The Fun Researcher

Great ship, and a LOT bigger than what you sailed on with Sovereign class.  Sounds like you found most of your answers already, but I think you'll appreciate what Liberty has to offer.

We're sailing on Liberty in March 2020, and previously sailed January of 2018.  Crew was great, and we thought the food was a little above average for our RCCL cruises.

Highlights that we like about Freedom class (some specific to Liberty):

• Beautiful large promenade
• Deck 4 wrap around walking deck.  Great views of the ocean with quiet areas to sit.
• Helipad area to look at the stars at night and soak in the warm breezes
• Saturday night fever
• Great fitness facility with lots of treadmills looking out the front of the ship
• Ice skating shows and the open skate times
• Water slides
• Cantilevered hot tubs in the solarium
• etc...

Either ship is a great option.  I would choose whichever has lower cost and better itinerary.

Dan

 Take your pick really, they are way more similar than different.    At this point they may be the two most similar ships in the entire fleet after both being amped 

Dan

Nice looking room.  We prefer two connecting inside cabins for our family of 5.  Two full bathrooms, 4 actual beds for the connecting kids room, and the ability to shut the door between rooms if wanted.

Dan

On 10/6/2019 at 4:47 PM, 138east said:

Main Dining Room and Windjammer plus StudioB, Boleros, RBar, guest services, cafe promenade, pool deck, sports deck and Viking Crown.  I find that I spend little or no time in forward venues like the theater, conference center, or the spa and fitness center.

 

Decks 2 and 3 are certainly likely to be quiet, but they are not walk through decks.  If you are forward, you have to go to a higher deck to get aft and vice versa.  The Royal Promenade is the major indoor artery to do this, but it can be annoyingly crowded at times.

8 hours ago, Junkhouse said:

Because of Studio B, forward cabins on decks 2 and 3 are harder to navigate to back of the ship. I like the upper decks, prefer 8, near aft elevator for easier access to deck 11.  Just make sure you don't get connecting rooms because the one we were in only had a small chair, no love seat.

We also like deck 8 or 9 interiors which are typically nice and quiet with cabins above and below.  We typically book forward cabins(for no particular reason really).   If we are sailing with our kids, we love the connecting cabins.  It really opens up the space and it's great having two full bathrooms accessible to everyone.  If it is just my wife and I we definitely stay away from connecting cabins.

If I had to say why we choose forward, it would be the less used elevators, less chance of engine rumble, and that we like to walk the promenade and this forces us to do that on our way to dinner.  However, the aft of the ship is more convenient for just about everything (except the elevators are typically busier).

Dan

 To be honest I’m surprised that I even answered this thread. Realistically I’m not going to sit through any full length Broadway play on a ship.    Time is precious on a cruise and I’m not going to spend that much time in the theater when there are so many other fun activities to do 

Dan

Phantom

A classic, but it’s one I am willing to watch more than once

Dan

For the stingray and reef tour:

$65.00 US per person age 13 years and older and $55.00 US per person for those guests under the age of 13 years old. A $10.00 US per person non-refundable deposit is required to hold a reservation.

-Dan

26 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

I'm also curious why aft? I usually prefer to be near the forward elevators as they tend to be less crowded and almost no wait time. Also, close to the theater and solarium. I guess the trade-off is being further from the dining venues and sports  deck but I usually don't mind the longer walk. I need all the exercise I can get. lol

 

Having said that, I also recommend the promenade inside cabins. They are about 10% bigger, have light coming in from the promenade. Just don't forget to close the curtains when getting dressed and other activities as people can see right in.

 

Avoid deck 6 as it could be nosiy and rooms over Sorrento's as that is where the late night crowd will gather after the bars close.

 

EDIT: Also, the inside promenade cabin will have additional seating in the form of a small couch by the window,  although it's about as comfortable as sitting on a concrete wall.

 

 

  It’s funny how you get used to being in a particular part of a ship. We almost always book inside cabins at the front of the ship. I also like that the elevators are less used and are we like to walk down the promenade on our way to dinner in the evening. Our cruise in March we have aft inside cabins due to availability of connecting cabins that we need.   I hope I like the location but am a little nervous 

Dan

35 minutes ago, dep said:

WOW  I have three cabins booked on the ovation July 24, 2020. I saved $725 on one cabin, $1125 on another cabin, and $1508 on the third cabin. Can’t thank you enough for the tip 

Holy moly!!!  Nice

Dan

1 minute ago, mandersen12345 said:

 

A friend who cruises a fair bit has had similar thoughts about Royal and recently tried the Haven on NCL.  He raved about it relative to Royal's suite offerings.  And it's less expensive than Royal was, he said.  Going to give them a try.  I understand the Haven experience varies by ship, though.

 

I am curious, though.  I didn't mention this in my original post.  Summer 2020 we are leading a group of ourselves plus about 45 cabins on a Canada/New England sailing.  It's organized in a group.  What should we expect from Royal?

 

 I don’t know, but by your comments I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment with any main stream cruise line. (Including NCL). Dropping the kind of cash that you are for each cruise, you may want to move upwards to a true luxury line.   I don’t believe that Royal Caribbean or Norwegian or any other main stream cruise line trains their employees for the type of experience you might be looking for.    

Another option might be to drop your price point by getting something like two connecting balconies on a mainstream line and not having such high expectations for service.

Dan

31 minutes ago, mandersen12345 said:

This past summer we were on Allure for a week in a 2BR aqua theatre.  We spent around $25k.  We were also on Serenade for a Baltic cruise and spent, including pricey shore excursions, over $35k.  Our beef with Royal is for that kind of money we expect to be treated really well.  Like ass kissing well.  Allure's Genie was nice; we'd had Genies before.  But things like quality of food, in-cabin amenities, and other soft product features were just laughable given what we spent (especially true on Serenade where we openly heard other cruises talking about how scant things were that used to be everywhere).

 

Maybe I'm wrong and other people spent tons more onboard and we should just shut up and be happy.  But I don't think so.  You should get what you pay for in life and Royal has not, in our opinion, delivered to us an experience commensurate with dollars spent.

 I hope you find a cruise line that will kiss your *ss enough.  

Dan

1 hour ago, 138east said:

I like deck 7 or 8 near the aft elevators.  Your friends might also consider a pricier promenade inside cabin near the aft elevators, but these cabins could be noisier during Royal Promenade events.  The “new” cabins looks like they are on deck 7 aft in the middle between the elevators and on deck 12 all the way forward.  The insides in the center aft hallways on decks 6,7 & 8 would tend to be quieter with less foot traffic.

Just curious, why aft versus the front of the ship?  Access to dining location?

Dan

So glad they are shortening it!!! 

We really enjoy Broadway shows, and are happy to blow 3 hours attending a show ON LAND. 

Time is precious on a cruise, a finite amount.  We tried to watch Cats on the Oasis, but about an hour into the show we started thinking about all the fun things we could be out doing on the ship.  We left the show, no regrets.  If it was 90 minutes, I think we could manage.

Dan

3 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

 

FYI...The UDP is currently $215 pp for our Feb 2020 HOTS sailing...

27 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Wow!  I bet it will go down...  my Oasis 2020 one has ranged from 150 to 200.  Last year, I got a good deal for harmony on Black Friday- $129

 Yeah, after I typed it I realized that at 160 was a little low. UDP  on my liberty cruise in March is 170. However I see it for 155 on sale pretty regularly .   Keep looking.  The UDP  is one of the packages that they run a sale on very often 

Dan

1 hour ago, tomservo said:

 

How is this that much different from Royal's suite class? Is the Haven sundeck that much bigger than Royal?

 

Haven areas

Sundeck

Courtyard

Lounge

Restaurant

 

Royal Suite areas (at least on Oasis-class)

Sundeck

Lounge

Restaurant

First, Oasis class ships have WAY more space to begin with.  You could strip all suite areas away and I'm sure you would still have far more public space than in any NCL ship (even including the Haven)  The impact of the suite class is very limited on Royal Caribbean.  It's hardly even noticeable.  

On the Freedom and Voyager classes there are hardly ANY spaces that are off limits to all guests, maybe one lounge for suite guests and a small area of loungers by the mail pool?...  and on the older classes I thinks it's even more limited.

Dan

 The whole Haven idea is a dealbreaker for me with NCL. I don’t like the idea of paying extra for access to large areas of ship.   ( and getting larger with newer ships so it seems ). The problem is I see more cruise lines going this direction.  

Dan

We had excellent meals in the MDR on Liberty. I would say it was our most consistently good MDR experience of all our Royal cruises.  Our cruise was back in January 2018, but we thought it was our best MDR experience to date.

We also like to eat for lunch on the MDR on sea days.  Just like the relaxed atmosphere but still in the elegant MDR.

Dan

2 hours ago, timf2001 said:

Again, the pricing doesn't always make sense.  The XB ("we choose") and 7D ("you choose") categories are priced differently.  Depending on what promotion they are running the XB could be the same, lower or even higher than the 7D.  Once they get down to a limited number of 7D rooms remaining, it goes into guarantee status so that while you are getting the price of a room you would normally get to choose yourself, they instead choose it for you.  Book whichever one is the better deal.

It's kind of comical if you ask me, but hey, so is RCCL's website many times.  🤣😡

Dan

1 hour ago, hallux said:

 

This was fixed, starting with the Bliss.  The Bliss, Joy and upcoming Encore (Breakaway+ class, their ACTUAL newer ships as they're the 3 most recently built ships) all have walled-off smoking areas in the casino.  Not sure about the Encore but on Bliss and Joy there are only 3 places you can smoke - starboard side of Spice H2o (adults only outdoor deck at the aft of the ship, think Solarium), as a player in the smoking section of the casino, as a cigar smoker in the Humidor cigar lounge.  Encore seems to be omitting Spice so that smoking area may move to the Waterfront from what I've read.

That's great to hear.  Thank you for the update.

Dan

3 hours ago, timf2001 said:

The "We Pick Your Room" categories are the guarantee-specific categories (WS, XB, XN, YO, ZI).  The "You Pick Your Room" categories are specific stateroom categories that have gone into guarantee status.  If you book the former, you can get assigned to any room in that category.  With the latter, you are guaranteed no worse than the category specified.  There's not always logic behind the pricing, as factors such as Going Going Gone can make certain categories cost more or less than their typical hierarchy.

 

For example:

If you book a category XB, you can get assigned any type of balcony from class 1A-2E.

If you book a category 6D guarantee, you'll never get assigned to a 7-8D or a class E, but could still get as high as a 1A (or whatever the best balcony cabin the ship has).

I don't even see where it says the type of cabin you are getting with a "We pick your room" option.  Say, in the case of an Interior on the Majesty, I have two options:

1 - "You pick your room" for an interior, which doesn't let me choose and actual cabin, but rather kicks me to an "Interior Guarantee"  which is listed as 2v, 4v or 6v

1 - "We pick your room" for an interior.  (This option doesn't say what level of cabin, 2v, 4v, or 6v, but how could it be any different?)

56 minutes ago, thistimeplease said:

It was the Anthem, not sure what class that is, but the Promenade was extremely claustrophobic .  Felt like a shopping mall to us. We loved getting pizza at Sorrentinos but I don't consider that the same as lobster rolls on the waterfront or snacks in O'Sheehans.  Haven't been on any other Royal ships but perhaps in the future.  To each their own and my opinion is that the BA is a much nicer setup than the Anthem.

Can't argue with you.  I've never been on the Anthem, and one of my concerns was just what you describe about the Esplanade.  O'Sheehans is a real plus for NCL in my books.

Dan

Thanks for the reminder.  I thought I had hit about as low as our fare would go for our cruise in March but it was down again today.

Between our two cabins, we're down over $1400 versus when we originally booked.  We've repriced a number of times already.

Dan

Great question.  I was wondering the same thing for a quick getaway cruise we're considering.

Dan

59 minutes ago, thistimeplease said:

Three cruises on BA never smelled smoke in Atrium.  If you like feeling confined the Promenade is the place to be.  We loved the Waterfront and all the outdoor areas of BA.  Probably wouldn't cruise Anthem again but would cruise RC.  O'Sheehans was a lot of fun and nothing like it on Anthem.  We loved the Atrium being in the middle of the ship where you could watch entertainment from O'Sheehans or the Atrium with beautiful views of the water.  The Promenade was dark and dreary and reminded us of a shopping mall.

It was the Escape and another ship in the same class.  It's a fairly common complaint (smoke spilling from casino to Atrium).

What Royal Caribbean Promenade are you referring to? (Freedom,  Voyager or Oasis class?)    They are the largest interior open space of any ships at sea.  The exact opposite of confined.

Also the Freedom and Voyager classes (and maybe more) have a deck 4 that is also very quiet with open views of the sea.  No restaurant open to that area, but it's quiet and open and wraps around almost the entire ship, plus the helipad area that is completely open and accessible. 

Dan