It had been 25 years since my wife and I cruised for our honeymoon. Both times I was worried I would not enjoy it. But once onboard it was quite relaxing, especially once we found our rhythm and learned to avoid certain areas at certain times. Our teenage boys had fun, but did not find many other people their age (or any who were willing) to hang out with, so they mostly spent time with each other and us. We are in our mid 50's and the crowd definitely trended older. And, I'd say a majority of passengers are Texans, for whatever that's worth. For the same money, we could have had a balcony suite on a Carnival ship, but decided to go with RC to avoid the rowdy/party atmosphere we feared on Carnival. Mission accomplished, I think.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was pretty smooth. Definitely optimized to get people through quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Dining room was great. Food and service were always top notch. Buffets were almost always chaotic. Food at the buffets was acceptable, but often hard to find seating, and crowds at peak times made for an overall unpleasant experience. Most of the issues came down to other passengers just not being aware of their space and interrupting any kind of flow.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pool deck suffered from chair hoarders, as expected. Pools were often crowded during the day, and then closed fairly early. Water slides and features were always long lines, when open. Fitness center was very nice. Very crowded on first day, then less so.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
There was a good variety of entertainment, and we took advantage of something almost every day and found it all to be quite good.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Excellent all around. We had a couple issues with our cabin door lock mechanism and always got prompt responses to have it addressed. Staff was always very busy, but very pleasant. Dining room waiters were exceptional.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The Liberty is starting to show her age just a tad, but overall is very well maintained and kept very clean and in good repair.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We had the most basic interior cabin for four people (two adults and two teens). The bunk configuration over the main bed was unexpected, but worked well. Beds were very comfortable and we were surprisingly happy spending time in our cabin together without feeling claustrophobic. Maybe not for everyone, but we thought it worked just fine. Rooms are well insulated for noise, apparently, because we never had an issue with noise from neighbors at night.
Ship tip
Deck 4, Starboard is a nice deck for sitting outside without feeling as crowded as the pool deck. The starboard side is no smoking.
We stayed within the port shopping area, which was fine. Lots of high-pressure sales and lots of similar merchandise and alcohol. But you can get some fairly cheap souvenirs. Did not do an excursion as the cost for 4 on most was more than we could justify, especially knowing they're never quite as described. Stopped at Margaritaville, but decided not to pay $22 for a standard margarita.
Did not do an excursion as the cost for 4 on most was more than we could justify, especially knowing they're never quite as described. We did do some shopping in the port area and a few blocks outside. Lots of standard/repetitive items for sale.
This town has no business being a port city. It's basically in a lagoon, and while the immediate port shopping area is pretty nice, if you step outside you're immediately in a pretty inhospitable area that feels pretty wild. Any real decent excursions are in Ocho Rios or Montego Bay, so you spend most of your time driving. Better to pick an itinerary that stops in one of those ports instead.
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