LuCruise

Definitely the ship. Sometimes we will book and then I'll be like, "oh, where is it even going?". The departure port is also a factor, but it's definitely about the ship for us....which has different criteria if booking as a family with our kids vs just DH and I.

Thanks.

We will have access to the Suite lounge when on Liberty of the Seas. Is the coffee machine available all day? Or only in the evenings before/after dinner? Am thinking of purchasing the coffee card, but then maybe it's not needed if we already have nice coffee available. (On the flip side, not sure if the lounge is far out of the way that it's better to just purchase the coffee card, which is not a lot of money anyways).

I prefer Miami over Fort Lauderdale. Although it's a touch further from the airport (but both convenient), there is more to do if staying downtown/Brickell. They also have the free metro mover which is nice. Having said that, hotels are really pricey for our cruise next year so booked closer to the airport. We have a cruise in 2024 out of Port Canaveral. Seems really inconvenient as it's far from the airport. (Did a Disney cruise once but don't remember the port). New Jersey was fine but not comparing apples to apples since we drove. Would love to extend a cruise pre or post sometime and add a few days in New York.

Totally agree as we feel the same. DH and I are going on a 4 day on Liberty in December. Sure it's short and we need to fly to Florida for it, but it's what works with our vacation and getting grandparents to stay with our kids. It'll be a full 4 days, and can't wait. We could have stayed home but much prefer a cruise. Really enjoyed following along, and I'll say I was excited when I noticed your live review. Looks like you had a wonderful cruise and must have been so nice to be back after all this time. Thanks for taking us along. P.S. - Your son has grown so much. That happens at that age, doesn't it? 🙂 (We have teenagers too). Seems like he's keeping nice and busy with his sports and stuff.

Thanks for explaining. Was a bit surprised when I learned that both ships have the same headliner.

Which ship has Effectors 1 vs Effectors 2? We have both Odyssey and Wonder booked and I believe that they both have Effectors show. Anyone know if these are the same show? Or as per above 1 vs 2?

Who is the cruise director? Is this person good? I like when they have a sense of humor, and you see them around the ship.

Exactly...first run may (or may not) be fine. Someone sneeze or coughs (droplets could easily be on hands), blows their nose without washing hands, and then uses the shared tong...it's spread again. We were on Anthem in March. Although it slowed things down, and it was harder to take just a taste of something or for example a "small" amount of syrup (no matter how I asked, they always gave me a large amount), I preferred the staff serving at the buffet. It was just so much cleaner. I've always been a germaphobe and would often use a paper towel or something when picking up the tongs. Never trusted them.

Thx...then I vote Wonder for them

It really comes down to ship vs ports/room, which is a personal preference. How old is you child? There may be better shows and things to do on Wonder, unless she is an adult and the slides, etc aren't important. For me, it would be Wonder if with our kids but would consider Jewel if just DH and I (never tried that class but would be interested). We're not ones to spend time in our room so that's a lower priority, but I know it's a big factor for some. Let us know what you decide. Can't go wrong with either.

Yeah, huge difference. The thing is...if you have kids (teens for us), then the waterpark is pretty amazing. Unfortunately our kids don't love the beach (unfortunately for me as I do). We did swim in the pool last time too, but it's crowded and they enjoyed for about an hour and then we returned back to the park. The balloon didn't go up for us last cruise either. I think it has to be pretty calm for it to go up. I noticed too for our cruise next March it shows as sold out.

Fingers and Toes crossed. Hopefully the recent Labor Day "sale" wasn't any indication of Black Friday sale coming up as that had nothing.

Yeah, at these prices, we'll stick to the pool and other areas. We were able to go to CoCo Cay this past March and so they did get to go to the park then (which they loved!). Paid a great price, and what was even better is that we were the only ship (Anthem) plus it was lower capacity, so no lines or crowding in the wave pool. Makes it even harder to spend the $$$ at these prices since it will be way more crowded this time (assuming others actually purchase waterpark tickets)

Similar price for our Oasis cruise in March 2023. I keep checking to see if it goes down at all but it barely budges. Really hope as it gets closer that it drops, but it is an Ontario holiday so lots of kids on our ship (and there is one other ship in port with us). Our kids will be quite disappointed if we don't purchase tickets but it's way too high. Wish too that thye had an entry ticket where it let you in the area but you just san't go on the slides or water activities as DH and I would get that.

That's awesome! We're must be on the one just before your Christmas one. It'll be our first time. I love seeing how the layout, features compare to other ships and exploring for the first time.

Thank you so much for your review. There aren't many reviews on Liberty so happy to see yours. How long was your cruise? DH and I will be on Liberty for the first time in December (short cruise). I have heard that it is in need of a refurb, but it won't bother us. Just looking forward to getting away with good food and entertainment. Am sorry you had bad experiences at the specialty dining. We just do MDR so good at least you found that pretty good. Wish we could get the drink package but it's way to high for us to justify the cost. It is nice though when you can order a drink and not worry about it (including screw ups!) Hope your foot is ok. Will keep that in mind in the public restrooms. 😞

Love following your review. Hope you're having a wonderful time! This post got me excited as I hadn't heard of any ship with Laser Tag starting up since the pandemic. Is it running regularly? Any extra restrictions?

Really looking forward to your review as I've followed yours in the past. We are on Oasis for the first time in March. The class is great. Have an amazing cruise!

You do need to reserve whatever park you are going to...Magic Kingdom is one that books up though. If it closes at 6pm, then it's probably a Halloween party night.

We were just at Disney World (not with a cruise). If you end up going to Magic Kingdom on your port stop and if it's in your budget, I recommend purchasing Genie+. You can at least almost walk on to each ride (that has lightning lane) once. Will save you lots of time vs stand by and will be able to get on to rides.

Ah ok thanks...I misunderstood and thought the gratuities had to be added to the invoice prior to Sept 7th. I just reread the email and I see what you mean...as long as you add them and pay them off prior to the cruise. We have a few booked so this morning I just had them add them now.

By pre-pay, that just means to add it to the invoice right? I typically add gratuities when doing final payment....but if my understanding is correct, I'll call to have it added now to future cruises.

I haven't been on either (although have both booked for future) but have been on Symphony and on Anthem which are similar to Wonder and Anthem. For your boys, I would look at the activities. Would they prefer: waterslides (water and dry), zipline, ice skating, or bumper cars, sky pad, virtual reality activity, iFly, North Star (last three cost extra) Both have things like rock wall, flowrider, pools, teen clubs, sports If restaurants are important, Wonder may have more variety. I imagine you can't go wrong with either but it's a matter of preference.

I think the first time was on our Symphony cruise in 2019. Our kids went together and our older one was responsible for our younger one. So they were around 13 and 9. They just explored the ship (e.g. didn't go swimming or any of the major activities) They went off for an hour or so and met us back at the cabin. Went well.