10 Things I Learned Cruising on Liberty of the Seas to Bermuda

[SLM]

Hi all, I love forums like this, and I like to pay it back when I can. These are the top ten things I learned from cruising on Liberty of the Seas to Bermuda that I think others might benefit from. These are all based on my specific experience, so I want to be careful to say your mileage may vary.

1. Spacious Balcony rooms are a total ripoff. We had five rooms with two people each; the Spacious Ocean View Balcony room was $1786, and the four Ocean View Balcony rooms were $1160 each. We could not discern ANY difference between the two types of rooms (or the balconies), even looking closely at the storage options and the walking room around the bed.

2. They will fill your water bottle with ice and top it off with water at the drink stations in Windjammer. The first day, I was just planning to fill my water bottle by dumping glasses of ice water straight off the trays at the drink station; however, when I got started with the first glass, the person behind the counter offered to fill my bottle for me from the dispenser. Over the next few days, I asked for bottle filling at all four Windjammer drink stations and never got anything other than “Of course,” even though there are signs on the ice/water dispenser that say “Do not refill water bottles”. Also, I had empty water bottles with me on disembarkation day eating breakfast in the main dining room, and the waiter offered (without me asking) to fill them from his pitcher of ice water.

3. You can get espresso-based drinks at the Plaza Bar just inside the entrance to the Windjammer. In my experience, they would make espresso drinks any time the Windjammer was open, including on disembarkation morning. I think they only have one size (instead of the three sizes available at Cafe Promenade), but I think the cost for that size was the same as at the Cafe Promenade.

4. The line for espresso drinks at Cafe Promenade moves VERY quickly. The first day (before I discovered the Plaza Bar), there were about 10 people in line and I got my drink in about 5 minutes. These guys seem like they are racing against something, and they are actually quite fascinating to just watch. The Plaza Bar guys are not nearly as quick.

5. There are sandwich fixings in the Windjammer at breakfast, but NOT at lunch. You can get a croissant or a roll at the pastry/bread station, and there is an area on each side of the Windjammer with two choices of meat, two choices of cheese, salmon, lettuce, tomato, and onions. Ketchup, mustard, and mayo are available all the time at pump dispensers at the extreme back end (nearest back windows) of the serving area. It was very frustrating that sandwich fixings were not an option for lunch. You can also get small (dinner-roll sized) pre-made sandwiches and wraps at Cafe Promenade; there seemed to be six or so options, and they seemed to change each day.

6. You can easily take ship food off the ship into Dockyard (and Cape Liberty). Despite ALL the notices everywhere saying you can’t take food or liquids off the ship in Bermuda or in Bayonne, there was NO ONE doing any kind of checking. In fact, upon our return to Bayonne, the only official things that happened were our sea pass card was scanned as we got off the ship and our faces were scanned at the border/customs area after picking up our luggage. No x-rays, no questions, nothing. Other people in our group made big bags of sandwiches and sliced fruit at the Windjammer during breakfast and carried it all off the ship both days in Bermuda with zero questions.

7. Shorts are totally fine in the main dining room for dinner, and not just on the first and last night.

8. Picture packages purchased pre-cruise are defaulted to digital, meaning you do NOT leave the ship with prints. You have to request to switch it to prints. We learned a lot of things dealing with the photo people, most of which ended with the discovery that no matter how much the guy in front of you tells you something can’t be done, if you get the guy above him (who is sitting in the office behind the retail counter), he can make anything happen. We also learned that even if you give your room number when pictures are taken, not all the pictures that are taken are loaded in for your viewing. We knew that embarkation pictures had been taken in which we didn’t wave or have thumbs up, yet none of those showed up when we initially looked at our photos, even though other photos taken at the same time did. We had to ask them to go and find them, and we had to come back an hour later; they did find the missing pictures, and then we had to add them to each room’s account.

9. The main theater entertainment was incredibly disappointing, and “Saturday Night Fever” is incredibly offensive and totally inappropriate for families with kids. We were on a five-night cruise. The first night was a single late offering of a comedian doing a welcome aboard show. Second night was a singing concert with singers and musicians, but no dancing. The third night was a repeat of the first night comedian and the fourth night was a different comedian doing an adults only show. The last night was the only actual show, and it was the Broadway-style offering (“Saturday Night Fever”). We had very high hopes, and we all left feeling worse off than when we started. Not only had we wasted 90 minutes of our last night, but the whole thing was disgustingly offensive from start to finish. If they had only done the songs, it would have been mostly okay, but the vast majority of the dialogue was either between guys talking about having sex with the women, or guys talking to women with the expressed intention of having sex with them. A lot of it would have probably gone over kids heads, but at points the words and the physical actions of the performers were disgusting in their explicitness and vulgarity. On top of that, the non-singing/dancing segments included 1.) a guy asking various characters for advice on what to do since he had gotten a girl (not necessarily a girlfriend) pregnant, 2.) said guy getting drunk and being clearly shown as falling to his death from a bridge (“there are ways to kill yourself without killing yourself”), 3.) a group of guys walking coming on stage with a female friend of the group who had gotten herself really drunk and telling some other guys that all of them were going to have sex with her and inviting them to join in the fun, and 4.) an attempted rape involving the two main characters, shortly after singing a song in which they seemed to profess deep love for each other, even though they had just met, and he was only interacting with her to have sex with her. The singing and dancing were great, and the sets were extremely well done, and it could have been a totally wonderful show. It is such a shame, because the whole thing could have easily been done leaving out 95% (or 100%) of the objectification of women and completely removing the character who committed suicide. We really wanted to really enjoy the show on our last night, and instead the two moms in the group of 8 left infuriated, and we all felt like we had been robbed of 90 minutes.

10. RC doesn’t do a good job dealing with dietary limitations. On our two previous RC cruises (2013 and 2015), our head waiter had met us immediately when we were seated for the first dinner, and it was like the waters continually parted for my son to get the food he needed. This time around, our head waiter didn’t show up until the end of the first dinner, and my son had been left to try to work with the table waiter – through a significant language barrier – to guess what he might be able to eat. It was very troubling, and if my son’s issues were life-threatening, he would have not eaten in the main dining room that night. Things got only marginally better after that, even though we had emailed the right person at the right time to let them know about his limitations. We had much more success working directly with the head chef in the Windjammer. They seemed to have some labeled GF options and vegan options, but I would say if someone in your group has dietary limitations, they will probably fare better on a different cruise line.

 

[smokeybandit]

10 minutes ago, SLM said:

They seemed to have some labeled GF options and vegan options, but I would say if someone in your group has dietary limitations, they will probably fare better on a different cruise line.

 

As someone who cruises with someone with GF restrictions, I 100% disagree with this.

[CynBeth]

We had a different experience with numbers 8 and 10. For our recent Med cruise on Enchantment we preordered the package for 10 pictures and got the option for print or digital. I have family members with food allergies and on our first cruise to Alaska on Radiance many years ago we were told as soon as we got on the ship to go to the MDR and talk to the person at the desk to see what they could prepare for dinner that first night. After that the other nights at the end of the meal were brought menus for the next night to figure out what could be done. We have been on 4 cruises over the years and they have done a great job and the head waiter has stopped by every night.

[Matt]

16 hours ago, SLM said:

You can easily take ship food off the ship into Dockyard (and Cape Liberty). Despite ALL the notices everywhere saying you can’t take food or liquids off the ship in Bermuda or in Bayonne, there was NO ONE doing any kind of checking. In fact, upon our return to Bayonne, the only official things that happened were our sea pass card was scanned as we got off the ship and our faces were scanned at the border/customs area after picking up our luggage. No x-rays, no questions, nothing. Other people in our group made big bags of sandwiches and sliced fruit at the Windjammer during breakfast and carried it all off the ship both days in Bermuda with zero questions.

That doesn't mean it's okay to take food off the ship. The signs are there to warn you that if you're caught, there are serious consequences.

Don't take the fact they don't personally check every person and bag as allowing anything. 

[Montemy2419]

We sailed on Liberty in April and the movie "Saturday Night Fever" deals with adult situations.  You brought your children there and I am think they honored the movie very well.  They received a standing ovation and deserved it.  The responsibility is on the parent of what play they take their children to.

RD handles allergies very well.  I have cruised on Princess and they tried to serve me food with gluten twice in the MDR.   We have stayed exclusive to RC due to how well they handle the food in the MDR and Windjammer for allergies.  We are looking at switching to Celebrity because the food quality is so bad anymore in the MDR.  It's still excellent in the Windjammer but I don't cruise to eat all my meals at a buffet.

[JFCruise]

1. Looking at the Deck plan for Liberty - it looks like the spacious stateroom pops into the hallway a little more. The difference is 20 sq feet which isn't that much anyways. Unless the deck plan is lying. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/liberty-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2234/06

6. Royal Caribbean is not your mom. They really don't care if you get arrested for not following local laws. They warn you about out of courtesy (and probably for legal reasons), but if you don't follow the warnings, it's on you.

9. LOL. I've been to ships with Saturday Night Fever, Mamma Mia!, and in a month Grease. They clearly warn in the daily planner and all their advertisements for these shows that there is adult content. That's on you for either not paying attention to these very visible warnings or ignoring them. The same applies to The Quest and (I'm not 100% sure of this) the Love and Marriage game. I'm not a big fan of Broadway shows, but I still believe that it is time well spent when your entrance has been included.

10. Yeah, I don't buy this one bit. All experiences, including mine but some years ago, seem to directly contradict this. Also -regarding the 'significant language barrier, it seems like your first language is English based on this amazingly long rant. Everyone, or almost anyone, on the ship is competent in english even if it isn't their first language.

[RockerDom31]

Balcony vs. Spacious Balcony - When you go online and do a booking, they do give you the square footage. If I remember correctly, it's not that much more space inside and the balcony might even end up being smaller. I personally prefer getting a normal balcony room with a "non-traditional" balcony (like a hump balcony). As long as its the same category, they are the same price.

Taking food off the ship - Maybe this was just a stroke of luck? They usually have large garbage pins by the entrance/exit and staff telling you to dispose of all food. I've gotten stopped for bringing bottles of hot sauce onto the ship. I'm happy to hear that you didn't get in trouble for it but I'm very risk-averse so bringing food on/off the ship is not something I personally would do or advise (unless it's factory-sealed).

"Saturday Night Fever" - I can't comment on the actual content of the play because we didn't see it but I remember the Cruise Compass says something along the lines of: "Parental discretion advised. May be inappropriate for guests 13 and under."

[Fuzzywuzzy]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:58 PM, smokeybandit said:

As someone who cruises with someone with GF restrictions, I 100% disagree with this.

Same here. My wife has developed a SEVERE dairy allergy. Even trace amounts can cause painful and debilitating results. I notified RC of this, via email, as a part of my pre cruise planning recently.They were ready for her. The head waiter greeted us on the first day and told us he was going to take care of the issues involving dairy in foods. It became the routine that after each meal he would show her the menu for the next day so she could make a choice and he would see that it was properly, and safely, prepared with any butter, milk, cream deleted during preparation. We had a wonderful cruise without any issues. Once on a Disney cruise I asked for sugar free syrup for pancakes (diabetes),and it took them 20 minutes to find some.  On my last 2 cruises on the Adventure I had not sent an email prior to sailing but we told our waiters and they went out of their way in protecting her and even brought out "surprise" desserts (not on the menus) that she could have. There was even a dairy free creme brulee that was outstanding. This brought her to tears as she has missed that so much. I see alot of people trashing the MDR here but as for me I am a grateful fan. Except for that weird lobster mac and cheese experiment.

 

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

My wife and children have very limited dietary options but we've still had good experience with #10 in the past.  Not to say that we did not have bad waiters in the past, which it sounds may have been one of the culprits here.  You indicated it got "marginally better" after you spoke with the head waiter.  If that was acceptable, great, if not, definitely reach out to your head waiter again next time.  They will usually have business cards they will hand out or even have near the host stand in the MDR.  RC wants to satisfy you, but sometimes you need to let them know (nicely) when things arent meeting your expectations so they can address it.

[JFCruise]

Cruise compass for Liberty, July 18 2023. Day 2.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/liberty-of-the-seas/tue-07182023-0000

 

[teddy]

I remember when Saturday Night Fever came out in theaters.  I wanted to see it but was “too young”.  I had to settle for Star Wars. 

[Cakemeister]

I've seen Saturday Night Fever on the Liberty probably five or six times and it is always great. I go for the singing and dancing, not for the subject matter. I dimly remember the movie being rated R when it first came out and later was changed to PG. I think some of the lights have burned out on the dance floor of the set, if I recall correctly, and I think the stage and the theater in general on the Liberty are part of what should be refurbished in her amplification.

I loved everything about sailing on the Liberty when she was in Galveston. I sailed on her six times in seven years. Hopefully she will be amplified soon.