Just got home (actually almost a month ago but it seems a lot more recent) from a Seminar at Sea on Royal Carribean’s Liberty of the Seas. In my opinion, Royal Caribbean has the most unique, innovative ships afloat and the Liberty of the Seas continues the tradition. At 160,000 gross registered tons, she and her sisters (the Freedom and Independence of the Seas) are the largest cruise ships afloat, (at least until the Oasis of the Seas enters service in December of this year at 222,900 GRT). Long story, short – we sailed from Miami on Aug. 29th and made port calls in San Juan, St. Maarten, and Labadee. The entire cruise exceeded expectations. There were a few areas where I felt the experience was less than perfect, but any “negatives” were minor when taken in whole.
When we returned I received an e-mail asking me to participate in a survey about my experience. On my own arbitrary scale I gave them an overall rating between 4.5 & 5 on a scale of 1 – 5. Here are the capsule comments I was able to fit into the end of the survey.
1. My wife is handicapped – she walks with 2 canes. No one noticed her handicap in the terminal until we were through the line and checking in at the counter or she would (should) have been assisted in bypassing much of the standing in line.
2. Wait time for elevators was frequently extremely excessive.
3. We missed our bed time chocolates (RCCL discontinued chocolates on your pillows when they turn down your bed in the evening as a cost saving measure).
4. Drink service during 2 past passenger receptions was virtually non-existent. Waiters were few and far between and generally stood rooted to one spot.
5. Hot snacks (when they eventually came by) were seriously over cooked.
6. If #4 & #5 above are an indication of how well return guests are appreciated, our loyalty is not reciprocated.
7. The Ice Show was, as always, an exceptional experience.
8. Omelet station in Windjammer should make ALL omelets to order. I wanted a fresh ham & cheese omelet – not the one that had been sitting in a warming tray for who knows how long. What’s the problem, if I’m willing to wait for one freshly cooked?
9. Waffle station opened too late in the morning for us to enjoy fresh waffles several mornings. When fresh waffles were available they were disappointing, but they were still far superior to the pre-cooked (frozen?) Belgian waffles in the steam trays.
10. Johnny Rockets still makes the best shakes and malteds I have ever had on land or sea – well worth the “nominal” charge.
11. Johnny Rockets’ hamburgers are the best at sea, and they’re free.
12. We were disappointed that we were unable to enjoy the solarium pool on two nights because it was being used for another function.
13. “No food or drinks in the pool” was poorly enforced. I didn’t particularly enjoy swimming with cocktail glasses and fruit garnish floating around me. (also in the solarium).
14. Sorry there was one less pool available, but the water park play area looked like a great replacement – particularly if traveling with children. We weren’t this time but will definitely consider it a plus when we have grandkids along on future cruises.
15. Worth repeating – Elevators – too few, too slow in the extreme.
16. I forgot to put this in originally – Kudos to Royal Caribbean. I’m not sure if this is fleetwide yet but I hope it either is or will soon be. Life jackets are not required for muster/lifeboat drill. This is a big step forward on passenger safety. I wonder how many people are injured every year tripping over the loose straps dangling from lifejackets to the deck after the drill. Muster stations in dining rooms and lounges are much more convenient, and having our on board ID scanned into portable devices to verify attendance is infinitely better than the old fashioned way of having the muster station leader calling out cabin #s and having the passengers yell “Here!”. I’ve seen one person answer for as many as 6 diferent cabin #s on other cruises.
I’ll upload some pictures as soon as I figure out how.
