Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas

 

“The journey, not the arrival matters.”

T.S. Elliot

We scheduled a Canada and New England cruise with friends in September 2023. A friend we met on a past cruise, invited us to join them on this cruise and we jumped on it. This cruise was very reasonably priced when we booked it so it was a no brainer, and we booked it right away. They invited their other friends from past cruising and we invited our good friends from Joe’s Army band days.

Liberty of the Seas was a Freedom Class cruise ship which holds 3634 passengers and 1300 crew members. The crew to passenger ratio is 2.79 to 1. This ship was launched in 2007 after being built at Finnyards Turku Shipyard, Finland after an 18 month build. This beautiful ship is 1,111.9 feet long and 184 feet wide and can cruise at 21.6 knots.

In 2011, the ship went through some renovations which included an outdoor video screen in the main pool area. Then in 2016, the ship added some cabins, new restaurants, and an improved pool deck area. This renovation also included adding water slides, two racing slides and a boomerang style slide. They also added a children’s water play area.

We parked right at Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey after picking our friends, Sue and Steve up at the Newark Airport which is only just over 9 miles from the port. The parking is not cheap ($30 a day) but it is very convenient. After parking, we were able to take a shuttle bus right to the ship. The embarkment process was very easy and we were on the ship in less than 15 minutes from start to finish. We brought all our luggage with us which we usually do not do, but it worked out fine.

When we got on, we looked to find a comfortable place to sit that was not too crowded. We ended up at the Schooner Bar which was empty and literally was the only time it was empty during the entire cruise. We sat down and put our luggage on the side while we enjoyed a drink and relaxed before our room was ready. We were able to meet up with all our friends there which worked out great since there was plenty of seating. We ended up sitting there till it was announced that the rooms were ready.

We grabbed all our luggage and took it to the room, got settled in, and then went and grabbed a snack. Then we started exploring this fine ship. We headed up to the helicopter pad for the Sail Away. Passing by New York City was a beautiful site. We could see Lady Liberty (the Statue of Liberty) off in the distance. We headed under the Verrazano Bridge. When we were underneath, the Captain blared his horn. I’m sure those vehicles on the bridge got a good scare. We all loved it. That meant, our vacation had begun.

Right after that, they had a parade in the Promenade. It was fabulous. The costumes were amazing. We had never seen a parade before. It was so much fun to see. There was so much energy from the staff and it brought that child like feeling back when parades were special. We felt this one was special.

We enjoyed exploring this ship. On Deck two, there were cabins as well as The Conference Center.

On Deck Three there are more rooms, Studio B, the Ice Skating Rink, Main Dining Room, and the Platinum Theatre. There was a wonderful Ice Skating show in Studio B. The entertainers were fabulous and put on a great show. During the day, anyone could get a pair of skates and try to ice skate. That is also a fun activity, watching people trying to skate for the first time.

 

Deck four is where the Schooner Bar is located. As I said before, this bar was always full with either a trivia show or a piano player entertaining the crowd. There also was the Sabor Restaurant, Casino Royale, which was a busy place at night when we were out to sea, the Photo Gallery and Shop, Boleros Lounge which featured a Salsa band, Centrum, where the main glass staircase was located, the second floor of the main dining room and another floor of the Platinum Theatre. The dining room was very lovely with a extra large crystal chandelier hanging over the main area. Each level was named after a Renaissance painter with paintings throughout that level showing their art work.

We were thrilled to find out there was a Promenade. It was located on Deck 5. The Promenade has some great places to check out. We were happy to find Sorrento’s Pizza (wonderful pizza served nice and hot all day long), Hoof and Claw Pub which was disappointing as they served no draft beer, retail stores, Ben and Jerry’s, Cupcake Cupboard, Cafe Promenade, Shore excursion desk, Next Cruise Desk, R Bar, Star Lounge, Guest Services, and the Main Dining room. We ate on this level and were pleased with the food they served. The staff works so hard to make our dining experience a good one. The Promenade is where the colorful and energetic parade was held on day one. Later on in the cruise they had a meet and greet with the Captain and his ship mates. When he did the announcements we were surprised to be able to understand everything he said and found out he was Canadian. We had usually only had Greek Captains before so it was a big change. On another day, they had a ceremony honoring all veterans that was very nice.

Deck 6 through 10 is only rooms.

Deck 11 has two specialty restaurants both Chops Grille and Govanni's Table. We did not try either one of these restaurants on this trip but have in the past and they never disappoint. The Splash away Bay was a great kids area that was well underused on our ship. The children who were on our ship must have loved there time there as their were no waits. Along with the main pools whirlpools, pool bar, the Solarium the adults only pool features deep water with stools in the water and bar to put your drinks on. There were also two whirlpools that project off the side of the ship for better views that felt great and were hardly ever full. The Vitality at Sea Fitness Center was state of the art and large, and the Windjammer. We found the food to be good but nothing special at the Windjammer.

Deck 12 has some rooms as well as Vitality at Sea Spa, the Sky Bar, the movie screen, running track, nursery, Adventure Ocean, Johnny Rockets, a pay restaurant which is set up as a dinner, Fuel Teen Disco, and the Video Arcade.

Deck 13 had Liberty Dunes, the miniature golf course, the rock climbing wall, Sports court, The Perfect Storm, Cyclone and Typhoon, Flow rider, and Tidal Wave. During this cruise there was a lot of fog so if you were playing miniature golf, the fog horn sounded every five minutes or so and the fog horn was right there and would scare you if you weren’t prepared. It was a nice miniature golf course. My friend, Sue got me to try the water slides on this ship and I must say it was fun. I had always been scared to try before but she gave me the courage.

Deck 14 has the Viking Crown Lounge and Diamond Club. We really liked the Viking Crown Lounge during the day with all the windows and great views of the ocean. It was a nice quiet spot on the boat.

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The only thing on Deck 15 is the Skylight Chapel. What a beautiful little chapel that you can come and sit in quiet and reflect on all your blessings.

We really enjoyed this ship and especially enjoyed having our friends with us. It was wonderful having dinners together and then going to see a show. We enjoyed the shows. They preformed Saturday Night Fever in the theatre and it was a high energy show but didn’t seem to go over that well with some of the older crowd on board. The comedians were funny. We were disappointed that the Love and Marriage show didn’t come on till 10:30 at night. We missed it as after a long day we couldn’t hang with the big dogs.

The cruise ship was kept clean and the staff was very helpful and kind. We enjoyed the cruise and would recommend this ship. The cruise band was very good and we enjoyed their one performance. We only wished they could have preformed more. Our room was always kept perfect and we loved our little towel friends that were left for us to enjoy.  Great job for all the crew. 

 

Till next time.  Bye for now.