Got Out There

50 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Not surprised by the low number of Pins and D+'s.  They tend to choose low cost cruises, which makes total sense with how much they cruise.  I wouldn't want to pay top dollar for every cruise either if I sailed that much.

 

Dan

Guessing most of the Pins are probably retired which helps with flexibility.  If our schedule was more flexible we would definitely cruise on lower cost cruises and those without a large number of children (avoid school breaks).  Not that we don't like children, just tends to be a little more relaxing when there are not 1,000 on board.  On a Christmas cruise a few years ago with our family, we ended up being the top cruisers.....we were very surprised when the Loyalty Ambassador reached out to us to let us know and asked that we please attend the top tier party. 

7 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

I have to agree with you about Giovanni's. I will never book the dining plan on a ship that has it, we did not have an enjoyable experience on Freedom there.

I actually like the food there, my wife likes Portofino's better, the service was just no there....perhaps I am a little better with change than my wife, I do not compare it to Portofino's.

7 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

 

CD Mercedes has left and now it is Ken.

Did not know she was at the end of her contract, perhaps that was what we were seeing......at some point in their contracts it has got to get much more difficult to put that CD smile on 24/7.

10 minutes ago, gerif said:

I would have been inclined to confront the pair and tell them I’d be inclined to accept their apology if they were human beings enough to offer one. But, then again, I’m a Jersey girl. 

Actually I did say to my wife that I was thinking about walking over to them and asking if they were doing okay now that they found their chair, my wife who is very wise and had half the amount of rum in her that I did, offered the she did not think that would be a good idea....... just wasn't worth engaging.  Ended up drinking more rum and something....life is good!

14 minutes ago, timf2001 said:

How does Royal Caribbean handle formal nights on New Year's cruises if New Year's Eve is not one of the usually scheduled formal nights?  For example, if formal night is usually Night 2 but New Year's Eve is Night 3, will they move the formal night to New Year's Eve?  Hopefully someone recently off one can share their experience.

They will make NYE formal night.....we have done a handful of NYE cruises and no matter what night it falls on they make it formal night.....including the first night, they actually sent email communication at least twice ahead of time letting us know the that the first night will be formal night and suggested that we hand carry on our formals.

17 minutes ago, WinksCruises said:

Great report. As for the pool friends, it might be a scam they run. Intimidating sunbathers with prime pool spots with the "you took my chair" routine until, unlike you, someone caves!

The second man they confronted, who gave up his chair, did stop at my chair about an hour later and he apologized to me.  He said that he did apparently take their chair after he removed the towel and a personal item, placing them both on the adjacent empty chair.  He said he felt bad that while they were confronting me all along he knew that he took their chair.

Sailed the 12/30-1/5 New Years Eve cruise on the Adventure of the Seas - very nice trip overall.  We pre-purchased the DDP and the UDP.  Drink package was $339.84 each and the unlimited dining plan was $144 each, both included gratuity.  Somewhat surprised about the dining plan being offer, in the past this package has not been offered on holiday sailings.

As usual we booked last minute (less than two weeks out) and somewhat settled for this cruise due to timing, airfare, and cruise pricing.  Since we booked on short notice there was very limited availability.  We ended up booking an inside guarantee, the cabin assigned was deck 10 mid-ship - great location.  We use to book primarily suites but due to the nature of our work schedules it is very difficult for us to commit to a cruise more than two or three weeks in advance.  Over the past few years we have noticed that suites are rarely available this late in the booking process or are extremely expensive.  In the past availability and pricing on last minute cruises was the other way around.  Having said all of this we tend to spend very little time in the stateroom so the inside worked fine for us on this trip.

We sailed on NYE last year on Oasis of the Seas and learned to start enjoying are cruise from the moment we got on board (change of cloths and straight to the pool deck).  We did the same this year, arrived at terminal 11:30 and were sitting by the pool 11:50.  Check in was very fast (no lines anywhere), they do not have the expedited check in process at pier 29, you still need to go to a check in counter.  The pictures that we uploaded were not accepted so they took new ones, checked our credit card, looked at our passports and we went straight on the ship! 

Dinning

New years eve they offered a few specials; Chops or Giovanni's table $79, and a small section of reserved seating outside of the pub for the balloon drop.  When we tried to book on board we were told the both of these dining venues were sold out, surprising since last year on the Oasis they were empty on NYE.  We ended up eating in the dining room NYE, the only time we ate there.  The meal was fantastic!  The beef wellington would have made Gordon Ramsey proud and the rack of lamb was nearly as good as the same in Chops.  We ate at Cops twice, very good food and service.  Giovanni's table once, food was very good, service was lacking.  Which was odd since the restaurant was half full.  We also ate at Izumi's one night and thought is was excellent.  Ate at the Chef's table one night after being offered a significant discount as we left the Windjammer one lunch.  Chef's table on this ship is located in the main dinning room on the landing between deck four and five (where piano used to be located).  At first we thought it was an odd location but we quickly settled in after some surprisingly nice wine parings.  The highlight was the Caymus Cabernet with the main entre.....by chance we had a bottle of this same wine the night before with dinner.  As usual the dinner was very good and the presentation from the waiter and chef was spot on.  They did mention that they were moving the location of the chefs table to what is now the card room (formerly the cigar lounge).  All other meals were in the Windjammer.  Same as usual, just barely good enough but enjoy the ability to get in and out quickly for breakfast and lunch.

Fellow Passengers

Pretty good mix of old and young, families, couples.....large percentage was from Central and South America adding a nice diversity.  Interesting enough at the top tier event there were No Pins, the top cruisers were around 680 points.  I think they said there were about 100 diamond and 100 diamond plus on board.  We have noticed this on other holiday cruises (lower number of top tier C&A)....guessing it is one of two things; higher fares and/or more children on these sailings.  Went to Viking Crown for drinks before dinner and enjoyed a quick snack from the diamond lounge which was never full.  Since we had the drink package we sat at the bar and ordered our preferred drinks. 

Pool Deck/Ports

When it is just the two of us travelling we typically spend the entire day at the pool area...this cruise was no exception.  In fact we did no get off in Grand Cayman on new years day since we were only in port from 7-3...we slept in since we were up well past midnight and then went to the pool.  We did the same in Cozumel, it looked like it might rain so we just went to the pool on the ship.  We did get off in Costa Maya and spent the entire day at the beach in town with excellent drink and food service.  I hear some passengers complain about Costa Maya, but we love the simple and rustic beach area downtown.  They are experiencing a good deal of Sargassum (sp?) sea grass on the beach.  Watched them clear the beach in front of us and within four hours it was just as bad.  Not a real big issue, still a great day at the beach.  Pool deck area is nice but seems to need a good cleaning.  We sat in the same spot each day and noticed where a drink had been spilled on day two and was never cleaned, the stain remained the entire cruise.  On the two sea days chairs are pretty much taken (filled or saved) by 9:30.....we are generally at the pool very early (8am) and remain for the entire day.  Chair hogs were plenty and it was not patrolled by RCCL.  On the last sea day I found a new way of making friends.  We were at the pool around 8am and stayed there all day in our chairs, occasionally leaving them for a quick dip in the pool.  Around 2pm whiling sitting in the deck chair I was confronted by a couple claiming that I took their chair.  I explained that I was there all day since 8am and they quick told me I was lying and that others told them it was me that took their chair.  I tried to reason with them but they would not have it and demanded that I give them the chair that I was sitting on.  The entire time this is going on they are essentially yelling at me....I remained calm and did not engage with them.  I acknowledge they were upset and suggested a number of times that they have the wrong person and perhaps should go back to who told them I took their chair and verify who they were referring too....... After a good five minutes they left still yelling now at no one.  A few minutes later I see they are at it again about 5 or 6 chairs down from me....they quickly retrieved the chair from this other individual.  All along I thought that they would come back over to me at some point realizing their mistake....they did not.  I was actually embarrassed for them...what is this good old world coming too???

Entertainment

We only attended two shows, a comedian and a hypnotist.  Comedian was funny and we enjoyed his show very much.....the hypnotist not so much.  Both my wife and I regretted afterwards not getting up and leaving the show.  The piano bar was fun as was the pub entertainer.  We were both not a big fan of the CD Mercedes.  Generally we really don't care who the CD is unless they are outstanding or the other end of the scale.  We could not pinpoint what it was about Mercedes, although we both felt she was not very genuine, both in kicking off or hosting events and two limited interactions with her.  Not a big deal, like I said we typically could careless who the CD is on the ship.

Overall

We enjoyed out trip very much the weather was outstanding all week.  As for the ship it has been several years since we have been on a Voyager class ship and it was okay.  Nothing special, nothing bad just seemed to be a little more dated then we remember.....last year on the Oasis for NYE, our thoughts were we would likely never sail that class of ship again unless we were traveling with our children.......A Change of Mind ...we both commented towards the end of the cruise that we wished we would have taken the Oasis again like last year for NYE.  The overall feel of that ship and far more options of things to do or see, turned out we both missed this in the Oasis.  Again, glad we did the Adventure of the Seas, we had a great time.  We did express departure and essentially walked right off around 7am and at the airport for an early flight at 7:40.

Sorry about all of the typos, just thought I would put our thoughts on this trip out there to share with others......feel free to ask any questions.

I think you have a good chance But you never know, we meet a nice couple a few years ago and they had a royal suite and they were invited. We were invited once truly a great dinner with excellent wine.

Hey George, I think we were that ‘nice couple’ you mentioned. I saw some of your other posts and pretty certain we meet you and your wife, Sheryl I think, on that cruise out of Galveston.

Lost your contact info from four years ago.... can’t believe it has been that long! I think we were going to try and meet you all for dinner at your favorite Italian restaurant but unfortunately we were not able to connect with you. If my memory is correct the restaurant was Lewisville area.

We are Mark and Martha if that rings a bell????

Hi All,

 

We have used this system many times and it is the most efficient check in process. From dropping off the luggage to getting on board has always been about 15 minutes. Use your set sail pass which has a bar code on it to buy items until you get your sea pass card, never had a problem with them being ready in the room.

 

Certainly nothing to get worried about.

Agree with you, this is very efficient.....part of their 'frictionless' boarding process goal. Now (depending on sailing) you can upload your picture, add your credit card and all other required information before you leave your home. Guessing the only thing they will be required to do is verify your passport visually. Since everyone needs a passport (or birth certificate and other ID for US closed loops), they can just verify this with your Set Sail pass before you go through security in the port building. If my memory serves me right, they are already checking set sail pass before security screening and maybe even passports too.

They could even do a quick scan of your boarding pass before security and if you did not complete all pre-cruise requirements, perhaps they could redirect you to another area. Those that completed all of the pre-cruise requirements could go straight on the ship after security screening.....and start you cruise holiday!

In Belize, we are looking at Starfish island.....how was the beach ? so they rent umbrellas for shade? snacks?

Beach is nice. They have plenty of hammocks and most are shaded. I don't remember any umbrellas, but they had plenty of chairs available with shade under manmade structures. There is an open air restaurants that offers chicken/rice/beans plate along with some other items like hamburgers. They also have a large bar. Both are under large pavilions and take either cash or credit.

If you are interested in hitting a beach in Belize your choices are limited. Starfish island is a great choice and I would recommend it.

We LOVE Santosh! We first met him about 3 cruises ago when he was working the pool deck - and the service he provided was exactly as you stated. He made us feel like the biggest VIPs on board. The next cruise we took he was working the casino bar and he remembered us -- not just like familiar face - he remembered our drink preferences and our names! The last cruise we didn't see him at first but one day he walked up to my husband in the casino, hugged him and said hello, even asked where I was! Turns out that trip he was working the pub so we made a special trip just to see him. Absolutely THE BEST OF THE BEST! We are cruising again in November and you bet we will be looking for him. Not only do we provide an extra large tip for him at the end of a cruise, but we always leave an excellent review for him on the comment cards and I have emailed corporate RCI gushing about him as well. I'll say it again... we LOVE Santosh!

Thanks for sharing....your comments about Santosh brought a big smile to my face.....he is incredible! I was thinking he mentioned he was getting off in September, but I would not count on my memory. Like I mentioned earlier he made our trip over the top, so much so that we looked at going again on Liberty either this month or September. Unfortunately, our schedules are not cooperating.

We too tipped him heavily throughout the week and again on the last night. I can honestly say that even if we had not tipped him as we did, I would venture to guess that he would have given us the same level of outstanding service.

Great review and gets us ready. We sail on August 19th with our daughter and grandson. We also like Galveston. We live in CA so its not easy to get to any of the RCCL ports but that is our line of choice and we have sailed them 17 times. We decided to try Galveston 4 years ago and now we check it out first. Agree with your comments on the ports and how they have changed over the years, now that we have been to all of them more than once we still do an excursion now and then but also like just getting off walking around town, maybe catching lunch and going back on board to enjoy the peace and quite around the pools before everyone gets back. Our favorite class is Oasis, but Liberty is a very close second. Its a great ship and a great crew and we love it. We have already booked a b2b, a bucket list item of ours, next year for our wedding anniversary. While the cruise experience has changed over the years, and some people complain, I would ask what hasn't? We also started sailing in the late 80's and heard the same comments from some of the passengers back then. Bottom line is if you don't like it anymore there are lots of other options for vacation. We still love and hope to see many more RCCL ships in our future. Again thanks for the review gets us ready for next month.

Agree with you comment highlighted in red above. We tend to alternate between land and sea vacations. My earlier post on the impact to the increase in number of ships and size of ships in each port was really not a complaint, just more of an observation. We may mix our land versus sea ratio in the future, all depends on what is happening at the time and how we feel about each. In Roatan we thought since it was summer their would be fewer ships, we just did not plan correctly.

To avoid some of the larger crowded spots in port we tend to utilize these boards to do some research. This trip in Roatan we had planned on a certain beach resort for the day and on the taxi ride over our driver suggested another resort/beach. We looked it up on the internet and decided to go with his recommendation, our mistake....beautiful beach just too many people for us.

Some ports we will rent a Jeep for the day...Grand Cayman (not on this trip) we do this and drive around the island to Rum Point, great drive and very quiet beach. We do the same in Cozumel or head to a quieter beach club. Belize we have been pretty adventurous and gone to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. If your are up for a good adventure this is a fun one. Tender into port, taxi to small airstrip ten minutes away from port, fly the short flight to San Pedro, taxi to a resort for the day! If you catch it at the right time we have done the flights for $100 total for two round trip (cash). Great views from the flight and we pick a resort that is small and welcoming (spend money on drinks and food).

Can I ask what level C&A you are to get those perks? I'm a C&A member and am wondering if I will receive those same offers one my upcoming Aug. cruise. Thanks.

We were traveling with our two minor children in side by side cabins, one adult assigned to each cabin. Our C&A status is D+, around 600 points. I believe we each (adult) received 3 amenity gifts for a total of 6 since we were split technically between two rooms. At some point within D+ RCCL goes from giving you two of these gifts to three, not sure what the threshold is but at some point we passed it. Had we only had one cabin we would have only received three gifts.

We booked one adult in each room along with a minor because we booked cabin guarantees. We were very happy with our cabin assignment on deck ten mid-ship. After we sailed from Galveston a quick stop at guest services and were we asked for an extra key for each of the rooms. We (the parents) stayed in one room and our teen children stayed in the other.

We booked the rooms this way because we had to (one adult in each room w/gty). The unintended positive consequence was the doubling of the C&A gifts. As a note, the gifted wine that we received in the MDR was actually very good, listed on their wine list for around $50 +/-.

No CL on Liberty anymore, just a Suite Lounge and a Diamond Lounge.

Thanks Bob! Sorry to all about my previous mentions of CL, should have been Diamond Lounge.

I know this is a stupid question, but do JS have access to the CL? I have only ever cruised in GS or balconies. It seems that JS are somewhere in between. I leave on Sunday on the LOS in a JS.

Only GS and above have access to the Suite Lounge and Diamond and above in the CL, or is it Diamond Lounge on this ship??? Can't remember.

Although you will not have access to either of the two lounges you will have a very nice room. Enjoy your cruise!

Sargassum Seaweed - This has been mentioned on this board briefly, however this was the first cruise that I saw this issue in reality. On each of the three sea days there was a presence of Sargassum in the water in nearly every direction. I have never noticed this in the past. Last night I did a quick internet search on this and was surprised at how widespread this issue is throughout the Caribbean. I realize it is just a seaweed, however the quantities of it was astounding.

Reminds me oddly of my first cruise in the '80's. We were out on the aft deck around 2 or 3 in the morning and kept hearing this odd scrapping noise towards the rear of the ship. When looked over we saw garbage from the ship being shoveled into the water. Shamefully we were not alarmed or appalled, but as I type this I can't imagine if this were to happen today what the uproar would be. Perhaps my recollection is not accurate perhaps it is. When I saw the sargassum seaweed it somehow brought back this early memory. Just one of those things that we weren't concerned about years ago and if happened today we would be shocked.

Crown and Anchor - Thought I would add a few comments. Invitations for tour choice (bridge/galley/back stage) delivered day 1. Meal with an officer and invite to Top Tier cocktail party delivered day 2. Top tier party was evening of day 3. We did not attend or accept any of these invites.

C&A amenities; cookies and bottled water in cabin embarkation, sparkling wine and chocolate dipped strawberries deliver in cabin day 2. Three or four bottles of wine delivered to MDR dinner. Other small canapés deliver to cabins a couple of nights.

We appreciate the benefits of C&A and the amenities. We sometimes accept the invites mentioned above and other times we may not depending on timing and/or other plans.

Concierge lounge is a nice offering. We went in there a few nights and it was never more than half full. I realize this varies depending on the time of year. Not a great rule of thumb, but generally when the fares are at more peak rates there are less top tier C&A members and thus less crowded CL. Many of the nice folks we have meet in the CL over the years are either closer to retirement or retired. I would imagine that this offers them more flexibility and if they sail on a regular basis (5+ times per year), they would be more apt to choose a sailing that the rates are more competitive. We actually enjoy the lounge better when it is full....just seems to be a much more energetic atmosphere.

We are assigned 1587 in Sept on deck 10. Good to hear the pool noise does not come thru!

Good location. We enjoyed being one deck below the pool and windjammer. On sea days we typically did not go to lower decks until evening dinner or just before for a drink. It was nice to be able to walk up a flight or two and get to the pool or breakfast quickly.

Thank you for the tips! Our first time on RCCI will be this December on the Liberty. We have only sailed Disney, so expecting a different experience..we are highly allergic to smoke-so the tip on Schooners is helpful!

Any hidden books or areas we can walk the decks? Disney has a deck with a track that went around the ship. It was my morning sunrise happy place, afraid I will miss that.

In addition to earlier response, there is a somewhat hidden area on deck 11 forward of the Solarium. Hard to describe, there is a glass door that leads to a balcony area that has the 3/4 type chairs (not loungers). There are several chairs in this area and I would imagine it would be a nice place to sit and read, rest, relax,... especially if you do not have a balcony cabin.

The "jogging track" on deck 12 is nice early in the morning before the deck chairs are occupied. After say 10am it becomes a little too congested for jogging/running, but you can still walk it comfortably.

Dress suggestions are not enforced, you can wear whatever you want.

This is very true. We saw it all on formal nights. I think you would be comfortable wearing long pants and a polo type shirt for the men. There were a few Tuxedos and guessing about 25% of the men had a jacket. We dressed for formal night, those that choose to go casual did not offend us.

This was the most casual we have ever had in the MDR for dinner all week. In fact, for the first timer I wore shorts into the dinning room on two nights for dinner and felt comfortable. We brought nicer cloths for the evening, however most were never worn. We ended up with more clean cloths being brought home then dirty.

What was the chair situation in the Solarium? Were all the chairs gone there by 10 as well?

Not sure on this one. We used the solarium one afternoon when it started to rain (Belize after our tour) and there were plenty of open chairs that were covered, but this was late in the afternoon on port day. As far as chairs in the sun, there are not that many and I would suspect that they were either being used or reserved by at least 9am.

We like to sit on the upper deck (12) by the sky bar overlooking the pool. We did use the solarium pool on sea days to cool off.....it was far less crowded compared to the two main pools. On sea days at peak times the main pools are packed when the sun is out and it is hot. So much so that to be honest it does not look that appealing and that is why we will walk over to the solarium pool to cool off.

Another observation on the solarium, it is loud and there was a great deal of drinking going on. We were surprise that the pool servers were actually asking people in the pool if they would like another drink. Under the bridge over the pool there is a bar top and under water stools, this seemed to be a very popular place for some.

Thank you so much for your great review and awesome information. Gets us excited for our cruise in 5 days!

You are going to have a blast....enjoy your week! I see you will stop at Costa Maya instead of Belize. CM is actually one of our favorite stops. It is very undeveloped out side of the pier...we like to take a taxi into town and sit at one of the beaches for the day...great local food and service for the cheap too! Very rustic but fun if you lean into it a little! Many people we know do not like Costa Maya, they want sparkly and new, you will not find this in town.

Few other miscellaneous items

• Great spot to enjoy a pre-dinner drink(s) is the Viking Crown's Oliver and Twist lounge. Nice bar to sit at and great views......If you have access to Diamond Lounge, you can grab some snacks if you would like.
  
• Diamond Lounge - we used it on four nights before 8pm dinner and it was never more than half full. One of the nicer Diamond Lounges, great service and nice view.
  
• Schooner Bar entertainer was good....typical 'sing a long' piano music. This venue was very busy most time we went there. Only downside is that the smoke from the Casino vents out to the Schooner.
  
• Cruise Director was Jeff Arpin. He has been around for a number of years, somewhat a dry sense of humor. CDs do not make or break the trip for us, but I will say we really liked Jeff very much and he was very visible and approachable throughout the cruise.
  
• Captain James is an American captain, he too is very visible and approachable throughout the cruise. We chatted for a good 10-15 minutes on the pool deck one afternoon, enjoyed the opportunity.
  
• Elevators are typical for this class of ship, busy at busy times (before dinner, before and after shows...). One elevator had a mind of it's own. Got on, it was going down and to everyone's surprise it went up and then stopped and went all the way down do deck 1. The three floors selected on the buttons cleared. We all selected our floors again, and the the elevator went all the way to deck 12.....there was an employee on with us and another couple. He suggested we get off and try another elevator, he really did not not need to suggest it we were ready to gladly get off this ride. Not complaining, it was actually very funny...al of us were laughing out loud.
  
• Chairs by the pool...on sea days by 10:00 to 10:30 most chairs around pool and upper deck looking down to pool were taken. We tend to get up early and are at the pool by 8:30, most of the upper deck around the pool was still available at this time. We tend to stay at the pool all day on sea day until 4:30 or 5:00. Starting around 2:30 chairs were available again around the pool.
  
• Slides were fun, the raft one was the better of the three.
  

That's all I can think of for now.....feel free to ask anything.

Thanks for the review. I'm a fan of cruising out of Galveston (it's an 8-9 hour drive from Oklahoma) and Liberty of the Seas.

 

We've had similar consistent good quality food in the MDR. I usually order a filet once or twice from Chops in the MDR for a reasonable under $20 price.

 

Familiarity with Galveston helps navigate the roads. It's only going to get worse when a third terminal is added. I certainly don't have an answer as the island is so land locked.

We are from Dallas and also enjoy the ability to drive to Galveston for cruises. One of us ordered a full lobster one night in the MDR...I would say it was okay, think it was $29.99. I have order the filet also on the past, nice option to have. They had lobster tail on the second formal night (Friday) and I was surprised at how large they were, largest I have seen on RCCL.

What time were you allowed into your stateroom? Was it the normal 1:00pm time?

The staterooms opened at exactly 1pm, several announcements were made informing everyone that they will open at 1pm and then at 1pm they made another announcement stating they were open. For us, we like to start enjoying the cruise day 1.....we board with a carry on containing swim suits and sun screen. We were enjoying the pool by noon until the Muster Drill (3:30 if I remember correctly).

Just returned from the Liberty July 1st - 8th cruise our of Galveston, here are a few observations...

Embarkation - arrived to the port around 10:30am to the normal cruise traffic jam in Galveston. Learned a few years back to not follow the traffic signs routing you to the cruise terminals while driving from interstate 45. Instead stay on 45 and it turns into Broadway, take it to 22nd street and you will avoid the huge backup on Harborside Drive. Once we crossed Harborside Drive it was still another solid 15 minutes to go that last half mile past the Carnival pier to RCCL. Port of Galveston really needs to rework the traffic pattern/flow,,,,they need to come up with a solution that keeps the two cruise lines traffic completely separate.

Dropped bags and family off and made my way over to the Galveston Park N Cruise. Closest to the port and a quick walk back to meet up with the family.

Once inside terminal we were directed to no line at security (priority line) and breezed through security. Next we were directed to D+ check-in where there was no line. Grabbed our sea pass cards (less than 5 minutes)and we were on board in record time!

Ship appearance - as usual we walked around the ship for 15 minutes to get reacquainted with the Liberty...ship is in outstanding condition. Clean and beautiful, actually looked new in many areas.

Rooms - we had two adjacent inside rooms on deck ten middle of the ship. Rooms were as expected...clean and kept that way throughout the cruise....fantastic cabin attendant Richard! We were a little concerned with the potential for noise from the pool deck above, however these were some of the quietest rooms we ever had. We spent very little time in the rooms, generally only sleeping and quick trips to get cleaned up and changed.

Food - normally we will eat in the specialty restaurants 2-5 nights and we debated getting a dinning package but opted not to buy one. Glad we did not....we ate every dinner in the MDR 8pm seating and never regretted it. First time that I can remember doing this since the implementation of specialty dinning. Our servers were the best we have ever had! They truly made every effort to take excellent care of us for the week. The food was good to very good....only one night did we struggle to find an entrée that looked appealing.

Breakfast and lunch were always in the WJ....typical RCCL buffet and service for this venue. I would rate it good at best.

Bar Service - we purchased the drink package, did not keep up with the math but doubtful we saved by doing this. The first two days, especially at the pool bars, they are extremely busy and lines can grow quickly. We were fortunate on the first sea day to meet a pool side server who took care of the entire week. He sought us out each day on the pool deck to ensure we had the beverages of our choice. At least every 20-30 minutes he would check on us and keep our drinks full! Best service we ever had on the pool deck...thank you Santosh!!!

Turned out our table in the MDR was in his section for dinner bar service.....and again he took outstanding care of us. We never wanted for a drink and he checked on us three times a night during dinner.

Other venues were mostly very good service and generally short waits. The one expectation would be the R bar the few times we were there it seemed understaffed.

Overall we thought the Bar service was great.

Shows - we attended most of the headliner shows in the evening, they were split between before dinner and after dinner. All of the shows were very enjoyable; Ice show, production shows, and headliners were all very entertaining.

Ports - Roatan we took a taxi to Paradise Beach Hotel, it was $80 roundtrip and another $20pp for access to the property. Beautiful beach, poor service, and very crowded. Website had pictures of nicer padded beach chairs and umbrellas, unfortunately only the chairs (no pads) existed. There were at least three ships in port perhaps four.....we were thinking since it was summer and many ships were positioned back out of the Caribbean there would be only one or two in port.

This is where cruising has changed over the years....ports are getting to the point with much larger ships and more of them that the actual experience in the ports is being negatively impacted. This is becoming a real turn off for us and is starting to impact our decision to cruise or vacation some other way. Bigger ships are coming and more of them...concerned that cruise industry will become a victim of it's own success.

Belize we took the ship tour to snorkel and then two hours on Starfish Island. We enjoyed this (3rd time)...it was a nice day.

Cozumel we normally go to a beach club for the day, however it looked like was going to rain. we took a taxi in town and did some shopping and headed back tot he ship's pool for the afternoon.

Debarkation - did the express walk off. The compass said it started at 8am, however they started well before that. We left our rooms at 7:50 and were back at our car across the street (Galveston Park n Cruise) by 8:15. We literally never stopped walking from the time we left the cabin to our car, with the exception of one family in front of us at customs. Fastest debarkation ever!!!

Overall excellent trip! Feel free to ask questions....