Liberty of the Seas - Not a wow.

[LetsGetWet!]

Indy uses terminal 19. It isn't the most modern terminal either.

FWIW, Indy used terminal 29 for our 11/22 cruise. 29 is ALSO not the most modern terminal!

 

EDIT: Noticed after I posted that Bob (clarea) already noted that - and OceanBoy replied that 19 was a typo and should be 29. Sounds like we all agree its not the nicest terminal by a long shot! :)

Edited December 2, 2014 by LetsGetWet!

[crusinthrough]

We sailed LOS during our 2011 TA, overall, service was excellant, but we found the scheduled activities never happened, entertainment, food were all very good, yet for our last 7 days it was boring with nothing to do most of the time due to nothing going on during the day. We never fault the Cruise lines because one sailing may not have been the best. I am not including our Port stops because they were all fantastic. It was merely during our Sea Days that was lacking. .

 

 

I also sailed LOS in 2011 but not the TA. I agree that during the day there was nothing going on. There was no music by the pool or any activities. I asked a crew member and he replied activities depend on the cruise director and not dictated by RC. Maybe the less experienced CD are assigned to the LOS. Based on my own experience and this thread, I probably won't sail on Liberty anytime in the near future.

 

 

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[Nick67]

I'm currently on the Liberty right now, what a major disappointment. Last year it was my favorite ship as we sailed three weeks in a row. Liberty, indy and allure in December. Main dining room, I refuse to go back in, the food was horrible. The Windjammer is just as bad. I guess they are trying to get us to pay for the upscale restaurants. The staff has been very accommodating. Very disappointed from last year. How could it change that much

 

 

 

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[molsonschooner]

Indy uses terminal 19. It isn't the most modern terminal either.

Indy normally uses 29. I have only ever seen carnival freedom in 19

Edited December 3, 2014 by molsonschooner

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your report.

[MattInFLL]

Well, I knew I was taking a risk by saying anything negative about a Royal cruise. I did try to make it clear that despite my negative comments, I had a great cruise, the issues did not "ruin my cruise" and that I will still be cruising Royal (see my signature). For those that have had better experiences on Liberty recently (or my same cruise), I am truly happy that you did.

 

I'm not looking for validation. I am sharing what happened to me. And if you review the balance of my posts on here, I hope that you will see that I tend to be a balanced person and not a pot stirrer.

 

Some of what I have said is certainly subjective, but much of it is not. It is what happened, it is how things were, and in my opinion, those things show that Royal has some issues, and it seems, more so with Liberty. The dropping of Quest and Love & Marriage, the understaffing to the extreme (Cafe Promenade, for example) typify the changes that do not add to a positive cruise experience. Some other posters here have echoed what I have said, so I don't think I'm talking out of my you-know-what :)

 

We all spend a small fortune on cruising and for me, most of it has been with Royal. Sorry, but I think I have a right to raise issues that I see at my favorite cruise line. Maybe there will be positive changes, maybe not.

 

Anyway, thanks for the comments. Happy cruising.

Edited December 3, 2014 by MattInFLL

[Justmekaren918]

Matt I really appreciate your very honest and detailed opinion and review on your Liberty sailing. I will soon be on her in March. I am getting excited to be on my 4th class and 3rd in less then a year.

 

Matt I am sorry that you ran into the issues you did. I view it as a roll of the dice and in my short time I have seen amazing and not. Royal's contracted staff maybe catching up with them in inexperience and beyond. Has anyone tracked 1 ship to see if Royal is releasing employee turnover #'s for each sailing? It must exist and reported somewhere. Royal's newer corporate beliefs are helping to compromise the Royal experience that you all long time cruisers have come to know. Keep writing those comment cards. I know personally they are making adjustments from them. I saw1st hand Vision extra bar tables on pool deck to lessen load.

 

Matt again thanks for giving your review and I have been following your reviews for a bit now. I hope you have better news to report next week from your Enchantment cruise.

[Ashland]

I think we can all agree that regardless of RCI ship...late night food has to be improved...Would love to see breakfast type food offered somewhere...maybe one side of the WJ...I've given this suggestion countless times in many forms to RCI...hopefully someone will listen eventually.

 

Also love sailing with Oana .. a special treat always :D

[sauvichick]

Thanks for the review. I hope they change things when she comes to New Jersey. Especially since she is being sent to appease people due to the Qunatum switcheroo! :o

 

I hope it is a much better experience too for the Bermuda itinerary. Having never eaten in the dining room on Royal I am still going to try to avoid it with the alternative options available. After sailing on the Allure I am looking forward to a smaller ship. Wear and tear is normal, and I do like the fact that Royal puts their ships in dry dock every 5 years. I still appreciate the reviews...both negative and positive.!

 

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[jules815]

I hope they can get it together on Liberty. Not happy with the reviews, and we'll be sailing on her for the first time in March.

 

It will be my first time sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale. A little nervous that we have a 12:45 return flight out of Miami. I hope being in a GS helps expedite getting off the ship and it's not too much of a nightmare.

[berylde]

MATTINFLL

 

A well written review. Liberty has always been our favorite ship and sailing on her thiis Saturday ( 12/06).. Will check in when we return.

[jules815]

MATTINFLL

 

A well written review. Liberty has always been our favorite ship and sailing on her thiis Saturday ( 12/06).. Will check in when we return.

 

 

Have a great cruise!

[Ocean Boy]

Well, I knew I was taking a risk by saying anything negative about a Royal cruise. I did try to make it clear that despite my negative comments, I had a great cruise, the issues did not "ruin my cruise" and that I will still be cruising Royal (see my signature). For those that have had better experiences on Liberty recently (or my same cruise), I am truly happy that you did.

 

I'm not looking for validation. I am sharing what happened to me. And if you review the balance of my posts on here, I hope that you will see that I tend to be a balanced person and not a pot stirrer.

 

Some of what I have said is certainly subjective, but much of it is not. It is what happened, it is how things were, and in my opinion, those things show that Royal has some issues, and it seems, more so with Liberty. The dropping of Quest and Love & Marriage, the understaffing to the extreme (Cafe Promenade, for example) typify the changes that do not add to a positive cruise experience. Some other posters here have echoed what I have said, so I don't think I'm talking out of my you-know-what :)

 

We all spend a small fortune on cruising and for me, most of it has been with Royal. Sorry, but I think I have a right to raise issues that I see at my favorite cruise line. Maybe there will be positive changes, maybe not.

 

Anyway, thanks for the comments. Happy cruising.

 

You have no need to be explaining yourself. Many of us appreciate your thread and your write-up.

 

Thanks.

[Ocean Boy]

Indy normally uses 29. I have only ever seen carnival freedom in 19

 

We already covered this.:)

[CRUISEBOY305]

You have no need to be explaining yourself. Many of us appreciate your thread and your write-up.

 

Thanks.

 

agreed

[CamaCama]

Funny, we were on the 11/27 sailing also and had almost the complete opposite experiences that you did! Except I will agree about the dining room... I put mine in bold below with your titles...

 

Embarkation - we got there at 11am and breezed through! NO lines. On the ship by 11:25am... we are gold.

 

The Cabin - Our steward was amazing, he never knocked when we were in there, he was almost like a ghost b/c we never saw him but the room was always spotless!

 

Crew in general - didn't experience any of that, we had a few issues that were resolved in minutes.

 

Dining Room experience - I agree with you here, the dining room seems disorganized and took 15 minutes to get bread, dessert menus, etc. Night 1 and Night 3 we were there for 2 hours and with two little kids they hardly made it through. But I also agree that the food was excellent (that pumpkin bread?!!! mmmmmm)

 

Stupid stuff - we got towels on deck 2 and I agree they should have been at the gangway, but one of the staff told us so we didn't have to go back and forth.. on the way back we returned them right after our bags were scanned.

 

We had the BEST time!!

[sauvichick]

I hope they can get it together on Liberty. Not happy with the reviews, and we'll be sailing on her for the first time in March.

 

It will be my first time sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale. A little nervous that we have a 12:45 return flight out of Miami. I hope being in a GS helps expedite getting off the ship and it's not too much of a nightmare.

Please let me know how the experience is in a GS after you get back.

 

 

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[ncurcio]

Funny, we were on the 11/27 sailing also and had almost the complete opposite experiences that you did! Except I will agree about the dining room... I put mine in bold below with your titles...

 

Embarkation - we got there at 11am and breezed through! NO lines. On the ship by 11:25am... we are gold.

 

The Cabin - Our steward was amazing, he never knocked when we were in there, he was almost like a ghost b/c we never saw him but the room was always spotless!

 

Crew in general - didn't experience any of that, we had a few issues that were resolved in minutes.

 

Dining Room experience - I agree with you here, the dining room seems disorganized and took 15 minutes to get bread, dessert menus, etc. Night 1 and Night 3 we were there for 2 hours and with two little kids they hardly made it through. But I also agree that the food was excellent (that pumpkin bread?!!! mmmmmm)

 

Stupid stuff - we got towels on deck 2 and I agree they should have been at the gangway, but one of the staff told us so we didn't have to go back and forth.. on the way back we returned them right after our bags were scanned.

 

We had the BEST time!!

 

I am really thrilled to hear this. I have read 5-10 reviews of the Liberty from the past month or two and all of the reviews have been mediocre at best. I am sailing 12/11 and was really pretty discouraged. Thanks!

[newcruiser1573]

We were on this sailing as well. We had a great experience with our stateroom attendant and the crew in general. We were on the ship before 11:30 with no problems at all. We are also gold. We did find that debarkation was crazy but their were so many people trying to self disembark they did the best they could.

[AeroBaldness]

Funny, we were on the 11/27 sailing also and had almost the complete opposite experiences that you did! Except I will agree about the dining room... I put mine in bold below with your titles...

 

 

 

Embarkation - we got there at 11am and breezed through! NO lines. On the ship by 11:25am... we are gold.

 

 

 

The Cabin - Our steward was amazing, he never knocked when we were in there, he was almost like a ghost b/c we never saw him but the room was always spotless!

 

 

 

Crew in general - didn't experience any of that, we had a few issues that were resolved in minutes.

 

 

 

Dining Room experience - I agree with you here, the dining room seems disorganized and took 15 minutes to get bread, dessert menus, etc. Night 1 and Night 3 we were there for 2 hours and with two little kids they hardly made it through. But I also agree that the food was excellent (that pumpkin bread?!!! mmmmmm)

 

 

 

Stupid stuff - we got towels on deck 2 and I agree they should have been at the gangway, but one of the staff told us so we didn't have to go back and forth.. on the way back we returned them right after our bags were scanned.

 

 

 

We had the BEST time!!

 

 

Trying to plan ahead for our Liberty cruise in a few weeks. To resolve the towel issue, can they still be grabbed from the station on the pool deck? If so, it'd seem to make sense to just grab them the day before the Labadee stop from there versus on the way off the ship the day of. Thanks for the info to you and the OP!!

[krisko]

You could get the towels on the pool deck and keep them for the excursion.

[Justmekaren918]

Trying to plan ahead for our Liberty cruise in a few weeks. To resolve the towel issue, can they still be grabbed from the station on the pool deck? If so, it'd seem to make sense to just grab them the day before the Labadee stop from there versus on the way off the ship the day of. Thanks for the info to you and the OP!!

I would go with that thought or in the am in getting breakfast stop and grab them then. I will be on her in March.

[scottrn7]

Thanks for the report, hoping RC gets Liberty shaped up by the time it gets to Texas. We are booked for our anniversary cruise in Feb of 2016.

[brenderlou]

We were on the Thanksgiving cruise and found staff mediocre at best especially MDR staff. First night was horrid with our waiter, Christina who didn't even look at us when she came to the table (looking around dining room instead) and was not pleasant. Food took forever and was just so-so. We had my time dining and left wanting to avoid her for the rest of the cruise.

2nd night, another waiter better then the 1st (it would be hard to be ruder then Christina) but again, just going thru the motions and food was ok. Last 2 nights we ate at Windjammer. Why spend 1 1/2 hrs in MDR with service not up to par and food that was just ok?

This was our first cruise we did not tip above standard gratuities.

 

 

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[bobbie0253]

Thank you Matt for your review. We sail on Dec 11th. I just lowered my expectations a bit ;) I am still excited to go though. It's been a while since we have been on a Royal ship. We jumped lines a bit and had another baby :D

 

My only concern is we are bringing mom who is a HUGE NCL fan. I hope we have a decent experience so I don't have to hear how NCL is way better than RCCL more than I already do. (I personally am not a NCL fan in any way)

 

I do have a quick question.... did anyone notice Raisin Bran, prune juice and almond milk available? (Again, for mom, not me )

 

So sad to hear the Quest is no longer. That has to be one of the dumbest moves RCCL could make. I can only imagine the revenue the bar service generates during a quest. :/