Just off the Liberty 10 day sailing May 6th to 16th

My husband and I just got home today from our 10 day cruise aboard the Liberty of the Seas. I have never done a review on here before but I know that it helped me to read other's reviews before we left so I hope this helps other travelers.

The parking and terminal situation worked great for us. We did long term parking and we had no problem getting to the terminal and checking in. We were checked in and on board within 20 minutes. We were able to go right to our stateroom and our luggage arrived 10 minutes later. Not sure if this is always that quick but there was no one getting off before us b/c the ship arrived empty from Fort Lauderdale which may have been the reason.

Ship is the largest we have been on and is laid out very much like the Explorer with some additions. We had some excellent dinners in both the dining room and both specialty restaurants. We loved Chops so much we ate there twice during our cruise. The servers were extremely nice and always took care of us and made sure we were happy. Lunches were just ok we thought. We went to the Windjammer for most of them b/c it was just easier when you are coming from the pool. We did have 2 lunches in the main dining room which we thought were great. Breakfast anywhere you go is nothing to write home about. Fake tasting eggs and cold sausage. Room service breakfast was worse. I would end up eating cereal most mornings so I would not be starving by 11.

Drink prices did go up sadly. We did not do a drink package b/c it would not have been worth it for us but its different for everyone. A mimosa at breakfast was $12!!!!

We loved the Saturday Night Fever show- make sure you get there early for a good seat.

And now our two biggest complaints: We got up early (by 7am everyday) to try and get a seat by the adult solarium and were never able to sit there once the entire 10 days of the cruise. There is a policy of no saving seats with towels and personal items for longer than 30 minutes but that is not being enforced at all. There was no one sitting there at 7am yet every chair was taken and being saved. Not fair at all. We saw fights break out b/c people would come and move other people's things. There is no assigned seating and if you are not sitting there you should lose your seat its ridiculous.

Our other complaint was the horrible excursion we took in San Juan- the beach escape. It was no where near what the description made it sound like. They took you through the poorest area of San Juan and pointed out the "projects" where the people were living. We got to the beach and smelled sewage as soon as we stepped out of the bus. There looked to be a garbage collection site right across the street and it was so horrible we couldn't stay there. We paid to have a cab come take us back to the ship within 20 minutes of arriving. Not only did we not feel safe but I don't know any one that can sit there for 4 hours and breath that stench in. If you have booked this excursion please save yourself the trouble and get a refund. We had to fight with several people but we were finally refunded our money.

Hope this helps some future travelers on the Liberty. Any questions please feel free to ask!

My husband and I just got home today from our 10 day cruise aboard the Liberty of the Seas. I have never done a review on here before but I know that it helped me to read other's reviews before we left so I hope this helps other travelers.

 

The parking and terminal situation worked great for us. We did long term parking and we had no problem getting to the terminal and checking in. We were checked in and on board within 20 minutes. We were able to go right to our stateroom and our luggage arrived 10 minutes later. Not sure if this is always that quick but there was no one getting off before us b/c the ship arrived empty from Fort Lauderdale which may have been the reason.

 

Ship is the largest we have been on and is laid out very much like the Explorer with some additions. We had some excellent dinners in both the dining room and both specialty restaurants. We loved Chops so much we ate there twice during our cruise. The servers were extremely nice and always took care of us and made sure we were happy. Lunches were just ok we thought. We went to the Windjammer for most of them b/c it was just easier when you are coming from the pool. We did have 2 lunches in the main dining room which we thought were great. Breakfast anywhere you go is nothing to write home about. Fake tasting eggs and cold sausage. Room service breakfast was worse. I would end up eating cereal most mornings so I would not be starving by 11.

 

Drink prices did go up sadly. We did not do a drink package b/c it would not have been worth it for us but its different for everyone. A mimosa at breakfast was $12!!!!

 

We loved the Saturday Night Fever show- make sure you get there early for a good seat.

 

And now our two biggest complaints: We got up early (by 7am everyday) to try and get a seat by the adult solarium and were never able to sit there once the entire 10 days of the cruise. There is a policy of no saving seats with towels and personal items for longer than 30 minutes but that is not being enforced at all. There was no one sitting there at 7am yet every chair was taken and being saved. Not fair at all. We saw fights break out b/c people would come and move other people's things. There is no assigned seating and if you are not sitting there you should lose your seat its ridiculous.

Our other complaint was the horrible excursion we took in San Juan- the beach escape. It was no where near what the description made it sound like. They took you through the poorest area of San Juan and pointed out the "projects" where the people were living. We got to the beach and smelled sewage as soon as we stepped out of the bus. There looked to be a garbage collection site right across the street and it was so horrible we couldn't stay there. We paid to have a cab come take us back to the ship within 20 minutes of arriving. Not only did we not feel safe but I don't know any one that can sit there for 4 hours and breath that stench in. If you have booked this excursion please save yourself the trouble and get a refund. We had to fight with several people but we were finally refunded our money.

 

Hope this helps some future travelers on the Liberty. Any questions please feel free to ask!

Please mention both the excursion and your experience with seating in the solarium when you fill out RCI's online survey. It might help.

Thank you for posting. I will be boarding Liberty in just 5 days! What time did you arrive at the port? Did you arrive later in the day, after the usual 12 noon crowd on boarding day? And did you have priority boarding? We are not in a suite, and are only Platinum. Hoping to get there by 11ish...

Who was your captain?

We will be sailing Liberty in September. It's our third time on her and we are happy D+ C&A members, so we have seen the solarium pool situation first hand. However, never at 7 am. We, too, enjoy getting up early and getting a nice pool seat (we don't chair hog, or save and leave, we sit, swim, and read - oh and maybe have a mudslide or two). I am just wondering if there was a very large crowd doing this or individuals? And did you see a pool attendant and let them know. We sailed Oasis last month and every morning there was a pool attendant with a clipboard timing the vacant seats. I will say that if by 7 am all the seats were being reserved with no bodies in them I would be more than disappointed!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You must have been pretty frustrated with the situation in the Solarium. I'd be furious.

We board on Thursday and are glad to hear that other than a few issues, you enjoyed your trip.

I too just got off this ship and the chair hogs were out in great numbers. I found a chair at the solarium later in the day and next to me were 6 chairs with towels on them. I stayed in the sun for about 3 hours and those chairs were never used by anyone, although several people were asking to use them. I did tell them that no one had been in them for hours so I would go ahead and use them. Some did and some walked away disgusted. I am one who doesn't need to have a chair by the pool so the chair hogs don't annoy me, but I do find it to be rude behavior. There were people who had saved seats in the shade and the sun.

When I was getting my towel, there was a gentleman asking if the pool attendant had his book and sunglasses. The attendant opened up a large storage area that held all the stuff that they had removed from chairs at the request of others and asked him if he saw his articles there. So if you do ask they do remove it. And yes I too saw people arguing over chairs. Such a waste of vacation time.

I would say that it was a large group of people hogging the chairs not just a few individuals. I did fill out a feedback questionnaire they gave us onboard and submitted it. I was then approached by a head waiter at dinner one night who addressed my concerns although I was very confused by that b/c he was a head waiter and had nothing to do with the solarium situation nor could he do anything about it. The problem only continued. There was a guy handing out the towels and when you got one he would point to the sign and say there are no saving of seats but it was never enforced. I do like that idea of someone keeping track but it didn't happen on this ship. Most days we would just give up and go up a deck or two. No problem finding seats there but it was more windy up there and we had a lot of windy days during this cruise.

Our captain was Theo and he was just excellent. Very experienced and had a wonderful personality.

To answer someone else's question we got to the port around 11:30 am, we pulled around so someone could take our luggage we were checking and we parked right away. There was really no line to check in at that point and we were taken right away, given our sea pass cards and boarded within 20 minutes of parking. Very easy and hassle free

Any chance you could scan some of the daily compass sheets? Will be going on this same cruise in July. Thanks!

Thank you for posting a review. I will be following along. Can't wait to cruise on the Liberty! :D

Thank you for posting. I will be boarding Liberty in just 5 days! What time did you arrive at the port? Did you arrive later in the day, after the usual 12 noon crowd on boarding day? And did you have priority boarding? We are not in a suite, and are only Platinum. Hoping to get there by 11ish...

I was on the same sailing. I arrived around 11:30 and there was no wait at all ( regardless of tier). The set up of the new terminal is so much better. No more waiting for buses and the people struggling to get onto them with their 3 suitcases.

Any feedback on the cruise director and/or activities staff?

Lannybird - We will be boarding LOS in 4 days (woo hoo!!) The chair hog situation is a bummer. I remember reading a post awhile back where a woman said she saw a towel, sunscreen, sunglasses & a book on a chair for over 2 hours, so she went & sat down, used their sunscreen, put on their sunglasses & began to read their book. LOL - I'm sure she was joking, but could you imagine? I could never move anyone's stuff & I would not want to get in a fight with someone over a chair so I wind up going to an upper deck to find a chair :( The pool attendants really should pay more attention to chair hogs as this is a major complaint with so many cruisers!

We've read so many other reviews about the drink prices - yikes!! We have OBC thru our RC Visa credit card, but my DH is considering getting a drink package as well. (My drinks would be from the OBC & his would be from his drink package.) It is too late to sign up online at this point, so we'll look into it when we board. We never bought a drink package & I thought that if one person in a cabin wanted to buy it, the other person had to as well. Would you know if this is the case?

Thanks again for sharing your cruise experience with us!!

cathy1227-we are not only on the same cruise, but also "in the same boat", so to speak, regarding the drink package and OBC. My understanding is that both or all parties in the same room do not have to purchase an alcoholic beverage package. We are thinking about purchasing the package for one of us by Tuesday morning, since we will be leaving port by 1 pm anyway, and there would still be the required 4 days of the cruise left.

The drink package didn't seem worth it to us but prices did go up. A mimosa at breakfast was 12 bucks!!! Two glasses of champagne were 42!

MaryL31 - Funny play on words ;-) Yeah, we are still on the fence about the drink packages. I guess when we board we will look into it. As we say in my family, "3 more sleeps until vacation!!" So exciting, isn't it? :D:D:D

Once you guys docked in Bermuda how long did it take to clear the ship so you could disembark? Any insights into time frame would be greatly appreciated. Sounds like you had an amazing journey loved following it!

We have been on several cruises with several different lines and it's the same story on every ship when it comes to chair hogging.

I would say that it was a large group of people hogging the chairs not just a few individuals. I did fill out a feedback questionnaire they gave us onboard and submitted it. I was then approached by a head waiter at dinner one night who addressed my concerns although I was very confused by that b/c he was a head waiter and had nothing to do with the solarium situation nor could he do anything about it. The problem only continued. There was a guy handing out the towels and when you got one he would point to the sign and say there are no saving of seats but it was never enforced. I do like that idea of someone keeping track but it didn't happen on this ship. Most days we would just give up and go up a deck or two. No problem finding seats there but it was more windy up there and we had a lot of windy days during this cruise.

 

Our captain was Theo and he was just excellent. Very experienced and had a wonderful personality.

 

To answer someone else's question we got to the port around 11:30 am, we pulled around so someone could take our luggage we were checking and we parked right away. There was really no line to check in at that point and we were taken right away, given our sea pass cards and boarded within 20 minutes of parking. Very easy and hassle free

Captain Theo was replace on the last day May 16 with the former captain of the Explorer. The new Captain was on the ship for the entire 10 days going over everything with Captain Theo. ( this info from the Concierge). IMHO the Main Dining room food was not up to par. My wife and I dined in Chops twice, Portofino three times and did Wine Match dinner at Vintages and these were the best meals that we had. Overall The ship was clean and neat our cabin was impeccable the shows SNF and Ice Show are Must Sees. We stuck to wine the entire cruise as it was cheaper to buy a bottle and have enough to drink at dinner time.

Any feedback on the cruise director and/or activities staff?

The cruise director Luke was great. We bumped into him on the elevator and everyone in the elevator were cracking up by the time we got off. He keeps the action going all cruise long.:D

I thought the main dining room food was delish. I had no complaints really

I thought the main dining room food was delish. I had no complaints really

My wife said I am to picky but that was my opinion. She said some items were very good others were so so.

I have been on a Cruise Critic since it was on AOL and "chair hogs" have always been a problem.

I wish the cruise lines would give each guest a "chair tag" . This would not alleviate the people grabbing chairs at 7am but at least each hog would only get 1 chair to use.

Barb

can anyone say whether or not the doors were magnetic? trying to buy decorations for the door to celebrate and decorate and need to know if i must bring tape

can anyone say whether or not the doors were magnetic? trying to buy decorations for the door to celebrate and decorate and need to know if i must bring tape

Doors are not magnetic, but they are metal and magnets will stick to them.