From Galveston to Belize and Mexico and Back Again
Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 116
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 13, 2022
Ship: Liberty of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9692
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Overall, it was a great cruise and I would recommend the Liberty of the Seas to anyone. This was my first time on a Royal Caribbean ship and I enjoyed it so much, I put a deposit down on another cruise with them! My top recommendation is to eat at Sabor on the ship and visit some Mayan ruins in Belize.Embarkation
This process could not have gone any smoother. My check-in time was at 1:00 p.m. and I was on the ship by 1:20 p.m. Because you can upload all the relevant documents ahead of time and use the Royal Caribbean app to check in, the actual physical process of checking in is basically to give them your suitcase, verify your documents and walk through various hallways on to the ship. The only thing that was a minor surprise was that they wanted to see physical proof of the my covid vaccination records. I did not think they would need to see that since I had uploaded a photo of the document into the Royal Caribbean app. It took my a minute or two to open another app on my phone to get to my covid vaccine record. Other than that the embarkation process was super easy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food is very good on the Liberty of the Seas. I enjoyed every dinner I had in the main dining room. I would recommend the lamb, I had it two nights as a featured main dish and both times it was amazing.
My favorite meal was at Sabor, the Mexican speciality restaurant. Do yourself a favor and book a dinner there while you are on the cruise. It was some of the best Mexican cuisine I had had in a very long time. The freshly made guacamole was incredible! I was also recommend getting the dessert sampler for the table. Every dessert they make is fantastic and being able to sample of few bites of each one is the way to go.
Tip: The Royal Caribbean app has menus for every restaurant and bar on the ship built into it. If you decide to purchase the beverage package as I did, be sure to check out the drink menus in the app so that you can see all the specialty cocktails available throughout the ship. My favorite bar was the Schooner Bar where you could be specialty old fashioned cocktails. They made an old fashioned with Pyrat Rum that became my go to evening cocktail.
Onboard Activities
The pool in the Solarium section was my favorite spot to soak up the sun as it is 6ft deep. At 6'6", I appreciate pools where I can actually move around in without having to fold myself up to be mostly submerged in water.
For the first time ever, I used a cruise ship spa to get a facial. The actual experience of the facial was amazing and so relaxing. I had it done the first night on the ship, so it helped set the tone for a very relaxing cruise. The only negative is having to sit through a small sales talk after the facial where they try to sell you on purchasing spa products.
I did partake in the casino evening, putting a few dollars into the slot machines. I have to say, I loved being able to sit in the casino and not deal with all the cigarette smoke. My hope is that smoking is never allowed again in the casino, but I know that realistically, they will probably bring it back again at some point. The casino was generally full whenever I go to it and the whole time I was there, I only heard one person complain they couldn't smoke and gamble at the same time.
My favorite daily activity was going to the Schooner Bar and participating in the nightly trivia contest. It was a lot of fun and I ended up meeting a number of people there that I would see through out the ship at other times.
Entertainment
For their broadway style show, they do "Saturday Night Fever." It was so much fun, I highly recommend going to it. The performers were amazing and incorporating classic 70's disco with some new songs made for a great show. Plus the staging for the show is amazing to see, watching pieces of the set transform on stage is neat to see on a cruise ship stage.
Service and Staff
Everyone onboard the ship provided excellent service and was friendly and always had time for a short conversation. As a solo traveller, I also appreciated not being constantly asked why I was traveling by myself. In the past, on a different cruise line, I felt like I was having to constantly justify to the staff why I traveling by myself. On this ship, they were less concerned why I was traveling by myself and more concerned if I was having a good time, needed something, or just interested in chatting. The way it should be.
Ship Quality
I really like the size of this ship, big enough to feel big and offer space to get around without feeling crowded but still small enough to be able to see and do everything on the ship that you want to do. All the venues on the ship offer enough room to spread out if you are with a group or have enough seating if you are by yourself and are just looking for a good place to sit and read.
Cabin / Stateroom
My cabin had an extended balcony which I appreciated because I use the two provided chairs to really stretch out on the balcony and enjoy the views whether we were at sea or at port. The cabin is towards the very back of ship and high enough that one of the seas days when we were experiencing high winds, you could really feel the movement of the ship in the cabin. Luckily, it wasn't too bad and really only lasted one day, but if you are worried about feeling the movement of the ship, I would say not to stay in this area of the ship.
The room was very clean and the steward did a great job of keeping the room looking perfect. I would say, that I wished they would have more plugs in the room, and a couple of usb plugins would be great, but since this is an older ship, I understand why there weren't any in the room. My recommendation is to bring a travel plug extension cord that includes additional plugs and USB ports. You're going to need it, with all of todays gadgets.
They bed was good, with a firm mattress, just like at home, just a little small for me. There was plenty of shelf space all over the room and plenty of drawers for storing away all my clothes. Plus the closet had a bunch of hangers in it, so I had no problem unpacking everything I had brought on to the ship.
Ports of call
I stayed in Galveston for several days prior to the cruise. It was a great place with a lot of interesting stores to walk around and check out. Lots of neat older homes to see around the island as well. I would recommend taking a ghost tour or two while there, besides hearing some great ghost stories, I also learned a lot about the history of the island. Also take some time to walk the beach on the gulf side of the island, it's a very relaxing walk and view.
Thumbs Up
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My first time in Belize and I enjoyed in very much. The people were very friendly and eager to tell you about their country. I went on a shore excursion to Mayan ruins at Altun Ha. It was smaller site of ruins but still a good tour with the chance to climb to the top of a temple where the largest carved piece of jade from the Mayan empire was found. The tour was interesting as well because our guide spent a lot of time talking to us about modern Belize culture and pointing our various sites along the road to and from the Mayan site. I would definitely travel back to Belize to experience more of the country.
Costa Maya is basically a cruise port with shops, restaurants, bars and a giant pool in the center of it. They also have a dolphin experience you can do as well a bird aviary that you can walk through for a fee. I went on an excursion to Chacchoben Mayan Ruins and Bacalar Lagoon Beach. This was a fairly large site of Mayan ruins and had a main trail that weaved in and out of forested land. You can walk up two different temples and get great views of the surrounding area. Bacalar Lagoon Beach offers a decent lunch and included bar for refreshments. There is a small beach for swimming in a lagoon, which was nice to soak in after walking around the Mayan site.
I've been to Cozumel so many times that I hardly get off of the ship anymore. Basically I got off the ship so I go into town to grab some small bottles of Mexican vanilla and other small trinkets for friends and family back at home. If you want to shop and party then Cozumel is your place, but for me, I'd rather just stay on the ship, sit by the pool and take advantage of the beverage package.
Disembarkation
Just as easy an embarkation. There new policy is that you basically just hang out in your room until you see your group number being released on a specific tv channel. Then you leave the ship. I was able to get breakfast in the Windjammer in the morning before my group number was announced for disembarkation.