Liberty of the Seas (Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel) 11/1-8/2009 Review with Photos

[Cruisinini]

About Me/Us: I was part of a group of 9 including my DH and several of his family members ranging in age from 12 to 83! My DH and I are in our mid-20s and this was our 2nd cruise. Our first cruise was on the Carnival Valor a year and a half ago out of Miami to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Maarten. That trip was my first outside the US so I'm not very well traveled but I read a LOT about travel if that counts for anything. ;-) DH is a little more well traveled than I am but neither of us had been to Mexico or Belize so the ports on this cruise were all new to us. I think we're on the adventurous side, like to try and do new things. We're probably not your typical cruisers since we're both introverts but we've found the beauty of cruising is that it can be customized to suit your style. We're pretty laid back so we try to take things in stride, think my DH is better at that than me but he helps me out. While preparing for a cruise, I LOVE reading others helpful reviews especially ones with photos so I'll attempt to leave my own review as a thanks to everyone else that takes the time to do the same. Also, writing this review serves as a good vacation/adventure memento for me to keep.

 

Saturday, October 31, 2009: Arrival in Miami

Our adventure began the day before the cruise departure, when my brother was kind enough to drive DH, his parents and myself to the airport. He stayed behind to house-sit and watch our dogs for us. I have a great brother! He saved us parking fees and made me have less work to do while preparing for the cruise.

 

(Packing)

 

The airport was busy but didn't take too long to get our bags checked in at American's counter at least after they refilled the tape on the machine that was spitting out the luggage tags. American's counter agents were dressed in costume and they gave candy to children which I thought was a nice touch especially in today's post-9/11 stiff airport atmosphere. DH and I bought our tix at the end of July so only had to pay $15 per checked bag. DH's parents bought there tix in mid-August 2 days after the baggage price change so had to pay $20 per checked bag. Our group all flew into MIA in the afternoon and arrived within an hour of each other. Half of us came in from North Carolina and the other half coming from Atlanta. Both our flights arrived about 20 minutes early! I don't think that's the norm these days so yay for American and Delta. Since it was Halloween, we did get to see several costumes in the airports but that was the extent of our celebration this year. I usually like to dress up but oh well, I'm going on a cruise instead!!

 

(American Airlines Gate Sign)

 

We had reservations for the cruise package at Best Western on the Bay Inn and Marina in the North Bay Village area. As the name suggests it's on the bay, has a pier, multiple buildings, pool, courtyard, free internet, large breakfast area with a cool tall ceiling that's reminiscent of a thatched roof, Shuckers Bar & Grill restaurant on the property and a few other restaurants within walking distance. The cruise package included a room (with free upgrade at check in if available), transportation from MIA to the hotel, transportation from the hotel to the port, drink coupons (soda, wine, or rum runner) for each guest at Shuckers. We got one room for 4 and one "suite" for 5. The difference in the 2 rooms seemed to be the suite room was about 2-3 feet wider than the standard. We stayed on the bottom floor and could see the water from our window but were not facing the water. The room size is rather small and the bathroom rivaled the size of a cruise ship cabin bathroom (told my in-laws it was good practice for the coming week) but the room does include what looks like patio that was enclosed to convert it to a sitting room with a desk, chair, and a comfy couch seat. The hotel building is older but recent renovations were evident and accommodations were both clean and nice.

 

(Front of the Best Western on the Bay Inn & Marina)

 

(Inside of a regular room.)

 

Once we all landed and collected our bags, we gave the hotel a call and they sent a van to get us but it would take them about 20+ minutes to get there. The van was supposed to say the hotel name on it then called to say it would be Sunshine Tours but finally ended up saying Liccia Tours. The driver Rueben knew our name, somehow found us and took us to the Best Western for free plus tip so it all worked out. We couldn't decide on a local restaurant that suited everyone so decided to stay and eat at Shuckers. We got a table outside near the water, used our drink coupons, and the grouper sandwich I had was good, nobody had a complaint so there food must've been good too. It was a little loud due to I believe Florida and Miami both playing games but calmed down some after they ended. I'm a Georgia Tech fan so was amused to see a UGA fan turn his shirt inside out after they lost to Florida. After dinner, we hung out on the pier and around the pool enjoying the beautiful weather and looking out over the water. I stayed up later than usual since time was changing that night.

 

(Shuckers Bar & Grill overlooking the bay.)

 

(Hotel pool at night.)

[Cruisinini]

Sunday, November 1, 2009: Embarkation

Managed to sleep in a bit, at least until 9 something, gotta rest up for all the extra sleep I don't get while on a cruise! ;-) Turns out I was lucky since, the other room, DH's 12yo cousins were up at like 5am making coffee for the adults because they were too excited and ready to go! Breakfast was a standard continental with a mix of hot and cold items: juice, cereal, fruit, yogurt, muffins/pastries, and make your own waffles. We met in the hotel lobby a little before noon to checkout and meet the shuttle to the port. Our group filled one entire van so another was brought in to accomodate the others from the hotel going to the port. Our driver from yesterday was back but he drove the other group. However, not wanting to miss an opportunity to make money, he gave our group his business card and said to call him when we got back to the port in a week and he would drive us all to the airport for $60.

 

It's about a 20 minute ride to the port so we got there around 12:30pm. Unloaded our luggage and tipped the porter. The entrance was very close so in we went to our first line to show our set sail papers and passport, up an escalator, received a sheet of paper inquiring if we currently had any H1N1 symptoms or had in the last 7 days, and through the security scanners (nearly identical experience as the airport). One person in our group had a cough so he had to checkmark that symptom on the H1N1 form but when the check in people looked at it they never asked any questions. I guess since no other symptoms were checkmarked. Once inside the terminal we found the line for our deck (there were 2 decks per line) to check in. Waited in a line for a few minutes before getting to the counter. Showed our set sail paperwork, passport, and within a matter of minutes we had our photos taken and SeaPass issued. Up another escalator we went, across the gangway, and were home free on the Liberty of the Seas! Overall it was a very quick and very smooth process.

 

The time when we boarded on deck 4 was about 1pm. Welcome aboard photos being taken on the outside on the deck before you entered the interior of the ship. We were told that our cabins were ready so headed there first to drop off some stuff except went on a confusing back and forth journey because we couldn't figure out which way was forward and which was aft. We were told 2 different things by the staff but finally got it figured out. All our cabins were on deck 2 and everyone had outside starboard cabins midship except DH and I were in an interior starboard cabin at the aft of the ship.

 

Quick note on how I remembered which way was what:

Forward = going forward so front of the ship

Aft = after is behind so back of the ship

Starboard = right side when looking toward the front, also had red carpet on the stairs (lots of R's: staRboaRd, Right, Red)

Port = left side when looking toward the front, also had blue carpet on the stairs (all 4 letter words: port, left, blue)

 

After our quick cabin visit, we headed up to the Windjammer on deck 11 to find lots of people and good food including the honey stung chicken I heard about on these boards.

 

(Windjammer)

 

(Fitness Center)

 

(The penguin statues outside the windows of the fitness center.)

 

It was fun watching the 3 people in our group of 9 that had never cruised before. My FIL kept asking how far the ship went under the water for it to be possible to float this much ship above the water. After lunch we set out to explore the ship deck by deck. Elevators and stairs were located near the front and back of the ship as well as detailed deck maps near each of these locations so I never felt lost.

 

(Solarium - Adults Only Area)

 

(Main Pools - Family Area)

 

(H2O Zone - Kids Area)

[Cruisinini]

Sunday, November 1, 2009: Embarkation (continued)

 

(Hot tub)

 

While exploring the Library on deck 7, I discovered a daily Sudoku puzzle was available so I came to collect it each day. I never completed any of them while on board but they kept me entertained on my flight back home. I would say the difficulty was easy to medium on all the puzzles.

 

(Library)

 

(Arcade)

 

The guest assembly drill was at 4pm and your zone is indicated on your Seapass. Ours was D25 where we were to meet on deck 4 in the main dining room! I had no idea where our lifeboat was so maybe we would have to swim?? Oh well, at least it was nice and air conditioned, I think most people's muster station was outside. Oh and life jackets were not necessary so really it was a very quick and pleasant drill for us.

 

(Main Dining Room)

 

For Sail Away our group went to the very front of the ship on the helipad. Being able to go to the very front of the ship was an experience I was really looking forward to on this cruise since the Carnival Valor did not have such a setup on that ship. Speaking of the Valor, we passed it on the way out to sea and waved at the people lining the decks. It was cool to see the same ship we went on for our first cruise and it actually followed us all week to the same ports the Liberty went to. DH's uncle brought radios for everyone in our group so we could contact each other throughout the week. Reception was occasionally sketchy when we were in our cabin and you'd have to go up a couple decks to hear if the other person wasn't close by but for the most part once we found an open channel, they worked out really great!

 

Back to our cabins to get ready for dinner and check for luggage. One of our 3 suitcases had arrived and it was the least important of the 3 LOL! By the time we headed up for dinner, another one had arrived. We were in the Rembrandt Dining Room on deck 3 for the early/main seating at 6pm. Our table was in the very back of the dining room, port side near the grand staircase and where the waiters went in/out of the kitchen. We had a really awesome waiter, Jonathan from Phillipines, and assistant waiter, Manuel from India. They learned all of our names and remembered them which I thought was a nice touch. Had not experienced that on our previous cruise. A few nights in the middle of the week they did tricks, jokes, and brain teasers for us. Manuel was also responsible for keeping Sprinkles operational so we would sometimes see him during the day by the pools on deck 11. Food of note: I tried the Vidalia Onion Tart/Quiche and I thought it was delicious. Ironically enough, DH's Grandmother lives really close to Vidalia, GA where those onions come from!

 

(Vidalia Onion Tart)

 

After dinner, we found our last suitcase outside our cabin door. We were also able to meet our cabin attendant, Ronald from Jamaica. He did a great job all week long and had impeccable timing. Only caught him in the midst of cleaning once or twice. When we did see him in the hall, he was friendly and always asked how our day was and if we needed anything.

 

There was only one showing of the Welcome Aboard Show and featured: the Liberty of the Seas Orchestra (but I really wanted to call it a jazz band), Krill -- a 20yo Russian acrobat who was fun to watch not to mention good looking, and Miguel Washington -- a comic from Atlanta whose comedy DH and I greatly appreciated and understood. "We grew up 'po', not 'poOR' but 'po', we couldn't afford 'o' and 'r'." LOL! After the show, we tried to get in line for the flowrider/climbing wall/ice skating waiver table but they shut down the line right in front of us.

 

DH and I visited his parents in the Sphinx lounge for a while where a Calypso band was playing live music and people were line dancing. It was a bit loud for our taste so we left and explored the ship more until the Soca-licious Parade on the Promenade at 11:15pm. I had no idea what that word meant so I just looked it up and according to wikipedia, soca is basically calypso/percussion music originating in the southern Caribbean islands. Cool, I liked it! I was later informed by others in our group that I ended up on the Cruise in Review DVD banging on drums during the parade!

 

(Soca-licious Parade)

[Cruisinini]

Monday, November 2, 2009: At Sea

One thing I really love about an interior cabin is how well I sleep in the near total darkness. I woke up around 9:30am so went up to the Windjammer for some breakfast. Then went to collect DH to head up to Olive or Twist on deck 14 for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle. We received RCCL logo wallet/ID things you can carry around your neck and dropped our raffle tickets in the bucket. Kaitlyn from Canada from the entertainment/cruise director? staff spoke a bit about the Liberty (it's the longest of the Freedom Class). We didn't win anything in the drawing but ate a few snacks before leaving. Since I didn't recognize anyone, my introvert self got the best of me and DH was ready to go so we left.

 

Since we missed out on the "all in one" signup the previous night we set out to sign our waivers. First up was the FlowRider, where we got the permanent wristband that gets punched by each activity after you've signed the waiver. If you take it off, you have to sign the waiver again. Also learned that the FlowRider requires an additional wristband each day that is a different color. Not sure why other than it makes it easier to identify the "approved" people standing in line rather than looking for the tiny hole punched in the permanent wristband.

 

Next up was the rock climbing wall. They asked for our shoe size here which we assumed was part of the waiver signing but instead we were given shoes. So, we looked at each other and said guess we're going to climb now! You have to wear socks, have on dry clothes, and wearing either shorts or pants. They fit you with a harness and helmet before sending you over to get in line (never more than about 5 people so it went quick) at the wall. This was my first time EVER climbing a rock wall so after brief instructions by the girl that hooked my harness up I headed up. She advised me to follow the green colored stones because they were the easy route. I was doing pretty well before the wall got lumpy and I got scared because I had to lean backwards some to keep going. Then I made the mistake of looking down. I am NOT a fan of heights but obviously I try not to let it get the best of me. I thought about chickening out at this point because I knew I could come back and try later in the week but the bell was like 6 feet away so I knew I couldn't quit then. I somehow made it and rang the bell so my first rock climbing wall experience was a success. Yay me! When you turn your equipment back in at the desk they spray the shoes and helmet with Lysol so there was a lingering scent on my socks after that.

 

Most of the day you could spy Cuba on the horizon, probably the closest I'll ever get to it. The terrain was more hilly/mountainous? than i expected it to be.

 

(Me with Cuba in the background)

 

Now it was off to Studio B on deck 3 to sign the ice skating waiver and get our wristbands punched. I kept getting confused on how to get here because it's in the middle of the ship but you can only get inside if you start at the aft of deck 3 then walk toward the center of the ship. We weren't wearing pants so didn't go ice skating this time.

 

DH headed to the gym so I laid out in the sun with my MIL for a little while before watching the "Men's International Belly Flop Competition". Not sure why it was necessary to make the title that along but there were international participants so guess it worked. There were about 12 guys with some great flops. The 2nd guy, a tall skinny dude won. But, the most spectacular of the flops was the surprise grand finale by the head chef guy from the Windjammer. Supposedly, he'd never participated before and he was one HUGE dude and a matching splash!

 

(I vote him best hair during a belly flop!)

 

(The Chef & The Crowd)

 

Afterwards went to eat a late lunch in the WJ and ran into some of DH's family. It was crowded but a waiter helped us all find a table together which was nice. We decided to catch the first ice show in Studio B at 5pm so went to shower and get ready since it was also the first formal night. BTW, no tickets were required as some in our group recalled needing from a previous cruise they were on. Door open 30 minutes before showtime and it's first come first serve. My thoughts on the show were it really is spectacular, awesome and impressive for a truly TINY rink. I'm a fan of figure skating and watch a lot of the competitions and shows on tv so going into it I was afraid my expectations might be too high. But, I really thought they did a great job, I liked that it wasn't always 1 or 2 skaters at once but actually group collaborations. I wanted to go again later in the week but never made it.

 

Dinner each evening was the only time our entire group was together at one time during the day and it worked out really great this way. Food of note: The escargots appetizer was tasty but extremely buttery. The cherries jubilee were a good lighter dessert.

 

(Escargots Bourguignonne)

 

The Captain's Welcome Aboard Reception was between the two dinner seatings. I hardly saw a person on the Promenade that was not dressed up and enjoying the free champagne and fruit punch. The Captain stated that ~2/3 of the passengers on board had U.S. passports but I did hear a LOT of different accents while roaming the ship.

 

(The Captain Kjetil Gjerstad was lowered in on the Promenade's Flying Bridge.)

 

The first production show called Ever After was tonight. It was based on fairy tales with some modern music thrown in. The show was good, not great, I liked it and was entertained but didn't love it. Would I see it again? Maybe, maybe not. While waiting for the late night comedy with Miguel Washington again at the very late time of 12:15am, we hung out on the helipad which is really peaceful and beautiful on a clear night. I also stumbled upon an extra large photo display in the photo kiosk area of 2 contestants from the current season of So You Think You Can Dance!?!

 

(Ryan & Ashleigh DiLello from SYTYCD)

 

Miguel again was really funny and both DH and I enjoyed him. Dunno if it has to do with us being from the south and understanding his kind of humor maybe. We checked out The Catacombs for a bit, enjoyed the night club atmosphere but never made it back the rest of the week. Then it was off to bed to prep for Costa Maya. We hung our room service breakfast order on the door before falling asleep.

[Cruisinini]

Tuesday, November 3, 2009: Costa Maya (9am-8pm)

We woke up a little after 8am in anticipation of our breakfast that was to arrive between 8-8:30am. However, by 8:30 it had not shown up but our door tag was gone so we continued getting ready. By 8:45 breakfast was still a no show so DH called and was told our order had never been received! No idea why since it was gone from our door but they offered to send us something immediately. We opted to go to the WJ instead since we were ready to go and wanted to meet up with DH's father and uncle. The four of us were booked with The Native Choice to tour the Dzibanche Mayan Ruins. I was the only girl in our group that chose the tour over a shopping/beach day.

 

The instructions we received when booking the tour were to look for someone with a Native Choice sign near the taxi stand in Costa Maya. Departure time was 10am but we got there around 9:45am but could not find anyone with The Native Choice. After walking along the wall outside the shops, we saw people with neon orange wristbands that said The Native Choice. That's where we found David Villagomez and checked in with him to receive our wristbands.

 

(My Wristbands)

 

We were scheduled to go to the Dzibanche ruins which are about 2 hours from the port and require a group of 6 (we were only 4) to go. We were supposed to be notified a week in advance if nobody else signed up but we never heard back. Yet, I wasn't surprised when we were told that he couldn't take us because the roads are bad, it was far away, our group wasn't large enough, etc. But, going with the flow (it's always good to keep an open mind!), we agreed to be taken to the more popular Chacchoben ruins. After all, we came to see ruins so some ruins were better than no ruins. The Chacchoben tour was $50 per person instead of the $65 to go to Dzibanche. The reason we chose Dzibanche originally was because they looked larger from photos and DH wanted to be able to climb some of the ruins and Chacchoben didn't allow that from what he read. We also had tried to book with the company (Island Marketing Inc I think) that we did a jet ski/snorkel tour with in St Thomas since they allowed a minimum group of 4 but they said they did not have availability for our date so we went with the much recommended on these boards -- The Native Choice.

 

(David Villagomez, our guide from The Native Choice)

 

Turns out it was the first day of high season for Costa Maya. We were in port with the Carnival Valor and lots of people chose to go on a tour with The Native Choice. I saw at least a couple different busloads of tours go to Chacchoben but we got lucky and had one of the main guys as our guide, David Villagomez. He has been doing various types of tours in the area for over 20 years so he knows his stuff and probably knows more than you could ever want to know! While touring the ruins, he would stop to show us and tell us about things. But, after getting a bit long winded he would say "ok enough blah blah blah for now" and we'd walk on to somewhere else. David is fluent in Spanish and English at least and was very clear to understand.

 

(One of the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins)

 

(A closeup of the ruin and my FIL for size comparison.)

 

The bus ride was about one hour to and from the park where the ruins are located. Near the entrance of the park, there is a building with restrooms, shops and snacks/drinks. There are 3 main parts to the Chacchoben site, a large pyramid ruin, a town, and a ruin on top of a man made hill. The surrounding area is VERY flat so it was amazing to see these ruins and hills knowing they were created so long ago and had to take a ton of effort! You actually get to climb the last hill/ruin where another ruin is sitting at the top so DH did get to climb something after all! So all in all, these ruins didn't let us down. There were several fire ant hills around the ruins and i did get bit a couple of times, so be sure you spray your feet with bugspray. Anyone familiar with fire ants, I can report to you that fire ant bites in Mexico feel the same as fire ant bites in the southern US. Ouch! But, that was the only issue with bugs of any kind, no mosquitos, etc.

 

While traveling to and from the port, you can still see a lot of the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Dean(?) 2 years ago. There is still a lot of rebuilding going on near the port. Our guide, David, said sea foam was carried a couple of miles inland and I'm not surprised as the area is so flat and all plant life seems to grow low to the ground. In total, from leaving the port to returning to the port, the tour lasted about 4 hours. At the end of the tour, you are given the option of being dropped off at the port or you can be dropped off in the nearby town of Mahahual but you'll be responsible for finding your own way back to the port. DH chose to go back to the ship while I stayed to explore Mahahual with my FIL and DH's uncle. I was not impressed as the town is very touristy but it would be a nice place to go if you just wanted a beach day since it has lots of shops/food/beach toys/massages on the beach/etc.

 

(The main road from Costa Maya is long, flat, and straight.)

 

(Lots of dead vegetation leftover from Hurricane Dean in 2007.)

[Cruisinini]

Tuesday, November 3, 2009: Costa Maya (9am-8pm) (continued)

Finding a restroom was a bit of an adventure. I asked in a small store for a bathroom/baño and they pointed down the street. I thought at first they meant the restaurant/bar next door but I was afraid they would want me to buy something so I kept walking. I did eventually find a public bathroom, well, it said baño publico on the wall. However, there was no door the restroom, no doors on the stalls, no toilet paper, no soap, no lid on the toilet back, but the toilet worked and that's what I needed most! Something I had not noticed on our previous cruise to the Eastern Caribean, but something all the public bathrooms on this cruise generally had, were attendants and a tip basket on the sink. I never went into the baños with money so couldn't leave anything. Other than this baño in Mahahual, all others I went into at ports on this cruise were always impressively clean in my opinion. Perhaps this attendant idea is something the US could learn from but then again I guess money would be expected, oh well just an interesting observation.

 

(Shops & Restaurants lining the beach in Mahahual.)

 

(The beach in Mahahual.)

 

Technically, it's possible to walk from the town to the port but the road is not direct and goes inland some. I'm not sure you could walk the beach because it's rocky and once you get to the port, there is a large wall. It was VERY hot that day so we decided to take the $2/person taxi back to the port. The cost is $3/person from port to town, no idea why it's different each direction. The taxi driver mentioned they were happy to have ships coming in for high season now, it had been only 1 or 2 ships a month and now they will probably get 3 or 4 a week now I think. Back at the port, there were lots of people were inside the port shopping and enjoying the pool and swim up bar.

 

(The saltwater pool and swim up bar in the Costa Maya port.)

 

(The beach in the Costa Maya port.)

 

I headed back to the ship and found a plate of bonbons in our cabin with an apology note from room service for the mixup that morning. That's what i call good service! Also, there was a notice in our cabin that someone on the previous sailing of the Liberty had developed legionellosis (similar to pneumonia and contracted from inhaling contaminated water droplets but not contagious person to person) so the whirlpools and H2O zone would be closed for the rest of the cruise. Boo. I never figured out why those were closed but the pools were OK and especially the FlowRider which sprays more water than anything on the ship. However, I did notice the FlowRider water smelled almost like pure chemicals so maybe that's why it was OK??

 

I ate a very late lunch then sat up on the pool deck looking out over Costa Maya. Talked about Belize the next day with a few in our group who were worried about getting an early tender to get to shore for our non-ship excursion and also making it back to the ship before the last tender left. Finally, after enough worry talk, they decided to go talk to Guest Services about it. I was not worried as i know the tour came recommended here on CC and wouldn't be in business if people missed ships. Guest Services said if we wanted to be off the ship on the first tender we needed to be waiting in line on Deck 1 at 6:15am even though we were not supposed to arrive until 7am and the first tender would not depart until 7:30am.

 

(My sister warned me there was nothing at the port and the area is very flat. She wasn't kidding!)

 

Dinner tonight had an Italian theme and the waiters sang an Italian love song in several different accents. Food of note: The antipasti was very light and flavorful. The garlic tasted surprisingly un-garlicky!

 

(Antipasti Appetizer)

 

Tonight was my favorite production show - In the Air. For a cruise ship, I thought it was awesome, different, creative, and I loved it. This show was actually that production show casts very last performance of the show as they would be debarking with us in Miami. A new production show with a new cast would debut on Saturday night.

 

This time we called to order room service breakfast in the morning for 5:30am instead of going the door hangar route again. We tried to get the pastries but were told they would not be ready before 6am so went with simple stuff like cereal and yogurt.

[Cruisinini]

Wednesday, November 4, 2009: Belize (7am - 5pm)

This time room service did come! Breakfast arrived around 5:25am and they must've made some pastries just for us! ;-) Room service has definitely redeemed themselves. We got ready and went out to line up at 6:15am. Staying on deck 2 was actually a plus when getting on and off the ship at ports since we were so close to the exit. We walked down to deck 1 aft and didn't see anybody or where to line up. So went up a couple decks and ran into the others in our group. This began a confusing series of mixed messages from guest services and the cruise directors staff. Right hand not talking to the left hand kind of deal. We were told to go to deck 1, people on deck 1 said no, told to wait on deck 4, then told go back to 1, then told have to wait at deck 2. Whew! Obviously they were not ready for people to line up that early in the morning lol! Around 6:30am or so, signs and barricades were setup on deck 2 so we were first in line with a few more people showing up around 6:45am. By 7am lots more people started lining up and we couldn't see the end anymore since it went up the stairs.

 

There were some delays with the arrival and getting tenders started so we didn't move until almost 8am. It was announced that the first tender would be aft but that obviously did not happen since we were guided on a walk from aft to forward on deck 1 to be among the first on the first tender. The people waiting on the forward part of the ship were not happy about this but alas our early awakening did pay off and we were on the first tender. I had never been on a "small" boat at sea before this so the rocking around when going from ship to tender was a bit worrisome for me. Once we got moving it was a smooth ride and took about 20 minutes from ship to port I would guess.

 

(Tender pulling up to the port in Belize City.)

 

Our excursion instructions said to meet outside terminal 1 so we found a map posted at the port and easily found the exit. Immediately outside the doors were the guides and a sign for cave-tubing dot com. Just as they told me in my email confirmation my first initial dot last name was on the sign. Someone checked who I was against their list and took our group to a bus. Once on the bus, a guide came around to check our printed email confirmation. So make sure you bring the printed copy because they used it and kept it. I also had to sign my email confirmation stating that only 7 of the 9 that I made the reservation for initially had decided to show up. DH's 83yo grandmother decided to stay behind with DH's uncle which turned out to be a good thing. When I originally emailed inquiring about the excursion, I was told it would be no problem for DH's grandmother to do the cave tubing. She gets around fine but we did have to hike a good distance (~30 minutes) and up and down way more stairs than they said. The irregular stone stairs probably would not be that easy to navigate for an older person but other than that the hike is rather flat. Anyway, I digress, back to the port. The bus got about half full before it had to leave due to other traffic needing to come through the road in front of the port. We started off on a tour of Belize City. The city tour was unexpected but it was neat to see the various sides of the city and what it's like living in Belize.

 

(Kieth, our guide from cave-tubing dot com.)

 

(The road was divided by a cemetary!)

 

At the end of the city tour, we met another bus with more people that had arrived for the cave tubing. The total was I think 37 passengers, about 7 guides (Kieth, Ashton, Seven the bus driver, Tigre, Jeremiah, a girl I wish I could remember her name but more power to her for keeping up with all the guys) and 1 belizean police officer. I don't think the guides entirely knew why the officer was riding along but said sometimes they do and they don't argue when they want to...makes sense I guess. Heading out of town we had to stop at a police check point. It looked more scary than it was. Belize is a poor country and can't afford a lot of patrol cars so they set up these police check points instead.

 

(Police Check Point)

 

On the hour bus ride to the tubing site, we were given instructions and got to sample cashew wine. The most important instruction was "butt's up" for when you're going over shallow parts of the river you don't drag bottom!

 

We arrived at cave-tubing dot com's hut to drop off the 10 people also doing the ATV/cave tubing combo tour. The hut was actually pretty nice and had bathroom facilities. The rest of the group only doing cave tubing continued on about 5 minutes to the national park where the cave tubing takes place. At the park, there were a number of other buses and tour groups as well. The weather was a bit overcast but warm so it was comfortable outside and no bugs! We walked a short distance to receive our tubes and life jackets.

 

(Picking up inner tubes and life jackets.)

 

The guides offered to carry the tubes of anyone that looked "older" or anyone that seemed to be struggling. DH's aunt who is rather fit, probably more so than me, but has plentiful gray hair got her tube taken even though she insisted she was more than capable. Our 30 minute hike through the rainforest involved crossing the Sibun River, climbing several steps near the beginning and end of the hike, passing through a couple of caves, but overall was mostly flat with lots of plant life.

 

(Beginning the journey through the rainforest by crossing the Sibun River. Also, the finish point.)

[Cruisinini]

Wednesday, November 4, 2009: Belize (7am - 5pm) (continued)

We arrived at our drop in site on the Sibun River which is an extra cave beyond where the cruise ships drop in for their cave tubing excursions. The water is a really pretty blue green milky color.

 

(The first cave and start of our cave tubing journey.)

 

We were near the end of our group of 27 so it was amusing to watch everyone ahead of us get linked up in the water from ankle to armpit in a long chain. After everyone was linked up, the guides broke us into smaller chains of about 9 people. We all wore life jackets and headlights. Off into the first cave we went. The caves were a bit different from what I'd expected. The first cave's ceiling was very smooth inside, limestone I think. Then you come back outside to where most of the other cave tubing excursions drop in. Very soon thereafter, you're off into the longer second cave which is in my opinion huge and had lots of cool stalactite/stalagmite cave formations. The river water was cool but much warmer than the 50 something degree mountain water I'm used to here in the US. I did get chilled going through the caves but not too bad. The sun came out after we exited the last cave so drifting along in the sunshine for the last part of the excursion warmed me right back up.

 

(The second cave exit.)

 

(Notice the group on the left doing the "butts up" maneuver to keep from dragging bottom.)

 

I think it was around 1pm ship time when we finished tubing and left to head back to the cave-tubing dot com grass hut. We stayed for about 15 minutes to change clothes and get a $5 belizean meal (chicken, rice, cole slaw) which was delicious and $1 sodas. Also available were t-shirts with the "butt's up" slogan, Belikin beer, and cashew wine for sale. Then it was back on the bus and back to the port. During the ride back, they went around the bus to the collect the $45 per person payment and checked very closely any large bills ($50+) to make sure they were legit. The guides apologized for having to check but I don't blame them. I was told in my initial email correspondence when booking, we would be back to the port around 2:30-3pm. The last tender was to leave at 4:30pm, so again I was not nervous since that was plenty of time to get back but others in our group were still nervous. The guides did mention they do not carry spare tires, only spare buses in case there was a problem lol! We arrived back at the port at about 3:05pm so we had time to shop a bit then we were on the tender back to the ship at 3:30pm. The 3 ships in Belize that day were us, Carnival Valor, and Holland America Ryndam.

 

(The ships look so far off when leaving the port. L to R: Libery, Valor, Ryndam)

 

(The lovely weather. Probably no thanks for the beginnings of Ida.)

 

(Crossing from tender to ship.)

 

Back on board, the exercise for the day had made me hungry so ate some pizza at Sorrento's followed by an ice cream cone from Sprinkles. I thought Sorrento's pizza was really good, however, DH thought it was good too but not some of the best he'd ever had. Eating this late snack made me too full for dinner so I couldn't finish my entree and didn't eat dessert at all. Since I was so full, I didn't really enjoy dinner so don't have any food of note for this night. We learned from our waiters this evening (or maybe it was the night before??) that the Liberty had just been approved to stay in Cozumel until 9pm instead of the listed 8pm. After dinner, the plan was to go to the ice show again then see the love and marriage show. But, after dinner we had some time to kill and decided to take a nap before the show. Except we napped for about 14 hours from 8:30pm to 10:30am the next day!

[Cruisinini]

Thursday, November 5, 2009: Cozumel (9am - 9pm)

It's hard to get your body to wake up after 14 hours of sleep! Your mind feels alert and awake but you're body feels so sluggish. We made our way up to the top of the ship to check out the scenery but found some seriously dark clouds looming. As we headed into the WJ to eat, we could see the rain coming in. While we ate, we watched people running across the pier through the pouring rain.

 

(No Rain.)

 

(Rain!)

 

Our excursion was the 2 tank boat dive through the ship ($99 per person) was at 1:30pm but we were to meet on the dock at 1:15pm ship time. (All ports stayed on ship time throughout the entire cruise.) So, we had plenty of time to sleep in before getting ready. However, while the storm rolled in, I got worried about the dive trip getting cancelled so went to talk to Guest Services. I was told cancellations are the tour operators decision so we needed to just show up as if we were going. I hoped we wouldn't have to lug our equipment off the ship for no reason. This was our only in person interaction with Guest Services. While I'll say our needs were met satisfactorily, the interaction was very matter of fact and lacked the personable interaction I had with most other staff on board.

 

DH and I arrived in the port a little before 1pm in light rain. The tour operators, Sand Dollar Sports, were still anticipating taking us diving. Yay! For this excursion, there were, I believe only 9 divers from the Liberty and 1 was actually a crew member that had just gotten certified! We were not combined with any divers from Carnival Valor or Carnival Inspiration that were also in Cozumel that day. Since it wasn't lightning at the time, we were allowed to go. As soon as we started walking toward the dive boat to take us to the dive shop it started a torrential downpour again. I didn't know the diving would be on land AND in the sea! Thank goodness this is the day we decided to do a water activity where the weather didn't effect the outcome. Luckily we also had ponchos with us which helped keep me more warm than dry. Being wet in the wind can be rather chilly. Once on board the dive boat, we followed the lead of a couple other divers and decided to go ahead and put on our wetsuits. So, I let another lady that was wet and shivering to borrow my poncho. Divers helping divers!

 

First we headed to the Sand Dollar dive shop, which was about a 20 minute ride, to get wristbands for Palancar National Reserve where we would be diving. Also, at the dive shop anyone who needed additional equipment (wetsuit, BCD, etc) was able to get it here. Then it was about a 10 minute ride to our first dive site on the Santa Rosa Wall. Our divemaster guide for the day, Adrian Estrella, explained what would happen while we were underwater and did a really great job overall! He dives everyday and no longer keeps a dive log because he's been on so many dives! This was only our 7th dive ever and first ever in saltwater. DH and I had only been in a freshwater quarry near home when we got certified back in July. Then once after that in the same quarry with just us, DH's sister and her friend. Adrian let us know we might be going through a couple of small coral swim through caves which made me nervous since we had not done anything like that. The liberty crew member also had not either so he explained to us what would happen and if we weren't comfortable to just swim above them and follow their bubbles. As we dropped into the water, we had about 5 minutes where they would wait for us to adjust our ear pressure, etc or we would have to go back to the dive boat and wait for the next dive. Thankfully nobody had any issues and being able to see straight to the bottom was awesome! The clarity really astounded and excited me, felt like I was high on top of a building.

 

At the Santa Rosa Wall, we maxed out at about 85 feet. By a wall, it means a literal wall that dropped off into the wild blue yonder!

 

(Looking down the wall toward the deep blue yonder.)

 

When we got to the swim throughs I actually felt very comfortable with how he had described everything and was at ease going through them. The caves were small but there was plenty of room to go through. They were short in distance too so you could see out the other side. There were a couple of minor incidents during this first dive, one involved another diver and one involved me. Midway through the dive, I noticed that one divers tank came out of the strap and was floating perpendicular to him. Not good! But, our divemaster Adrian noticed it about the same time I did. He immediately went to fix the issue. It was comforting to know that he was definitely paying attention to all 5 of us. When I got down to around 1200psi in my tank, I started ascending involuntarily, not good! I got to maybe 20 feet before Adrian motioned for me to let air out of my BCD. But, I showed him that I had so he told me to swim down to him instead. When I did, he had to add another weight to my BCD pocket so I would stay down. Note to self: Saltwater makes you more buoyant so add more weight than usual! For the first dive, we had a bottom time of about 30 minutes and saw lots of fish and coral along the top of the wall.

 

(Looking up the wall.)

 

(Divers in another group.)

 

(Beautiful underwater scenery.)

[Cruisinini]

Thursday, November 5, 2009: Cozumel (9am - 9pm) (continued)

Back at the surface, we made a quick trip back to the dive shop and got our log books stamped. Then it was a very quick boat ride, pretty much straight out from the dive shop, for our 2nd dive on the San Clemente reef at 35 feet for 45 minutes. This reef had quite the variety of wildlife: sea turtle, clownfish, lobster, seahorses, stingray, moray eel, ~60 pound grouper, Dory fish (from Finding Nemo).

 

(Our divemaster, Adrian, with a Sea Turtle.)

 

(Dory fish from Finding Nemo)

 

(Fish hiding in coral and swimming against the current.)

 

(Grouper - about 60 pounds according to our divemaster! It was huge.)

 

(Spiny Lobster)

 

(Moray Eel)

[Cruisinini]

Thursday, November 5, 2009: Cozumel (9am - 9pm) (continued)

Both dives were drift dives, so the current just carried us along, I'd approximate at about walking speed. Not much effort was required on our part, just don't plan on stopping to watch something for any length of time! I must make a note that the crew on our boat (Sand Dollar Express) was awesome! They changed out tanks for us, hooked up the BCD and regulators, helped you put gear on, helped you walk across the rocking boat while we were all geared up. Maybe this is normal since it was my first "real" dive experience but I was impressed with their attentiveness and it was much appreciated. One diver in the group had been on 400+ dives but said this was his best one ever! DH said to me, way to set the bar for any future dives for us. Guess the future dives will have a lot to live up to since we may have gotten spoiled on this dive. We got back to the port about quarter til 6pm.

 

(Our dive boat looked so small in comparison to the Liberty!)

 

We did a little souvenir shopping at the port. I'm sure we were a humorous site trudging around the shops since we were carrying a large bag of dive gear, wetsuits still on but pulled down halfway and ponchos on top of it all!!

 

Tonights show was comedy by an older guy that I forgot his name! He had a very different style humor from Miguel Washington early in the week. To DH and I, he was funny but not hilarious. I think the generations older than us, which is most everyone I guess lol, seemed to really enjoy him.

 

(The Platinum Theater)

 

We did not eat in the main dining room this night because our excursion got back about the same time as dinner. So, we opted to eat with DH's parents at Portofino at 9pm. We got to see sailaway while we ate. Julietta was our waitress and she was very personable and brought us a couple of her favorite dishes to sample. All the food was delicious so food of note was everything I tasted this night! We finished dinner close to 11pm. Quest started at 10:30pm so we missed out on that. I was a little disappointed since I was looking forward to experiencing it after reading the "secretive" commentary on the boards. Oh well, guess we'll just have to go on another cruise. Shucks! ;-)

 

(Entrance to Portofino)

 

(DH's dinner of Filetto Di Halibut Alla Griglia)

[Cruisinini]

Friday, November 6, 2009: At Sea

As the trend for the week continued, I woke up around 9:45am but DH kept sleeping. I put on my swimsuit and coverup only to discover dismal weather -- off and on clouds, rain, and very windy. (Perhaps a downside of an inside cabin and not knowing how to dress lol, oh well!) I did a little shopping on the Promenade since there was a $10 "sale" on a bunch of watches/scarves/purses/ties. I say "sale" because the same items were always $10 in the store, they just brought out a larger quantity to the middle of the Promenade to generate more moolah. Gotta say, it works because it sure created a frenzy of people looking at and buying items.

 

After checking on DH and finding him awake, we decided to finally go ice skating. The "rental" skates are terrible! They barely work but you would think they could afford better ones, I dunno. It was a fun novelty to say we had done but I much prefer skating around the ice rinks at home. The rink really is quite tiny but made what the skaters do in the ice show seem all the more impressive!

 

(Ice Skating Rink)

 

This day we ate lunch in the main dining room for a change with DH's parents. The food was better than the buffet and the service was of course great, much more formal than I'm used to at lunchtime. DH thoroughly enjoyed the salad buffet available as well. It's not your typical salad bar where you serve yourself but you point out ingredients and it's tossed fresh for you. Like made to order omelets but made to order salads!

 

After lunch, since the weather was spotty, we decided to do something different besides the normal "bake in the sun" routine we probably would have normally done. First up, miniature golf. It's not too often that you have to check the wind direction when putting the ball but we managed. I somehow won by one stroke, had a few lucky shots I think! Or maybe I was just a better judge of the wind. The course is fun to pass time but nothing to write home about.

 

(Mini Golf Course)

 

I ran (literally) from the golf course to make it to the Sudoku Challenge in the Schooner Lounge. From aft to forward and then down several decks! (Maybe that's why I didn't gain any weight during the cruise despite the more than average quantities of food I ate.) I had fun but learned that my method of solving the puzzles isn't very fast apparently since I finished in the middle of the pack but, I had fun! So, back up to the Sports Deck I went to join DH for some rock climbing. I managed to bruise my knee and scraped the side of my leg somehow, I guess that's why you sign a waiver! I had fun and climbed to the top 2 more times on 2 different places. I'm kinda liking this rock climbing thing, it's a challenge! DH climbed one wall 4 times because each time after he rang the bell, the staff member would drop him down part way and say I didn't hear the bell so he'd have to climb back up LOL!

 

(DH coming down on the left side and I'm going up the middle.)

 

Then we watched as my FIL entered the free throw competition then it proceeded to rain intermittently during the next hour. After he finished, DH and I decided to give the FlowRider a try. We got our daily wristband and I saw the staff member behind the counter putting on a wetsuit. (It was warm but when you're wet, it was quite chilly with the wind blowing REALLY hard that day.) So, I asked if I would be allowed to wear one. He said yes, we can rent you one (didn't know that!). But, I had my own if that was ok and he said yep! The weather really was quite pitiful for using the FlowRider but I dawned a tshirt and gave it a whirl. The boogie board wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to do and I did pretty good. Then they closed it to change to stand up surfing. Since I was cold (wet plus wind), I didn't try it but DH did 3-4 times. He wiped out the first time but got better after that. Looks like I have another reason to book another cruise and hope for better weather when using the FlowRider!

 

(Notice that most of the guys standing in line have towels and the staff member had a towel on her head!)

 

Tonight was the 2nd formal night. Food of note: Fisherman's Plate. I'm not a big lobster fan but the one I had this night was really tasty.

 

(Fisherman's Plate)

 

The show tonight was Kenny James, a Motown singing/dancing production. He was entertaining but not DH's or my thing, however, DH's Dad was smiling along the entire time. If I knew of something else I wanted to do I probably would have left but I was too lazy. On the way out of the theater, ship movement caused me and a few others to stumble. Maybe due to the fact that the theater is in the very front of the ship, the movement is felt more there. DH and I went to try Ben & Jerry's, delicious.

 

(Ben & Jerry's Menu)

 

DH and I attempted to go to the helipad but it was gated off due to high winds. Up on the pool deck, we watched the kiddie lazy river pool? slosh water over it's sides as it flung water from one side to the other. We found DH's parents in Olive or Twist and hung out with them for a bit while listening to Harmony Duo (pianist and violinist) before heading to bed.

[Cruisinini]

Saturday, November 7, 2009: At Sea

Once again I woke up around 9:45 and DH kept sleeping. It was more dismal weather and DH's Aunt mentioned that the captain said we had 12-15' waves! The relative wind speed was rather brisk too.

 

(Weather Map)

 

I watched the pools significantly slosh water back and forth similar to the kids lazy river pool the previous night. Then on the Promenade, I watched the setup for the Culinary Showcase. For lunch, we decided to try out Johnny Rockets. The experience was good but not great. Our waitress messed up DH's milkshake order, the burgers were better than the standard fast food joint but not as good as specialty places like Red Robin. I did enjoy watching the wait staff dancing and I had fun selecting free music from the table jukebox. In the future, I probably won't go again but it was fun to say i've experienced it...kinda like the ice skating.

 

(Johnny Rockets waitstaff dancing.)

 

After lunch, I walked around to see the culinary artistry on the Promenade with DH.

 

(Monkey!)

 

I attempted to get some sun since it was sporadically peeking out. But, I had to brave the 50mph relative wind speed which was pretty powerful. I did see another RCCL ship pass us but still haven't figured out what it was...maybe the Freedom??

 

(This is NOT what the pool deck should look like on a sea day!)

 

DH didn't like the wind so went down to deck 4 and found a quiet place to read his book. He told me later he saw deckhands cleaning drain very thoroughly and was impressed because he was sure not very many people visited that part of the ship but it's probably why the ship looks so great. Just before dinner, the staff of the FlowRider put on a FlowShow which was pretty fun to watch...7 people stand up surfing together, 1 guy did pushups while on 3 boogies boards at once, played dodgeball, etc.

 

(FlowShow)

 

Dinner food of note: Chilled Berry soup. DH's cousin had the fruit soup almost every night so I finally tried one and thought it was really light and delicious.

 

Tonight was the opening night of the new production show cast and show Gallery of Dreams -- about paintings coming to life that kind of morphed into songs and dances from different countries. The set designs were fairly impressive I thought for a cruise ship at least and the singing/dancing was about on par with the other production shows. I liked the show better than Ever After but not nearly as much as In the Air. After the show, James Andrews (CD) made a joke about people running around on the track earlier in the day -- resistance training one direction/fastest ever run in your life the other direction. Then a bunch of the crew came up on stage representing the various departments on board and said farewell. The cruise is over. Sad. Time to find another one to go on!

 

DH and I went back to our cabin and packed since luggage had to be out by 11pm. We put our suitcases out at 11pm exactly and I noticed they were already collecting bags. Moments after setting ours out I asked DH if he was certain he had everything like his Seapass and Passport. He patted his pocket and said no!! His Seapass was in the pants he wore to dinner which was now buried in a suitcase sitting outside our cabin door...if it had not been collected already! AHHHHHHH!! This was SO like him to do this! I flew out the door and thankfully our luggage was still there. Whew! I frantically dug through until I found his Seapass. Our neighbors across hall came out and I told them to make sure they didn't pack their cards. They just kinda stared at me then chuckled with confused looks on their faces. After I went back to what I was doing, they started talking to each other in another language so I'm not sure they even spoke English. Anyway, all was well and an unnecessarily exciting ending to the day.

 

(Our towel animals on the last night.)

[Cruisinini]

Sunday, November 8, 2009: Debarkation

We awoke around 7am since we were in the 8-8:30am departure group. Enjoyed our last meal on board, breakfast in the WJ. Then headed down to the Platinum Theater around 7:50am to wait to be called. But, we weren't called until almost 10am! They told us that the gangway was being stopped a few times due to people not having their paperwork ready and in order when debarking. I also found out later from my FIL that the ship was having a random inspection and it may have been slowing things up too. Who knows. Our flight wasn't until 4:30pm anyway so we would be either sitting onboard or sitting in the airport so we took it in stride.

 

Immigration was very quick for DH and I and the agent was very friendly to us unlike a few others in our group who experienced questioning and people with no personality or modicum of friendliness. The driver that brought our group from MIA to the Best Western the previous weekend was waiting to pick us up at the port so that was really convenient. I believe it was $60 for our group of 9.

 

(Farewell Miami)

 

In my opinion, MIA is an unpleasant experience. The airport is dirty, crowded, slow, disorganized, and unfriendly. But, I'm sure there are worse airports out there! The times I've been in and out of MIA, I've been far from impressed with how things are handled compared to other U.S. airports including those larger than MIA. Before checking in, I had to do a little reshuffling since our checked bag was just a few pounds overweight. This first and second bag fee thing is so annoying. If they had a better deal, I so would have flown with Southwest since I've always had good experiences with them and they don't charge you extra for bags! With all that said, our AA flight was on time, smooth, the pilot was entertaining, and we got home safe and sound so that's all that matters! Speaking of airports, RDU's new terminal is pretty nice!

 

(An appropriate finish to our awesome cruise vacation!)

 

Random Notes & Comments:

We stayed on ship time in all the ports as the ports were actually an hour behind ship time. So once our watches were set with EST, we just stayed on EST and used our watches while in ports, not any clocks we saw around.

 

The cruise director James Andrews was really great. Tons of energy, I enjoyed his personality, and he does his job very well. DH thought he was sexy because he has a bald head just like him. LOL!

 

On our previous cruise, we only saw the Head Waiter the very last night of our cruise for a brief moment. However, on this cruise, our head waiter made himself much more present. He assisted various people at our table with removing the lobster shell or meat from large bones on at least half of the nights. I told DH his grandmother was going to go home and expect someone to cut her food for her from now on! DH's parents were not impressed with him but they had no comparison and did not experience what we had before.

 

I was impressed with RCCL's photo kiosks as they must use facial recognition to find all your photos including ones I forgot were taken of me! Well, at least until they broke down on the last day of the cruise. I was unimpressed by the prices on photos, they are ridiculous. It was $19.95 for an 8x10, with most actually a 4x6 photo surrounded by RCCL graphical nonsense to make it fill an 8x10. I really don't like the walls of printed photos, though I know it's the standard practice, because photos are so hard to find. With about 3000 passengers and many photos of each person it just gets overwhelming. I wish other sizes were available too. If they could start using a bunch of photo kiosks and just allow people to print their photos in sizes they want, I bet they'd make a ton more moolah. So long story short, we didn't buy any photos this cruise which surprised me but probably would have if the price point were better. There were a few we liked and considered buying but we have 1200+ photos we took on our own that I can use. However, I did splurge and purchase the $24 scrapbook kit.

 

I caught DH checking out the deck plans for the Oasis a couple of times on the Promenade. (Actually he calls it the Pillager of the Seas because when they had the naming contest he thought it would be a great name and should have a pirate theme.) He asked when we were going on it so I think he's interested! He has really surprised me with this whole cruising idea, he is NOT a people person at all and I knew he wasn't looking forward to our first cruise on the Valor. But, before this cruise, he seemed much more excited, well excited for him which isn't much difference from not excited. So here's to looking forward to our next cruises, whenever they may be! =)

[gooselover]

AWESOME review! Thank you so much! We sail on Liberty next October. Thought we would try her out before Oasis.

[Jenner9]

Fantastic review...thank you for taking the time to write it. I am sailing LOS on 12/13/09 with the same itinerary.

[Mama2Tay]

Thank you for the great review! We sail on Liberty in February and I have a quick question about ship time vs. local time.

 

You stated that the ship stayed on ship's time (that would be EST I assume). So does that mean you were 1 hour ahead of the local time in the ports? So when the ship said it was 9 a.m. was it really 8 a.m. local time?

 

I am trying to book an excursion in Costa Maya and our itinerary says we dock at 9 a.m. But is that 9 a.m. EST or 9 a.m. local Costa Maya time?

 

Thanks for the help!

[anarresa]

Wow, super detailed review, thanks. We're going on the same itinerary and ship at the end of the month.

[Cruisinini]

Thank you for the great review! We sail on Liberty in February and I have a quick question about ship time vs. local time.

 

You stated that the ship stayed on ship's time (that would be EST I assume). So does that mean you were 1 hour ahead of the local time in the ports? So when the ship said it was 9 a.m. was it really 8 a.m. local time?

 

I am trying to book an excursion in Costa Maya and our itinerary says we dock at 9 a.m. But is that 9 a.m. EST or 9 a.m. local Costa Maya time?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

We stayed on EST so when the ship says it arrives at 9am in the ports, it's really 8am local time. When I booked our independent excursions, I entered the ship time (EST) as our arrival time, I didn't convert to local time. I think most independent people understand that. For example, when I booked our tour to the ruins in Costa Maya, I said our ship arrived at 9am so they told me to meet them in the port at 10am (but it was really their 9am). I'm sure you can clarify with the tour operator when you book. Hope that helps. It's really less confusing then it sounds, just stay on EST and you'll be fine plus they make lots of announcements on board the ship to remind you.

[pilotboy1985]

Fantastic review! i am sailing this exact route and ship on Nov 29th ( 8 days! :) )

 

I had some questions... In Belize I'm doing the "Beach break"

but for Costa Maya and Cozumel I was just planning on shopping in the city and sightseeing. From what you seen of those ports is that something that is easily done where the ships dock, or is this something we'll need to take a taxi for?

Thanks. :)

[Kim225]

Thanks for the great review! Loved all of the pictures.

[CruisingWChrist]

Outstanding review!! It's so helpful when I read reviews like this. How do you compare your two cruises? I have sail the Valor, and we are sailing Liberty 4/25/2010.:D

[Cruisinini]

Fantastic review! i am sailing this exact route and ship on Nov 29th ( 8 days! :) )

 

I had some questions... In Belize I'm doing the "Beach break"

but for Costa Maya and Cozumel I was just planning on shopping in the city and sightseeing. From what you seen of those ports is that something that is easily done where the ships dock, or is this something we'll need to take a taxi for?

Thanks. :)

 

There are shops in the port at all 3 places so it won't be hard to find shopping. About leaving the port and going into town to shop, I can only really answer for Costa Maya.

 

It's easiest to take a taxi from Costa Maya to go to Mahahual which is maybe a couple miles away. You could technically walk it, we almost did but the taxi was cheap and it was really hot. It's $3 per person to go from Costa Maya to Mahahual and $2 per person to go from Mahahual to Costa Maya (no idea why it's different). Also, I think the port will rent you golf carts to drive down to Mahahual, someone in the port asked us if we wanted to rent one but I don't know for how much. The area of Costa Maya that is outside the port walls is still getting rebuilt so there's not much shopping there yet but I think there will be eventually because I saw a Hard Rock Cafe being built.

 

I can't answer for Cozumel since our excursion left from the dock and we returned to the dock so I never left the port. However, I know a few in our group did go into town and went shopping. I think they paid like $6 for a taxi, that's not $6 per person but $6 for however many people they could fit into the taxi. I would have liked to shop in Cozumel since I've heard you can get vanilla extract really cheap (I love to bake).

 

I'm jealous you're going next week, I'm ready to go again! You'll have a great time!

[Cruisinini]

Outstanding review!! It's so helpful when I read reviews like this. How do you compare your two cruises? I have sail the Valor, and we are sailing Liberty 4/25/2010.:D

 

Thanks! I also really enjoy and find it really helpful for me to read reviews that are detailed so I try to return the favor.

 

How do they compare? Well...that depends so much on preference and opinion! =) But, I'll give it a try so this is just my viewpoint.

 

Short answer: I enjoyed the Liberty more than the Valor but I would gladly go on either again.

 

Longer answer: The basics I would say were close to equal -- food selection, food quality, service from wait staff/room attendant, variety of lounges, casino, specialty restaurant(s), ship excursions offered, pools, mini golf, quantity of activities available in the daily newspaper. Things I enjoyed more on the Liberty -- more sports activities (ice skating, rock climbing, flowrider), higher quality shows (parades, ice show, production shows were more elaborate), it's a bigger ship so more amenities like a Promenade with shops and cafe/pizza place, slightly larger room size (we had an inside on both ships), room layout, musical acts, helipad at very front of the ship. Things I liked more on the Valor -- large outdoor movie screen, water slide.

 

That's all that comes to mind at the moment but I'm sure I'll click submit and think of more I should've said. Anyway, hopefully that gives you a rough idea.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[grammyandpoppy]

Sounds like you did some great shore excursions.