Liberty of the Seas Review
Liberty Sailing During Spring Break = No No
Rating by category
Additional details
I've sailed on many Royal Caribbean ships, and visited many international ports, but this was my first time on a Freedom class ship and visiting these two ports on the itinerary. I had heard mixed reviews about Liberty of the Seas but was keeping an open mind as we were sailing with a larger group of family and friends on the March 12, 2012 sailing (I might have opted for a different date to avoid Spring Break but the group was accommodating those with a fixed schedule). It was a 5-night western Caribbean itinerary with ports of Labadee and Falmouth, Jamaica. I was not excited about either port but knew we had a long excursion for Jamaica (Bobsleds) and could just have a relaxing beach day or ship day for Labadee. I won't make this a long drawn out day by day account of the pre-cruise/cruise/post-cruise but rather points about the cruise/ports/questions people never seem to get enough answers to on the message boards. Here goes...
- Boarding was super easy and quick through the Platinum C&A line. We got to the port around 10:45 or 11 and were on board eating lunch in Windjammer before 11:30am. Windjammer was quite busy at this time BUT make sure you go all the way around to the back where the buffet repeats again and it is less crowded and a few more food and seating options back there.
- Our friends got held up at check-in with security checking the case of water bottles they were carrying aboard. Before the cruise, they tried to be sneaky and filled three of the 18 water bottles with clear liquor and then put them back in the middle of the plastic sealed package and sealed the package back up with a hot air gun, seriously, it looked like the package came straight from the supermarket. But they got caught and three bottles were "set aside" for confiscation. Security will check each and every bottle of liquid you bring with you on the ship to see if it is alcohol even before you get to check in for your SeaPass. When our friends finally got to their cabin and took the remaining water bottles out of the plastic they realized that those "set aside" bottles were put back in their package and three plain waters were taken instead -- even though security knew which ones were alcohol. Someone was smiling upon them that day. Eventually they boarded and met up with us for lunch at Windjammer.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
-We had a balcony cabin on the bump, 8338, and it was very nice. It was the usual D8 long skinny cabin. I find that walking around the bed is tight in these cabins but otherwise plenty of space. There was a constantly wet spot on our floor outside our bathroom but we just learned to avoid it. Our attendant was rarely around and his service was adequate, nothing to write home about. Oh yeah, they don't put ice service in cabins anymore, you have to request it now. I thought the location of this cabin was ideal for getting to anywhere in the ship easily. We were near stairs and elevator and close to dinner (below us a few decks). The only annoying thing was the kids running up and down hallways, thump thump thump.