Liberty, (mostly) off the beaten path

[larkz]

I've finally gotten my notes together from my Dec 14-21 cruise.

 

The ship was excellent, as I expected it to be. It was clean, well maintained, and a pleasure to cruise on. I'm not enthusiastic about cruise entertainment, I'd rather hear the ocean waves, but the two guitarists on board were quite good both as soloists and when performing together.

 

The food was great, and as always I have to rave about BlueIguana burritos. I skipped the MDR entirely on this cruise and the biggest benefit was an extra hour to relax on the ship each night. The buffet was fine, occasionally items were hit or miss, but I always found delicious as well as healthy options.

 

In Cozumel, I took a cab into town, rented a bicycle and road around on backroads, doing lots of photography and exploring. The bike cost only $10. They didn't have bike helmets, so next cruise I'll bring my own. I also visited the local Cozumel Museum, which has local natural history and cultural exhibits. Then I hiked back from town to the ship, to help burn off some extra calories.

 

In Belize, I did my usual activity: I took a cab to the small municipal airport ($5 each way), and flew via Tropic Air to San Pedro, Ambergris ($80 round trip). It's a little peninsular island that hangs off the southern edge of the Mexican Yucatan peninsula but is considered part of Belize. The town of San Pedro is peaceful and far away from the cruise ship crowds. I kayaked for a couple hours, ate at a little local restaurant, then wandered around, stopping to talk with local artisans.

 

The only excursion that I booked on this cruise was Maya Key Private Island (Roatan), because I enjoy poking around the edges of the island and looking for creepy crawlies to photograph. Lunch on the island didn't appeal to me, so I skipped it.

 

In Cayman, I took advantage of the local bus service to travel to the far side of the island for a visit the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park. The bus was $5 each way, and the park admission was $10. The park was much larger than I expected -- I had originally planned on hiking over to the Mastic Trail as well, but would not have had enough time to do both parks. The Botanic Park is filled with native plants, lots of informative signage, and creepie crawlies of the sort that I like to photograph: butterflies and moths, other insects and spiders, and lizards -- including some rather long and fat native blue iguanas. In the park gift shop, I purchased a book on Cayman butterflies, which I could have gotten cheaper at Amazon, but I wanted to support the park. An interesting thing about the bus service. The main depot (so to speak) is just a couple blocks from the port, next to the Cayman Library. The buses are actually vans. The drivers use cell phones to communicate with the depot, and they're actually willing to make special pickups and drop-offs -- within reason -- which may or may not fall exactly on the route. Most fun of all, the other passengers recognized that I was a tourist, and they all smiled and said "Hi, mon," occasionally dropping their Jamaican/Cayman creole to chat with me. The botanic park has a mile long inlet road that isn't actually on the bus route, but the driver was glad to drop me off right at the door on the way in, and he instructed me to have the gift shop call his cellphone when I was ready to be picked up. We stopped at one woman's house, and she wasn't ready to go yet and asked for the driver to come back and pick her up in ten minutes...which he did after driving around to burn time! No problem to me, I had some time to spare, and since he knew I was returning to a ship he asked whether I minded.

 

I had FTTF on this cruise, and it was well worth the price for embarkation, tendering, and my unexpected multiple visits to guest services due to billing mistakes. More on that below. FTTF was great for tendering in Belize and Cayman, and that was my primary reason for getting it.

 

As a frugal cruiser who isn't thrilled by giant slabs of steak, my first ever experience with the Steakhouse was mixed. I ordered lobster, with a beefsteak tomato, steamed broccoli, and the chocolate sampler -- and it was wonderful. However, was it worth the extra $35, plus $5 tip? Maybe, although I would have been just as happy with a couple of burritos at BlueIguana Cantina. (Also, I may be gay, but I don't get why men waiting tables at fine restaurants seem predispositioned to behave like foppish dandies. Too sissified and a tad artificial in my view.)

 

If I ever receive the kind of OBC that I received on this cruise, maybe I'll try the Steakhouse again. Admittedly, a steak lover would probably get a lot more out of the experience than I did.

 

Now onto the billing mistakes. I was not happy about two days it took for the Steakhouse bill to be corrected from a double charge -- with no less than three visits to Guest Services while fees were added, subtracted, double-tipped, undertipped, and so on. My statement ended up with multiple entries from the Steakhouse manager, who apparently had not paid attention in 3rd grade when basic math was introduced. At any rate, only minutes before disembarking, and 90 minutes after my third inquiry at Guest Services, the restaurant finally got it right. But I scrutinized my credit card like a hawk after that for any post-cruise adjustments, and I continue to do so. On a positive note, FTTF paid for itself royally because the regular Guest Services lines were ridiculously long, whereas I was always taken care of in less than a minute or two. And notwithstanding my history of disgust with Guest Services, I was pleasantly surprised on this cruise because they were actually as helpful as they could be, especially while the restaurant sorted out its mistakes.

 

Nonetheless, it didn't spoil my cruise. Looking forward the the next one.

[golfadj]

Thanks for sharing, interesting excursions you take

[jimbo5544]

I agree, a very interesting review and I was fascinated by what you do in each port.

[Doug910]

...Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for taking the time to write. Can't wait until our Liberty cruise next week!

[larkz]

Oh, I forgot to mention Guy's Burgers. Last time on the Liberty, I tried it and wasn't thrilled. It was okay. So I this cruise I tried it again -- because I've come to enjoy hamburgers more over the last year. It think this new appreciation was triggered by a photo shoot I did for a burger restaurant whose website I manage. I must have developed a fixation. At any rate, it seemed like a good time to revisit Guy's.

 

And the verdict? Blah. It just didn't do anything for me. Not great. Not terrible. But I'd just as soon have a Whopper.

[Roscoe13]

Thanks for the nice and informative review.

 

BTW, I love whoppers and I'm sure I'll love Guy's;) too.

[jmwg49]

This is a great review! I am interested in seeing some of your photos! You have me intrigued!! I also tend to agree about Guy's. Although they are good burgers, I too was not thrilled. My opinion is also 'blah'. My husband on the other hand raves about them. If anything, I like just the meat patty, no bun, nothing....nice for a snack when getting back onboard after a long day! My two cents!

Edited January 26, 2014 by jmwg49

[irishnyc]

I'd love to see your pictures. Your activities sound great!

[larkz]

I'm about 4 years behind culling and preparing photos! May take a while for the new ones, unfortunately.

[wantocruisemore]

Can you tell us more about the times for your Maya key excursion? We're booked for May and have a long port day. We want to stay as long as possible yet my excursion detail says leave at 2pm.

 

Could you come back at various times?

 

Were other ships in port at Roatan too?

[Engineerstar]

What cabin did you have and was it quiet around it?