Liberty review - August 28 2016 sailing

[clarky213]

Great review so far.

 

We too are from UK and are looking forward to being on Liberty next March.

[ukintheus]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review - we board LOS on October 9. A couple of questions:

 

1) What did you do in Roatan? We are still deciding.

2) Is there a charge to enter the Solarium area?

 

I also love the way some ships place the day of the week on the elevator rugs. Helps to keep track of the days while you're away. And don't feel silly for taking food pics - I've taken lots of food photos over the years while on cruises.

 

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for following along - I became very stealth at taking food photos - LOL.

 

We went to Little French Key in Roatan. It was very well maintained and there was plenty of room as we were going to be the only cruise ship there that day. We ended up having a rerouted Carnival ship in town that day but I don't think it affected the crowd at LFK much. The highlight of our day was the snorkeling excursion - I would recommend it if you are up for snorkeling.

 

There's no charge to enter the Solarium. It just gets very busy on at sea days so you have to get there fairly early to get a lounger, and there were an abundance of hats and bags laying on chairs (rather than actual people) until later in the morning.

[ukintheus]

Wednesday, August 30th – Costa Maya, Mexico

 

We had an alarm set this morning and had left a room service order on our door the night before for 7:30-8:00 am. I woke up early and then couldn't go back to sleep which is not particularly surprising given the lazy day the day before. You couldn't see the sunrise from our side of the ship but it looked like it was a pretty one.

 

 

This morning we were docking in Costa Maya and had a day booked at Maya Chan beach resort which was a private excursion I had booked online after really good reviews on Trip Advisor. It was $59 and included all you can eat and drink plus the use of all the water toys and transportation to and from the port. We were supposed to be the only cruise ship in port, but this Carnival ship was in port and we found out it had been diverted due to a storm system in the Gulf.

 

 

We got a call at about 7:40 am and breakfast arrived right afterwards – he literally must have been just down the hallway! We ordered cereal, fruit and pastries and some coffee.

 

 

Just after the ship was cleared we headed down to deck 1 forward and got off the ship with no delay at all. There were maybe 10 people getting off the ship and it was strange to not have crowded elevators and gangways.

 

 

Our first close up views of the ship.

 

 

[ukintheus]

The port has grown quite a bit since we were last here in 2012. More buildings have been put up. The pier is still as long though!! LOL

 

 

 

We walked through the port and after a brief discussion with each other (about who was right and who was wrong basically ha ha) about which way we were supposed to go, we figured out where the port exit was and followed the directions to find the representatives from Maya Chan. Another excursion person was friendly and shouted across the street that we needed to keep going to find Maya Chan so it must be fairly obvious who you are looking for if you are walking that far! We met their representative, signed a waiver and got a wrist band and after a brief wait we were shuttled in a large taxi van to Maya Chan. They packed the van tight and Scott and I both squeezed into one seat at the end of the bench. We were given the choice to get in or wait for the next shuttle but we manage it OK. It was about a 6 mile journey there and the last part was on an unpaved and very bumpy road which for some reason made me giggle and I was having a hard time to not look like a crazy person to the lady sitting next to me. LOL Scott took these photos along the way seeing as he was so nice and close to the window and all.

 

 

 

Pulling in we were immediately met by the owner Steve who was waiting outside for us and he showed us around and we were taken to our shade cabana for the day.

 

 

We were immediately served a welcome rum punch drink, chips, pico de gallo and guacamole. All of it was very fresh and delicious and started the day there in great style.

 

[ukintheus]

We settled in to do nothing for the day (imagine that) except float in the water a little and relax. We decided to book a 30 minute massage each and scheduled it for noon for $25 each. While I was arranging that Scott took a wander around.

 

This is one of the larger cabanas for a bigger party.

 

 

View from their tree-top covered chairs.

 

 

Restaurant area.

 

 

The service here was fantastic and we were waited on hand and foot all day, including them bringing us drinks in the water. It was perfect.

 

 

They do a good job of making you very aware when you book that this isn't going to be a pristine beach and that the water here can be cloudy. They have sea grass and the current in this area also brings in some trash from various parts of the world. They say they have had trash from as far away as Japan. We didn't find it to be bad at all just a few floating pieces here and there, and the sea grass wasn't bad at all. They work very had to keep the beach clean and had at least 4 people constantly cleaning.

 

 

[ukintheus]

We could see the cruise ships in the distance.

 

 

Here you can see some of the sea grass, it's not really thick, at least not where we were. There weren't really what I would call pretty fish, but these hung around quite a bit.

 

 

 

At one point, because I’d asked for water twice in a row, the server insisted she bring me a fresh mango margarita – who was I to deny her the pleasure?

 

 

The massage lady came and got us at noon. The massage was pretty basic but for $25 I wasn’t complaining and it just added to the relaxation of the day. Right as we got done lunch was being served.

 

There was beef, chicken, pork and sea bass along with fresh made tortillas, charro beans and all the stuff to put on your taco. It was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We met their cat, Stella, who was very interested in everyone that was willing to give her a tidbit to eat.

 

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by ukintheus

[ukintheus]

The afternoon went quickly seeing as we were doing nothing – this was one of those places you could just stay at forever. More drinks happened.

 

 

It was so nice and relaxing.

 

 

Lots of people took advantage of the kayaks and paddle boards.

 

 

Someone came around with a clip board and asked what time we wanted to be picked up to be taken back to the ship and we chose 2:30 pm. The last taxi was leaving at 3:30 pm and they were obviously going to make sure that nobody was late getting back to the ship. They came around and gave us a 20 minute reminder and at 2:30 pm the taxi took us and one other family back to the port. Here's a couple of beachside photos on the way back.

 

 

 

The plan originally had been to try and do a little bit of shopping back at the port, but once we were walking through it there was nothing that was jumping out at us at all so we decided to just get back onboard.

 

 

There was no wait at all to board which was really nice. We really loved our day at Maya Chan and would go back there again in a heartbeat.

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by ukintheus

[ukintheus]

We stopped at Hoof & Claw to grab a drink and were told there was going to be a Dreamworks parade at 5 pm and that their seats outside had a great view. We went back to our cabin and got showered and changed and went back down at 4:30 pm to watch the Move It parade.

 

 

It was a fun parade but some of the performers didn't look too thrilled to be participating! LOL

 

 

The other funny thing is that nobody in the parade was wearing the same shoes and their Nikes, or whatever footwear they chose to wear, kind of stood out against the costumes. Scott noticed it too, so you know it kinda stood out! Ha ha. There were definitely differences between the quality of the parade vs DCL, but I count that type of thing as an extra if you want to do it, not something that's fundamental to the cruise one way or the other. I'll guarantee you kids won't notice any difference and as adults we just don't care. LOL

 

 

 

 

[ukintheus]

 

 

 

 

We went back to our cabin and relaxed for a while. While the parade was going on we had left Costa Maya.

 

 

Ahhh....such a hard life.

 

[ukintheus]

The Carnival ship had left just before us but we caught up with it quickly.

 

 

We sat out on the veranda for a long time as the sky was taunting us with the possibility of a sunset.

 

 

 

There was lightening show off in the distance. It was so beautiful to see it snaking across the sky and we ooohed and ahhhed appropriately and Scott tried in vain to get a good photograph.

 

 

 

Eventually we had to get ready for dinner. Tonight we were in Giovanni's. We got up there right at 8 pm and were seated promptly. Scott ordered mussels and I ordered the buffalo mozzarella. Our appetizers were brought out at the same time as the antipasto platter which was a little strange as we didn't really want to eat all of them at the same time, so we barely touched the antipasto, which we usually really enjoy eating first.

 

[ukintheus]

We both ordered the filet as we had been told it was better than the one in Chops, but for us it wasn't as good as the one we had in Chops earlier in the week. It wasn't bad, just not as good of a cut of meat we thought. Scott also didn't care for the texture of the mashed potatoes, but I think that's partly to do with the fact that he really thought there was cheese (he hates cheese) in there somewhere. I kept telling him there wasn't, but his mind was telling him otherwise! LOL Excuse the slightly fuzzy photo, evidently my stealth photo taking wasn't as great as I thought!

 

 

The server also brought us out a pasta dish for us to try when he bought out the steaks. It was very sweet of him, but again weird timing.

 

 

And then was very kind to take our photo...all while our food was going cold. LOL I feel very ungrateful even putting this in here, but the whole evening was just "off" in terms of service.

 

 

The server came to ask us if we would like to change our Friday reservation in Chops to Giovanni's as we could get lobster as part of our meal in Giovanni's whereas it wasn’t included at Chops. It was a bit awkward, as neither of us really wanted to make the decision then and there, but we felt a bit pressured and so agreed and he changed our reservation for us. My gut on the whole “pushiness” to change was because we bought a nice bottle of wine and he was getting the gratuity on that especially as a little while later he asked us if we wanted to pre-order the same wine and he would open it about 30 minutes before we were due to arrive. LOL The nice part of me says that he was doing it because it took about 30 minutes for the wine to open up enough where we could drink it (they didn’t have a decanter, which was kinda weird) and the other part of me says he just wanted the $$. ;)

 

Scott got Cannoli to go for dessert and I got the Italian meringue.

 

 

So all in all the food was good, but it wasn't as good as Chops (in our opinion) and the service had been a little strange, but we had enjoyed our meal. We waddled out of there and went straight back to our cabin as it was going to be a very early start tomorrow in Roatan, Honduras. Walid had left us another cutie to keep the bed warm and we watched a little TV before going to bed by 10:00 pm.

 

[ukintheus]

Thursday, September 1st – Roatan, Honduras

 

I woke up really early at about 5:30 am and went outside to sit on the balcony. We were barely moving and by 6:30 am the ship was getting ready to dock. The island looked very sleepy in the early morning sun.

 

 

 

Maybe the other side of the bridge is really busy? LOL

 

 

The port was getting ready for the early arrival. This was a new port for us and we were scheduled to go to Little French Key, another private excursion found through Trip Advisor.

 

 

It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day.

 

 

Off in the distance the re-routed Carnival ship was making its way in. Hopefully all those passengers were able to get other excursions booked to enjoy their new itinerary.

 

[ukintheus]

We had room service scheduled again, this time for 7:00-7:30 am and it arrived at 7:29 am.

 

 

We were cleared to get off the ship by 7:15 am but it was closer to 7:50 am by the time we were done with breakfast. Again we got off the ship with little to no others disembarking. The elevators were all empty too, so different from DCL! We walked through the port and found our transportation and, lucky for us, we were the last two to squeeze on the bus (second day in a row!) and we were off. I was in the middle jump seat, and they always makes me laugh because they are so horribly uncomfortable and you feel like it could just snap shut and fold you up like a taco at any moment. Ha ha. It did put me in a good spot to take some photos along the way though.

 

 

The roads were busy with everyone going to work or school. It appeared most people hopped onto any truck that would slow down enough for them. Now I'm curious if they know the people driving or if it's just a way to get around?? Even school children were doing it.

 

 

Some places were a closer call than others...

 

 

The power lines here had me thinking that a hurricane is never a good thing on these islands.

 

 

If you ever want to see the Hottest Sparrow, here's the turn! Made me laugh.

 

[ukintheus]

It took about 15-20 minutes to get to Frenchy's 44 which is the restaurant owned by the people who also own the island and where the shuttle boat took us across.

 

This appeared to be their house....now THAT's a tough life.

 

 

There was a brief wait in line to pay. It was $98 per person for the day with the package that included a snorkeling trip, lunch, and 2 drink tickets. The boat ride is extremely short, maybe 5 minutes totally including getting on and off and we got there at about 8:30 am ship time, 7:30 am local time. This is where we were headed.

 

 

And this is where we left from.

 

 

We had someone waiting for us as we came into the dock.

 

 

This looked like a hangman's noose to me! LOL

 

 

We were shown around the island and saw the rescue animals that have been saved by the family, who are American. This lion used to be in a circus, I had read somewhere online before we left that he's a very old man.

 

 

[blackshirt]

Nice review. Since you seem to be enjoying yourself and plan to sail Royal again, you will definitely want to enroll in Royal's Crown and Anchor Society, if you haven't already. You will get a nice jump on points being in a Junior Suite.

[ukintheus]

There were lots of places to sit in the shade.

 

 

 

 

We decided to get into the water. It felt a little chilly when we first got in but it was a great temperature and felt perfect after that initial shock. I'm a real wussy about cold water! LOL.

 

[ukintheus]

 

Scott went to see what time our snorkeling excursion left, and although there were several throughout the day, we decided to take the one that left in about 15 minutes. We slathered up with sunscreen and headed off to the boat. We took our own snorkel equipment and borrowed their fins. We were taken out to a reef about 15 minutes from the island. The guide gives you some instruction and then it's a JUMP....yes....you had to jump in so I pulled on my big girl panties (fortunately I had brought them with me), closed my eyes, held my nose and went for it. Miracle of miracles I survived (yet again LOL) It's really not on my list of favorite things to do though! Thankfully I was the first of 3 chickens, so I didn't look quite AS chicken as I could have. It was all so worth it though and it was some of the better snorkeling that we have done.

 

 

We saw a large school of "blue fish". I told Scott I want to study up a bit before our next trip so I know more about what I'm looking at!

 

 

There was a large drop off and I had to laugh at myself as I got a little nervous, like my fear of heights was kicking in but the opposite way around....this was deep!!!

 

 

 

The photos don't really do it justice. It's really hard to take photographs underwater as you can't see a thing on the screen as to what you are taking so it's just a point and guess!

 

[ukintheus]

 

 

Our guide had spotted a lobster and tried to coax it to move so we could all see it but it just scuttled further under the coral.

 

 

This is really hard to see but there was a yacht of some kind that sank about 10 years ago. It got stripped of everything that was of value and now is sitting on the bottom.

 

 

The boat picked us up again after about 45 minutes and we headed back to Little French Key. Great snorkeling excursion and we loved every minute of it.

 

We got back to the island and decided to trade in one of our drink tickets and swim a little more. We both went with a local brew.

 

 

[ukintheus]

We loved hanging out in the water under this palapa. It had a perfect view of the ocean and we could be in the shade.

 

 

Happy peeps - this is the shore with the bar area behind us.

 

 

And with the ocean behind us. This was a man-made lagoon behind a breakwater that had been put in. There wasn't anything to see for snorkeling but the water was crystal clear and it was a mostly sandy bottom with the odd rock or two around.

 

 

Lunch was being served at 10:30 am/11:30 am ship time and we had to leave at 12:30/1:30 to get back to the ship. Lunch was chicken, beef, shrimp and lobster served with plantains, rice and beans, coleslaw and pico.

 

 

 

It was all very good and we ate every bite of it. We grabbed another couple of local beers and went to take a good look around the island.

 

This was the other bar area on the opposite side of the lagoon.

 

[ukintheus]

Looking back to where we were sitting. The palapa to the left at the back is where we were hanging out and our chairs were on the beach area to the right of that.

 

 

They also had a horseback excursion where you could ride them in the water. I usually avoid those at all costs because typically the horses in the Caribbean are not well cared for, but these were very well taken care of and they looked beautiful.

 

 

They had several rescue animals plus some aviaries. This guy was hanging out in an enclosure over close to another beach.

 

 

This is another beach, not as shaded as the spot we chose though.

 

 

We were told that the last shuttle would leave at 12:30 pm/1:30 pm ship time and so the day was fairly short.

 

Scott had to try a hammock although - he didn't look comfy and he didn't stay there long! LOL

 

[BillOh]

There was no wait at all to board which was really nice. We really loved our day at Maya Chan and would go back there again in a heartbeat.

 

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You're doing a great job with this review, thanks. If/when we go back to Costa Maya, i will look at this place.

[CapeCodCruiser]

Thanks for the great review so far! We are on her in 30 days - so excited!! I'll stay tuned to see how it ends!

 

I hope you switched your final dinner back to Chops!

[ukintheus]

We saw some people packing up and decided that we would head back as well. They used the boat to shuttle back and forth frequently it seemed as we didn't have to wait long at all and as soon as we got to the mainland they had a taxi van waiting to take us back to the ship. We had one stop at Coxen Hole as there was one couple that were on the re-routed Carnival ship but we were back on board by about 1:45 pm.

 

We had a nice time and really enjoyed the snorkeling and the food was really good. For us it's probably a "been there, done that" place. The only "dislike", if you can call it that, is that the two bars on either side of the lagoon had different music going on, and both at pretty loud volume, so we felt like we were caught between a battle of the DJ's especially as one was playing country and the other reggae, so you never knew what you were really listening to.

 

When we got back to the room there was a note on our "not a fish extender" explaining that there had been a number of instances of intestinal/norovirus and that extra precautions were going to be taken for the remainder of the cruise. We were also left this little plate of goodies....imagine two more on there...we ate them before I remembered to take a photo!

 

 

Scott took a nap as he hadn't slept well at all last night and had only just fallen asleep before I got up (at the before-crack of dawn if you remember). We left Roatan at 4 pm and went out on the veranda to watch us sail away. Beautiful blue water.

 

 

 

While we were on our verandah we met our neighbors who told us that they had been quarantined to their room with suspected norovirus and hadn't been able to leave their cabin for 2 days. They were a very sweet, older couple and as is typical in that Scott never meets a stranger, the man was an oil field fishing hand in Midland, Texas and actually knew people that Scott knew. I would say small world, but somehow that doesn't apply to my husband!

 

 

The pilot boat came and picked him up....a bit different in size from the one in Galveston!

 

[ukintheus]

Some coastline pics.

 

 

 

And there goes the Carnival ship....we didn't see it again.

 

 

We had about 2 hours before dinner and tonight we were going to Sabor at 6:30 pm. We watched the Love Marriage show on the TV that had been on in the theater the night before. We had yet to make one single show in case you had missed that small point!

 

We decided to go down to Promenade Cafe and grab some ice water. I decided to get another iced coffee seeing as it was included on our drink package, and Scott grabbed a cookie because they were staring him in the face.

 

At 6:30 pm we went to Sabor for dinner. One interesting thing we noted was that when we were down on Deck 4, all of the shops had someone outside them squirting hand sanitizer at anything that moved. Outside Sabor there was one dispenser and you had to touch the handle of the restaurant after sanitizing your hands in order to get in. Hmmm..LOL

 

We got the set appetizer of chips, salsa, cucumber with chile, and guacamole. They make the guacamole tableside and we asked for the guacamole medium hot and it had quite a kick to it. Scott added raw jalepenos to his!

 

 

Avocado margarita....and, yes, it was delicious and, yes, it was included on our drink package. Woohoo!

 

 

Jalepeno and cucumber margarita for Scott. He said it was also very good. The drinks took a long time to come out though. 20 minutes from when we ordered...we were almost twitching!! Ha ha.

 

[ukintheus]

Scott ordered tortilla soup and forgot about the cheese, so that turned into a bit of a fishing expedition to get it all out. LOL. He said it was very spicy, almost too spicy - and he likes spicy!

 

 

I got the chile calamari and it was very good.

 

 

I then got the mole beef short ribs and Scott got empanadas.

 

My short ribs were not very good at all. I would say there was maybe 3 bites of meat and the rest was just fat. I know short ribs tend to be fatty, but this was fat with a touch of meat added really.

 

 

Scott said his empanadas were OK, nothing great, nothing bad.

 

 

The sides were beans and a corn, black bean and zuccini blend.

 

 

The dessert platter was very large and we hardly put a dent in it, although I had a good try but most of them were very sweet.