Cruise review: our 3 night sailing on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas

Earlier in the year, we surprised Big S with a weekend cruise to the Bahamas for his 10th birthday. The trip was a bit of a departure from our usual style of travel: a short getaway, not much planning, going more for the vibes (and the chill) than the destination.

But – besides pulling off an epic birthday surprise – there is definitely something to be said about these shorter cruises. We don’t consider ourselves cruisers, and 3 nights was the perfect amount of time for us. We got to enjoy all the food and the amenities without feeling oversaturated, with just the right amount of relaxation and indulgence. And 3 nights is basically just a long weekend – you only really need to take a vacation day or two on either end. So perhaps we’re late to the boat 😛 (no pun intended), but if you’re looking for a getaway that is exciting, relaxing, and affordable, these shorter cruises may be the way to go.

We picked Royal Caribbean cruise line (RC), as it’s known for being one of the most kid friendly. We’d actually sailed a very similar itinerary when Big S was a baby. In that infant stage, everything was a blur, but this time we were able to fully appreciate the ship and report back on our full experience. 😛

Our Sailing

We booked a 4 day (3 night) sailing aboard the Liberty of the Seas, sailing out of Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas. We had 2 port stops: Nassau, and Perfect Day at Coco Cay.

Our overall experience

As mentioned, we are not seasoned cruisers. The kids have only ever been on 1 other cruise (the Disney Dream). But we all had a good time, and the kids claim they preferred RC to Disney! (Though that might actually have been the proximity of the experience. :P)

There is a little something for everyone and every age on Liberty of the Seas, and there was no shortage of things to do. We particularly enjoyed the pool deck, the buffet, and the soft-serve “cart”. Overall, the food was average (not particularly memorable, but that also means there was nothing terrible!) The water slides were a hit, and both Big S and Daniel tried their hands at the surf simulator. We didn’t much care for Nassau, but loved Perfect Day at Coco Cay.

The kids club was definitely not as exciting as the kids club aboard Disney, and the evening entertainment/shows were not as kids-centric. RC is definitely more “adult-centric”, with casinos, art auctions, jewelry sales, and a whole host of things the kids have zero interest in. However, despite that – or maybe *because* of that – the pace didn’t feel as “frantic”. While cruising Disney, we constantly felt FOMO, whether it be getting somewhere early for a show/event, or lining up to meet a character. We felt RC was more laid back, that we could chill, and sort of stumble upon activities as they happened.

The booking process

We booked rather last minute (3 months in advance of our sailing date), directly from the website. It was extremely easy, and we were able to snag some excellent deals. It only takes a couple of minutes to make reservations.

Royal Caribbean often has steep flash sales and deals (more on that below), so if you know you want to cruise, it pays to keep an eye on the website.

When you book, you will need to select your stateroom, as well as your preferred dining option. For our deal, we were NOT able to choose our stateroom, but we were guaranteed a room type (Oceanview).

When reserving your spot, you have an option to pay a deposit (usually ~ $100 USD for shorter cruises and $250 for cruises > 1 week), and pay the full amount later.

Dining options

For someone new to Royal Caribbean, the dining options can be confusing. This only applies to dinner in the main restaurant. When booking, you must choose a dining option. You can select either traditional dining – several options from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, or a “My Time Dining“. Traditional dining is as it sounds – you show up at the same time every night, have the same wait staff, and sit with the same people. My Time Dining gives you flexibility – you can eat whenever you want, but you will either have to make a reservation the day of (on the app or in person), or risk having to wait for a table.

The Royal Caribbean App

Once you have paid your deposit, you can start booking excursions, reserve specialty dining, and buying drink and internet packages.

Make sure you download the RC App. This is where you can book the above, and where you can access your sailing’s daily schedule.

The cost of sailing Royal Caribbean

I would be remiss if I did not comment on how affordable our sailing was. We paid less than $2000 for our family of 4 to cruise 3 nights! This is literally less than what we spend when we visit Great Wolf Lodge for a weekend. 😛

To give you an idea of the savings, we booked on a Kids Sail Free deal, *as well* as a BOGO60% off deal – so we basically paid for 1.5 persons for our family of 4. 😛

If you are on the hunt for deals, RC often offers flash deals on select cruises. If you are not picky about where or when you sail, snagging a flash deals is the way to go.

For those who already have a particular sailing in mind, you can go through the booking process all the way until “review your selections”. (This includes picking your stateroom and your dining options.) You can refresh this page as many times as you want, and the price will change to reflect any deals going on. (You might also want to keep an eye out for other room types, as certain room types often have random sales as well.)

There are options to add on a drinks package (more on that below), photo package, and internet package. Internet packages cost around $40-50 USD per guest per day, but you can snag better deals if you keep an eye on the RC app. Because we only cruised for 3 nights, we did not buy an internet package. Photo packages start at $250 for 10 photos (captured by photographers across the ship and at the ports of call). We did not buy a package, but did buy 1 photo at the end of the cruise for posterity’s sake.

The ship – Liberty of the Seas

Liberty of the Seas is 1 of 3 Freedom Class ships, which I would consider the “middle” of the RC fleet, in both capacity and amenities. It is bigger with more to do than Radiance class ships, but not nearly as big or as extravagant as Oasis class ships. Liberty is a little bit older, built in 2007, and renovated in 2016. It accommodates just over 3600 passengers. The ship has some of RC’s newer features, like the skating rink, water slides, and the surf simulator.

While not as flashy as some of RC’s newer ships, we all had a good time on Liberty of the Seas. It was big enough that we had plenty to do, but did not feel overwhelming. While some places on the ship (mostly the pool deck) could feel crowded, it did not feel chaotic.

Checking in and arrivals

You can check in starting 45 days prior to embarkation day. Check in can be done either online, or through the Royal Caribbean App.

Documents: be sure to have your flight info, your passport, and a photo of each passenger ready to input. (Unlike some cruise lines, you do not NEED to upload your photo to check in for RC, but you will have to return later to add this.) While you are checking in, you can select your port arrival time (PAT). This is the reason why many cruisers want to check in ASAP, so to snag the earliest boarding times.

RC will then email you your boarding passes and your luggage tags. You can also access your passes via the app.

What I liked

The check in process was smoother than I expected. Because we flew into Fort Lauderdale the morning of (usually frowned upon in the cruising world because what if something happens and you miss boarding? – but we were willing to risk it) we did not feel the need to select an early PAT. We *did* arrive at the cruise terminal almost an hour earlier than our PAT. We were fully prepared to wait, but they checked us in anyway without really paying attention to our PAT. (And the lines were moving smoothly enough there was very little waiting.)

One thing to keep in mind is there is NOTHING at the cruise port. It is a guarded, gated port for both cruises and cargo ships. You need to present your ID/pasports for clearance, and you cannot come and go without going through the process again. There are no restaurants, and no areas for passengers to kill time. If you arrive at the terminal early, you will have to wait.

The “call to muster” was *way* easier on RC than on Disney. This is where all guests need to find their muster location in case of emergency, and receive a safety briefing. Disney made this into an entire production where we all had to gather at a certain time, line up, etc, etc. RC simply requested that all guests check in at their muster station and watch a safety briefing video online. Took less than 5 minutes!

Our Stateroom

We booked an Oceanview room with a porthole window. We learned after cruising Disney we actually spent very little time in our room, so did not feel the need to upgrade to a significantly more expensive room with a balcony. (And even though the kids are older now, it still makes me anxious to think about them wandering unsupervised onto the balcony.)

Most Oceanview rooms are lower in the ship (where the portholes are :P) – this makes them feel more stable, for those prone to motion-sickness, but the ambient engine noise is also louder.

Our room had a large bed taking up most of the space (I think the RC standard bed size is slightly smaller than king but larger than queen. :P) Above our bed were two bunk beds for the kids.

What I did not like

Besides the bed, there was really only space for one chair and a closet. Thankfully we only brought 1 suitcase (we like to keep the suitcases out instead of unpacking and then repacking everything). Nobody tripped on the way to the bathroom, so I guess all in all it was a win. 😛 But it was definitely on the small side – only about half the size of our Disney cruise room.

In general, the stateroom and the bathroom felt a bit outdated, but overall, it was *fine*. We made do, there were no real complaints, and we have in fact just booked another RC Oceanview cabin for an upcoming trip! 😛

Because we did not get to pick the stateroom, our room was near the bow. It was in a bit of an awkward location where we couldn’t actually access it from the main stairs or elevators. Instead, we always had to go to a different floor, and take alternate stairs to our hallway. (First world problems, I know.)

Liberty of the Seas indoor amenities

As mentioned, there is a *lot* happening on Liberty of the Seas. We spent most of our time on the pool deck, but there is also plenty to enjoy inside the ship.

The most unique we think is probably the indoor skating rink (Studio B). You can sign up to skate throughout the day, and at night the rink hosts a skating show. (As Canadians, we skate plenty so did not do this, but it is definitely something different!)

The casino was definitely a hot spot. The Promenade (the ship’s main atrium) is home to a host of shops, and there was almost always some sort of presentation and sale going on, which always had a line. (Jewelry seemed the most popular.) We have very limited interest in gambling and shopping, so we did not spend much time here.

Next to the casino is the Star Lounge, a family friend spot that hosts a variety of performers, as well as karaoke events.

The ship also has a fitness centre and a spa.

We did take a spin around the arcade, which had very standard games. Big S loves racing cars, and Lil S is obsessed with the claw machine. 😛

A note on kids clubs

Liberty of the Seas has different kids clubs for ages 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and teens. Younger kids are able to join older siblings (but not the other way around). This is free. You can tour the rooms on embarkation day, and register your kids for the clubs.

We did sign the kids up, but they did not end up going. We walked by a few times, but there were not many kids there. Furthermore, a lot of the programming in the clubs for older ages looked like they revolved around screens, which we wanted *less* of during vacation.

There is also a nursery for babies and tots, which charges an hourly fee.

The pool deck and sports deck

This was definitely a highlight of our cruise.

The pool deck has 2 fairly generously sized pools, and 3 hot tubs. There is a splash park for the kids, and an indoor solarium with its own pool for adults only. There is entertainment throughout the day, from dance parties to bellyflop competitions. The soft swirl truck is here as well.

Liberty of the Seas has 2 large water slides – the Typhoon and the Cyclone, as well as Tidal Wave, which is a thrill ride that resembles a half-pipe. There is also a surf simulator, the FlowRider, where you can surf or bodyboard. Both Tidal Wave and FlowRider have a height restriction of 52 inches. (Lil S was disappointed as she was too short for these, although Big S at age 10 could do both.)

The Sports Deck has the rock climbing walls, and a multi-sport surface (for basketball, soccer, pickle ball, dodgeball, etc.). Lil S made it all the way to the top of 2 different rock walls! There is also a cute mini golf course, the Liberty Dunes.

What I liked

Big and Lil S could have happily spent all day here, hopping from the pools to the slides. The line-ups for the slides were surprisingly not too bad, although the wait-times for the surf simulator could get pretty long. Tidal Wave was intense!

We also enjoyed catching movies on the big screen at the pool deck.

What I did not like

While the pools did not feel crowded, the pool deck sure did. During the day, it is impossible to get a lounger, or even just find a place to sit.

The entertainment

The cruise’s feature nighttime show is Saturday Night Fever, a broadway-style musical held in the Platinum theatre. This was *impressive* – I am continuously amazed at the level of talent working on cruise ships! While the kids did enjoy the music, the themes were probably a little advanced for them.

Studio B features an ice-skating show every night. The kids liked this performance better – the music and ice-dancing was fun and lively (and short-ish).

Another show we heard the Liberty of the Seas offers is “In the Air”, which is an acrobat circe-de-soleil-esque performance, but this was not showing during our sailing.

During the day, you have the option of trying out any number of classes, from towel-folding to wine-tasting to jewelry making to everything in between.

Dining options

The 2 main dining options are Windjammer Cafe, and the main dining hall – 3 connected floors of seating individually called Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Botticelli.

Windjammer Cafe

This is the cruise’s buffet, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Juices, coffee, and tea are available and self-serve. As far as we could tell, breakfast and lunch serve almost the same options on all days. Dinner has a different “theme”/cuisine every night.

We had most of our meals here, as our kids prefer buffet to a sit-down meal any day. The food was not bad, but also not outstanding. There were no particularly memorable items.

There are ample places to sit. Where I remember our having to wait for table on our Disney cruise, we never trouble finding a table at Windjammer.

Before entering the buffet, there are staff at the entrance with hand sanitizers, reminding you to “washy washy”, which we thought was cute!

Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Botticelli

The main dining hall *looks* very opulent, with lush carpets, dazzling chandeliers, and grand sweeping staircases.

We only dined here once of our 3 nights, on the My Time Dining option. Keep in mind when you choose this option you have to reserve a table earlier in the day, *or* show up at dinner time and wait for a table to be available. You also do not have the same wait staff every night, or sit at the same table with the same dinner partners, which for some is an important part of the cruise experience. As introverts, we were quite happy not have to make additional small talk over dinner. 😛

Unfortunately – and I suspect it was because it was Italian night when we dined here – the food did not match the opulence. I felt the main course had lacklustre menu options (your typical steak, pasta, etc), and the food did not taste any better than what we had at Windjammer.

The main dining hall also serves sit-down breakfast and lunch (on sea days), where you can select from a menu.

One feature to note here is if you register your kids for the kids club, you have to option to unroll in My Family Time Dining. If you choose this option, the servers will serve the courses within 45 minutes, and a kids club staff will come to the door to collect your children. (At least that way, parents can enjoy *some* of their meal in peace!)

Cafe Promenade and Sorrento’s Pizza

These options are located in the Promenade, the atrium and “heart” of the ship.

Cafe Promenade serves baked goods and sandwiches, as well as coffee and tea. Speciality coffee can be purchased for a price.

Sorrento’s Pizza serves pizza, salad, and various desserts. However, every time we wanted to try this place (usually just before main dining hours), there was a pretty significant line.

There is also an ice cream shop here (for purchase), which used to be a Ben and Jerry’s but has since become generic. They pop their own fresh popcorn, which costs $2, and this was a hit with the kids.

Prix fixe dining options

Specialty dining on board Liberty of the Seas include:

• Chops Grille (steakhouse)
• Giovanni’s Table (Italian)
• Sabor (Latin American)
• Johnny Rockets (old-fashioned diner)
• Chef’s Table (an extra fancy dining experience with wine pairing arranged by a chef and sommelier)

Bars, lounges, and drink packages

There are 14 bars on Liberty of the Seas, and a ton of lounge areas.

As we rarely drink, we did not purchase a drink package. Alcoholic drink packages cost around $85 CAD per guest per day, and non-alcoholic packages cost around $35 CAD per day (for sodas, speciality coffees, etc). RC also has a soda package, which costs around $25 CAD. You can purchase a package through your RC app, and keep an eye out for deals. These seem to change every day, and can be upward of 25% – 40%.

Ports and excursions

We tend not to book cruise excursions. We find them generally overpriced, and we can get a much better deal for a more intimate experience if we do it ourselves. However, it does take some work to plan your own itinerary, especially within the confines of when your ship will be docked.

With that being said, this weekend cruise happened to hit two ports where it’s really no great loss if you do NOT book excursions: Nassau, and Perfect Day at Coco Cay.

Nassau

This was our second time visiting Nassau, and honestly, I find it a pretty underwhelming port (despite a renovation completed in 2025). The cruise port is a row of shops, and while the vibe is nice, there is not much to see or do. The terminal opens into the downtown core, but this is mostly a continuation of shops. We found many of the vendors overly pushy, and it was not an enjoyable experience walking around town. Nassau is also a *very* popular cruise port. There were *5* other cruises docked the day we were there, which makes for a very crowded experience.

The beaches nearby are average, although the water is a beautiful turquoise.

Excursions

There are several types of excursions (or day activities you can plan if you want to DIY).

• Day-pass to Atlantis Resort or another nearby resort. We do want to take our kids to the Atlantis Resort someday, but would not do this on a day pass. For such an expensive experience, we want to be able to enjoy both the beaches and the waterpark in a relaxed an unhurried way.
• Animal experiences. The cruise (and local vendors) offer a number of experiences here, including swimming with pigs, dolphins, or sharks and stingrays. We do not support the exploitation of wild animals for human entertainment, and would suggest reconsidering these types of experiences. Furthermore, the pigs here are placed here by the cruise line, to mimic the wild pigs at Exuma.
• Historic/cultural tours. Our kids would not be interested in this, but you can opt to take a tour of Nassau’s highlights, including a historic fort, and a library that used to be a jail.

Usually, I’m pretty positive about the places I visit, but Nassau just does not hit the spot for me, both in terms of authenticity or interest. If this is your first visit, I would definitely get off the ship to walk around, but it is one of those cases where you might choose to spend a little more time on the ship and enjoy the amenities with less crowds.

Perfect Day at Coco Cay

This is RC’s private island, and we all really enjoyed this port (much to my surprise!)

One of my biggest gripes with cruise destinations is there is too much to see and too little time. At Perfect Day, there is *nothing* to see, and what feels like all the time in the world. There is literally nothing to do but leisure and play, and we loved it!

Excursions

• Additional thrills – you can buy a day pass to the island’s own waterpark. The island also offers adrenaline activities like zip-lining and hot-air balloon rides.
• Additional zen – you can pay to rent a beach cabana, or a private over-the-water hut.
• Water adventures – snorkelling, swimming with pigs, etc.

But we did not feel the need to book any of these, and we all had a great time. There are quieter beaches and more lively beaches, playgrounds and splash areas, and a very large lagoon pool. A small train takes you from area to area, although everything is very walkable. There were plenty of beach loungers and hammocks available. The kids swam, snorkelled, played beach volleyball and beach pickle ball, and were generally wild until the very last minute we had to return to the ship.

There is a main restaurant, and beach huts scattered throughout the island serving food. While there was not as much variety as on the ship, we liked the change of menu and the food was tasty.

Thinking about booking a weekend getaway to the Bahamas? Drop us a line!