Mini-Review of Liberty of the Seas

[Kaye745]

We just got back from a short 4 day sailing of Liberty out of Fort Lauderdale. This cruise was just DH and myself, having left the kiddies at home.

 

We flew in the day before and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dania beach. The hotel was okay, nothing spectacular. Seemed a bit older than other Hilton's we've stayed in. We took advantage of the shuttle from the airport and arranged transportation to the cruise port through the shuttle service they had at the hotel. Shuttle to the port was $15 total for both of us.

 

We left the hotel at 11:15 on Thursday, and were on the boat by 12:00! Embarkation was great! We were directed to priority boarding because of C&A status (we're only Plantinum) and breezed right through.

 

Some observations:

 

Ship: Beautiful! This was our largest RCI ship, and we loved the Royal Promanade. We had a balcony stateroom on Deck 7. Attendent was great, room was clean and a nice size. Very convient to the promanade. Would definately pick that location again.

 

Dining: Windjammer: We weren't impressed, but then again we're not buffet people. There was plenty of room, but the food reminded me of "Golden Corral" or some other comperable buffet. Plenty of food, just not anything special or outstanding. Yes, I realize this is subjective, and I'll be the first to admit I've never understood the whole "honey stung chicken" thing. I did try it again at embarkation. Just not my thing, but then again, I'm from Virginia and we know what southern fried chicken really is! :-)

Main Dining Room: We really enjoyed our meals here. We had breakfast and dinners here for the most part. The dining room was beautiful, and the food was nice. Nothing totally blew me away, but everything was enjoyable. The staff was outstanding, and they gave quality service.

 

Specialty Restaurants: We had one lunch at Johnny Rockets and that was fun. We saw the waiters dancing and singing. Yummy burgers, and we splurged on milkshakes (thanks to the BOGO C&A coupon) We also had dinner at Chops one night, and enjoyed the steaks and service. Portions are HUGE! I always feel guilty about leaving so much. I could have had a whole meal on just the roasted potatoes and brocolinni!!!!

 

Shows: Saturday Night Fever was awesome! As good as some of the productions we've seen in DC. The set design was really imaginative. Best show I've seen on any ship. The ice show was good too. Still can't get over how small the rink is and how they still incorporate jumps, etc into the production. Up in the Air was different. The performers were very athletic, but we just thought there didn't seem cohesion in the show. Maybe just not our thing, but it just seemed weird.

 

Funniest thing we learned: DH wanted to wear his Tux on Formal night. I know, not as many people dress on the shorter cruises, though we were surprised by the number of dark suits and gowns. Even a few other tuxes and white dinner jackets! As retired military, he also likes to wear his medals. It was amazing to us to have so many people not know what they were. He had people wanting to have his picture taken with them because they thought he was the Captain! (Maybe we could have paid for the cruise by charging for a picture!) He also had one lady (somewhat intoxicated) wanting to know if he was "Super Mario", the guy on Liberty that has over 3000 days at sea. Apparently she thought they we're something the cruise line gave out to frequent cruisers! Might have been nicer than some of his deployments, that's for sure!!

 

All in all, a wonderful cruise and we really enjoyed ourselves. Liberty was a beautiful ship, with wonderful service. We loved the solarium, could always find a chair, and really enjoyed the hot tubs. We're booked on the Enchantment next cruise with the family. We sailed on her in November and had a wonderful time, but because of the experience on the Liberty, we're rethinking of switching to a similar class ship because we think the kids would enjoy all the extras like the flow-rider, putt-putt golf, ice rink, etc.

 

Will be glad to answer any questions.

 

Shelia

[macrompian1]

Thanks for that! I'm going on a 5 night med trip in May, reading reviews like yours makes me more excited! :D

[LBumb]

good job

[Host Faith]

Thank you so much for posting Shelia! How was the weather on your trip? We're sailing the same itinerary on March 8th, just curious to know what Cozumel was like?

[ShillyShally]

Was on this cruise too and loved Liberty for my 2nd time :)

 

And Mario the super cruiser was on board - I remember seeing him announced on the pool deck one day!

 

It's hard to be home and we had great weather - it was a little rainy in Cozumel but not noticeable (could be due to the margaritas flowing at our excurison, lol!)

[so excited!]

We are sailing on March 8th also! Did you have to wait long at Johnny Rockets to get a table? It did not seem like there were that many. I also heard there was a small buffett in the dining room for breakfast. Is that correct? I remember the meals in the dining room no matter the meal took FOREVER!! Was that still the case?

[Retiredprofessor]

Thanks for the review. We're on a 5 night sailing end of March and are looking forward to it. We sailed of Freedom in October and loved her also. I agree with you on the many activities on this class of ship. We also traveled with just the two of us but with the kids, I think this ship group is great.:)

[enyliram]

glad you enjoyed your cruice. liberty is a great ship.

super mario has over 100 cruises on the liberty. he was also on our feb 18th cruise.

[Kaye745]

Weather in Cozumel was wonderful. A few passing showers, but definately warm enough to be on the beach. We did Mr. Sancho's for the day, and enjoyed the beach, pool, food and drinks!

 

We didn't wait at all for Johnny Rockets. Went up around 1:00 on the first sea day, and got a table no problem.

 

There was a buffet bar set up in the main dining room for breakfast. We only got some fruit and granola from the bar, but ordered off the menu for the main stuff. I really wanted eggs benedict and as mentioned before, am just not a buffet type of gal!

 

Forgot to mention the only thing I regret was not trying the flow rider. We went up to watch for a while, and there were a lot of young guys/gals demonstrating their stuff. I have to admit, I was a bit embarrassed to be the middle aged (45) woman making a fool of herself with all those young 20 somethings. Now that I'm home, I regret it. Just means we definately have to book another one just so I can try it!!!

 

Shelia

[blissmom18]

Hi--we are on this cruise in two weeks. What night is formal night? Will it be the second night, which is a cruising day?

[tomko2]

Hi--we are on this cruise in two weeks. What night is formal night? Will it be the second night, which is a cruising day?

 

 

The second night is the formal night.

 

The Liberty is our favourite ship. Can't wait to sail again next Thursday.:)