Fantastic experience and we will be back!!!!
Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 32
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 23, 2019
Ship: Liberty of the Seas
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 2610
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Overall, 4.6 out of 5 stars! The embarkation needs some work,but wasn't too bad. The cabin was adequate and the service great.The bartenders and waiters are friendly, knowledgeable and obviously love their jobs. Everything is clean. The food is so good, you get tired of eating by the last night. My husband gained 14 pounds and I gained 9. The decks are washed down nightly and ready to go the next day. The down side is the cost of anything not already included. They have you and they know it, but it is the same on any cruise. Disembarkation was a piece of cake compared to embarkation; RCI has that part down to a "T." Our porters were friendly and took care of us.Embarkation
I cannot rate it as perfect as the port personnel had some technical difficulties with some of the passengers getting their pictures taken for security reasons. This resulted in a delay in boarding by more than a half hour, maybe close to an hour.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We loved the food and service in the main dining room, which was used for dinner each night and for breakfast for three of the mornings. Also we ate at the Windjammer buffet for breakfast and lunch most of the other days. Food was great and service was friendly and speedy. The variety of food offered in the buffet was astounding. The servers really seemed to like helping us and were very friendly. Outside every place to eat are places to sanitize your hands, which is great!
Onboard Activities
We did not use many of the available activities but the pools and hot tubs were very well maintained. Again, the wait staff is right there to ask if you would like a drink or pick up a glass. The pools were also usually pretty full which of course is expected. We tried the slides. I got stuck on both and had to sit up and force myself along. This sucked!! I was not the only one, even some children were getting stuck. My husband did not...go figure. If the slides had a bit steeper angle, this would not happen. Too much of the slides are nearly flat. We also played putt-putt. It was fun, but can get crowded on sea days. We visited the Casino. I played a slot machine and Roulette, I lost a whopping .80 cents. I'm sure I could've lost a great deal, but I was not there to gamble, per se. Dana the bartender was great!
Entertainment
The ones that we heard and were commented on by others we spoke with were very good. The gentleman that performed at night in the Hoof and Claw known as "Cozn" (I think that is how he spelled it) was extremely talented and had everyone entertained and singing along.
Children's Programs
No children were with us.
Service and Staff
This is where the praise is certainly deserved above all other catagories--we rated it as exceptional. If there were 10 stars, they would get 10! Everyone we encountered was extremely polite and went out of their way to accommodate any need or request we had. The dining room staff was stellar (big shout out to DonDon and Karene!!). It almost seemed our cabin steward, Ross, saw us as his only customer-- he was that good. We got to speak at length to several of the bartenders(Heidi and Rickey) and liked them tremendously. They knew their business.
Ship Quality
All aspects of the ship public areas were well thought out and it was easy enough to find where you needed to go. The ship was what we thought, plenty big but not too big. Everything was kept in working order and clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
The size was what we would expect, and was fine for us. Our cabin steward kept it clean and bed made, even more often than we required (thank you Ross!). The bed was comfortable enough, certainly better than lots of hotels we have stayed in. The AC was fine. One thing we would do differently was put the light switch (or another one) inside the bathroom instead of the hinge side of the door on the outside. We found ourselves having to many times step back out of the bathroom to turn the light on. Also we would have liked power outlets inside the bathroom and not only the two outside. RCI does not allow power strips and only two 110 v outlets were not enough for the devices that needed to be powered or charged.
Ship tip
We watched many YouTube videos prior to our trip on the Liberty of the Seas specifically. We felt like we knew the ship even before boarding her. We also used indoor parking which was totally worth it. Jason, the owner, is awesome!
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Ports of call
We did not do an excursion as we were in process of getting on and off the ship as soon as possible. It was a bit confusing on where to go when we got to the embarking process at first but all worked out.
The disembarkation was speedy and the port clean. Towels are provided by the ship, which is very nice. The area to meet is clearly marked on your excursion ticket and was found easily at the dock. We SCUBA dive, so it was great. Sand Dollar Sports is AWESOME; nothing like handing me fresh fruit to get the salt taste out of my mouth in between dives. I don't feel it is appropriate to rate them here, but it was spectacular service. Getting back on the ship was easy as well. The area near the ship is clean and safe.
The disembarkation here sucks!!! This is NOT RCI's fault however because Grand Cayman does not have docks big enough for cruise ships. One has to take a tender from the ship to the shore and back. The tenders are huge and hold 250 at a time, but with 3,600+ to get ashore...it takes time. RCI does a good job of staggering times to get you to the tenders so you aren't standing in line, but it is still frustrating when you know your time in port is ticking away. This is where booking your excursion through RCI is a plus because the people doing the excursion will get you back to the ship on time. Again we did SCUBA. The dives were great. The only thing missing was a little something besides just water to drink...they need to take a lesson or two from Sand Dollar Sports. The down side was that because we were late leaving the ship, we did not have time at the end of the day to enjoy the port at all. The last tender was due to leave at 5:30 and we got there just in time. My husband and I would have liked to spend a few minutes doing a little shopping, but were unable to. Either the ship needs to allow us to disembark earlier or they need to say another hour or so.
Disembarkation and embarkation was GREAT! The Falmouth was safe and clean. We were able to find our group fairly easily. We visited the Bamboo Beach Club. Tiffia was our hostess and she did a GREAT job along with Sheena. There was plenty to eat/drink and the entertainment was excellent. The restrooms were okay considering they are on a beach. The down side, well, we were lucky we were the first ones on the beach because we were able to get the chairs in the shade. Had we been much later, it would have been a long uncomfortable day in the Jamaican sun. Thanks Tiffia for getting us there early! The other down side was the beach/swim area is small, which means it gets crowded fast. If you want to snorkle, forget it. It is too crowded and get too murky with so many people. If my husband and I had known this, we probably would have done a different excursion where we could've snorkled easier. If you're not into snorkling and just want beach time with great food/drink, then this is the place for you!
Disembarkation
Very straightforward and expedient. Shawn, the porter that rolled out our luggage to the bus to go back to parking was very helpful and friendly.