Liberty of the Seas Review
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Imagine owning a home with, say, 3 extra bedrooms. You have a lot of relatives and friends who come to visit and stay for, oh, maybe 4 days or 5 days, maybe 7 days, maybe 9. When they leave (after, of course, you’ve fed them and entertained them every day), you have about 4 hours to clean the rooms, get your house back in order, buy food, because the next batch of guests will be coming in shortly. Lots of work, huh? Multiply that by about 1,000, and that’s what a cruise ship crew faces all the time – no breaks, pretty much 365 days a year of having guests.
Having just completed a 9 day cruise, I remain amazed at how well the staff is able to keep up with all they face. I found Liberty to be in fantastic shape; the crew is always working to keep her looking sharp – painting, varnishing, cleaning. Think about your own house like I mentioned above. What would it look like if you constantly had visitors, even if you hired a crew to do the work? I don’t think anyone can be fully justified in complaining about occasional small problems that happen on board (cabin issues, etc.). When you think of the turnover, the amount of work involved, I find it almost miraculous that any cruise ship can be kept in such great shape. For a comparison: we stayed in a well-known 3 star hotel pre-cruise. When I went to take a shower the faucet handle came off in my hand – couldn’t turn the water on. It was fixed shortly, but those things can happen (in a hotel, at home, on a ship). Our tablemates onboard had no hot water one day when they went to shower (problem fixed quickly). Should you really criticize the operators of what basically amounts to a small city because a few small problems might come up?
Cruising out of Bayonne this time was much better than 2 years ago. The new terminal, while not comparable to some Florida ports, is nice, parking is pretty easy, things seem organized. I don’t like paying $19 a day to park, but try parking anywhere near NYC – it’s not cheap. There are cheaper lots that will shuttle you to the port; we chose the convenience of having our car right there for a few dollars per day more.
Cabin Review
Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
Loved Cabin 1236! Near forward elevators, larger than most balcony cabins, quiet location (spa is above it; never heard anything from above).
Port Reviews
Bayonne (Cape Liberty)
New Terminal is SO MUCH nicer than the old set-up. Luggage drop-off was quick. Parking was a breeze. Expect to deal with NYC area traffic; when we went a main bridge to the port (Bayonne Bridge) was closed; fortunately we went a different route.
King's Wharf
We booked a catamaran excursion. It rained so hard almost all excursions were cancelled. Been to Bermuda twice: constant rain both times! It can't rain all the time there, can it??
San Juan
Kind of odd: Royal was only there from 7AM to 12PM, giving you basically 4 hours to see San Juan, but most of the shops and restaurants were closed the first two hours. One of my "highlights" of San Juan is visiting the CVS Pharmacy across from the port to pick up any forgotten supplies.
Labadee
Labadee is the nicer of Royal's two private beaches. Shops, Zip Line, Dragon Coaster, several beaches - lots to choose from. Water toys (trampolines, etc.) for kids; small water park area for toddlers.