Liberty of the Seas - September 11, 2016

[soccermommie]

We had another wonderful Royal Caribbean cruise. Sorry, I won't be posting any pics, but there are plenty of threads with really great pics of the ship. For the ease of reading, I'll break up my thoughts into several posts.

 

Background & Demographics

 

This was our 30th cruise but our first on Liberty of the Seas. We have cruised with Royal Caribbean (13x), Carnival (16x) and Princess (1x). Our preferred cruise line is Royal Caribbean while our kids like Carnival better. This was our first cruise on a Freedom Class ship but found Liberty to be very similar to the Voyager Class ships which we’ve sailed many times and really like. We’ve not tried the Oasis or Quantum Class ships yet. I’m sure we will try them eventually, but we have concerns that the mega ships will be too big and busy for our taste. We are booked back on the Liberty in December and booked that cruise prior to this one.

 

We are a couple in our early 40’s with 5 children. We left the kids at home for this trip. I’m a SAHM, and hubby’s work schedule allows him a lot of freedom for travel so we cruise whenever we find great pricing. Since we can easily drive from our home to Galveston or New Orleans on the day of embarkation, we sail primarily out of those home ports. Because of this, we have been to the same ports of call multiple times and rarely do excursions anymore. Often, we don’t even get off the ship at the ports. As introverts, we really enjoy a virtually empty ship on port days.

 

We take other vacations (ski trips, amusement parks, beaches, etc.), but cruising is hubby’s and my favorite. In our opinion, nothing beats the scenery and serenity of being on a ship in the middle of the ocean with the one you love. Most of our cruises are less about the ports and more about simply disconnecting from the world and reconnecting with one another. For us, cruises are a time of relaxation and rest rather than constant activity.

 

Parking & Embarkation

 

Since cabins on Royal aren’t generally available until 1:00pm, we plan to get to the port around that time. We parked at EZCruise Parking at 12:40pm. The shuttle dropped off Carnival cruisers first, and then we were dropped off at Terminal 2 at 1:00pm. We were on the ship at 1:15pm. Obviously, check-in went very quickly. We get the perk of priority embarkation as Diamond cruisers. We always check to see if the regular or priority check-in line is shorter and que up accordingly. There were only a couple of people in the priority line, so we were checked in and on the ship very quickly. The regular embarkation line was longer, but not terribly long at that time.

 

We pack light, so we carry on all of our luggage ourselves. This routine works best for my personality quirk of wanting to unpack and build our “nest” as soon as we board so I can relax and get the vacation started right away rather than waiting for our luggage to be delivered later.

 

Considering we were sailing on 9/11, we fully expected heightened security, and we were shocked to experience more lax security than we have ever had getting on a ship. When we first entered the terminal and reached the podium where you show your SetSail pass and ID, I offered the lady our SetSail pass and tried to give her our passports. She glanced at the SetSail pass but refused our passports and actually said, “I’m too lazy to look at your passports; go on.” Then, when we got to the security screening area, my husband asked the man at the luggage scanner if he should remove his laptop from his backpack before putting it through the scanner. They always say yes; however, this time the man said no. I have to admit that the decreased sense of security was a bit disconcerting to us. It would be bothersome anytime, but it was especially so on the 15th anniversary of 9/11.

[soccermommie]

Cabin

 

We aren’t really picky about cabin type. Mainly, we look for cabins that should be quiet because they are between two floors of cabins and away from “empty” areas on deck plans that could be crew stairways, cleaning closets, etc. We’re just as happy to cruise in an inside cabin as a balcony. We like insides because of the pitch black being conducive to great daytime naps, and we like balconies for the private place to watch the water and read. We avoid oceanview cabins because they aren’t worth the extra money to us to lose the dark quality of an inside but not have access to have fresh air like with a balcony. Basically, we book whichever is the better value. We prefer to cruise more frequently in budget accommodations than less frequently in more luxurious ones.

 

This sailing we were in inside cabin 6499. It was at the very end of the hallway in the aft of the ship, and it was a good choice. It was quiet and peaceful. It is a long walk down that hall, but we don’t mind the walk. 6499 is a standard inside cabin with a sofa. We think the design of Royal’s inside cabins flow much better than those on Carnival and Princess, and the storage solutions are much better as well. The only oddity of the room was the bracket on which the flatscreen tv was mounted. It didn’t extend out far enough to get around the curtains that are hung between the bed and “living” area, even with the curtains pushed back as far as possible, so the curtains kept pushing the tv back and turning it more toward the sofa than the bed,. We could still watch the tv from bed; it just wasn’t as clear of a view. We don’t watch a lot of tv on cruises, but it’s football season so, of course, we watched some games. Otherwise, we just watch CNN occasionally to catch up on world news.

 

Ship

 

The ship was just beautiful. It was clean and well maintained, and we found it to be easily navigable. It’s easy to remember that, for the most part, food is aft and entertainment is forward. We like the feel of the Promenade lined with stores and places to eat. It’s an annoyance when they set the tables out along the middle of the Promenade for the “sales” because it creates way too much traffic congestion, but we just don’t walk the length of the Promenade during those times.

 

The Solarium is a favorite spot of ours on Royal ships. Obviously, we have nothing against children since we have 5 of our own, but we do enjoy quiet, calm spaces to relax while on a cruise. This Solarium had much less seating in the open (sunny) area by the pool – only about 24 loungers - than other ships we’ve sailed, but it had plenty of loungers in the covered area. There are also a few two person porch-type swings. The pool is fresh water, but it isn’t heated. It was very comfortable for my husband, but I’m more cold-natured, and it was too cold for me. That’s not unusual, so it didn’t bother me. I’m not much of a swimmer, anyway. I would walk down the stairs up to about my thighs and cool off and then go back to my lounger. Also, the pool is much deeper than the ones on other ships we’ve sailed. You can’t stand in the pool with your head above water. There are two hot tubs in the Solarium area that are cantilevered out over the water. Hubby liked the hot tubs, but I didn’t get in on this trip.

 

Deck 4 is another spot where we spent a lot of time. This is where we walked in the morning. We like it much better than the actual walking track. Deck 4 is much longer, less crowded, covered and has a bit of a challenge to it compared to the walking track. To make a complete circle around the ship, you have to walk up the stairs at the bow of the ship up to deck 5 (where the helicopter pad is) and then back down on the other side. Deck 4 is also a pleasant place to sit and read or watch the water, and it has a great vantage point for watching pier runners.

 

The R Bar has some good seating for people watching as do the overlooks on decks 6-9 between the aft elevators.

 

We really liked watching football or movies on the big screen on deck by the main pool. The screen placement was good on this ship with hardly any sightline obstructions.

[soccermommie]

Dining

 

We’ve signed up for My Time Dining (MTD) since its inception. As introverts who do not enjoy dining with strangers, this has been our best option for having a guaranteed private table for 2. On all of our cruises combined, we have only not eaten in the dining room 2 or 3 times. We signed up for MTD for this cruise as well; however, for the first time ever, we expressly planned to eat all of our meals in the Windjammer for a number of reasons.

 

First, we don’t enjoy long, drawn-out dinners. For awhile, MTD allowed us to get in and out of the dining room quickly because the waiters adjusted to our pace. Unfortunately, this aspect has changed considerably over the last couple of years. I don’t know if more people choose MTD now or if there’s been a decrease in staff, but the pace in MTD now resembles that of set dining in that the waiters seem determined to keep their entire section on the same timetable. (This may be more pronounced when the dining room first opens for dinner, which is when we prefer to eat.) We do not linger over meals, so in the past, our meals have easily lasted an hour or less in the dining room. Now, we find it takes at least an hour and a half but usually more like two hours to get out of the dining room, even when we tell the waitstaff we would like to eat quickly to get to a show, etc. We find that very frustrating, so we decided to simply eliminate that source of frustration this time around. Basically, we’d rather participate in the evening activities of interest to us than be held captive in the dining room.

 

Additionally, the quality of food has significantly decreased in the dining room in our opinion. (We recognized that food is very subjective) We do not enjoy dressing up, even to the degree of smart casual, but we always conform to the suggested dress code for the venue. We would always change for dinner and then change right back to “regular” clothes for the rest of the night. For us, the current quality of food in the dining room simply no longer warrants the extra luggage, time and effort involved in dressing for dinner.

 

Finally, we aren’t into food enough to have any interest in the optional dining venues like Chops, Giovanni’s, Sabor, etc. We appreciate good food, but “fine dining” just isn’t our thing. Also, the reviews we’ve read about the optional dining venues indicate a long dinner experience, which we don’t enjoy, and enormous portions, which we don’t need or want.

 

We did, indeed, eat every meal in the Windjammer, and we were quite pleased with our decision. In fact, we don’t envision ever eating in the dining room again. The Windjammer was well run. Tables were bussed quickly; we never had trouble finding a table. Waitstaff were very visible and frequently offered tea, water & lemonade; although, we always just picked up our drinks ourselves from the drink station. We thought it was a nice touch, as well, that Windjammer management constantly circled through the tables with trays of muffins, donuts, cookies, warm garlic bread, drinks, etc. It’s a clever means for management to interact with and be available to guests while also observing the staff without just standing there doing nothing but staring. The atmosphere of the Windjammer at dinner was also more pleasant than the dining room, which actually surprised us. It was quieter and less crowded, and they dim the lights which makes it feel much more intimate.

 

There were things we chose that we didn’t care for in the Windjammer, but we always were able to find something satisfying to eat. We liked being able to control our own portions – more soup and salad and less entrée and sides. Probably our very favorite item in the Windjammer is the cranberry raisin bread at breakfast. It is fabulous, and I won’t eat breakfast anywhere else on the ship specifically because of that bread. If I could smuggle home a loaf or two, you better believe I would! At both lunch and dinner, they generally have a very nice salad bar, an assortment of fruit and quite satisfying pasta dishes. One day they had ribs that were very good; another night the ribs that were offered were subpar – very fatty. The chicken marsala and parmesan chicken at dinner were very good. They always have the cold fruit soups that are offered in the dining room at dinner (strawberry bisque, peach, pineapple lychee, etc.), and we like those a lot as well. The desserts are hit in miss in the Windjammer just as they are in the dining room. The lemon pie, key lime pie and strawberry cheesecake were all very good. The cookies are fantastic, but they are very inconsistent in texture. Sometimes they are soft and chewy, and sometimes they are crunchy. A big bonus for me is that the Windjammer has scoop ice cream as a dessert option at dinner. I have a bit of an ice cream addiction, so this was my go-to. They had 2 different flavors every night with optional toppings as well. Hubby also enjoyed the crepe bar a couple of nights for dessert. Overall, hubby and I both feel the food – buffet included - is better on Carnival, but we found the food on Liberty to be perfectly good and satisfying.

 

We did not order room service on this cruise.

 

Snacks

 

We didn’t do a lot of snacking on this trip. We only got cookies and other sweet treats at the Promenade Café a couple of times, and they were good. We also got pizza once at Sorrento’s. It was ok. We prefer the crust on Carnival’s pizza but the toppings at Sorrento’s. Sprinkles, the soft serve ice cream station, was a HUGE disappointment for my husband who really enjoys getting a cone a few times a day. There was only one soft serve station, and it was often closed during the open hours posted in the Compass. It almost always had a horrible rotten milk smell around it.

[soccermommie]

Crew

 

Cruise director preferences are subjective. A cruise director cannot make or break a cruise for us. It’s a bonus if we enjoy them; if not, we simply avoid the activities which the cruise director runs him or herself, such as Love and Marriage and the Quest. Our cruise director on this ship was Jeffrey Arpin. We cruised on the Navigator with him last fall. We didn’t enjoy him then, and we still don’t enjoy him now. We went to his Love and Marriage show on our Navigator cruise, and it was absolutely awful – he added some of his own questions, and they were terribly lame and fell completely flat. So, on this cruise, we skipped Love and Marriage and the Quest.

 

Everyone appeared to do their jobs adequately enough, but they just didn’t seem as guest-oriented as we’ve experienced on other ships. There was a marked difference in general attitude compared to crew on other ships we’ve sailed, regardless of cruise line. Other than the waitstaff in Windjammer who were always smiling and pleasant, interactions with the vast majority of the crew around the ship bordered on terse. We always smile and greet any crew member we encounter and thank them for services rendered (a snack or a drink, etc.), and they would often not even make eye contact or acknowledge us either verbally or with a smile or anything. Overall, we just did not feel a sense of friendliness or of being welcomed.

 

An exception was our room attendant and the other stewards down our hallway. Our attendant did an excellent job. We have very few requests (an extra blanket, 3 towels and washcloths daily and ice), and we keep our cabin very tidy. Our attendant was very efficient and quickly figured out our schedule and serviced our cabin as soon as she started work each morning and evening. The other room stewards along our hall were very friendly and greeted us every time we passed by. We also really liked one of the bartenders, Virgil, in the Platinum Theater and briefly chatted with him a couple of nights while we were getting our diet cokes.

 

 

Ports

 

In Roatan, we didn’t get off the ship. In the past, we’ve booked excursions through Victor Bodden (zipline, monkeys, beach), and were very pleased.

 

In Costa Maya, we took a taxi into town and walked along the malecon. It was a pleasant way to spend an hour or so, even in the September heat. We had considered going to Blue Kay. Since we’re not really ones to stay for hours at a beach, all-inclusive beach clubs are not for us, so Blue Kay would have been a good option for us. We ended up deciding we’d rather just spend time in the Solarium looking at the beach than actually being on the beach. If we return to this port in the future, we’d consider Blue Kay or an excursion to some ruins, but we’d probably just stay on the ship otherwise.

 

This was our 29th trip to Cozumel and have pretty much done everything there we care to do, so we stayed on this ship in this port.

[soccermommie]

Activities

 

We are creatures of habit, even on a cruise. We generally follow the same routine every day: get up at 0600, walk outside on deck 4 for an hour while we watch the sunrise, breakfast, Solarium for a couple of hours, nap in the cabin, lunch, reading on deck or another nap, dinner, perhaps watch the sunset, evening show or movie, bed. We don’t do late-night clubs, pubs or deck parties. On port days, if we’re going ashore, we still usually walk, have breakfast and enjoy some time in the Solarium before getting off the ship unless, of course, we’re doing a long excursion in port.

 

We don’t really participate in the organized daytime activities, but judging from the Compass, this ship offered all the usual activities we’ve noted on other ships across the cruise lines. We did go to a cooking demonstration one morning. It was interesting, but it was very difficult to understand the “hosts” because of their thick accents and low volume on the microphones they wore. They did give out samples, and what we got was yummy. Tip: sit either in the front or the back because that’s where they start when handing out samples, moving toward the middle. We were in the middle and got missed on some of the samples.

 

On one of the port days, we tried the slides. The Cyclone and Typhoon slides were fun – nothing scary or overly exciting, just normal slides. We really wanted to try the Tidal Wave, and although it was scheduled to be open that afternoon, it was closed and being worked on. We were told it would hopefully be open from 5-7 that evening. We had other plans, so we didn’t check back and don’t know if it was operational later or not. We did not ask what they were working on or if it had been operational earlier in the week.

 

We usually play mini golf at least a time or two each cruise. We looked at it on embarkation day when we were exploring the ship, but we never made it back during this cruise. It’s a pretty small mini golf, but looked fun anyway. Maybe we’ll make it there in December.

 

The ice, production and headliner shows are very subjective. We enjoyed both of the comedians – Rick Starr and Sam Fedele - and appreciated that neither felt the need to be crude or rude in an attempt to be funny. We did not care for the ventriloquist nor for the vocal impressionist, and we left both of those shows early. Others seemed to be enjoying them, though. The In the Air show was outstanding; I’m sure we’ll see it again when we’re back onboard in December. The ice show was also very enjoyable. We really liked Saturday Night Fever too. The singers and dancers on this ship are quite talented. We attended a guitar legends show one night. The guitarist was very talented, and we enjoyed the show. We would have preferred, however, that it had just been the guitarist and not accompanied by a singer as it was one of the production show singers, and Broadway-style singing just doesn’t quite jive with songs by Guns N Roses, Carlos Santa, etc.

 

We watched football and a couple of movies on the big screen on deck by the main pool. My husband particularly enjoys watching movies, so this is one of our favorite activities on a ship.

 

We each received a notice in our cabin from the Casino that we could present for $5 freeplay which we did. We each used it as matchplay on the roulette table, and we made our $10 into $30. We aren’t gamblers, so we immediately cashed out and left. Bless the table workers; they were so patient with a couple of clueless gamblers. The casino is ridiculously smoky, and we are very sensitive to the smell of smoke so it’s not a place we would choose to hang out. We tried to choose a less busy time to use our matchplay, but it was still intolerably smoky to us.

[soccermommie]

Diamond Lounge and Perks

 

Priority embarkation was fabulous – very quick and efficient. Our sodas, package of cookies and a few bottles of water were in our cabin when we boarded. We did not have robes, and we also never received our chef’s amenity. We didn’t care enough to try to chase someone down about those, but it did leave a bit of a negative impression that it wasn’t done. We very much appreciate the 24hrs (each) of free internet access, and it is easily one of our favorite perks because it allows us to keep in touch with our children back home. However, the internet on Liberty is slow, and I would have been dissatisfied had I been paying for the service. Another favorite Diamond perk is the 3 drinks loaded onto our SeaPass card each evening. We aren’t alcohol drinkers, but we love our diet coke, so we are thankful for the 3 cans we each get every evening. We also like the free photo perk and usually pose for a few different photographers in an effort to get a couple of good pics.

 

We apparently aren’t Diamond Lounge or Top Tier event people. We don’t like crowds, and we aren’t into small talk, especially with strangers. We generally like the hors d’oeuvres, but we don’t really need to eat right before dinner. We also don’t care much for alcohol. Most annoyingly, something about us must give the impression that we don’t belong there because the self-appointed Diamond and above police always seem to feel the need to question us to make sure we are eligible to be present. It gets really, really old. Because of that, we pretty much avoid the Diamond Lounge. We may peek in, but if it’s super crowded, we leave immediately. This sailing it was incredibly busy, so we spent virtually no time in the Diamond Lounge. We went in a couple of times to ask Jorge a question. One of those times we got a drink, but there was no place to sit or even stand so we immediately left. We didn’t even look at the hors d’oeuvres.

 

We were not impressed with Jorge at all. We went into the lounge twice to ask simple questions which only required an answer but no effort or action on his part. Once we went late in the morning, and only two other people were in the lounge. The other time, it was right as the cocktail hours were beginning and the lounge was crowded, but he was simply sitting behind his desk, not actively doing any tasks or engaged with anyone. Both times he did not greet us, was not the least bit friendly, and pretty much blew us off. There was no sense of common courtesy from him.

 

A very important Diamond benefit to us is priority debarkation. We have an 8 hr drive home once we debark and have children waiting for us, so it’s important to us to get off the ship as quickly and efficiently as possible. For this reason, we choose self-assist and appreciate the perk we’ve experienced on other ships of priority debarkation. We were very, very unhappy to learn that priority debarkation is not offered on Liberty. According to Jorge, this decision was made at the offices in Miami because there are more Diamond and above members that cruise out of Galveston than anywhere else. I do not understand the logic behind that at all. If you’re going to eliminate perks because of the large number of eligible people, why would you choose one that costs the company absolutely nothing monetarily?

 

I’ve read that this sailing had an exceedingly large number of Diamond and above guests, and this may have accounted for some of our experiences on this sailing but it doesn’t excuse the deficiencies.

[soccermommie]

Debarkation

 

Without priority debarkation on Liberty, we were prepared for long lines and chaos based on our debarkation experiences prior to being able to use priority debarkation. To say we were dreading it would be an understatement; however, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that the self-assist debarkation process was the most organized and efficient one we’d ever experienced.

 

We cannot say enough positive things about Christopher Edwards. I don’t know what his role is on the ship normally, but he runs a fantastic debarkation. We were in the designated dining room at 0645. He had everyone line up their luggage in the order they entered and then find a seat at a table nearby. He did a great job of giving clear directions and making sure that everyone followed them. There was no opportunity for people to break in line or sneak in at the last minute and hang out by the doors to debark before those who had been waiting in the dining room. At 7:15, debarkation started. At 7:35, we were through customs, and at 7:45 we were loaded in our car ready to go. Although, we do take the EZCruise shuttle to the port for embarkation, we almost always walk to the lot after we debark. We’d rather walk and get to our car quickly than wait for a shuttle to fill up.

[soccermommie]

Irritations

 

• Having to check out/in pool towels at the towel station by the main pool. First of all, the towels are so thin and tattered that it’s ridiculous to have a check out/in process to start. Who would want to steal those towels? Second, when you’re wet, you need a towel for the trek back to your cabin so you don’t drip the whole way. This, of course, means the next time you go back to the pool, you have a wet towel to take back with you to get another. One night our room attendant took away our wet towels. Of course, she didn’t have dry ones with which to replace them. Trying to explain to the attendants at the towel station why we needed new towels but couldn’t return our old ones was a nightmare. They were very irritated and kept scolding me for letting the cabin attendant take our towels (like we had a choice). We much prefer Carnival’s system of having pool towels in the cabin with the option of leaving them for the attendant to exchange or exchanging them yourself at the towel station.

 

• The ridiculous amount of advertising by the art auction folks. We can’t imagine a scenario in which we’d buy art on a ship, so we hate having all the paper solicitations stuck on our cabin door and left on our bed. We hate the wasted paper, but we can throw it away – no big deal. However, the art auction guys, in our opinion, went one step too far on this ship by leaving a few messages on our cabin phone. Since we have children back at home who are instructed to call our cabin phone to notify us of any emergency, it caused some moments of panic on a few different days when we saw the light flashing on our phone indicating we had a message. We are on the Do Not Call list with our regular phones; we sure don’t appreciated unwanted solicitations on our cabin phones while on vacation.

 

• We’ve seen many complaints about the mattresses on Liberty being too hard. We did not find that to be the case. They were definitely firm but not unbearable to us. We did think, however, that the pillows were absolutely awful. Ships usually have big, fluffy, feather-like pillows that you just sink into. These were flat and stiff.

 

• No Week at a Glance schedule on embarkation day. Most of the ships we’ve sailed leave a one-page schedule that highlights the times/dates for the headliner, ice and production shows for the week long with in all the ship information in your cabin on embarkation. It’s nice to have an idea of when different activities will be offered.

 

• Chair hogs – the Compass states that chair saving is prohibited and that items on unused loungers will be removed by the deck attendant after 30 minutes. We don’t use the main pool, so we don’t know what happened there, but this policy definitely wasn’t followed in the Solarium where the chair hogs were out in full force. We got to the Solarium just before or right at 0800 every morning and stayed until about 10 or 10:30. When we arrived each morning, there were already towels and belongings left on almost all of the loungers in the uncovered area of the Solarium, and most of the people didn’t even come back before we left. There was a mother, her son and daughter who saved chairs every morning. They would take turns periodically coming back to make sure their stuff was still on the loungers, but they only came back and actually used them before we left on one day. Several times we saw them in loungers in other areas of the ship while their belongings were still saving loungers in the Solarium. I felt bad for the numerous people who would come, look for a lounger and have to leave because nothing was available. On the last 2 days of the cruise, there was a “deck patrol” person who stood in one place between the Solarium bar and the pool and watched over the area, but he never moved any items or talked to anyone or anything. I’m not really sure what in the world he was doing, but why have a policy if you’re not going to enforce it?

 

Overall, this was a very good cruise, and we look forward to being back on the Liberty in December.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the well-organized review.

We don't like art auctions either. I believe chair hogs will be here to stay.

[CCC3]

Excellent review! We sailed her in June, and will be back on in January. We've never done the windjammer for dinner, but have already discussed going this January. I'm excited to hear the cold soups are available in the windjammer too! We also thought the beds firm, but okay, and the pillows crappy.

[Lady Scarlet]

Your post were very helpful! Thank you for sharing. My thought on the "chair hogs"; would be to ask if the person saving all the chairs was in area or in the pool, I no one claims it tell an attendant that they are not there and ask it be removed. Ask them if there is a rule for saving chairs and leaving? Complaints might help!

[Doug S]

Thanks for the review. We were on the same sailing and enjoyed it as well...

 

One thing I saw differently was the chair hogging. I was in the Solarium every morning by 8:30 or so and we personally saw surprisingly few chairs being 'hogged'. Wife and I commented on it. In fact, to me it seemed you could find a decent pair of chairs up until about 10:30 every morning, which is unusual. The only real chair hogging incident we witnessed was a very rude man who came in about 11:00 and tried to take the chair right down front from a woman who was right there in the pool taking a dip. She had just left the chair a few moments before he came in. He yelled at her that saving chairs was against the rules on your Sea Pass, whatever that means. He got no support from other cruisers, so he went to complain to the pool patrol guy, who rounded up an unused chair and put it in a walkway down front for the guy. Then he left his stuff on his chair and went and got into the pool. Say What??? Some people's mental abilities just amaze the crap outa me....

[soccermommie]

Thanks for the review. We were on the same sailing and enjoyed it as well...

 

One thing I saw differently was the chair hogging. I was in the Solarium every morning by 8:30 or so and we personally saw surprisingly few chairs being 'hogged'. Wife and I commented on it. In fact, to me it seemed you could find a decent pair of chairs up until about 10:30 every morning, which is unusual. The only real chair hogging incident we witnessed was a very rude man who came in about 11:00 and tried to take the chair right down front from a woman who was right there in the pool taking a dip. She had just left the chair a few moments before he came in. He yelled at her that saving chairs was against the rules on your Sea Pass, whatever that means. He got no support from other cruisers, so he went to complain to the pool patrol guy, who rounded up an unused chair and put it in a walkway down front for the guy. Then he left his stuff on his chair and went and got into the pool. Say What??? Some people's mental abilities just amaze the crap outa me....

 

 

People are funny, for sure. We love people watching; it provides endless entertainment. One lady complained to us one morning about all but one of the loungers in the sun being saved by possessions when there clearly were only a handful of people in the Solarium at the time. She wandered around a bit, dragged a couple of loungers to the uncovered area, put her stuff on them, and promptly left! Crazy! I must admit, though, with my quirks and clumsiness, I'm sure I've given others plenty of laughs myself :)

 

The chair hogging in the early am we noticed was limited to the loungers in the uncovered area of the Solarium on sea days. There were only about 24 chairs in the uncovered area, so chair hogging made a big impact for those who wanted to be in the sun. We only spend about 1-1 1/2 hours in the sun and then move to the shade. There was only one sea day we were unable to find two shaded loungers together after we'd had our sun. It was no problem on port days as it was virtually empty on those days.

[Doug S]

Yeah, there will always be some chogging, but it was not like I have seen in the past with neatly folded towels placed on entire rows of chairs at 7:00 AM with a single flip flop or other personal momento left with it to somehow make it look legit. Then nobody in them at all until after noon. Most of the chairs I saw at least had some sign of life. I guess to us it seemed like this bunch of cruisers did not abuse it like some do.

 

I am with you on the people watching. Some people can be very entertaining without realizing it.

 

Did you happen to see the couple with the 'service dog' that always got its own chair in bars and restaurants, and was fed off of plates. I made it a point to avoid those chairs. Black pants and light colored dog hair is not a good combo. Maybe the dog served a legit function, but there should be some expectations on how they must behave. After recent threads on here I found it interesting, if disappointing.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for your review. We will be on LOS in December. It's nice knowing what to expect.

[loeytalldog]

Thanks for a great review and taking the time to do it! Liberty is on our list for next summer!

[bluejeanlady]

Traveling with friends and having sailed on Liberty in April, this was a win win all the way. Very casual week. Had a great time at the 70's Disco night where our group of 14 all dressed the part!! The Quest was an absolute blast! Jeff Arpin is a great cruise director. We live within a 2 hour drive of Galveston and have cruised from there many times. Embarkation and disembarkation was as smooth as it could be! Loved our dining room attendants, Fernando and Wingdong. Our cabin steward Dennis was very accommodating. Saw two bartenders from last trip on Liberty that greeted us by name! As this was our 12th trip to the Caribbean, we did not do any excursions this time, just chilled out on the beautiful ship while everyone else went ashore!! Yeah, best time! Absolutely the only thing I would have to complain about is the time it takes to get in and get fed at Johnny Rockets. Hope this issue is addressed soon. The new slides and the Tidal Wave looked amazing.

[jeanneful]

What channels are on the tv? My husband loves watching tv at night and sometimes during the day.

[Doug S]

What channels are on the tv? My husband loves watching tv at night and sometimes during the day.

 

Ship Channels, CNN, 2 ESPN international channels, HLN, TRU, a bunch of reruns of 2 Broke girls, Friends, and such, and some DreamWorks movies. and lots of other language stations. Pretty slim pickings...

Edited September 26, 2016 by Doug S

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your very easy to read detailed review.

[JTBCruiser]

We sail on her this November, can hardly wait!

[BlueSkiesTX]

I can't wait to try that cranberry raisin bread! :D

[durangokid]

Thanks for your review. We were also on this sailing and it proves everything is subjective. I would say 90% of staff and crew we saw/interacted with were very friendly and smiling. Even had one waiter from dining room who had only waited on us one time recall my first name several days later while getting a coffee at cafe promenade - I was impressed with that! Chair hogging in solarium - I did not notice a lot of this but there were some that I noticed with shirts, bags, shoes, etc on them and never saw anyone using these chairs. As with any cruise on any line - YMMV. Happy cruising everyone!