Onboard the Liberty of the Seas

As W has posted, there is a tonne of activities available on the ship. This is a sampling of the activities available just for the hour of 9.30 to 10.30 a.m. for our second day onboard the ship:-

9.30 a.m.: Scrapbook workshop
9.30 to 10.45 a.m.: Advanced ice-skating workshop (yes there is an ice-skating rink onboard)
9.45 to 12.45 p.m.: Sign up for Learn to Skate program
10a.m..: Simple and Easy Step (Ship Fitness Centre)
10 a.m: Seminar - Revamp my hair (Liberty Day Spa)
10 a.m.: Basketball tournament
10 a.m.: Cinema showing
10 a.m.: Port and shopping show
10.30 a.m.: Slot tournament (Casino Royale)

And the list goes on and on.

Being the obsessive compulsive people that we are, W and I made grand plans to fill our days with activities including gaming at the arcade, playing a round of mini golf, taking part in the bingo tournament and catching the ice skating show that has specially been choreographed for this cruise before we attend the Captain’s Formal Welcome Aboard Dinner tonight.

And so after a leisurely breakfast on the balcony of our cabin (or “stateroom” as the ship grandly terms it), we were off on our activities (which no doubt included too much eating.)

(W having brekkie on our balcony)

So there we were, at the appointed time, in the ship’s ice-skating rink to catch “Encore!” an ice skating show that has been put together just for the ship.

It was an hour-long show and right from the start of the show when the cast skated to a montage of broadway hits (from “Phantom of the Opera”, “Sunset Boulevard”, “Cats” etc) we knew we were in for a treat.

My personal favourite was the Spanish sequence from “Carmen”. The skaters were decked out in fiery red costumes and the choreography was quick and passionate. An outstanding sequence.

The cast was simply fantastic, making good use of the limited space afforded by the ice-skating rink, squeezing in as many turns, twists and jumps as they possibly can. And the audience simply loved it. At the end of the hour long spectacular, the audience rewarded the cast with a standing ovation. We were quite frankly impressed with the high standard of the show that was presented. Unfortunately we are unable to post any pictures of the show as flash photography was not allowed during the show.

We also got to befriend some of the capable staff on the ship who take such good care of us. One of them is a Ukrainian, Tatyana, who has been working for Royal Caribbean for some 4 years now. She is based at the Windjammer - an all day buffet restaurant (see above pic). It's not an easy life for the staff onboard. They work 10/11 hour days everyday and when the ship docks, they continue working. Things go on like this for 6 months before they are allowed home leave of 2 months. There are some 1400 staff onboard taking care of all of us and they have been wonderful so far.

Thanks to the crew and staff of the Liberty of the Seas for making our stay such a pleasant one!

-M