This was my 2nd cruise. I would not recommend Liberty or the freedom class. The ship was small, we felt a lot of movement the whole time, and not as much to do as we would like. We prefer Oasis class.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation took longer than expected. We had to wait in a holding area sitting until they called our row. It took about a half an hour. We were but early for our boarding time either. We had 10:30 boarding but after parking we didn’t get in the terminal until 11. Then boarded at 11:30 am.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
We only ate at the MDR and Windjammer. The food was edible but not outstanding. Service in the MDR was fantastic and the waiter was willing to bring us as many entrees as we wished.
Johnny Rockets
5 out of 5
The location isn’t very easy or central. But we got free milk shakes with our refreshment package. They were not busy, quick and very good shakes.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pool deck was always busy. It was very hard to find any loungers unless we went before breakfast. The rock climbing wall was easy. The water slides were terrible. You get stuck on them and have to shimmy your way through some areas. The other tube water slide has a weight limit of 75 lbs. No one under 75 lbs can go on it. And it was closed a lot because the ship was rocking causing the water to sway as well. My son went on it 1 time in a 9 day cruise and that was on embarkation day before we sailed away. It was amazing, though!
Liberty Dunes
5 out of 5
Nice golf course. It was challenging and fun. It’s on the top deck so it was windy. Only accessible by stairs.
Flowrider
5 out of 5
There is o my 1 flow rider. 2 people can ride at a time. The crew gives you guidance and 3 tries. We enjoyed it.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The shows and music were great. The comedians were not that funny. Saturday night fever was great-great acting and band. The ice skating show was wonderful. Small rink, though so get there early to get a seat.
Library & Card Room
5 out of 5
We used the card room almost everyday. It was very busy all hours of the day. It was comfortable and set up nicely.
Children's Programs
My children are teenagers and did not attend.
Challengers Arcade
2 out of 5
Some games were broken and we didn’t know until we swiped our card to play and then the controller didn’t work. It was very warm in there and got crowded quickly.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our room steward was spotty at best. Some days he left our bed pillows on the ground after making the bed, one day he didn’t empty our trash, and it looked like he never vacuumed the whole 9 days.
Our MDR waiter and assistant (Punut and Anaket) were amazing! They felt like family on the second day. They were very attentive and new what we liked.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The cleanliness of the ship was good. We saw crew cleaning, scrubbing, wiping things down a lot. However the ship it old and outdated. Some halls near the elevators stunk like mold and mildew. The ship layout and design was average. I feel the ship could use a little more things to do like a pool table.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The overall design was fine. The cabin lacks outlets, needs an update with design, the bathroom shelves had rust on them. Everything was functional, just old and worn looking. The mattress was hard as a rock in my room, but the neighboring rooms had soft comfy mattresses. We had a block of 6 rooms. 6634 had a buckling balcony floor that was a tripping hazard. It was like the floor had a bubble in it and when you stepped on it, it would squish down. But it was tall enough that it caused you to stumble. 6638 had a hard mattress as well. 6640 & 6644 were ok and had soft mattresses. 6642 had balcony floor buckling like 6634 except when you stepped on these bubbles, nasty old water came out of them.
Ship tip
It’s all about what you make of it. We had a great cruise and enjoyed ourselves even though it wasn’t pristine.
We did not leave the port. This port had a large pool, lazy river and lots of shopping. However, it was back to back with our other stops, so we wished we had access to a beach instead of just staying in the port.
Very fast, a little unorganized due to lack of crew members directing. But overall quick. Luggage handlers did not escort us to the car, they left everything on the sidewalks and the traffic was horrendous. Terminal staff were yelling and told our vehicle to pull way up. We had 17 suitcases we had to lug way up to where they made him pull over. Not fun.
I was on the same sailing. Totally agree about never being able to find an available deck chair unless you wanted to sit in scorching sun on deck 12. No thank you! Grand turk was my favorite port on the cruise!
Sorry it did not meet muster for you. We have only sailed Quantum class and Freedom class with Royal and have I’ve liked both of them but we actually preferred Freedom class. Haven’t tried Oasis yet. We will be back on the Liberty in December.
Royal does not issue or allow you to select a boarding time, you pick a Check-in arrival time. As with all USA based home ports, boarding will begin after the CBP, USCG, and DHS give clearance. When things go well boarding usually begins 4-5 hours after the ship is cleared to off load the previous cruise. Clearance does not always equal the schedule dock time and may be held back for several reasons. Scheduling for check-ins times usually start 1 hr prior to the expected boarding clearance. After clearances to board are given the cruise line, first starts with B2B cruisers, then embarkation day weddings, then highest loyalty level (Pinnacle) and top tier suite level (Star/Presidents/Owners), then moves to the second highest loyalty (Diamond+) and the next lower their of suites (Sky/Grand/Apartment) and so 9n until they run out of priority levels to start general boarding. Specifically for Cape Liberty non-priority boarding generally rarely occurs prior to 11:30am
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