LuCruise

Pre-Cruise Quick comment about pre-cruise hotel/area in Fort Lauderdale since it's always tough trying to decide where to stay. We booked Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port near Harbor Shops. Fort Lauderdale is an easy port for cruising. It's not the most exciting, but both the airport and this area of hotels are only a 10 minutes drive from the airport so very convenient. We have stayed in Four Points and Holiday Inn Express before. Both fine, but we really liked the room at Hyatt as it is very spacious. It also has a divider, which I assume is there as well if you book for a family of four. The area is great as it's near a Publix (we always make a very important purchase and bring back special cereal to Canada that we can't get there). They also have Total Wine, which an impressive place. it's huge with tons of selection. We didn't need wine this time due to our room (details coming), but it was still fun to look around, plus we got some samples! Whenever we come to this area, we go to Duffy's Sports Grill for dinner. It was really busy that night due to the soccer game, but we got a table no issue. Food is really good and they have 2 for 1 drinks if you get the same drink. I love mojitos and they had one with gummy bears so even better. Sounds weird (or an oxymoron with kids candy with alcohol) but it was yummy.

It's a great ship. You will love it. Great. I'll go over entertainment, shows, room, etc, but let me know if any specific questions.

Originally l had no plan on writing a review on our Liberty cruise as I tend to only do this after family cruises with our kids. This one was just DH and me. However, there aren’t many reviews on Liberty, plus I wanted to share our Ben and Jerry sweet room experience so thought, I'd write a short one. It won’t be a “day by day” as it would be very boring of something like “we ate, we then went for a walk, then read, then ate, then did trivia, then ate, then read” I’m bored already just writing it…lol (even though it was a great holiday). The Cruise DH and I went on a 4 night Bahamas cruise on Liberty from Mon Dec 19 – Fri Dec 23 Sun – Fly in to Fort Lauderdale. Stayed at Hyatt Place (near cruise port and Harbor Shops) Mon – Meet our home for the next 4 nights Tues – Nassau, Bahamas Wed – CoCo Cay, Bahamas Thurs – Sea Day Fri – Fort Lauderdale. Manage to get home even though flight cancelled due to storms. A couple photos to start. The first one was taken at Nassau. This is typically a good port to get off for the purpose of getting a great ship photo (DH will say it's also a good stop to look at watches, but I only see the former reason). There is lots of construction there now though so I couldn't get the right angle. This one was taken at CoCo Cay. Liberty is a medium size ship when compared to all Royal ships, but it looks pretty big next to Serenade of the Seas.

From a Google search, she looks like the second one.

Correction. Liberty is Katie, but I don't know a last name.

It still had a negative tone to it, and pretty much was the same thing.

I was annoyed when I saw a post yesterday all about "tell me the bad things about Royal". Why would someone start such a negative post? (just found the title...it was "Top 5 Overrated Things". I mean, really?) Anyways, on CC, people like to complain so take things with a grain of salt. We went on Anthem for the first time in March and loved it. Wonderful ship. The 270 has amazing views. We didn't spend time in it as we came with our kids but the Solarium looks really nice. We Will Rock You is the best show of the fleet, North Star is really neat and different. The 270 cafe has pretty good selection. Windjammer is nicely spaced out. We also really like the MDR...food and service is great. I would say though on Anthem, you don't get that wow dining room since it's not built like the others of one big room that is multi layered (blame their attempt at dynamic dining). The Robot bar is fun to watch (I forget the name offhand). Lots of activities going on in the Music Hall. Our kids loved the SeaPlex and iFly. And Anthem has indoor pool and areas in case of bad weather (plus start and end of your trip out of NJ). So much for everyone. And...the redo of CoCo Cay is amazing. If you like the beach, that is still there (and with additional options too for a fee). If coming with kids, the waterpark is amazing. They also have this beautiful huge pool (it does get busy though). So ignore all the negative comments. Guess that's the second C in cruise critic. You'll have an amazing cruise. Enjoy!

Loving your review and hearing about your wonderful cruise with your brother. We were on Adventure December before the shut down. Quite enjoyed the ship.

Grease. Excellent production when we saw it a few years ago.

Thanks so much for reporting back about Liberty. So happy to hear that you can order mixed drinks...and no issue walking out with one.

For both of my cruises next year the waterpark was 50% off during Black Friday. We weren't paying full price as the regular cost has gone way up as per this post, but at 50% off, it made it more reasonable and we booked it.

Also note that if you booked a guarantee, then once they assign your stateroom, you can call and have them switch to any other available one in the exact same category if you don't like the location. We've never done a straight inside, but have booked a promenade (not Mariner), and even for four of us. It can be tight but honestly wasn't an issue for the amount of time we spent in it. And there was enough storage space.

I've heard about the double punches, but thanks for the head's up about an iced coffee. It's something I would pick up with our coffee card on our upcoming cruise but didn't' realize it only comes in a larger size. Wonder if it's the same with the frappuccinos?

We've stayed in one stateroom with 4 of us (and even have one booked in the future and that's with 2 teens). It's do-able. A response of "get a suite" isn't that simple as it's much more and it's not in everyone's budget or not where everyone wants to spend their money. You've gotten great tips here about how to make it work with hooks and closet hangers. great suggestions. Most likely you'll just use your room to sleep, shower and change and it's doable. Have a wonderful cruise. Also, you asked about dining on a budget. We always just stick to the MDR as we really enjoy it. Do you have traditional or My Time booked? With traditional, you will have the same waiters and table each night which is nice as you get to know them (and can just walk to your table when you arrive).

Oohh...nice idea! OP here. Yes, in our case I was asking specifically about Liberty. Guess my title was generic as didn't realize that it varied among the ships. Appreciate the responses.

This is great news. I always thought that you were limited to the short list of specific alcohol. Thanks for the replies.

That's great to hear. Won't be disappointed if we can't when we go , but definitely a bonus if we can order anything. Thanks for letting us know it worked for you.

From the deck plans, VCL is in between the Suite Lounge and Diamond Club on Liberty. So does that mean we can get full drinks from the Suite Lounge?

Thank you for the replies! Sounds like we are good to take a drink with us to dinner. This is on Liberty. I've seen an old list for the lounges. All I can think of is "baileys on the rocks" or "vodka and cranberry juice" (or DH likes scotch on the rocks), and of course a glass of wine is nice. If anyone has any other suggestions let me know for simple drinks if it's just what is on that list.

We have a cruise coming up and will have access to the Suite lounge. Can we go before dinner and have a drink there, and then carry another one out with us to dinner? Or do they prefer you to only keep the drinks in the lounge? Trying to decide if we should also bring a couple bottles of wine with us or if it isn't needed. As another question...any specific "mixed" drinks they can make? Thanks.

Definitely...prices have gone way up. It's not just Royal There is a similar post on the Disney boards about the parks. Also, airlines, hotels, and even groceries etc. They all took a bit hit very hurt during covid. But I agree with your post. As an example, we booked Odyssey for Dec 2023 when it was released. Even back then with the prices, we selected 2 interior rooms (virtual) as moving up to a balcony option was too much if we wanted two rooms. When I do a price check on our rooms today, it is $3512 more than our booking! That's nuts. (It is holiday time so not expecting it to be cheap but how much it has gone up since we booked is crazy). Similarly, we booked Icon for following December. For this one, we "had to" stick with one interio room for the four of us (Central Park Interior with a window at least). And even that cost is double what we would normally pay. It's a mix of new ship + holiday + making up for lost revenue.

We went on Anthem for the first time this past March and quite enjoyed her. The ship is a bit different, but with the familiar Royal feel. Our kids loved the Sea Plex, iFly and North Star gave neat views. In my opinion, Anthem has the best "Broadway" show with We Will Rock You (Broadway used for the type of musical but it never actually played in New York). Spectra Cabaret had neat effects/technology but tbh, I found it very weird. The 270 is a wonderful room with beautiful views while staying inside, and then flipping to entertainment venue at night. The indoor pool is also a plus as it was usable in cold or bad weather. I didn't have an issue with the Esplanade but DH didn't like it as a lot comment as well. I think my only negative with Anthem is the dining room. We were lucky in that we had a table near the window, but we wouldn't have been happy if we were in the inside as nothing special there, and would feel very enclosed. Guess it's like a normal restaurant, but comparing to Royal's usual beautiful MDRs, it's definitely not as nice. One venue I didn't love is The Music Hall. Unless you get there early to get a seat near the stage (or overlooking it from upstairs), it's hard to see. We tried one night to go to one of the adult shows and walked out (but did manage to attend a few other events getting there earlier) I still put a ship like Symphony as my favorite, but I can see us going on Anthem again. We enjoyed it, and being out of New Jersey is a plus too since it's drivable.

Ship looks amazing for families. In fact, we booked it at a ridiculous cost just so we can go with both kids before they are too old (doesn't help that we are limited going forward to Dec holiday time for travelling with both kids). Having said that, I can't see DH and I booking Icon without them. Vice versa, we probably wouldn't take our kids on something like Serenade or Grandeur, whereas DH and I would have no issue sailing on these if it was just us. Royal was always family friendly but in recent years have been trying to add more things for families with their amplifications. And I agree...Icon isn't for everyone, but Royal isn't getting rid of the other ships in their fleet. That's one thing that I love about Royal, they have different ships that appeal to different demographics and definitely has a ship for everyone.

Every time I tried yesterday, it was 2-3 hr wait. So I tried this morning. Got my kids organized with breakfast and school and then I called. It was 7:15am. The wait estimated was 15 minutes. Ended up being 25 minutes but not bad considering other times.

Main number?