I'm at LIBERTY to review her. April 29 sailing!

[George C]

Thank you for your review :) It'll have to do for the next 37 days until I can get on the ship. I'm just upset that Phil's leaving before we get there, but hopefully the new guy won't be as bad as Herman Harper II was on Navigator many moons ago!

 

I know most people really like Phil, he is one of the reasons we stopped cruising on liberty, there are so many piano players in Dallas area that are way better, will be listening to one in less than a hour.

[Dscomp1]

We are sailing her in January 2019, and I am not upset to hear that Phil is leaving. I got tired of hearing him cruise after cruise!

 

Loving your review!

[hayley_bopp]

Great review. Looking forward to reading more.

 

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[maddie mom]

Sunday Funday

The Galveston port is much improved in the last few years. We could sit around the hotel playing on our ipads or we can sit at the port playing on our ipads. We chose the latter. Hotel Galvez does a good job shuttling guests to the port. You sign up for a time, show up, get loaded and you’re off for the longest 10 minute drive of your life. 15 if you have to stop to let the carnivores off to get on their rust bucket (I kid, I kid.) Once there, it’s the usual chaos of tackling a porter and then getting in the door. We were through security and checked in with zero wait. We got there around 9:30. Once upstairs, we nabbed two front row spots so we could jostle to be among the very onboard. The seating areas are by levels with Pinnacle and Suites closest, followed veryclosely by Diamond Plus.

 

Part of my cruise fun is the anticipation. I tend to engage on roll calls and social media since no one in my real life wants to hear me obsess about a cruise. Oddly, fellow cruisers DO! While getting stuck on Candy Crush, a fellow cruiser who was also posting here and various places recognized me and the giant next to me from descriptions and introduced herself and her husband. Well, we hated each other so much that we hung out ALL WEEK LONG. And the really crazy part is they live 5 minutes from us and we’re having dinner together tomorrow (the Friday after we got back from the cruise.) This is part of the charm of cruising. If you want to meet people, you can. If you want to have a quiet getaway and stick to your group, you can. Be as wild or as boring as you want. After about 2 hours, it was finally time to board.

 

The next tradition is the mandatory pinacolada at the Pool Bar. This is a requirement and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Unless you’re under 21. Then you can’t. nanner nanner nanner. We had great pool bartenders this trip. Fortunately, we usually do. The guys at the pool bar really have to be outgoing and relaxed or they will be utterly miserable. They did not disappoint. We headed to the Jammer for lunch. A great benefit for suites is being able to have embarkation lunch in Giovanni’s. If you’ve been on a Royal cruise, you know what a cluster the Jammer is the first day. If you haven’t, imagine a horde of sheep wandering aimlessly from station to station since they haven’t figured out that the food on the right side is the same as the left. Jammer food is fine. You’re not going to starve but you’re not going to give it a 5 star review on yelp.

 

Rooms open at 1 pm. We’ve had incredibly good luck with luggage arrival. This one was Numero uno. It was sitting outside the room at 1 pm. SCORE! I love getting the room done and unpacked asap because then I feel I am ON VACATION. While I do this, the thing I married takes an opportunity to lie on the bed and look at the inside of his eyelids. Once this is accomplished, it’s back to pool bar for some happy time. We sneak back to the room pre muster because we like to time it so that we’re not the first ones there and standing around for 30 minutes. We’re not late, we just prefer to wait for the signal and then slowly make our way from deck 10 to deck 4.

 

Sailaway was great weather. I do miss having the live band at sailaway but I can live with the DJ. We managed a quick change so we would be Suite Lounge presentable and headed upstairs. The SL on Liberty is quite nice – large, all windows with a nice seating area outside as well. We enjoyed some pre dinner drinkies with the new BFFAW (best friends for a week) and then headed to Sabor. So….much….food. I enjoy their presentation and I find the venue on Liberty wonderful.

 

From dinner, it’s just a short roll into the casino. Yep, we’re fools. And we remained relatively foolish all week. Don’t judge. We happily spent the rest of the night donating to the Symphony of the Seas building fund.

 

Still to come – Sea day. The first sea day just might be my favorite day of every cruise.

 

 

 

Sailed on Liberty April 29. Love the ship

 

 

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[MalteseMama2]

I am loving this review. We sail on Liberty next March. First time on her and out of Galveston. We have The Oasis next Dec. wish we could cruise more than twice a year, but not so long ago I remember wishing it was more than once a year!

 

 

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[George C]

Do they have anybody decent playing in pub ? I would return to Liberty if they brought back Derek Lewis. ( also really disliked suite concierge Jorge on last cruise , he lied to us on disembarkation , we left after several other groups )

[sunsetme]

can you get craft beers?

[IonImplantTech]

I was on the 4/29 sailing also, had a great time! This was my 2nd cruise and decided to try the ultimate dining package. Glad I did! It is so much easier and relaxing than to deal with the craziness of the buffet and the not so crazy but still kind crazy dining room. No waiting in lines either! I really loved chops. I saw a thread where it was being bashed on a couple different ships. Now either these people are chefs or only eat in 5 star restaurants or my tastes are too simple. LOL

 

This was definitely a lot better experience than my last cruise where on the last sea day it was very rough, got sick and even lost a crew member overboard.

 

I'm glad I gave it another shot. Can't wait until the next one!!

 

Scott

[wolfganghowell]

Apologies for the long intermission. I promise to get back to finish up later today or tomorrow.

 

Comments - Hadn't heard Phil was leaving but yeah, not too bummed myself. Same songs all these years. Would love a more lively, energetic and inclusive player. Phil really appeals to the AARP crowd only and it would be nice to have someone that can cross generations in there.

 

Never went to the pub and heard zero chatter about it. Still po'd Royal let Derek Lewis get away. Those were the days and the pub was packed every dang night. Sigh.....

 

No craft beers that I recall but there are quite a few international and domestics available in the pub. Basic selection everywhere else.

 

George - I do recall your unhappiness with Jorge. Very sorry to hear it and I'm not discounting your experience. But our experience both times has been delightful and we have no complaints on how they handled the tender and disembarkation experience - or anything else for that matter. More info to come in general review.

[wolfganghowell]

Wednesday – Grand Cayman

 

Ok, so where was I? Ah yes- the halfway point of the cruise. Why do vacation weeks go by so much faster than work weeks? Let’s ponder that one. Cayman was the port where we didn’t come up with a plan. We’ve been here many times. We’ve done Stingray City numerous times. In fact, the excursion I recommend is through Island Marketing where you can go there on waverunners, hang with the rays then head over to Rum Point for some relaxation before heading back. But we were lazy this time and the time in port didn’t seem the best. We’ve done Royal Palms but we didn’t want to fork over $100 for a cabana again and just piling on the beach didn’t sound great. We ended up going with our BFFAW down to Calico Jacks on 7 Mile Beach. Pros – nice large beach, tons of beach chairs, easy entry into the water if you just want to lurk in the water all day. Cons – all the prime spots were gone by the time we got there, you had to walk a long way from our spot to the bar for overpriced food and drinks. Our friends said Calico Jacks has gotten way too crowded. While it was an enjoyable day, I wouldn’t go back to CJ’s.

 

After 3-4 hours, we headed back to the ship. Had a pitstop at the pool bar then cleaned up once again for dinner. Tonight we hit the Windjammer. Meh. None of the choices seemed that great. Normally I can find something appealing but just not my scene this time. Still not starving so please don’t pity me. I believe tonight we did a drink in Schooner and then headed back to the money pit aka casino. However, I believe this is the night yours truly hit a straight flush at UTH. Too bad that still doesn’t cover He Who Must Not Be Named losses.

 

Thursday – Jamaica mon

 

Another lovely breakfast in Giovanni’s and no real urgency to run off the ship. Our plan today is to hang at the pool bar at Margaritaville. We basically plop ourselves in the water and remain there all day. Sure, it’s resort prices. But we’re not big port shoppers – got everything I need after all these years. Falmouth is just a cruddy location to actually DO something. Since I commute every work day 45 minutes to and 45 minutes fro, getting on a shuttle to get somewhere holds zero appeal for me. And that’s the problem with Falmouth. I hear mixed reviews about the AI resorts that are reasonably close and shelling out close to $200 for a “not” sure thing wasn’t happening. M-ville is a fave with us – it’s not overly crowded in the pool, the music is fun and everyone there is generally laid back. Hey – I even got some water aerobics in by doing Wobble and a few other line dances in the pool.

 

Once back, it’s a brief respite then the usual suite lounge and what the heck did we do for dinner tonight. I honestly have to clue. I think this is the night we saw the ice show. Quite a good one. Still amazed how they can make it look so darn easy. We ended up back in hell….I mean the casino. SURPRISE!

[wolfganghowell]

FRIDAY – SEA DAY

 

Finally, another sea day! It had been awhile since we had cruised with 2 sea days at the end so we were ready for some basic relaxation. Book reading, pool bar hanging, wandering – all those good things. We did the tutti salad bar for lunch. A good choice since we were headed back to Sabor for dinner and that’s enough food for an army. Nothing much to report – this is the day that everyone can do their own thing and be happy. No real crowds anywhere that seemed annoying. Another night improving Royal’s stock price in the casino.

 

Saturday – SAD DAY

 

Yes we still have an entire sea day. But you still have to spend at least part of the time doing the unmentionable – packing. This we actually do well. We roll and wad all those dirty clothes and pack them up in our plastic travel bags. Takes about 20 minutes. Voila.

More reading, pool barring and wandering. Etc etc. Another pizza night. We drifted into R Bar for a specialty martini. Final attempt to win our money back. Epic failure although this time the “other” got a straight flush so the losses have been moved from catastrophic to hideous. Entertainment factor – priceless. We nabbed Club Royale certificates totally $1500 so that takes some of the sting away – of course we have to apply it to the next cruise which won’t be until March. <sob>

 

Sunday – Blech

 

Up bright and early to allow the next group to steal our cabin away from us. We were to meet in Schooner Bar at 8:15 for the suite escort. If you want to carry your bags, that time was 7:15. We had a small delay but were shuffled off around 8:45. Walked straight to porter and straight out of customs. Fantastic! I’ll leave off the part where we were in the cab when HIS phone rang and he was informed he had taken the WRONG BAG. Suffice to say, he is still alive. Barely.

 

GENERAL ACTIVITY INFO

 

Yes, we missed a few things. Another cruise where we never made into a hot tub. I usually pop into one of the Solarium ones but the timing never worked out. I only like to get in there if there’s only a few others – not interested in a flash mob. We’ve already done the slides so skipped them this time. My contact lenses won’t let me flowride. Boo on bad eyesight. I sat in the pool for a short time Saturday and the temp was perfect. Had it not been so late and had I been able to stand I would have gone in all the way. But the thought of getting my hair wet and spending valuable time drying it nixed that. Only people with really really thick hair will understand this dilemma. We didn’t see Love & Marriage, Quest or late night comedians this time. We probably do those about 70% of the time so no real reason why we didn’t. They are normally part of the fun and I certainly recommend them. I’ve seen Saturday Night Fever – not impressed and certainly not going to see it again. I AM a huge musical theater fan so it’s the show itself I find boring. We often spend some time in Bolero’s but again, our timing just seemed to be off.

 

SUITE INFO

 

For us, the suite perks are worth it. We do breakfast almost every morning. The only one we missed was Cozumel and the last morning. We go to the SL every evening, usually stay an hour, hour and a half. We get lattes there in the morning and use the sitting area both inside and outside for relaxation and reading time. We used the tender walk off in Grand Cayman – met in the SL and the guys took us down and straight onto a tender. No waiting in line with the crowds. We use the disembarkation walk off. We love love love the bathroom. I usually sit on the balcony a bit every afternoon during our short siesta time.

 

THE DRINK QUESTION

 

Drink package or no drink package? Here’s my take on this. We like our adult beverages when we cruise. We work hard in real life and this is our time to be “irresponsible”. We’ve done the drink package a few times. I’m sure we got our money’s worth, especially when you factor in all the bottled water. But….a few cruises back when we became Club Royale and got the free drinks in the casino, it became a question. We did one cruise where he got the package, I didn’t. I don’t drink as much as he does plus most of my drinking is in the Suite Lounge and the casino. I did the math when we got our bill. I spent around $200 on alcohol, a LOT less than the package. So for us on this itinerary it’s not worth it. We didn’t get the package and it was the right choice. BUT if you plan on averaging 5 adult beverages a day plus some bottled waters, you aren’t in a suite or in Club Royale, then it’s probably the right choice for you.

 

FINI – ANY QUESTIONS?

 

Thanks for reading and happy to answer any questions out there. Happy cruising. I need the next 10 months to sail by. Please….

[wolfganghowell]

Random thoughts - The ship was sold out but never had any issues with crowds. Even the pool deck on sea days seemed fine. The lines for the slides and flowrider when we were back there seemed ok. All crew that we interacted with were friendly and attentive. Sabor and Giovannis had plenty of tables available - we were there from 6:30-8:30 each time. Decent amount of kids but no issues with behavior. Passengers all friendly - never saw one jerk. yay! They had the upsell table outside WJ but they were unobtrusive.

 

The best change I saw was how they conduct disembarkation. They have obviously figured out there are a ton of walk offs for this port. They had assigned groups and called them by groups instead of that one enormous horrible line that we've seen in the past. Made it much faster and better organized. Good job.

[George C]

Anything special for suite perks for lunch? We had really great free lunch at chops on sea days about 6 months ago on navigator.

[wolfganghowell]

They did have lunch in Giovannis but it was short - we missed it. We went at 1:04 and it was over at 1 pm. I think they did it on the sea days. The suite/pinnacle party was at 11:15 the first sea day. Terrible time for us - that first day is reserved for being OUTSIDE!

[AR Patriot]

Thank you for the well written review.

 

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[George C]

They did have lunch in Giovannis but it was short - we missed it. We went at 1:04 and it was over at 1 pm. I think they did it on the sea days. The suite/pinnacle party was at 11:15 the first sea day. Terrible time for us - that first day is reserved for being OUTSIDE!

 

They also had that 1pm cut off time on my liberty cruise last year, navigator had no restriction , nothing special about suite lunch, you were better off missing it. Thanks for review and all the info.