After always sailing from either Florida or UK this was a first for departing from a non english speaking country. On arrival to El Prat Airport I had organised a taxi transfer for our party of 2 adults and 5 children for 130 euro return paying half on arrival and balance on departure. This was a lot cheaper than letting RCI organise (about 60% cheaper !!) The driver was waiting after getting our luggage, and in no time at all we where at the port (About 15 minutes)

First thing I noticed was that they where already boarding the ship (10.30am) and the whole process was smooth as silk, and by 10.45am we were on board and heading the Windjammer for some light morning snacks. Service was good and food was surprisingly better than our Independance trip a few months ago. As we were in the family suite we had "Gold Cards" which allowed extra perks like eating in a private area in Chops Grille, Reserved seats in the show's, sun terrace etc, and was a nice addition. Our Concierge Mario was fantastic, and his whole team was excellent. In fact at this point everything was the best I have ever experienced with Royal Caribbean and we were very excited about the rest of the cruise.

The new big screen on the Liberty was excellent clarity and when we finished our light lunch we went around the ship looking at the differences over the Independance which is virtually identical. One thing I did notice was that given the Hot Day the ice cream machines were closed on Deck 11, which was dissapointing and did not even open until the following day when I also noticed as with the Independance that they have withdrawn the Strawberry Flavour ice cream !! so thats my favourite gone !! Read more