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CRUISE REVIEW
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS Canada, New England Fall 2024 By Richard H. Wagner |
Liberty of the Seas in Saint John.
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This is a review of a nine-night cruise on Liberty of the Seas in the Fall 2024 calling at Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; Sydney, Nova Scotia; Halifax. Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick. The cruise began and ended in New York harbor at the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey.
My first experience with Liberty was prior to her entering service in 2007. The ship was making a courtesy call at Cape Liberty, New Jersey before proceeding to Florida to begin her regular schedule of cruises. Along with her sister ship Freedom of the Seas, Liberty was the largest cruise ship in the world. An extended version of Royal's Voyager-class design, Liberty had several innovations including hot tubs that were cantilevered over each side of the ship and a surfing simulator at the aft end. Her Royal Promenade – an indoor street with shops and dining venues -- was longer than on the Voyager class ships and so contained more attractions. Her multi-level dining room was simply grand. The crew seemed to take a great deal of pride in her and carried that forward in their attitude of service. Over the years, Liberty has seen a number of changes so as to incorporate new features of the evolving Royal Caribbean experience. The Gothic disco was replaced by an additional specialty restaurant, the 19th hole bar became a Diamond Club, the card room became a suites lounge and water slides and other amusement features were added. (And sadly, the penguins that stood atop the bridge were removed). Liberty was scheduled to receive the next round of bells and whistles during a session in drydock in 2021. However, the COVID lockdown prevented that session from taking place. As a result, Liberty does not have all the features that are on Freedom and on Liberty's younger sister Independence of the Seas. All of this is planned scheduled to be rectified during a month-long drydock session in France planned for 2026. Nonetheless, Liberty remains an impressive ship. While she is no longer the largest, she is still a big cruise ship with lots of things to do. Furthermore, the attitude of her crew remains as it did when I first experienced the ship in 2007 and as experienced several times subsequent to that. The people I met were always willing to go out of their way to be of service. Such an attitude completely overshadows the occasional tired carpet. Royal-Up For this cruise, I tried Royal Caribbean's Royal-Up program in which you put in a bid for a cabin upgrade. Although I booked this cruise almost a year in advance, I was only able to get an inside cabin. While Liberty's inside cabins are fine, I prefer to have fresh air while cruising and so I usually book a balcony cabin. Accordingly, when I received an email inviting me to bid for an upgrade, I decided to take s chance. Most of the cruise lines now have such bid for an upgrade programs. The question always is how much to bid. One sometimes hears of people bidding a nominal amount and getting a suite but if you are serious about getting an upgraded cabin, a serious bid is appropriate. So I bid the difference between what I had paid for the inside cabin and what I would usually pay for a balcony cabin. The indicator on the app was unimpressed and reported that this was a weak bid. Nonetheless, Royal wrote back the day before the cruise saying that my bid was accepted. My new cabin was quite nice – roomy and well-laid out. The only problem was that because the change in cabins occurred close to embarkation dy, there was some confusion in delivering my Crown and Anchor Society perks. However, this was quickly straightened out by the Loyalty Ambassador. Hurricane Season This cruise took place during the height of hurricane season. It is often said that the season runs from June into November. However, you are most likely to encounter a hurricane in September or October. Hurricanes are most likely to affect cruises to the Bahamas or to the Caribbean. However, they can also affect cruises to Bermuda or to Canada and New England leaving out of ports in the northeastern United States. Indeed, a cruise to Bermuda that I was on in 2024 became a Canada cruise because of a hurricane near Bermuda. Such changes in destination are not uncommon during hurricane season. As compared to an Atlantic storm, hurricanes encompass a relatively small area and the cruise lines are good at routing their ships around them. In order to protect both their customers and their multi-million dollar floating investments, the lines look to position their ships in calm waters. This does not mean that it is always smooth sailing during hurricane season. A hurricane can affect the waters at quite a distance. Also, sometimes a storm can move unexpectedly. Consequently, sometimes there can be a bumpy ride. Luckily, we had good weather throughout this cruise. In fact, it was summer-like during the first part of the cruise. As to be expected, the weather turned more autumnal as we sailed north but there was still sunshine. This does not mean, however, that this cruise was unaffected by hurricanes. In the days prior to the cruise, Hurricane Milton struck Florida. While you might well wonder how this storm could affect a cruise a thousand miles away, consider the storm's impact on air travel. Many of the passengers I spoke with had nightmare tales of cancelled or postponed flights and of sleeping in airports. One can only speculate that some passengers never made it to the ship due to such problems. The Itinerary Nonetheless, everyone I spoke with seemed to enjoy the cruise. It was a good itinerary. Boston is a major city with culture, history and many opportunities for shopping and dining. In addition, the area around the cruise terminal has undergone a dramatic change for the better in recent years with new hotels, museums and restaurants. Portland is a smaller city. However, it has a very impressive regional art museum with works by world famous artists including Renoir, Sargent, Picasso and hometown favorite Winslow Homer. Many passengers ventured out for a lobster roll in Kennebunkport or in the eateries near the cruise terminal. Canada's Halifax has a board walk that runs along the beautiful harbor into downtown. It seems like more features are constantly being added along the way. It includes a museum with a permanent exhibition on Halifax's connection to the Titanic disaster. From the top of the central hill, an impressive 19th century citadel overlooks the city. On the other side of the hill is the pretty Victorian Public Gardens. Passengers also like to go to nearby Peggy's Cove, a quaint fishing village. However, it is often very crowded. There is not much to see in Sydney itself. (The famous opera house is in Australia). The main attraction in this port is the scenery outside the town although the Louisbourg restoration is interesting for history buffs. Along the same lines, St. John is a pleasant town. However, it is overshadowed by the scenery around the Bay of Fundy. Close to town, there is a trail that will take you to the Reversing Rapids – a gorge where the incoming tide of the Bay forces the current in the river to flow upstream. |
Above: Liberty docked in Portland, Maine.
Below: Liberty in Boston. 
Above: Liberty with fleetmate Jewel of the Seas in Sydney.
Below: A balcony cabin on Liberty. 
Above: Liberty in Halifax.
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Cruise ship review - - Royal Caribbean International - Liberty of the Seas - Canada New England 2024