Review: Liberty of the Seas, Jul 16-23, 2017 (Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica)

[Nike4000]

DISNEY VERSUS ROYAL

I thought I'd hold off on this one and give it some thought before posting. I also wanted to talk to the kids about it to get their input.

 

We've cruised on Disney six times previously, across all four of their current ships. We've enjoyed sailing with Disney and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

I don't know the best way to make this comparison, so I'm going to do it as best I can. If you have specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure I'm forgetting something and will be happy to add things as questions come up.

 

SERVICE

Disney has a strong reputation for great service, which we've experienced on all of our previous cruises with them. However, my family felt that the Royal team was just as good as what we've experienced on Disney. Everyone (with the exception of 1 guy at the end) was extremely friendly, helpful, and easy to work with. The Royal employees we encountered were always smiling and seemed thrilled to be helping make our vacation exceptional.

 

FOOD

To be honest, I would rate the overall quality of food on Royal higher than on Disney. There are definitely some exceptions - desserts on Disney are much better than on Royal. But, in general, I found Royal's food to be better than what I experienced on Disney. The kids agreed with me, the wife voted Disney over Royal.

 

Now, when it comes to variety, Disney had Royal beat. The buffet options on Disney seemed to change daily without repeat, while on Royal it was about an every-other-day kind of thing. If they had herb roasted chicken one day, they had it again two days later. On Disney, outside of a few staples that were available daily, every day held new surprises.

 

BEVERAGES

It's important for me to list beverages as a separate line item. This was one area of significant difference between Royal and Disney. I'm the only one in my family who drinks soda. The rest of the family prefer tea, water, and lemonade. So, I purchased the soda package for myself. Everyone found the beverage process to be a pain on Royal. For me, I missed going to the soda stations on the pool deck and getting what I wanted on Disney. The lines on Disney were always quick and short and you can get a couple of cups if you're brave enough to try to carry them. On Royal it was a pain finding a bar every time I wanted a Coke. Then, I had to wait while the bartenders finished whatever exotic drink the patrons ahead of me requested. It was never as simple as a beer. It was always a daiquiri or some frozen thing or something that had to be shaken, stirred, and garnished with an exotic combination of fruits.

 

The wife and kids disliked the challenges of finding tea and lemonade too. Windjammer would be closed or they'd have to trek down to the Promenade area. It just seemed overly complicated to get beverages. Glasses of water were plentiful on the Promenade, but other drinks required some planning.

 

DINING ROOM(S)

We really enjoyed My Time Dining, but nothing beats Animators Palette on Disney ships. I think rotational dining gets the win, but it was surprisingly close. I've never been impressed with the Disney dining rooms beyond Animator's, so staying in one room for the entire cruise was no big deal for me. Our wait staff on Royal was exceptional, better than all but one team we've experienced on Disney (Rose is/was the best Disney server ever!). In fact, throughout our time on Royal, we kept saying that Amine and Oral were ideal examples of Disney service. They didn't just make our dining experience great, they anticipated our needs and wants and had them ready for us before we could think of them.

 

We found the style and decor of the Rembrandt dining room to be perfectly fine, on par with Triton's and way better than the third dining room on Disney (sorry, I block that one out of my mind). Nothing beats Animator's, so I won't even try to compare the two.

 

POOLS

Huge win to Royal on the pools! The main pool area has two pools that were never over-crowded. On all of our Disney cruises (except to Alaska), the pools were packed, body to body, unless we were in port. For some reason the Royal pools were never packed. Sure, there might have been lots of people in and around the pool, but we were never bumping in to other swimmers like on Disney.

 

We never swam in the adult pool on Royal, but it wasn't crowded either.

 

We sat in hot tubs in both the adult-only area and the general family area on both Disney and Royal and we found the Royal hot tubs to be superior. The adult-only hot tubs on Royal seemed to be larger than we remembered on Disney and were well protected from the sun. The general family area hot tubs seemed much larger on Royal.

 

WATER SLIDES

The kids and I agreed that while the water slides on Royal were longer than the ones on Disney, they were pretty darn slow. Our overall favorite of all shipboard slides we've tried was the Aquadunk. It was quick and fun, the exhilarating start doesn't hurt either. Waiting for the floor to drop out gives you a rush! The Royal slides were a "meh" between the three of us.

 

OTHER POOL/WATER FUN

This is mainly to include the Flow Rider. The kids LOVED the Flow Rider and really enjoyed their private lesson. It's a weird thing to see on the ship, but it was packed every time we visited it during open use hours. If you decide to try it, I highly recommend spending the money on a group lesson. As I indicated in my review, there ended up only being 3 kids participating in the lesson, so it was a great way to get a lot of time on the Flow Rider.

 

I also want to mention the splash area on Royal. While it was geared for younger kids, it looked like a total blast! We never visited it, but it was a hot spot for the 10 and under set of guests. I know Disney has some splash areas for toddlers, but the Royal area looked like great fun for kids up to pre-teen years. I wanted to go and stand under the tipping water bucket to get drenched but my kids wouldn't let me. They said it would be embarrassing. Oh well, next time!

 

CABIN

This is a tough one to compare since it was just the wife and me in our cabin on Royal. I will say that having just two people in the room made it feel HUGE. Overall I think our cabin on Royal was very comparable to what we've booked on Disney. Furniture was nice, bed very comfortable, balcony was spacious. One area Disney has Royal beat is having two bathroom areas - one toilet/sink area, one shower/sink area. Again, with just two of us in the cabin, getting ready wasn't an issue on Royal. However, if all four of us had been in the room it would have been a different story altogether. One tiny bathroom for four people would have been very, very challenging.

 

I found the water pressure in the shower on Royal to be very lacking compared to our Disney showers. I don't know if I'm forgetting how bad it is on Disney, but that was never a take away from those cruises. On Royal I had a tough time getting the shampoo out of my hair every time I showered. I don't know how my wife did it. Overall shower size seemed to be the same. Too small for a guy my size - 6' tall, 250 lbs, not very flexible. If I dropped the soap I was totally screwed and had to shut down the water and open the doors just to get enough room to bend over without hitting my head on something.

 

ACTIVITIES

As a family we totally disagree about the amount of activities available on Royal versus Disney. The wife and son thought Disney had more activities, while my daughter and I though Royal had just as many or possibly more activities. I think Disney does a better job of having family-oriented activities, i.e. things to do that the whole family can attend as a group, while Royal was more focused on individual interests. Nobody was ever bored on the Royal ship and things seemed to be happening all the time. I do think a large number of the Royal activities were focused on spending money - art auctions, jewelry seminars, shoe orthotics, etc. Disney might have more fun participatory things like classes on towel folding or learning to line dance.

 

One of the most interesting comments from my kids was that they missed interacting with the Disney characters. There are tons of photo opportunities with every Disney character on a Disney cruise. On Royal, there were only a handful of chances to get your photo taken with a Dreamworks character. It makes sense to me, the Disney characters are part of the company, while Dreamworks characters appear via licensing agreement with Royal. Disney can afford to incorporate their characters into all aspects of the shipboard experience because there's no chance that the license to use Mickey's image will ever expire.

 

So, important to note, it was a 17 year old who was most disappointed with the lack of character interactions. They may get older but they don't necessarily grow up! She was really hoping to see some characters from "How to Train Your Dragon" and was very disappointed Toothless never made an appearance.

 

Also, I just have to say that the Dreamworks parade was lame for anyone over the age of 8. One area Disney excels at is upholding the illusion that you've entered their character's worlds. During the parade on Royal, it was hard to not be distracted by the characters wearing everyday tennis shoes. On Disney everyone would have footwear appropriate to the character or universe. I'm sure Chewbacca doesn't run around in Converse on Star Wars at Sea days.

 

SHOWS

Disney by a mile, no contest whatsoever. If I sail on Royal's Liberty of the Seas again and the same shows are playing, I won't bother spending the time watching them. On Disney I don't miss a show no matter how many times I've seen it before.

 

ELEVATORS

It seemed like the elevators on Royal were super slow and engineered inefficiently. We would be on deck 8, with all three elevators on floors below us, and we'd press the down arrow to call an elevator to go to deck 5. Instead of one of the elevators coming to deck 8 to get us, they would proceed past deck 8 to a higher floor, then catch us on the way back down. I'm not explaining very well, but it seemed like the elevators would only take the longest path, never the most efficient. We would watch as all three elevators would show that they were sitting on deck 3. We'd call one on deck 5 and watch as one elevator would go all the way up to deck 11 and stop at floors on the way back down, eventually catching us on deck 5. The other two elevators would still be sitting on deck 3, waiting for someone to call them up. Why couldn't one of those elevators go to deck 11, another to deck 5, and another to whatever other decks that were calling elevators. One day my son watched as two elevators sat with their doors open on deck 11 and a third came to get the rest of us on deck 5. Of course that elevator went all the way to deck 1 before grabbing us on deck 5. It just seemed rather inefficient.

 

I don't ever recall waiting more than a moment or two for an elevator on Disney - except during absolute peak times, such as after the muster drill.

 

COST

We paid $5,175 total for two cabins on Royal, one balcony, one inside stateroom.

For our most recent cruise on Disney, to Alaska in July 2016, our "Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom" cost $6,510.

Prior to that, our most recent Disney cruise to the Western Caribbean over Spring Break 2015 was $8,235 for a "Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah."

 

Our Disney cruises also required airfare to Orlando ($1,850) or Vancouver ($3,500) on top of the cost of the cabin. For Royal, we just drove down to Galveston and spent the night before boardign at a Best Western (maybe $300 for gas and hotel).

 

So, with airfare included, Royal was roughly half the price of a Disney cruise.

 

OTHER

?????

Let me know what I'm missing and I'll be happy to share. Overall, I have to say I was impressed with Royal. I'll always be a fan of Disney cruises, but until I win the lottery, Royal will be a more than adequate replacement. They are definitely different and each have pros and cons, but a bad day cruising (on any ship or cruise line) beats the heck out of a good day at work!

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks for sharing your review and welcome to Royal. You cracked me up about the teen comments. Did you guys enjoy the Tidal Wave?

[Nike4000]

Thanks for sharing your review and welcome to Royal. You cracked me up about the teen comments. Did you guys enjoy the Tidal Wave?

 

Kids liked it a lot. They didn't like having to carry the tube up the stairwell. It was definitely much better than the other two water slides.

[widallas]

Wow...what a great and super thorough review! Thanks for sharing your insights...

[Black Magic]

Thank you for the review and the comparison. We have sailed Disney twice and absolutely loved it both times. However, they are trying their best to price us out. With saying that, we sailed on the Carnival Breeze last summer and was good, but not great. The one thing we missed was the friendliness of the crew. I'm glad to hear that the Liberty crew measured up to Disney, as we sail on her in less than two weeks.

[Nike4000]

Thank you for the review and the comparison. We have sailed Disney twice and absolutely loved it both times. However, they are trying their best to price us out. With saying that, we sailed on the Carnival Breeze last summer and was good, but not great. The one thing we missed was the friendliness of the crew. I'm glad to hear that the Liberty crew measured up to Disney, as we sail on her in less than two weeks.

 

My wife and her sisters took a "Girls Trip" on the Carnival Breeze last year and they mirrored your sentiments about it. Good, not great and a less than great experience when dealing with staff. The major redeeming quality for my wife from the Carnival cruise was the chocolate molten cake that was available for dessert every night. She said that none of the desserts on Royal or Disney came close to that.

 

We went in to our Royal cruise with completely open minds. I think many people who have sailed Disney previously get on board the Royal ship looking for ways to compare to Disney. We tried hard to let the Royal experience stand on its own, then compare to Disney after the total experience. From my perspective, a Disney cruise is superior to Royal, but the gap is really, really close. Closer than I expected before the Royal cruise. However, for the price, Royal beats Disney by a mile. Nothing on Disney was worth double the price of Royal.

[EBFURR]

Thanks for the detailed review! We will be on Liberty in about 4 weeks for the same itinerary. I like all the details and personal experiences that you provided. We have been on Freedom but this will be our 1st on Liberty. It is interesting in that our preferences run opposite to your family's in many respects (we love Cozumel, can take or leave Grand Cayman for instance) but hearing your experiences is still very helpful. We would probably share your opinion on the SNF show and we will probably skip all of the shows and just enjoy the ship. Thanks for the preview.

[CruiseCheapsk8]

We just returned from the Liberty of the Seas and I thought I'd share an overview of our experience. I apologize in advance if this is super long winded!

 

To save you from scrolling all the way through, the tl;dr version is that it was AWESOME! We had a great time! Would do it again!

 

DAY 1 - GALVESTON

We arrived at Galveston Park N Cruise at about 10:15 am. Parking is indoors and for our cruise the cost was $92.01. It is not the easiest place to find and, if my wife didn't already know where it was, I don't know if I would have found it without a couple of trips around the block.

 

We rolled our suitcases over to the terminal area. The building nearest the crosswalk is the Carnival Cruise Line terminal. For Royal, you have to take a left and walk down a ways to the second terminal building. Upon arriving, we found a porter who checked our luggage in (we already had our luggage tags on the bags). Unecumbered by our luggage, we headed into the terminal building. Upon checking our luggage in, I checked my watch and saw that it was 10:35 am.

 

Following a litany of signs we made our way to the first check in desk. That line was about 40 people long, but only took a few minutes to get through. That line was the security checkpoint. After passing through the metal detectors and having our carry on bags scanned, we proceeded to the next line. At every turn between areas there was someone checking paperwork and making sure we were heading to the correct line. It was very efficient and kept things moving.

 

The next line was the wait to get checked in for the cruise. We waited maybe 5 minutes for a representative to open up. He was super friendly and really kicked the cruise off for us with his positive attitude and friendly demeanor. He checked our passports, reviewed our Seapass paperwork, took our pictures, and eventually gave us our Seapass cards.

 

After that, we were directed to the waiting lounge. Upon arrival we were directed to one of two ladies who were passing out boarding group number cards. We got a card for group #6. We found some seats and started to wait.

 

In less than 10 minutes they started calling the first people to board. They started with the frequent cruisers and eventually called group #1. It went really fast, they were not waiting around for people to lollygag!

 

Before we knew it, they had called our group and we were heading onto the gangway. A few twists and turns down a hallway, up a ramp, and boom - we were on the deck of the ship getting our brand new Seapass cards scanned! Once we made it on board, we headed straight to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. By the time we sat down with our food it was just 11:30 am.

 

The buffet was terrific! We'd heard others say that the food wasn't very good at Windjammer. Maybe it was because we were so hungry, or maybe we are poor evaluators of food, but we thought the buffet was great! Was it like eating at a find steakhouse? No, but for a buffet it was pretty darn good!

 

After lunch we explored the ship and finally made it to our room when they opened up at 1 pm. We had stateroom 8228, D3 Superior Stateroom with Balcony. Some room photos:

 

Looking at the room from the door

 

Looking back toward the door. On the right is the desk with tons of storage.

 

Left side of closet:

 

Right side of closet - drawers & safe

 

Bathroom - toilet & shower area

 

Bathroom - sink and mirror

 

After exploring our room a bit, we headed back out around the ship. We explored the promenade area quite a bit, expecting it to be an area we spent a large amount of time in.

 

As we got closer to the muster drill, we decided to find out where we would meet up. Lucky us, it turned out that our meeting spot was in one of the clubs! Woo hoo! Galveston was hot and humid, we weren't looking forward to standing around outside for 30 minutes to an hour with our new best friends. We found a table in the club and sat and waited as the muster drill started. Eventually the room filled up and the muster drill took place. It was actually very efficient and well run.

 

We hung out and let the crowd dissipate before heading back to our room and finding most of our luggage had arrived. We unpacked, met our wonderful stateroom host - Kenyan Curtis - and prepped for dinner.

 

A few months ago I had read on these boards that people recommended you make advanced reservations for My Time Dining, so we had a table waiting for us when we arrived. I had requested a table by the window and wasn't disappointed. Our servers, Amine and Oral, were AMAZING! By the end of our first meal we knew we wanted to sit at their table every night, which is what we requested. It was a spectacular dinner, tons of choices and everyone walked away having eaten too much!

 

It was time to head to bed! We got the kids (13 and 17 years old) situated in their own room and made our way to bed. One of the best decisions we made for this trip was getting the kids their own room! Well worth the expense! Nobody tripping over anyone, they could stay up as long as they wanted, and my wife and I could enjoy some alone time! Everyone wins!

 

Thanks for the awesome review! Very well done! Do you remember if Amine was from the Philippines? We had a waiter a number of years ago on a cruise out of Panama on Grandeur of the Seas with a little happy Phillipino named Amine and he was AWESOME! He never stopped smiling. If he is on this ship, I hope we get to see him when we are on her in a couple of months. Thanks.

[gozer]

Once we got to the pier, all of that precision and organization was GONE! Our tender boat group was comprised of numerous excursions. So, everyone got to the gathering area and headed off in different directions. We had no clue where to go for our excursion, so we found the information desk and asked. They had no clue either, but helpfully suggested that we check at the white tent. Awesome, look for the white tent. Did you know there are 20 white tents in the Grand Cayman pier area? So, we start to visit them one by one and ask if they know where the "Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar" excursion meets. Of course nobody had any clue. As we're wandering around, my wife suggests we ask some of the Carnival employees who are very present in the area (we didn't see a single Royal Caribbean employee during our wandering). The lady from Carnival knew EXACTLY where we had to go and walked us over to the sign in sheet. By this point it was around 12:15/12:20. We get checked in and are told to wait. The buses will leave "soon" she says.

 

 

Any advice on finding the correct white tent? We are taking this excursions in September.

[deanman02]

Thank you for an excellent review. You have wonderful writing style,

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Nike4000]

Thanks for the awesome review! Very well done! Do you remember if Amine was from the Philippines? We had a waiter a number of years ago on a cruise out of Panama on Grandeur of the Seas with a little happy Phillipino named Amine and he was AWESOME! He never stopped smiling. If he is on this ship, I hope we get to see him when we are on her in a couple of months. Thanks.

 

Amine was from Tunisia.

[Nike4000]

Once we got to the pier, all of that precision and organization was GONE! Our tender boat group was comprised of numerous excursions. So, everyone got to the gathering area and headed off in different directions. We had no clue where to go for our excursion, so we found the information desk and asked. They had no clue either, but helpfully suggested that we check at the white tent. Awesome, look for the white tent. Did you know there are 20 white tents in the Grand Cayman pier area? So, we start to visit them one by one and ask if they know where the "Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar" excursion meets. Of course nobody had any clue. As we're wandering around, my wife suggests we ask some of the Carnival employees who are very present in the area (we didn't see a single Royal Caribbean employee during our wandering). The lady from Carnival knew EXACTLY where we had to go and walked us over to the sign in sheet. By this point it was around 12:15/12:20. We get checked in and are told to wait. The buses will leave "soon" she says.

 

 

Any advice on finding the correct white tent? We are taking this excursions in September.

 

Actually, yes! Look for the one with all of the Carnival excursion signs. We avoided that tent because it looked exclusively Carnival. There was a small hand held sign, maybe the size of a legal pad, hanging from one of the posts about waist-high on the middle post next to huge line of people. The line of people was blocking the sign for the excursion. The tent was front and center when you got through the gate into the gathering area.

 

So, walk off the ship & once you go through the gate into the area with the tents, look a little to your right and head for the big white tent right in front of you that has a bunch of Carnival excursion signs. There should be a table on the right front side of the tent where you check in.

 

We absolutely LOVED the excursion and I hope you do too!

[luv2sailAgain]

Actually, yes! Look for the one with all of the Carnival excursion signs. We avoided that tent because it looked exclusively Carnival. There was a small hand held sign, maybe the size of a legal pad, hanging from one of the posts about waist-high on the middle post next to huge line of people. The line of people was blocking the sign for the excursion. The tent was front and center when you got through the gate into the gathering area.

 

So, walk off the ship & once you go through the gate into the area with the tents, look a little to your right and head for the big white tent right in front of you that has a bunch of Carnival excursion signs. There should be a table on the right front side of the tent where you check in.

 

We absolutely LOVED the excursion and I hope you do too!

Your's was private, not RCI correct? We booked thru RCI because I do not want to worry about missing the ship. If I have to worry about finding excursion, I may flip. TIA

[JTBCruiser]

Really enjoyed the review, thank you!

[Nike4000]

Your's was private, not RCI correct? We booked thru RCI because I do not want to worry about missing the ship. If I have to worry about finding excursion, I may flip. TIA

 

Our Stingray City excursion was booked through RCI for the exact same reason you booked yours through them - we didn't want to return too late!

[DISFANS3]

Awesome trip report..

[poohtaz]

Great review! Thank you for taking the time and sharing. I agree with the comparison to Disney. The price difference is why we'll be trying RCI for the first time. The Mouse is getting too pricey ;)

[wildernessgal]

I have a question, my son (29 yrs old) & I are going to be on the Liberty - 24-31 Dec 2017 for the Christmas cruise. 2nd cruise for me, 1st for him. My question is about Grand Cayman or Jamaica, and you don't have any excursions planned, are there area's in which you can visit once you get off the tendered boat in each area (Grand Cayman & Jamaica), like shopping area's. My husband & I were originally going to be on the Liberty Oct 8-15, 2017, & we had planned some excursions, but he suddenly passed in June 2017.

 

I didn't want to be by myself for Christmas, so my son decided he'd tag along, he didn't want me by myself at Christmas.

So I decided, I just wanted to do some shopping while in Grand Cayman & Jamaica, since my son

didn't want to do ANY excursions. Any suggestions?

[EBFURR]

I have a question, my son (29 yrs old) & I are going to be on the Liberty - 24-31 Dec 2017 for the Christmas cruise. 2nd cruise for me, 1st for him. My question is about Grand Cayman or Jamaica, and you don't have any excursions planned, are there area's in which you can visit once you get off the tendered boat in each area (Grand Cayman & Jamaica), like shopping area's. My husband & I were originally going to be on the Liberty Oct 8-15, 2017, & we had planned some excursions, but he suddenly passed in June 2017.

 

I didn't want to be by myself for Christmas, so my son decided he'd tag along, he didn't want me by myself at Christmas.

So I decided, I just wanted to do some shopping while in Grand Cayman & Jamaica, since my son

didn't want to do ANY excursions. Any suggestions?

 

Absolutely yes. We have not booked an excursion on Grand Cayman in years. We just go ashore and walk around the town which is right at the tender pier. Cayman is very clean, modern and safe. There are lots of shops of all types, but Cayman is not the cheapest port or shopping. If you want to do some sight seeing there are plenty of taxis and private tours. In Falmouth, the dock is at an enclosed area where there are vendors but the access is restricted to cruise line approved ones. You can walk about there freely and shop, eat, etc. Again, if you want to venture out there are taxis available at all times.

[wildernessgal]

I have a question, my son (29 yrs old) & I are going to be on the Liberty - 24-31 Dec 2017 for the Christmas cruise. 2nd cruise for me, 1st for him. My question is about Grand Cayman or Jamaica, and you don't have any excursions planned, are there area's in which you can visit once you get off the tendered boat in each area (Grand Cayman & Jamaica), like shopping area's. My husband & I were originally going to be on the Liberty Oct 8-15, 2017, & we had planned some excursions, but he suddenly passed in June 2017.

 

I didn't want to be by myself for Christmas, so my son decided he'd tag along, he didn't want me by myself at Christmas.

So I decided, I just wanted to do some shopping while in Grand Cayman & Jamaica, since my son

didn't want to do ANY excursions. Any suggestions?

 

 

Absolutely yes. We have not booked an excursion on Grand Cayman in years. We just go ashore and walk around the town which is right at the tender pier. Cayman is very clean, modern and safe. There are lots of shops of all types, but Cayman is not the cheapest port or shopping. If you want to do some sight seeing there are plenty of taxis and private tours. In Falmouth, the dock is at an enclosed area where there are vendors but the access is restricted to cruise line approved ones. You can walk about there freely and shop, eat, etc. Again, if you want to venture out there are taxis available at all times.

 

Thank you so very much for the information, I look forward to being able to relax.

[hawk1972]

I have a question, my son (29 yrs old) & I are going to be on the Liberty - 24-31 Dec 2017 for the Christmas cruise. 2nd cruise for me, 1st for him. My question is about Grand Cayman or Jamaica, and you don't have any excursions planned, are there area's in which you can visit once you get off the tendered boat in each area (Grand Cayman & Jamaica), like shopping area's. My husband & I were originally going to be on the Liberty Oct 8-15, 2017, & we had planned some excursions, but he suddenly passed in June 2017.

 

I didn't want to be by myself for Christmas, so my son decided he'd tag along, he didn't want me by myself at Christmas.

So I decided, I just wanted to do some shopping while in Grand Cayman & Jamaica, since my son

didn't want to do ANY excursions. Any suggestions?

 

One other quick point -- Grand Cayman is a tender port but Falmouth, Jamaica is not. The ship docks at Falmouth.

[scrotser]

Subscribing, leaving 9/10.

Thank you for the review, looking forward to more!

 

We'll be on the same 9/10 cruise. Can't wait!

 

Enjoying your review!

[Nike4000]

Thank you so very much for the information, I look forward to being able to relax.

 

EBFURR's response was perfect. In Grand Cayman I'd recommend getting out of the port area and head into the town. The options in the port area are very limited and not that cheap (as EBFURR said) - i.e. I got a "deal" on a hat, standard ball cap that said "Stingray City," in the port area in Grand Cayman for $20, most were $25 to $35.

 

My daughter and I liked the port area in Falmouth, it was very clean and people weren't pushy. If we weren't soaking wet and covered in mud from our excursion we would have explored more. However, it is very commercial - there's a Subway sandwich place there for your "authentic" Jamaican cuisine. Actually, it might have been Quiznos or Schlotzky's.

 

I've read several blogs and reports that raised some safety concerns about Falmouth outside of RCI's port area. Just stay aware of your surroundings and be cautious.

[Cmoore19]

Love the review! We will be sailing this next month!

[mt82]

We are going on this cruise next month, we have never been to the Caribbean,. My number 1 bucket list is to swim with the dolphins.

But, I have read so many negative reviews and sad stories about their habitats, that I am not sure. What port would you do the dolphins in?

Also, is it better to book through the ship or on our own? we r new to this

Thank you