My husband and I have done a large number of cruises(mostly with Royal, he has done around 20). We chose the Liberty as we had sailed on the Freedom last year and since we were taking our kids for the first time we wanted a ship that had everything to offer and also wanted to try the new one out. The Freedom was fantastic and although the two are sister ships they are both great but in different ways. Where the one ship offers something the other does not. An example is in the day spa/work out center, the Freedom has a HUGE whirlpool, the Liberty does not. Anyways..... We are from Toronto but left from Buffalo and arrived in Miami the day prior to our trip. We had booked the Holiday Inn Bayside from the internet. I would not recommend it. The location was great, but they advertised that they pick up at the airport....they do not. It cost us an extra 35. to get to the hotel. We could have booked a hotel in a better category and had the airport service for what we paid for the hotel and taxi service. They also did not offer the port service that they advertised(another 25.00). Boarding the ship was the fastest we have ever had. Although we get preferred boarding, the lines we nil. When we got on we were greeted by a member of the Ocean Adventure Club for the kids, as our son is 10. They immediately put a muster station band on him in case he ever got lost on the ship or there was an emergency. We went to the Windjammer for lunch as it was noon when we boarded. The food was very good, in fact I think a little better than the Freedom ( they really massed out on things like mousse and burgers on the Freedom), the Liberty had more selection. Our cabins were side by side and this is the first time we took an interior cabin(to try and save cost, so we could do more excursions). Our room attendant was AWESOME...we loved her, she was so up on everything and every time you left your cabin for a minute everything was back to being perfect when you got back(the best we have ever had). The beds were comfortable and the halls were quiet. The dining room was also nice, I find that they are always a little chilly, but in having a tour of the bridge it was explained to us that certain areas of the ship have to be kept cooler than others because of the sprinkler system. It would activate if kept above a certain temperature. The food was really good, I found that they seem to have scaled back on the quantities served, but that is actually a good idea as you tend to over eat as everything is so good you do not want to leave it. Also it eliminates the waste that we have seen on previous cruises. The Adventure Ocean club however did not amuse our 10 year old son. He went the first day and was all excited(he is a really good,well behaved boy) he came out of there not wanting to go back. When we asked he said it was more sports oriented and the instructors were overly stern. Since he is not a sport person, we just kept him with us and that did not prove to be a problem. There were 500 kids aboard and I guess others found the same thing and they were all playing at the water park area for most of the day. I sat by the pool and had my lunch there and did some of my homework(I had to bring my university stuff to keep caught up) and relaxed while he ran off and played for hours on end and found about 6 friends. It worked out well, so don't worry if the kids do not want to go to the club, they will amuse themselves without driving you crazy. The shows were good, but preferred the Freedom's better. Ken Rush had been our cruise director on the Freedom and was ours again for the Liberty......great job Ken, he is so experienced and comfortable with what he does, he will not let you down. Our shore excursions were great as usual. We did the waveriders in Haiti( I am terrified, as is my daughter of deep water) but we did ok. We did the Croyden Plantation tour in Jamaica as we have already done all of the other major excursions on other cruises. I would highly recommend this one, there is so much more to see and learn on this excursion. Grand Cayman saw us doing the turtle farm and once again the stingray city. Our son loved this one, our daughter was terrified of the stingrays, but she loved the turtle farm. Cozumel was our day for the Mayan ruins, it is a long trip, but one thing they forget to tell you is you can bring your bathing suit to this one for a nice dip in the most aqua water you will have ever seen!!! It is a long trip but it is worth it. There are only two things I can complain about and that is we had a small outbreak yet again of the Norovirus. We did not know anything until we came back off of an excursion from Jamaica and all of a sudden everyone was handing out wipes and constantly asking to use wipes everywhere. They did very well to contain it(as there were only two as we know) I do however recommend that Royal should be going over sanitation and what is expected so that these outbreaks do not happen, this should be covered at the muster drill. When you have 4,000 people anywhere in an area it could happen. Hand sanitizer should be carried by each passenger and used after touching the tongs at the buffets etc. That is what we have always done, it is only common sense. To start the procedure part way through the cruise only causes panic. Secondly, as with our last cruise and also with this cruise we are experiencing alot more VERY rude people. They are throwing around their culture to cover for this etc. Excuse me...we all have a culture, and that is ok. Use it for yourself and your family and be mindful and respectful and pleasant to those around you...we are all on holiday and have paid well to be there, lets all get along!!! Leave that stuff at home. The last highlight of our trip was that we booked to go on another cruise with Royal in Jan. It is one of the smallest ships they have but the itinerary was great...11 days to the southern caribbean, and best of all the credit goes to our personal travel agent even though we booked while on the ship!!! You cannot go wrong with the Freedom series or Voyager series of ships, when you are travelling with kids, or even alone. It is easy to have a relaxing vacation for both adults and kids alike.