Ship of Dreams…
…but not Realities. This was the mantra we cheerily sung to ourselves to slap a smiley face on the horrendous debacle of cruising aboard Royal Caribbean’s, Liberty of the Seas, this past January. Our small family of three (including myself, my twenty-eight-year-old daughter and twenty-year-old son) have vacationed with many cruise lines in the past two decades, including Royal Caribbean, whose dedication to providing a relaxing and entertaining vacation experience seems to have plummeted into the abyss since we last voyaged with them.
Since that time, we mostly had occasion to cruise with Carnival, who managed to deliver a decent package so far as we had experienced, but from our understanding had a more pedestrian reputation than the more acclaimed Royal Caribbean. I decided to switch back for our most recent trip to reward my children for all their hard work in the past year with the expectation of a higher quality cruising experience. Yet, for far greater expense, of $900 for the same voyage, the ship, Liberty of the Seas, limped to the barn with far inferior quality accommodations, amenities and overall service than we had enjoyed on the less prestigious Carnival.
The Liberty of the Seas trumpeted a host of new refurbishments and upgrades since its first launch in 2007. But when we arrived in our stateroom, our road-weary eyes were greeted with obscenely outdated furnishings that showed visible signs of age, wear and tear, all aside from being completely filthy. From carpets layered with dust to a bathroom covered in grime and pubic hairs (we have the photos to prove it), my exhausted children had to begin their vacation cleaning out the room before the staff arrived.
We spent the rest of the first day of our vacation waiting in line at the guest services desk attempting to address our grievances. After the first hour of waiting as they typed nondescript minutiae into a computer (stalling), they only tried to placate us with a flimsy apology note and a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries. By the time we finished ironing things out, we were utterly exhausted, yet merely slaking our thirst proved to be a chore of its own.
Originallyf we had booked the rafting trip down the Martha Bray river, but it was canceled and we were not notified at all. We changed to Horseback riding and had a good time even though one of our party could not attend due to the original cancellation.