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Here is what I think of the Liberty of the Seas

Yo Eleven

By Yo Eleven,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Lauderdalegal

Lauderdalegal

Posted
Posted

Someone in the other thread made a comment about a lot of kids running around and why they weren't in school. They are correct in their assessment. There were a LOT of kids on his cruise and I mean a lot. If you are expecting an "adult" cruise since the school year started you better start hoping a lot more. It may not happen for ya. Good luck.

 

 

The Cruise Director indicated that this sailing only had 300 or so kids onboard compared to over 1000 the week before. :eek: You must not like the little ones:p

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kkpcruiser

kkpcruiser

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The following is MY REVIEW of RCCL's Liberty of the Seas.

 

Please know that everyone is entitiled to their opinion. Everyone has different tastes and expectations of their cruising experience. The following rank the HIGHEST on my tastes and expectations. If you have similar tastes and expectations to mine then you will find my review very useful as it will probably be on target on what your experience will be. If you have different tastes and expectations then take the parts of my review that apply to you and eliminate the ones that do not apply to you to have a more accurate expectation of your cruising experience.

 

The following RANK highest and are of utmost importance to a most satisfying experience. These all are of EQUAL importance and my score of 6 of 10 is based MOSTLY on an average of the following characteristics.

 

Decor and stateroom accomodations of the ship.

Meals

Entertainment

Ports of Call (to include ease of Embarking and Disembarking)

Casino Experience

Service Provided

 

The LIBERTY OF THE SEAS is the nicest and most elegant ship I have ever sailed on. An absolute jewel of the sea. Not only is the size impressive but simply the way it is designed. The stateroom we stayed in (Superior Balcony) was spacious and fancy and way above average from other ships we stayed on. The dining areas are again second to none and there is no question that beauty is written all over this ship. I give the highest possible mark here.

 

Meals- There is some serious flaws in the meals of this ship as compared to others I have sailed. We dined as traditional dining during the Main Seating. Of the SEVEN dinners I had prepared, only ONE impressed me. The rest were average at best. I even ordered a steak from CHOPS in addition to an entree to try out the filet mignon. (you can do this in the main dining room). I expected to be have a steak comparable to one I would get at Ruth's Chris, or Morton's Steak House. Unfortunately, it wasn't even as good as Outback steakhouse. I do not recommend it at all. It isn't worth the price. Furthermore the lunch menu in the dining room is the same EXACT menu every day. It got real old real fast and again the food is average at best. The last day we were so sick of it we went to Johnny Rocket's which was actually good and quite enteraining and worth the additional money to dine there. Sorrentos-the pizza is GOOD and the desserts there are EXCELLENT. A word about desserts. They offer sugar free desserts which every night which is a huge plus. Oh-word of warning. Do NOT eat the hamburgers on Labadee. WORST hamburger ever. It isn't edible. I took one bite and one was enough. Unfortunately the meals barely gets an AVERAGE RATING in my book.

 

Entertainment was VERY GOOD. The ice skating show is a MUST SEE as well as any comedy act. A couple of the shows were "strange" to say the least but overall I liked them. I loved the free ice skating and flowrider. The rock climbing was fun as well.

 

Ports of Call-Getting off the ship and back on is EASY and SIMPLIFIED especially considering the number of people on the ship. I do wish longer time was spent in San Juan. It simply isn't enough time there. They need to extend the six hours that they dock there. But thumbs up for the ports of call.

 

Casino Experience-The Liberty of the Seas is by far the WORST casino I have EVER encountered whether comparing it to another cruise ship or a land based casino. For starters there $1000 dollar a day maximum for cashing travelers checks is totally absurd. They refused to open a credit account for me before I came on the ship because you have to have a open credit line at a land based casino in order to qualify. So if you are a HIGH ROLLER this ship is NOT for you unless you plan on brings thousands of dollars in CASH on the ship which is not a wise thing to do. FURTHERMORE, I had the pleasure of dealing with rude and arrogant dealers and those that simply didn't know what they were doing. I ended up tipping some of these dealers during the first leg of the cruise and then regretted it later when I found out what they were. Unfortunately their casino earns a big fat ZERO in my book.

 

Service Provided-Putting the casino staff to the side now, I found other staff to be rude and arrogant as well. Especially those involved in the Sports Deck area. On the other hand, our stateroom attendant was WONDERFUL as our main dining room waiters were wonderful as well. Also they have the best kids program on any ship I have seen. Kudos to the Liberty of the Seas for this.

 

There are other minor things that I look at in evaluating the cruising experience but those described above pretty much earn this ship a 6 out of 10. The casino and food experience was devastating to its scoring.

 

In summary, Big and Beautiful doesn't necessary mean the Greatest. There are serious flaws where my cruising expectations come into play and was dissapointed with the Liberty of the Seas in general. I would not go out of my way to book another cruise on this ship. But, would consider another ship though with RCCL perhaps. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

Best regards,

Yo Eleven

 

Well i was afraid to even start reading this review as I am on the Liberty in a week.....but hooray!! I don't plan to step foot in the casino and will likely use the minigolf only on the sports deck so it sounds like all will be pretty good overall. I am prepared for the meal issue....i am a pretty good cook and pretty critical of poor food at restaurants but i mostly critique that with the price paid in mind. Cruising is such a deal that even an average meal , i will consider to be acceptible!

Thanks for your review and explaining the reasons behind your rating!

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Yo Eleven

Yo Eleven

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Yo, How did they treat you betting the dark side? We were on the Liberty last May and agree the ship is nice. Everything else is opinion.

Players-didn't care as most of them really didn't know much about the game anyway.

 

Dealers-all they cared about was making certain you didn't put odds in excess of 1X.

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Toddcan

Toddcan

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I think your review was very fair, thank you for it!

 

Gambling is obviously a large part of your cruising experience, and they fell well short of your expectations.

 

I have to say that I was not impressed with the food in the MDR, but only once was a "dissappointed". All other days, I treated it as a decent meal. After all, we were not cooking, or cleaning up. Perhaps I am too easy to please :) BTW, the great dissapointment was the "surf & turf". I am a huge fan of surf and turf, so when I was presented with 4 shrimp and 2 slices of a tough filet, I was put off.

 

Overall, we loved the ship, and would cruise on her in a minute, should the budget allow it :rolleyes:

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Yo Eleven

Yo Eleven

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Was this cruising discounted? Sometimes that changes the mix of passengers. You see discussions quite frequently that people will take their kids out of school to save big bucks.

 

thanks for all the details. especially those about the food items worth trying.

DING DING DING DING!!!!!! WHAT DO WE HAVE FOR HIM/HER JOHNNY????? :D

 

I think you got it. It was the cheapest cruise of the season on this trip. Are you saying this was the RIFF RAFF cruise then?

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happy cruzer

happy cruzer

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DING DING DING DING!!!!!! WHAT DO WE HAVE FOR HIM/HER JOHNNY????? :D

 

I think you got it. It was the cheapest cruise of the season on this trip. Are you saying this was the RIFF RAFF cruise then?

 

I'll settle for not getting flamed for my prize.:rolleyes:

 

I've had it happen many years ago. And there are still reports of it happening although there are many that will argue it never happens, you're just imagining things, and the flames get worse from there...:o

 

If I notice that we have a rowdy mix, I just start avoiding crowded locations like the buffet. I don't think there is a way to predict which cruises will have trouble selling and will resort to deep discounts. Just a matter of luck.

 

Thanks for the review.

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Yo Eleven

Yo Eleven

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I'll settle for not getting flamed for my prize.:rolleyes:

 

I've had it happen many years ago. And there are still reports of it happening although there are many that will argue it never happens, you're just imagining things, and the flames get worse from there...:o

 

If I notice that we have a rowdy mix, I just start avoiding crowded locations like the buffet. I don't think there is a way to predict which cruises will have trouble selling and will resort to deep discounts. Just a matter of luck.

 

Thanks for the review.

You are very welcome and it was my pleasure to do the review and what you say makes total sense. A lot of people were "bragging" on how cheap this cruise was compared to the other weeks. The price difference was SIGNIFICANT.

 

I have never had such rudeness on a cruise and I will back up your theory any day as I agree with it. I really do think you hit the nail on the head on this one as to why this cruise had some weird/rude folks on it.

 

Blame it on El Cheapo. :D

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gatour

gatour

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Yo Eleven, nice review. It so refreshing to read something that does not say "I will never go another <insert cruise line name here> because...."

 

You might want to try a Radiance class ship, I found the staff on the one we went on very nice (although can't vouch for the casino staff as we are not big gamblers).

 

Sounds like we are in agreement in regards to soups. I love RCCL soups.

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horric29

horric29

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I can appreciate this review... Not on the gambling part but, the food/rudeness of guests portion of the review. I can say that the food has DEFINITLY gone down hill. The other kicker is that I indeed find other passengers to be rude and more so as time goes on. I'm not sure what it is but, the language is foul, actions are foul, etc, my wife has taken the position of not wanting to cruise anymore so that she dosn't have to deal with it. I on the other hand just ignore it but, I see it!

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Yo Eleven

Yo Eleven

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Yo Eleven, nice review. It so refreshing to read something that does not say "I will never go another <insert cruise line name here> because...."

 

You might want to try a Radiance class ship, I found the staff on the one we went on very nice (although can't vouch for the casino staff as we are not big gamblers).

 

Sounds like we are in agreement in regards to soups. I love RCCL soups.

Glad you like the review and yes the soups on this ship were awesome! No problem whatsoever there. Order them all! :D

I can appreciate this review... Not on the gambling part but, the food/rudeness of guests portion of the review. I can say that the food has DEFINITLY gone down hill. The other kicker is that I indeed find other passengers to be rude and more so as time goes on. I'm not sure what it is but, the language is foul, actions are foul, etc, my wife has taken the position of not wanting to cruise anymore so that she dosn't have to deal with it. I on the other hand just ignore it but, I see it!

Are you saying you are ignoring your wife? LOL! The shower is clean and free of mold so when you have to sleep there you won't catch any bugs. HAHAHA!

Damn, that means I'm on the riffraff cruise too. The 11/1 cruise is starting at a low, low discount price of only $480pp!! Almost $150 cheaper than the 11/8 cruise.

Yep! Looks like you will be sailing with some real characters. Be certain to wear a bullet proof vest. I thought one guy was gonna shoot me just for looking at his poker hand he had. What a bum that guy was. I wasn't even playing. Just watching the game. :eek:

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amybeth4

amybeth4

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Yep! Looks like you will be sailing with some real characters. Be certain to wear a bullet proof vest. I thought one guy was gonna shoot me just for looking at his poker hand he had. What a bum that guy was. I wasn't even playing. Just watching the game.

 

Greeeaaaaat. We actually ended up on this cruise simply because it was the date that worked out and I didn't want to cruise on the (more expensive) Freedom 11/1 departure alongside 2,000 bikers.

 

I've spent quite a bit of time in shipboard casinos watching Hold 'Em because I love the game but on my last cruise it was a $100 buy in...people didn't mind my looking at their hands but I can COMPLETELY understand why it would annoy people. You could totally be in cahoots with someone at the table. Or not...you could simply give away someone's hand by your facial expressions or by muttering, "HOLY CRAP" when you see someone's pocket aces. :)

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Yo Eleven

Yo Eleven

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Greeeaaaaat. We actually ended up on this cruise simply because it was the date that worked out and I didn't want to cruise on the (more expensive) Freedom 11/1 departure alongside 2,000 bikers.

 

I've spent quite a bit of time in shipboard casinos watching Hold 'Em because I love the game but on my last cruise it was a $100 buy in...people didn't mind my looking at their hands but I can COMPLETELY understand why it would annoy people. You could totally be in cahoots with someone at the table. Or not...you could simply give away someone's hand by your facial expressions or by muttering, "HOLY CRAP" when you see someone's pocket aces. :)

Actually I shoud have mentioned the bum was playing three card poker. I guess he thought I was a member of the KGB for RCCL.

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abridalmaven

abridalmaven

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HB hit the nail on the head. I can say the design of the Promendade is fantastic but I hope you did not select a promendade cabin though or you might wanna bring some "white noise" with you if you wanna get some sleep. I do already miss Sorento's and their desserts. Make certain you eat them. Put all your diet plans on hold. :D

We had a promenade cabin on Adventure, and the Freedom, and both times never had any issues with noise. But then again we do not go to bed at nine or anywhere near that time.

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not2old

not2old

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Although we haven't been on the Liberty, we have sailed the Freedom and Indy. There seemed to be more unhappy employees on these larger, beautiful ships than on the smaller, older ships. I agree that food has really gone downhill! We recently sailed the Rhapsody and loved it! Every staff member smiled at us, the pursor's desk was friendly and helpful but the food was mediocre at best, still, we were never hungry! I believe that when you cruise the mass market lines you are going to have good and bad experiences. It's sort of like shopping WalMart, some stores/employees are better than others, yet all are from the same company! We sometimes just need to tell ourselves that our world isn't 100% great and even though we have spent lots of money for this cruise, there is something that is good about it! Happy cruising!

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sleepybert

sleepybert

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I had to laugh on Day 4 - I didn't like the menu. The first words out of the waiters mouth were "I can't recommend anything from the menu tonight" and he was talking to the table next to us. The wait staff was excellant but something really does need to be done about the food in the MDR.

 

This was a terrible cruise for "Friends of Yo".

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lisa70

lisa70

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My husband and i traveled on NOS and thought the same thing about the MDR. The food is really bad. We ate at Chops or Portofino's each evening and Johnny Rockets.. it left such a bad taste in husband mouth. He won't cruise again..

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