TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 #1 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) Hi, everyone! I’m just back from our cruise on Liberty of the Seas. I’m not new to cruising; I’ve sailed multiple times each on HAL, NCL, and Carnival, but this was our first cruise with Royal. This is also my first review on the boards, so please be gentle! 🙂 We are a family of three – my husband and I in our mid-40s, and our 9-year-old son. We live in Texas, so we often cruise from Galveston since it’s so much easier to drive a few hours than to fly. Many thanks to the others here who have mentioned or reviewed aft cabin #7408 – a “regular” balcony cabin with a huge corner balcony. Reading about it on Cruise Critic led me to choose this cabin, and we LOVED it. Not only for the amazing balcony, but the aft location was convenient to the MDR, the Windjammer, the pool deck, etc. I would definitely choose this ship and this cabin again. The Liberty is pristine and gorgeous. We thought the ship was well-maintained and just lovely. I hope it stays in Galveston for a while so we might have the chance to sail on her again. We had the surf and stream internet package, which worked great for us. There were only a few times in our cabin at night when it didn’t work well. Most of the time it was fast. Royal Caribbean uses a different terminal than Carnival in Galveston, which was new to us. We waited in the security line for nearly an hour, and it was pretty hot in that room. (We usually get FTTF with Carnival and breeze through security, but the Key is way more expensive than FTTF.) Our carry-ons were heavy, too, since we had a 12-pack of water bottles split between our backpacks. We finally made it on board, later than I expected due to the long security line, but it worked out OK because they announced that the cabins were ready right as we boarded. We were able to go immediately to our cabin and drop our carry-on bags. We checked out our highly-anticipated balcony space with its three chairs, two tables, and two loungers. We spent a lot of time out there and enjoyed it as much as possible during the week. #7408 #7408 is the top window of the two round ones - the one with the railing. Edited June 26, 2019 by TravelGirlinDallas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShillyShally Posted June 26, 2019 #2 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Awesome, so glad you had a great time, and thank you for the pictures, that balcony looks terrific! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #3 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) We had lunch in the Windjammer most days. In our opinion, Royal wins the buffet comparison over Carnival. The layout as well as the food is better on Royal. Especially Royal's delicious cookies. We ate a lot of those cookies. The main dining room on this ship is absolutely beautiful. I was in love with the enormous crystal chandelier. They definitely have Carnival beat with their more elegant aesthetic. However, we thought the MDR food selection and presentation is somewhat better on Carnival. The next day was a sea day, so we slept in and then spent most of the day on the balcony. At breakfast, we walked into the buffet immediately after a little girl had been sick in the lineup for food. The staff was in the process of cordoning off the area and the little girl and her mom were talking to the food services manager. We walked past quickly and got our food from a different section of the buffet. I later heard that they closed that entire half of the buffet area and sanitized everything, including all of the tables, etc. I didn't hear of anyone else getting sick, and we all felt fine, so that must have kept it contained. We played mini golf that afternoon, which was fun but windy! That night was formal night, and was also the first of only three nights that we received a towel animal. On all of my other cruises, we got them every night. I'm not sure if it's a Royal thing or if our steward just decided to only do it 3 nights, but our son was a bit disappointed about that. We went to see the ice skating show that night and it was amazing. Edited June 26, 2019 by TravelGirlinDallas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighairtexan Posted June 26, 2019 #4 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Thanks for this. I'm sure many of us are enjoying your review. Well I AM anyway! 😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voyager70 Posted June 26, 2019 #5 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Enjoying your review, thanks for sharing. We were on Liberty in March - she's one of our favorites. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted June 26, 2019 More ship pics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danacline Posted June 26, 2019 #7 Share Posted June 26, 2019 We're booked on Liberty for Halloween. I had been told that we could not bring on any water or soda, only the one bottle of wine per adult (max 2 per cabin). Since you didn't mention it, can I assume they let you bring on the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) The next morning, we arrived in Cozumel. We have been to the beach in Cozumel many times, so we decided to try something different this time. We had booked an excursion to go on the Atlantis submarine tour through Royal, and we all really enjoyed it. Atlantis submarine. When we met out tour group in the port area, a van took us the short distance to the Atlantis main office, then a boat shuttled us over to the submarine - about 20 minutes or so. Here's the hatch where you enter the submarine and climb down the ladder. The view from #7408. After our excursion was over, we headed back to the ship early, and we planned for our son to use that time to ride the Flowrider and water slides while the ship was mostly empty. But then he decided that he just wanted to swim in the pool, go figure. He ran into a friend from his school there (small world!), so he had a great time playing with him in the pool that night. This night was the only time I didn't really enjoy my food in the MDR. I ordered chicken cordon bleu, but it was served with the same peas & carrots that I buy in a frozen bag at Walmart, and also French fries(?!). My husband ordered fish that was served with cauliflower and potatoes, so his whole entire plate was white. The cheesecake was good, though. I’m sure we also strolled the Promenade in search of cookies later, haha. Edited June 26, 2019 by TravelGirlinDallas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) Grand Cayman was our port the next day. My husband was in line to get us a tender ticket by 8:15 a.m., and they started handing out tickets at 8:30 a.m.. However, our number wasn't called to get off the ship until around 11:30 a.m., so we didn't actually arrive on land until after noon. We didn't have an excursion planned. I had contacted a friend from college (Baylor Univ.) who lives in Grand Cayman, and we were able to connect with her and her husband for lunch. After that, she dropped us off at Royal Palms Beach Club on Seven Mile Beach. My husband wanted to order a beer, but none of the waiters ever came by. This means they also didn't collect the $12 per beach lounger that they were supposed to charge us, so I call that one a win. We did end up paying a different vendor $15 for the umbrella. Tender boat headed to shore. We were able to enjoy the beach for about an hour and half before we had to clean up and change to take a taxi back to the port. The time in port is far too short for such a beautiful place. We went in one shop in the port complex long enough for our son to buy a T-shirt, then waited in a very, very long line that wound throughout the entire port area to get on a tender boat back to the ship. The guy in line in front of us gave my husband one of his leftover beers while we were waiting, so he finally got his drink. For free, even. 🤣 Boarding the tender back to the ship. Edited June 26, 2019 by TravelGirlinDallas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #10 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Jamaica was up next. We had booked an excursion there to go to Good Hope Estate. It is an old sugar cane plantation from 1755, with many of the original buildings still intact. They have many activities to do there, but we were there to zipline. I had done that before in Alaska, and was anxious for my guys to experience it. It was harder physically now that I'm nearly 15 years older(!) than I was then, plus it was a lot hotter. It was still super-fun and I was so happy that the guys loved it, too. After ziplining, we had just enough time to hike to the pool area - down two wood/stone staircases and across a busy street! It was lush and beautiful there and I wish we'd had more time to enjoy it. My husband and I decided to not even get into our bathing suits since our time was so limited. Our son had about an hour in the pool before we had to hike back to get on a bus to go back to the port and get back on the ship. For sailaway that afternoon, we checked out the helipad on the very front of the ship. It was a great view, but it was so windy we literally could barely walk or even stand up straight. We all did our best Jim Cantore impersonations, took a few pics, and then went to get cleaned up for dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelJ Posted June 26, 2019 #11 Share Posted June 26, 2019 17 minutes ago, danacline said: We're booked on Liberty for Halloween. I had been told that we could not bring on any water or soda, only the one bottle of wine per adult (max 2 per cabin). Since you didn't mention it, can I assume they let you bring on the water? You are allowed water and/or soda. I want to say it's a 12-pack per person, but someone here who knows for sure will chime in. As for the wine, I just wanted to let you know that it's two bottles per cabin, not per adult. You can travel with a child and still take on two bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #12 Share Posted June 26, 2019 The next day was a sea day. We went to Guest Services to inquire about the ice skating, since I couldn't find it in the schedule anywhere. The only day it had been open was on the Cozumel day, but you had to sign up for a time slot at 2:30 that afternoon - when everyone was off the ship in port! So we didn't get to do it that day. Then Guest Services informed us that it would be closed for the remainder of the cruise to resurface the ice. I don't understand why they didn't do that on the port days so that we could actually use it on the sea days. That was very disappointing to me because I had really been looking forward to it, but that was really the only thing that went wrong on our trip, so I am thankful for that. We also had to go to Guest Services THREE times to straighten out my husband’s onboard account, which for some reason they had unlinked from my credit card and couldn't seem to get fixed. That night was the second formal night, which is also when they served lobster. I discovered that I do not care for it, but I'm glad I tried it. They also served very cute little birthday cakes in honor of Royal's 50th birthday for dessert. Strawberry soup Baked Alaska After dinner, there was a '70s disco party on the Promenade. They had some great music and the entertainment staff was leading everyone in the dances. It was super fun. Our son was absolutely mortified that his parents were dancing, so he kept trying to make us stop. He is a night owl just like we are, but he kept complaining about how tired he was and how it was his bedtime. Haha. We made him stay for about 45 minutes before we finally gave in and went back to our cabin. The cruise director, Brian, is the construction worker in the Village People. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #13 Share Posted June 26, 2019 The next day was our final day at sea. We ate lunch that day at Sorrento's since we hadn't eaten there yet. It was good, and of course we all had more cookies. Our son then took a turn on the rock wall, and we spent a pleasant afternoon on the balcony until my husband reminded me that we should pack then, instead of putting it off until after dinner. I pouted for a few minutes, then agreed that he was right. After dinner, we went to the production show. We had seen a comedian as well as a juggler/comedian on other nights, but this was the only production show we saw. It was fantastic. It was an acrobatic show called "In the Air", which involved aerial acts as well as singing. It reminded me of Cirque du Soleil, and it was stunning. Royal definitely beats Carnival when it comes to production shows. The captain must have had the ship in overdrive on the last night in order to get to Galveston on time. Our entire cabin was shaking and vibrating all night, which hadn't been the case at all before. The closet doors, the TV, and even our son’s bunk were loudly rattling so much that I couldn't sleep. I shoved a folded washcloth in between the closet doors, which helped, but it was still a noisy, mostly sleepless night. We got up early on the final day and hit the buffet one last time for breakfast. The banana pancakes were always my favorite. It was a madhouse that morning as everyone else wanted breakfast at the same time before getting booted off the ship. The buffet was always busy throughout the cruise, but we managed to find a table together every single time. Disembarking and going through customs was smooth and was much quicker than getting on had been. We were back in our car and on the road by 11:00 a.m., and we arrived back home around 5:30 p.m. It was a fantastic week! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted June 26, 2019 32 minutes ago, danacline said: We're booked on Liberty for Halloween. I had been told that we could not bring on any water or soda, only the one bottle of wine per adult (max 2 per cabin). Since you didn't mention it, can I assume they let you bring on the water? You are allowed 12 cans or bottles of non-alcoholic beverages per stateroom. We took water, and no one questioned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelJ Posted June 26, 2019 #15 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: Disembarking and going through customs was smooth and was much quicker than getting on had been. We were back in our car and on the road by 11:00 a.m., and we arrived back home around 5:30 p.m. It was a fantastic week! Did you do self-carry when disembarking? We sailed out of Galveston in January, and it seemed like 80 percent of the passengers were doing self-carry, and it was a long, drawn-out nightmare. Edited June 26, 2019 by KelJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam0610 Posted June 26, 2019 #16 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Great review. Thank you. We were on the Liberty in April. We are also booked for Oct. of this year. Love the ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted June 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, KelJ said: Did you do self-carry when disembarking? We sailed out of Galveston in January, and it seemed like 80 percent of the passengers were doing self-carry, and it was a long, drawn-out nightmare. We have done self-carry before, but this time we put our bags out the night before. Our tag numbers were called around... gosh, maybe between 9:30-10:00 a.m.? We weren't in a hurry since we were driving. Our bags were already waiting for us as soon as we arrived in the baggage area. The lines to get out moved pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaRob Posted June 26, 2019 #18 Share Posted June 26, 2019 1 minute ago, TravelGirlinDallas said: We have done self-carry before, but this time we put our bags out the night before. Our tag numbers were called around... gosh, maybe between 9:30-10:00 a.m.? We weren't in a hurry since we were driving. Our bags were already waiting for us as soon as we arrived in the baggage area. The lines to get out moved pretty fast. Thanks-the last 2 times for self carry out of Galveston(once on Liberty and once on Enchantment) were painful it was a 45 minute or hour wait to get off the ship. In contract Oasis self disembark in Orlando was a 5 minute? maybe a little longer walk off with no delays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Wow!! We debated whether or not to do self-carry, so I'm glad we decided against it this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa84 Posted June 26, 2019 #20 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Great review and pictures - thank you! Glad you had such a good time, we are on this same itinerary in August. Also, I noticed your husband's shirt in the first picture - Go Frogs! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #21 Share Posted June 26, 2019 I also meant to add that we received the "please give us a 10 on the survey" speech at dinner 4 times from different servers during the week (we had my/your time dining with different staff various nights). I was sort of expecting it after reading about it here, but it was still something I hadn't experienced on other cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #22 Share Posted June 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, melissa84 said: Great review and pictures - thank you! Glad you had such a good time, we are on this same itinerary in August. Also, I noticed your husband's shirt in the first picture - Go Frogs! Haha! And I went to Baylor, go figure. It wasn't such a "thing" when we met and married, back when TCU was still in the Mountain West conference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted June 26, 2019 #23 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Just now, TravelGirlinDallas said: I also meant to add that we received the "please give us a 10 on the survey" speech at dinner 4 times from different servers during the week (we had my/your time dining with different staff various nights). I was sort of expecting it after reading about it here, but it was still something I hadn't experienced on other cruises. Surprising, since they specifically ask about that on the survey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelGirlinDallas Posted June 26, 2019 Author #24 Share Posted June 26, 2019 On the other hand, we didn't experience any pressure to buy the specialty dining package or any other services, so there's that. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merion_Mom Posted June 26, 2019 #25 Share Posted June 26, 2019 @TravelGirlinDallas - you have created an AWESOME review of your cruise! Excellent words & pictures! Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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