Newbie Cruiser Impressions - LibertyOTS 10/9/16

[iconions]

This will be a quick and dirty review. I'm an unreformed 54 yo "Chatty-Kathy" (so called by my DW) who has never met a stranger. My DW is a little more reserved. She also currently has early stage Parkinson's and tears in both Achilles' tendons. She was pretty much confined to a wheelchair if there was much walking involved. This fact really affects our viewpoint on our cruise. I do appreciate the fact that fellow passengers were patient while we maneuvered through the crowds and onto elevators. It did crack me up, though, to hear a couple of entitled 10 and 11-year-olds complain that the elevator was stopping on every floor. Umm, quit complaining and take the stairs!

 

As this was our very first cruise of any type, we decided to go ahead and book an interior on the 10th floor. We heard that the cabin attendants who handle the upper crust suites also take great care of the interiors across the hall. Our cabin attendant, Edna, was such a joy and actually made our entire cruise.

 

I felt (and feel) that the food was actually really good - here is my take. If you have Morton's and Ruth Chris' tastes and expectations, you will be REALLY disappointed. Our Chili's or Applebee's tastes were quite satisfied. Again, the wait staff - Jonelee and Keti were great. Dinner pacing was kept a decent pace and food recommendations were spot on.

 

Entertainment on the boat was generally good - loved the live music in the bars. Phil Anderson, Maneolito, Bubba Feathers all were excellent. Headliners were generally good - didn't care for the ventriloquist, loved El Gaucho, In the Air, and EnCore; liked Saturday Night Fever.

 

I can't really comment on the alcohol on the boat - I get migraines from it and my wife doesn't drink. We did like hanging out in the Schooner Bar where again we got great service and got to listen to great music. We thought that the "virgin" strawberry daiquiris and lava flows were fine and quite tasty!

 

We did two outside tours - Victor Bodden in Roatan and Native Choice in Costa Maya. I HIGHLY recommend both of these companies. The Bodden Tour consisted of a Glass Bottom Boat ride, a visit to the Cameo factory, and a tour of the island. The Native Choice tours was a tour of Chacchoben Mayan Ruins and a Native Mayan lunch. We just did about 90 minutes of shopping in Cozumel.

 

As was said earlier, there was a medical emergency three hours out of Coz. The captain went back to Cozumel, dropped off the patient and family, and was back at sea in about 20 minutes. Definite prayers to the family involved - definite razzes to those fellow passengers who felt SO entitled and SO inconvenienced that their schedule was MORE important than the life and safety of a fellow passenger.

 

Impressions - I believe that Royal Caribbean "gets" it. They know that they are in the Customer Care business that happens to cruise. This was seen from the Captain (Rune Johnsen) through the Cruise Director (Jeff Arpin) through the staff members who cleaned rooms and assisted passengers off the boat. I guess that I am a little more sensitive to good and bad Customer Care as I sit behind a phone doing software support for a major company. Were there problems - yes - but they were addressed quickly.

 

The biggest question - will I cruise again? Yea, probably. I have over 30 years experience in doing land vacations and actually I am finishing up with another week in San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Am I "hooked" - not really - it was fun, but so is driving somewhere for me. My wife pretty much summed it up - cruising is a "sampler" platter. Thanks for reading!

[Merion_Mom]

Thank you for sharing.

 

GREAT review! :)

[JimAOk1945]

Wonderful review. We will be on the ship in December. Your review gives me a good idea of what to expect. Thanks

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Forums mobile app

Edited October 18, 2016 by JimAOk1945

[rukkian]

Thanks for taking the time to review. My wife and I will be on our first (at least in 20 years) in February on JOTS so it is nice to see opinions from other newbies.

[cruiselvr04]

Thanks for the honest review.

[cruiselvr04]

By the way...was Liberty late getting back due to the medical emergency? If so how late?

[iconions]

By the way...was Liberty late getting back due to the medical emergency? If so how late?

 

My understanding was that we were supposed to dock at 6 or 7 am. We actually docked at 10:30am because of that medical emergency. Those passengers that HAD to make airplane connections were let off first, followed by self assist, then suites, then our group of handicap assist. We left the ship at 12:10 and I was through customs by 12:40pm. It was actually easy peasy. That said, the crew was going to have to bust their hump to get the ship turned around and back out to sea. I heard they were going to try to get going by 5pm.

 

Again, only if you were watching and were aware did you see every one of the crew doing their utmost to get and keep things moving. Heck, even Jeff Arpin the cruise director was down by the luggage getting the porters to move faster in an effort to keep things moving along.

[iconions]

Wonderful review. We will be on the ship in December. Your review gives me a good idea of what to expect. Thanks

 

You're welcome. I do apologize that I don't have all of the great pictures that other reviews do. It was VERY hard to take in the sights and push my DW around without dumping her. Guys don't multitask well, and this guy was doing good to enjoy what he did and keep the little wife in the wheelchair without sending her flying! :)

[iconions]

Thanks for taking the time to review. My wife and I will be on our first (at least in 20 years) in February on JOTS so it is nice to see opinions from other newbies.

 

You're welcome. The biggest thing - just go with the flow and enjoy yourselves! I worried WAY too much about schedules, and would the food be good, and would the mattress be soft enough, etc. Here's the trick that worked for me... Be friendly with the cabin attendant and with the waiter, if you dine in the MDR (actually in any of the restaurants, a little kindness goes a LONG way!) They can help with some of the little inconveniences that come along. You'll have a great cruise!

[kcamp317]

You're welcome. The biggest thing - just go with the flow and enjoy yourselves! I worried WAY too much about schedules, and would the food be good, and would the mattress be soft enough, etc. Here's the trick that worked for me... Be friendly with the cabin attendant and with the waiter, if you dine in the MDR (actually in any of the restaurants, a little kindness goes a LONG way!) They can help with some of the little inconveniences that come along. You'll have a great cruise!

 

Thats a great comment....be friendly to the staff. I see so many very rude and angry people being hostile towards the staff. Ive always noticed that if you are polite and friendly to them over the week they notice. And IMO why be angry and stressed? You're on vacation, enjoy it and relax. Nothing is that bad, you're on a cruise and not doing the daily grind.

 

Thanks for sharing the review! We are considering Liberty for next year.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.