Liberty of the Seas
Sail date: December 10, 2011
p Boarding at Ft. Lauderdale#39;s Port...
p
Boarding at Ft. Lauderdale#39;s Port Everglades went fairly smoothly, as we arrived about 11am. The disembarkation upon return was the normal disaster caused by the Union help for the handling of luggage. I hopped off within 20 minutes with carry-on only, while my companions were held up for over three hours to get luggage. That#39;s the worst part of any cruise.
p
The emstrongLiberty of the Seas /strong/emis a beautiful ship, with all the latest toys and attractions. It was perfect for this trip with two days at sea. The port of Belize City is less than exciting, unless you take advantage of diving the reef. The early tenders were all reserved for those taking ship-arranged excursions, so by the time we could get to the dock, there was no time for the ferry to either of the larger Cayes, Ambergris or Caulker#39;s.
p
The port call in Cozumel was the expected Tourist City. Tons of junk shops and the usual Duty Free shops. Interesting if you hadn#39;t been there before. Parasailing and fishing seemed to be available, but again almost impossible with the hsort time in port.
p
The ship itself was the destination, and the entertainment was first class. The food choices for dining were very good. We took the My Time dining option which let#39;s you make reservations when you#39;d like, and it was handled fairly well. Royal Caribbean must be cutting back on their training, as some of the service was almost surly, or careless at best. The dining rooms were fairly good, but other services like bars, and smaller eateries were very bad. You could stand at the bar for sive minutes and never even be acknowledged, and not because they were busy. Perhaps the new breed of American travelers have never experienced the traditional cruise line service, but it#39;s defintely lackiing on the new RCL.
p
Overall, a C+. Nice ship, but the staff needs some serious work. We had one Wow card for complimenting the staff and had a hard time finding a deserving crew member. We ended up presenting it to a rather junior member of the dining room staff who apparently hasn#39;t had time to become blended into theem style=font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; font-size: small; laxidasical/emspan style=font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; font-size: small; /spanmood of the others.
p