Liberty Of The Seas 1/23-1/27 Review With Pics & Menus

[emeraldcity]

I am enjoying your review. And I don't have a problem with your mission to unmask the chair hogs.

[clean1owner]

I'm having technology difficulties, and somehow managed to lose half of my last post.

 

 

 

After Esther finished 3rd in the Slot tournament, I "borrowed" some of her winnings and entered the Texas Hold 'em tournament. I ended up being the third person eliminated from my qualifying round, and didn't re-buy. I already know that I'm not very good at poker, and I don't have to spend a lot of money to prove it.

 

By now it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

I had Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad, and the Fish, Seafood, and Mash. E had the French Onion Soup, and the Sweet And Sour Chicken. For dessert E had Sherbet and I had the same Chocolate something that I had the first night "An excellent choice". As usual, the food and service was great.

 

This time, the screaming baby family didn't show up until 7:00, and with even MORE people than the previous night. They now took over the 10-table next to us, the 4-table by the Wait Stand, and an 8-table back in a corner. This time it took Mariano, Gerry, the Headwaiter, and another Assistant Waiter to take care of the rude bunch. Thankfully, we arrived promptly at 6:00, so by the time the parents were losing the fight with the baby, we had already ordered Dessert. Thanks to the "I'm on vacation and I'll do what I want" crowd disrupting things, our Desserts had to be served by the Waiter from the section next to ours.

 

 

 

Time for my MDR rant

 

Enforce the Dress Code! There are enough eating venues that if someone doesn't want to dress properly for the MDR, they certainly won't go hungry.

Go back to a cut off time for MDR seating. When I first started cruising, if you weren't seated by 20 minutes after your scheduled time, the doors were shut and you didn't get in, period. Your next opportunity to eat was the Midnight Buffet. Once again, on todays ships, there are enough venues that if someone doesn't make the MDR on time, they won't go hungry.

 

End of my rant

 

 

When we finished eating, Mariano was gone getting the Main Course for the late arrivals. I waited for Him to come back, and timed my departure so I could intercept Him right in the middle of giving them their dinner. I thanked him for his service, and let him know that he did as good a job as anyone could, considering he had people totally disrupting things. I made sure to say this in a voice loud enough for the rude bunch to hear.

Yes, I was being a jerk, but at this point I really didn't care. I had held my tongue long enough.

 

 

The show that night was the headliner for the trip, Saturday Night Fever-The Musical.

I would give it a grade of Good. Had they just stuck to the main story line, and left out some of the sub-plots, it would have been better. I think they tried to include too much for a 1 act timeframe. The song and dance performances were great. However, it just felt to me like they were trying to stuff 10lbs into a 5lb sack.

This being the headliner show for the trip, I recommend showing up at least 20 minutes to 1/2 hour early if you wand good seats.

 

After the show, we had just enough time for a leisurely walk to Studio B, where they had their version of The Quest, an adult scavenger hunt.

 

All I can say is:

 

The Quest is The Quest

I scored points for our team

Our team won

It is an absolute must see

 

After Quest we went to the casino until it was time for bed.

[clean1owner]

DISEMBARKATION

 

 

 

We pulled into Fort Lauderdale between 6:30 and 7:00 am, and there was already someone waiting to board the next sailing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chose to carry our own bags off, so we didn't have to pack everything the night before. For self carry, you meet in Studio B at either 7:30 or 10:00. We had a 3:30 flight, so we chose the latter. This allowed us to have Breakfast in the MDR, and still have time to pack our bags. At 9:15 there was a tap on our door. It was the Room Steward. He wasn't asking us to leave, but he was hinting that we could wait in one of the lounges, where they had food and drink. We took the hint and headed down to Studio B. There was an RCCL rep standing outside the entrance who told us we didn't have to wait to disembark, so we caught an elevator down to Deck1. It is a bit of a hike to the Baggage / Customs area, but we never had to stop, until we reached the que lines to go through customs. Here the line moved a little faster than an airport TSA line. It probably took a total of 20 minutes until we were standing at the curb, calling for our ride.

 

We arrived at FLL about 10:30, 5 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. This is when we found out that Delta won't let you check bags any earlier than 2 hours prior to departure. The guy standing by the Delta que line was kind of a jerk. He asked us when our flight departed, and when I told him he just said "You can't check in until 2 hours prior. You can wait down there" and pointed to a waiting area that was already packed full of people. I asked him if there was a Kiosk where I could print boarding passes and he just said "You can't check in until 2 hours prior. You can wait down there" He was like one of those talking dolls where every time you pulled the string in the back, it says the exact same thing! So we drug our bags down to the waiting area and sat on the floor, until a couple seats opened up. While waiting there, I checked our bags online, to save time when we could actually check in.

About an hour later, I noticed a woman standing by the line, so I went over and asked her if there was a Kiosk to print boarding passes. She said "Sure, right over by the sign that says Carry On Only". She was much nicer than the talking doll guy.

About 1/2 hour after that, a woman came walking by talking about checking bags with the Sky Cap. Suddenly the light bulb in my head lit up, and I went outside to ask if I could check bags more than 2 hours prior. The answer was "absolutely". So we took our bags out and checked them with the Sky Cap, and walked right through the Carry On Only line to the gate, 3-1/2 hours prior to boarding. We now had a good place to sit, and food to eat, while waiting for our flight.

Edited February 10, 2014 by clean1owner

[emeraldcity]

Thanks for the bag checking tip. We're also on Delta after our Liberty cruise in April.

 

Love the pic of the early bird. I wonder if she was trying to win a bet with someone about who would be first on board.

[clean1owner]

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS AND PICTURES

 

 

Overall this was a very good cruise, and I would definitely recommend it for someone looking for a shorter trip. This is how I would rank things on a 10 point scale:

 

The Ship: 10 I take into consideration the fact that ships are in use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so minor dings and scratches don't bother me a bit.

 

The cabin: 10 The layout and size of the cabin for the class we booked was absolutely fine. The balcony was awesome! With more than 2 people, it might have been a little cozy. The bathroom was laid out so it didn't feel cramped when inside.

 

Cabin Steward: 9 He did a great job keeping things clean and in order. We had a full ice bucket every day. He was just hard to find. His name is Hospicio, and the only reason I know that is because he left a card in our room when he turned down the bed on Day 2. Every other Cabin Steward we have had made it a point to stop by on Day 1 and introduce themselves. We really like the towel animals, but we only got 1 the entire trip.

 

The MDR: 7 The food was great, as was the service from Mariano and Gerry. Points lost because they don't enforce the Dress Code or stop people from arriving late and disrupting other's dinner.

 

The Windjammer: 7 We were always able to find a place to sit. Other than the watered down Salad Dressings, what we ate tasted good. They could use a little more variety from day to day. It seemed like they always had the same stuff.

 

Cruise Directors Staff: 8 Cruise Director Chris is great, and does a good job keeping the energy level high during events. However, when it's just the assistants running things, they almost seem uncomfortable, and the energy level is noticeably lower.

 

Other Ship's Staff: 8 They were genuinely helpful and friendly, with the exception of the girl manning the Hand Sanitizer station. On Embarkation Day, when she pointed us to the hand sanitizer, I said "No washy washy happy happy for me, thank you." She gave me a very foul look and started on a rant about "4000 people on board". I didn't hear the rest because I just kept on walking. The next day, when she pointed us to the Sanitizer, I said "No thank you", and once again got the dirty look, but this time without the rant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We never had lunch in the MDR, but here is a picture of one of the menus

 

 

 

 

 

Our only towel animal of the trip

 

 

 

 

You think parallel parking your car is hard, try it with one of these babies!

 

 

[clean1owner]

Thanks for the bag checking tip. We're also on Delta after our Liberty cruise in April.

 

Love the pic of the early bird. I wonder if she was trying to win a bet with someone about who would be first on board.

 

 

I'm anxious to get on board, but that is a little extreme!

[Justmekaren918]

Thank you for the nice review and great pixs! For a 4 night you only get 1 towel animal. I only got 2 for my 5 night on Vision. I am really looking forward to Liberty next March.

 

I must say the Radiance class back WJ seating is awesome, and they have an elevator bank that faces the ocean. I am looking forward to being back on Brilliance in 2016![emoji41] [emoji568] [emoji41]

[spanky]

Excellent Review, great pics...love the chair-hog pics! We'll be on Liberty in May...

 

Spanky!

[Hydrophilic]

I am enjoying your review. The pictures you took of Brilliance brought back some nice memories, as we took our kids on their first cruise on her back in February. Of particular interest was the photo of the outdoor seating area. We sat at the table to the right for lunch on Embarkation day. Out of curiosity, I asked my kids whether that table looked familiar. My DD (just turned 6) shrugged her shoulders, but my DS immediately identified it as "where we ate on the first day!" Thank you for bringing a smile to our faces this morning.

 

 

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[BillOh]

We flew to Fort Lauderdale the day before departure, and spent the night at the Roadway Inn Airport / Cruise Port. We chose this hotel for a couple reasons. First, they offer shuttle service from the airport and to the port. Second they had some pretty good reviews at different websites.

 

You may have read mine on Trip Advisor. A decent enough hotel, we just ate at the attached sports bar. The shuttle to the port was well run. Lots of other cruisers stayed there when we did.

[BillOh]

If I were the chair hog and found my pic on here I would be rightfully ashamed.

 

They know no shame.

 

[BillOh]

I am enjoying your review. And I don't have a problem with your mission to unmask the chair hogs.

 

Cruise Critic just doesn't like entire threads about them (personal experience)

[kimbjohns0n]

I will be on the LOS in March and am so excited! I too am staying at the Rodeway Inn. We are driving down from Tampa the night before. Does anyone know if they have TV's in the Hoof & Claw pub? Does the alcohol package work there as well? It will be March Madness while we are on the ship so was just wondering.

[Clarea]

I will be on the LOS in March and am so excited! I too am staying at the Rodeway Inn. We are driving down from Tampa the night before. Does anyone know if they have TV's in the Hoof & Claw pub? Does the alcohol package work there as well? It will be March Madness while we are on the ship so was just wondering.

The alcohol package does work in the pub, but I don't recall TVs there. A better bet for TVs would be the On Air club down on deck 3, aft elevators.

[kimbjohns0n]

Thank so much for your quick reply!