Liberty of the Seas Review
6 May 2015, Ten Night Bermuda and Eastern Caribbean
Rating by category
Additional details
This was my fourth RCI, and 25th cruise overall. I took my elderly Mom on this cruise for Mother's Day.
This was my first cruise on a Freedom Class ship, although I had been in a similar, but slightly smaller, Voyager Class (Mariner OTS) back in 2003. The layout was very similar, and I instantly felt 'at home' upon embarkation. The one thing I missed was the lack of a "Peek-A-Boo" bridge overview. The rest of the public area's were great, except for having to brave the gauntlet of smoke when crossing through the Casino Royale on Deck Four. I wish they would put a passageway on one side of the casino to circumnavigate that problem, with out the need to use Deck Five, but I doubt they will ever do that, because they might lose luring a few "contributions" from those just otherwise passing thru.
Embarkation and Debarkation went very smoothly. In fact, since the ship repositioned to Bayonne from Fort Lauderdale without passenger's, they began boarding at the earliest time I have ever seen...10:00! And of course, the cabins were all ready for us, so no need to tote our carryons to the Windjammer. This cruise only carried about 173 children, mostly pre-school age. Very nice, and the reason we like to cruise in May and October. The rest of the passenger's included a very large proportion of Crown and Anchor repeater's of all levels. We were delighted to run into some folks that we cruised with before, and reprised our winning trivia team with them.
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
This is an accessible cabin, and very well laid out for those who are wheelchair user's, with plenty of room, and ample storage. The beds were very comfortable. The roll-in shower contained the water better than some other's we have been in. The only negative was a cosmetic one...although the cabin was kept spotless, there was some damage to the sink bowl, like chips or possibly cigarette burns in a couple of spots.
It would be nice if they retrofitted the cabin doors with power doors like the newbuilds now have....
Port Reviews
Bayonne (Cape Liberty)
New terminal, with easy embarkation and disembarkation, close in and reasonable parking ($19. per day). Will soon have lot replaced with multilevel garage.
King's Wharf
Bermuda is a great place to visit...much more 'upscale' than the Caribbean ports, but is very expensive....not the place to 'shop'. Kings Wharf located at the Royal Naval Dockyard or 'West End' of Bermuda is the only port that can handle large ships. Hamilton, the capital, and St. George's, the original capital, can only handle smaller ships.
There is excellent bus and ferry services, with one, two, three, or more unlimited passes sold at reasonable rates, for those wanting to tour on their own...
St. Maarten
One of the nicer Caribbean islands....the ship docks at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, the Dutch side of the world's smallest land mass shared by two nations. You can also tour over to Marigot, St. Martin on the French side of the island.
Lots of nice things to see and do, and good shopping.
San Juan
The old town area and the forts are nice tour destinations. And the nearby CVS pharmacy is handy to pick up any sundries you may need. You can also print out your digital photo's there if you want...
Labadee
This is in Haiti, but is a defacto private island within an island, as the RCCL owned resort compound is surrounded by barbed razor wire, and patrolled by guards touting M-16 rifles. Not my favorite..., but then, I am not a 'beach person" so not a good person to ask. Very limited shopping from stands for carefully screened and credentialed locals....