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

[aharris0614]

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?

 

Megan07 - we would have loved to have spent a couple more days onboard, but everyone's schedule just did not permit it. There was so much to do, and see (or not), a couple more days would have just made it perfect...of course, if 5 days is what you have, then 5 days is JUST RIGHT!

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Thanks for the review! My family and I are looking at this itinerary for a return to RCCL after a 12 year hiatus. We kind of fell in love with Carnival (as you can see).

[aharris0614]

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?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1400976

 

Someone else compiled this info and I found it to be accurate on our sailing as well. We were diamond so had that booklet - 1 booklet per Crown/Anchor member.

 

Hope that helps.

[long pond cruiser]

Loved this review!!!! Love your sence of humor and stories about your family as well as the review of the ship!! Thanks so much for posting this:D

[tsi_engineer]

great review!!!

 

I am going on the FOS for my honeymoon in may and love reading all the reviews on the freedom class. yours was very interesting due to the "not so typical" family element.

thanks for sharing!

[aharris0614]

great review!!!

 

I am going on the FOS for my honeymoon in may and love reading all the reviews on the freedom class. yours was very interesting due to the "not so typical" family element.

thanks for sharing!

 

Best wishes for your upcoming wedding! We loved our first time on a Freedom class ship - it won't be our last! Hope you have a wonderful trip!

[Madsofa]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. We booked a swim with the Dolphins in Cozumel - did you see the area for that when you were there? Is Chanakaab (sp ??) nice?

[PattyG12]

Do you remember who the Cruise Director was? We'll be on her in 4 weeks and am really curious.

[chevygirlgonecruizin]

Thank you so much for that really detailed account of your wonderful vacation! We are excited! Only 7 more days till we get to experience the Liberty! How was the weather in Cozumel? The water looked clear and beautiful but was it cold?

Kelly

[aharris0614]

Thank you so much for that really detailed account of your wonderful vacation! We are excited! Only 7 more days till we get to experience the Liberty! How was the weather in Cozumel? The water looked clear and beautiful but was it cold?

Kelly

 

Kelly,

The weather was perfect in Cozumel - prob mid 80s and sunny most of the day. The water was a little cool until you adjusted, then it was fine. Plenty of people snorkelling and diving.

Enjoy your trip!

Ann Marie

[aharris0614]

Do you remember who the Cruise Director was? We'll be on her in 4 weeks and am really curious.

 

Mike Hunnerup was the cruise director when we were onboard Liberty. He was ok.

I went on Enchantment of the Seas out of Panama back in 2009 and we had Rico (don't know his last name). Now I compare all CD's to Rico, who was awesome ~ and everywhere, all the time! And it didn't hurt that he was really good looking, too ;)

[PattyG12]

Thanks for your answer. I'm really looking forward to the Liberty.

[aharris0614]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. We booked a swim with the Dolphins in Cozumel - did you see the area for that when you were there? Is Chanakaab (sp ??) nice?

 

I am sure you will love your dolphin swim - everyone I saw and talked to definately did! There is a rather large area when you walk through the main area at Chankanaab that holds the dolphin swim areas...there are probably 2 or 3 areas with plenty of room.

 

I'm not sure, but one of those photos of Cozumel I posted, looking towards the boats, probably looks right over the dolphin swim area. I can't tell for sure until I get home though because I am blocked from my photo site here at work and can't see any of the links...darn web blocking software.

 

We loved Chankanaab park and have been there a few times. Plenty to do and see and lots of room to lounge. There were six boats in port the day we went and no problems. It was a great day!

[chevygirlgonecruizin]

Kelly,

The weather was perfect in Cozumel - prob mid 80s and sunny most of the day. The water was a little cool until you adjusted, then it was fine. Plenty of people snorkelling and diving.

Enjoy your trip!

Ann Marie

 

Ann Marie,

Thank you for your quick response. I too am at work. Shhhh! ;) I was looking at your previous cruises and did not see that you had a chance to sail on the Allure or Oasis. If your family loved this past cruise so much may I suggest trying the Oasis class ship? By far the Allure Of The Seas blew us away! We have sailed Disney, Carnival and Royal. There is so much to do and the ship itself is a destination. I can't comment enough about how wonderful our Sept. trip was for us. I booked the Oasis for this Sept. because the shows are different and wanted to try the sister ship. I can not wait till that one comes up. I know Sept. is hurricane season but if something is coming that is what the insurance is for if you can't fly in and if you are on the ship they just go the opposite direction. I always book the 7 day cruises like a year out and get the better price. Plus if you book during WOW sale you pay half the deposit and get $100 OBC.

Kelly

[yj2cute]

That was an excellent review, thanks for writing it. I loved your pictures too. Your mom is gorgeous and I love her youthful spirit! Why did they seat your mom and her friend apart at the captain's table?

 

I was on the LOS last month and enjoyed it as well. I loved the entertainment and thought the ship was beautiful.

[sailingawaysoon]

Thanks for the awesome review and pictures. Sounds like you have a wonderful family and had a great time!

[BillOh]

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

 

In my only trip to Belize my snorkeling excursion was canceled. Glad to hear this one went well. How was tendering off Liberty. We did it on Navigator, I wondered how the lines would be on a bigger ship.

[aharris0614]

Ann Marie,

Thank you for your quick response. I too am at work. Shhhh! ;) I was looking at your previous cruises and did not see that you had a chance to sail on the Allure or Oasis. If your family loved this past cruise so much may I suggest trying the Oasis class ship?

Kelly

 

We were actually booked on Oasis first, for October 2011. Then our plans changed and we had to rebook - by then, prices were sky high on Oasis and Allure and I just couldn't justify it for a Jan/Feb sailing. Of course, we could have postponed longer :rolleyes: but didn't. So we ended up with Liberty.

 

But Oasis or Allure is still in the future, for sure! I signed us up for a nextcruise credit before we left so I am going to wait for a sale and see what happens.

[gelo7]

Lovely review, and thrilled that your Mom did the Flowrider and Rockwall.

[njmomof2]

I'm blocked from pictures here at work, but am going to check this out when I get home since I'm dying to see your mom on the rock wall and the flowrider.

 

We love Liberty and have sailed her twice on the 7 night sailings. We are booked on Freedom for April and are looking forward to the upgrade and improvements that have been done to the Freedom class ships.

 

I'm sorry that your Chops experience was not what you expected. Frankly, after what you had been told and what was actually delivered, I would have gone to Guest Services and asked for their meals to be removed from the account. To have made promises to deliver appropriate meals for vegetarians then only offer them plates of grilled vegetables that everyone is having...not acceptable for $30/pp.

 

I really enjoyed your review. Glad you all had fun.

[rmiller]

Great review. I will be sailing on her in March.

[kruzerci]

 

We love Liberty and have sailed her twice on the 7 night sailings. We are booked on Freedom for April and are looking forward to the upgrade and improvements that have been done to the Freedom class ships.

 

I think you will like them.

 

We sailed on Liberty and Freedom pre-upgrades and they were our favorite ships.

 

We sailed on Freedom again last May, right after her upgrades, and liked it even better. The Dreamworks isn't overbearing, actually you have to go out of your way to see it, and the poolside screen was actually a hit. It shows mostly ocean/tropical scenes during the day. It isn't blaring TV and commercials like people complain about on Carnival. The cupcake cupboard was also great!

 

Enjoy your cruise, we'll be back in May again!

[Verfai]

Good job!

[aharris0614]

In my only trip to Belize my snorkeling excursion was canceled. Glad to hear this one went well. How was tendering off Liberty. We did it on Navigator, I wondered how the lines would be on a bigger ship.

 

Funny story actually about the lines to tender into Belize...

 

My son and girlfriend were supposed to do the zipline in Belize. The night before they stayed out late with new friends. Really, really late. Closed down the pub/bar in the promenade. I knew all this first thing in the morning because I had already checked my account and could 'track' where they had been. And how much they spent (uh, I mean, drank). It wasn't going to be pretty. So I called their room at 8am and to my surprise, my son was already up and out trying to get their excursion refunded.

Just let it suffice to say that neither one of them would have lasted long on the tender ride to Belize.

 

Now I know they don't do refunds on the day of excursions. But my son is persistent. And resourceful. And he knew he'd be in big trouble if he blew off his excursion. So, he went to the infirmary and got a doctors note. He took the doctors note to the shore excursions desk and got a refund. Then he went back to bed. The doctors visit cost $150; the two trips cost $200+. He saved me money, right? Luckily I can get my insurance company to reimburse most of the doctors visit. I hope. Even more luckily, they didn't quarantine him for the rest of the trip.

 

Back to the tender lines...in his quest for the infirmary he had to pass through the tender line. They started at deck 3 :eek: and went down to deck 1 and from what I hear took quite a while. When my son and his girlfriend finally felt tender-ready (about 1pm) we went ashore. No lines then.

 

Excursions booked through the cruise line tendered off separately. They met in a specified area and were put on a dedicated boat. The line I was referring to above was for general tendering, not on a cruise excursion.

[aharris0614]

Lovely review, and thrilled that your Mom did the Flowrider and Rockwall.

 

She tried everything, went everywhere. She loves to dance and outlasted me many a night. She is like the energizer bunny. I WISH I had pictures of her on the rock wall!