I have been cruising twice in a year for the past few years.  Back in November, a friend and I both went on our first Royal Caribbean cruise.  We both booked on the Liberty of the Seas from November 4 to 8.

The 4 night cruise stopped at CoCo Cay and Nassau which are both in the Bahamas.  Here is my accessibility review of my experience:

The Ship

Liberty of the Seas had its maiden voyage in 2007 and can accommodate over 3600 guests on 15 decks.  It is the second ship in the Freedom class vessels.  This will be my 11th cruise overall but first time ever on any Royal Caribbean ship.

Getting There

We were staying at Ocean Mile Hotel, which was about a 25 minute drive to Port Everglades cruise terminal.  Our regular taxi driver who had an accessible vehicle let us know in the morning that he was having issues with his vehicle and told us to call for another one.  None was available so we had to get an Uber XL.

We made it in time for our 1:30 PM check in time.  The quick safety demonstration is done as soon as we got on the ship.  Our rooms were already ready, so we immediately went to our rooms to drop off our carry on items before exploring the ship and getting lunch.

Cabin Rooms

We had an interior stateroom 2623.  This room did not have a wheelchair button for either the main door or the bathroom door.  There were 2 soft twin beds which we both liked.  There was also a sofa bed, soft chair, desk and chair in the room.  I thought it was pretty spacious for an interior cabin.

I noticed there were no emergency pull cords or buttons in the room or the bathroom.  Other cruise cabins that I have stayed at had these safety features in them.  There was extra phone in the bathroom but that would be hard for me to use anyways.

The bathroom was big but we did have trouble getting my commode to fit over the toilet properly.  The roll in shower was showing its age but was still adequate as there was both a fixed and hand held portable showerhead.  Grab bars and a flip us shower seat was there which I never use.  The roll under sink was good too.

Accessibility

While there were a few issues with accessibility of our cabin, the ship itself was accessible like any other cruise ship that I have been on.  All the public spaces like hallways, lounges and pool decks were easy to get around.  A wheelchair pool lift was also available at one of the pools.  Elevators were everywhere but can be busy during peak times.

Restaurant tables and buffet areas were all great for my wheelchair.  I was able to get to get under the table enough to feed myself.  There were also private accessible bathrooms around the ship or bigger stalls in the public bathrooms I could get to.

The only issue I had was the accessible seating for Platinum Theater on deck 3 has no wall separating it from the hallway, stairs and elevators. There was only a thin curtain closing the back so there was constant people talking and walking by throughout the entire show.

Port Stops

Our 4 night cruise had 2 stops: Nassau and CoCo Cay in the Bahamas.  On our 1 sea day, we had a specialty lunch at Chops Grille and just explored the ship.  Both of our port stops are docked and I wrote about Nassau here and CoCo Cay here.

Food and Drink

As soon as we boarded, we started by visiting the main buffet restaurant: Windjammers.  It was lunch time and it was so crazy busy that a staff member went to get us food.  There were a lot of choices from different chicken, beef dishes, Asian and more.

All passengers get assigned a restaurant and dining time for their nightly main dining room meal.   We chose the 5:15 PM time and got assigned Rembrandt restaurant.

Every night is a different menu and we could order as many appetizers, entrees and desserts as we wanted.  The food here was pretty good and my favorites include escargot, prime rib and Caribbean chicken.

There are also specialty restaurants that are an extra cost and we did go to Chops Grille for a delicious lunch.  We also got a soda float at Johnny Rocket’s for an extra cost.  The free and included pizza from Sorrento’s Pizza was good and they stay open until late for those who need food before bed.

Other specialty restaurants include Chef’s Table, Sabor, Giovanni’s Table, and Cupcake Cupboard.  We did not pay to visit any of these places.  Free soft serve ice cream is something that is really popular and served by a staff member on the pool deck.

Entertainment

Entertainment on cruise ships is something that I look forward to and factor into my decision when booking a cruise.  As soon as the cruise ship started leaving the port after embarkation, Royal had the very fun Sail Away Party on the top deck.

There was also the Anchors Aweigh Parade that takes place on the Royal Promenade.  There are performers, floats and music.  All activities, showtimes and locations can be found on the Royal Caribbean app.

I was really excited to see my first ice skating show on a cruise ship and on our first night at Studio B we saw Ice Show: Encore! An Ice Spectacular.  This was a 45 minute show and the accessible seating was at the back and provided a great view of the ice rink.

Our main entertainment shows the next 3 nights were located at Platinum Theater.  As  I mentioned above, with no wall or door behind me, it gets a bit hard to hear the show with people talking behind me.  The 3 shows were: Saturday Night Fever: The Musical, comedian Troy Thirdgill, and Production Showtime: “In Concert”.  All were entertaining.

We didn’t really check out any lounges, piano bars, karaoke, bingo or trivia as we were already busy with the main shows, dinners and exploring the ship.

Disembarkation

As with other cruise lines, on the night before disembarkation, we had to have all our checked luggage tagged and left outside our room before 10 PM.  Our departure flight wasn’t until 3:35 PM on disembarkation day, so we skipped our scheduled 7 AM sit down breakfast and just went to open seating and waited in line around 8 AM.

After we finished breakfast, we got off the ship and went to collect our checked luggage.  We then proceeded to where the booked transfers were and waited for an accessible bus to take us to the airport.  This was booked in advance weeks ago.

Final Thoughts

I had a great first experience with Royal Caribbean and enjoyed the food, entertainment and the ship.  Prices can be quite reasonable on the older ships while the newer ships looks to be the biggest and best out there that I will be cruising with Royal Caribbean again in the near future.