Liberty of the Seas, April 24th Western Carribean

Back from a nice cruise and wanted to add a few comments.

I found the embarkation process to be very quick, but must say that on the drive to the port, I saw a very long line up in the opposite lanes. Apparently, there was construction taking place which created a traffic nightmare for traffic from the port. I was hoping this would not be the case after my cruise, as i had a tight return flight schedule.

Okay, so i arrived at the port at 11.10am and was on board by 11.30. Went to Windjammer for lunch, talked to some Indian waiters about vegetarian options, particularly India food! He told me that Windjammer didn't carry that every day but in the MDR, there is always 1 vege and non-vege Indian food options that is not on the regular menu's.

Cabins were available at 1pm, but we didn't get our luggage until 5pm. I talked to the cabin attendant about emptying the fridge as i wanted to use a part of it.

I checked that the mattress topper that i had requested weeks ago was placed on the beds and still found the beds hard but was bearable with the toppers. Pillows were hard too, and upon request, i did get some soft ones.

I was able to get some very nice Indian vegetarian dishes every night, the Head Waiter actually told me each evening what the next day's dish would be. The food was a little too spicy but when i offered my feed back, the following days, we got dishes that were perfect! Really appreciated that as each evening, the vegetarian options on the menu's were not that varied.

We found the lunch options in Windjammer to be very limited for vegetarians and repetitive.Even the pasta dishes had the same 'Tomato sauce' every day! I missed the different vegetarian sauces they use to have. Anyway, plenty of fruit/steamed vegetables but my teen didn't like that too much! I still put on about 5lbs! Alas, now to lose that will be very hard.

The weather on the sail away was not that great, some rain showers.

The shows during the cruise were good. The first ice show had a massive line up and i almost left the line up thinking that there would not be enough seats but glad i stuck it out. We all got in and the show was great.

I was able to find chairs at the pools and the pool patrol staff were glad to find chairs for you too. I was glad to see that the pools were not over crowded on any of the days, which was a first for me.

Ports of call: Roatan, i had pre-booked an Island tour/plus Beach break with Victor Bodden. He told us by email confirmation that i had to arrive at his tour counter within 1 hour of ship arrival. I did this but when his representative told me that i had to wait another hour as they are on island time. i showed him the letter that never stated that at all. Anyway, i wasn't prepared to waste an hour in the heat and found another tour operator that offered me the same tour, for only $30 (Victor's was $40 for private tour, i had booked the Bus tour as he didn't have any cars for the private tour). so we took this and were very happy as we were able to keep our own schedule.

Belize: On day 3, i took my pre-booked confirmation letter for private cave tubing excursion with Cavetubing.bz to deck 4 at 8.45am, and found 10 people already there. At 9am, there was a small line up behind me but the RCCL staff members quickly handed out tender tickets. I got #2 (#1 is only for passengers on their tours i believe). The tender process was quite quick and numbers 1-3 were called quickly. I am glad i was able to get to the tour operator as it was a fantastic tour but very long. didn't have any shopping time as arrived back at port at 4.10pm, the last tender back is 4.30pm. I was a little worried but have to say, the tour was so enjoyable and well worth it. it was $50 pp, included lunch/drink. Got to do extra caves too, which the other tours didn't offer.

Disembarkation was a breeze. i had arranged to get a 9am shuttle to IAH, and was at the pick up point by 7.30 ( did the self-assist program). Didn't need a porter as it was easy to clear the customs. Found a few people who had 11am flights, and they took private taxis after learning that Galveston Express would only arrive at 9am and not before.

We were dropped off at the airport 10.40am and was very relieved.

All in all, we enjoyed our cruise. My teen didn't like the teen club as not many females teens, her age there. The cruise compass had stated that between 9pm and 10pm, there was free arcade games. Well, there wasn't any that we were able to play! another staff said that only a few games were free and we would have to scan every machine to find the ones that were free! Forget that! So many others were frustrated about this.

Internet was not bad, was able to face time, used skype, messanger etc.

Was able to print my boarding pass at Deck 8, online terminals. It took 40 minutes as very slow internet for that!

I had booked on board credits and was able to cash out balance without any problems at guest services on last day.

There was a very lively crowd at the shops on last day, had sales and plenty of people were excited about the shopping.

I didn't like the pizza at Sorrento, but my teen was okay with it!

My teen liked the water slides/mini golf.

I loved the Kung Fu Panda 3d movie, parade etc. Still a kid at heart, haha.

I probably won't sail from this port again, even though the flight time is half compared to Florida. I prefer FT. Lauderdale, as easy access from airport/port and gorgeous water colors visible at port.

Another cruiser commented that the decor in cabins didn't look brand new and i can agree with her.

Sorry if my comments were not in a great order.

That you for your review. Did the ship stay on "ship" time when you were in Roatan? I see that they are 1 hour behind the time in Texas. I have a Bodden tour scheduled also.

Appreciate the feedback. We also enjoy the Indian entrees in the MDR.

What type of Indian food is offered, typically?

What type of Indian food is offered, typically?

Lamb Curry, Chicken Curry, Fish Curry, Lamb Vindaloo. We've never opted for the vegetarian choices.

The ship's time is one hour ahead of Roatan's time. I would suggest you clarify with Bodden tours if you are reserved on their Fun & Sun tour (non-private tour) about the meet up time as waiting one hour in that heat is unbearable! Cruise passengers are asked to always remain on ship's time and Bodden referenced meet time as one hour from ship arrival time, his quote ' if ship arrives at 8am, then you must meet up by 9am'!

I am going to write a review of this port soon.

My family is vegetarian, so we had Palak paneer (spinach with cheese), mixed vegetable curry, Dal (Indian soup), mushroom and cauliflower curry, potatoe curry, paneer makhani (paneer with rich creamy sauce). All meals came with rice, papadam and roti (indian flat bread) and raita (cucumber salad). I was also offered appetizers like samosa, spring rolls, very tasty.

Incidentally, my teen discovered that she could order bags of Lays Original chips in room service which was a treat for her!

Oh just remembered, we both loved the Harry Potter trivia which was very popular. As fans, we were embarrassed that we didn't do that well and the winner got every single question correct! Gold Medal was the reward. The Karaoke was a hoot, lots of brave people that didn't mind singing in front of a large audience, even if it was out of tune! Hey, just joking, takes guts to do that.

We are on their private tour. Our info says the driver will wait up to 3 hours from when the ship docks.

Thanks for the report!

Hello,

Can anyone tell me if the RC ships dock at the same place every time in Cozumel? And, of course, where that place is/what it is called.

Hello,

 

Can anyone tell me if the RC ships dock at the same place every time in Cozumel? And, of course, where that place is/what it is called.

Almost always at the International Pier.

We too were on this cruise.

We experienced some of the best food and service ever on a Royal ship.

Maybe we went during a peak time, but on the 2nd second sea day there was not a chair to be found anywhere near the main pool. This included both levels. Hung out at the sky bar for about 30 minutes and finally got two together.

As I have mentioned in other threads, we LOVED the Derek Lewis show in the Hoof & Claw. Looking forward to seeing him again in Nov.