Our first cruise without the mouse - Liberty of the Seas - August 28, 2016 - COMPLETED

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

There is not actually a refundable fee for the towels. What the do is scan your seapass card when you take out a towel. They can it again when you bring it back. Supposedly if you do not bring a towel back at the end of the cruise, they will charge you $25. I have never seem it happen and do not know how they could do it logistically, especially if you have a cash account.

I always thought the scanners were to freak you out so you would THINK you would get charged

I see! Makes sense. Stops people just leaving towels around the ship on loungers and people wondering are those people coming back? No different I guess to if you loose an item from your stateroom on DCL like a wave phone. Those are expensive you don't want that on your credit card!

 

[ukintheus]

We had just arrived back in our cabin when maintenance arrived to fix something we didn't even know was broken . We left just before 2 pm to begin the cabin crawl and met up with a couple who were looking for the same cabin as we were to begin. They were very sweet and we ended up doing the whole tour along with them. We saw a couple of different size balcony rooms, a promenade interior, a Jr suite and a grand suite.

It was really interesting to see the different types of rooms and the balcony rooms were not that much smaller than a Disney balcony but the bathrooms were significantly smaller with no split bath, and no bath tub but a very small shower.

This photo was taken from a mirror, so it's a weird image, but you can get the gist. Its of the shower in the regular bathroom. I'm not sure how we would get on with it, that's something I'm still pondering.



The size of the bathroom would be the only reason we would think hard about a regular balcony room, as overall the room and verandah size were very comparable to DCL. We were done at about 3:15 and we went to the Solarium bar and grabbed a couple of drinks before heading back to do a bit of sunbathing on our balcony.



It was definitely a warm afternoon and although there was a tiny breeze it was hot hot hot! We used the shower to cool off, which worked out pretty well, and it was a good way to make the most of our private loungers. Scott did the run to get another cocktail. Sadly this one didn't hit the spot, it was a mango mojito and I didn't care for the mix of flavors so what you see here is what was thrown away. I did like the fact that if I didn't like something I didn't feel like I'd just paid an arm and a leg for it. Still loving the drink package.



We finally gave in and went inside to cool off and shower and get ready for our dinner reservation in Chops at 6 pm. We arrived just before 6 pm and were promptly seated. First up was some really good bread and our server was nice and friendly and chatty.



We both started with a cocktail. Scott's was a Maker's Mark Manhattan and mine was the Chops signature lemonade cocktail but I can't remember the fancy name for it. It tasted like grapefruit though. It was fine because I like grapefruit.



Next up we both got the mushroom soup which was absolutely delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it as I write this!



When we ordered, we asked if it's typical to do all 3 courses, soup, appetizer and entree, and our server told us to just order whatever we wanted....so we did!

I got the Beef Carpaccio and it was really good.



Scott got the crab cake - again really good.



We both ordered the 9 oz filet and had asparagus, mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes although we forgot to take photos of the steaks! Ugg!! For dessert we split the cheesecake and mud pie.





All of the food was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We thought the service was about on par with Palo (not counting the fact that our friend Susana works in Palo on the Wonder and so we usually have an off-the-charts time when we are there ). Our server asked us if we wanted to come back, and that he could make a reservation for us, so we booked again for Friday. So, while we were on our second appetizers, a really sweet gentleman was seated at the table next to us who was cruising on his own and was a Pinnacle member on RCI which meant he had more than 700 nights on RCI!! He was an older man whose wife had passed away several years ago. He had worked in the oil industry many years ago and so he and Scott talked oil business for a while and we enjoyed chatting with him for the evening.

We decided to go to Hoof and Claw for a night cap. Note the time stamp, 9:11 pm. Not too early, not too late. Yet.



As you can see the place was fairly empty and we chatted a lot with the bartenders.



At 10:00 pm this singer from Argentina came along to entertain us all.



So our nightcap was turning into a major event. There were several people in there that were having a lot of fun, and it would have been rude to not join in.



There was a conga line at one point, and the Argentinian singer came over and had a drink with us seeing as that whole side of the bar was so rowdy.

This was last call....12:56 am!! As you can see, I at least had some forethought to drink water as well.



So our evening started on Monday and ended....



It was almost 2 am when we got back to our cabin, but it had been a fun night. This little guy was waiting for us.



Needless to say, we went straight to bed.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Love that cabin crawl. What a shame about the shower and smaller bathrooms. Suites for you everytime then! I get an accessible stateroom I bet the bathrooms are bigger with the roll in shower.

Dinner looked good at Chops. Wow re that nice Gentleman and over 700 nights. My Dad knows a lady that decided to live on a cruise ship rather than go in a retirement home! No it wasn't my Mum. She wishes..

Sounds like a great night. I do like the day written on the elevator carpet.

 

[ukintheus]

Tuesday, August 30th – At sea day

After a super late night we didn't get up very early and this day was very easy to keep up with on the trip report (i.e. we did nothing! LOL) I was awake at 9 am but Scott enjoyed a nice lie in until 11 am. At some point we were going past the coast of mainland Mexico. This is fuzzy - camera troubles with humidity.



We got ready and, having skipped breakfast, we decided to try lunch in the Rembrandt main dining room. The menu looked pretty interesting and they also had a big salad station set up in the middle where they had servers put your salad together the way that you wanted it.



I decided to go with the tandoori lamb.



Scott got a hamburger.



You probably won't be shocked to hear that we though the food was just OK. The service was really slow though, so we didn't wait on dessert. I also got a nice ice water shower over my right arm and leg, which was handy as it woke me up. We went up to deck 4 and took a walk outside. It was very overcast today and the temperature was really nice. This reminds me of Deck 4 on DCL and lots of people were taking advantage of the nice quiet space.



On our way back I took a quick photo of these interactive guides that are by the elevators. I used one once to find a restroom, they were handy!



We decided to go and sit on our verandah and enjoy the breeze. We spent a couple of hours out there and then took a quick nap in keeping with our extremely busy day! At about 5 we went down and grabbed a bite to eat and a drink at Promenade Cafe. I got an iced latte and it was VERY strong, I was scared to drink more than half of it as I could just see me staying awake all night having had such a lazy day. Ha ha.



We got back to the room and I tried to find the information for Maya Chan, which is where we had booked to go in Costa Maya tomorrow, but couldn't find it, so I had to buy a 1 day internet package to send an email. That was $19.99 that could have been avoided but I decided to make the most of it and text Mum and my sister. We showered and got ready for dinner. Tonight we were back in the main dining room and seeing as I had the My Time Dining reservation at 6:45 pm we decided to stick with that. When we got down there the servers were all in the middle of some kind of dance. I tried to get this photo but it didn’t come out very well.



Once we had been seated, they were trying to get everyone to get up and do the Macarena. We declined but these two ladies were good sports and got up to join in.



Here is the menu for tonight.



We both had crab cakes, which were really filling. I noticed afterwards that the people next to us only got served one each – Scott and I were both given two! We must have looked hungry.



I decided to try the pasta.



And Scott had the braised beef duo.



Tonight everything was better than the meal we had had in there the first night, but neither of us were super hungry having just eaten a sandwich earlier.

Scott had the rum baba for dessert, which he said was almost inedible, and I had orange sherbet which was good.





No big surprise that we decided to skip the night life tonight, and in keeping with our quiet and low key day we decided to go and find a movie on TV to watch. We had another towel animal waiting for us.



We were in bed by 8:45 pm. It was an extremely lazy day, and a perfect way to relax. I was surprised that RCI has all the Dreamworks movies that are no charge. I had heard that there was basically no TV available, but we didn’t really find it to be a problem if you aren’t picky about what you watch – which evidently we aren’t!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Sounds like a fun day! I like the look of the interactive maps to find places on the ship.

Dinner looks nice. What a lovely relaxing day at sea.

 

[ukintheus]

Wednesday, August 30th – Costa Maya, Mexico

We had an alarm set this morning and had left a room service order on our door the night before for 7:30-8:00 am. I woke up early and then couldn't go back to sleep which is not particularly surprising given the lazy day the day before. You couldn't see the sunrise from our side of the ship but it looked like it was a pretty one.



This morning we were docking in Costa Maya and had a day booked at Maya Chan beach resort which was a private excursion I had booked online after really good reviews on Trip Advisor. It was $59 and included all you can eat and drink plus the use of all the water toys and transportation to and from the port. We were supposed to be the only cruise ship in port, but this Carnival ship was in port and we found out it had been diverted due to a storm system in the Gulf.



We got a call at about 7:40 am and breakfast arrived right afterwards – he literally must have been just down the hallway! We ordered cereal, fruit and pastries and some coffee.



Just after the ship was cleared we headed down to deck 1 forwarded and got off the ship with no delay at all. There were maybe 10 people getting off the ship and it was strange to not have crowded elevators and gangways.



Our first close up views of the ship.





The port has grown quite a bit since we were last here in 2012. More buildings have been put up. The pier is still as long though!! LOL





We walked through the port and after a brief discussion with each other (about who was right and who was wrong basically ha ha ) about which way we were supposed to go, we figured out where the port exit was and followed the directions to find the representatives from Maya Chan. Another excursion person was friendly and shouted across the street that we needed to keep going to find Maya Chan so it must be fairly obvious who you are looking for if you are walking that far! We met their representative, signed a waiver and got a wrist band and after a brief wait we were shuttled in a large taxi van to Maya Chan. They packed the van tight and Scott and I both squeezed into one seat at the end of the bench. We were given the choice to get in or wait for the next shuttle but we manage it OK. It was about a 6 mile journey there and the last part was on an unpaved and very bumpy road which for some reason made me giggle and I was having a hard time to not look like a crazy person to the lady sitting next to me. Scott took these photos along the way seeing as he was so nice and close to the window and all.





Pulling in we were immediately met by the owner Steve who was waiting outside for us and he showed us around and we were taken to our shade cabana for the day.



We were immediately served a welcome rum punch drink, chips, pico de gallo and guacamole. All of it was very fresh and delicious and started the day there in great style.



We settled in to do nothing for the day (imagine that) except float in the water a little and relax. We decided to book a 30 minute massage each and scheduled it for noon for $25 each. While I was arranging that Scott took a wander around.

This is one of the larger cabanas for a bigger party.



View from their tree-top covered chairs.



Restaurant area.



The service here was fantastic and we were waited on hand and foot all day, including them bringing us drinks in the water.



They do a good job of making you very aware when you book that this isn't going to be a pristine beach and that the water here can be cloudy. They have sea grass and the current in this area also brings in some trash from various parts of the world. They say they have had trash from as far away as Japan. We didn't find it to be bad at all just a few floating pieces here and there, and the sea grass wasn't bad at all. They work very had to keep the beach clean and had at least 4 people constantly cleaning.





We could see the cruise ships in the distance.



Here you can see some of the sea grass, it's not really thick, at least not where we were. There weren't really what I would call pretty fish, but these hung around quite a bit. I'm sure their parent fish think they are just adorable.





At one point, because I’d asked for water twice in a row, the server insisted she bring me a fresh mango margarita – who was I to deny her the pleasure?



The massage lady came and got us at noon. The massage was pretty basic but for $25 I wasn’t complaining and it just added to the relaxation of the day. Right as we got done lunch was being served.





There was beef, chicken, pork and sea bass along with fresh made tortillas, charro beans and all the stuff to put on your taco. It was really good and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We met their cat, Stella, who was very interested in everyone that was willing to give her a tidbit to eat. The afternoon went quickly seeing as we were doing nothing – this was one of those places you could just stay at forever. More drinks happened.



It was so nice and relaxing.



Lots of people took advantage of the kayaks and paddle boards.



Someone came around with a clip board and asked what time we wanted to be picked up to be taken back to the ship and we chose 2:30 pm. The last taxi was leaving at 3:30 pm and they were obviously going to make sure that nobody was late getting back to the ship. They came around and gave us a 20 minute reminder and at 2:30 pm the taxi took us and one other family back to the port. Here's a couple of beachside photos on the way back.





The plan originally had been to try and do a little bit of shopping back at the port, but once we were walking through it there was nothing that was jumping out at us at all so we decided to just get back onboard.



There was no wait at all to board which was really nice. We really loved our day at Maya Chan and would go back there again in a heartbeat.

 

[ukintheus]

We stopped at Hoof & Claw to grab a drink and were told there was going to be a Dreamworks parade at 5 pm and that their seats outside had a great view. We went back to our cabin and got showered and changed and went back down at 4:30 pm to watch the Move It parade.



It was funny to see the differences between a Disney parade and this one. Some of the performers didn't look too thrilled to be participating!



The other funny thing is that nobody in the parade was wearing the same shoes and their Nikes, or whatever footwear they chose to wear, kind of stood out against the costumes. Scott noticed it too, so you know it kinda stood out!

















We went back to our cabin and relaxed for a while. While the parade was going on we had left Costa Maya.



Ahhh....such a hard life.



The Carnival ship had left just before us but we caught up with it quickly.



We sat out on the veranda for a long time as the sky was taunting us with the possibility of a sunset.





There was lightening show off in the distance. It was so beautiful to see it snaking across the sky and we ooohed and ahhhed appropriately and Scott tried in vain to get a good photograph.





Eventually we had to get ready for dinner. Tonight we were in Giovanni's. We got up there right at 8 pm and were seated promptly. Yum!!



Scott ordered mussels and I ordered the buffalo mozzarella. Our appetizers were brought out at the same time as the antipasto platter which was a little strange as we didn't really want to eat all of them at the same time, so we barely touched the antipasto, which we usually really enjoy eating first.



We both ordered the filet as we had been told it was better than the one in Chops, but for us it wasn't as good as the one we had in Chops earlier in the week. It wasn't bad, just not as good of a cut of meat we thought. Scott also didn't care for the texture of the mashed potatoes, but I think that's partly to do with the fact that he really thought there was cheese in there somewhere. I kept telling him there wasn't, but his mind was telling him otherwise!



The server also brought us out a pasta dish for us to try when he bought out the steaks. It was very sweet of him, but again weird timing.



And then was very kind to take our photo...all while our food was going cold. I feel very ungrateful even putting this in here, but the whole evening was just "off" in terms of service.



The server came to ask us if we would like to change our Friday reservation in Chops to Giovanni's as we could get lobster as part of our meal in Giovanni's whereas it wasn’t included at Chops. It was a bit awkward, as neither of us really wanted to make the decision then and there, but we felt a bit pressured and so agreed and he changed our reservation for us. My gut on the whole “pushiness” to change was because we bought a nice bottle of wine and he was getting the gratuity on that especially as a little while later he asked us if we wanted to pre-order the same wine and he would open it about 30 minutes before we were due to arrive. The nice part of me says that he was doing it because it took about 30 minutes for the wine to open up enough where we could drink it (they didn’t have a decanter, which was kinda weird) and the other part of me says he just wanted the $$. LOL

Scott got Cannoli to go for dessert and I got the Italian meringue.



So all in all the food was good, but it wasn't as good as Chops (in our opinion) and the service had been a little strange, but we had enjoyed our meal. We waddled out of there and went straight back to our cabin as it was going to be a very early start tomorrow in Roatan, Honduras. Walid had left us another cutie to keep the bed warm and we watched a little TV before going to bed by 10:00 pm.

 

[MomoMama]

Great TR! I am jealous of your relaxing vacation!
Your detailed report gives me a really good idea of Liberty of the Seas. The ship looks very nice, and the food looks fine too as long as you avoid the buffet.

Since you mentioned you do not like the smoke in casino...could you tell me if the smoke bothered you outside of the casino and the pool deck?

Looking forward to reading your day at Roatan. We went there last year and loved it!

 

[ukintheus]

Great TR! I am jealous of your relaxing vacation!
Your detailed report gives me a really good idea of Liberty of the Seas. The ship looks very nice, and the food looks fine too as long as you avoid the buffet.

Since you mentioned you do not like the smoke in casino...could you tell me if the smoke bothered you outside of the casino and the pool deck?

Looking forward to reading your day at Roatan. We went there last year and loved it!

The only other place and time that we noticed smoke was on our last at sea day. It was a little windy and the smoke from the smoking section on deck 11 blew forward to the Solarium. Other than that we didn't have any issues with people smoking.

 

[MomoMama]

The only other place and time that we noticed smoke was on our last at sea day. It was a little windy and the smoke from the smoking section on deck 11 blew forward to the Solarium. Other than that we didn't have any issues with people smoking.

Thank you! That is really good to know!
Now I am seriously considering trying out Liberty of the Seas

 

[ukintheus]

Thank you! That is really good to know!
Now I am seriously considering trying out Liberty of the Seas

It was one of the things that I was cautious about going into this trip. To be honest, we've been more bothered by smoke with people secretly smoking on their verandah's on DCL than we were on this ship. Glad you are enjoying the TR, it's always fun to relive vacations by doing them.

 

[ukintheus]

Thursday, September 1st – Roatan, Honduras

I woke up really early at about 5:30 am and went outside to sit on the balcony. We were barely moving and by 6:30 am the ship was getting ready to dock. The island looked very sleepy in the early morning sun.





Maybe the other side of the bridge is really busy? LOL



The port was getting ready for the early arrival. This was a new port for us and we were scheduled to go to Little French Key, another private excursion found through Trip Adivsor.



It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day.



Off in the distance the re-routed Carnival ship was making its way in. Hopefully all those passengers were able to get other excursions booked to enjoy their new itinerary.



We had room service scheduled again, this time for 7:00-7:30 am and it arrived at 7:29 am



We were cleared to get off the ship by 7:15 am but it was closer to 7:50 am by the time we were done with breakfast. Again we got off the ship with little to no others disembarking. The elevators were all empty too, so different from DCL! We walked through the port and found our transportation and, lucky for us, we were the last two to squeeze on the bus (second day in a row!) and we were off. I was in the middle jump seat, and they always makes me laugh because they are so horribly uncomfortable and you feel like it could just snap shut and fold you up like a taco at any moment. Ha ha. It did put me in a good spot to take some photos along the way though.



The roads were busy with everyone going to work or school. It appeared most people hopped onto any truck that would slow down enough for them. Now I'm curious if they know the people driving or if it's just a way to get around?? Even school children were doing it.



Some places were a closer call than others...



The power lines here had me thinking that a hurricane is never a good thing on these islands.



If you ever want to see the Hottest Sparrow, here's the turn!



It took about 15-20 minutes to get to Frenchy's 44 which is the restaurant owned by the people who also own the island and where the shuttle boat took us across.

This appeared to be their house....now THAT's a tough life.



There was a brief wait in line to pay. It was $98 per person for the day with the package that included a snorkeling trip, lunch, and 2 drink tickets. The boat ride is extremely short, maybe 5 minutes totally including getting on and off and we got there at about 8:30 am ship time, 7:30 am local time. This is where we were headed.



And this is where we left from.



We had someone waiting for us as we came into the dock.



This looked like a hangman's noose to me! LOL



We were shown around the island and saw the rescue animals that have been saved by the family, who are American. This lion used to be in a circus, I had read somewhere online before we left that he's a very old man.



There were lots of places to sit in the shade.

And this was one of the bars which was next to one of the spots that would serve lunch.



After having the grand tour we decided to take a spot close to some mangroves that looked like it would be fairly shaded for most of the day. Ahhhh....did I mention it's tough to be us??



We decided to get into the water. It felt a little chilly when we first got in but it was a great temperature and felt perfect after that initial shock. I'm a real wussy about cold water! LOL.





Scott went to see what time our snorkeling excursion left, and although there were several throughout the day, we decided to take the one that left in about 15 minutes. We slathered up with sunscreen and headed off to the boat. We took our own snorkel equipment and borrowed their fins. We were taken out to a reef about 15 minutes from the island. The guide gives you some instruction and then it's a JUMP....yes....you had to jump in so I pulled on my big girl panties (fortunately I had brought them with me), closed my eyes, held my nose and went for it. Miracle of miracles I survived (yet again ) It's really not on my list of favorite things to do though! Thankfully I was the first of 3 chickens, so I didn't look quite AS chicken as I could have. It was all so worth it though and it was some of the better snorkeling that we have done.



We saw a large school of "blue fish". I told Scott I want to study up a bit before our next trip so I know more about what I'm looking at!



There was a large drop off and I had to laugh at myself as I got a little nervous, like my fear of heights was kicking in but the opposite way around....this was deep!!!





The photos don't really do it justice. It's really hard to take photographs underwater as you can't see a thing on the screen as to what you are taking so it's just a point and guess!







Our guide had spotted a lobster and tried to coax it to move so we could all see it but it just scuttled further under the coral.



This is really hard to see but there was a yacht of some kind that sank about 10 years ago. It got stripped of everything that was of value and now is sitting on the bottom.



The boat picked us up again after about 45 minutes and we headed back to Little French Key. Great snorkeling excursion and we loved every minute of it.

 

[CesD]

Wow re that nice Gentleman and over 700 nights. My Dad knows a lady that decided to live on a cruise ship rather than go in a retirement home! No it wasn't my Mum. She wishes..

Ive heard that this is fairly common as they sometimes come out cheaper than staying at retirement homes.
My dad who is close to retirement tells me this isnt a bad option at all considering you dont have to think about or pay for cleaning, maintenance, repairs, grocery, toiletries, entertainment costs, etc. that you would have on land.

 

[msjprincess]

We sailed with Super Mario last summer. He spends an average of 350 nights onboard a RCCL ship. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-royal-caribbean-avid-cruiser-20160429-story.html

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

We sailed with Super Mario last summer. He spends an average of 350 nights onboard a RCCL ship. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-royal-caribbean-avid-cruiser-20160429-story.html

Wow! I have always heard of Super Mario but never knew the story!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Wow what a lovely excursion for you both! Great photos of the water and the fish. Also the yatch that sank. Sounds like a very interesting island.

That lion sleeping in the sun. How nice they rescued the poor old boy!

Some places have that hitch hiker culture. I did a French exchange at school and that is how the town I was staying in travelled. It was odd for me. Years of training don't go with strangers and that was how they expected us to get to school! I lived obvs.

 

[ukintheus]

We got back to the island and decided to trade in one of our drink tickets and swim a little more. We both went with a local brew.





We loved hanging out in the water under this palapa. It had a perfect view of the ocean and we could be in the shade.



Happy peeps - this is the shore with the bar area behind us.



And with the ocean behind us. This was a man-made lagoon behind a breakwater that had been put in. There wasn't anything to see for snorkeling but the water was crystal clear and it was a mostly sandy bottom with the odd rock or two around.



Lunch was being served at 10:30 am/11:30 am ship time and we had to leave at 12:30/1:30 to get back to the ship. Lunch was chicken, beef, shrimp and lobster served with plantains, rice and beans, coleslaw and pico.





It was all very good and we ate every bite of it. We grabbed another couple of local beers and went to take a good look around the island.

This was the other bar area on the opposite side of the lagoon.



Looking back to where we were sitting. The palapa to the left at the back is where we were hanging out and our chairs were on the beach area to the right of that.



They also had a horseback excursion where you could ride them in the water. I usually avoid those at all costs because typically the horses in the Caribbean are not well cared for, but these were very well taken care of and they looked beautiful. We don't have a photo of him but they had an intact piebald stallion that they were riding around as well. I didn't see anyone actually do the excursion.



They had several rescue animals plus some aviaries. This guy was hanging out in an enclosure over close to another beach.



This is another beach, not as shaded as the spot we chose though.



We were told that the last shuttle would leave at 12:30 pm/1:30 pm ship time and so the day was fairly short.

Scott had to try a hammock although - he didn't look comfy and he didn't stay there long! LOL



We saw some people packing up and decided that we would head back as well. They used the boat to shuttle back and forth frequently it seemed as we didn't have to wait long at all and as soon as we got to the mainland they had a taxi van waiting to take us back to the ship. We had one stop at Coxen Hole as there was one couple that were on the re-routed Carnival ship but we were back on board by about 1:45 pm.

We had a nice time and really enjoyed the snorkeling and the food was really good. For us it's probably a "been there, done that" place. The only "dislike", if you can call it that, is that the two bars on either side of the lagoon had different music going on, and both at pretty loud volume, so we felt like we were caught between a battle of the DJ's especially as one was playing country and the other reggae . We are more of the peace and quiet type.

When we got back to the room there was a note on our "not a fish extender" explaining that there had been a number of instances of intestinal/norvovirus and that extra precautions were going to be taken for the remainder of the cruise. We were also left this little plate of goodies....imagine two more on there...we ate them before I remembered to take a photo!



Scott took a nap as he hadn't slept well at all last night and had only just fallen asleep before I got up (at the before-crack of dawn if you remember). We left Roatan at 4 pm and went out on the veranda to watch us sail away. Beautiful blue water.





While we were on our verandah we met our neighbors who told us that they had been quarantined to their room with suspected norvovirus and hadn't been able to leave their cabin for 2 days. They were a very sweet, older couple and as is typical in that Scott never meets a stranger, the man was an oil field fishing hand in Midland Texas and actually knew people that Scott knew. I would say small world, but somehow that doesn't apply to my husband!



The pilot boat came and picked him up....a bit different in size from the one in Galveston!



Some coastline pics.





And there goes the Carnival ship....we didn't see it again.



We had about 2 hours before dinner and tonight we were going to Sabor at 6:30 pm. We watched the Love Marriage show on the TV that had been on in the theater the night before. We had yet to make one single show in case you had missed that small point! We have seen Match Your Mate on DCL before and have to say that the Disney version seemed funnier to us. I would have thought that a less “family friendly” ship would be funnier, but the questions were about the same and it was the cruise director who was running it. I don’t think he was as funny as the adult entertainment staff are on DCL but then, DCL has entertainment wrapped up in a bag, so I guess it shouldn’t really have been a surprise.

We decided to go down to Promenade Cafe and grab some ice water. I decided to get another iced coffee seeing as it was included on our drink package, and Scott grabbed a cookie because they were staring him in the face.

At 6:30 pm we went to Sabor for dinner. One interesting thing we noted was that when we were down on Deck 4, all of the shops had someone outside them squirting hand sanitizer at anything that moved. Outside Sabor there was one dispenser and you had to touch the handle of the restaurant after sanitizing your hands in order to get in.

We got the set appetizer of chips, salsa, cucumber with chile, and guacamole. They make the guacamole tableside and we asked for the guacamole medium hot and it had quite a kick to it. Scott added raw jalepenos to his!



Avocado margarita....and, yes, it was delicious and, yes, it was included on our drink package.



Jalepeno and cucumber margarita for Scott. He said it was also very good. The drinks took a long time to come out though. 20 minutes from when we ordered...we were almost twitching!!



Scott ordered tortilla soup and forgot about the cheese, so that turned into a bit of a fishing expedition to get it all out. LOL. He said it was very spicy, almost too spicy - and he likes spicy!



I got the chile calamari and it was very good.



I then got the mole beef short ribs and Scott got empanadas.

My short ribs, which were not very good at all. I would say there was maybe 3 bites of meat and the rest was just fat. I know short ribs tend to be fatty, but this was fat with a touch of meat added.



Scott said his empanadas were OK, nothing great, nothing bad.



The sides were beans and a corn, black bean and zuccini blend.



The dessert platter was very large and we hardly put a dent in it, although I had a good try but most of them were very sweet.



We ordered another drink, and although mine came out quickly, Scott’s took forever and eventually even the server suggested she put it in a to go cup once it arrived. We were done by 7:40 pm and went back to our cabin. So, this was another dud for us. The food wasn't great and the service was a little slow at times. They also did one other weird thing (IMO) which was to try and sell us the avocado slicer thingy that they use when they made the guacamole. I told them that they may need something fancy on a moving cruise ship, but for those of us on dry land a knife works just fine!

This guy was waiting for us, and I have to say it's probably my favorite towel animal of all time.



We sat out on the balcony for a while and listened to the waves crashing on the front of the ship. Both of us were pretty tired, and, sadly, neither of us drank the second margarita we had brought back to the room. The stars were also bright tonight and it was a beautiful temperature outside.

After chatting about it again, we decided to switch our reservation AGAIN for tomorrow night from Giovanni's back to Chops. LOL. We really felt that we had had much better service at Chops and had enjoyed the food more. By 8:20 pm we decided we weren't about to go back out to do anything - we were the epitome of lazy at this point! After an early morning and a day out in the sun, sea and sand we were pretty tired. We decided to read and watch TV and chill out for the rest of the evening and went to bed at about 10 pm.

 

[cmph]

Thanks for taking the time to write up this report! Galveston is the second easiest port for us to get to (after LA, but there is so little out of there), so I have been looking at the Liberty of the Seas for a few months. Your photos are great! And you're right about that pool area - looks very fun for kids. Did you happen to notice or hear about wait times for the things like slides, rock climbing wall, etc?

Also - if you don't mind, can you clarify some of the specialty add-ons? Is it standard that you get the 4 days of dining and drinks package with the junior suite, or was that a special that you booked? It sounds like you got good use of the drinks package (and I don't blame you!! ) but I'm wondering if you would have paid for the specialty dining if it wasn't included? It sounded hit or miss. I'm trying to get a sense of whether the specialty dining is almost necessary, if that makes sense.

 

[ukintheus]

Thanks for taking the time to write up this report! Galveston is the second easiest port for us to get to (after LA, but there is so little out of there), so I have been looking at the Liberty of the Seas for a few months. Your photos are great! And you're right about that pool area - looks very fun for kids. Did you happen to notice or hear about wait times for the things like slides, rock climbing wall, etc?

Also - if you don't mind, can you clarify some of the specialty add-ons? Is it standard that you get the 4 days of dining and drinks package with the junior suite, or was that a special that you booked? It sounds like you got good use of the drinks package (and I don't blame you!! ) but I'm wondering if you would have paid for the specialty dining if it wasn't included? It sounded hit or miss. I'm trying to get a sense of whether the specialty dining is almost necessary, if that makes sense.

Thanks for following along. LOTS is a great ship, I don't think you would be disappointed. We didn't see any wait times, sorry, but on the at sea days the lines were about half way down the stairs for the slides if that's any help? LOL My guess is about 25 minutes, but that's a total guess! LOL Because the kids were back in school when we sailed I would imagine the lines were quite a bit shorter than they are during peak season.

The Jr. Suite doesn't come with any perks other than priority boarding. We added a 4 night specialty dining package as they had a pre-cruise purchase discount. The 4 nights were $80 per person ($20/night) which was a good deal considering we went to Chops twice. The drink package was about $400 per person with a 20% discount pre-cruise. We still don't really know what we would do about specialty dining again - I think we would probably try the MDR a few more times and just do 2 nights in the Specialty. The drink package is really hard to make a call on. Some days we really got our money's worth and other days we definitely didn't. I probably wouldn't get the Ultimate again as we only had specialty coffee 3 days and we never had fresh squeezed juice. I think the add on for that was $10/day per person.

 

[cmph]

Thanks for following along. LOTS is a great ship, I don't think you would be disappointed. We didn't see any wait times, sorry, but on the at sea days the lines were about half way down the stairs for the slides if that's any help? LOL My guess is about 25 minutes, but that's a total guess! LOL Because the kids were back in school when we sailed I would imagine the lines were quite a bit shorter than they are during peak season.

The Jr. Suite doesn't come with any perks other than priority boarding. We added a 4 night specialty dining package as they had a pre-cruise purchase discount. The 4 nights were $80 per person ($20/night) which was a good deal considering we went to Chops twice. The drink package was about $400 per person with a 20% discount pre-cruise. We still don't really know what we would do about specialty dining again - I think we would probably try the MDR a few more times and just do 2 nights in the Specialty. The drink package is really hard to make a call on. Some days we really got our money's worth and other days we definitely didn't. I probably wouldn't get the Ultimate again as we only had specialty coffee 3 days and we never had fresh squeezed juice. I think the add on for that was $10/day per person.

Thank you for clarifying the food/drink add-ons! It's really hard to get an idea of what the cruise will actually cost. Partially that's b/c the RCL web-site is just so awful, I'm sure. Just pricing out cabin categories to compare is infuriating, LOL! Especially with kids, b/c you don't enter the extra passengers right away, so the pricing changes as you're going through the selections. Anyway, clearly the thing to do is to pre-purchase all the packages if you want them, it seems. So you really have to know what you're going to do in advance! I like the idea of not worrying about it at all once you're on board, but $800 for two people, eek. Did it seem like the prices were really high for drinks, if you didn't have the package?

Beyond the drinks and dining packages, did you have any other additional costs for the cruise, beyond the usual fare? (Not counting excursions or things like spa appointments, of course. Just things you would normally think of as being included.) I don't think RCL is as crazy with the extra costs as NCL, but I just wanted to check. As far as I can figure out, the RCL site won't let me see what the add-ons cost until I have a booking. Which isn't really helpful for planning!