Liberty of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,647 reviews

First Time Cruiser? Ourselves as well!

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Liberty of the Seas
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lutzkibbutz
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Oct 2014
Cabin: Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

We are prairie people from Saskatchewan and are in our mid 50s. This cruise seemed like a good deal in that for $1399 pp we had a balcony cabin on the bump-out, Premium Drinks package, and a $200 on-board credit. Though well over a year's time away, we booked it. One way airfare from Winnipeg (where we now reside) to Barcelona well in advance was initially $2200 Cdn. per person! Flying a day earlier lowered that down to $1107. Using Choice Air through Fargo (3.5 hours south) gave us the best fare at $562 pp (Fargo to Chicago to London Heathrow to Barcelona). We pre-paid a tour of the Sagrade de Familia in Barcelona but due to American Airlines operating under the guise of British Airways we went mechanical at Chicago and got to Heathrow 2 hours late. We therefore missed our connection at the latter and missed our tour at Barcelona. We booked a very expensive hotel there but got into town late, took a cab from the airport, slept, woke up and took a cab straight for the port. Upon arrival there we were fast-tracked through the line (perhaps due to it being our first ever cruise?) but were delayed 45 minutes or so when my better half made the mistake(?) of indicating she had just gotten over a cold. The ship's doc finally showed up, asked her two questions and we were finally able to board.

A few months beforehand we stumbled onto Cruise Critic's "Roll Call" site and that made a world of difference in our enjoyment of this first cruise. Getting to know people ahead of time via these postings gave us a great education as to what to expect. The people we chatted with on that enthusiastic Roll Call were the people we hung around with most of the time along with an offline couple who happened to be in the vicinity during our informal Meet and Greet at the Sky Bar the afternoon of embarkation. The combination of people was just right and we just couldn't NOT have fun with them as it was a very goofy group.

That brings us to one of our first points; there did not seem to be a watering hole where we could let loose and be loud and gregarious. With live entertainment everywhere we received the odd dirty look after being noisy and would respectfully leave to find another area. As an entertainer myself I would rather have a full and noisy crowd while playing than a lot of empty seats and quiet patrons. I respect the other point of view, though, but we single acts should not try to take ourselves too seriously no matter how skilled and accomplished we are. We have also been in situations where another groupl nearby seems to be having all the fun. That might have been us had we not found the Roll Call as no one we knew was able to come along with us.

Cabin Review

Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin D3

You can stow your luggage under the bed, which was a little hard if you are a side-sleeper. Room was large enough and we underutilized the balcony. It was great to have for a view of the Rock of Gibraltar at night. The music on the announcement speaker is nice for an afternoon nap. Room service is basically free! We utilized the laundry service primarily for socks and underwear. Our shower had barely adequate force and the pulsing feature is good to focus cleaning on specific areas.

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