Newbie Live review: Liberty of the Seas Oct 28th Western Caribbean

[FionaMG]

Thanks for your review Tree-Skier. Even though I have no plans to go on the same ship for the time being, I am enjoying reading about your experience. 

[wolfganghowell]

Great review.  Since he's too busy having fun and I've been on Liberty a few times, here's some intel.

 

Yeah - the creme brulee is definitely hit or miss.  I don't care for theirs - the consistency is never good.  Too mushy.

 

HBE4 - you'll be just fine on the slides.  I'm not admitting age or body right now but can tell you it's good.  People get stuck or go too slow because they don't lie down correctly - you have to really lean back and just keep your head up.  They aren't that fast but you shouldn't get stuck.  There are plenty of grown up kids riding them.

[HBE4]

Wolfganghowell - thank you for tips! I'll make sure to not be the guy that get's stuck!

 

Disappointing to hear about the Creme Brulee. I'll give it a shot and hope it's a hit. The Liberty was our first cruise back in 2008 (out of Miami) and I think I had it for dessert almost every night. This will be my 4th time on her now!

[Tree_skier]

5 hours ago, EeyoreRN said:

We have a corner aft balcony on our Freedom sailing in May, and your review has made me more excited. I was considering staying on balcony for sailaway, but leaning against it. You may have swayed me!

 

What is it about the creme brulee that you are finding less than ideal?  I also love creme brulee and would be so disappointed if I didn't care for it. 

 

The first night the carmelization was over done and it tasted burnt. Last night they got that part right but the rest of was like soup. No problem though. As much as I love Creme Brûlée there about 14 ways to exceed your desert quotient. 

[Tree_skier]

4 hours ago, knon24 said:

Thanks for sharing! Love this "newbie" review. Tell me you sang a little karaoke yourself though! Curious what is off on the creme brulee as well. One of my favorite desserts. I'm both looking forward to and apprehensive about trying it now. 

 

I didn’t but I’m tempted. I’m going to see if they have some CCR. A little bad moon rising might be in order if can find a little courage. I may have to fuel the courage a little.  You never know... I could be convinced to do twist and shout. 

[Tree_skier]

4 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Loving your review so far.  DW, DD and I board the Liberty on Nov 4th (right after you get off) so this review comes at a perfect time to build our pre-cruise excitement!

 

Question about the Perfect Storm water slide: As I'm also a slightly out-of-shape 50's something willing to embarrass myself in front of pre-teens, how challenging was the slide? I had read reviews that it was too slow and people get stuck inside.

 

 

It’s not challenging at all. Lie flat on your arched back and ride on your shoulder blades and butt and you will be fine. The less body area in contact with with slide the faster you go.i didn’t stop once. DW got stuck but she probably didn’t listen to my advice.   

[Tree_skier]

Today’s been a bit slower for me. Skating before lunch and ping pong 🏓 after lunch. We hit the MDR for lunch again and I had the beef tenderloin. It was definitely a big hit. I was going to do the slides and flowrider again but I’m hurting in all the wrong places right now so I decided to just hang out in the hook and claw while DW has a nap. I’m pretty sure that that was the right decision. I may yet head up there but the  longer I spend in the hook and claw the ill fated that decision seems. 

 

The skating was fun. I was the only one who could actually skate on a the rink. Everyone else just hugged the boards slowly worked there way around. It was neat to watch some of the kids trying it for the first time.  I tried to help a couple with a little  technique. They seemed appreciate it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keri's Cruisin']

On 10/29/2018 at 5:27 PM, Tree_skier said:

Yeah 9392 is the mirror opposite of 9692. 

Hey are there any outlets out on the balcony?  And I really love that you rode the slide, flowrider and ice skated! You ROCK! 

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by Keri's Cruisin'

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, Keri's Cruisin' said:

Hey are there any outlets out on the balcony? 

 

I didn’t notice any but I’ll check when I get back to the room tonight.  There are two us the plugs in the desk area and one euro plug. 

[Tree_skier]

Headliner show tonight!!!!!!

[Tree_skier]

From the production...

 

 

I have to say that this was really well done.  It’s been a long time since I saw the original movie but as much as I can remember it held true to the original as much as is possible with a musical.  

 

Honestly I’m surprised they would do this one.  They bill their entertainment as family friendly and those of us who are old enough to remember the movie will remember it is far from that.  Obviously they cleaned up the language but their is a lot of very suggestive dialogue. I can certainly tell you that I wouldn’t want my pre or young teen to see it.  Maybe I’m just getting prudish in my old age.

 

That being said, we had no young people with us and I thought the singing and dancing were very good. Not Broadway/London west end good  but good enough to be exrtremly entertaining.

 

Dinner  tonight was the first miss in the main dining room for me. My wife had the chicken cordon bleu that she enjoyed.  My appetizer, fish cake, was fine but I had the NY striploin for my main course and it was mediocre at best.  None of the deserts excited me. I certainly wasn’t going to try Creme Brûlée again so I opted for chocolate ice cream.  It was as advertised, plain chocolate ice cream.  It tasted like anything I could buy for $3.00 a gallon at walmart.  

 

A little bit of a walk about after dinner and then back to the cabin.  Tomorrow is an early start.  We a have a fishing excursion in the morning in Roatan.  As the song goes...  “I ain’t as good as I once was... but I’m as good once as I ever was”

 

I need more sleep. 

[Tree_skier]

Welcome to Roatan 

 

 

 

 

Turquoise Bay All inclusive fishing charter is on the agenda for today. 

[BillOh]

Thanks again for this review.  Looking forward to what you do in Roatan, I haven't been here before and would consider this cruise for a new port. 

[Tree_skier]

So Roatan was had its ups and downs.  First challenge was that upon waking up we had no idea what time it was.  I had two devices, an iPad and an iphone and they were showing different times. Excursions are advertised with ship time not local time. Consequently, I didn’t know if I was early or late for my excursion.  Ship time and Honduran time are not the same.  I didnt realize that the cabin phone had the time shown on the screen. So I was scurrying around trying to find our cabin attendant to find out what time it was.  Of course, I was running a little late. However, a quick shower and quick coffee and danish at Cafe Promende got us pretty much back to schedule.

 

Our excursion was the Turquoise  Bay All Inclusive Fishing Excurrsion.  We got to the meeting point 30 minutes ahead of time so we had a few to browse the shops at the pier.  Hats, T-shirt’s, Jewelry etc... you know the shtick. Once we got back to our meeting point we only had a few minutes to wait and they began to load us on a bus to take us to our boat.  Unfortunately, three people who were scheduled to be on this charter were no shows.  They told us we would wait 5 minutes and if they didn’t show we would leave.  25 minutes later we still hadn’t left. The inside of the bus was heating up and people were starting to grumble. I understand giving some stragglers a few extra minutes grace.  It was $169 for the excursion so I’m sure that they didn’t want someone to miss out after having already paid.  However, we paid the same $169 and those of us who had made the effort to get there on time felt a little aggrieved.  We didn’t pay to sit on a hot bus, we paid to fish.  Shortly after the bus left without them.

 

Tortoise Bay is an all inclusive beach resort.  The fishing charter was just part of what they do there. Upon arriving we were given a quick orientation on of beach resort and all that it offered and were told that we would have access to all the food and beverages upon our return.  We signed our waivers and were down at the dock in matter of minutes.

 

The fishing was dire.  The water was very choppy and one of our shipmates got severely seasick. At the one hour mark we hauled in the lines and let him went back in to let him off.  Our tour guide from the bus departed as well as he was starting to get sick as well. Then we departed again to restart our trip.  Then it started to rain.  In the end, our group of 8 now down to 7, caught 2 fish.  Myself and DW were not one of the lucky 2.  We actually went in earlier than schedule but I don’t think anyone minded.  By the time we got in the sun was out again and we had about two hours to enjoy the resort before leaving.  The food was basic but good.  All you could drink was a popular benefit as well.  At the appointed time we all bundled back into the bus and headed back to the ship.

Our tour guide was humorous and he helped make the journey home fun.

 

Tonight is Halloween so upon arriving back at the ship we greeted some folks in costume but more on that later.

 

I’ll post pictures later as well

[molsonschooner]

On 10/30/2018 at 4:05 PM, Tree_skier said:

 

I didn’t but I’m tempted. I’m going to see if they have some CCR. A little bad moon rising might be in order if can find a little courage. I may have to fuel the courage a little.  You never know... I could be convinced to do twist and shout. 

CCR was my favourite group when I was a kid. Bad Moon Rising is a good song for you to sing. Go for it.

[Tree_skier]

Here’s a few Roatan pics. 

 

[Tree_skier]

Sorry for the delay in the update.  Last night was Chops for dinner. I have to say that that is quite a step up from the main dining room. I had a 16oz Rib eye that was perfect. My wife’s salmon was exceptional. From start to finish everything was exactly as I would have hoped including that he sundae we both had for dessert. 

 

 

There were a fair number of costumes out for Halloween 🎃 last night. I got pictures of some but not to many. Lots of cute kids in fun costumes trick or treating at all the shops on the ship. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures of other people’s kids so I just shot a few random shots of adults and then put the phone away. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning we docked in Costa Maya  I signed up for the Mayan zip line water park excursion. DW was signed up for a Kayak and Bike tour. Unfortunately it was to windy so DW’s was cancelled. She spent the day shopping. Mine was a hoot. Zip lining and and water slides, I’m sure, are kids activities but I had a great time. I’m absolutely confident that I was the oldest person there but that didn’t phase me at all. I would definitely go back. 

 

On tap tonight is another MDR dinner and a repeat of the ice show. I loved it so much I’m going back for another round. 

[EeyoreRN]

Glad to hear you loved Chops. It gets mixed reviews, and I know it varies by ship, but I have lunch and dinner booked for our Freedom cruise. Hope our experience is as great as yours!

 

Still loving and following your adventures!

[Tree_skier]

A few random Costa Maya pics

 

 

I kinda liked this one with Liberty in the background. 

 

[Tree_skier]

8 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

Glad to hear you loved Chops. It gets mixed reviews, and I know it varies by ship, but I have lunch and dinner booked for our Freedom cruise. Hope our experience is as great as yours!

 

Still loving and following your adventures!

 

Thanks EeyoreRN,  I’m having fun chronicling it. It’ll give a permanent record of all the highs and lows for me.  Sometimes you vacation and a few weeks later you can barely remember what did. We’ve decided we’re going to make cruising our sole type of vacation. We’re just enjoying everything so much. 

[Tree_skier]

For the techies on the forum, here is a screen shot of a speed test I did while sitting in the Hoof and Claw. 

 

 

ill do do another one in my cabin. It’s not near as good. The latency seems to be much worse. 

 

This is is the surf and steam package. But I’m finding streaming late in the evening is but challenging. 

Edited November 1, 2018 by Tree_skier

[Clarea]

That ping looks suspiciously low.

[Tree_skier]

Yeah I was really surprised at it. I have done other speed tests and got nothing close to it. I just never screen shot the results. I’ve tried streaming g a few sporting events in the evening and it has been dire. I know that latency and bandwidth are different. I just mention it for interest sake. 

 

If I remember right the one I got last night 429 ms. 

[emdia43]

I was trying to find the price of your zipline/slides excursion but as usual the RCCL  site is down......  can you tell me what you paid and what rides/pools were there. 

[Tree_skier]

The excursion I booked was called Royal Aerial Adventure.something or other.  It was $ 50. I thought it was only going to include one zip line trip and one float down canal but they said I could ride repeatedly and use the water slides.  I’m not sure what the difference is between the one I paid for and the higher priced one they offer on the cruise planner.  They both go to the same place and they let me ride what I wanted to.  I didn’t try and ride the zip coaster so maybe that was part of what wasn’t included.  The zip lines I rode were the conventional ones that went from platform to platform.  I had three to choose from not including the zip coaster and I rode two.  I rode three different  water slides and I think I could have rode them all.  Maybe there were some that weren’t included that I never tried to ride.