My husband and I just returned home from the Liberty of the Sea 7 night western med. Our review is a mixed bag, as some elements of the experience were fantastic, while others just the reverse.

The ship, as well as all the bells and whistles, was exceptional. We felt it quite impressive in most respects. We enjoyed all ports, taking "ship-sponsored" shore excursions in each one. We were pleasantly surprised to find the food quality and selections better than we had anticipated (we are "foodies" and I am an "upscale" chef). The staff, crew and excursion guides, with only a few exceptions, were attentive, friendly and concerned with guest satisfaction. All in all, pretty much everything you could want or ask for on a cruise ship.

Gee, sounds great so far, doesn't it? Now for the downsides. Although RC produces a great product, they possess two significant downfalls. The first is communication. In planning this cruise I was in contact with customer service on multiple occassions regarding different matters. The individuals available by phone were frequently confused, lacking basic knowledge of very routine matters, and providing inaccurate information on more than one occassion. I admit that I approached this cruise with somewhat negative expections based upon all the pre-cruise confusion.The confusion persisted once on board. First, although we had no complaints about the size, location or comfort of our cabin, we experienced a troublesome noise problem the first night between approximately 1 and 3 AM. It sounded much like clumsy furniture movers... lots of banging and thuds. Even with earplugs, it kept me awake. Not good. When we reported it the next morning we were told that RC would need to check it out personally if it occurred again. It did, and we were visited by two security personnel at 1:30 in the morning. They listened awhile and said it was just "ship noises" (?) but they would check into it. Banging continued the rest of the night. Read more