Great cruise, great ports but over priced!
Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 47
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 08, 2017
Ship: Liberty of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 8594
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
So we really like RC and The Liberty of the Seas HOWEVER... We have noticed that they are going up on their prices w/o going up in their service. We got the photo package last year for between $150-$200 which was a good deal considering we got ALL of our photos on a digital drive (cheap and easily breakable but servicable) so we could pick the size (as they will only print them in 8x10) and edit them as we wished (since they do not edit or filter them). This year the price went up to $300!! That's just crazy and no longer any kind of a good deal. Very disappointing as we were fully planning on doing that again but just could not justify spending that much. The cleanliness this year, in our room, was a bust. And for 2 years in a row the customer service was sub par. But all that being said we still will most likely cruise RC again. Next year we have decided to go back to Carnival as a result of the above mentioned but who knows after that. Only time will tell.Embarkation
My husband and I are Gold members so we have priority boarding which was such an improvement to last year. Before that it was a 4 hour process!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Main dining room 3 stars
Wind Jammer 4 stars
Giovanni's 5 stars
Onboard Activities
The gym was very nice with yoga and fitness classes as well as a plethora of machines. The adult solarium was very nice and clean.
Entertainment
Very good shows and entertainment. Now I will say that the singer's this were while good were not as good as the group we had last year. However they were still very entertaining.
Children's Programs
We had no children with us to be able to rate.
Service and Staff
So as much as we had some people that we loved over all it was just 'okay'. When we asked questions they would either tell us to come back later to find out (in the shops) or to look it up ourself (main desk). As someone who has been in customer service if someone is asking you for help or to look something up then a GOOD customer service rep will find the answer for you or go and find someo e for you who does. It was the same last year with the same ship which at the time I was hoping was just an off season/sailing but now see that that is just how they are.
Ship Quality
We were very disapointed that this year our room wasn't kept up with as well as before. For multiple days our bathroom would smell even after it was 'cleaned' which lead me to get down on my hands and knees and clean it myself with water, a rag and some essential oils that I always have with me and that finally fixed the problem. Also there was a day that the pillow case that was used to replace the last one had a HUGE stain on it that was so gross and I have no idea how they missed it. The bedding also had these long threads that should of at least been trimmed off but wasn't. The ship however was very well kept with a nice layout. There was 1 elevator that was out of service the whole trip that made the wait times longer then normal but nothing that stairs or a little further walking to another side couldn't fix.
Cabin / Stateroom
The size was of the room was very nice. The balcony was beautiful! The chairs and deck table were awesome, adjustable and very comfortable. The cleanliness however was lacking and disappointing.
Ship tip
Arive early to the shows. They are worth the time and effort to get in to see them.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
My husband and I went on a dolphin watching tour that was really fun. We also saw the dolphins from our balcony as we were waiting to leave! If you like sweets then go and visit LaKings Confectionary.
We did an excursion there called 3 reef snorkel that was great! The water is so blue and so clear and the fish were so plentiful that it was the best snorkeling that we have ever done anywhere. However we were disapointes that once we got off the ship that we didn't see the photography set up so we could get our pictures which is always a big thing for us. Since this was my third time there it didn't ruin the experience but it did put a slight damper on it for me.
Grand Cayman was BEAUTIFUL!! However just be aware that you have to tinder out to the island. While we never had a problem with tinders in Balize we had a rough time with them as it took forever to get on one. I don't know if it was because there were 2 other ships in port and they just didn't have enough for the demand but it caused us to be 2 hours behind schedule for our excursion. Therefore we lost shopping time which was sad because I had never been to this port before and wanted to check out the shops. However the Turtle Encounter was great! They were so nice and informative at the center and it was great to have so many options of things to do once we got there. Great for couple or families as there are things to do for both.
WE LOVED FALMOUTH JAMAICA!!! It was nothing like what people had warned us about. Now we did only stay in the shopping area but we were led to believe that it was going to be dirty, scary and that the vendors would be pushy and 'grabby'. Now again I can't say anything about what's outside the shops but inside was great. They have so many artists with their woodworking, sculptures, signs crafts. If you are looking for authentic souvenirs this is the port to get them from.
Disembarkation
We always do the self disembark because we like to get off as quickly as possible and not get caught up in the crowds. We have done this twice now with RC and both times have gone off w/o a hitch.