When we saw the possibility of cruising on a Freedom Class ship of RCCL's we were so excited for the fact that the ship, at the time, shared the title of second largest cruise ship with it's sisters. CRAZY! The ship, from the moment we got on the second we got off, had something going on, always something new and innovative to do. Want to go ice skating? Sure. How about surfing? Sure. You name it, this ship probably has it. Along with the activities came an immaculate ship looking clean inside and out and seemed as if it was brand spankin' new. Let's just get one thing straight before further reviewing: The Liberty of the Seas, as a ship, IS AN AMAZING SHIP. Now let's get to the juicy stuff...

Problems? Biggest problem on this cruise was Service. It was lacking left and right, here and there, almost everywhere. Sure, you've got the crew who had a mediocre sense of happiness and faces brightened when they saw you coming. You've got the bar waiters going around the pool decks who are happy to sell a drink at your leisure, but other than that it doesn't get much better. Maybe it was the dining experience we had... almost horrible. The food was decent (shrimp cocktail=heaven) but the servers left more to be desired. Our head waiter was cheery, talking with us some and seemingly happy, but he got our drinks wrong 80% of the time and he took lots of time to get anything done. Our assistant server? Ahh I really feel bad for the guy, he was obviously very elementary in his English and his social skills weren't very high up there either. He failed many times to bring out the right things, he got things mixed up left and right, and I don't think he knows his own name. I understand that this is one person and I'm positive not all the assistant servers are this way, but RC is really slipping up the quality of crew they hire. I can only pray for this guy that he keeps his job so he can support himself and his family. Besides the servers, the dining experience was poor compared to other cruise lines. I know some people who sale RCCL are too fancy for the fun in the dining room, but our dining rooms attempt at entertainment was a big fail. Compared to Carnival, say, you actually remember your dining staff's name, including the maitre' d, not to mention seeing him and conversing with him! We never spoke with the Maitre' D, but we did get a visit from an assistant who was merely working for a tip... sad really. Carnival's dining room experience is not only tremendous food, but they make sure you have a good ole' time while you're eating too. Maybe not everyone is for that, but RCCL needs to step it up!

Along with the dining room was the main buffet area, the WindJammer Cafe. It was a very nice space with lots of buffets, but still not enough to handle the amount of people on the Liberty. Food was good and... not so good at times, and it can be very confusing on which buffet line to go to. Also, drinks are confusing because it's hard to find a manned station to serve you something other than Lemonade, Water, or Sweet Tea. Also notable is that when the Windjammer get's crowded during prime hours, a little announcement comes on about every 5 minutes over the loudspeaker in the dining area of the Windjammer, and attempts to be happy while asking guest to get up and leave so others can sit. Not only is it annoying, but it doesn't work. Read more