kontraxed

Thank-you for a wonderful review with pictures! We are booked on the Liberty out of Galveston in "only" eleven months. One question. When you went to Jamaica, did you go to Falmouth or Mahogany Bay?

Thanks again!

I live in Houston, TX and I've booked a seven day cruise in a mini-suite on the Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston in January 2017. The basic cruise for two of us is about $2,300. Add in parking, gratuities, drinks, a couple of shore excursions, etc. and I figure the cruise will cost in the vicinity of $3,200 (give or take).

Now I just got done looking at a seven day vacation that involved renting a car to drive from Houston to Las Vegas with a three day stop in Williams, Arizona for the Grand Canyon Railway. Two nights in Las Vegas and then fly home. All I can say is WOW!!! The cruise suddenly looks like a real bargain. Seven nights in various hotels, seven days worth of meals, entertainment, car rental, air fare, two long days of driving. Now, I know there are other vacations that may be less expensive but this trip is what interested us. Frankly, I don't think Disney or many other vacation destinations are much of a bargain either.

Just saying, the cruise looks like much more of a bargain and much less traveling for me!

Of all the $$ restaurants on Navigator (including Chops) Sabor was far and away my favorite! We could hardly walk coming out of that restaurant. Food is totally subjective but I really enjoyed every single item that we ate! I can't wait to try the Sabor on the Liberty of the Seas!

I think it's great that the ships have 5:30 dining. I wish it was at 5:00 p.m.! I am an early morning person. I eat breakfast at around 6:00 a.m., lunch at 11:30 and dinner at 4:30 to 5:00. If I eat too late (anytime after 7:00 p.m.) I feel uncomfortable and don't sleep well. Just saying that there are folks who really like the 5:30 seating.

One of the reasons we like the Junior Suites is the shower/tub combo. Being a big guy, I find the standard cabin showers to be pretty narrow. I much prefer taking a shower in the tub combo!

Were there any weight restrictions for the slides? We've got some pretty big, grey haired "kids."

For a non-beach day, try the Papillote Wilderness Retreat and Tropical Gardens in Trafalgar Roseau, Dominica (http://www.papillotegardens.org). We went there and it was magnificent. It was not a ship's tour so I had to book it myself. I have never before seen such flora. Flowering trees, tropical fruit, hot springs, hundreds of hummingbirds and the most amazing lunch. It was a day I will never forget!

Liberty looks great anyhow! We'll be on it for a January 2017 cruise. We're from Spring too!

When I lived in Connecticut, we would take 10 day Caribbean cruises out of New York City, typically in January or February and I loved it! We would leave the house and two hours later we were at the pier. Once the ship departed we would sail down the Hudson and see the New York skyline and then go by the Statue of Liberty. We would have to duck inside pretty quickly because it would be very cold! In the next day and a half we would unwind and watch the climate change from Winter to Summer and then get to enjoy our Caribbean cruise. One time we did go through a large storm (evidently not as bad as Anthem) but that just added to the adventure. It has been my experience that the cruise ships do everything they can to avoid bad weather but sometimes stuff happens.

The FloRider looks like a good way to rupture everything I'm attached to or at least to break a few bones. All 300 pounds of me is looking at those slides and thinking all those little kids better get out of the way - I'm coming down!

Right - RCI should be looking at their procedures related to severe storms. That being said, a few years ago I was on Royal Caribbean and we approached a severe storm in the same (Carolinas) region. The captain did his best to move the ship around the storm but we still went through some pretty heavy seas and the delay resulted in us missing a port of call (San Juan). I think RCI generally does do a good job of avoiding storms.

Wrong - A United States Senator should have something better to do than worrying about this. How about handling immigration, balancing the budget or destroying ISIS!

Just looking at the various pictures and videos, my first impression is that the overall view of the Liberty is just fine. Most big ships now seem to have an assortment of water slides on them and the impact of the extra rooms on the front of the ship is minimal. It probably sounds strange for a 63 year old, but I am really glad that they retained the mini-golf! I think they did a nice job on it and it looks like fun. Adding the Sabor restaurant is also high on my list. We don't do many extra charge restaurants but we love Sabor! Add all this together and I'm glad that the Liberty will be stationed in Galveston - just a 90 minute drive from our house!

GTO-Girl hit all the important points. We've been there and really enjoyed it. We will be going again on our next cruise in January 2017. Have fun!

I am looking forward to eventually going on a cruise that includes Dominica and Curacao. Curacao is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean!

I am a "big" guy and I really dislike those skinny little shower stalls, so we always book a junior suite because they have the combo bath tub and shower. I've got to say we also really like the balcony. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I like being able to go out on the balcony and just watch the ocean go by. Normally, at least once a cruise, we have breakfast on the balcony. Being retired, I have time to check cabin rates frequently, so I can normally find pretty good prices for a junior suite.

Last time we went to Roatan, we went to "Little French Key." It's a private island with beaches, drinks, food and other amenities. It was really nice. Might want to check it out online.

I like to book a cruise 12-18 months ahead and then just make relatively small monthly payments so the cruise is paid off by the time of the cruise with no big financial hit. That being said, on my last cruise I did the on-board booking to get the instant OBC and the minimal deposit. A month later I went to make my first payment and the Royal Caribbean website would not accept the amount. The website said I had to pay an amount at least equal to the full normal deposit. What??? So, I called Customer Service and they said that was correct. Now, this was not in print anywhere. So, my question is, what's the point of a reduced deposit if you're just going to hit me up for it a month later? Not everyone wants to spring for the entire value of a cruise at one time. Plus, if you pay off your cruise early, you cheat yourself out of any price adjustment if the prices for that cruise go down before the final due date. Just venting. This was the only time that RCCL ever really irritated me. Ultimately, I did cancel that cruise and went on Princess instead although I am now booked for another RCCL cruise in 2017.

I have heard that some Royal Caribbean ships have soda machines on the ship that passengers can use. I wonder if Liberty will have them? How do you pay for your drink and what happens if you have a drink plan that includes sodas?

We went on a cruise on the NCL Epic when it first entered service. We would never go on it again. They put that big ugly box of rooms right up front on top of the ship. Here's what that did for me. 1. It ruined the appearance of the ship. 2. You could no longer go up on top of the ship and walk full laps around the ship with a beautiful view. 3. They eliminated their forward lounge on top of the ship. It used to be nice to go up, have a drink and have a remarkable forward looking view. It's like NCL forgot that people want to go cruising on a SHIP - AT SEA. It is interesting to note that orders for the 2nd and 3rd version of the Epic were canceled.

The point is, I hope that Royal Caribbean won't make a similar mistake by ruining the appearance, view and utilization of their ships.

I have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and also once on Princess. Each has their individual strengths. Based on reputation as a booze cruise (perhaps no longer valid) I won't cruise on Carnival. I live near Houston, Texas so we are fortunate to have two cruise ports right nearby. I like Royal Caribbean and they sail out of Houston so they are pretty much who I sail with. I don't know that I have ever seen an entire ship from one end to the other because I'm too busy relaxing, eating pretty good food and watching pretty good entertainment. I wish RCCL would expand their itineraries out of Houston but they have enough to keep me coming back. You've just got to do your own reviews and figure out what's best for you. Maybe I'm lucky, but I've never been on a bad cruise with any line!

I know there is the constant discussion of formal vs non-formal. I think there is an easy solution. Why don't the ships designate certain areas formal and others non-formal? If a MDR has three levels, you could designate certain floors as formal or not. Same thing with the extra charge restaurants. Why do they all have to be formal on formal nights? Some should be formal and others not. I really do not believe that a majority of cruisers want formal nights anymore. Does anyone have facts on this? Otherwise, let's try to compromise!

I don't know if it was a crisis. I went to a Meatloaf concert a couple of years ago and I was deeply saddened that Michael Aday could no longer carry a tune. Back in the 70s, Meatloaf was one of my favorites!

O.K. Back to the intriguing discussion on peninsula vs island......

I like to have an occasional small snack in my room. Originally, I wouldn't bring anything on the ship, but then I noticed that when I went to the ship's general store, they did have snacks, but they were normally some foreign stuff that, frankly, I didn't want. So now, I bring my own snacks on board. There's a reason it's called "comfort food"!

If "Tipping" is required to be pre-paid or is mandatory, then it is not a tip. Raise the cruise fare and announce that there are no required tips. Same thing with drinks and any other products or services that the ship offers. Then, if a crew member does something for me or that I like, I can give them an actual tip - or not.

I wonder why these ships don't use a Keurig type coffee maker. I wouldn't mind bringing my own pods.