This is our fourth cruise out of Galveston, and the second time on Liberty of the Seas. Overall we had a great time. Some thoughts...

Embarkation: The port signing is poorly laid out, and can be confusing. We missed the lane for dropping off the luggage, so we circled back around a second time. Go early because the traffic gets awful later in the morning. We dropped off the bags, parked over at Lot B, and the shuttle dropped us back at the terminal - about 15 minutes from bag drop to terminal (at 10 am). The line inside the terminal was long but moved along. It was about 45 minutes from walking in to getting past the bag scanner. From there we moved into the check-in room. The line there was much shorter and moved faster (again, early in the day). We moved through, checked in, had our picture taken and headed to the on ramp. Not horrible, but we thought Carnival's embarkation was much smoother.

And then we were on the ship! We made our way to the buffet, along with the other 4,000 passengers. As expected, the Windjammer was crowded and busy. Staff were trying to help people find tables, but space was tight and everyone had their carry-on bags. Other than one jerk who thought the world should stop for him, most people were trying to be patient and make their way through. Food was good, we found a table and had lunch and chilled until the room announcement was made. Read more