RCI's Liberty of the Seas is a Modern Marvel
This past Saturday I disembarked from one of the best big-ship cruises I've ever taken. Celebrating my birthday, my sister and I joined 4000+ other passengers onboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas 11/29-12/6. Together with its sister ships Freedom of the Seas and Independence of the Seas, the Liberty is one of the worlds' three largest cruise ship afloat at 160k tons. (Of course, that will all change once the Oasis of the Seas debuts at the end of 2009 weighing in at 220k tons.)
I must admit that I was hesitant to think about sailing on a ship this big. Even though I'm a huge Royal Caribbean fan, I was worried that I'd feel too crowded with so many passengers onboard. But, over time and with the positive feedback from several clients, I decided to give it a try for myself. My oh my, was I blown away! Now I'm wondering why it took me so long to sail on this mega-ship!
Because the ship is so big and there's so much activity all the time, the really great thing about this ship is that the passengers are never all in the same place at the same time. The most people I saw at any one time was during the 70's party/parade on the promenade. My plan was to briefly check it out, but I ended up staying for the entire event dancing the night away. This was especially true when some of the crew members surprised the passengers as the Village People. Anyone up for the YMCA dance? Corny as it can be, it was a blast. The next night the highlight for me was the incredible ice skating show "Encore". What an incredible production that turned out to be! Finally, the adult-only Quest game put on by the Cruise Director, Ken Rusch. I'm not going to go into detail about the game. It was beyond fun, adult-oriented, and something you should experience for yourself. What a blast!
Of course, there was so much more to do onboard that I didn't even get to. Our final day at sea, my plan was to take on the Flow Rider (onboard surfing simulator), rock climbing wall, and miniature golf, but the weather took a turn for the worst, so it was much too cold and windy for me to consider being out on deck that day. Oh well, there's always next time.
All of this fun took place onboard the ship. I didn't even mention the Western Caribbean ports of call - Labadee Haiti (RCI's private beach), Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel with 2 sea days. I had been to most of the ports of call before this cruise, so it was really the ship I wanted to experience on this trip. The Liberty of the Seas did not disappoint in any way. Aside from all of the amenities and activities onboard, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the service level onboard this ship was nothing short of stellar. I've been on other lines including premium and specialty cruise lines. The service on this ship was much better than I've received on the premium lines. The staff was one of the best I've ever had.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my Liberty of the Seas experience. If you've never experienced a mega-ship, I definitely encourage you to check it out. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. Plus, in this crazy economy we're experiencing, the rates for these ships have dropped dramatically. The few weeks leading up to my sailing I saw that inside rooms started at only $399 per person plus tax. And, balcony rates had dropped to just $749. Super cheap for such a fabulous experience worth so much more!