Liberty of the Seas Review

Fantastic Experience With One Exception

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Liberty of the Seas
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pianobear
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2018
Cabin: Interior
Traveled with children

We chose this cruise because it sails out of Galveston, and since my family of 5 was all going, we did not want to have to pay air-fare to fly to Florida or San Juan. I read a lot of reviews before booking. Many of the reviews complained about the size (crowds) or the food (bad). Neither of these were problems for us. We sailed over Christmas, and while there were a lot of people on board, we NEVER had problems finding places to hang out, and we NEVER had a bad meal on this ship. The food was excellent in every dining room, including the Windjammer, the main dining room, and the specialty restaurants. (We ate in Chops Grille, Sabor, and Giovanni's Table - but did not eat at Johnny Rockets.) We purchased the drink packages, and never had problems getting drinks at the bars. We had 2 internal staterooms, which were small, but fine - as we were hardly ever in them. The entertainment was always good - and since this was the first time on this particular cruise, it was all new to us. The best part of this cruise by far was the wait service. Mark, head waiter, and Irelle, his assistant, were absolutely fantastic to my family. I cannot say enough good things about Mark - his character, personality, and genuine concern for us was above and beyond. Irelle was just as fantastic. We cried when we had to leave them!! Our stateroom attendants were also great - Floyd and Kar. Our rooms were always clean. I booked excursions outside of RCCL prior to the trip: zip and dip in Roatan, Honduras; Chocchoban ruins tour through the Native Choice in Costa Maya, Mexico; and the El Celio snorkel tour in Cozumel. Very glad I did this, as all 3 were great. It is a shame that cruise lines only allow "official" tours to pick you up at the port. We had to walk to some of our tours, but it was worth it. I only have one HUGE negative about this cruise, and about RCCL pricing policies in general. We paid for 2 staterooms - one for my wife and I, and one for our kids. It was an expensive trip. When you are on-board, there are MULTIPLE opportunities to take photos. Some of those photos were really good! But, because we were in 2 staterooms, and my 2 daughters were over 21, they wanted to charge us almost $500 ($299 + $149) to purchase the picture packages for both staterooms. Any pictures under my stateroom that did NOT include me or my wife could not be "purchased" as a part of our package - even though they were of my own kids! This policy discriminates against larger families. The only way to get around this is to book all family members in one room. As a family of 5, that would have meant we would have to buy a suite. The photographers were excellent, but this policy of unfairly charging for family photographs is despicable. I did not purchase ANY of the photos we took, and in my survey to RCCL, I told them I will do everything I can to discourage anyone else from purchasing them as well. If we ever cruise again, I will not allow the ship photographers to take ANY pictures of my family. It is good that I had my own camera, and got some pictures of my own for FREE. Shame on you RCCL, for taking advantage of us.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 6V

The interior cabins are small. We had both 1277 and 1257 which are both on deck 10. Both are basic rooms, but the one our kids stayed in had bunk beds that fold out of the ceiling. Bath room was adequate, and actually laid out very well. The shower was small. Here is a secret: use the bath rooms inside the spa facility - they are larger!

Port Reviews

Galveston

This port is relatively easy to navigate. They only have 2 terminals. RCCL is in the 2nd. We used covered remote parking with one of the park and cruise companies. My truck was inside a covered building. While it was not the best building - who cares. It kept my truck dry.

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