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

[JGORD7]

What a great review! I don't believe I read one this entertaining before... Glad you had a great time! I am off for my first cruise in 65 days!! Woo hoo!

[macrompian1]

Thank you soooo much for posting the review & photos! You have a beautiful family, I will be bringing 2 newbies on board in May , I'm almost a (cruise) virgin having only been on one 5 nighter to cayman & cozumel, I can't wait to show them your photos & review :):)

[peteukmcr]

Many thanks for your review, and glad that Captain Bang and his lady wife were good hosts when your mom dined at their table. We have met them quite a few years ago and Mrs Bang still sticks in my memory, in a good way!

 

As for loungers on aft balconies, it would appear that this is some bizarre rule that only appears to apply to Liberty as we were in an aft cabin last year and were told we couldn't have loungers either.

 

We have sailed twice on her and will be back onboard in 100 days when she's back in Europe.

 

Have to agree that I wasn't too impressed with the manager at Chops either as he did not deal with an obnoxious diner who was racially abusing a server in a professional manner IMHO.

 

Thanks again for sharing.

[KansCocoa]

Ane Marie -

 

Thanks for the review - loved it! Loved the writing style and your sense of humor.

 

I think it's AWESOME about your 72-year old mom climbing the rock wall and riding the flowrider. I will be on the Serenade this summer, and had considered climbing the rock wall one more time (I did it back in 2009), but I turn 50 the day before we cruise - and I thought perhaps I would be "too old."

 

Now I know better than to say that! Hee!:D:D

 

Your mom has inspired me - I am going to do it again, for "old" time's sake.

[midwife1021]

 

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)

 

Ugh, that is AWFUL! I would think that the least they could do would be to refund your $30 for each of the girls.

 

Great review, BTW! Love the pic of your mom on the flowrider!:D

[relaxatsea]

Thanks so much for your great review and photos! I really enjoyed them!

[Megan07]

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!

 

Thanks for answering my question! I appreciate it. I was just wondering how it felt. It would be more affordable to me, but I still may splurge and do the 7night on Freedom. I have never cruised before. I thought about the 4 night, but with one stop in Cozumel, it wasn't worth the $ to me having to fly to Florida. One more question, is it hard to sleep the first night on a ship if your not used to it-I hear you can feel the movements more when you lay down. TIA!

[kruzerci]

... but I still may splurge and do the 7night on Freedom. I have never cruised before. I thought about the 4 night, but with one stop in Cozumel, it wasn't worth the $ to me having to fly to Florida. One more question, is it hard to sleep the first night on a ship if your not used to it-I hear you can feel the movements more when you lay down. TIA!

 

Do it! If you're having to fly in, spend a little extra money for the longer cruise. There's so much to do on Liberty and Freedom, even if cruising isn't for you, you'll have an amazing time.

 

When I'm going to bed on a cruise, I don't even know I'm on a ship, unless the weather is really rough. In normal seas on a huge ship like Freedom, you won't feel much movement at all. I'm a light sleeper and even on the first cruise, it was no problem. You really won't notice and vibration or have any heavy movement unless you are far aft or far forward.

 

We started off with short cruises and regretted it, we left feeling like we needed more time, while 7 days is perfect. Now we just squeeze them in if we get a good deal.

[iamerica]

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

 

I see my future balcony!!!! I am in the portside corner aft deck 6. :) :D

 

Leaving FLL

 

Beautitul!!!!

[iamerica]

My comment looks like it is part of your original post..... oooppsssie!

We are on this ship the 27th of Feb and am getting so excited! That picture of the decks is perfect! Gives me a great view of how my balcony will look and my amazing view:)

Sounds like you had a great trip! Now I HAVE to try the surfing:) If a gramma can do it... than I can! THanks for the review.

[Megan07]

Thanks kruzerci! Your so helpful! I loved your pictures! Of course if I lived closer to the port, I'd drive and cut costs a little, but its over 24 hours to drive-No thank you! Thanks for your advice, review and pictures!

[kruzerci]

Thanks kruzerci! Your so helpful! I loved your pictures! Of course if I lived closer to the port, I'd drive and cut costs a little, but its over 24 hours to drive-No thank you! Thanks for your advice, review and pictures!

 

I dont wan't to steal the OP's thread, I just jumped in and answered your question :D!

[Megan07]

Haha. I didn't notice that. Wow. Long day. Sorry aharris! Loved your review, pictures, and advice! Great trip report!

 

And thanks kruzerc for your help! :)

[KeiEdy]

Great review. We had an AFT cabin on Liberty for the 14 night TransAtlantic. The reason we booked the room was for the lounge chairs. We tried to get them with no luck. We even had lunch with the Director of Housekeeping and he said per Corporate no lounge chairs on the balconies (unless it is a suite). At one of our ports, the Voyager was next to us and the AFT rooms had lounge chairs. My girlfriend was just on the Freedom and they had lounge chairs.

 

We were disappointed but we are going back on Liberty in few weeks.

 

Loved the pictures also.....

[PH8]

Loved this review.....very entertaining!!:)

[heaport]

What a great review, funny and informative! Cannot wait, sailing in three weeks on the Liberty:)

[NeuroQueen]

What a great review! Great family pix as well. Your kids are so resourceful and you are so funny. I was cracking up at the mouthwash and then the doctors note had me rolling. Your mom is a tribute to seniors everywhere. I sure hope I'm like that at 72. Great stories and thanks for the pix of the aft balcony. I have always been worried about the view with the superstructure on those ships, but it looked be fine. Happy cruising!! You would love the Oasis!

[kuddles14]

Great review. Loved your pictures. Hope to do this cruise at some point.

[ScrapHappy44]

Loved your review! And I think I'd love to cruise with your mom! I'm going to check out the sea lions. Thanks for posting!

[aharris0614]

Your mom is a tribute to seniors everywhere.

 

Shhhhh. Don't tell her she's a senior ;)

[cruisenshop]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had a BAD RCI day and was thinking of canceling our April Liberty trip. Your humor and descriptions brought me back to the fun that is ahead....

 

BTW, my Mom and I were on Oasis a while back - she did the zip line - and got us invited to the Chef's Table for a repeat performance. Bodes well for us with their genes!

[shipshape64]

Hey,

thanks so much for this review and taking the time. We are going in March and truly enjoyed reading this!!

[QTMichele]

Great review! I just returned from Allure, and, to combat post cruise depression, I'm trying to read more about Liberty for our upcoming November cruise. Thanks so much for sharing! :)

[aharris0614]

Great review! I just returned from Allure, and, to combat post cruise depression, I'm trying to read more about Liberty for our upcoming November cruise. Thanks so much for sharing! :)

 

I've been following along with your trip report(s) as well - they have all been wonderful! Now we are considering Allure in November so I am especially interested in those. I know what you mean about post cruise depression...I haven't been truly motivated since coming back either (and that was the end of January!).

[Annefran]

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED your review!!! I too cannot access the photos at work and will check them out at home. Your family/group sounds like a lot of fun, I hope our cruising paths cross some day and we can be pool/lounging buddies. :p Thanks for sharing your experience. Happy Cruising!