KofiNaija Cruise Review on Liberty of the Seas on Apr 21, 2019

Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review

KofiNaija

Contributor Level: Cruise Director

3 Days Till Next Cruise

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 21, 2019

Ship: Liberty of the Seas

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Trip got off to a rocky start with a 3 hour embarkation delay and a check in line winding down the sidewalk. The new information to me was the two weeks sandwiching Easter are Spring break in Mexico, so there were 3000 foreign passport holders disembarking. Thus when I arrived at 1:30, people were still exiting customs from the previous sailing. Fortunately it was a nice day. RCCL set up water stations outside the terminal and most people remained in good spirits. There were 1700 foreign passport holders on my sailing. The captain says it's usually 5%. My previous sailings on Liberty were snooze cruises. This sailing was the best ever. Very vibrant. Boleros was packed every night with all ages and cultures and an excellent band. The night club at Olive or Twist was great. On prior cruises it died around 1230. On this sailing they partied late. Very late.. Again with plenty of people with grey hair dancing alongside those of college age. The DJ hit it out the park. He was one of the best on RCCL. Ken, the Diamond Lounge concierge was the best I encountered. On day one he greeted everyone upon entering and then walked the entire room passing out Easter candy. Ahead of the tender, he made sure everyone had a good tender time. He was present all week and worked the entire room. Royals food has really gotten better. I typically order a red meat and the veggie Indian in the MDR. The Indian is always quite tasty. A consistent MDR winner is the lamb shank. Liberty also does a great job with its grilled fish entrees. Delicate flavor and not overcooked. The buffet has some standing items alongside rotating dishes. A standard item I enjoyed at night was the fried fish. Lunch in the buffet was interesting as the Mexicans are late eaters. At noon, the buffet would be empty. It peaked out around 2pm. Not a fan of burgers in buffet. They have the best crunchy hot dogs around. The burger in MDR is delicious. Liberty has also stepped up its game on the complimentary coffee and its pizza. Shows are standard. No real standouts. Some people really liked Saturday Night Fever. Service throughout the ship was superb. All the bartenders were excellent and the staff was willing to engage and share their stories once they found you had a true interest. Disembarkation was smooth. Self assist started at 7:15. Was out if terminal at 7:30. Texas alcohol agents were out. I just said I didn't have alcohol and never stopped walking. Changes of note, they did not deliver any alcohol to cabins. You pick up all alcohol at the promenade shop between 6am-8am on disembarkation morning. They said kids were taking booze left outside cabins with do not disturb signs. Also they have devalued top tier status. Diamonds no longer have express security lines. You have to pay for that with The Key. And at the check in desk, all top tiers are in a single line. It still moved quickly. All in all this was the best Liberty sailing. If one wants a vibrant ship from Galveston, I would suggest booking around the same time.

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