First Time Cruiser...Liberty of the Seas Trip Report...

[TnTWalter]

The Ship

Our first ship. Pretty. Easy to get around once you get the lay of the land. Didn't feel huge but plenty of room. Elevators always had lines so we huffed stairs most of the time. It helped burn off some of the desserts.

 

Fitness

My oldest is on track team. Hubby and I work out. Outdoor track. It's 4.5 laps for 1 mile I think. Get there early. 6-7am best time. Gets more and more crowded as morning goes on and after about 9am it's full of chairs. The gym is similar. Treadmills were usually full 6-7 but lightened up after. There were enough weight machines to keep in shape as needed. They had classes $12 which we didn't do. Spinning was popular. Let's not forget the flow rider is great excercise as well as the Rock wall and the basketball court where you also play soccer and dodge ball. Lot of choices!

 

Family Panoramic Room 1854

 

The good. The room was really spacious. Fit the five of us perfectly. Having 2 bathrooms was great. Lots of storage. Plenty of sleeping space. The windows are simply AMAZING. Location. Loved being so close to the pool, and an easy walk outside to the teen center and all the cool activities [flow rider, slides, etc.]. We also could walk across the deck and go inside and down to the Windjammer. Awesome. Did I mention the amazing windows and views?

 

The not so good....movement movement movement. And not just the ship's hitting waves so it's rocking. No the bed felt like one of the vibrating beds from the 70s that you put a quarter in. Constantly shaking. It was odd. The last night it felt like someone was standing at the head of the bed and banging it. That was not a good night sleep. Sometimes you could hear other tvs and conversations, especially in the bathroom shower and master bed.

Oh and the other beds felt the vibrations too just not as severe as as the master bed. You could feel the movement heading down the hall into the rooms.

 

Motion Sickness

I am prone to sea sickness which is why we've never cruised before. I took bonine starting the night before and every morning and night throughout the cruise. I made my family take every night just in case. Day 1 I was worried I made a terrible mistake. Didn't feel sick but definitely felt it and was worried. By Day 2 I was used to the movement. I also brought motionease which is an essential oil combo that you dab behind the ears. It seemed to also help.

 

Day 2 was very chopping. Hubby had to take a bonine that day [he's the only one who refused to take bonine] But he was fine other than that. We had relatively calm seas. I also brought ginger chews and ate them periodically [they are yummy].

The Food

Food was good not great. Loved all the choices. You really can find at least something you like each meal. We only did the sit down for dinners and only 4 times but it was nice. Desserts were the star. Windjammer great variety for buffet. I enjoyed the sushi more than my daughter. It was like grocery store sushi. Not the best but fills the need. Sorrentos was ok. Good enough for my teen son. And for hubby and I one night to soak up some alcohol. ha.

Cafe Promenade was also fine. Great for cookies.

 

My Time Dining

Really liked this because we rescheduled dinners multiple times and it was super easy. Had same waiter each time. He was great. Kids enjoyed ordering fancy stuff. But it did take a long time. More so the first 2 meals [close to 2 hours] but closer to 1.5 or less the other 2. Only ate 4 sit down dinners. I've never done other dining but I think I wouldn't have liked a set time [because we worked around teen planned activities]. We ate at the WJ other nights and it was fine.

 

Shows

We enjoyed Alfred & Seymour [comedians], missed Tom McTigue [too tired], had fun at Adult Quest, enjoyed Derek Lewis in the pub. We also enjoyed Love and Marriage. We did not enjoy In the Air. Saturday Night Fever was just ok. David Orien [comedian] was ok. We missed the Ice Show and VOX Audio. There's just so much to do. We also enjoyed the entertainment around the pool. Although I preferred the quiet pool, hubby preferred the lively pool.

 

Teen Club

Kids had the best time. I had to force my son [13] to go to the first night 411. I said we'd get him in an hour. When we got back in an hour he was happy as a clam. We saw him the least when we were on the ship. He loved the freedom. Loved grabbing food whenever he wanted [he eats often]. Loved playing the organized games and cards with friends and of course the arcade. They all made friends and had a blast.

 

The girls loved all the organized activities, special rock climbing times, etc. They were in the 15-17 group so it was nice to know they were together. I was worried about my son being alone but he made friends fast.

 

Keeping in Touch

I was most worried about being able to find my kids. The post it system was a life saver. We would write back and forth. Dinner @ 6 meet at ... or We are by the quiet pool port side, etc. So glad for that tip.

 

WIFI

Hubby got wifi so he could check emails for work. Wow is it slooow. The kids commented on how much fun it was to not have phones. Only 1 teen in the center had wifi so they actually interacted.

CASH AND SEA PASS

We did not activate the kids' sea passes. My son loves the arcade and he was able to load cash on his sea pass. But my daughter could not get Ben & Jerrys with cash nor could she add cash for it there. Also they could not buy tshirts with cash. So that was frustrating. I'm guessing there was a way around this but it only happened a couple of times.

 

Kids and Spending

We gave the kids each $100 to spend. The girls used mostly in port. My son used in port and in the arcade. They came home with money.

 

Drinks

FREE. There was always water, tea, lemonade and some strawberry drink at lunch. You usually could find tea or water everywhere and of course coffee. Orange juice at breakfast. We drink lots of water and all had refillable water bottles. They were really strict about how we could fill them, but if you had a RCCL refillable it was no problem. That irked me. But we made it work. The coffee wasn't great. Sometimes it was better than others. But it got the job done.

 

SODA

I bought my son a soda package $67 for the week. He loved it. My daughters are only drinking water for a year for charity so didn't have to worry about them.

 

ALCOHOL

I brought 2 bottles of wine on board. My steward provided wine glasses. I could pour a glass and head to dinner or show, etc.

 

We also bought a bottle at dinner one night and it lasted 2 nights for both of us [$30].

 

Drink Punch Card On Day 5 they started offering the 10 drink punch card [$79 after gratuities]. We got it on day 6. Enjoyed.

 

Beer $6 after tip hubby bought a few

 

Wine by the Glass $7-12 typically before tip I think

 

Drink of the Day Every day they had a drink of the day for $9.50 plus tip you could get at the pools. FYI. The waiters would make other drinks and walk around with them [trying to upsell I guess].

 

Port Days

OK so we always felt rushed on Port days. Part of it is being newbies but part of it is there's just not enough time. But here's what we did.

 

Falmouth.

Easy peasy to go on/off ship. Decided to do Rio Bueno River Tubing with Courtney Taylor. I didn't want to drive 1.5 hours one way. This was maybe 20 minutes away. Had a great time.

 

You get your gear and walk with tubes to the beginning. You have the option to start tubing or hike the falls. The falls were cool. Deep pool areas to swim around, rocks to climb on with falls. The force of the water is powerful so need to be fairly fit and also wear water shoes [we had keens] as it's slippery. You don't have to hike the falls or you can just do a little bit of the falls.

 

River Tubing time. It's mostly leisurely with some small rapids thrown in but you are pushed along with the current so no effort needed. The guide helps you along as needed. It was a nice relaxing fun ride. We all enjoyed it. About 45 minutes? Our guide said in the winter with the river up it takes 20 minutes. You cruise by a shop along the river if you want to stop and shop. We didn't. NO problem. You then stop at a platform to jump in. Then you leave the tubes and climb in a raft pulled by a motor boat to the beach where we waded through the water to the beach and then dried off.

 

We were going to go somewhere local for lunch but decided just to eat the jerk chicken plate there and grab some red stripes. Reasonable prices. Back to port to shop.

 

Shopping. Reasonable deals and good choices. Kids experienced bartering and enjoyed it. Port is very clean and very man-made...like this is the Jamaica Royal Caribbean built. But it was nice.

 

Grand Cayman.

We booked with Dexter Fantasea.

 

The only annoying thing was they were adamant about us getting off ASAP. Which we did no problem. BUT we were with a group from NCL who didn't get off ship until 8:15. The captain had the times confused. So we sat for an hour .... which matters when you realize the crowds that accumulate. We would have been easily one of the first boats to stingray city. Oh well.

 

OK so we had no problems getting off the ship and to captain by 7:30. Since we had time to kill thanks to having to wait we shopped a little in the port area. Finally on the way at 8:30. They had 2 vans. 1 of the vans was parked a little walk away. Took a bit to find it [another small issue]. But we finally arrived.

 

It was 2 families of 6, 2 families of 4 and our family of 5. Not too crowded at all. Nice catamaran. Pretty trip out. Water is amazing. Then you see the circle of boats...oh my crowds....where we jumped in was about 5 feet and then waded to about 3 feet. Captain gave each family interaction so all is good. Then to the reef. Great snorkeling. No rushing. We thought we'd be done by around noon and get dropped at 7MB to enjoy the beach...but it was after 1 when we were dropped for lunch. I asked for somewhere walking distance and good. They took us to Paradise cafe which is a short walk back to port. Pretty view but food was just ok and it was very pricey [i know typical but]. So then we shopped a bit and decided to get back around 3pm. Oh my.....crazy crowd....hindsight because I'm a newbie...DON'T rush back to port It was really bad and hot. Someone fainted in line. So we were rushed for no reason to start the day, then had to skip 7 mile beach because of it and now we fry in the hot sun trying to get back...

 

Cozumel.

This day was rushed for us but mostly because we didn't take a few minutes and plan our route. User error. LOL. But we did get to port late...well we were there but they didn't let us leave ship on time but still had to be back....we rented a jeep from Ernestos. Oh my it was in rough condition. My husband's seat was slanted one direction. Ha ha. And it's a stick shift. But we could take the top down and the 3 teens fit in the back. We rode around the island. Visited the ruins [hot hot hot but enjoyed]. Stopped at Playa Bonita for a cheap great lunch with a view and hung at the beach for a bit. Wanted to go into town but went the wrong way back which took us closer to port and by then it was 4ish? so didn't want to chance it. So sad we never made it to town. Shopped in port and knew not to rush to the line. Walked right up at 5:15. Probably could have gone to town because the buses from the ruins probably weren't back yet but didn't want to be that family waving to the ship. Overall good day.

 

The smoothest day was Jamaica but we had little expectation that first day. lol.

 

OUR THOUGHTS

The GOOD

The kids would cruise again in a heartbeat. My oldest is 17 though so she would age out of the teen center she loved so much. They all loved it.

 

We all loved all the things to do. It would be really hard to be bored.

We loved being able to see 3 islands.

 

We also loved all the food offerings.. Having 3 teens it was nice that they could eat whenever and whatever they wanted.

 

Hubby said it felt like a lot of 'hurry up and wait' and that was hard for him. And there are just lots of crowds on a cruise no matter what you do. We are not crowd people [though we love Disney World go figure].

 

We felt rushed in ports. Part of it is because there isn't a lot of time but also I probably should have planned better so we weren't 'rushed'.

 

I would do another one. Hubby isn't so sure. That's why I didn't stop in the NEXT cruise room.

 

It was very expensive. Being a family of 5 you are really limited to what cabins you can select from, etc.

 

Overall we all really enjoyed our first cruise. Quality family time with good mix of relaxation and adventure.

 

Thanks for all the advice I received here.

PICTURES

Here are tons of pictures for your enjoyment.

https://goo.gl/photos/7kDdFQ1R1YPrdjBu7

[JaniceB]

Thanks for taking the time to post about your first cruise experience, it was very well written.

[Big_G]

Nicely done. Thank you. :)

[Clarea]

Nice report, thanks.:)

[TnTWalter]

this was helpful in organizing for the week.

 

[TnTWalter]

Edited April 12, 2016 by TnTWalter

[TnTWalter]

For Charging Electronics

This is the charge hub.

It plugs into the outlet and then anything you can charge with usb plugs into it [phones, cameras, tablets, etc.].

 

For Privacy/Changing Room

shower curtain liner under $1 and metal hooks $2 for 2 I bought 4

 

For Door [makes easy to find your door]

Magnet

 

Luggage Tag

I printed; cut; folded in half; and used packing tape to 'laminate'. Then punched a hole and brought zip ties to add at port.

Post-its and highlighters

post its to tell keep in touch with family. we just stuck on the mirror.

highlighters to mark things you want to do on the compass...there's so much to do it's easy to forget. you could just check the compass for a highlight during the day.

 

what i wish I remembered:

air freshener for bathrooms ;o) bandaids

Edited April 12, 2016 by TnTWalter

[BillOh]

What do you have to say about the boarding prociess? Did it take long to get to the port and checked in? Its been several months now since this port has had this size of ship. I am hopeful they have gotten the routine for boarding and disembarkation down now.

[tgloersen]

Great Review, and some very nice Pictures too!

[TnTWalter]

Jamaica Rio Bueno River Tubing w/Courtney Taylor includes pics

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2343056

 

Grand Cayman Catamaran Stingray City & Reef Snorkel with Dexter Fantasea

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49697254#post49697254

 

Cozumel Tour on our Own

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49697432#post49697432

[gambler]

Very nice review and pictures! Thank-you

[TnTWalter]

What do you have to say about the boarding prociess? Did it take long to get to the port and checked in? Its been several months now since this port has had this size of ship. I am hopeful they have gotten the routine for boarding and disembarkation down now.

 

well...disembarking was a breeze. We did not do self because we heard lines could be bad but they were off the ship before 8. Would have been great as we drove all the way back to Indiana. We were group 2 [8:30 am]. We were to our car at Galveston Park N Cruise by 9ish.

 

Embarking...different story. I KNEW better. Everyone said don't rush to the terminal....but we got there and were excited and thought why not.....Line for luggage drop seemed long but not bad....but THEN....crazy long lines to check in. Really Crazy. It's some time between 11 and noon because at noon both hubby and I get text alerts from RCCL stating that there was a delay because disembark was delayed for previous cruise....would have been nice to get earlier. lol.

 

So we went and had a really nice lunch and got back around 1:30? NO lines at all. so don't RUSH.

[JimAOk1945]

I enjoyed your review and pictures. Question: Which ruins did you see?

[George C]

Nice review, thanks, looking forward to seeing Derek Lewis in 12 days

[TnTWalter]

I enjoyed your review and pictures. Question: Which ruins did you see?

 

San Gervasio

[TnTWalter]

forgot to add you do not have to use the refillable glass. They put a sticker on your sea pass. This was good as my son would probably lose the glass ASAP. It makes a nice souvenir.

 

Hubby and I didn't need lanyards but we bought some for the kids. They range from $6.95 to $9.95. They are cute and the kids had fun picking out theirs. My son had a retractable one with the RCCL logo. He had fun pulling it in and out. ha ha. You could also bring some from home.

[Paul65]

Hope this doesn't hurt the fitness goals you thought you achieved, but the outdoor track is definitely not 4.5 laps to a mile. The track used to go all the way to the front, before new cabins were added to Deck 12. They just haven't changed the information to reflect the now-shorter track. We figured it was probably more like 6 laps to make a mile. :D

[TnTWalter]

Hope this doesn't hurt the fitness goals you thought you achieved, but the outdoor track is definitely not 4.5 laps to a mile. The track used to go all the way to the front, before new cabins were added to Deck 12. They just haven't changed the information to reflect the now-shorter track. We figured it was probably more like 6 laps to make a mile. :D

 

That's so funny. I thought it was off. I just timed myself because I didn't want to have to count laps! I'd lose track. I'll tell my daughter.

[TnTWalter]

I'm the loser in our group and never did any of these.

 

FLOW RIDER

My husband and kids did all. The flow rider was especially popular with one of my daughters and my husband. They went at least once daily. Never long lines. The people working the lines were helpful. I debated doing a private or group lesson to ensure they had time but thought I'd wait and see. Glad I did as I saved some money. Great time.

 

SLIDES

They did these several times and had a blast. They all preferred one of them...can't remember which. I'll ask. But again never a long line.

 

ROCK WALL

Same theme. All enjoyed. Husband did an adult speed competition and came in 5th. He was by far older than the others so no fair. ha ha. They also had a teen competition which the kids enjoyed. The kids would grab dad and they would go climb during the day.

 

BBALL COURT

They had dodgeball for adults. Husband had fun. And many soccer tournaments for the teens. My oldest participated.

 

There are also ping pong tables over this area if you so desire.

 

ARCADE

1st night it's free from 9-10:30 for everyone. Kids all enjoyed. Son played in arcarde throughout the week.

[TnTWalter]

Any questions? Happy to answer! I'm not a newbie anymore and if my oldest didn't age out of the teen center we'd consider going again next spring break.

 

Weather was also great.

[Texas Cruise Girl]

Thanks for the review. Great photos. Did you use your phone to take photos at Stingray City?

[Ladysilver]

Thanks for your great review! Love the photos too! :D

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[TnTWalter]

Thanks for the review. Great photos. Did you use your phone to take photos at Stingray City?

 

 

I have a Panasonic Lumix underwater. It was under $200. Also just got Olympus refurb underwater for $70. It was one of those.

 

One of my kids bought a life proof case for her iPhone too.

Edited April 13, 2016 by TnTWalter

[JaniceB]

this was helpful in organizing for the week.

 

 

Thanks for sharing the planner, looks helpful pre-cruise too!