From the beginning we had bad experience with the service personnel before boarding, very unprofessional and unwelcoming. Plus, we had a delay of more than 4 hours without water or food provided. Internet is a jock, extremely slow, dining times are set and they are not friendly if you want to change it. And all the services have different times so be sure you prepare before you use them. Lastly, the organization for disembarking on the last day is just poor. I felt like I was in a ship tour with all my luggage, everyone was complaining. Won’t do this again for sure. 1. extremely late boarding on the 1st day without providing water or food, no consideration for families with kids. 2. incredible unprofessional and not welcome personnel on land (1st day) we didn’t receive our boarding tag so everything took longer. 3. extremely slow internet on board, you should not advertise this service. 4. it took us 4 days to change our dining time, too little too late, you should understand families with kids. 5. terrible organization for disembarking on the last day. Read Less

My wife and I sailed aboard Liberty of the Seas Dec. 2-Dec. 9. The ship offers many unique experiences including a water park, two water slides, a tidal wave ride, flow Rider and a new 9-hole miniature golf course. The entertainment was great...In the Air was a show based on Cirque Du Soleil and we had Nathan Osmond, Donny and Marie's nephew, a budding country artist on board. The Dubois brother-sister combo performed magic and a Cirque Du Soleil act as well. The food was great!!! Lots of options but perhaps more snack options like potato chips could have been made available. Excursion options were married at the three parts of call including Cozumel, Falmouth and Grand Cayman. Our Mayan ruin tour was cancelled for Cozumel due to low registration but we picked up a city / beach combo that was good. We had a long wait in boarding the ship in Galveston due to an incident beyond Royal's control. No OBC was offered for the inconvenience as a result unfortunately. But beyond that, the organization and execution was spot on. We enjoyed the cruise overall. We enjoy ships in the Freedom class and this one did not disappoint. Read Less

My husband and I went on the Liberty of the Seas Dec. 2 - 9. We enjoyed the cruise but there were some issues with the trip. The problems started with embarkation. Since we were gold members we got into a faster line and breezed though the check-in process until we went to go upstairs to enter the ship. The entire process came to a screeching halt. We waited upstairs in the lounge for almost 3 hours because of an issue on the ship with departing passengers or a kid with chicken pox (it all depends on who you talked to..I doubt that we'll ever really know the true story). The part that really irritated me was that Royal Caribbean never handed out water or food during that whole issue. People were hungry and tired from a long travel day. Royal handled it horribly. When we finally did get onto the ship, it was very nice, but I felt that it needed some fixing up. The carpets look worn and the seats in the theatre needed new upholstery. The tables in the card room were worn out. Our stateroom was on the 8th deck 8382. It had ample room to store our clothes in the cupboard and the balcony was a nice size. The washroom was tiny. The shower could not possibly be any smaller. The food was just ok. We've been on a number of cruises and each time we can see the quality of the food has declined. We ate in the Windjammer and the main dining room and the servers were all very nice and helpful. One night I didn't like what was on the menu and our server put in a special order for me and sure enough I got a nice people of salmon that wasn't on the menu. One night we ordered molten lava cake that was not molten in the slightest. You now have to specifically ask for garlic butter for the lobster and horseradish for the beef even though it was listed on the menu. The one highlight of the cruise was the entertainment. We really enjoyed all of the entertainment very much. One of the best shows was Nathan Osmond. He gave us a country music concert that was outstanding. We had booked a tour in Cozumel to see the Myan ruins and to a chocolate tasting that got cancelled. We ended up doing a tour of downtown Cozumel and a beach instead. I felt that the tour wasn't worth the money and we didn't feel safe walking around in the downtown area. The beach was very remote and not very nice. In Grand Cayman, we just walked around in the town and went in and out of the various stores. In Jamaica we didn't leave the port area. All in all, we enjoyed the trip but felt that the quality of the cruise has gone down a bit. There is so much emphasis on up selling that it wears you down after a while. Royal needs to get back to making the passengers happy and dial back the nickle and diming. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of a Regional At Sea Bridge Tournament, without much interest in the cruise ports, because we planned on taking advantage of the daily duplicate bridge sessions. Previous reviewers had given "OK" reviews for the ship, and mediocre reviews of the main and deck 11 dining venues. We were much more impressed with both the ship and the main and buffet dining venues than what we had read, possibly because the ship was refurbished about a year ago. We ate every dinner in the main dining room, and found the food to be the best main dining room food of any of our 15 or so cruises, with several meals rivaling the quality of specialty restaurants (e.g., tender and cooked to order prime rib, tenderloin, rack of lamb, and medium rare Ahi Tuna), with great starters and deserts, and great service from our waiter and the rest of the staff. The food at the Deck 11 buffet was also very good, with pork ribs, skirt steak, roast chicken, lovely Asian food, good Italian options, and great service from the staff, who came back repeatedly to offer drinks and refills on coffee, water, and such, as well as remove used dishes to keep things clean and comfortable. The major downside of this buffet was that one-half was always closed at noon, making it more crowded than necessary, and with the half facing shore closed, preventing an otherwise lovely view while in port. Given the large number of passengers, the buffet should have both sides open. Embarkation was a nightmare, mainly due to port security delaying embarkation, due to an issue with the incoming passengers or contraband (never found out exactly why), causing us to stand outside for 90+ minutes, during which the cruise line should have provided more information, as well as complimentary snacks or at least something to drink while we waited to get inside where others were sitting. Because of the delay, we had to go almost immediately to the life jacket drill, after which we discovered the the buffet closed at 3PM, leaving us only a couple of small complimentary dining options, or having to pay to relieve our starvation. The ship should have reopened the buffet after the drill, an "outside the box" response to delayed boarding that they couldn't control. Disembarkation was also worse than average, because the departure times of self-service passengers (with their own luggage) were not properly phased. Rather than have us wait comfortable in the dining room for our group to be called, groups were bunched up, and crowded into merging lines, taking about 30 minutes of standing and shoving, to get off the ship. If we had been held back, we could have walked smoothly off the ship, one group at a time. One more complaint: the flat screen TVs were fairly nice, but there were no free movie options (unlike several other mid-priced cruise lines), rather a selection of $12.99/move titles, or very limited entertainment channels (fewer than the numerous channels promoting shore excursions and future RCL cruises -- "tacky"). I suggest you bring your own DVD player & DVDs, or a streaming device and purchase the $90/week wifi (for one device). Nevertheless, unless your cruise runs into embarkation problems beyond RCL's control, I think you will enjoy the spacious, comfortable cabins, very good food and service, especially if you are traveling with youngsters who will enjoy the water slides, and many other activities designed for them. Read Less

Liberty of the Seas is an excellent ship that is well maintained. It lacks a little bit on activities but was quite nice. The Windjammer buffet was good for breakfast or dinner but fell short with its lunch fare. The MDR was a bit disappointing but I guess that is just the offshoot of having specialty dining options. Overall it was a fun cruise and would recommend. Ports of call included Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica. The entertainment was a little bit hit and miss. The Saturday Night Fever show was hokey and not scripted very well. We enjoyed both the Ice Show and the aerial acrobats. The main headliner was Nathan Osmond and just was not very good. Son of one of the legendary Osmonds, Nathan is a country wannabe with karaoke level talent and comes across as a lounge act trying to do country. Would definitely go again but hope the MDR improves with its dinner choices and quality. Read Less

This was my 5th cruise but first time on RCI. We sailed November 25th on Liberty of the Seas. It was really a great cruise. I see people give negative reviews and complain about how bad it was and I don't really understand. My thoughts are how could anything be that bad I'm on a cruise!! I've had a bad one but I was still happy just cruising. So this last cruise did not disappoint. Let's start with the cabin...6372 spacious oceanview w/ balcony it was a nice cabin, good bed and a little larger than the regular balcony but what made it even better was our steward Made'. He was awesome he kept ice in my ice chest, very friendly and checked on us often. Everytime I needed anything he was right there. Moving on...I really like the way the Promenade is, it's like a street with all the shops on 1 deck the length of the ship. They had parade's and one night was a 70's street party and the next night it was 80's so don't forget to pack some platforms, concert T's and denim lol. The food was nothing spectacular most of the dining options are extra, the sprinkles ice cream isn't open late enough. Don't even get me started about how much they charge for water it's just ridiculous or that they don't have pepsi products. If I wouldn't have had a voucher for specialty dining I would have to say it's not worth the added expense. We did the Mystery Dinner which was fun but the food at Giovanni's not so much. Chop's was good but not worth the expense. MDR was good but sure hated they didn't have salmon at all. First cruise I've been on that didn't offer salmon in MDR. The Windjammer was good well at least what I had was good. Oh and sushi from Zumie's Express on the promenade was good. It was food I paid extra for 3 times lol. Had a blast in the cupcake decorating class making puppies and a Christmas tree and they even tasted good. I wish I would have done it earlier in the week so we would have had time to eat on them all week. I just left them for Made' to eat since I had no way to carry them off the ship...we self disembarked. The whole crew was very friendly and helpful. The shows are pretty great. I wanted to try to ice skate but since i never have and my parents and husband thought I would break something I decided not to try it. I won a little playing bingo can't say the same for the casino lol. I picked a week that I knew most kids would be in school...I left mine at home but taking the place of the kids were walkers, wheel chairs and scooters lol. Liberty is in the freedom class so it's not overly huge like the oasis class/mega ships but it's big enough that you don't really feel it even in really rough waters. Let me add, this was my parents first cruise and they enjoyed it enough that we're booking another in January on Liberty of the Seas. If you go with patience and a positive attitude you can't help but have a good time cruising...it's a vacation after all and I love it. Read Less

We had a balcony cabin on deck 9 toward the front of the ship. It was a very nice cabin. It was a short elevator ride to get to pool, but buffet and main dining room are at the back of the boat. The buffet food was good but I got bored eating the same breakfast items everyday. Sorrentos pizza was just an elevator ride down to the 5th deck as well as the Star and Platinum theatres as these are in the front of the ship. The pizza was very good. Johnny Rockets was excellent. For a flat fee you can order anything you want off the menu. The kids like the slides and flow rider, which on on the very back of the boat. The kids pool was very good. The music on the pool deck was a nice touch but way too loud! Couldn't even talk to people next to me. The dining room food was good but we didn't get spoiled as we did on other ships. We were a tad disappointed. I did hear others say they had great waiters. Nice size ship but my group of 23 say they prefer the smaller ships, but I believe that is due to the excellent personal service we received on Enchantment of the Seas 2 years ago. The shows were all excellent. Disembarkment took a long time due to back up at customs. If you need to catch an early flight, elect to take off your own luggage so you get off first. Read Less

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. I am old fashioned enough that I kind of like the revue type entertainment. Where several nights are a different theme but same singers and dancers. I love musicals and plays but I like the older type shows. Having said that Saturday Night Fever is still fun and In the Air is amazing. We only saw one comedian and he was meh. My favorite was the last night headliner who was an old school cabaret type singer. 3-D movies in the afternoon was a nice addition. We only saw the Incredibles 2. But there were others. I for one appreciated them having the InSight Mars landing on the stateroom TV. 70's night is always fun. We book private or independent tours so no comments on the ships tours. In Costa Maya I believe many of the diving and snorkeling tours were cancelled due to weather but ours wasn't. It was rough and the visibility was not good but we got up close to huge sea turtles so we were very pleased. We snorkeled every stop. And added birding in Costa Maya. Roatan was Upachaya and Costa Maya was Mahahual Ecotours. We will go again on whatever ship(s) RCI has in Galveston. Read Less

We planned this cruise or year ago thinking it would be an easy trip from Austin to Galveston. We have never been on a Royal Caribbean cruise and had a great time! Our room was quite spacious and our family of four but really comfortably in the panoramic family room. We went to Chops the first night and had a lovely steak. The remaining week we either ate in the Main Dining room or buffet. It just depended how tired we were. Both were equally tasty. Each port day we took an excursion. In Roatan, we did the underwater motorized cycles and snorkeling. Highly recommended for anyone and how cool is it to swim underwater without scuba gear. In Costa Maya, our girls did the dolphin experience and they got to kiss and swim with the dolphins. Much better experience than most ports. Friendly and personable and took great picture packages. In Cozumel, we did the ATV Jungle tour and snorkeling. We came back to the boat head to toe covered in mud. So much fun and great for any age. This tour latest about 5 hours. At the ship, we saw almost every show and we enjoyed everyone of them. We found the ship to be well maintained and easy to find stuff. We loved Sorrentos and the Coffee shop. We never found ourselves bored. On the negative side, one of the most annoying things about the week is the photographers. They were everywhere and always seems to be in the way of th walk ways. I understand wanting to capture the moment but it was over kill. Read Less

This was our first time taking a cruise out of Galveston (we live in Dallas) and spending Thanksgiving with family on a cruise. The drive was less than 4 hours, and we stayed at the Schaefer Haus Bed and Breakfast the night before. We highly recommend Schaefer Haus - the customer service was top notch, and they kept our vehicles for the week complimentary. Boarding took a while, as there are over 4,000 people on the ship. We had three ports - Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica -- and 4 days at sea, which allows you to relax more and enjoy the ship's amenities. Our favorite port was Grand Cayman, and our excursion with Cayman EcoTours to StingRay City and snorkeling were awesome and reasonably priced. We loved our 6th floor mid-ship cabin with balcony. Our cabin steward, Artawan, made our cruise memorable by fulfilling all our requests, keeping our room clean and refreshing our towels, and his positive mood was contagious. Our 15-year-old niece enjoyed the teen club and the karaoke nights. Our 14-year-old nephew enjoyed the Flowrider surfing/boogie boarding and the water slides. Our 10-year-old niece enjoyed the movies, shows, and water parks. The Promenade was a happening place. Sorrentos Pizza was a HUGE hit with our family - always hot and fresh out of the oven, and the cappuccino mousse dessert was EXCELLENT. Meals in the Main dining room were delicious with several entree choices per evening (Lobster night was the second formal night). After reading Cruise Critic recommendations, we splurged on two specialty dining restaurants -- Sabor (Mexican) and Chops Grille -- and I'm glad we did, as they were 5-star! The entertainment -- Saturday Night Fever musical, aerial show, and the ice-skating show - were FABULOUS. The 70's show with the cruise director and the DJ in the Promenade with the balloon drop was outstanding! We purchased a soft drink package and brought on board two bottles of wine, an opener, and 12 bottles of water. Be sure to carry on all drinks! We also purchased an internet package so my husband could check his emails, and service was a 7 out of 10. The front desk personnel were helpful and professional, especially Usha. My husband got a Johnny Rockets Oreo milkshake and said it was the best he's had in a long time. We attended two informative health and wellness seminars and worked out 3-4 times in the fitness center, which is large with plenty of equipment and separate saunas for men and women. Disembarkation was a breeze. 25 percent of the cruisers were from Texas, and we hope to stay in touch with several families whom we met. Overall, a great cruise. Read Less