First Time On Royal
Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 49
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 19, 2019
Ship: Liberty of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 9483
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Overall the ship was an upgrade in class from Carnival but the food, staff and entertainment was a down grade. You need to pay attention to the schedule on the app because there are no announcements or hype before shows. We found 1 waiter the entire cruise that was happy and smiling and wanting us to have a good time. There was one lady in the buffet entrance that dances with hand sanitizer encouraging cleanly habits but everyone else seems stoic and miserable.Embarkation
It was a bit slower than when we sailed with Carnival but it was pretty efficient
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
All blended drinks are watery because they add alcohol after ice is blended. Food was hit or miss at all meals until the last dinner. It seems they waited until them to bring out the good stuff.
Onboard Activities
We spent most of the time on the main pool deck. There was almost never waiters and when they did take your drink order they disappear for 20-30 minutes with your Set Sail Card and you almost forget about it. We loved the water slides! Our 5 year old had a blast at Adventure Ocean!
Entertainment
We went to a few shows and game shows. They were also hit or miss. Being a trained dancer I could pick out when dancers were off rhythm and some of the shows were difficult to follow because they were all over the place. It was exhausting to try and keep up.
Children's Programs
Our 5 year old thoroughly enjoyed Adventure Ocean. She was in the Aquanauts 3-5 year olds and it was difficult at times to get her to leave with us because she loved it so much.
Service and Staff
We almost never saw him our room stewardess. When we did it was a wave down the hall or we’d ask about things to do in the days port and she had no clue. The main dining room staff was pleasant but the food was not great so we mainly ate in the buffet. On the main pool deck the wait staff is few and far between and took 20-30 minutes sometimes more to bring back your set sail card and drink.
Ship Quality
The ship was very nice, the hallways were wide enough to comfortably pass other cruisers. The rooms stayed cool and functioned well. There was black mold in our shower but in difficult to clean places. I loved that the shower had doors and not just a curtain that clung to you while you showered. The spinning doors between the elevators and main pool deck were a huge pain in the rear. They constantly stopped while walking around them and sometimes went so slowly it took so long to get through them. The elevators were terrible. It took 5-10 minutes to get an elevator because all 4 would be on the same floor. You had to call one up or down and hope it was empty so you could change direction to meet your needs.
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin was small as to be expected but was set up fairly efficient. The only down side was the entrance area. There is 2 closet doors, a bathroom door and main room door in a 3x2 space. You couldn’t come in the room if the bathroom door is open or come out of the bathroom if someone was in the closet. The room was clean but the shower had mold on it.
Ship tip
Don’t rely on wait staff on the main pool deck. If you want a drink and don’t want to wait 20-30 minutes, go to the bar yourself.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Chankanaab Beach Park is fantastic! I recommend getting the all inclusive package with food and drink included. The only downside is the package is not useable on the beach side. We did not have the all inclusive package so we paid for food and drink BUT it wasn’t that bad because we purchased our entry before we set sail so it didn’t come out of our cruise money.
We walked around and shopped. There are 2 hidden gems we found. An antique/treasure store on the main road towards Hard Rock Cafe had the coolest sunken treasures and the woman curator was incredibly knowledgeable! It was fascinating! The other was a little souvenir shop hidden around a corner of the shopping mall. You see signs for $8 hats with free personalization and it says past the perfume shop. It’s to the left at a dead end BUT it’s built over an old mineral spring! There is a glass floor and you can see water still in the well and stairs carved into the stone. It was really cool!
We wanted to go to a beach. We were told to go to Blue Water Beach by the taxi service. It was $20 round trip for each person and $10 entry to the beach. We had to sit in the taxi for 30 minutes waiting for more people going to the beach before they would take us. We were told $10 gave you entry, a chair and umbrella on the beach. I was fried on my shoulders and only agreed to go because there was shade offered. We arrived and there was more bodies than beach. One employee said you have to rent umbrellas for an addition $10, a second said the would get one, a third said they are sold out and a fourth said they would bring one. They tried to set me in a shut down beach bar for shade. Finally we found a shaded area and lounged but could not see the water because there were sooooo many bodies and umbrellas. It was miserable. We didn’t stay long and ended up going shopping near the boat before eating at Margaritaville. We were lead to a table and left there for 15 minutes before we left asked for a waiter. Ordered a few specialty drinks in souvenir cups and tap water. They tried to bring bottles of water for $2.50 each and we told them no, tap water. They still charged us for the bottled water and we were so annoyed we just paid and left.
Disembarkation
We had Group A self departure at 8 am. We woke up and prepared to eat at 7:10 am. As soon as we get walked into the Buffett area they called for groups A and B. We went back to the cabins and grabbed our bags. We were off the ship, through customs and at our vehicle in a parking garage by 8 am. It was very quick and efficient. Just inconvenient that that never seem to follwow posted schedules.