Nice to get away, but didn’t love the ship

Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 63

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Liberty of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 25, 2018

Ship: Liberty of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8367

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

My primary reason for not recommending this cruise to anyone would be because of the food and drink situation. The food in the Windjammer was so bland and gross I didn’t even eat very much. The rolls every day were very hard so my children wouldn’t eat them, the biscuits were very hard, dense, and not risen, and the pizza crust was almost not chewable it was so hard. The dessert was beautiful, but when you ate it it had no flavor whatsoever, much like plastic. The cheese sauce I put on my fries one day tasted like water. I’m not even sure how that’s possible. There was only one ice cream cone station for an entire ship full of people, so there was always a line and it was always going out. Very few drink stations for the people who did not have a drink package, which I’m sure was on purpose as a push for you to be able to access to bar drinks. The main dining room food had better flavor and great service from all our attendants, but took a very long time to eat there with a long wait time between each entree. The Carnival cruise I took had free drink stations everywhere throughout the ship as well as ice cream cone stations. It also had free popcorn machines going when movies were playing by the pool. The water park area for the kids was nice, but there was only a tiny area for babies with swim diapers, so our complete family could never be together because I always had to stay out with the 1 year old. I was told when I registered that the children would be free, but at the end of the week I had $200 on my bill for their gratuities. I had to go to the desk to have it taken off, which should’ve never happened in the first place. Apparently Royal Carribean would’ve been happy to take my $200 if I would’ve been in a hurry or had not thoroughly read my bill. Again, those fees should’ve never been on there in the first place. The rooms were not very cool, although our room attendant did a good job of finding us a big box fan which helped. There was a mini fridge, but it only reached 55 degrees, so I was not able to keep my Children’s Milk in it. The room attendant did a good job of bringing us ice every day for the milk, but it would’ve been much more convenient to not have to transfer and dump everything twice a day.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Quick and easy

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
The main dining room had pretty decent food, we didn’t try the specialty restaurants, and the buffet was almost not edible. The Windjammer was so bland and gross I didn’t even eat very much. The rolls every day were very hard so my children wouldn’t eat them, the biscuits were very hard, dense, and not risen, and the pizza crust was almost not chewable it was so hard. The dessert was beautiful, but when you ate it it had no flavor whatsoever, much like plastic. The cheese sauce I put on my fries one day tasted like water. I’m not even sure how that’s possible. There was only one ice cream cone station for an entire ship full of people, so there was always a line and it was always going out. Very few drink stations for the people who did not have a drink package, which I’m sure was on purpose as a push for you to be able to access to bar drinks. The main dining room food had better flavor and great service from all our attendants, but took a very long time to eat there with a long wait time between each entree. The Carnival cruise I took had free drink stations everywhere throughout the ship as well as ice cream cone stations. It also had free popcorn machines going when movies were playing by the pool.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

Very bland and bread in any form was not edible.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Enjoyed the pools, water park, shows, characters

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Good

Children's Programs

Did not use it

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Very helpful and accommodating for anything you need at all.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Always very clean. Did not like the design of the drink stations and ice cream station- there needed to be a LOT more drink stations throughout the ship and more than 1 ice cream station to serve an entire ship of people.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Clean, but very small. Shower was almost too small to shave my legs. Would be nice to have a tub to bathe small children. Would’ve been nice if the fridge went below 55 degrees so I could keep my babies’ milk cold and not have to transfer ice and dump water every morning and night. Room wasn’t very cool, had to ask for a fan.

Ship tip

Do not eat in the buffet.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

4 out of 5
We went to Las Palmas for the excursion. Kids played in the sand. You receive 1 free cup of punch, and anything else has to be purchased. Food on the menu is NOT cheap. There was a woman waiting outside the restroom with a tip jar. I’m not sure what she wanted a tip for. Water was pretty, WiFi code did not work for me. The bus driver and tour guide wanted separate tips according to their sign, again I’m not sure what tips were for since we had already paid for an excursion. A man let my nephew hold his pet monkey, and then demanded $5.

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

4 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5
Everyone wants tips. Tips to take a picture, tips if you buy a shirt from them, tips if you look at them.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Not as fast as embarkation was, but not horrible.
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6 Comments

JackhammerTX    6 years ago

Geeze woman... You don't have enough to complain about. Kids are free and you complain about a $200 gratuity? REALLY? Do you constantly complain about your service at Trump Towers?

eric677251    6 years ago

Here is the one caveat that I would say would lead me to question whether or not I should have to tip for my child/children; what is their age? If I was taking a six month old infant onto a cruise, and we all know that no one is "free" on a cruise (just somewhere else in the cruise fare), should I have to tip for a six month old? There is almost no service that a cruise ship could provide my six month old. If I was going to tip anyone, it was going to be the child care people who watched my child while we were doing other things. The stateroom attendant or dining room attendants won't do any work for a six month old. My son was two before he went on his first cruise and we didn't question paying the gratuities for his cruise, but I think it might have crossed my mind if he was significantly younger.

CruiseMRR    6 years ago

I agree with donnasileo as they took care of your kids, so why do you think you should not pay for that service? Would you not tip on a children's meal in a restaurant? We just got off of Liberty of the Seas on 3/11 and had a fabulous time with our group of 12. The food, the service, the entertainment, the everything was great and we were treated extremely well. The main dining room was fantastic with great staff....we would not have wanted the food to have been any quicker as that is how a nice dinner takes place... relaxing!! Maybe cruising isn't for you...maybe something else is your style.

pinkfirefly    6 years ago

Sounds like you're just a Carnival person. Nothing wrong with that. Different strokes for different folks.

RayofLife    6 years ago

Why do you think you Dont have to pay gratuities for children who sail free? Gratuities have to do with the service the children received on the ship (food service, Staterooms upkeep, ect.) Am i misunderstanding your comment or do you beleive gratuities are the same as vacation cost to sail?

DMS60    6 years ago

If you would have preferred a tub, you should have booked a junior suite. Lots of space for a family and a bigger bathroom with a full sized tub. We found the food in the windjammer fine, dining hall the food was good and our service was excellent.

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