stupendousman8

Just got off the Liberty 8 day cruise out of Port Canaveral to Aruba, Grand Turk, Curacao. This was the first vacation me and my wife had taken without the kids in 14 years (they were visiting other relatives out of town with their grandparents) and enjoyed it a lot. We'd gone on a cruise to Key West, Grand Cayman and Ochos Rios on the Freedom last year and had such a good time decided to go on another cruise this year.

EMBARKATION - We flew into Port Canaveral via Southwest. Our flight was delayed almost 5 hours. Didn't get to Orlando until after midnight and not to our hotel until after 1am which stunk. Stayed at the Radisson at the Port http://www.radisson.com/cape-canaveral-hotel-fl-32920/flcocoa. We reserved a hot tub room and it was nice, clean and large. The grounds around the hotel were very nice too (pool, koi pond, etc.). We’d purchased the hotel shuttle from the airport ($50 for the two of us) and then took the shuttle to port from the hotel as well. Hotel staff had everything pretty organized and everything in this regard went smoothly.

From the time we got out of our shuttle until we were on the ship was probably 10-15 minutes. This was without any kind of priority status at all. Very impressed with the organization at the port.

CABINS - had 2 interior cabins on the first floor. No problems, nothing special to report. Their was ZERO problems with the AC. In fact, I had to turn it down a couple of times and I’m not the cold blooded type. The only bad thing I have to say about this ship (other than they need to repaint the interior of their elevators) is the fact that if you are staying aft in the lower levels, if you want to access anything forward on levels 3 and 4, you’ve got to go up to level 5 and walk forward, then go back down due to the galley and dining room is blocking much of those levels and there is no getting around them.

FOOD -

Breakfast: Most mornings we ate in the Silver Dining room. They had a great selection, you didn’t have to stand in line, and during sea days their “Brunch” menu included a “Steak and Eggs” option that included eggs, filet mignon, a tomato, fried potatoes, and a few regular and curly fries on the side. VERY GOOD. However, DW didn’t like that the orange juice came to us at room temp. and not chilled. On port days we normally whizzed through the buffet early in the morning to make sure we got off the boat in plenty of time to see the sights.

Lunch: We had Guy’s Burgers 3 or 4 lunches, Blue Iguana once, Fish and Chips once and the buffet a couple of times. Guy’s Burgers was very good, as everyone has pointed out already. I’m sure that there are better burgers to be had, but if you like “5 Guy’s” style burgers which will normally will run you about $7 each you’ll really like Guy’s Burger Joint. Plenty of toppings, pretty large beef patties and great buns. Blue Iguana had good “burrito bar” style burritos (I prefer restaurant style slathered in cheese myself). The buffet and Fish and Chips all had great food and you’ll never leave that area hungry.

Dinner: Even if none of the appetizers or main courses looked interesting to me, I could always go with the shrimp cocktail, flat iron steak (medium) and twice baked potato and not complain. I did have a “Pasta e Fagioli” appetizer that I didn’t care for. However, my favorite main course was the filet with roast beef and for desert the Grand Mariner is for vanilla type flavors what the Chocolate Melting cake is for chocolatey desserts. Highly recommended.

CASINO - Didn’t really gamble much, but we spent a lot of time in the Casino lounge listening to Music Boardwalk. They are a 4 piece cover band, originally from the Philippines I think. They played a bunch of great rock, pop, r&b and classic rock. The keyboardist Audie had little dance routines choreographed to most songs and was very entertaining. They were on the Freedom last year and from pictures posted here about earlier Liberty cruises, knew they’d be onboard and looked out for their performances.

ENTERTAINMENT - Went to lots of trivia contests (won the Star Wars one) and watched the live musicians. Music Boardwalk (as described previously) and Tom (forgot his last name) were great to sit and watch. Tom was a younger guy who accompanied himself on the acoustic guitar. This kid had a great voice and really could be a big star some day.

CRUISE DIRECTOR - Cory Rogers was a great cruise director. While a mediocre cruise director probably won’t likely hurt your cruising experience, an interested, entertaining and personable CD can make things better. Cory seemed to be involved in ALL the activities and when he held trivia contests he did it in costume - A Jedi with light sabers during Star Wars trivia, A Hogworts student during Harry Potter trivia and he sported a mullet wig with a cut off sleeve shirt during 80’s Music Trivia Sing Along (4 floors of the atrium singing 80’s tunes!). He really helped spice up some of the after-hours “Adults Only” events (one of which can not be discussed) as well.

ARUBA - Got off the ship and went to a few shops downtown before our scheduled excursion. World Cup mania was everywhere. At bars and open areas, they had bleacher seating and massive big screens showing the games. Most were rooting for Holland. We ended up getting picked up for a Segway tour of the Island through Segwaytoursaruba.com. The van they picked us up in could use a little cleaning, but other than that we had a fantastic time. It cost us $75 each and they took us through the touristy hotel area (there’s a Hard Rock and other themed places) on our way to Moomba beach where the actual Segway tour started. After about 5 minutes of instruction and practice (they really are that easy to use!) we headed out along the hotel route, eventually getting to a beach path, around many scenic areas and finally to the California Lighthouse where we enjoyed a VERY GOOD Strawberry smoothie (real fruit) for $4. An extra $1 got you rum in it - which we declined since we were “driving”. After the tour, we were free to use the beach there (and they had a nice beach bar with the aforementioned World Cup video setup) and after about 2 hours we went back to the Segway area and they took us back to the ship.

CURACAO - First thing we noticed is that in Curacao they had all the non-Carnival tour vendors sequestered in a little holding area where you could go to ask about tours, but they couldn’t get right up in your face trying to get your business. This was a very good set-up. We took the Indie Tours 3 hour tour of the island which we had pre-scheduled, on an open air bus which was great. Very nice island and beaches and beautiful scenario. For $25 they toured all around the island with all you could drink Polar beer (very good - Venezuelan), water and soda. Also stopped at the distillery where we had samples. Would highly recommend their tours.

GRAND TURK - Got off the boat and found a $29 deal that took us up the beach to Governor’s Beach which included the use of snorkle equipment. The water was very clear and there was a slightly rocky area that started about 20 feet from the beach that a lot of tropical fish gathered at. There were also a few salvaged boats in the water, but the fish seemed to like the rocks a little better. After we were done there, we had our bus driver drop us off at Jack’s Shack for lunch. While I’ve heard raves about them, my experience was that they were a little unorganized and I had a hot dog and fries where the hot dog was overcooked and the bun either stale or way over toasted. This was after the guy who came to the table we were sitting at screwed up our order a few times (didn’t write it down). Their prices weren’t all the spectacular either. We walked down the beach and headed for Margaritaville where we had a great time in their well kept pool area and while it wasn’t cheap, had a few of their extra large Margarita’s (serves two EASILY) for $15 each with the lidded souvenir cup that floats. Refills where about $11 which is about what they were on the ship for MUCH smaller drinks. We participated in the aqua mambo line and the wife did the “Wobble” line dance in the pool. We didn’t go inside or eat, but I’d highly recommend their pool bar area and their massive margaritas! This was probably our favorite port of the trip.

DEBARKATION - this went fairly smoothly. We did the self-carried luggage option and where off the boat on our way to the Avis car rental location by 9am.

Overall, it was a great vacation and I’d recommend it to everyone who would consider this itinerary and ship.

I hope to update with pictures and Fun Times for all 8 days within the next couple of days.

Just got off the Liberty. On casual nights, the "norm" seemed to be nice khaki-style shorts and polo shirts. No baseball hats or swim trunks are allowed.

On elegant night, most men were wearing long pants, a long sleeved button up shirt with a collar, and quite a few a tie. Some people where more "elegant" than others, but these reflected what I saw as a majority.

Good to know. The shows you have listed for Freedom where the ones that we saw last year, and the ones listed for the Liberty we've not seen. I liked the first two shows on the Freedom, but probably not enough to watch them again a little less than a year later. Ticket To Ride however was really good and I wouldn't have minded seeing that again, but it would be better to have some new shows and that sounds like what we will probably be getting.

THANKS!

I would like to see the 8 day menu for the Liberty too please. I know they are doing The American Table but I can't find 8 day menus. Thanks!

Ditto on the 8 Day Liberty.

We were on the Freedom last year and saw all the musical shows they had and enjoyed them. Apparently the Liberty still has the older-style shows with a band. Do all ships with the older style shows do all the same shows, or are they different with each ship? Would the same shows we saw on the Freedom be the ones on the Liberty?

Anyone know if the shows on the Liberty would be the same ones we saw last summer on the Freedom?

After dry dock for the Freedom, it and the Liberty should be almost the same ship. They share a common layout and while the Liberty has had the 2.0 features for a couple of years, the Freedom is just now getting those. The only major differences I think should be the ship's decorations.

I sailed the Freedom last year. This year we will be on the Liberty in June.

show me the documented proof of how they determined the rules about ecigs and I will agree with you.

There are no current laws that I know of which outlaws the use of "vapor" delivery devices in areas that also outlaws cigarettes. While I can't be 100% sure that's the case in each and every locale in the United States, I know that's the situation in the state I live in and they typically follow the norm. They allow each and every business to decide for themselves what policy they want for this sort of thing, the same as any other form of intake (food, beverage, inhalation).

if you dont have the proof that they determined them out of ignorance then all you have is an opinion and you are choosing to break their rules with absolutely no evidence of your reason.

You're free to explain how what I've shown above defies logic, or goes against any reasonable scientific explanation. Otherwise, it would seem to be a stand made out of a lack of information, rather than a reasoned policy decided upon based on proven facts.

if everyone did what you did and decided on their own if a rule was created out of ignorance or not, people would be breaking rules that you might feel is something important.

VERY unlikely. I have no problem with people breaking arbitrary rules. That's what eventually leads to the undoing of reactionary rules which are created due to fear. When you have a rule that if broken, absolutely no one notices and no one is caught, it isn't likely a rule that will every last beyond the initial "honeymoon" phase of it's induction.

The fuss is quit simple in that a company that people have decided to use does not allow the use of e-cigs in certain areas. The people using e-cigs know the rules in advance and decide to defy the rules based on what they want to do. That's is what the fuss is about. If one does not like the rules of a certain company, they should not voluntarily use said company. To take the law (as such) into your own hands is not a viable option.

There is no "law", and the companies are doing so out of ignorance. I've outlined why the rules are irrelevant. If you choose to adhere to them, that's you business.

Let's use some common sense here. It's flavor particles (the same kind of stuff in food), plus water vapor (not much different than what's in the air), plus possibility nicotine (which probably isn't great for you.)

It doesn't have any of the tar, charred residue or foul chemicals (other than possibly nicotine) that cigarettes have, so the claim that it's as harmful as cigarettes is simply too ludicrous to even entertain.

You can't really smell or detect it, and the amount of nicotine that gets expelled into the air is negligible. Probably less "harmful" chemicals to "second hand" users than any kind of machinery. The idea that this would be treated the same is cigarettes (I'm not a smoker or vaper) seems to be coming from a very intolerant sort of state of mind. Rationally, it wouldn't seem to do any harm to third parties, so why the fuss?

These upgrades where about what I predicted. We were on the Freedom last June and had ZERO complaints about the ship, other than the weird way you sort of have to go through the dining room to get to stuff in the middle of the floor the dining rooms are on. I'm assuming the same for the Liberty, which we will be on this June. Any upgrades are really "icing on the cake."

I've not seen a Playlist Production yet, so I won't judge and the quality of shows probably won't be a deal breaker even if I didn't enjoy them. Seeing how they've announced new shows, maybe they've had time to "get the bugs out" of the program and have made them more entertaining. I think there were three musical shows on the Freedom and none of them knocked me out (but were entertaining) other than "Freedom To Ride" which was pretty impressive.

We may go back to the Freedom next year.

If I were guessing, I'd say take a look at what the Liberty has that the Freedom doesn't currently, and you're going to know what 2.0 additions the Freedom will get. Liberty got the 2.0 a few years back and they are almost the same ship layout-wise. Guy's, The Blue Iguana and several of the newer bars (Alchemy, etc.) are what I'd guess.

Sorry, but when I read "Their were grown drunk women rubbing themselves on little boys basically making a sandwich with them. "

..at 11:00 in a night club, the problem is: WHERE ARE THE PARENTS OF THE LITTLE BOYS?!!?!?

If you click on the below link, it shows the different Carnival ships, where they are and if you click on a ship it shows the forward and lido deck cams. It's not a continuous feed so when you click on it it just takes a snap shot of the camera view at the time.

Or not. Just checked the Sunshine's cams and one is not working and the other one says it was last updated July 3, 2014.

update: many of them give the 7/3 date. Maybe that's just when the links where posted?

I police my own chair hogs. If there are no chairs and me and the family are out and they are in the pool and I'm having to sit around the deck somewhere - if I see chairs that haven't been sat in for more than an hour, I'll remove whatever is on them and set them to the side and use them. Most of the time, it's only towels. It hasn't happened often, but I've done it once or twice. Never had any one say anything to me about it, likely because they know they aren't supposed to do that.

Though I agree - if you want to grab something to eat or go for a dip, that's not really hogging. Though, that should take less than an hour. If you're gone longer than that, you are wasting resources that others would like to use and that's bad form.

When MTD is the only option, and RC decides to take it upon itself to collect the percentage of tips it finds fair in advance - any cards or "WOW' requests will find themselves at the bottom of a trash can. Otherwise, it makes no sense for RC to pre-collect tips unless they are just trying to get people to pay for their own expenses after they've already quoted you your costs.

where did you hear this?

What guarantee is there? I believe that's one of the reasons why Atlantis was sued. It was found that a portion of the money it was collecting in advance didn't actually go to the wait staff, but rather was just absorbed by the resort to pay for other things. There's no guarantee that money given to RC actually all ends up going to the wait staff.

Corporations settle because they fear bleeding heart liberal juries that don't really care about anything except what they feel is 'fair'.

Sometimes. Sometimes they do it because they've done something wrong, and it would be cheaper to just fold and pay up to avoid having to pay more down the road.

I don't really care WHY Atlantis settled, but they didn't ultimately pay the $450,000 handed over to the attorneys. Customers and shareholders paid the price for that ridiculous lawsuit.

"Shareholders" = Atlantis.

I typically don't go in for class action lawsuits either. They are only designed to make the lawyers rich. Regardless, Atlantis probably wouldn't have to fork over the cash if there was no question what it was doing was totally legal, above board, and transparent.

At the end of the day, you will still get charged the service fee, activity charge, buzz charge, tip, gratuity, assesment, donation, gift, grant, tax, etc... etc... Be prepared to get scammed.

Already prepared. It looks like based on this thread though, RC already understands it's on shaky ground, and will rebate whatever gratuities you feel where unearned while on the ship. That's the least they can do if they are claiming these advance fees as "gratuities."

Your opinion. My mistake in believing there couldn't possibly be a frivolous lawsuit over a phrase.

If I ask you if you'd like some punch while holding a fruit beverage in my hand, and you consent, then I punch in the nose - might you seek legal recompense for the misuse of a phrase?

I also should realize I am not a legal expert, but I had no idea you were, since no proof was provided beyond your opinion they were similar.

Working on it. The polite way to reply to a claim that you aren't sure about is simply to ask for a citation - not to just claim it's someone's opinion.

Unfortunately my other point was made. Atlantis basically admitted no wrong doing and the attorneys' got their payday. The US consumer ended up with nothing! Even worse than the worthless $5 coupon. Seems to me to be a huge waste of resources.

For Atlantis, yes. It cost them a lot of money. If they were not engaged in a legal "gray area" they likely would have never settled. It's a lot easier and cheaper to settle when you risk losing a lot more money because you actually have done something wrong.

Also remember that while the ship is required to follow Bahamian law, RC markets it's cruises from the United States to United States citizens and the mandatory tips required for MTD are put in place before you ever get on the ship. You aren't paying THE SHIP, you are paying the RC corporation who is required to have a business license in the United States, which sails out of the United States and must follow United State law in doing so. United State law says you can't call a mandatory service fee that you can not opt out of a "gratuity." Doesn't matter where the ship is if you are paying in advance. That's why it's not likely that you couldn't get tips accrued during poor service refunded.

I hope I don't have to try because I get great service. But if I don't get good service, I will demand some sort of partial refund. And I'm not the picky type. As long as my very, very basic needs are met (not waiting 20 minutes for a beverage refill, etc.) I'm willing to pay on top of the mandatory fees. I'm just not going to be scammed.

Fortunately for some, the Bahamian law is similar to US, in that a gratuity is "voluntary", but the choice can be offered as an "opt-out" (at least while the guest is "protected" by it's laws - what you did before you boarded isn't a concern). However, to challenge it requires going to the Bahamas, which isn't usually practical for anyone but Bahama citizens.

3dog,

I believe you are correct, but can't seem to find a relevant citation to be able to check for sure. Is there somewhere online where this can be verified?

THANKS!

The tips don't really have anything to do with the quality of service.

Then what exactly are tips supposed to be for?

So you opt for My Time Dining and pay service charge /Tips/Gratuities up front. You experience bad service on your cruise either in dining areas or in cabin or else where(very unlikely) what would you do?

If it's me, I'd contact customer service and request a refund of gratuities commensurate with the poor service. Let's say it's the wait staff. Figure out how much your standard tip for them should be, then request a reduction by maybe 5 percent.

Not so much so you can save maybe 5 bucks, but so that management understands that there was a problem and word gets around that the "mandatory" tips aren't likely legally "mandatory" if they want to stay out of legal trouble. If they refuse and THAT gets around, then it's likely they'll face a suit similar to what Atlantis did. It was found that much of the money guests paid for the mandatory "housekeeping" tips didn't actually even get to the housekeeping staff. IMAGINE THAT!

Restating your argument in the debate does not make it truer.

Restating an argument in a debate, when the opposition cannot present a credible rebuttal is a perfectly acceptable tactic.

Someone else had posted a link previously showing that the two countries had laws that were pretty much the same. Is it your "rebuttal" that you know that the laws are different enough to warrant the Bahamas to allow what other countries legally refer to as "service fees" but insist that the are absolutely non-refundable gratuities?

As well, it's my understanding that Atlantis just settled a class action lawsuit from a law firm in Florida in regards to their forcing service fees on their clients, but falsely claiming them as gratuities.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2012/jul/11/atlantis-settles-gratuity-lawsuit/

I believe and it is just my opinion with the increase in speciality restaurants people are not eating in the MDR as often and they believed that the tipping should compensate for them not eating in the MDR. I think RCCL should ask if you don't plan on eating in the MDR then there wouldn't be all the open spaces.

If you aren't eating in the MDR then you are either dining somewhere that requires an extra fee (and therefore, higher tipping) or someplace like the Windjammer that's a buffet where the same amount of service is not required.

Either way, fewer people in the MDR should result in RC either needing fewer employees, or the one's they have will be likely tipped more. There should be no loss in earned tips if they are staffing right, and no need to charge what is essentially a service fee, and calling it a tip.

As much as Americans believe RCCL is subject to US law, they are not. What they charge you after they leave port is only limited by the cruise contract.

As it's been pointed out, RCCL is beholden to the laws in the country it's ship is registered to, and since RCCL ships are mostly (I think) Bahamian registered, and their laws regarding gratuities are similar to the US, then my comments stand.

While it might take some effort for an individual to sue, this is the sort of thing that trial attorneys look for and set up for class action suites. The cruise lines aren't going to open themselves up to that as a policy, so it's unlikely that they would press their luck by claiming something as a "gratuity" and not building in some sort of non-binding opt out when it comes right down to it. Of course, they don't have to (and aren't likely to) go advertising their policy in this regard in hopes no one asks for a gratuity refund.

This is not any different than you showing up at a US hotel and being charged a facilities fee that was not disclosed when you booked your reservation. There are all sorts of fees charged for everything (like an oil disposal fee at a service shop) that are not predisclosed. RCCL could call it a BUZZ fee, and just like anything else it is at their desecration if it is removed from your bill. There is no legal liability.

The problem is that they aren't charging a "fee" and they make it clear that they are pre-collecting gratuities. The laws are pretty clear about this sort of thing.