My review, LOS May 28 5 day W-Med, pictures and some story telling :)

[Verfai]

Day five, at sea

 

Heading back for home already…

 

Got woken up by the sound of high waves hitting the ship, that was a first for me. Guess the passengers in the port hole cabins did not sleep a lot.

 

We ordered room service breakfast at 10am and was delivered on the dot, the wind was still there and the room was still making the clicking noise.

 

 

The day went by very slowly as with the wind you could not really lay down on a sunbed…Everybody was cold, so people started looking for other things to do. We went to see the ice show again, to see if there was any difference since the last cruise…Some minor changes to the show were made.

 

Last night

 

 

Some old stuff, getting packed, leaving the suitcases outside the room, saying goodbyes to staff and handing out the tips…

 

Went for drinks in the champagne bar

 

 

 

[Verfai]

Double post sry :D

[Verfai]

In the MDR to waiters did their singing goodbye thing…

 

 

 

 

[Verfai]

Best way to end this review…….

 

 

 

 

Conclusion, unless we make it a tradition (than I need more money ;) )or go with a large group to these 5 nighters, I don’t think we will do it again, There was nothing really bad about it, but it is short and we missed a bit bling bling by some passengers screwing up the advised dress codes and the way the acted out at some time…This is our opinion.

 

We also missed that not a lot of people were mingling, same with the officers and cruise director, we did not see any of them except for on the TV :D

No Cruise critic meet and mingle (even not private) as just no intreset to meet up, I tried in the roll call doh...

 

On to Navigator September 16 for a 7 night eastern Med cruise woop woop

 

Thanks for reading :D

 

Cheers!

[Verfai]

Yes, I appreciate the photos and your amusing narration both! Has anyone ever told you that your husband looks like a young Bill Paxton?

 

Actually it’s the “husband” (we are not married, but haven been a couple for 14+ years) that is the one writing the review :D :D :D, but defiantly thanks for the compliment comparing me to a movie star :D lol

And defiantly Bill Paxton, I am a huge Sci-Fi fan! His rolls in Alien and Predator, whoooooo :D.

[Verfai]

On previous post on Sci-Fi, deck 6 on Liberty is the Sci-Fi deck! It is full of classic Sci-Fy paintings and pictures.

 

Here is a selection of the best ones I found:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved it and there were plenty more ; )!

[co2stay]

Thank you so much for the review. We are on LOS for a 7-day this fall. Enjoyed all the pictures and your narrative.

[rmurray847]

Actually it’s the “husband” (we are not married, but haven been a couple for 14+ years) that is the one writing the review :D :D :D, but defiantly thanks for the compliment comparing me to a movie star :D lol

And defiantly Bill Paxton, I am a huge Sci-Fi fan! His rolls in Alien and Predator, whoooooo :D.

Yep, "Aliens" era Paxton is what I had in mind! Sorry, I made the mistake of thinking the review was from your significant other (and that you were married!). I guess I'm all about rearranging your relationship!!

 

Anyway, great job with all the photos. VERY helpful and well written.

[Gordo]

Thank you for posting such a thorough review. We really enjoyed reading about your experience and viewing your photos. We are sailing on the Liberty in September and will be getting off the ship the day before you arrive.

 

Our roll call is basically non existent. This will probably be the first time we will have no Meet and Mingle.

 

We plan to have an onboard day while the ship is in port as well. But since this is our first European cruise and my DH's first time in Europe, we will plan a tour for our stops in Italy and probably skip one of the ports in France so we can explore the ship when it is less crowded. We just have to decide between Toulon/Provence and Villefranche/Nice.

 

We sailed on the Navigator of the Seas and had a great time and the crew was fantastic. Thanks again for sharing your experience and have a wonderful vacation this fall.

[peteukmcr]

Thank you for posting such a thorough review. We really enjoyed reading about your experience and viewing your photos. We are sailing on the Liberty in September and will be getting off the ship the day before you arrive.

 

Our roll call is basically non existent. This will probably be the first time we will have no Meet and Mingle.

 

We plan to have an onboard day while the ship is in port as well. But since this is our first European cruise and my DH's first time in Europe, we will plan a tour for our stops in Italy and probably skip one of the ports in France so we can explore the ship when it is less crowded. We just have to decide between Toulon/Provence and Villefranche/Nice.

 

We sailed on the Navigator of the Seas and had a great time and the crew was fantastic. Thanks again for sharing your experience and have a wonderful vacation this fall.

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but having visited both Toulon (where you will actually dock inn La Seyne Sur Mer not Toulon) and Villefranche. I'd choose to stay onboard in 'Toulon'. When we docked in Toulon, RCI charged for a shuttle to/from the ship to to the town of Toulon which took 45 mins due to traffic and once there, not much to see after being dropped out of town and having to walk back in. We returned to the ship after about 1 hour!

 

With Villefranche, although a tender port, once in the port it is a very short walk to the train station where it's only a short ride to either Monte Carlo in one direction, or Nice in the other, both of which are far more interesting than Toulon IMHO.

[Iamthesea]

How would we know ahead of time if our ship is actually docking in Toulon, or docking in La Seyne Sur Mer? Will be on the 7 night Liberty in September/October, with our first stop in Toulon (also an embarkation port for those living in that area.)

[Verfai]

Yep, "Aliens" era Paxton is what I had in mind! Sorry, I made the mistake of thinking the review was from your significant other (and that you were married!). I guess I'm all about rearranging your relationship!!

 

Anyway, great job with all the photos. VERY helpful and well written.

 

Oh don’t worry about it we were not offended in any way :p

Thanks again for the compliments :D

[Verfai]

How would we know ahead of time if our ship is actually docking in Toulon, or docking in La Seyne Sur Mer? Will be on the 7 night Liberty in September/October, with our first stop in Toulon (also an embarkation port for those living in that area.)

 

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but having visited both Toulon (where you will actually dock inn La Seyne Sur Mer not Toulon) and Villefranche. I'd choose to stay onboard in 'Toulon'. When we docked in Toulon, RCI charged for a shuttle to/from the ship to to the town of Toulon which took 45 mins due to traffic and once there, not much to see after being dropped out of town and having to walk back in. We returned to the ship after about 1 hour!

 

With Villefranche, although a tender port, once in the port it is a very short walk to the train station where it's only a short ride to either Monte Carlo in one direction, or Nice in the other, both of which are far more interesting than Toulon IMHO.

 

Thank you for posting such a thorough review. We really enjoyed reading about your experience and viewing your photos. We are sailing on the Liberty in September and will be getting off the ship the day before you arrive.

 

Our roll call is basically non existent. This will probably be the first time we will have no Meet and Mingle.

 

We plan to have an onboard day while the ship is in port as well. But since this is our first European cruise and my DH's first time in Europe, we will plan a tour for our stops in Italy and probably skip one of the ports in France so we can explore the ship when it is less crowded. We just have to decide between Toulon/Provence and Villefranche/Nice.

 

We sailed on the Navigator of the Seas and had a great time and the crew was fantastic. Thanks again for sharing your experience and have a wonderful vacation this fall.

 

No problem Peteukcmr : D I don’t mind any hijacking AND I defiantly agree!

 

The other two,

 

the ship NEVER docks in Toulon, it is always in La Seyne Sur Mer …If you are people like us that don’t go far away from the ship unless on excursion and just check out the town the ship is docked at...Go for Villefranche, it is an absolutely beautiful town to walk around in (and get some great pictures of the town and Liberty).

The town center of La Seyne Sur Mer does not really have any sights unless for an old train bridge and a huge park (exit the dock and head right)

 

This in La Seyne Sur Mer:

 

 

 

This is Villefranche:

 

 

 

 

[Verfai]

This is the noise the room started making on the last day in the wind

 

 

I started a new thread on it :)

 

Gr

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for the information, but our documents show that we will be docking in Toulon at Côte d'Azur port. There is a map showing this. Do you believe this to be wrong? I did find something that says that the port of Côte d'Azur only accepts ships up to 300m and 9 m draught. The Liberty is 338 in length and 8.8 in depth, so that would indicate that she is too long to dock in Toulon.

 

For your sound problem, I could barely hear it on your video. A good white noise machine would surely cover that up. We do not travel without one. :)

 

UPDATE: Did some more research and found this PDF. Looks like we dock in la seyne sur mer on September 30th. ;)

http://www.la-seyne-sur-mer.fr/jooml...sires_2012.pdf

[chipq]

Great photos and great review. Thanks for sharing.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[Gordo]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but having visited both Toulon (where you will actually dock inn La Seyne Sur Mer not Toulon) and Villefranche. I'd choose to stay onboard in 'Toulon'. When we docked in Toulon, RCI charged for a shuttle to/from the ship to to the town of Toulon which took 45 mins due to traffic and once there, not much to see after being dropped out of town and having to walk back in. We returned to the ship after about 1 hour!

 

With Villefranche, although a tender port, once in the port it is a very short walk to the train station where it's only a short ride to either Monte Carlo in one direction, or Nice in the other, both of which are far more interesting than Toulon IMHO.

 

Thanks for the information. Greatly appreciated.

[ollienbertsmum]

Hmmm interesting review. Thank you for taking the trouble.

 

From the start, when Gold members got priority boarding I was interested.

 

Last year we deliberately went to Barcelona for the LOS (and the flight and hotel added over 1000 euro to the trip for 4) rather than leaving from Malaga on the Adventure. We were trying to avoid the large number of Spanish cruisers - simply because they tend to travel in large family groups. I am sure that they do not mean to be rude (well I hope not) but because they are in large groups I think that they do not notice the effect that they are having on us small groups and are just unaware that perhaps other people want to sit down or also want to use the pool. We found that we achieved that on the LOS, there were a wide mix of passengers.

 

Therefore I was so interested in the contrast you had on this voyage. Perhaps your cruise demographic was different because it was just a 5 day cruise. If you are looking for a cruise after a long flight you are not so likely to go for a 5 day trip - It is worth remembering.

 

I am going back to the Adventure this year, I look forward to it, but this time I have booked a balcony room so that I can sit out there hopefully in peace and quiet without having to fight for a space in the solarium.

 

BTW - I could never have stayed on the ship knowing that Florence and Rome were just a short train ride away - how different we all are in the way we want to spend our vacation time:)

[Iamthesea]

We found that we achieved that on the LOS, there were a wide mix of passengers.

 

Really? I am surprised. I was thinking we might run into the large groups from Barcelona. I know that they do not mean to be rude, it's just their custom of being loud. There are other groups of nationalities (particularly American's :rolleyes:) , that when in a large group, can be very obnoxious.

[ollienbertsmum]

Really? I am surprised. I was thinking we might run into the large groups from Barcelona. I know that they do not mean to be rude, it's just their custom of being loud. There are other groups of nationalities (particularly American's :rolleyes:) , that when in a large group, can be very obnoxious.

 

We have been from Barcelona twice and both times there seemed to be a mix. Whereas in Malaga .... We were quite clearly in Spain. But I have to say there were also groups of Gibraltarians. They make an impression too. :o.

 

I would agree, it is probably not so much the nationality as the size of the group that makes larger groups so noticeable to the smaller parties.

 

It can't be so bad though because we are doing it again.

[Pushka]

Thank you Verfai, as usual for your fabulous report. (My tablet auto corrected your name to Ferrari by the way:p). I hope some of your issues relate to it being a five day and not a seven day cruise. I think every nationality when in a large group, can demonstrate obnoxious behaviour. This cruise leaves from Spain obviously, so its the Spanish people who make the issue. But the same will apply to any country.

 

I hadn't planned on touring in Toulon but ended up getting the ship tour to Aix-en-Provence. It only takes four hours so just a good look. As you live in Europe I totally get why you aren't as manic as us foreigners touring to Rome etc:D

 

Four weeks today we start our four week trip to Europe from Australia touring through France and Spain and then this cruise. Our roll call is very quiet but will catch up with a NZ couple for two private tours. Other than that, nada on the roll call. The cruise is 70% sold but obviously not with CC members.

 

Thanks again Ferrari. (This time I left the auto correct on so you can see what I mean:p)

[Iamthesea]

We have been from Barcelona twice and both times there seemed to be a mix. Whereas in Malaga .... We were quite clearly in Spain. But I have to say there were also groups of Gibraltarians. They make an impression too. :o.

 

Wait until you sail with 150 Quinceañera's and their families! :eek: Talk about loud and obnoxious. Not to mention the under-size of the swimsuits those young girls pranced around in. :rolleyes: That's what happened to us on our last Liberty cruise out of Florida. Thought I was going to have to blindfold DH. :cool:

 

Pushka - How can you tell that your cruise is 70% full?

[Pushka]

There are sites that let you see the percentage booked. As they are a travel agent site I'm not able to mention them here. I'll check you date if you like and get back to you.

 

Yours is showing 64%. But your prices are really low compared with our sailing date - like JS is something like $500 cheaper.

[Verfai]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

 

And unless I forgot something that I typed :D, I did not really make a lot of racial stereotyping…I wanted to avoid being called a racist again like last time (<-still laugh every time I think about it lol)

 

Except for the Spanish family incident in the beginning with the “ooooooo I don’t want to sit next to a 32 year Belgian as a 70 year fat Spanish lady” incident, we did not really find any collection of passengers to pop up more than another.

 

And you guys forget, this our third time on this tour :D, we have been to Pisa, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Villfranche center, Toulon center and so on...in both last cruises ;)

 

Nobody have a clue on what the millitarry dog tag and bullet meant???

[Pushka]

Is this what you saw Verfai?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005TZSZBM/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

 

 

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