter; packed on sea days. Pool is fresh water. Plenty of shaded chairs.

 

Library is very small - it's just a wall of a few books that overlooks the promenade area.

 

Disembarkation - Our arrival into Galveston was delayed due to a medical emergency on Friday - ship turned around and took a passenger back to Cozumel for emergency surgery. Therefore debarkation was delayed by several hours. We did self-assist and were the 2nd group called. From the time we left our cabin until the time we cleared customs was one hour. Regardless of what they tell you, do not stay in your cabin to wait for your group to be called. The CD on the information channel said we could stay in our room to listen for our group to be called, and you could hear it if you kept your door propped open, but the announcements were not coming over the PA system as they said they would be, at least not on our deck. Had we not made the decision to walk on down, no telling when we would have left. Also, customs takes much longer to go through if the ship has been to Honduras, or so we were told.

 

Roatan - did Club Natale; I used 40% DEET and had 30-40 bites from the sand flies. Fortunately they didn't itch at all. Food is okay; staff is great; water is good; lots of shells on beach. Our day was great - there were only 4 of us. This is their down time. Normally there are 60-100 people there (Nov - Jan); Only bad part was the really, really obnoxious guy with us. Just horrible. I also do not recommend taking their boat tour. Since the pool was down due to renovations, the owner comped a boat tour for us. The scenery was great, but when we stopped for snorkeling, the guy made us jump off of the side of the boat instead of letting us go off the back where it's much easier. As a result, my husband lost his footing and slipped and also dropped his mask and snorkel. Never could find them so we paid for them. Not a good experience. If we return, we'll stay on the beach all day.

 

Costa Maya - Maya Chan: fantastic!!! Water has lots of sea grass; food is excellent; staff is outstanding; facilities are great; allow plenty of time to get to meeting point; we used pier trolley and walk was still 20 minutes. Will go back there again!

 

Cozumel - have visited several times so we slept in and went into port later in the AM to get vanilla. Only stayed about 30 minutes - heat/humidity were unbearable!!

 

Overall a great cruise! RCI handled the passenger's emergency and the after effects very well. We heard reports that some passengers complained that the Captain chose to go back to Cozumel so that the ill passenger could receive the emergency care he needed. Really?? The man would have died without the surgery! Liberty is a great ship with a great crew! Hope to return again soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fdthird

fdthird

Posted
Posted

Your week was the second week of our back 2 back, and we had a great time!

 

My understanding is that pub entertainment was cut fleetwide as of Oct 2. As to the entertainment venue question, no entertainment is pre booked on Liberty, all seats are offered on a first come basis.

 

If you are looking for some interesting things to do, we can definately recommend the Martini Mixology and Tasting class with Melvin at the R Bar on the Royal Promenade, and the Pasta Class and lunch at GiovaniS Table! Both excellent experiences!

 

All the shows we saw (In The Air, the Ice Show, Legends of Guitar, the Jazz Set, Sat Night Fever, and the 70s Set on the promenade) were excellent, and well worth your time! Also, we ate at all the Specialty Restaurants in our 2 weeks on the ship, and can say that we thought Giovani's was the best! Even the steak my wife had there was far better than the same steak she had at Chops.

 

We had the Ultimate Drink Package and loved the convenience and price. We also met some great bartenders. Melvin, Anna, and Raj in the R Bar, and Arminda and E in the Scooner Lounge, and Christina in the Pub! We also had the best room steward that we have ever had, but she signed off with us today. Thought the ship's staff was excellent and liked Jeffrey the Cruise Director and his staff, especially Hellena, or Bingo Mama!

 

Our second Liberty Cruise, first out of Galveston. Used the port parking and thought it was fine ($100 for 2 weeks). Today was a mess, but that was more because of the medical emergency than anything else. They did their best! Just a great 2 weeks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LoveGlasto

LoveGlasto

Posted
Posted

Great review thanks.

 

We are on the Liberty this Sunday and will also be doing Roatan and Cozumel, but Belize not Costa Maya.

 

I have been monitoring the weather for the past 3 weeks and it seems the pattern for our destinations is that we can expect to have some rain most days albeit brief showers. Was this your experience?

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruiselvr04 Great Review Rare

cruiselvr04

Posted
Posted

Will be on Liberty in less then 2 weeks. Unhappy to hear about the sand fleas but know they come out if the weather is rainy. Taking deet. However one cruise I ended up in the infirmary on steroids with 80 bites. The itching was so intense I could not sleep and kind of ruined the rest of the trip for me. Planning on going to Tobanya, may need to stay on the ship instead. This is the second review I have heard about sand fleas being bad in Roatan. Anyone have advice or a way to not get bit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I have been monitoring the weather for the past 3 weeks and it seems the pattern for our destinations is that we can expect to have some rain most days albeit brief showers. Was this your experience?

 

Roatan: Sunny day, no rain. They had a huge rain storm the day before we arrived.

 

Costa Maya: Very sunny and hot. Since we did a beach day, we were able to get in the water and cool off when we needed to.

 

Cozumel: Very sunny and VERY HOT AND HUMID. We only got off the ship long enough to go to Los Cinco Soles to pick up a few items. We were only there for about 30 minutes before we went back to the ship. It was just unbearable for us. We quickly hit the Solarium pool when we got back on board. :) We'll be there again in December. It will be a little more tolerable by then, at least that's been our past experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Unhappy to hear about the sand fleas but know they come out if the weather is rainy. Taking deet. However one cruise I ended up in the infirmary on steroids with 80 bites. The itching was so intense I could not sleep and kind of ruined the rest of the trip for me. This is the second review I have heard about sand fleas being bad in Roatan. Anyone have advice or a way to not get bit?

 

It's my understanding that the critters in Roatan are sand FLIES, which are different from sand FLEAS. Someone else may have more insight or correction? The locals refer to them as sand FLIES. Whatever they are, I never saw a single one of them on my legs, but by the end of the day, I had 30-40 bites. I never felt them biting either. My husband had a few, but not as many as me. I showed them to the guy at the resort, and he told me they were from sand flies. Not a single one of them itched at all - they just looked horrible. Within 2 days, they were gone. I used an insect repellent that contained 40% DEET - absolutely no good at all on the sand flies. And I soaked my legs with it. That's the highest concentration I could find, too. I've read on these boards that a product called Cactus Juice really works, as well as coconut oil. I would still use DEET since it is effective against mosquitoes, and there are ZIKA warnings for the Caribbean and Mexico. I used the DEET during our beach day at Costa Maya as well. Good thing - when we got in the van to go to our beach excursion, there were 3-4 mosquitoes flying around in there. I used my beach towel to cover my legs until I could get out and spray. Yuck! Nasty parasites!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruiselvr04 Great Review Rare

cruiselvr04

Posted
Posted

I will go prepared with antihistamines, hydrocortisone cream and deet but if I see even one bite I am leaving the beach pronto as I am sure there will be ten more that I haven't seen yet. Sad as we love the beach. Maybe I will just have to stand in the water all day to keep them off. Not taking the towel back to the cabin for sure as I think last time a couple hitched a ride that way. The DH got a few bites but didn't itch. I think I'm one of those who has an allergic reaction to them. We will let him carry the wet towels back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ramja96

ramja96

Posted
Posted
AC works great. Best on any of our cruises.

A/C is heavily dependent upon your cabin location and its proximity to the main A/C unit. Jus' sayin' :)

 

Order escargot early in week - they ran out later.

Very helpful to know - thanks for the tip!

 

Pitiful "sports bar" -only showed soccer games; no football.

I think this is probably because 1. the cruise line doesn't carry the major networks that air NFL games and 2. might have something to do with NFL licensing. Of course, I'm merely speculating.

 

No self serve laundry facilities or ironing boards on board.

No irons on ANY cruise ships - fire hazard. So you don't need an ironing board. ;)

 

Solarium pool is great - quiet and a crew member makes sure kids don't enter;

I wish more of the RCI ships did this. :rolleyes:

 

We heard reports that some passengers complained that the Captain chose to go back to Cozumel so that the ill passenger could receive the emergency care he needed. Really??

Unfortunately, there are selfish people everywhere. Sad.:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coralc

Coralc

Posted
Posted
It's my understanding that the critters in Roatan are sand FLIES, which are different from sand FLEAS. Someone else may have more insight or correction? The locals refer to them as sand FLIES. Whatever they are, I never saw a single one of them on my legs, but by the end of the day, I had 30-40 bites. I never felt them biting either. My husband had a few, but not as many as me. I showed them to the guy at the resort, and he told me they were from sand flies. Not a single one of them itched at all - they just looked horrible. Within 2 days, they were gone. I used an insect repellent that contained 40% DEET - absolutely no good at all on the sand flies. And I soaked my legs with it. That's the highest concentration I could find, too. I've read on these boards that a product called Cactus Juice really works, as well as coconut oil. I would still use DEET since it is effective against mosquitoes, and there are ZIKA warnings for the Caribbean and Mexico. I used the DEET during our beach day at Costa Maya as well. Good thing - when we got in the van to go to our beach excursion, there were 3-4 mosquitoes flying around in there. I used my beach towel to cover my legs until I could get out and spray. Yuck! Nasty parasites!!

 

Link to article no-see-ums, biting midges, sand flies: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/biting_midges.htm

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

Posted
  • Author
Posted

ramja96: (sorry - quote feature wasn't working)

 

I think this is probably because 1. the cruise line doesn't carry the major networks that air NFL games and 2. might have something to do with NFL licensing. Of course, I'm merely speculating. NFL GAMES WERE SHOWN ON THE BIG SCREEN BY THE POOL. WE'VE BEEN ON MANY SHIPS THAT HAD SPORTS BARS THAT CARRIED BOTH NFL AND NCAA GAMES.

 

No irons on ANY cruise ships - fire hazard. So you don't need an ironing board. ;) WE'VE SAILED ON MANY SHIPS THAT HAD SELF-SERVE LAUNDRY ROOMS AND IRONS/IRONING BOARDS. I UNDERSTAND WHY THERE ARE NO IRONS ALLOWED, BUT I THOUGHT OTHERS MAY WANT TO KNOW. WE ALWAYS FOUND IT HANDY TO IRON A VERY WRINKLED DRESS SHIRT FOR DINNER.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...