My thoughts on Liberty's Nov 27th sailing

[moopetguy]

Hello everyone!

 

I have returned home from Liberty's Nov 27th-Dec 4th sailing and wanted to share my thoughts and experiences. This is strictly from my perspective and YMMV even if you were on the same sailing. It's going to be very long. I realized while composing that I can't include emoticons wherever I feel like it because I'm limited to 8 pictures and the emoticons count. So in some places where I would normally use one, I may not to keep the picture count down.

 

It will be somewhat raw/stream-of-consciousness as I think of things to comment on, so it will be a bit unpolished and not entirely in chronological order. There will be some positive comments as well as some that may be perceived as negative, but my intention is to report on what happened (for better or worse) on my vacation.

 

Some background information -- DW and I are in our mid-30s and DD is 5 years old. We drove from Ontario splitting it over 2 days each way, arriving back home in the wee hours on Tuesday morning. I must have caught a cold prior to leaving because I had a sore throat during the first day of our drive, which worsened with a cough on day 2 of our drive south (we stopped in Memphis on the first night, Houston on the second night, and drove from Houston to Galveston on embarkation morning). However, I didn't have a fever nor any gastrointestinal symptoms. DW and DD caught the cold from me in the car since it was two days in an enclosed space. (Sorry if TMI, but it helps explain why we didn't do as much as we might otherwise have.)

 

I did not purchase VOOM service on board, particularly given the reports of how poor the Surf & Stream service is (i.e. streaming not really possible).

 

We booked an inside stateroom, #7453. It was fine for us. At first we were using a Regalo fold-up toddler bed that we brought on board (we used the same in January 2016 on Grandeur) but when DD seemed to prefer an actual bed this time, we had our steward make up one of the two Pullman beds for DW.

 

Here is a link to a ZIP file containing PDFs of the Cruise Compasses, Daily Offers, Kids Planners, and also the General Store's Alcohol Order Form/Price List:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6438175/LibertyNov27.zip

(approximately 173 MB, sorry for the size and some blurry text, I just wanted to keep this simple and post it quickly)

 

First for anyone who was on this sailing -- you may know me as "José"! (El Gaucho performed on Day 2 and I was the person selected from the audience during the 20:30 show! He set up my hair and twirled the balls at the end of strings so close to my head :eek:...does anyone remember what these props are called? I can assure you this was the real deal - there was no rehearsal and I was not a plant! For every remaining day of the cruise, I was recognized and greeted as José by at least 2-3 fellow cruisers.)

 

John and Katrina Blair were the Cruise Director and Activities Manager, respectively. I liked them well enough. I really liked John's perspective and how he shared that whenever he was asked or asked others how we were doing, the answer should always be "great" -- because relative to 99+% of the world, we were doing just fine with our wealth, health, freedoms, etc. (He read a shortened version of what the world would be like as a village of 100 people. We are truly the blessed "haves" of the world compared to the "have nots".)

 

Embarkation in Galveston Terminal 2 was smooth. The rooms were "open" at 13:00 as scheduled but my stateroom wasn't ready for about another 10 minutes while the steward continued puttering around. The previous guest in my stateroom used oxygen and I took the sign down and returned it to the steward as he had not collected it.

 

I have a CPAP machine and the extension cord was already waiting in my room (an orange cord, perhaps 15 ft in length). I had to request the distilled water and I was given a sealed 1 gallon jug (brand: Crystal Springs). I did not have a problem bringing my PowerCube Extended USB 4400/USEUPC onboard (no surge protection, only overcurrent protection with a resettable fuse). It went through the x-ray in my CPAP machine carry-on bag and I was never questioned on it.

 

My backpack carry-on contained two 750 mL bottles of wine and port security just asked me if it was wine after it went through the x-ray machine. They did not require a visual inspection of the bottles (whereas in January 2016 at Cruise Maryland, they did want to see the bottles -- obviously YMMV at any port with any officer).

 

Even though our luggage was all dropped off together at the same time, DW's bag was not delivered yet by 20:00 on Day 1. She went downstairs to get it herself, it was luckily on top of a pile of other bags yet to be delivered. They were happy to let her take it so they would have 1 bag fewer to deliver. It was not held due to any items being prohibited in the "naughty room".

 

We had very good weather in Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel. I did not notice it raining at any point while I was outside. However, it was rainy in Galveston upon our return -- apparently there was flooding as well, over 9 inches of rain within a 24-hour (?) period. I saw sandbags placed around the entrances of some buildings.

 

In Roatan, my family had pre-booked Victor Bodden Tours for a "Best of Roatan" private tour. Tex was our driver/guide and he was excellent. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I wouldn't hesitate to book with Bodden Tours (and Tex) again. We told him we wanted to buy locally-grown and roasted coffee. In the tourist area just off the ship, a shop was selling coffee for $12 US/pound or $20 for 2 lbs. That was clearly overpriced because Tex took us to Eldon's Supermarket and we bought 2 lbs for $11.

 

We also loved Monkey Business at Victor's house - DD had a great time feeding Pinky the capuchin monkey, feeding the deer, and seeing the parrots. Our guide Irwin was great.

 

On Day 5 in Belize, we decided to sleep in since we were still fighting the cold. We got up a bit later for breakfast and had tender ticket #21. (For tender ticket information, see page 1 of the Day 5 Cruise Compass.) Tendering went pretty quickly that morning as we were off the tender boat and at the tourism village by 11:00.

 

In Belize, don't bother looking for the Moho Chocolate Factory on the Fort St Tourism Village even though it's on the big street map sign. It has moved. We asked several vendors as well as the official Information desk and they all kept pointing us in different directions (other side of this building, at the back of the duty-free shop, etc.). Finally one vendor told us Moho moved out. I don't know why even the official information desk didn't know??

 

In Cozumel, we booked the Beach Break at Playa Mia with transfers through RCI since they had a sale through the Cruise Planner -- $99 US for the three of us. It would have cost $124 to book directly with Playa Mia for the exact same excursion (round-trip transportation and no food/drinks included). We had a great time there -- we will be returning to Cozumel on board Navigator next year and we will definitely book Playa Mia again. Much to my surprise (and probably everyone else)...I even won a free Playa Mia t-shirt and a Cuban cigar in an American football throwing challenge!

 

If you are looking for Wi-Fi in Cozumel, the Carl's Jr at the Royal International Village has free Wi-Fi for customers. The password is printed at the bottom of your receipt. I bought a vanilla ice cream for $2 US for a cool treat after a hot day at the beach and for a chance to sit down and look at some personal e-mails.

 

The MDR menu order was: Mojo, Saffron (formal), Basil, Pimiento, Jasmine (formal), Shiitake, Pomodoro. The switch-up of Pomodoro and Shiitake was unexpected to me based on previous reports of the menu order.

 

The DreamWorks Parade was (IMO) poorly scheduled. It was on Day 5 @ 17:01, which of course was the second formal night with professional photography beginning at 17:00. It was also right at the time when we were going to leave port, so the Captain made his announcements -- interrupting the parade, which had to be restarted after the Captain's remarks had concluded. I guess the Master of the vessel didn't know what was going on on his own ship :rolleyes: Captain MacDonald was fine except that it seemed as though he was never really sure of what to say during his announcements -- to me, he seemed to fumble around for words quite often and his remarks were peppered with ums and ahs.

 

I will revisit a source for some previous debate by commenting that freshly-ground pepper and/or Parmesan cheese was not offered in the MDR for soups, beef dishes, pasta dishes, etc. :D Similarly, Royal Shrimp Cocktail was not available every night (only on 2 nights) and could not be asked for if not listed in the menu.

 

Each time in the MDR main seating when they were about to start their presentation (wait staff song and parade number), there were 2 false starts with "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" being played. The third time was always when the show would actually begin. I'm not sure why they were consistent with that :rolleyes: I was also surprised that they did the song and parade thing so many times during the sailing -- I think it was 3 times in total -- Day 2, 5, and 7.

 

Saturday Night Fever was on Day 7 and it was amazing. I really liked the performance. However, the timing was not ideal: showtimes of 18:15 and 21:00 (82 min duration). Since I was in the MDR main seating, I saw the 21:00 show. Adventure Ocean's free program ends 22:00 so you had to pay for the Late Night Party Zone if you were going to see the performance. DW doesn't usually stay up late, and it was certainly going to be past DD's bed time, so DW opted not to go to see SNF.

 

It was annoying for the Cruise Compasses not to indicate which DreamWorks Character would be appearing. We ended up going to almost every single appearance to try and make sure we got pictures with all of the characters. Even still, the only ones available were Puss-N-Boots, Po the Panda, Gloria the Hippo, and King Julien the Lemur. Alex the Lion, Shrek, and Fiona were only in the Parade. I believe King Julien was only available for two of the photo ops while there were many appearances by the three others (4+ each).

 

The first DreamWorks Character Dining breakfast had Puss-N-Boots and Po. The second DW breakfast had King Julien and Gloria. No Penguins or any other characters.

 

Santa made two appearances on Day 7 for photos by the Christmas tree outside Sorrento's. At least for the first appearance, it was actually Nellie (sp?) from Malaysia who was the host of the DreamWorks Character breakfasts.

 

The all-inclusive digital photo package on board was $299.99, or $269.99 within the first 3 days. That made buying in advance through the My Cruise Photos web site at $149.99 a great deal. I found most of the professional photographers on board this sailing to be excellent -- a few in particular really took the time to help adjust your poses, clothing, etc. to make the pictures look great. It made the lines move a little slow at times, but it was worth it. The one annoyance about the photos is that a frame/overlay is automatically added to some photos and cannot be removed to leave the original photo unchanged. For example, photos with DreamWorks characters had a digital frame inserted that included the phrase, "Summer of Adventure". Well, this sometimes partially obscured DD in the photos, and this was also not a summer vacation. :rolleyes:

 

For disembarkation, we joined the self-departure line at 07:30 and it was already very long. We finally reached the non-U.S. residents customs line at 08:20 (lane 9, which was moving very slowly, and eventually we got moved to lane 10, and then got to a CBP officer quite quickly). I think we were in the customs line for about 30 minutes.

 

As far as TABC fees went, I did the law-abiding (or stupid, depending on your opinion) thing and declared my two 1 L bottles of whiskey, and paid my $7.50 tax. It appears to be based on the honour system as I think one could probably slip past the tables to the exit if you didn't own up to having any alcohol or cigarettes.

 

Since we all had a cold, we didn't pursue some of the activities we wanted to such as rock climbing, any of the water slides (I am sad about that), or the mini-golf. We also didn't manage to squeeze in Johnny Rocket's. But I did eat quite a bit in the MDR per usual with multiple appetizers and entrées!

 

DW and I both received a letter in our stateroom from the casino allowing $5 in "FreePlay", which we both promptly lost at the roulette table betting on the wrong colour both times.

 

The service onboard was acceptable/as expected, but we did not really get WOW'd as we have during previous cruises. There is usually at least one crew member we recognize with an extra gratuity, but not this time around. We simply went with the advance prepaid gratuities and left it at that.

 

We had $75 in non-refundable OBC and $15 in refundable OBC. We spent very little on board -- most of it was DreamWorks stuffies for DD and our two bottles of whiskey. I feel like it's pretty much always the same old stuff for sale. So we actually got a few dollars of the refundable OBC back onto our credit card at the end of the cruise. The refund was posted to our credit card very quickly, which I was surprised by.

 

We used EZ Cruise Parking, having booked online in advance. I used a discount code I found online. We opted to walk instead of using the shuttle service, which was fine. I also got a car cover, which I felt was worth the $10. I would use EZ Cruise again. The staff were polite and efficient in checking us in, directing us to a spot, and getting the car cover on.

 

Well, that is all I can think of at the moment...which is long enough already...I'll post again if I think of anything else. Which might be in a few minutes' time when I realize I forgot something! Haha!

[moopetguy]

Okay, the first few things I forgot to mention (there will probably be more I'll remember and post later):

 

I had signed up for the Meet & Mingle months ago and received my e-mail confirmation. Yet, DW and I didn't receive our invitations once on board. Since I suspected it was going to be during the morning of Day 2 (which it ultimately was), and we hadn't received the invitations by late in the evening on Day 1, I went to Guest Services to inquire. (I never did get the invitations at any point.)

 

The Guest Services officer I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about at first so I had to describe the event in more detail...and they eventually found it on the schedule :rolleyes:

 

DW and I went to the M&M but to be honest I was a bit timid and felt socially awkward so we left at the end without actually meeting anyone :o Sorry folks! I wish there was some sort of icebreaker activity, as that would have helped me.

 

In the MDR, we were assigned to a table for 10. We met two other families with kids around the same age, which was great. We have exchanged contact information and will be keeping in touch with them! I love having great tablemates at dinner.

 

Oh, and our drive south and then back up north was fairly uneventful except for the few times when tractor-trailers almost ran us off the road. :mad: Um, do they not check their mirrors to see that the lane they're trying to change into is already occupied? Now I understand why there were so many billboards specifically advertising personal injury law firms asking if you had been injured in an accident with a semi-trailer. :rolleyes: That is something I have never seen in Ontario.

[moopetguy]

The Windjammer had chicken congee at breakfast every morning, but it wasn't prepared properly IMO. The texture was wrong because the rice wasn't boiled for long enough. It's supposed to have the consistency of oatmeal, but every morning, I found it to be a bit too grainy (i.e. individual grains of rice still noticeable on the palate).

 

This was a bit disappointing because when I had the congee on board Oasis two years ago, it was nothing short of amazeballs. It ranked with the most authentic and best I've had anywhere.

[CCC3]

Did you order room service? Last summer on Liberty we were never able to get our orders! Who waits 4 hrs for pizza to be delivered? Not my sons! LOL

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Did you order room service? Last summer on Liberty we were never able to get our orders! Who waits 4 hrs for pizza to be delivered? Not my sons! LOL

 

No, I didn't order room service. I have never had a good experience with it during our other RCI cruises. One of the families at our table in the MDR was sailing with RCI for the first time (previously several times with Carnival). Room service on Carnival was always good for them. They were surprised at how bad room service is with RCI -- it always takes so long as you mentioned (an hour plus for them on more than one occasion)! Not sure why when it seems as though the order should be very simple to fulfill quickly.

[CCC3]

The boys gave up and just went to Sorrentos. Hubby & I called at 10:15 one night to get chocolate chip cookies. We were told it would be after midnight before we got them, and by that time there would be the Manditory deliver fee added on for "after midnight delivery." Hubby cancelled the order, went to Cafe Promanade (or whatever its called) and came back with DELICIOUS ranger cookies instead. But seriously...4 hrs for pizza and 2 hrs for cookies?

 

 

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[easyboy]

I enjoy reading your review "José"!

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[purplepirate]

Enjoyed reading your review. Until now, we were sure you were a plant😎

 

BTW, we used room service for breakfast 2 of the 3 shore days. We selected time of 6:30-7:00 for delivery and had no issues.

[BlueSkiesTX]

I LOVE El Gaucho!!! He was on our Thanksgiving sailing as well. So funny! A real entertainer!

[xenomorph78]

I was on the same cruise. Wish I would have known you were sick, I had an extra Z-Pak. I've been sailing on RC for quite a while now and I can truly say the service is declining rapidly. Be glad you didn't get the voom internet package. It didn't work half the time. I tried calling guest relations on 3 separate occasions and no one would answer. I walked down there and waited in line and all they would tell me is that they knew it was down and should be up soon.

The MDR food was fair, but the wait staff was awesome. My kids (late teens) loved the trip and all the water rides, which is all that really matters, right?

I played in the Texas Hold'em Tournament and was very disappointed in the made up rules as they went along. Luckily, I work 3rd place and at least got my money back. The blackjack dealers were mostly rude. My wife tried to sit down at a table with me and 1 other person and the dealer barked at her that she couldn't sit down unless she was playing. I get if the table only had one or two seats left, but it was empty!

The pool deck was too crowded with tables in the main walk-way area. You literally had to walk single file to get through.

The windjammer was also sub-par. Breakfast was about the only thing I somewhat enjoyed.

Stateroom attendant was good. They TV's in our balcony room and also in our kids inside room had huge distortions down the screen making them hard to watch. There was mold in the seals of the shower doors. They just need to replace those nasty things.

On a positive note, the weather was perfect. We zip-lined in Roatan. Went to the Mayan ruins in Belize, and snorkeled in Cozumel. None of these were ship excursions. We picked them outside the port and we were very satisfied! Especially with the snorkel! Got our own private boat for 6 people and they took us out for 4 hours to different reefs and beaches for only $55 per person! That included unlimited Corona's and Cokes!

All-in-all, it was a good trip. Could have been worse.

[MrSnarkyPants]

Yeah, Galveston got soaked this weekend, more than what we had in Houston. They had broken the day's rainfall record on the island Sunday before 6 AM, and there was flooding along the coast in both Galveston and Texas City.

 

As for the TABC: I don't call you stupid for paying your 7 bucks. The TABC has their own police force and an attitude. Smart Texans don't mess with the TABC. :)

[BillOh]

I had signed up for the Meet & Mingle months ago and received my e-mail confirmation. Yet, DW and I didn't receive our invitations once on board. Since I suspected it was going to be during the morning of Day 2 (which it ultimately was), and we hadn't received the invitations by late in the evening on Day 1, I went to Guest Services to inquire. (I never did get the invitations at any point.)

 

The Guest Services officer I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about at first so I had to describe the event in more detail...and they eventually found it on the schedule :rolleyes:.

 

First of all, thanks for taking the time to post what you have. I have enjoyed the style, which is similar to mine and I commend you on your powers of observation and your grasp of what is significant or interesting. I love all the extra details about pre and post cruise information.

 

Now to this quote, I've had this happen several times and I am beginning to think its a way to slowly squash the concept of the Meet and Mingle. I have had bad to wonderful ones and enjoy them, but they seem to be dying.

[BillOh]

DW and I went to the M&M but to be honest I was a bit timid and felt socially awkward so we left at the end without actually meeting anyone :o Sorry folks! I wish there was some sort of icebreaker activity, as that would have helped me.

 

Forgive me for zeroing in on this topic in your excellent information, but while RC seems to be squashing , here is where the quality of the M&M is up to the group to take some initiative. Royal typically has a minimal presence in these events. As a prolific roll call poster, had we been talking for months prior to a cruise I would have made a point to say hello, I can tell we could get along. (without being clingly/needy. )

[moopetguy]

Enjoyed reading your review. Until now, we were sure you were a plant😎

 

:) I did get that question a few times during the cruise, as to whether it was rehearsed or I was a plant in the audience. I assured everyone that I was randomly selected.

 

(Note to self: don't choose an aisle seat if you don't want to get picked! DW and I were about 10 rows back from the stage.)

 

When I saw El Gaucho walking down the aisle and skipping over other gentlemen who were bald or had receding hairlines...I was really hoping he wouldn't choose me :o I wasn't concerned about him or what he'd do....it was more a concern that I would embarrass myself in front of half the ship by tripping or doing something stupid :eek:

 

But it turned out fine in the end and everyone said they enjoyed the show :D

[moopetguy]

I was on the same cruise. Wish I would have known you were sick, I had an extra Z-Pak. I've been sailing on RC for quite a while now and I can truly say the service is declining rapidly. Be glad you didn't get the voom internet package. It didn't work half the time. I tried calling guest relations on 3 separate occasions and no one would answer. I walked down there and waited in line and all they would tell me is that they knew it was down and should be up soon.

The MDR food was fair, but the wait staff was awesome. My kids (late teens) loved the trip and all the water rides, which is all that really matters, right?

I played in the Texas Hold'em Tournament and was very disappointed in the made up rules as they went along. Luckily, I work 3rd place and at least got my money back. The blackjack dealers were mostly rude. My wife tried to sit down at a table with me and 1 other person and the dealer barked at her that she couldn't sit down unless she was playing. I get if the table only had one or two seats left, but it was empty!

The pool deck was too crowded with tables in the main walk-way area. You literally had to walk single file to get through.

The windjammer was also sub-par. Breakfast was about the only thing I somewhat enjoyed.

Stateroom attendant was good. They TV's in our balcony room and also in our kids inside room had huge distortions down the screen making them hard to watch. There was mold in the seals of the shower doors. They just need to replace those nasty things.

On a positive note, the weather was perfect. We zip-lined in Roatan. Went to the Mayan ruins in Belize, and snorkeled in Cozumel. None of these were ship excursions. We picked them outside the port and we were very satisfied! Especially with the snorkel! Got our own private boat for 6 people and they took us out for 4 hours to different reefs and beaches for only $55 per person! That included unlimited Corona's and Cokes!

All-in-all, it was a good trip. Could have been worse.

 

Thank you for thinking to offer me your meds -- I think my cold is just a virus, though. We were prepared with some cough & cold meds to ease the symptoms. Come to think of it, I think I know where I picked it up from...I was at a party with friends a few days prior to leaving and there was someone sick there with a cold. :(

 

One of my tablemates got a 2-day VOOM package and was (unsuccessfully) trying to stream a football game. I told him about the problems with Surf & Stream and I hope he got at least a partial refund because he paid good money for the 2-day package.

 

I like watching the table games in the casino. I don't play, mainly because I'm frugal and afraid to lose money. But I also find some of the games move too fast for me (I suppose that comes with practice, though). Congratulations on winning 3rd place! :cool:

 

I know what you mean about the Windjammer. I often walked around with my plate, not really knowing what to get because many of the options just didn't appeal to me.

 

I think I might try snorkeling next year. I purchased a snorkel set from Costco yesterday. I assume it's a good deal but I'm not sure (I'll return it if it's not). It's a U.S. Divers set that was $40 CAD. I am going to do some homework on snorkeling and see if I'll like it before deciding whether to keep the set (I am leaving it unopened until I decide). My main concern is that I'm not a strong swimmer.

 

Thanks for your comments! Always like to hear someone else's perspective from the same cruise.

 

Yeah, Galveston got soaked this weekend, more than what we had in Houston. They had broken the day's rainfall record on the island Sunday before 6 AM, and there was flooding along the coast in both Galveston and Texas City.

 

As for the TABC: I don't call you stupid for paying your 7 bucks. The TABC has their own police force and an attitude. Smart Texans don't mess with the TABC. :)

 

Right, I didn't relish the idea of trying to save 7 bucks and possibly end up as a foreign national in an American jail :eek:

 

Yikes, I'm glad we didn't arrive back in port in the middle of that storm. I wonder if we actually would have disembarked in such weather or if we'd have gotten an extra sea day? As it is, Liberty had to sail near full speed (~21 knots) to make it back to Galveston from Cozumel on schedule. I assume the Captain could have dialed back the engines to delay our arrival (but obviously affecting the next sailing's embarkation).

 

That reminds me. (Apologies in advance if I don't get all of the details right, this is from memory.) There was unfortunately an "alpha" on board requiring a medical evacuation. It must have been serious because the Captain had turned Liberty to a new heading (070? I can't remember exactly) in the middle of the Gulf on Day 2 for an intercept course with a helicopter from New Orleans. The rendezvous was going to be early in the evening but after sunset (~18:00) even though we were travelling at full speed (again, ~21 knots).

 

Later in the afternoon, the Captain changed our heading again and announced that instead of the helicopter evacuation, we would make port in Cozumel very briefly on Day 3 to drop off the passenger. So, that's what actually happened. We docked mid-morning in Cozumel. We saw Allure already docked there along with three Carnival ships.

 

We then proceeded to Roatan for Day 4, on schedule. I don't know if the condition of the passenger changed or if it was decided that the helicopter landing in darkness on a ship was too dangerous. Others with expertise in this area can comment more intelligently than me. But I know that even in the best weather conditions and in daylight, marine operations are risky and accidents can still happen.

Edited December 7, 2016 by moopetguy
typo

[moopetguy]

First of all, thanks for taking the time to post what you have. I have enjoyed the style, which is similar to mine and I commend you on your powers of observation and your grasp of what is significant or interesting. I love all the extra details about pre and post cruise information.

 

Now to this quote, I've had this happen several times and I am beginning to think its a way to slowly squash the concept of the Meet and Mingle. I have had bad to wonderful ones and enjoy them, but they seem to be dying.

 

You're welcome, I'm glad you liked my comments. I know it's probably not to everyone's liking if they prefer lots of pictures ;) But there's been a lot of those recently so I don't think I'd be contributing anything new with my own photos. Instead, I wanted to provide a written commentary.

 

There were others at the M&M whom I overheard saying they didn't get invitations either. Of course, there were many who did. Perhaps this can be chalked up to another one of RCI's infamous inconsistency in service :rolleyes: I don't understand it, though. You have a list of people who signed up...how difficult is it to keep that electronic list, print out invitations to those who signed up, and get them delivered? This should be bread-and-butter for them, having done this thousands of times.

 

I do wonder as you said if it's intentional on RCI's part. Sort of a passive-aggressive way of trying to diminish M&Ms. But I am reminded of Hanlon's razor...

 

Forgive me for zeroing in on this topic in your excellent information, but while RC seems to be squashing , here is where the quality of the M&M is up to the group to take some initiative. Royal typically has a minimal presence in these events. As a prolific roll call poster, had we been talking for months prior to a cruise I would have made a point to say hello, I can tell we could get along. (without being clingly/needy. )

 

Agreed. I wasn't sure if anyone from RCI would actually show up, but eventually Katrina the Activities Manager and the groups coordinator (I unfortunately forgot his name) did show up a bit late. But after the draws they conducted to give away free stuff, it was up to us who were there to organize ourselves. It was a pretty large group and we took up most of the Olive or Twist Lounge. DW and I just found it awkward to try and connect with anyone. Maybe "liquid courage" would have helped if they were serving it ;) (with DW anyway, I'm nearly a teetotaler).

 

The refreshments table they had set up for us was pretty bad. They didn't even have napkins/serviettes on the table with the coffee, cookies, and a few other goodies.

[Casester1015]

DH and I will be going on Liberty in February with our 4 yr old DD. Between what we bought and what our agent gave us we only have one night in the MDR. Is there a night the meals/"show" in the MDR stood out? Thanks in advance! :)

[moopetguy]

DH and I will be going on Liberty in February with our 4 yr old DD. Between what we bought and what our agent gave us we only have one night in the MDR. Is there a night the meals/"show" in the MDR stood out? Thanks in advance! :)

 

If you are interested in the lobster tail "fisherman's plate" dinner, it was on the second formal night (Day 5, Jasmine menu). That's what a lot of people look forward to. (I'm not sure if there is a limit, but you can order at least three, because I asked for three and the waiter didn't skip a beat.)

 

The "shows/parades" in the MDR are not particularly memorable IMO. They play some music. Some of the waiters and assistant waiters parade around in a line, clapping or waving flags. Some of the chefs from the galley come out and the executive chef may be introduced. It's an opportunity to recognize the crew and I appreciate that part -- preparing thousands of meals is no small task (I have had several galley tours so I have some insight into their operations).

 

The crew will probably also sing a song. The songs they sang were "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and "America the Beautiful". However, their first attempt at hanging the Texas state flag over the railing from the MDR on Deck 5 was, well, terrible (it was hung upside-down until they corrected it).

 

Once you've been in the MDR for a couple of these, they become predictable.

 

If the lobster plate doesn't appeal to your family then take a look at the menus to see if anything catches your fancy. For example, DW likes the lamb shank and that's on Pomodoro. Many people like the key lime pie for dessert which is a small slice of pie with a candied lime slice on top (order more than one, they're really small ;)).

 

I like the clam chowder and shrimp gyoza for Shiitake. I also like the chicken marsala, lasagna, and garlic tiger shrimp on Pimiento (that's right, I order three different entrées for this menu, with multiples of the tiger shrimp ;)).

 

Personally, I think Mojo is the weakest of the MDR menus in terms of not having any options that really stand out to me. But since it was the first night, we went to the MDR to meet our tablemates for the cruise.

 

I hope that helps!

Edited December 7, 2016 by moopetguy

[Casester1015]

That's really helpful! Thanks!!!

[Bookster99]

Hello everyone!

 

I have returned home from Liberty's Nov 27th-Dec 4th sailing and wanted to share my thoughts and experiences. This is strictly from my perspective and YMMV even if you were on the same sailing. It's going to be very long. I realized while composing that I can't include emoticons wherever I feel like it because I'm limited to 8 pictures and the emoticons count. So in some places where I would normally use one, I may not to keep the picture count down.

 

It will be somewhat raw/stream-of-consciousness as I think of things to comment on, so it will be a bit unpolished and not entirely in chronological order. There will be some positive comments as well as some that may be perceived as negative, but my intention is to report on what happened (for better or worse) on my vacation.

 

Some background information -- DW and I are in our mid-30s and DD is 5 years old. We drove from Ontario splitting it over 2 days each way, arriving back home in the wee hours on Tuesday morning. I must have caught a cold prior to leaving because I had a sore throat during the first day of our drive, which worsened with a cough on day 2 of our drive south (we stopped in Memphis on the first night, Houston on the second night, and drove from Houston to Galveston on embarkation morning). However, I didn't have a fever nor any gastrointestinal symptoms. DW and DD caught the cold from me in the car since it was two days in an enclosed space. (Sorry if TMI, but it helps explain why we didn't do as much as we might otherwise have.)

 

I did not purchase VOOM service on board, particularly given the reports of how poor the Surf & Stream service is (i.e. streaming not really possible).

 

We booked an inside stateroom, #7453. It was fine for us. At first we were using a Regalo fold-up toddler bed that we brought on board (we used the same in January 2016 on Grandeur) but when DD seemed to prefer an actual bed this time, we had our steward make up one of the two Pullman beds for DW.

 

Here is a link to a ZIP file containing PDFs of the Cruise Compasses, Daily Offers, Kids Planners, and also the General Store's Alcohol Order Form/Price List:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6438175/LibertyNov27.zip

(approximately 173 MB, sorry for the size and some blurry text, I just wanted to keep this simple and post it quickly)

 

First for anyone who was on this sailing -- you may know me as "José"! (El Gaucho performed on Day 2 and I was the person selected from the audience during the 20:30 show! He set up my hair and twirled the balls at the end of strings so close to my head :eek:...does anyone remember what these props are called? I can assure you this was the real deal - there was no rehearsal and I was not a plant! For every remaining day of the cruise, I was recognized and greeted as José by at least 2-3 fellow cruisers.)

 

John and Katrina Blair were the Cruise Director and Activities Manager, respectively. I liked them well enough. I really liked John's perspective and how he shared that whenever he was asked or asked others how we were doing, the answer should always be "great" -- because relative to 99+% of the world, we were doing just fine with our wealth, health, freedoms, etc. (He read a shortened version of what the world would be like as a village of 100 people. We are truly the blessed "haves" of the world compared to the "have nots".)

 

Embarkation in Galveston Terminal 2 was smooth. The rooms were "open" at 13:00 as scheduled but my stateroom wasn't ready for about another 10 minutes while the steward continued puttering around. The previous guest in my stateroom used oxygen and I took the sign down and returned it to the steward as he had not collected it.

 

I have a CPAP machine and the extension cord was already waiting in my room (an orange cord, perhaps 15 ft in length). I had to request the distilled water and I was given a sealed 1 gallon jug (brand: Crystal Springs). I did not have a problem bringing my PowerCube Extended USB 4400/USEUPC onboard (no surge protection, only overcurrent protection with a resettable fuse). It went through the x-ray in my CPAP machine carry-on bag and I was never questioned on it.

 

My backpack carry-on contained two 750 mL bottles of wine and port security just asked me if it was wine after it went through the x-ray machine. They did not require a visual inspection of the bottles (whereas in January 2016 at Cruise Maryland, they did want to see the bottles -- obviously YMMV at any port with any officer).

 

Even though our luggage was all dropped off together at the same time, DW's bag was not delivered yet by 20:00 on Day 1. She went downstairs to get it herself, it was luckily on top of a pile of other bags yet to be delivered. They were happy to let her take it so they would have 1 bag fewer to deliver. It was not held due to any items being prohibited in the "naughty room".

 

We had very good weather in Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel. I did not notice it raining at any point while I was outside. However, it was rainy in Galveston upon our return -- apparently there was flooding as well, over 9 inches of rain within a 24-hour (?) period. I saw sandbags placed around the entrances of some buildings.

 

In Roatan, my family had pre-booked Victor Bodden Tours for a "Best of Roatan" private tour. Tex was our driver/guide and he was excellent. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I wouldn't hesitate to book with Bodden Tours (and Tex) again. We told him we wanted to buy locally-grown and roasted coffee. In the tourist area just off the ship, a shop was selling coffee for $12 US/pound or $20 for 2 lbs. That was clearly overpriced because Tex took us to Eldon's Supermarket and we bought 2 lbs for $11.

 

We also loved Monkey Business at Victor's house - DD had a great time feeding Pinky the capuchin monkey, feeding the deer, and seeing the parrots. Our guide Irwin was great.

 

On Day 5 in Belize, we decided to sleep in since we were still fighting the cold. We got up a bit later for breakfast and had tender ticket #21. (For tender ticket information, see page 1 of the Day 5 Cruise Compass.) Tendering went pretty quickly that morning as we were off the tender boat and at the tourism village by 11:00.

 

In Belize, don't bother looking for the Moho Chocolate Factory on the Fort St Tourism Village even though it's on the big street map sign. It has moved. We asked several vendors as well as the official Information desk and they all kept pointing us in different directions (other side of this building, at the back of the duty-free shop, etc.). Finally one vendor told us Moho moved out. I don't know why even the official information desk didn't know??

 

In Cozumel, we booked the Beach Break at Playa Mia with transfers through RCI since they had a sale through the Cruise Planner -- $99 US for the three of us. It would have cost $124 to book directly with Playa Mia for the exact same excursion (round-trip transportation and no food/drinks included). We had a great time there -- we will be returning to Cozumel on board Navigator next year and we will definitely book Playa Mia again. Much to my surprise (and probably everyone else)...I even won a free Playa Mia t-shirt and a Cuban cigar in an American football throwing challenge!

 

If you are looking for Wi-Fi in Cozumel, the Carl's Jr at the Royal International Village has free Wi-Fi for customers. The password is printed at the bottom of your receipt. I bought a vanilla ice cream for $2 US for a cool treat after a hot day at the beach and for a chance to sit down and look at some personal e-mails.

 

The MDR menu order was: Mojo, Saffron (formal), Basil, Pimiento, Jasmine (formal), Shiitake, Pomodoro. The switch-up of Pomodoro and Shiitake was unexpected to me based on previous reports of the menu order.

 

The DreamWorks Parade was (IMO) poorly scheduled. It was on Day 5 @ 17:01, which of course was the second formal night with professional photography beginning at 17:00. It was also right at the time when we were going to leave port, so the Captain made his announcements -- interrupting the parade, which had to be restarted after the Captain's remarks had concluded. I guess the Master of the vessel didn't know what was going on on his own ship :rolleyes: Captain MacDonald was fine except that it seemed as though he was never really sure of what to say during his announcements -- to me, he seemed to fumble around for words quite often and his remarks were peppered with ums and ahs.

 

I will revisit a source for some previous debate by commenting that freshly-ground pepper and/or Parmesan cheese was not offered in the MDR for soups, beef dishes, pasta dishes, etc. :D Similarly, Royal Shrimp Cocktail was not available every night (only on 2 nights) and could not be asked for if not listed in the menu.

 

Each time in the MDR main seating when they were about to start their presentation (wait staff song and parade number), there were 2 false starts with "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" being played. The third time was always when the show would actually begin. I'm not sure why they were consistent with that :rolleyes: I was also surprised that they did the song and parade thing so many times during the sailing -- I think it was 3 times in total -- Day 2, 5, and 7.

 

Saturday Night Fever was on Day 7 and it was amazing. I really liked the performance. However, the timing was not ideal: showtimes of 18:15 and 21:00 (82 min duration). Since I was in the MDR main seating, I saw the 21:00 show. Adventure Ocean's free program ends 22:00 so you had to pay for the Late Night Party Zone if you were going to see the performance. DW doesn't usually stay up late, and it was certainly going to be past DD's bed time, so DW opted not to go to see SNF.

 

It was annoying for the Cruise Compasses not to indicate which DreamWorks Character would be appearing. We ended up going to almost every single appearance to try and make sure we got pictures with all of the characters. Even still, the only ones available were Puss-N-Boots, Po the Panda, Gloria the Hippo, and King Julien the Lemur. Alex the Lion, Shrek, and Fiona were only in the Parade. I believe King Julien was only available for two of the photo ops while there were many appearances by the three others (4+ each).

 

The first DreamWorks Character Dining breakfast had Puss-N-Boots and Po. The second DW breakfast had King Julien and Gloria. No Penguins or any other characters.

 

Santa made two appearances on Day 7 for photos by the Christmas tree outside Sorrento's. At least for the first appearance, it was actually Nellie (sp?) from Malaysia who was the host of the DreamWorks Character breakfasts.

 

The all-inclusive digital photo package on board was $299.99, or $269.99 within the first 3 days. That made buying in advance through the My Cruise Photos web site at $149.99 a great deal. I found most of the professional photographers on board this sailing to be excellent -- a few in particular really took the time to help adjust your poses, clothing, etc. to make the pictures look great. It made the lines move a little slow at times, but it was worth it. The one annoyance about the photos is that a frame/overlay is automatically added to some photos and cannot be removed to leave the original photo unchanged. For example, photos with DreamWorks characters had a digital frame inserted that included the phrase, "Summer of Adventure". Well, this sometimes partially obscured DD in the photos, and this was also not a summer vacation. :rolleyes:

 

For disembarkation, we joined the self-departure line at 07:30 and it was already very long. We finally reached the non-U.S. residents customs line at 08:20 (lane 9, which was moving very slowly, and eventually we got moved to lane 10, and then got to a CBP officer quite quickly). I think we were in the customs line for about 30 minutes.

 

As far as TABC fees went, I did the law-abiding (or stupid, depending on your opinion) thing and declared my two 1 L bottles of whiskey, and paid my $7.50 tax. It appears to be based on the honour system as I think one could probably slip past the tables to the exit if you didn't own up to having any alcohol or cigarettes.

 

Since we all had a cold, we didn't pursue some of the activities we wanted to such as rock climbing, any of the water slides (I am sad about that), or the mini-golf. We also didn't manage to squeeze in Johnny Rocket's. But I did eat quite a bit in the MDR per usual with multiple appetizers and entrées!

 

DW and I both received a letter in our stateroom from the casino allowing $5 in "FreePlay", which we both promptly lost at the roulette table betting on the wrong colour both times.

 

The service onboard was acceptable/as expected, but we did not really get WOW'd as we have during previous cruises. There is usually at least one crew member we recognize with an extra gratuity, but not this time around. We simply went with the advance prepaid gratuities and left it at that.

 

We had $75 in non-refundable OBC and $15 in refundable OBC. We spent very little on board -- most of it was DreamWorks stuffies for DD and our two bottles of whiskey. I feel like it's pretty much always the same old stuff for sale. So we actually got a few dollars of the refundable OBC back onto our credit card at the end of the cruise. The refund was posted to our credit card very quickly, which I was surprised by.

 

We used EZ Cruise Parking, having booked online in advance. I used a discount code I found online. We opted to walk instead of using the shuttle service, which was fine. I also got a car cover, which I felt was worth the $10. I would use EZ Cruise again. The staff were polite and efficient in checking us in, directing us to a spot, and getting the car cover on.

 

Well, that is all I can think of at the moment...which is long enough already...I'll post again if I think of anything else. Which might be in a few minutes' time when I realize I forgot something! Haha!

 

Awesome review! Thank you! We will be on her 12/26/16. Thanks for keeping our seats warm!

[moopetguy]

I thought I'd add a few more comments about our stateroom that I neglected to earlier.

 

We were very happy to find that our interior stateroom (#7453) had two curtains that you could draw across the room to meet in the middle. The curtain rail runs across the entire width of the room.

 

This completely separated the beds from the rest of the room. Not all ships have this feature in the staterooms. Last (and first) time I had this in my room was on Enchantment. It was great to have this so that DD could be put down for bed while DW and I stayed up on the other side of the curtain. She'd sit on the sofa to knit and listen to her e-books while I'd sit on the chair at the vanity looking over the Cruise Compass for the next day. The curtains were not blackout curtains but they did block enough light to make the sleeping area quite dark.

 

The shower had the mounting bracket for the shampoo/conditioner dispenser but we never had the actual dispenser. We didn't ask or care because we bring and use our own toiletries.

 

The vanity had two NEMA 5-15 receptacles (for "standard" Canadian/U.S. electrical plugs, accommodating three-prong, polarized, and non-polarized plugs). There was also a Schuko Type F receptacle so if you brought an adapter you could get an extra NEMA receptacle (make sure your device is dual-voltage if you do NOT have a step-down transformer).

 

The Samsung LCD TV recognized a USB flash drive that I plugged in, but a menu popped up and I could not choose any options because the navigation arrows on the remote did not work on that menu (I know the buttons weren't broken because they worked on the interactive menu to review onboard account information, etc.). I wonder if having brought a universal remote would have worked.

[moopetswife]

DH and I will be going on Liberty in February with our 4 yr old DD. Between what we bought and what our agent gave us we only have one night in the MDR. Is there a night the meals/"show" in the MDR stood out? Thanks in advance! :)

 

Will this be your first sailing with Royal?

 

I hope you have an amazing time! I'm a new poster here, but have been on as many cruises as moopetguy, being his wife and all (unless he's sneaking off for cruises I don't know about:confused:). From our second cruise, first one with DD, I have been completely taken with the quality of childcare on board and hope you find it as agreeable as I have.

 

We used the in room babysitting services when DD was too small for Adventure Ocean so we could enjoy dinner quietly in the evenings while she was put to bed. While pricey, the staff they send are police checked and qualified and sent in pairs for safety. It's a great option if you occasionally prefer a later dinner without kids or don't feel like your little one is up to a later night in Adventure Ocean, but you still want to go out and do something or see a later show.

 

The Adventure Ocean staff have been consistently amazing. We make use of the dining room pickup service. We have family dining at 5:30pm, and DD is picked up at 6:40pm outside the MDR with other kids by the AO staff and taken upstairs to the evening program. You can request a dect phone so they can contact you in case of emergency and they will bring one down to the dining room for you at drop off time.

 

This allowed moopetguy and I to enjoy dessert quietly each night and enjoy the show after if there was one.

 

Adventure Ocean is the one thing that has consistently wowed me. DD doesn't always love it, but that's mostly because she is 5 and would much prefer being a pain in mommys butt over playing fun and awesome games. :D Whenever moopetguy or I have gone up to get her after insisting she at least try it for 5 minutes, she's always having a blast.

Edited December 9, 2016 by moopetswife
Forgot something, also typo

[Casester1015]

Thanks moopetswife! That's great to know. This is our first Royal cruise. This is the 4th cruise for DH and I, but second with DD. We took her on Carnival Freedom in 2015 but I was too nervous to leave her at the kids club. Glad to hear you had such a positive experience at Adventure Ocean. We were going to try it out to see how it went and it's reassuring you think so highly of it!

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.