Liberty of the Seas Reviews

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This was our second cruise, our first being a family cruise with our son on Vision of the Seas in 2010. From that experience we came to expect a tremendously friendly crew, that maintained a hardworking ethic while still clearly taking pride in their job and doing their best to serve the passengers with style and finesse. The spa employees were technically proficient and every service I received was flawless. They were all friendly, energetic and adept at gauging your mood-easily chatting or just professional and quiet if that was what you preferred. Liberty of the Seas is BIG. Huge, actually. We were hardly prepared for how massive the ship was, and our first indication was walking to our room, particularly when we managed to go in the wrong direction. I noted the unusual and actually very interesting and unique artworks that decorated the ship, as well as the modernized decor and colorful, eye catching Promenade where the cafes, small shops like the Cupcake Cupboard and Ben and Jerry's are found. It's lots of fun looking down on the Promenade from above to fully appreciate all the small yet funky details and lighting, particularly at night. We were eager to get started on our cruise after a year of planning, and spent most of our first day relaxing in our room. I am an avid spa goer and was quick to pop up to Deck 12 where the Liberty Day Spa sits right adjacent to the outdoor swimming areas. I made appointments for treatments ranging from manicures and pedicures to body wraps and foot massages as well as booking an appointment for hairstyling on the formal evening. My first interactions with the spa were fantastic. All the ladies were enthusiastic and warm, calling me by name and happy to assist me in making my various appointments. However, I was as many are, a bit shocked at the 18% VAT and 15% gratuity which are automatically added to your bill. It makes for a bit of a shock when ordering a treatment that is listed at $159. I was extremely happy with the body treatments, massages and manicure/pedicure I received, but I felt that the hairdressers were under par, unfortunately. I had my hair curled for the formal evening and the curls did not last an hour and that cost me $80! I also watched another hairdresser trying to style another customer who had clearly requested an elegant french twist updo but her hair had been backcombed and looked like a rats nest. Later this same hairdresser gave me an oil treatment on my hair and was extremely rough, brushing my hair like she had no time and it was painful, even though I requested her to be gentler. We did not eat in the dining rooms, but preferred to eat our meals in the casual Windjammer. The food did not disappoint at all! Everything was delicious and prepared to perfection. My only complaint was that I never saw a Mexican themed meal like quesidillas, tacos or fajitas during our 5 night cruise, which I would have liked. Perhaps if we had dined in the dining hall we could have. We also ate at Johnny Rockets twice, which was fantastic both times-friendly employees who clearly took pride in their job and always had a smile on their face-this makes my day! On the formal evening we dined at Chops Grille, which was quite an amazing experience, although we were amazed to see people arriving on the formal evening in shorts. However, our waiter, a polite gentleman from Jamaica took wonderful care of us and the food was superb.

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This was our 7th transatlantic with the most recent being Celebrity Solstice in Nov. 2011. This cruise was really special to my husband and I as we took my 85 year old parents with us. The ship did a great job of keeping both 85 year olds and 60 year olds happy and entertained 24-7. There was a wide variety of entertainment and activities which enabled all to choose things of interest. In contrast, our Nov. 2011 Celebrity transatlantic was boring and for the first time we were anxious to get off! The food was adequate but not great, however, neither was our most recent Celebrity cruise. I think that all lines are cutting back on food cost to make up for the reduced prices. The crew was fabulous...friendly and eager to please. The shows were great, live music was to be had in several different venues until the late hours. All in all, it was a wonderful experience as was our transatlantic on the sister ship, Independence of the Sea, several years ago.

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Our 1st time on a RCCL ship the " Liberty of the Seas" & on a 14 day transatlantic cruise to Barcelona,Spain with 5 stops. It was our 1st time also to Europe. We enjoyed a wonderful experience on the biggest ship we have cruised on to date (Only 10 cruises so far but 7 in the last 4 years). We really liked the enclosed promenade & the decor of the Liberty. We love ballroom & Latin dancing as we only learned at home with DVD's from a dance studio in Tampa, Fl. (14 different dances in the last 15 months.) Are only complaints were too small of dance floors & the steaks at dinner were not very good. The ship never seemed crowded except on "Captains Night" & the "Dreamworks Parades". We liked the live bands that played every night & really enjoyed dancing on the wood floor of the ice rink to the "Liberty Orchestra" & the Liberty's Jaz band (which also include the main singers from the production shows) in the "Oliver or Twist" lounge on the 14th floor. We had the floor to ourselves on a few dances. A lot of people missed out on this since it was the last night before disembarkation. We compare RCL closely with Celebrity & Princess cruise lines as our other favorites so far. A very nice cruise experience on a good looking ship! The Ice show was amazing along with the "Up in the Air" theater show. Had a very funny Magician & a funny Juggler, too. The "Saturday Night Fever production was a must see. Make sure you have reservations for the shows as seats are limited. We joined the CC "Meet & Mingle" group of some 200 "Cruise Critters" & enjoyed the new relationships we formed. The Liberty staff did a nice reception for us. Enjoyed the "gift exchange" & slot pull(even though 50 of us did not win anything, which I think the casino rigged ahead of time since they picked the machine we were to use). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Since there is no Port on the list for Malaga, Spain, I will do the review here!! Port rating (4). This was a short port day so got off the ship early. We again did the HoHo bus around the city. Walked a lot,too. Stopped at "Castillo De Gibralfaro" up the hill. Incredible view of the surrounding area. A great view of the "Bullring from here. It was a zoo because of all the tour buses that were at the top with little room to maneuver. The HoHo bus had a hard time even getting to the drop off/pick up point. But this is a must see while in Malaga. Back on the HoHo after some fight to get back on the bus form all the people waiting in line. Actually walked back down the hill & stopped the bus as he was coming up to the drop off point. Back off the bus & walked to the "Cathedral of Malaga", "Roman Theater" ruins next to "Alcazaba", & the "Plaza Merced". All we had time for before getting back to the ship without rushing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again there is no listing for Valencia, Spain so will do the review here. Port Rating (4). We tried to get help from the Liberty desk about free shuttle to the front gate of the port but was told several times that we had to purchase a bus ticket for rt of $15 each to get to & from the ship since we were docked in a commercial area of the port & walking was prohibited. After taking the bus to the central area of the city we found out there was indeed a free shuttle to the entrance to the commercial port & a stop a couple of blocks away to get the city bus. We hopped a city bus around the whole city then walked the city center. A long day of walking but worth it. We saw Serrina Bridge, & Towers, Baroque Cathedral, plazas, , bull arena, central market building where all the locals shop for their food, flowers, etc. A very nice day to see Valencia.

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We sailed on the Liberty of the Seas eastbound transatlantic crossing leaving April 14 from Ft. Lauderdale and visiting Nassau, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cadiz, Malaga, Valencia, and ending in Barcelona on April 28. It was a total of 14 glorious days with lots of wonderful new friends from Cruisecritic! We had a Junior Suite, forward, portside and enjoyed every minute of our time spent there. Our cabin steward, Dwi, was very kind and attentive and kept our stateroom spotless. Thanks to lots of pre-cruise posting on these boards, we had many onboard activities to enjoy. We especially liked our Sailaway, Meet & Mingle, Gift Exchange, and Cabin Crawl. Thanks to all of you who helped organize these events. Also, thanks to Gary for the great zydeco lesson! I especially want to thank Magela Corbo, Front Desk Manager, for her help in finding a chess set for my DH. He is a tournament chess player and was looking forward to playing chess during the cruise. She went out of her way to find us a chess set one night when we couldn't find one anywhere. As a result, my DH happily played chess almost every day of the crossing. Some of the things we really liked: Our big cabin with such a large balcony and walk-in closet, we felt very fortunate to have it. All of the snacks and coffee at the Cafe Promenade (we spent a lot of time hanging out there), The Dreamworks Breakfast with our new friends, walking the decks, looking at the views from the helipad, playing 50's music trivia, seeing lots of movies in the theater, looking at the ocean from our amazing table in the main dining room, watching the Love and Marriage game (shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. M.), the ice show, the production shows, Saturday Night Fever, and I'm sure there is much more. Basically we just loved everything we did! Thanks to Royal Caribbean and all our new friends for the best cruise ever!!

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Just returned from a 5 night cruise with my wife on The Liberty of the Seas calling at 3 destinations (Cannes, Citavecchia and Palma). The ship itself is one of the largest afloat and certainly has a definite wow factor both from the outside and the interior. We sailed from Barcelona and the embarkation process took less than 25 minutes which considering the number of passengers was very good. We immediately went to the cabin which was larger than normal for an inside and was in pristine condition thanks to our wonderful cabin steward (Finster). On exploring her we realized it would take some time to take it all in due to the size. The interactive t.v. monitors are a big help to finding your way around. The cleaniness of every public area could not be faulted due to the tireless work of the onboard staff and without doubt in every department be it Bars, Restaurants or any other area they were among the best we have encountered on any cruise. The food in the speciality restaurant Choppes was excellent but we felt that throughout the rest of the ship is was good but not outstanding although they have a nice couple of snack eateries on the The Royal Promenade. The selection of drinks was good and the cocktails were nice and strong priced from ($7 to $10). Overall the Liberty has everything for Family cruising with top shows on offer every night. It may not appeal to traditional cruisers but you would be hard pressed not to have a wonderful time taking in the luxury of The Liberty of the Seas. One disappointment for some cruisers was the fact the tenders from ship to shore at Cannes could not be operated due to the swell but that was not the fault of Royal Caribbean.

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