Review!! - Liberty of the Seas - 2/27 to 3/5

[DanScrim]

Hello everyone! This is my first review so let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

 

Day 1 - Feb 27, 2011

Our flight from Syracuse to JFK was delayed before we even arrived at the airport. We knew we were going to miss our connection in JFK so Delta put us on the next flight out of JFK to Miami. It was set to arrive at 2:30pm. All aboard on the Liberty was set for 4:00pm I believe. We got to JFK on time and waited around for our second flight to leave. That got off on time and after about an hour nap I bought the in-flight WiFi for $9.99. While online, I noticed that our estimated time of arrival was at 1:30pm.... and sure enough we landed around 1:27pm... Finally something went right. The good feeling didn't last long because as we went to get our bags... We noticed a wheel was ripped off Carly's 50lb suitcase. Fantastic. No time to worry about it so I lugged it to the curb and we took a cab to the Port of Miami for a flat rate of $24 and it got us there in about 20min... Thank you cruisecritic.com for that tip.

 

 

First sights of the Liberty!

 

It was pretty empty at the pier, probably because of our late arrival. A quick check in and we were onboard the beautiful Liberty of the Seas. I noticed immediately that she was very similar to the Voyager class ships I had sailed but I noticed some slight differences in the layout and obviously some new features.

 

Our room was ready by the time we got there and we met our stateroom attendant, Alvan. After dropping our stuff off we set out to grab a quick lunch at the Windjammer before exploring the ship. As I said before, the ship was very similar to the voyager class but some notable things were the Flow Rider, big screen LED TV by the pool, H2O zone for kids, cantilevered whirlpools, crazy rock climbing wall, and some new shops on the royal promenade.

 

H20 Zone

 

The Royal Promenade

 

Cantilevered whirlpool

 

We had a drink and stayed on Deck 12 for the sail away party. Afterwards, we headed back to our room only to see that the other wheel was broken off Carly's suitcase. We were too excited to let it bother us so we just about our vacation so we just shook it off and unpacked.

 

We had signed up for My Time Dining before the cruise so we just needed to head to the dining room, which we did around 830 for dinner. Dinner was very good and after walking around a little more we went to a one-game Bingo session which would prove to be our first of many failed attempts at winning ANYTHING. We were pretty tired from traveling so we went to bed right after.

[DanScrim]

Day 2 - Feb 28

Carly was up early and went to the gym. It was crowded, but she enjoyed running on the treadmill while looking off the bow of the ship. We headed to breakfast around 10am at the Windjammer. We got to the pool around 11:00 and of course almost all of the chairs were taken. We found 2 midship on the 12th floor overlooking a cantilevered whirlpool. We enjoyed some drinks, then moved down to the pool deck to secure a front row seat for the belly flop competition around 1:15. After that, we headed to the ice show, Encore!, in Studio B.

 

Studio B

 

After a quick nap, we headed back to the dining room for our 2nd dinner of the vacation. We got an awesome seat right next to a window and after the sun began to set the view was magnificent. The only problem at dinner was our waiter brought me the wrong dessert. He then apologized and had his assistant waiter send the correct one.... to the wrong table. The situation was finally resolved and we left for the show.

 

Our view from dinner

 

The show was "Ever After" which proved to be a disappointment for us. After the show we went to Battle of the Sexes in the Sphinx lounge where Carly participated (and lost) on the girls team as I cowardly watched and took pictures. We stopped by the late night adult comedy show which I thought was very good for the short 15min we saw.

[DanScrim]

Day 3 - Mar 1

Day 3 marked our first day in port, which was at Belize City, Belize. We were tendered, not docked, and the ride was about 15 minutes to shore. The tenders were big and left about every 15 minutes. We didn't have an excursion booked so we were planning to just walk around the port area and shop a bit. We found the port area to be small and a little dirty but the shopping was plentiful and the prices were right. It was a bit freaky when you got near the exterior of the "port area" as I've been calling it because just outside on the real streets of Belize were tons of locals trying to convince you to take tours with them. We felt safe where we were but were hesitant to leave the tourist area. We stopped by a small, outdoor bar called Thirsty Joe's for a drink. After a couple hours of shopping we stopped in at the Wet Lizard for some drinks and an order of chips and salsa. Everything was good but the prices weren't anything special since we were still in the touristy area.

 

A tender boat used in Belize

 

Thirsty Joe's

 

Approaching the Liberty upon returning from Belize

 

We got back on the ship and headed back to our room for a nap. We went to dinner around 6 and had a fantastic table/waiter/assistant. This would be the table that we requested for the remainder of the cruise. We finished dinner and headed to the show a bit late, around 7:15. The show was a Beatles tribute band, called Revolution.... which was awesome. We stayed for about half the time and headed to the casino. After a couple successful hours there, we hopped from bar to bar, including my favorite, Olive or Twist at the Vikings Crown.

 

The stage in the Vikings Crown

[DanScrim]

Day 4 - Mar 2

This was our second day in port, at Costa Maya, Mexico. We had no excursion planned but had heard about a great beach, Majahual. We took a bus there for $3/person and walked down the beachfront/shopping area where Carly bought a bracelet. The entire time the workers from the beachfront bars would beg you to sit in their chairs/under their umbrellas on the beach. As long as you bought a few beers from them (6 for $10) you could use their lounge chairs and beachfront all day for free. We decided on a bar and sat down at their table on the beach. We ended up buying some nachos, chips and guacamole, and 2 buckets of beer throughout the day. The cab cost $2 back to the ship for a grand total of under $50 for the day. Not bad for an amazing beach, not crowded at all.... Beautiful view of the ships in port, beers, food, transportation, etc.

 

Our setup at Majahaul.

 

View of the Radiance of the Seas from Majahaul

 

We got back on the ship around 3 and headed for the FlowRider. We decided we had to at least try it once.

 

The FlowRider

 

Afterwards, we went back for an afternoon nap and headed to dinner around 6 at our newfound table which we loved so much. Dinner was great as usual and we were off to the casino. The show that night was the ice show, which we already saw. We played at the casino while, but had no luck. We grabbed some drinks and went to my favorite spot, the Vikings Crown. We stayed there until the Love and Marriage gameshow began at 10:00pm in the theatre. That was a lot of fun, as it always is. The night ended with the pool party on Deck 11 with food and dancing.

 

The Solarium was beautiful at night

[DanScrim]

Day 5- Mar 3

This was our final day in port, at Cozumel, Mexico, we had an excursion booked called the Palancar Snorkel and Beach break (or something). They didn't meet until 10am so we got breakfast on the ship and got off for some quick shopping. We headed to the pier and boarded 1 of the 2 catamarans for our excursion. The ride out to the snorkel site was long, felt like almost an hour. But they had an open bar and were keeping us busy with snorkel instructions. I was kept busy by gawking at the horrific looking monstrosity of a cruise ship (aka the Carnival Ecstasy) that we sailed past on the way out of the port. Sorry carnival fans, I couldn’t resist.

 

The Radiance(right) docked next to us in Cozumel

 

We finally got to the reef and hopped out for some snorkeling. It was pretty cool. The lead guided us through some pretty neat areas. We saw sting rays, sea turtles and boat loads of really colorful fish. We stayed out for about 45 minutes and then came back to the boat (which was following closely behind). Some people stayed in for up to 15min longer. We enjoyed free drinks and relaxation while we waited. We reached the private beach, Playa Mia about 45 minutes later. There we were served a lunch(included) and more free drinks. We were at the beach for about an hour and a half.

 

Beach chairs and hammocks at Playa Mia

 

This really shows how much bigger the Freedom Class ships are than the Radiance class!

 

We were brought back to the pier and got back on the ship around 3. As a present to myself, I put money down on a future cruise to secure the onboard credit! That’s always fun a fun part of the vacation!

 

Dinner was early that night, at 545, in order to get our favorite table. It was formal #2, which meant lobster! We went, enjoyed and left around 7 and headed back to the casino. More bad luck drove us away quickly. We relaxed before heading to the Quest gameshow around 10. The show was good, very similar to my experience on the Voyager class. Afterwards, we headed up to the Solarium for an adult only party.

[DanScrim]

Day 6- Mar 4

I hate waking up knowing that it's my last day on the ship. It almost ruins the whole day. The weather was just okay - kind of overcast and windy. That didn't stop us from laying out for a bit after breakfast in the MDR. Breakfast was actually pretty bad. The waitress messed up both of our orders and it was just a bad experience. We would have been better off at the windjammer like every other day. Anyway, we didn't really do much this day. We went to the sexiest man competition at the pool deck which was funny and then we headed back for some packing (also depressing). We packed until dinner time and then went to enjoy our last meal with our favorite people on the ship, our waiters. Dinner was fantastic, as usual.

 

We headed to the casino for a bit and then went to the farewell show. They had a juggler who was juggling knives. Very neat. Then they showed preview of the cruise in review DVD and sang the farewell song when all the managers from the different departments come in. Well done as always. Then we headed to the Vikings Crown to enjoy the rest of our night.

 

The Farewell Show

[DanScrim]

Departure – Mar 5

Quick and easy. We stayed and had lunch and by the time we were ready to leave, our number had already been called. We waited for probably 5min and then got right off. Bags were on the conveyer belt about 10 minutes later.

 

Overall, a fantastic vacation!!! Here are a few more pics of the ship that I took throughout the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entire album can be viewed in chronological order here:

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/danscrimale/CruiseFeb272011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXQ7Yf8s-KODw#

 

Thanks for reading!

Dan

[Verfai]

Great job!

[johnlcruise]

Very enjoyable. Thanks for taking us on your Most Excellent Adventure

[Mlkkc]

Beautiful pic's!

[Shomari]

Thanks!!

[kernow]

Thanks for the review and great pics. Only a week and a half to go for us until we sail on Liberty for the transatlantic. I was able to spot our aft balcony on your photo, now I'm even more excited.

 

Julie

[Tyler80]

Hi Dan,

 

Great photos, glad you enjoyed your trip!

[jazzydoors]

Thanks

[will773]

Great review! Sounds like you had a really fun vacation and your pics are awesome!

[LTyler]

Great pictures cant wait to go on this ship!

[LBumb]

great review, really enjoyed your pics.

[bionicman97]

Very nice review, enjoyed the pictures :)