my review Liberty of the Seas--from a DCL lover

ldo

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
I just returned from Liberty of the seas--same ship as Freedom. We are biased towards DCL, so here is my take:
Liberty pluses--a lot cheaper than DCL, great ice skating show, ice skating rink (didn't use) huge rock climbing walls, super fun flow rider, waterpark area good for the 3-10 range, [seemed like] larger sports areas, great promenade area with coffee/pastry bar, Sorrento's pizza parlor, cupcake cupboard (small fee for cupcakes, fee to decorating classes--I thought they would be stupid, so DD did not sign up--but they were really cool--I would do this in the future).
Equal--adult only pool area--virtually identical to Fantasy, service, putt-putt
(goofy stuff is cuter), pools, you can bring on 2 bottles of wine, no issues with water or sodas (we only brought a few bottles--don't know if you had a case what would happen).
not as good--tween/teen clubs--when I peeked in at 2 or 3 pm--no one was there--my kids liked a staffed area where they could go and chill--DCL wins. Movies--on a 4 day cruise-- there was 1 movie on the pool big screen at 10 pm, a not super exciting movie the next day at 8 pm, and finally a 3D movie in the big performance theater at 1pm on the last sea day. I found this very disappointing. That would make me rethink a 7 day with more sea days--as I have a 12 yr old movie lover.
Food-buffet has more limited offerings than we have had on RCCL 3 and 5 years ago. MDR--lamb was very good, tenderloin excellent, seafood OK--but DCL wins here for food--I give RCCL (except the lamb) a C+, with DCL getting a solid B.
Bottom line--we had 6 persons--us and 4 kids (12-28). 28 yr old spent a lot of time on flow rider--said he would have been bored without it. 16 yr old also liked the flow rider. 12 yr old played putt-putt, ate a lot of ice cream, enjoyed sorrentos pizza parlor, and watched a few movies on TV, as he didn't want to do climbing wall or flow rider, and there were no movies anywhere else. If we were on DCL, he probably would have gone into the tween club for a bit. For 4 days, it was fine (we went snorkeling in Cozumel) and we got a great price over Christmas--less than 1/2 of what DCL would have costs--but next cruise will be DCL.
 
I'm sorry to hear this I'm planning a first time rccl trip for September on the freedom of the sea. With three dcl cruises under my belt I'm very skeptical about switching cruise lines but the cost of dcl vs rccl is a 1500 difference 7 days same time of year. I'm really having second thoughts in my mind but everyone else in my group about 23 wants to change it up for more adult activities. I hope I won't regret this

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Thanks for the review. We are going on the liberty in 12 days. I will keep you posted to what I think of the ship/cruise.
 
Thanks for the review. We are going on the liberty in 12 days. I will keep you posted to what I think of the ship/cruise.

The 1/13 sailing? If so we'll be joining you. Our last cruise was Disney Wonder, also did a 4 day Disney Dream. Been on several Royal ships (Liberty in 2008), and I've enjoyed every cruise I've done with every cruise line. We've also done Celebrity and Princess. Royal is our favorite. Disney does several things better (can't beat the shows), but I personally think the food is about even, and DW & I just prefer Royal.

Should mention: our kids are grown; we did Wonder with our 4 yr old DGD who loved the kid's area this time (last year at 3 she didn't want to be left alone). We haven't cruised with her on other lines since she was 2, so I can't say how she'd compare the kid's clubs.

Also: cruisers seem to dress up a bit more on Royal (although anything other than shorts is acceptable fo DR's). One of our faves on Royal is The Quest.
 


I spent time on Dis Boards before our Wonder cruise; just got on tonight to check out info on Orlando resorts (also spending a few days post-cruise there). I'm glad to see this Forum on Dis Boards, and I'll have to pay more attention to it in the future.
 
The 1/13 sailing? If so we'll be joining you. Our last cruise was Disney Wonder, also did a 4 day Disney Dream. Been on several Royal ships (Liberty in 2008), and I've enjoyed every cruise I've done with every cruise line. We've also done Celebrity and Princess. Royal is our favorite. Disney does several things better (can't beat the shows), but I personally think the food is about even, and DW & I just prefer Royal. Should mention: our kids are grown; we did Wonder with our 4 yr old DGD who loved the kid's area this time (last year at 3 she didn't want to be left alone). We haven't cruised with her on other lines since she was 2, so I can't say how she'd compare the kid's clubs. Also: cruisers seem to dress up a bit more on Royal (although anything other than shorts is acceptable fo DR's). One of our faves on Royal is The Quest.

Yes we will be on the same cruise. How exciting!!!! This is our 3rd RCCL. We are leaving our kids at home and celebrating our 10 year anniversary. I'm so ready to leave the freezing temps here in MA and head to the sunny weather of FL!!!
 
Yes we will be on the same cruise. How exciting!!!! This is our 3rd RCCL. We are leaving our kids at home and celebrating our 10 year anniversary. I'm so ready to leave the freezing temps here in MA and head to the sunny weather of FL!!!

Mrs Buzz: No offense to Dis Boards (they're great for anything Disney related), but have you ever checked out other forums? I try to use all of them, but the most informative one (my opinion anyways), especially for port or ship info, is Cruise Critic. There's a fairly active Meet & Mingle thread on there for this cruise (lots of nice cruisers - I post on there as Kicker). If you haven't posted on there, check it out.

PS: We still haven't booked excursions. Thinking of booking a private company in Falmouth for a ride to Dr Cave's Beach, and possibly the Sandbar Beach excursion in Labadee. Lots of shared info on the M&M thread about excursions, and CC also has threads on the ports themselves.
 


Mrs Buzz: No offense to Dis Boards (they're great for anything Disney related), but have you ever checked out other forums? I try to use all of them, but the most informative one (my opinion anyways), especially for port or ship info, is Cruise Critic. There's a fairly active Meet & Mingle thread on there for this cruise (lots of nice cruisers - I post on there as Kicker). If you haven't posted on there, check it out. PS: We still haven't booked excursions. Thinking of booking a private company in Falmouth for a ride to Dr Cave's Beach, and possibly the Sandbar Beach excursion in Labadee. Lots of shared info on the M&M thread about excursions, and CC also has threads on the ports themselves.

Thanks I will check it out:-)
 

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