Liberty of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Live in Houston and cruise out of Galveston, or Houston, on average of once a year for years. Usually RCI. Enough that we have Diamond status. Last on the Liberty about 2 years ago. Took two shorter cruises last year.
Having read some review I was a little concerned about the condition of the ship. I wasn't expecting a brand new ship but from some reviews I wondered if I ought to get a tetanus shot before boarding. My experience was the condition issues were really truly minor. Yes the curtains in the stateroom were pretty worn out and the bathroom was a little worn and it's not a brand new ship. But that was it. Embarkation was fine. We got to the port around 1pm and boarded pretty quick.
I thought the food was better than the last time we were on RCI and probably last time we were on Liberty. We ate 3 dinners in main dining room. I should know better than to order medium rare prime rib so that was my only real food complaint. Service at dinner was almost too solicitous. We ate in Chops for First Night Done Right and the 9 oz filet was perfect at medium rare. We were amused we had to go back twice and wait in line to try and get an earlier dining time (before 8:30) and the entire time were were there 3/4 of the tables were empty. Breakfast service in the main dining room was slow. Windjammer was good and service was really nicely done. One afternoon we went for scones at tea time and there was no cream out. We each asked different people for the cream and a nice young dessert attendant hunted us down and brought some to our table.
Cabin Review
Spacious Ocean View Balcony
Port Reviews
Roatan
We snorkeled with Upachaya a few years ago and thought if we ever went back we'd do it again. The driver meets you outside the port area, just like you are told. You drive little way across the island to the north side. Barb the owner meets you and gives you a brief tour of the grounds and the various plants in the garden. After being fitted for snorkel gear you head out to a reef not too far away. My partner thought the reef seemed a bit in distress. I read on another review that the reefs are not as prolific on that side of the island and that may be true. However, we saw a stingray, octopus, lobster, Trumpet Fish, starfish and on and on. A whole school of Blue Tang came right up on us. Very cool. It was great. Afterwards you have a vegetarian lunch, yummy coleslaw but just that and Thai pasta salad, and then back to the port. Olga our driver stopped so we could get something on the way back. A really good day.
Costa Maya
Mahaual Ecotours - The weather was light rain when we got off the ship. And you do have to keep going and going to get outside the Mexican government tourism/cruise line made port area. But they are where they tell you they'll be. Our birding portion of the tour was right there at the port area. We went up the street towards the water park and walked around the streets that were built for a development that never happened. We did see orioles, a tanager, glimpsed a Green Jay, Aztec Parakeets, Cinnamon Hummingbird, and some others. I was expecting to do that for a little while then go further out. Now we may have changed the schedule because we got a little hungry. So we went and ate. I believe had we wanted to we could have gone to another place for birding. We ate at Restaurant Sulamar on the beach in town. Fabulous ceviche and plantains. The weather kicked up and we decided to go snorkeling before the harbor master closed the port. It was rough and the visibility was not good. But after a short snorkel, we went closer in toward the shore but a bit further from the town to a spot where we saw huge sea turtles in about 10-15 feet of water. It was amazing. Really amazing. Victor was a great guide. Very knowledgeable and easy going, but serious about the environment. Overall a really good day.