Liberty 02022020 - our experience

[PhoenixCruiser]

Enjoy your cruise!

[hukoli]

Day 4

 

After breakfast and checking out we decided to start making our way to the port. First plan was to get one uber xl, and hire the driver to drive all of us to port. That was the plan A. Plan B followed as soon as the first group had been stuck in traffic for 10 mins. Time to get 2 more cars. I haven't been able to log into uber, but lyft worked fine for me. So I ordered one car via lyft and we got other one through uber. After we finally got to port, crowds were crazy. Some people were still clearly waiting to be picked up from the previous cruise, and that was blocking up people from entering the terminal. Once we found a porter to take our stuff, we found the line into terminal. After that line things moved smoothly, and as a suite quests, we were able to skip most of the lines. They even allowed those 5 in our group not in suites to go with us. 

 

We were onboard about 2 pm, and cabins were ready. After checking out the cabin, we ate a quick lunch in Windjammer, and then it was time for the muster drill. After the muster we watched from our windows as we left Galveston. Then it was time to visit Chops. That was a wonderful experience. Kids were seated at their own table, rest of us had one big table. We were bit worried at first about this setup, but our servers took great care of our kids. And the food was great.

 

After dinner kids went to unpack and then to bed. And I went to watch second half of the Superbowl to theater with my brother. Then we walked around the ship with my mother to show her the important bits, places to get free food. Welcome aboard show wasn't the best I have seen, no exact mentions about number of guest, only vague 4500. Mostly told about upcoming shows, and ended with short set from the comedian on board.

 

Some notes about our cabin, but I haven't spend much time here yet. Vibration is quite bad, and our tv set resonates like crazy if it isn't turned 90 degrees from its base. Plenty of cabinet space, but only one cabinet has shelves in it. Three large drawers in the table. Small suitcases fit nicely under our bed, and larger ones went under the bunk bed. View is fantastic, and 2 toilets is a big plus with the kids. Wi-Fi signal is quite poor in the cabin, hope this post loads up ok. 

[Pantherfan!]

Glad you all made it onboard ok.  Any recommendations on the food at Chops?

[Colorado Babe]

Looking forward to hearing all about your cruise. I am glad you all made it safely.  I will be on this ship on 2/23/20.  It is my Pinnacle cruise.  

[Btank]

On 2/1/2020 at 9:29 PM, hukoli said:

One quick stop at Buc-ee's (too little time, but we might find one later)

While you were there, I hope you had a chance to visit the highest-rated travel bathrooms in the United States.  Now *that's* something to tell your friends about when you return home!

 

Here's some background information on Buc-ee's.

 

      --bruce T,

 

[LBumb]

bon voyage

[hukoli]

13 hours ago, Pantherfan! said:

Glad you all made it onboard ok.  Any recommendations on the food at Chops?

 

Everyone ate there plates empty, so I guess everything is good. My personal favourites are the mushroom soup and bacon. As for your steak, don't order mignon if yu don't like it red. Even medium was a bit dry, according to my brother. 

 

And as pricing goes, take the 3 night package. It was about 80 dollars with grat and 15% discount. Chops alone with grat was about 51 dollars, so I think that would be my best tip for you. 

[hukoli]

12 hours ago, Colorado Babe said:

Looking forward to hearing all about your cruise. I am glad you all made it safely.  I will be on this ship on 2/23/20.  It is my Pinnacle cruise.  

 

Wow! I don't think we can ever reach pinnacle, but after this one we will be platinum. Diamond might be possible, since we are just turning 35. If only we lived closer to port... 

[hukoli]

Day 5, or day 2 of our cruise

 

First full day onboard, and everyone survived it. Younger kids were sleeping by 7 pm, ours survived through dinner to almost 8.30 pm. Wonder if I can even remember everything I did today…

I slept fine until 8 am, kids and gf had already eaten their breakfast at MDR. So I decided to try Chops for breakfast. I can't say how it compares to MDR, but I'm hoping that after tomorrow I can. Food was good and service was fast.
Meet & Mingle was scheduled at 9.45 am, almost didn't make it, but managed to ditch kids to their aunt. As a typical Finn, I didn't mingle. Next in program was some Suites & Pinnacles event, and I could get used to those. Small bites of nearly everything was brought to my table, ranging from fruits to wellington. Drinks were offered too. After the feast, cruise director introduced some senior crew, and that was it. When I was heading back to my cabin, our consierge gave me a tray of different treats for our kids. I don't know if this is common or not, but I was impressed. And kids ate everything.

 

Kids had lunch at the buffet, I didn't really need anything to eat after that suite feast. Tried the rock climbing wall with my girl, one climb was enough for my hands. She wants to try again tomorrow. Then she wanted to swim, so we left her to my brother's gf at the pool. Round of minigolf with our son, and soon it was time to get ready for the dinner. I decided to use the showers downstairs, and happily noticed that this ship's sauna has water to throw on the stones. And of course that ridiculous sign telling me not to spend more than 10 minutes in there. After 40 mins in there it was time to get dressed up for the dreaded formal night. We didn't have reservations for my time dining, and the line at the door seemed quite long. But after 5 minutes we had pager in hand and were waiting in the On air club. Under 20 minutes after we had arrived on deck 3, we were sitting at our table. Food was good, but the portions are quite small. Luckily you can order more than one. I settled for just one, because I wanted to taste that supposedly improved pizza. And it really was better than I have had on our previous cruises. I wore a suit without a tie, and didn't feel under dressed. Definately the least formal night I have ever seen. 

 

More observations from our cabin:
That rattling tv fixture has been secured with about 10 rubber doorstoppers, it is better now, but still not silent. And wind is howling in the windows, didn't notice that yesterday. Hope that tomorrow winds will be calmer. Wi-Fi signal is much better than before, don't know why. And our cabin attendant is great, but he seems to have way more cabins to take care of than on our previous cruises. 

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, hukoli said:

As a typical Finn, I didn't mingle.

But, did you win a raffle item?

[hukoli]

7 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

But, did you win a raffle item?

 

I'm a proud owner of a stylish yellow highlighter pen.

[maranelloboy05]

Just booked Liberty in August, not many large reviews so excited to read about your experiences.

[ARCruisinNana]

13 hours ago, hukoli said:

Day 5, or day 2 of our cruise

 

First full day onboard, and everyone survived it. Younger kids were sleeping by 7 pm, ours survived through dinner to almost 8.30 pm. Wonder if I can even remember everything I did today…

I slept fine until 8 am, kids and gf had already eaten their breakfast at MDR. So I decided to try Chops for breakfast. I can't say how it compares to MDR, but I'm hoping that after tomorrow I can. Food was good and service was fast.
Meet & Mingle was scheduled at 9.45 am, almost didn't make it, but managed to ditch kids to their aunt. As a typical Finn, I didn't mingle. Next in program was some Suites & Pinnacles event, and I could get used to those. Small bites of nearly everything was brought to my table, ranging from fruits to wellington. Drinks were offered too. After the feast, cruise director introduced some senior crew, and that was it. When I was heading back to my cabin, our consierge gave me a tray of different treats for our kids. I don't know if this is common or not, but I was impressed. And kids ate everything.

 

Kids had lunch at the buffet, I didn't really need anything to eat after that suite feast. Tried the rock climbing wall with my girl, one climb was enough for my hands. She wants to try again tomorrow. Then she wanted to swim, so we left her to my brother's gf at the pool. Round of minigolf with our son, and soon it was time to get ready for the dinner. I decided to use the showers downstairs, and happily noticed that this ship's sauna has water to throw on the stones. And of course that ridiculous sign telling me not to spend more than 10 minutes in there. After 40 mins in there it was time to get dressed up for the dreaded formal night. We didn't have reservations for my time dining, and the line at the door seemed quite long. But after 5 minutes we had pager in hand and were waiting in the On air club. Under 20 minutes after we had arrived on deck 3, we were sitting at our table. Food was good, but the portions are quite small. Luckily you can order more than one. I settled for just one, because I wanted to taste that supposedly improved pizza. And it really was better than I have had on our previous cruises. I wore a suit without a tie, and didn't feel under dressed. Definately the least formal night I have ever seen. 

 

More observations from our cabin:
That rattling tv fixture has been secured with about 10 rubber doorstoppers, it is better now, but still not silent. And wind is howling in the windows, didn't notice that yesterday. Hope that tomorrow winds will be calmer. Wi-Fi signal is much better than before, don't know why. And our cabin attendant is great, but he seems to have way more cabins to take care of than on our previous cruises. 

Are you in 1804 or 1854?  We’ve been in 1804 and loved it. 2 bathrooms are priceless LOL.  We have 1854 booked for Thanksgiving. 

[hukoli]

We have both in our group. We are staying in 1854. Only differences seem to be that 1804 has bigger tv, and that tv stand doesn't rattle as bad. But we had 2 maintenance workers trying to fix ours today, we'll see if it has made any difference. 

[suesnake2002]

-arcruisinnana, please do not qoute texts or photos. 

Just reply to the thread. When a review is live the vroom and such is not the greatest. The op must wait for all that nonsense to load before he can read your comment. Thank you so much. 

[hukoli]

Day 6, 3rd day of our cruise

 

MDR breakfast had long line, so I went to chops. Kids did the buffet. We visited the next cruise -office, but were told that since we live in Europe, and use Euros to pay, we can't take advantage of any offers on board. And they quoted a price that was 500 higher than what our finnish TA could give. So no new cruise for us.

 

At 10.30 am it was time for slot pull. Great fun as always, this time it cost only 5 dollars. 15 to buy in, and 10 back in winnings. This was orgasized by Darryl(?) on the one blue social media site. I don't too well with names. Tried slot tournament after that, didn't get even close to the score required.

 

Played soccer in sport court with my brother. Not too heavy participation, only 6 players counting us two and one activity staff member. But great fun. Weather was a bit too warm for us, I was ready to die after 10 minutes. After a quick shower I went to bingo with my GF. Worst bingo ever. Only 1 game, full square. We were shocked. On previous cruises bingo has been a long event, with many games and winners. This one seemed more like a money grab. Price was 25 dollars, and prize was 500.

 

We ate dinner at Giovanni's as a family, I think we tasted all the appetizers, our waiter brought few extra ones to our table for tasting. As for main course, I couldn't decide between steak and veal, so I got both. Steak was better, but I'm not saying that the veal was bad. I ate both. Kids chose pasta, and GF ate the steak.

 

After dinner everyone went to bed. Only 9 pm now, and even I'm writing this in bed. Maybe I should try to take a nap somewhere. That heat really draws all my energy out. Tomorrow we will be in Roatan, GF is taking kids to LFK with her mother and sister, I have two dives booked through Royal's Cruise planner. Couple are taking Atlantis submarine, and rest have nothing planned. 

[hukoli]

Day 7, Roatan

 

After a quick breakfast in Windjammer, it was my tours meeting time. It was only about 15 minutes by bus to Anthony's Key Resort. Dives weren't great, but didn't expect much when going with a large group. But they have a great operation going. Good facilities, nitrox available, and they had their own medical clinic in case of any emergencies. Even saw a sign pointing hyperbaric chamber. There were 20 divers on the boat, and we dove in 2 groups of 10. Each group had one guide. Divetime was limited to 45 minutes. Lots of turtles, and bunch of larger fish. They had a camera down with us on the first dive, and were selling photos and videos after our first dive. After our second dive bus brought us back to port. After quick shower I wen't back to look around the port area. Not much there to see, but they are expanding the shopping area. Picked up that free charm and free studs from DI, and bought me a cap. Now I'm back at the cabin. 

 

Little French Key had been great for our kids, and if we ever visit Roatan again, they want to go back. I wasn't there, so don't know what to tell. If you have questions about that place, ask away and I'll ask from those who were there.
We are planning to see the ice show at 6.30 pm and go to MDR after that. If we ever figure out how many of are coming, I'll try to book in advance, if that is even possible. To be continued… 
 

[hukoli]

Day 7, continued

 

After a quick trip to rock climbing wall, we went to see the ice show. Girls liked it, boys thought it was stupid waste of time. I think that same conclusion can be applied to adults as well. 11 of us continued to MDR for dinner. They didn't take reservations after 3 pm, so we didn't have one. I got a pager from the desk, and about 5 minutes later we were seated. Our waiters took great care of us, and entertained our kids by making stuff from napkins. Food was good, as always, and service was fast.

 

Time to get to bed, tomorrow GF and kids have the port pass, and I have 2 more dives. 
 

[OSUZorba]

Who is the Suite lounge concierge right now?  Would you mind asking them if Liberty is doing the free frozen virgin drinks for Diamond?

 

I've never sailed in your cabin, but have seen it in a cabin crawl, it seems really nice. Not sure I could get DW to give up the balcony, but if any room could, it'd be that one. Has the wind noise gotten better?

[hukoli]

10 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

Who is the Suite lounge concierge right now?

 

Mangesh (MJ)

 

I will ask about those frozen drinks next time I see him, if I remember. 

 

Wind noise is better, and our tv got yet again another wedge to keep it silent. Ship is rocking a lot, and it is way worse up here than on deck 8 hump. We missed Costa Maya due to high waves. We are making our way now to Cozumel, plan is to stay in port overnight. 

[hukoli]

11 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

Would you mind asking them if Liberty is doing the free frozen virgin drinks for Diamond?

 

On request was his answer. 

[Tulsacoker]

47 minutes ago, hukoli said:

Mangesh (MJ)

Hello beautiful people 

[wolfganghowell]

Would you mind asking MJ how long he is onboard?  We sailed with him last year and coming back March 29th.  Hoping he will still be there.  Enjoying your review - enjoy your last few days.  And welcome to Texas!

[OSUZorba]

8 hours ago, hukoli said:

 

On request was his answer. 

Cool, thank you for asking. I haven't met MJ yet, but I've heard he is really good.

[hukoli]

Day 8, no Costa Maya for us

 

We all were eating our breakfast in Chops, when our captain told us that we can't get to port. Waves were too high. In his first announcement he said that we wouldn't be getting to Cozumel until tomorrow, but after a while he had better news, we would get a berth after Edge left port. This is our first time spending a night in port. Unfortunately I couldn't get any night dives for me, as the port was closed for all minor vessels. Hope I can dive tomorrow, but the messages I got said the port would be closed until Saturday. 

 

Lazy day onboard until we got to Cozumel. Kids went to waterslides and pools, some rock climbing wall and then back to pools. I spend couple hours in suite lounge playing, rest of the time didn't do much. Saw our captain standing at guest services in the morning. I think he was there making sure that guest don't yell at the innocent people behind the desk. 

 

When we finally got to port in Cozumel, we left the ship to check out the port area. Collected those free charms and some studs. Gf bought few shirts from Del Sol. We ate dinner in the MDR, and then it was time to get some sleep. After missing that last stop, my on board account looks quite nice.