Home. Cold. Sad. (sigh) A Liberty of the Seas Review 1/21-26, 2012

Readers beware!!! I think I should start with a disclaimer. What started out as a brief review of our 5-night cruise has somehow morphed into this massive journal of our family vacation. I guess I was trying to preserve the memories in writing. So here goes…

We sailed on Liberty of the Seas Jan 21-26, 2012 with family – eight of us in all – me (48) and my DH, my DD (24) and her friend, my DS (22) and his girlfriend and my mom (72) and her friend. None of the kids’ friends or my mom’s friend had ever been on a cruise before. Ahhh…newbies. It’s like seeing it for the first time all over again and according to them, it was AWESOME! We chose the five-night itinerary because it worked well for my kids and their jobs. And the price was right. My husband and I flew in the night before; the rest of the family lives in Key West so they drove up Saturday morning. My daughter’s friend flew in from NYC on Saturday morning. In the snow. I planned ahead and had the complete list of alternate airlines ready to go if need be. Yes, I am slightly OCD when it comes to planning. Lets just get that out there right now.

Pre Cruise

We did a pre-cruise night at Cambria Suites in Dania Beach, Ft. Lauderdale using miles/points. Great hotel. Waited 15 minutes at the airport for their shuttle; turns out most everyone else waiting for a shuttle was waiting for the Cambria Suites one so the bus was FULL! The driver was very pleasant and let everyone know how to get the morning shuttle to the port, etc. We made our reservation for the port shuttle when we got to the hotel and they found space on the 11am bus. We checked in then had the front desk call for a cab and we headed out to The Rustic Inn for a late dinner; we were starved!

Note: When we walked outside to look for our cab there was a gentleman waiting in a minivan. He asked where we were going and we told him the Rustic Inn, and that we were waiting for a cab. So of course he said “I am a cab!” and so, naturally, we got in. I do vaguely remember saying to my husband something like “I don’t know, I think we should ask him the rate first” and “where is his yellow cab light?” and “oh geez…there is no meter up there” and “I REALLY think we should ask him the rate now…” You get the idea. Our two or three mile ride cost us $30.00 round trip (you pay up front when they drop you off for the return ride, then they came back to get you). I know what you are thinking. I hear you laughing. And for the record, technically, he WAS in the transportation business - just not the cheap transportation business. Lesson learned – don’t let hunger pains cloud your judgement - start snacking earlier in the day. Oh well. We didn’t let that detract from dinner, which was great – whole Maine lobster and Alaskan King Crab legs! After all, we were on vacation now, right? Oh, and he did come back to get us.

Embarkation

Saturday morning was nice and sunny. We headed downstairs to breakfast then caught the 11am shuttle to the pier. Can I just say that Saturday departures from Port Everglades are crazy! The day we left there were NINE boats in port. Yikes! It was a madhouse trying to navigate the different terminals (we had to drop off others at different boats) and we finally arrived at Terminal 22 (Liberty) about 11:40. The scene at the pier was chaotic at best, with people and cars and buses and shuttles and luggage. And oh, the luggage! You would have thought most people were going for 15 days, not 5, by the staggering amounts of luggage being unloaded. We timed it just right (I am not sure how) and the rest of our family pulled up almost simultaneously in their shuttle from the parking lot. After adding our luggage to the mountain we entered the check-in area. My DH and I are diamond, the rest of the family platinum and gold. The lines were looooong, but then I glanced all the way down to the suite check-in area (also for diamond, d+ and lifers) and saw next to no one there. I asked the RCCL rep if the rest of the family could check in with me and she sent us all on our way. Boom! Check in accomplished and we were on the boat by roughly noon. Check in was speedy and efficient and there were no problems when my son and his girlfriend used their birth certificates for identification.

Note: I did have to go back out to wait for my DD and her friend – I had all their check in paperwork and my DD’s passport. She ran her carry-on bag through the xray and (surprise!) they pulled her aside to open her bag. Apparently she was trying to be thoughtful and wanted to minimize our impending bar bill so she planned ahead and brought a fifth, or maybe a pint, I don’t know which it was, of flavored vodka in her carry-on. The bottle was blue, she had peeled the label off. When security asked what was in it she oh-so-innocently looked at the nice man and said “mouthwash”. I thought he was almost going to cave and let her go, but then the not so nice woman sitting behind the VERY large table of already confiscated contraband wanted to smell the bottle…and that was the end of the cotton candy flavored vodka mouthwash. Nonplussed, she said to me “no worries…I have more in the shampoo bottle and they didn’t get that!” Ewwww….

Come to find out, she also smuggled on bottles in both hers and her grandmother’s checked bags too. Ever the optimist.

Note: I did have to go back out to wait for my DD and her friend – I had all their check in paperwork and my DD’s passport. She ran her carry-on bag through the xray and (surprise!) they pulled her aside to open her bag. Apparently she was trying to be thoughtful and wanted to minimize our impending bar bill so she planned ahead and brought a fifth, or maybe a pint, I don’t know which it was, of flavored vodka in her carry-on. The bottle was blue, she had peeled the label off. When security asked what was in it she oh-so-innocently looked at the nice man and said “mouthwash”. I thought he was almost going to cave and let her go, but then the not so nice woman sitting behind the VERY large table of already confiscated contraband wanted to smell the bottle…and that was the end of the cotton candy flavored vodka mouthwash. Nonplussed, she said to me “no worries…I have more in the shampoo bottle and they didn’t get that!” Ewwww….

 

Come to find out, she also smuggled on bottles in both hers and her grandmother’s checked bags too. Ever the optimist.

I'm cracking up... this is 100% something that would happen with my kids :rolleyes:!

Day One and our cabin

In my mind, day one starts when you board. So, it was lunch followed by pretty frozen drinks, a lap around the pool deck and then off to the rooms. My mom had an inside, my DS and DD both had an inside on the Promenade, and DH and I had an aft corner balcony 7408. I picked this cabin on purpose after discoving aft cabins on Princess about a year ago. Loved it – loved the location, loved the ENORMOUS balcony, and it was partially covered so there was plenty of privacy – if I had to guess I would say it was nearly as large as the room (without the bathroom)! For anyone considering an aft balcony, especially the corner, deck seven is the place! Deck 6 is not a true corner, even though it looks like it (the side porthole is about 4 to 5 feet away from the actual side of the boat, so you cannot see down the side at all). Decks 8 and 9 are both open to the decks above them, so not much privacy. Deck 10 probably would be nice, but I am not sure it affords you the side view like the corner on deck 7, but I could be wrong. Here is the drawback with 7408 though…as hard as I tried (and that included bribery, begging, two supervisors and the concierge and a few crocodile tears) I could not get any additional chairs for our balcony. To be honest, I was only asking for loungers, so I may have been able to score just some regular chairs but I am not sure. What a tremendous waste of a beautiful balcony. I did consider a midnight requisition of loungers from deck 4, but that seemed like a lot of work for just 5 days. Turns out, with a lot of family on board we didn’t spend near as much time on the balcony as we did when we cruised with just the two of us, so it was all good.

We had My Time Dining, I had pre-reserved before we left, and ate between 7- 7:30 each night. We had the same waiter (Sanjay) and assistant waiter for three of the nights so that was nice. They were a good team and after the first night (things were a little sketchy that first night) everything was great! The family got together every night at Vintages before dinner. Needless to say, my bar bill was probably a little more than most.

Note: We loved the ambience in Vintages wine bar and while we were there we tried a lot of different wines – they self-pour in 1, 3 and 5oz portions. Let me say, though, that you should really, really, really take the time to read the price cards that are above each bottle. My son, the self appointed wine connoseur (sp), decided to try one of the Pinot Noirs one night. He really did not read the card at all, just swiped his card and did a 5oz pour…the bill came and it was $30 – yes, $30 – for ONE glass of wine. He thought that that was the price per bottle. Ugh…. Thank goodness for buy one, get one and 20% off coupons. And his sister’s unending supply of vodka mouthwash.

Day one ended with the comedian show. I just couldn’t manage to stay awake but I hear he was great. Apparently my DS and his girlfriend sat front and center and made the ‘Cruise in Review’ video – evidently there was a lot of ‘interaction’ with the comedian. Try as I might, I never could catch that show on the daily reruns. Probably just as well ☺

7408 balcony view

7408 balcony view, another angle

Leaving FLL

Loving it. Thanks for sharing! We are sailing on Liberty on the 26th. Love to hear the details.

Thanks!

Shauna

I'm loving this review keep it up. I like the family dynamic, its not the typical boring day to day ;).

Love your review! We have the exact same cabin on the Indy...less than 10 days to go!! :D:D

Day Two

Was a sea day. Lots of lounging, reading and pool games. We toured the ship some, ate lunch, had a snack, had some more drinks then got ready for dinner – it was formal night. Oh, I forgot to mention that the night before my mom and her friend got invited to the Captain’s table for dinner. My mom (who spends the winter in Key West) takes dance classes with a woman who turned out to be the Captain’s wife’s mom (his MIL). They got talking, one thing led to another and BAM! my mom was invited to the Captain’s table for dinner on formal night. We were hoping that would happen, and she came prepared by bringing a evening gown and her friend had a suit.

Dinner was very good with lots of choices, however, this is NOT lobster night! I do recall filet and soufflé this night though.

Entertainment tonight was IN THE AIR which was really, really good. Everyone went; everyone enjoyed it. I should say right now that we thought all the entertainment was above average on Liberty, and we were pleasantly surprised. After having seen the same old, same old production-type song and dance shows on other boats, the entertainment on this boat was a nice departure from the usual.

Note: Lots of talk out there re: attire on formal night. I was curious as to how formal a formal night would be on a 5 night cruise and my suspicions that it would be more casual were correct. I only saw one tux in the whole dining room (besides the Captain) and about half of the men wore suits and/or sport coats, the other half were slacks and a shirt. My guys went the semi-formal route…dress slacks, dress shoes, shirt and tie but no jacket. The women ranged from sundresses to cocktail dresses and a few evening gowns or beaded ensembles. Don’t know if this is a trend, or just due to the 5 night itinerary, but it was what it was.

Captains Table dinner, thats my mom on the left (3 from the Captain)

Our DD (right) and her friend

Our DS and his grlfriend

Loving your review and the vodka mouthwash :) That is too funny! Can't wait for the rest! Did you find the 5 night to be a good length?

Day Three

We were in Belize today. DD and her friend did a snorkel excursion that left right from the boat and had a great time. The rest of us tendered into Belize a little later in the day and ended up taking a hour+ long tour of Belize city in an open air vehicle. The tour was nice, the guides were knowledgeable and seeing someplace different is always an eye opening experience – the bars on the windows, and fences and gates everywhere tell all. We had to pass through a checkpoint when we left the tourist area where the guides’ license number and number of tourists were noted. Our guide said it was to verify that they came back with the same number of people they left with. Eeeek! Could have been pulling my leg, but…. My sons’ girlfriend had never been outside the states before and I think the whole experience made her somewhat sad.

Tonight’s entertainment was one of the remaining (last?) members of the group Foreigner, playing/singing songs. We had seen him perform before so we opted to donate to the casino instead. My mom went and said it was good, but loud.

Note: When travelling with family bring extra money for their casino exploration as well. Don’t count on the house to increase your coffers so you can fund your kids. It generally will not work to your advantage. I speak from experience.

Belize City from the tourist area

Another view of Belize from the tourist area

Liberty of the Seas, anchored offshore at Belize

Love your review so far. We are staying in cabin 7408 in 12 days!!!:)

Day Four

We were in Cozumel today and it was wonderful! Took a taxi to Chankanaab. The girls did a sea lion encounter, the guys sat on the beach and drank (and held the chairs until we got back). More rum drinks, more nachos and a nap here and there and then it was time to go back. A little wandering around at port and it was all aboard. We were late leaving today – there were a couple boats (I am guessing cruise excursions) that did not get back until late, so that delayed our departure. In fact, it was so late we didn’t get to see anybody run for the boat (a common occurrence in Cozumel if I remember correctly). Darn! That is always fun ☺

Dinner tonight was the lobster night. I had read before on these boards about the lack of lobster on a 5 night cruise, but that was not the case on our cruise. Not only were we able to combine dinners to make a surf and turf (prime rib and lobster, 2 tails for the guys) type meal, our waiter made sure to bring extra lobsters for the table. I can say though that my aunt went on the 10 ni Explorer cruise out of NJ/NY just before Christmas. She came back telling tales of only one lobster night, and only one lobster per person. Perhaps there was a lobster shortage that week….

Entertainment tonight was the musical Saturday Night Fever. The house was packed. We felt they did a fabulous job of performing and the sets were great. I do agree the subject matter is somewhat dark, but the overall impression we were left with was really one of amazement for the whole production. Well worth it in my opinion.

Note: We sat upstairs in the first row, center section of the balcony. Great seats…but there is a handrail that runs along the length of the balcony. If you are of average height (I am 5’ 4”) then the rail will be dead center in your field of view and you will have to look either over or under it for some of the time. Mostly just a minor inconvenience, but if you have thoughts of sitting there, you might want to do a dry run first just to see what you see.

I think tonight was also the white night party on deck. They brought out some ice sculptures, some fruit people, had a big buffet, loud music and $9.00 drinks in a strobe lit glass. What started out as great classic rock music turned into more ‘contemporary’ music around midnight, and the party shifted to the adjacent pool area. It also went on until the wee hours of the morning from what I hear and was a lot of fun.

The girls, swimming with the sea lions at Chankanaab Park

Lots of boats in Cozumel that day

The Cozumel pier and shopping area, Senor Frogs to the far left

Liberty and Mariner side by side in Cozumel...btw, Mariner had loungers on their aft decks :(

One of the Carnival boats, heading out at sunset

And the Mariner, leaving right behind us

Almost sunset from our balcony

Day Five

Today was our last sea day. My son and his girlfriend were busy trying to do and see everything they had missed the previous four days and we never even caught up with them until late in the afternoon. My DD and friend lounged by the pool most of the day. I roamed a bit, sat by the pool, read a book, ate a little, took a nap, drank a little…you know the routine. My mom, on the other hand, started her day off climbing the rock wall. She apparently had quite the cheering section, but unfortunately she never told anyone she was going so we all missed it! And yes…she made it to the top – the beginner wall evidently wasn’t good enough for her though and she found out when she got down they had her on one of the intermediate sections. No wonder her hands were sweaty. Later in the day I saw video of my mom riding the flowrider. Once again, she was devious and didn’t tell anyone what she was doing but my husband wandered by and caught her on his cell phone, just in case no one back home believed it. Did I mention that my mom is 72, soon to be 73? I only hope I’m climbing rock walls and riding the flowrider when I am her age. Yeesh!

Dinner tonight was my least favorite – seemed to have some strange selections on the menu but we all managed to find something. As if we needed anything else to eat by this time…

Tonight’s show was the farewell production show. The only ones who went were my mom and her friend and they enjoyed it.

Tonight was also a mad rush to try and use up all the remaining coupons for free drinks, bogo drinks, 20%, 15% and 10% off drinks, photo discounts, casino match plays and free pulls. Not sure what we did the rest of the week that we had so many left until tonight. It made for a busy evening.

Tonight was also Quest. If you have never seen it, see it. If you have already seen it, enough said. It was a lot of fun and having three new cruisers with us made it even more fun and memorable!

Me and DH...and the cleaning guy. ooops.

My mom and her friend

Katie and her friend Audrey

Matt and his girlfriend Kasey

My gang at Vintages wine bar

Thats my mom on the Flowrider

Not sure where my mom was during this...probably driving the boat! :)

The Promenade

I loved the kids area!

Disembarkation

Was sloooooowwwww. Really slow. I was surprised at this actually since we were pretty much the only boat in port on a Thursday. We had originally all gotten luggage tags for #12, or 15 but turned them in for #26 or so. Don’t ask why, but we assumed there was some correlation between your tag and when you left, but since no one kept an extra tag who knew what number you were anyway? When the group for 15, 16, 17 and 18 came up, and they were already 40 minutes later than they were supposed to be, we left with them.

Only one person asked what number we had (we said 16) and then we were good to go. Until we tried to get off the boat that is. BUZZZZZZ. That was the sound I heard when they inserted my seapass. My first thought was THEY KNOW! I am trying to get off and they haven’t called my number yet! But no…it was immigration doing a “random” check. I get pulled over a LOT at immigration/customs – I think it has something to do with my passport being stolen about 10 years ago but no one will confirm that. They just say it’s a random search. Of me. Every time. I mean every time. Its getting old.

On the bright side, the whole party was whisked to the front of the line to get their bags, clear immigration and leave the building. So what I think probably would have been about an hour wait once off the boat (by the look of the lines) turned out taking only about 10 minutes. Another 15 minute wait or so for our shuttle and we were off to our rental car, the rest of the gang to the parking lot. It made for a speedy goodbye, unfortunately, so that was followed up by a flurry of phone calls. Everyone had a great time! The new cruisers are hooked and we are already seeing when we can fit in another cruise on our calendars.

Noticed the comment about the BOGO and 20% coupons. i asked about this last night but cant seem to remember where i posted it-- where do you get these?

Liberty of the Seas is a great ship. We all agreed it was the best boat we had been on so far. We loved the touch screens. The poolside movie screen was a big hit. The boat was super clean. We found the staff to be friendly and attentive. I thought the beds were truly comfortable – a first in my limited RCCL experience. The entertainment went above and beyond. The towel animals were fun. Even the food was mostly good, something I remember as truly lacking on my last RCCL cruise. I am not sure I could go on one of the Explorer class boats or lower again, we liked all the upgrades so much. We would go again in a minute!!!

What IS that anyway?

Our only real complaint was with Chops where we found the staff, particularly the head waiter/restaurant manager/maitre’d/whatever you want to call him, to be rude and unwelcoming. It was a 'get them in, get them out' mentality and the only option they were willing to do for two vegetarians (my DD and her friend) was a vegetable plate. Of the same vegetables they brought to the table for everyone else to try with dinner. Really?

I know what you are thinking…why would we take a vegetarian to a steak house? Right? Well, my DH really wanted to go there and we had been assured both when we made the reservation, and again when we got onboard, that they would be able to accommodate the girls, they even went so far as to offer up a dish be brought over from Portofinos. Unfortunately, this was not the case when we got seated and any expectations we had of having a dish done for them was completely disregarded. So they ate vegetables. $30.00 worth. Each. If that was the extent of the bad, then I figure we did pretty good. (sigh)

oh and BTW thank you sooo much for sharing sll of this. We will be on the LOS in the 27th and I can hardly wait!

Great review. Thanks for posting. The sea lion excursion looked pretty good.

DH and I drove to Orlando for a couple days. Stayed at the Four Points Sheraton, spent one day at IOA, Universal. They have done a great job with the Harry Potter area and the detail is amazing. Can’t say I would go back though. I think I like the Mouse better. We did another day with an airboat ride and had some alligator sightings, and my husband got to fly in a T6 warbird (Christmas gift). Life is good. Now back to work.

If you are still with me after all that, a great big THANK YOU you for reading! I hope someone found out something they might not have known before. I certainly have found out tons of info on these boards and just wanted to give back a little. Maybe it was a little too much (sheepish grin). Sorry. Have fun in your future travels, wherever they may be!

Great review! And the five days went fast, I bet!

Your mom is something else! Like you, I hope I have half that much energy at 72. Was her friend invited to dine at the Captain's Table, too? By the time I looked at the picture of the two of them, then scrolled up to the CT picture, I had forgotten what he looked like!!

Thank you for taking the time for the vacation journal and photos.

Great review. Thanks for posting. The sea lion excursion looked pretty good.

This was something my daughter has wanted to do for a long time - so she was thrilled. I don't think it was quite as interactive as a swim with the dolphins, but the sea lions have a lot more personality IMHO! And they had some of the funniest expressions!

He was singing here...

And smiling here (but its a little blurry)

Great review! And the five days went fast, I bet!

 

Your mom is something else! Like you, I hope I have half that much energy at 72. Was her friend invited to dine at the Captain's Table, too? By the time I looked at the picture of the two of them, then scrolled up to the CT picture, I had forgotten what he looked like!!

 

Thank you for taking the time for the vacation journal and photos.

My mom's friend, second from the right of the Captain

We were hoping to all be invited :) but we knew it was a long shot since there were 8 of us and the Captains table only held 12 I think. And we really didn't have the appropriate clothes with us, either. So I was delighted she got to go! And she had a marvelous time! Apparently Captain Bang and his wife are quite the host/hostess!

I'm loving this review keep it up. I like the family dynamic, its not the typical boring day to day ;).

Awww, thanks kruzerci...hope you are still saying that when you get to the end! ;)