Just back... Liberty Eastern 11/24 to 12/1

[kendallison]

Fabulous trip! Here's a few tidbits for those of you that might be sailing her in the future...

 

Do board the ship early and take advantage of the flow rider, H2O zone, and pool before the ship sets sail. We were on the ship by noon. My husband and 11 year old daughter were riding the flow rider around 2:00 and this was definitely the least crowded we saw it all week. H2O zone and pools were also not crowded at this time.

 

For those that absolutely love the flow rider and can't get enough, you can rent it for $300 an hour in the evenings. We saw a group of around 6 people doing this one evening (so they paid $50 a person). They got private instructions and lots of time to ride. Not a bad deal really.

 

The horrible stench discussed on CC from an October cruise is gone. I even went searching for the stench in the stated locations and could not find it. I did smell a very brief sewage smell in the stairway one day that was later gone. I think this is typical of any ship as I had a similar experience on the Mariner 2 years ago. Nothing to worry about.

 

I don't think there is much else to say that hasn't already been said by other reviews but I'd be happy to answer any questions while it's still fresh in my mind.

 

Susan

[Kruzeagain]

Thanks for the wee update, Susan. It's always good to pick up a few tips, and I'm tickled that you had a good time on board.

 

We're sailing on Liberty Dec 15th (so close!) and after being blown away on Explorer last year we can hardly wait for this new adventure to begin.

 

Happy Cruising,

Alan

[kerrydee]

who was the cruise director? did you have rain?:)

[ShillyShally]

I doubt he's changed since the week before - it was James Andrews who I really liked!

 

Also, when we boarded (11/17) the flowrider was not open the first day and there was a definite barn like stench on the back of the ship so I think it can still be hit or miss. I just walked quickly if I was near it and most of the time we didn't notice it - when we did we just joked among us who needed the shower :)

 

I will definitely agree she's a great ship and to get on early! We boarded by Noon and had eaten, made a few trips to guest relations and had our first drinks by 1PM :) I was also completely unpacked by 2PM as my bags were delivered by 1:30PM.

 

Can't wait to hear more from your trip - I miss her!

[Firefighterhoop]

I got off the ship on 11/17, and DID NOT smell any stench all week.

[cullinp]

I was on this cruise also, had a fantastic time topped by the most stunning day in Labadee on Thursday where the weather was superb!!

 

James Andrews was our Cruise Director for the week, he did a valiant job and provided everything I expected of him whilst not making me rush for the laptop and post on CC how fantastic he was if you catch my drift?!

 

A rather large in depth review is in production at the moment, the amount of invaluable information and advice I recd from this forum helped me so much. My review is my thankyou to everyone who took the time and effort to post information that helped me.

[kendallison]

who was the cruise director? did you have rain?:)

 

Yep, J.A. was cruise director. As far as rain goes we had a few brief passing showers here and there but no total wash outs. Monday and Tuesday were so windy though that they had to turn off the sprayers in the H2O zone and tie the chairs down on the upper decks.

[ShillyShally]

I got off the ship on 11/17, and DID NOT smell any stench all week.

 

Well it was there when I got on on 11/17 so like I said it is hit or miss - and it was much more noticeable on the first day when we were in port and ONLY only a very small section on the back of the ship - if you didn't head into that hallway entrance from the outside you would not have smelled it.

 

Again, it had no effect on my cruise and wasn't around all week but occasionally it was there - just like occasionally there were fellow passengers in need of deoderant or less perfume :)

[OHCruisin]

Have to agree with Susan here (hi Susan! It was great to meet you). I was on the 11/24 sailing. I only once caught a wiff of the smell in the aft stairway.

 

It was a great trip on a beautiful ship. My only complaint was with the air conditioning, particularly in my cabin. It was not very efficient and in fact the temperature in the cabin never dropped below 73.

 

As for James Andrews, I thought he was okay. No more, no less.

[Addicted 2 Vacations]

Hey,

 

I'm just curious if anyone met the bartenders at Boleros, and possibly remember their names?

 

-Afrodite

[ShillyShally]

Have to agree with Susan here (hi Susan! It was great to meet you). I was on the 11/24 sailing. I only once caught a wiff of the smell in the aft stairway.

 

It was a great trip on a beautiful ship. My only complaint was with the air conditioning, particularly in my cabin. It was not very efficient and in fact the temperature in the cabin never dropped below 73.

 

As for James Andrews, I thought he was okay. No more, no less.

 

You know I thought the same about our AC (inside on deck 10) - it was cool but i would have preferred frigid (we live without AC so sometimes I like to get cold :) ) The cabin my kids had was similar and seemed a bit warmer. Also many areas in front of the elevators and in the elevators would be warmer then needed, but never a big deal :)

[ChristieNJ]

Hey,

 

I'm just curious if anyone met the bartenders at Boleros, and possibly remember their names?

 

-Afrodite

 

Speaking of which, is Adrienne still one of the bartenders on Liberty? We had him a year ago on Freedom, then when we were on Liberty this past May, he was there also! They seem to keep him on the newest & best ships. He is a riot...doing all sorts of tricks with his specialty Mojitos! :D He's even been on the food network and the travel channel!

[BoozeCruise2]

Thanks for the info. We sail on 1/5/08 and are curious on what nights to skip the dining room and head to chops and Portfinos? Oh I asked when on the Freedom what the smell was and it the sewage being burned. That is their method of removal.

 

With the Flow Rider, can you elaborate on how to go about booking that? Great deal! Is it every night etc? Thanks

 

BC2

[Inshape]

Hi Susan, Hi Janice, we were also on the ship at the same time and LOVED it. We esp got hooked on flow rider which I thought would be no big deal. What a big deal it was. Spent much of the time there and loved talking to others on line. The crowd watching did not inhibit as I thought it would. The people who are on the line for it actually cheer for you and it is a nice feeling. We never did Chops as we had planned to since the steaks in the dining room was the best ever had on a cruise ship. They were tender, a nd made to order. I also never smelled anything. My only complaint was that the art work in the stairways was not as impressive as on other ships. Most of it was photographs and did not catch my attention. The staff was great, we made friends with so many of them ...YES flow rider staff and the gym staff. Loved the VITALITY stuff which was nicer than the ship shape stuff. Came home with a trunk full....The 5:00 stretch and meditation with Laura was one of the best I have ever been to. Was so active the entire time on the cruise that Al and I are looking forward to our NOS adult only 4 night cruise in January. The only thing to do on that ship is the rock climbing that I never did on LOS...too busy doing flow rider!!!

Embarkation was easy but debarkation was horrible. WE got on the line at 8:20 and did not get off until after 10. We were very lucky to catch the Alamo shuttle right away. Got to Ft lauderdale airport at 11:40, and boarded the plane at 12:30. By the time we got to the gate it was after

12:10, so if we had missed that Alamo shuttle we would have been slightly in trouble.

The ship was so nice, the crew was nice and the food was good. I did feel that the cafe food was inferior to the cafe on Mariner, or maybe since the last time there they changed that menu too. It use to be wonderful french pastries that changed daily and that was not to be found on LOS. Sorrentos was nice with good pizza and very nice marinated veggies to go with the lettuce to make a nice salad. Just wish they had the coffee and hot chocolate and tea in Sorrentos also. They just had water and they had the other stuff in the cafe.

The production shows were very nice except the Ever after show. I thought that was horrible. I think they did a good job on what they did but it was not a show that most adults would want to go see. A new rendition of fairy tales acted out. Not what I go to the theater for. The other 2 production shows were very nicely done and enjoyable. The ice show was great, with much more ice skating tricks than scenery and staging as the other ice shows I saw on EOS and MOS. Lots of flips, spins, lifts and jumps.

We were very disappointed in the one comedian ....he was horrible. His first night at the welcome show was ok but then he did a adult comedy which was the worst I have ever seen. We were so glad it was over when it was. Tony Tillman was excellent although I saw him on MOS a yr ago and it was the same show. Other than that we had only the magician that did the shortest show ever...maybe 15 min long and it was part of the last night show. So that was very disappointing : not much in headliner shows.

[OHCruisin]

Thanks for the info. We sail on 1/5/08 and are curious on what nights to skip the dining room and head to chops and Portfinos? Oh I asked when on the Freedom what the smell was and it the sewage being burned. That is their method of removal.

 

With the Flow Rider, can you elaborate on how to go about booking that? Great deal! Is it every night etc? Thanks

 

BC2

 

Well, I skipped out on the second formal night (Wed.) and went to Portofino. Quite frankly, wished I would have skipped out Friday. Did not really like the menu that night, ordered pasta from the alternative menu. Plus that's the last night when you tip your waiters, so I hate to skip that night.

 

Have to agree with Inshape (Hi Cori!). The several times I had steak, it was tender, cooked the way I wanted it, flavorful and hot. In general, I thought the food in the dining room was quite good and it was always served hot.

[kendallison]

Thanks for the info. We sail on 1/5/08 and are curious on what nights to skip the dining room and head to chops and Portfinos? Oh I asked when on the Freedom what the smell was and it the sewage being burned. That is their method of removal.

 

With the Flow Rider, can you elaborate on how to go about booking that? Great deal! Is it every night etc? Thanks

 

BC2

 

We enjoyed the dining room every night so I can't tell you which night to skip. I think there is a link to menus posted somewhere though and you can decide for yourself.

 

About the flow rider... I'm not sure if they do it every night but just inquire at the desk where you sign the waiver. I know that if you just want to sign up by yourself for one of the night sessions it is $60 and the session is one hour. They told us there is no guarentee of how many are in the group when you sign up that way. They said the better thing to do was to find 5 or 6 friends (or more) and rent it for the $300 an hour. That way you would have control over how many people were doing it and would also be a little cheaper if you get more than 5 to do it. After hanging out there a day or two you will be able to find the people that really love it and see if they would be interested in renting it with you if you're not bringing a bunch of friends with you.

[chrystine]

Yes Adrienne is still on the Liberty- at Boleros- making wonderful Mojitos and doing great tricks.

 

We did notice a smell out on the sports deck occassionally- especially in the hallway going out to the rocking climbing wall which my son loved and insisted on doing several times a day. Smell was not a big deal. Think it is from exhaust gases the engine room releases every so often from the stacks behind the rock climbing wall.

 

I, too, was impressed with the beef/steaks in the main dining room. All were very tasty and cooked as ordered. We went to Chops Monday night (San Juan) and I was not impressed. Filet did not have much flavor and was bordering on well done even though I ordered medium rare. DH's t-bone steak was the same way. Soups/sides/salads/desserts were good though. Friday night we went to Portofino and it was amazing. Filet I had there was incredible. My pasta appetizer was great and DH's seafood entree and app were great too. Tiramisu was to die for. We had much better service in Portofino than we did at Chops.

 

We were in an OS on deck 10 and AC never got that cool. It was a tad warm especially near our bed but a little cooler near my son's bed.

 

Overall, we have a wonderful cruise and loved the ship.

[NH Cruiser]

We're sailing on the Liberty this Saturday. I have a couple of questions.

When you were in St Maarten, did the ship change time to match island time?

 

Was there a Gala Buffet?

 

Did Liberty of the Seas have the valet service for luggage at the end of the cruise?

Thanks . . .

[kendallison]

Good questions!

 

The ship never changes time. The ship keeps the same time it has when it leaves Miami. St. Maarten was 1 hour ahead of ship time. (I compared watches with our cab driver.) Here is a helpful link...

 

http://www.myworldclock.com/timezones/countries/St%20Maarten%20and%20St%20Martin

 

I can't answer the one about the Gala buffet but maybe someone else can.

 

I CAN answer the one about the luggage valet service. I had really wanted to use this service but had heard from prior cruisers that it was not yet available on the Liberty. I checked with guest realation and it was still not available. They did not know if and when it would be available. You could certainly ask on your cruise but I wouldn't count on having it.:( It would have been nice since we had a late flight. Instead we took a cab to Jungle Island and they were able to store our luggage at guest relations while we were at their park. They were very nice about it. When we were done we just claimed our luggage, they called us a cab and we were off to the airport.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[OHCruisin]

I don't believe there was a Gala Buffet. There was a deck party one night and they did have a nice spread, but nothing like the Gala Buffets of years past.

[NH Cruiser]

Thank you for the quick responses. That's disappointing about the Gala Buffet and the valet service. One more time question. When you docked at St Maarten at 9:00 a.m. was that local time or ship time?

[kendallison]

Ship time. (So it was 10:00 St. Maarten time.)

[NH Cruiser]

Kendaillson . . . thank you for the information. I'll pass it on to the others in our group.

[kendallison]

No problem! Enjoy your cruise!:)

 

Oh, and they were decorating for Christmas the day we got off the ship so I'm sure it's all done by now.