Long Review of Liberty of the Seas (2/14 - 2/21) – Just out of Dry Dock

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Incidentally, Sorrento's had small salads with grilled chicken on top at lunch time. They were served in containers. On one of the sea days, my wife and I were up in the Solarium. She went down and picked us up a couple of slices and each of us one of the salads and we had it in the Solarium and were able to avoid the crowd of the Windjammer (and, frankly, was a good alternative to all of the heavy eating!)

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm hoping to more responsible in my eating on my next cruise than I have been on previous ones.

[wild hogs]

Did they have the freestyle soda machines? I was hoping during dry dock, they would add it. Thanks in advance.

[Clarea]

Did they have the freestyle soda machines? I was hoping during dry dock, they would add it. Thanks in advance.

No Freestyle on Liberty.

[chukli]

I am just off the Liberty of the Seas’ Western Caribbean 2/14 – 2/21 cruise from Galveston. This is the second cruise since returning from dry dock. If you have kids or are an adult who loves water slides, you’re going to love the new Liberty.

 

About us: I was traveling with my wife and 2 sons (ages 11 and 13) in a superior balcony cabin on deck 9. This is our second trip on Liberty, the other one being 5 years ago. We also went on Independence 6 years ago and have been on Celebrity about 8 times. We usually leave out of Fort Lauderdale or San Juan, but $1100 per person to fly from Long Island to Florida on Southwest from Islip sure seemed like a lot of money to me (its school break in the NY area and the airlines always program the break into their systems so they can triple the airfares and gouge families trying to avoid taking their kids out of school. Thanks, airlines). We’ve never left from Galveston before, but we had loved Liberty the last time, and the prices all worked out for us.

 

Pre Cruise Stay in Houston: We flew in on Friday night before our Sunday departure. We stayed at the Drury Inn near Hobby Airport. I had never heard of Drury before, but they had an indoor pool and free breakfast, 2 things I always look for on a pre-cruise stay. Plus, for $104 per night, we had a one bedroom suite and were able to have the kids sleep in the living room. The hotel was not fancy, but it was clean, nice, and updated. The staff was really friendly. Restaurant choices are essentially nil within walking distance or a close cab ride. We walked over to the Marriott for lunch, which had a nice, well-priced restaurant, but we had to walk a few hundred yards on a sidewalk on a service road, which wasn’t awesome. All-in-all, I would definitely stay here again pre-cruise and would probably try to go the Johnson Space Center next time if we had a full day like we did this time.

 

If you’re flying into Houston, Hobby is much closer to Galveston than Intercontinental. I wasn’t sure until we got to Houston how we were going to get to Galveston. Uber was just banned from Galveston, and I wasn’t sure whether getting a taxi would be convenient or cost-prohibitive. As it turns out, I asked the front desk at the Drury, and they called a cab. It was a mini-van and cost $92 for the 40 minute drive, which felt smooth and easy. The cab picked us up at 9:15 am, and we were at the cruise port in Galveston at 10 am. We sped through check in and were ready to board at 10:15 am, although they didn’t let us board until about 10:45 am, which still felt plenty early to us. I heard from our cab driver that it sometimes has taken him an hour during peak period just to get from the entry to the cruise port up to the passenger drop off, so keep that in mind.

 

The Ship: As I mentioned, we were on board by 10:45. We walked around the ship, had lunch in the Windjammer and were allowed in our room at 1 pm. Our luggage showed up 1:15, which was several hours earlier than we had expected, which was great. We had had the superior balcony before, and it is a large-sized room for a cruise ship, and we were really happy with it.

 

My kids wanted to see what was new and were excited to see that the H20 Zone had been replaced in the same footprint by new water features and renamed “Splash Away Bay”, that include a tower and 2 child-size water slides that still seemed really fun, even though they were smaller than the new slides off the back off the ship (more on them below). The circular wave pool (I don’t know how else to describe it) that had been in the H20 Zone the last time was gone. The new Splash Away Bay is the same footprint as the old one, just different stuff. Your kids will love it.

 

On the back of the ship, there are 2 new water slides where the mini-golf used to be. These slides were a HUGE hit with my sons and with me. They are substantial slides with a lot of twists and turns and are about 3 stories tall. During peak times, the wait to go on them was about 10 or 15 minutes. But, at other times, it seemed the wait was only a few minutes, and there were 500 kids on board. In my mind, the addition of these slides is a home run for Royal Caribbean and for Liberty. Kudos (and thanks!), Royal, for adding them. Whenever we’ve been on Royal or Celebrity and seen Carnival or Norwegian ships and their slides, my kids have always asked if we could please try those cruise lines (interesting how quick they’d be to jump cruise lines for slides). I’ve always said, sorry, that’s not going to happen, because I just don’t think those cruise lines would be for us.

 

To all the grouchy gusses who are going to complain that the slides are going to “ruin” the Liberty, you’ll have to find something else to grouse about. The slides are in a contained activity area of the ship, on the portion of the back of the top deck where the rock climbing walls, basketball court, and Flowrider are.

 

The mini-golf has been replaced with a new and improved “Liberty Dunes” mini-golf on Deck 13 at the bow of the ship. We had a lot of fun with this, too.

 

The companion to the water slides is the Boomerango (sp?). It was not in use on this trip, and I had heard that it is not ready for passengers yet. Apparently, it is too fast and needs to be tweaked before it is safe for passengers (from what I heard, the rafts hit the side of the feature and it is not working as intended. Engineers from the manufacturer are working on it, but I have a feeling it is going to be awhile before this is ready. My oldest son was disappointed, but more than happy with everything else we did, including the Flowrider. Incidentally, I had been nervous about the Flowrider on my last 2 RCCL cruises, but gave it a whirl this time and had a total blast on it. Any dads (or moms) out there should give a try, too.

 

Adventure Ocean: My sons (each of them newly 11 and 13) get along great and have always done the kids clubs together. (Interestingly, they have always enjoyed the Fun Factory on Celebrity more than the programs on RCCL, because Celebrity has fewer kids and the programs are not as crowded. But, that’s a topic discussed before in other threads). My 11 year old thought Adventure Ocean was just fine. My 13 year old, however, has aged out of it and had to do the Teen Program, which is for 12 to 17 year olds. My 13 year old didn’t love the teen program, but he did go to it. 12 to 17 is a big age range, and I really wish they broke it up.

 

The Food: The main dining room was actually rather meh. We used to enjoy the pageantry of the main dining room back when we were newbie cruisers. Royal Caribbean has definitely scaled back on the main dining room experience, and I understand that the newest RCCL ships don’t even have a main dining room. They cut out one of the courses since the last time we were on Liberty (which actually might have been one of our best ship board dining experiences ever), so you get a starter, main course, and dessert only. The number of menu choices was smaller, and the menu in general was very uninspiring. I’m not a big eater and am not the type of passenger who gets excited about cruise food, but the food choices and overall experience all seemed very average to me and nothing special. We actually ended up eating 5 out of the 7 nights up in the Windjammer café, because the selection was better and the meals were quicker. Maybe because we had MyTime dining, but my impression was that the poor waiters in the main dining room seemed understaffed, over-worked, and there was a lot of rushing around. The service actually seemed rather frantic to me on the 2 nights I was there.

 

Diamond Club: we were able to carry over our elite status from Celebrity and were given access to the Diamond Club this time. The appetizers were good (much better than the cheap, fried stuff Celebrity gave) and the free drinks during 4:30 and 8 was a nice touch. The bartenders up in the lounge were super friendly and attentive and the Diamond Club host was very helpful in helping us book our 2 shore excursions and answering questions about disembarking.

 

The ports:

 

Roatan: I think this was our 3rd time in Roatan. We’ve gone to Maya Key there the other 2 times and were open to doing something different. But, there were about 5 other ships in port, and I was afraid the West End beaches would be too crowded (plus, I’ve heard safety on Roatan can be sketchy). The first time we went to Maya Key, we were able to go on our own and paid $26 per person. Now, you can’t go there unless you buy it as a cruise excursion, which is now much pricier. It’s $74 for adults, $54 for kids, which is a lot. You get a mediocre lunch (fried fish, barbecue chicken that ain’t that good, and salad). Drinks are extra. That said, the island is very beautiful, and this is one of my favorite stops. There’s a nature preserve with rescue wildlife, the snorkeling is good, and it is very nice overall. I would definitely go back here, just liked it better before you had to buy it through the cruise line and could order the food you wanted instead of having this buffet (incidentally, the same exact buffet choices from 2 years ago).

 

Belize: We did the ship’s Rendezvous Cay snorkel excursion. It was $99 for adults. The ship tenders in Belize, and I didn’t want to take a tender into town and then get another boat. This excursion leaves right from the ship and is about a 40 minute boat ride to a small, 3 acre spit of white sand with a dock, bathrooms, changing rooms, and a small food stand where you can buy a hamburger if you feel the need to eat after you snorkel or a coconut for $2. Everything you may have read about this excursion is true: the snorkeling is crowded, and you have stay on guard or else you’ll get kicked in the face by an oblivious snorkeler in front of you. The snorkeling was OK: the water was clear, but we didn’t see a lot of fish. You snorkel for about 30 minutes and then hang out on the island for approximately another 30 minutes before heading back to the ship. I don’t regret doing this trip, but I wouldn’t do it again and would try to figure out something else to do in Belize. This location and shore excursion has potential if it is revamped, but it wasn’t awesome.

 

Cozumel: I know some people get bored with Cozumel, but it is one of my favorite stops, and this might be the 5th time we’ve gone there in addition to a spring break I spent there in grad school. We’ve gone to Chankanaab the other times, which we really liked a lot, but figured we would try something new this time. I am so glad we did. We went to Nachi Cocum, a private beach club I read about here on Cruise Critic. It is a beautiful white sand beach with palm trees, clear water, a pool, restaurant, and palapas for shade. They only let in 100 people, and I had made the reservations in advance (which was a good thing, because they were sold out). It was quiet, beautiful, and included a surprisingly delicious lunch (such a contrast to Maya Key!). Adults were $54 and it included all your drinks (although, I only drink beverages out of a bottle or can in Mexico, but enjoyed some ice cold Mexican beer and my wife had a glass of wine). My sons met 2 other friends of theirs from the ship and spent the day digging in the sand. If you like crowds and a lot of activities, you’ll want something else (e.g., other beach clubs that are nearby), but this might be my new favorite on-shore destination in the Caribbean.

 

Sea Days: We also enjoyed the sea days, as there is so much to do on the ship. Chair hogs were out in full force, and I forgot how very crowded the pool decks get on RCCL ships. It was impossible to find a seat the first sea day if you weren’t out really early. There was definitely room for more chaise longues, and it would be good if RCCL could place more of them, IMHO.

 

When we arrived back in Galveston, I was nervous that our flight time from Hobby was 11:15 am. We did the walk-off with your own luggage, which is the first time we’ve done that. The official walk-off time was 8 am, but they started letting people off at about 7:30. We were out of customs by 8, in a cab at 8:10, at Hobby by 8:50. Luggage check in and security took us until 9:30, which gave us plenty of time before our plane boarded at 10:45. The cab back was $107. I heard from our taxi driver that traffic around the cruise port can get bad and cabs harder to find, so doing the walk-off was key for us. I’ve also read that Galveston can get foggy (like it was this morning when came back) and cause late disembarkation. Our early flight worked for us this time, but I wouldn’t have done it if I had had an acceptable alternative.

 

All in all, it was a really fantastic trip, and we would definitely go on Liberty again!

 

I appreciate your long review and my teen is also very excited about the new slides! I hope all the slides are working when we sail end of April 2016. We are also on the same itinerary as you, and i was wondering about the tendering process in Belize. Did you have to obtain tickets for the tenders and if so, where did you get them from? I have heard the entire process is a nightmare? I have booked a private cave tubing excursion and need to get to off as soon as possible.

Do you have cruise compass including the Teen one to post? My 15 year old daughter is very interested in joining the club.

Are the water slides open during port days or are the hours restricted?

Any not to be missed shows? I think there was a Tribute to the Beattles show?

Did you use the internet? how was the speed?

Thanks for your help.

[Funbobby68]

We have rented a car from IAH Airport in Huston it's a quicker flight direct , . We're keeping the car for the two days before we sail and staying in Texas city , so can come and go as we please , and parking was cheap for the week at the pier , so the car is there waiting for when we disembark, at the end of the day it was cheaper to do this than staying right in Galveston, and relying on transfers , plus our flight home does not leave till 5pm so have the day after to go to central Texas BBQ ...... best I have ever had

[39august]

I just want to clarify something that the OP stated about the MDR. There is no limit to how many appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and deserts you can order. He probably just assumed because of the way the menu is set up that there were limitations.

[Ladysilver]

Thanks for posting your review! :)

[Goodtime Cruizin]

I appreciate your long review and my teen is also very excited about the new slides! I hope all the slides are working when we sail end of April 2016. We are also on the same itinerary as you, and i was wondering about the tendering process in Belize. Did you have to obtain tickets for the tenders and if so, where did you get them from? I have heard the entire process is a nightmare? I have booked a private cave tubing excursion and need to get to off as soon as possible.

Do you have cruise compass including the Teen one to post? My 15 year old daughter is very interested in joining the club.

Are the water slides open during port days or are the hours restricted?

Any not to be missed shows? I think there was a Tribute to the Beattles show?

Did you use the internet? how was the speed?

Thanks for your help.

 

We also booked a private tour for the cave tubing. And you're correct in that you need to get off the ship as early as possible. Tender tickets were issued at guest services I believe two days prior to tender. Our original tender ticket was #15 which was roughly 10:30am. I asked for an earlier tender and was told that I needed to carry my 'papers/e-ticket' etc to Deck 5 MDR. Once there, they re-issued us to tender #4, 8:45am. BTW, we were issued the last #4 ticket, so the earlier you get there, the better you'll be!

[BOSS_Cruiser14]

I just want to clarify something that the OP stated about the MDR. There is no limit to how many appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and deserts you can order. He probably just assumed because of the way the menu is set up that there were limitations.

 

I don't think he was saying there were limitations, just not as much choice.

Edited February 22, 2016 by BOSS_Cruiser14

[BOSS_Cruiser14]

Hi I was on this sailing! The slides were open everyday from 9am-9pm except on the first day which it was 12:30pm-9pm. The last day also has a different time, 9am-7pm. I suggest that you go when it first opens or before it closes, there is never a line. If you go during noon or the afternoon it can get extremely crowded (15-20 minute wait). The teen club has many activities one an hour. Some are video game tournaments, ice cream eating contest, Flowrider nite, ice skating nite, card games, parties nightly. You go to the "Living Room" and party at "Fuel." The people are very nice. Your teen will have a great time. Some not to be missed shows are the ice show, Encore is very good. They also have Saturday Night Fever. Sorry, did not use the internet but it is $20 an hour I think. If you want to be daring, you should definitely try the Flowrider. (even older people were doing it) Hope that was helpful:)

 

Edited February 22, 2016 by BOSS_Cruiser14

[mrizer7773]

Thanks for the review! Well written!

[Setting sail for fun]

Check out the Auto train. Drive to DC, spend night on train, wake up just north of Orlando.

 

We live fairly close to the Auto-train and have taken it once to Sanford Fl. We were taking it for the experience and it was fun. Wine was served shortly after boarding and the meals were good as well. However, it was more expensive to take the train than to fly from DC to Ft. Lauderdale.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[cj_one2000]

I live in Houston. Sunday morning shouldn't be bad, but construction and traffic can pop up at any time. The biggest problem will be Super Bowl Sunday since it's in Houston in 2017. That is going to be a nightmare. Expensive flights, no hotels, lots of traffic... Yikes!

 

 

No worries, our cruise is this year in November. [emoji16] but wow, I can only imagine the chaos for someone trying to get to their cruise!

[nativetexan]

Thanks for the detailed review. All good info!

 

As for Houston traffic - it's legendary! We are the 4th largest city in America and we're sprawling. It seems to go on forever! I would definitely recommend arriving at Hobby Airport but staying in Galveston. I'm sure it's all included on the Gulf Coast forum.

 

Can't wait for our cruise on Liberty - 5+ months away! Wish it were closer.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

I appreciate your long review and my teen is also very excited about the new slides! I hope all the slides are working when we sail end of April 2016. We are also on the same itinerary as you, and i was wondering about the tendering process in Belize. Did you have to obtain tickets for the tenders and if so, where did you get them from? I have heard the entire process is a nightmare? I have booked a private cave tubing excursion and need to get to off as soon as possible.

Do you have cruise compass including the Teen one to post? My 15 year old daughter is very interested in joining the club.

Are the water slides open during port days or are the hours restricted?

Any not to be missed shows? I think there was a Tribute to the Beattles show?

Did you use the internet? how was the speed?

Thanks for your help.

 

Your family is going to love the ship! I am sure the slides will be working, though I don't know about the Boomerango. Parents can do the slides, too!

 

I didn't have to get tickets for the tenders, because we booked a ship excursion, which left directly from the ship (i.e., the boat to Rendezvous Cay picked us up directly from the ship, so we didn't have to tender into the city first). I had heard the tendering process is a challenge, too, which is why i booked our excursion through the ship, which I generally don't do, because the cruise line inflates the excursion prices.

 

The only show we went to was a "Love and Marriage" game show that was like the Newylwed Game. It was actually hilarious and entertaining and good for some R-rated laughs.

 

I didn't use the ship's internet this time, though I believe I had heard the internet upgrade to Voom won't happen until the summer (apologies if that's incorrect info). What I did this time was contact my cellphone provider in advance and told them I was going on a cruise out of the country. They asked what ship I was going on and inputted into their system. For $40 for the week, I was able to check email, receive and make calls and texts. That 's for the basic package. You can pay more for more data, but I wasn't using it for anything heavy. It was super convenient this time (except it didn't work while we were in Belize), although I had trouble with it when I went to Bermuda on the Summit last May. I would definitely look into as a possibility again.

 

I don't have any Teen compasses, but it looks like some other posters have chimed in with info. I would suggest that your daughter makes sure she goes the first couple of nights, because it seemed it was easier for kids to meet then, and it looked like everyone was having a nice time when I poked my head in to check in on my son.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[chukli]

Hi I was on this sailing! The slides were open everyday from 9am-9pm except on the first day which it was 12:30pm-9pm. The last day also has a different time, 9am-7pm. I suggest that you go when it first opens or before it closes, there is never a line. If you go during noon or the afternoon it can get extremely crowded (15-20 minute wait). The teen club has many activities one an hour. Some are video game tournaments, ice cream eating contest, Flowrider nite, ice skating nite, card games, parties nightly. You go to the "Living Room" and party at "Fuel." The people are very nice. Your teen will have a great time. Some not to be missed shows are the ice show, Encore is very good. They also have Saturday Night Fever. Sorry, did not use the internet but it is $20 an hour I think. If you want to be daring, you should definitely try the Flowrider. (even older people were doing it) Hope that was helpful:)

 

I really appreciate all your help! Is it possible to post the cruise compass?

[manydogs]

We were on the same cruise and our grandkids (ages 6 to 13) loved everything in the sports area. Of course, the FlowRider was the biggest hit and BOSS is right ... go on the first day towards the evening and there are little, if any, lines. Plus, the staff that handles the FlowRider are amazing ... patient, fun and they managed to get almost everyone up on the boards. Per the rest of our group, the slides, impressive as they looked, were rather slow. (The grandkids said the slides in Splashaway Bay were actually faster.) Don't look for the Tidal Wave to be open anytime soon ... In talking with a couple of engineers (private contractors who are housed by RCCL on board), it's going to take some re-engineering.

 

Don't miss the Ice Show.

 

We found the age groups in the Kids Clubs to be a bit "odd", especially in the upper age range. (A 12-year old and a 17-year old have very little in common.) After one night, our boys never went back to the Teen Club as they said it was really more for older teens. Since our kids and grandkids are all "water oriented", they spent much of their time together on the sports deck and pool areas.

 

We were all on different excursions and didn't have to get tender tickets (one group was on the cave rafting as well). Out of the excursions our family tried, one group declared the Jungle Buggy ride (Cozumel) to be "the best", while those on the Sting Ray/Shark/Island Getaway (Belize) thought theirs to be the best. And, to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed the Sting Ray Getaway. They take you to a small island, Caye Caulker Village, and then out to the reef to snorkel. The water is clear, calm and only about 4' - 5' deep. Plenty of fish to see. If you've ever wanted to see what the Caribbean looked like many years ago, this is the place to go.

Edited February 23, 2016 by manydogs

[mil76]

Does anyone who was on last week know if they did Best of the Best the last day on the Flowrider? I looked at the cruise compass from the previous week and I didn't see any mention of it. I know Navigator wasn't doing it while in Galveston, so I'm hoping Liberty hasn't followed suit.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

Does anyone who was on last week know if they did Best of the Best the last day on the Flowrider? I looked at the cruise compass from the previous week and I didn't see any mention of it. I know Navigator wasn't doing it while in Galveston, so I'm hoping Liberty hasn't followed suit.

 

I don't recall seeing that or hearing about it. I was the third-to-last person to do boogie boarding on the Flowrider before they ended it for the cruise on Saturday afternoon (it was just stand up after that), and I don't recall it being announced.

Edited February 24, 2016 by CruiseDad-NYC

[oneplustwotx]

Does anyone who was on last week know if they did Best of the Best the last day on the Flowrider? I looked at the cruise compass from the previous week and I didn't see any mention of it. I know Navigator wasn't doing it while in Galveston, so I'm hoping Liberty hasn't followed suit.

 

Yes, my DH participated in the Best of the Best (for stand up surfing) on Saturday, just after they closed the final 3-5pm Stand Up session. It was not advertised in the Cruise Compass. We heard about it because the staff asked him on Thursday or Friday to sign up, and the other times I heard them announce it was at the FlowRider on Saturday morning and afternoon. They actually stopped the final session about 10 minutes early and then had the first contestant ride just before 5pm. There were 6 guys competing and it was a lot of fun.

[mil76]

Yes, my DH participated in the Best of the Best (for stand up surfing) on Saturday, just after they closed the final 3-5pm Stand Up session. It was not advertised in the Cruise Compass. We heard about it because the staff asked him on Thursday or Friday to sign up, and the other times I heard them announce it was at the FlowRider on Saturday morning and afternoon. They actually stopped the final session about 10 minutes early and then had the first contestant ride just before 5pm. There were 6 guys competing and it was a lot of fun.

Awesome! Thanks for the update. This old man beat his two teenage boys in BOTB on Oasis in October and has been talking trash ever since. They are looking for redemption next month.

[JaniceB]

Thank you for doing this review. :)

I am on this same itinerary in October. Do you have any of the cruise compasses? I know some have been posted but I haven't seen one for this itinerary.

[twalker002]

I got these off another thread thanks to CC Member decker12 and put them all in a pdf.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9e60Pp0Gp5TaHBaTU4xYTJ4WEk

[Wilson]

I got these off another thread thanks to CC Member decker12 and put them all in a pdf.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9e60Pp0Gp5TaHBaTU4xYTJ4WEk

 

Is it just my computer or is day 7 missing?