bigairboarder44

Glad you had a good time, we can't wait to get on in March!!

Thanks for the info! Makes sense! We go March 17!

You can keep the riff raff off the ship for us then because we sail out March 31. Super excited! Enjoy your cruise!

See carnival said it was a Texas law! They would not even allow us to use the soda card part of until the next day! I’ve been on 22 carnival and this last one we went on did me in with the service! It just keeps getting worse and worse! I’m looking forward to this cruise!!!

I believe the gist of the law is that anything served while "in Texas" (read: in Galveston port) must be purchased from Texas. That stops once you get into international waters which is around 20 miles off the coast give or take a few. To minimize revenue loss, ships don't purchase much alcohol from the state.

I have yet to experience it (we will March 19!!!), but I've heard Royal serves an abbreviated list of alcohol until a few hours after departure from Galveston. I'm not quite sure what that list is though.

Go to the forward stairs/elevator on deck 12 and then walk outside. There should be another set of stairs pretty much directly outside those doors leading up to a lounging spot a majority of the passengers aren't aware of. Do be aware that the ship horns are pretty much right above you so if you're leaving port, it might get very loud!

I hope to hear you guys are boarding via the gangway on deck 5 I think it is. While the inside of the terminal was in pretty good shape, the repair of the gangways was just starting in May.

Oh man, that does not look good! I don't know if I ever saw a picture of the gangway after the hurricanes.

Thank you Randie! Since my DH won't be with me this trip to "supervise" I am thinking I might branch out and try a few new things. My last few sailings I've stuck with pretty traditional drinks...tequila sunrise or mimosas in the morning, switching to a frozen drink (i.e., Miami Vice, BBC, or DOD) in the afternoon, maybe a vodka martini before dinner, then onto champagne or wine with dinner, with Baileys rocks or a White Russian after dinner. Thank you again!

If you want to keep the night going after dinner, espresso martinis are always a good choice. Or a sweeter nightcap like an ice cream martini. I also love getting to know the bartenders and asking what their favorite drink to drink/make is.

Around 3 I went up for a nap and shower as it was formal night. Everyone seemed excited for the lobster. Brian ended up having 6 of them. Lol. I had no plans for the night after dinner and planned on just walking around. I went to the schooner bar where I had 2 Moscow mules. I do not have a picture even though I swear I took one. This has happened a few times. So maybe the drinks were getting to me. Lol.

 

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Do you have early or late dinner?? We were limited to 3 lobsters apiece in November but I'm thinking it was so they didn't run out for the late dinner (we were early).

And if you like mudslides, ask for a BBC - they're delicious!

I weighed myself at the gym this morning when I left - pretty sure that despite daily workouts, i will be plus 10 pounds at the end as I will eat everything I see - hey, its vacation!

I always wondered what a half hour lift session every day would do to mitigate this. Maybe I'll try it on the next cruise... or maybe not!

Glad you're having a good time! That itinerary is fantastic!

 

• I was told by the Royal Caribbean employee I booked with via phone that my inside cabin had a virtual balcony. It was not something I asked about, but she offered the information and went into great detail to describe it to me. I'd read about virtual views, but later found out that this ship doesn't even have them.
  
• I read about the Star Class, got excited about it and looked into making the most out of the vacation and going all out....only to find out it's not even an option on this ship...neither are a lot of the different types of suites.
  
• I also read about the dive act/show, just found out that isn't offered on Liberty of the Seas.
  
• So many people went on and on about the variety of food on Royal Caribbean...only to find out it's very limited without paying extra.
  
• Then a lot of price increases in the couple months since I booked it (Johnny Rockets, internet package - internet might not have increased recently but it is higher than what I was told. ).
  
• Speaking of food, was truly shocked to read the opinion on the awfulness of the pizza! As well as shocked to see "loyals to royal" say that the steakhouse on Carnival is better than Chops. So if the fanboys say it about the pizza and steakhouse, I gotta take their word for it. By the way, still can't believe there's no free ice cream unless it's offered for dessert in the main dining room.
  

• I thought for sure that this ship has the DJ Scratch Academy, but I don't see it listed any more.
  
• I read that there are a lot of things I should do far in advance in cruise planner...then found out it won't even open this far ahead (9 months).
  
• Then some cool features that I thought were standard like the zip line, I think I was seeing the rock wall and grouping them together. Thought the robotic bartender would be a cool experience as well...but not gonna see that either.
  
• Another is the waterslide, I can't believe how many people post about how slow and pointless it is LOL. It sounds like they want to be very very safe for all ages so I understand...but still I was surprised to hear it.
  
• Lots of difficulty on applying a gift card to payment and taking advantage of a better promotion.
  

These are just things I was surprised to read...obviously I have not cancelled so it it didn't make me jump ship (see what I did there ;)

 

But again, things that I didn't expect given a lot of the pompous comments I'd seen about why other lines are sub-par. So many rankings put Royal Caribbean as the absolute best overall cruise experience since it has the fun family aspect as well as luxury (according to the articles, blogs, etc.).

I think a lot of these things are subjective, food being number one. I've always enjoyed the food and thought it was good regardless of the venue (I've never eaten anywhere but the MDR for dinner) and the pizza is better than people give it credit for. There's definitely free soft serve.

You obviously saw the classes they advertise most with all the latest things to do. I guess there isn't a way to know it's not on your ship if you're new to Royal unless you do some digging. The employee saying you had a virtual balcony is really strange though.

I can't speak for the Liberty slides specifically, but I did the Adventure slides a number of times which I believe are the same thing. If you listen to the crew and don't sling yourself at all, I could see them being slower. But I thought they were a blast and my buddies and I would have races. From looking at recent Cruise Compases that people have posted, it doesn't look like they have a Scratch Academy DJ onboard but that doesn't mean the DJ isn't great. We've had both ends where we couldn't get into much that they were playing and then the other end where I never wanted to get off the dancefloor because everything they were mixing was fire.

I normally don't do the extra-cost items just because there's so much to do that doesn't cost a dime and is tons of fun (we do get the drink package though and definitely make use of it ;p). All I can say is keep an open mind, don't go looking for the bad things, and you'll have a great time. I know it's obvious but sometimes people need to be reminded! I know I cannot wait for our cruise on the Liberty - she's going to be a blast.

Oh my gosh! I've realized over the past week or so that most of the stuff I've read about Royal Caribbean doesn't apply to Liberty of the Seas. It's like the red-headed stepchild. It's the best of Royal Caribbean going out of Galveston and seemed pretty upgraded to me so imagine my surprise when 85% of the other threads are referring to the newest "class" of ships, or only mention Liberty of the Seas to say that the feature mentioned isn't included.

I actually did a search for "Liberty of the Seas," just so I could find info specific to the ship. Unfortunately not very many threads at all, and only a couple recent ones.

Anyway, thanks again to all contributing to this thread. It will be a good place for info but I must admit, my excitement has surely dwindled.

What is "most of the stuff" you've read that doesn't apply?

We always get drink package , you will have no problem with Tito’s or makers being covered we were drinking 18 year old chevis regal which was included. There was only 1 beer above limit, wine is another story , most wines we liked was a few dollars above the limit, so if your limit is 12 and you order a 15 dollar glass of wine you will get a check for 3 dollars and change. We had no problem getting wine by glass for dinner, mdr and specialty restaurants might have a slightly different wine list. Go yanks .

And if you befriend the bartenders, the sky is usually the limit. I highly encourage it!

Does anyone have a video of the deck 12 cabin hallway -> outside? I've been trying to find one and haven't seen anything yet. Thanks!

Hair of the Dog at Champaign Bar!

 

Riza!!! He's a great dude!

La Placita south of Condado is a great time for nightlife if you want to venture outside of Old San Juan!

Following along and making me miss PR...

Blanton's is a bourbon?

Yes; it's produced at the Buffalo Trace distillery actually.

Your pictures are beautiful! Definitely making me miss my time on her!

I'm looking forward to trying the Buffalo Trace.

Knob is gone too Bob. We're also on this sailing. They told my son they haven't had it in a while

When we were on Allure in November, they had Blanton's, which we found to be delicious. They'll also give you the collectible cork/tops. It's on the pub menu but I don't see it on the pool bar picture.

Maybe to take over Navigator's longer cruises when Navigator takes over the 3/4 day itineraries.

So I shouldn't get too interested in the 9 day Navigator cruise in April 19?? I know it's conjecture but still...

I would just appreciate RC to come out and say what's going to happen... that way I'm not waiting around to book something that can't be booked.

I can only imagine how you guys who already have something booked on the Jewel feel!

Latest...

Nothing....

 

My post is on Royal's Facebook page. You can add your frustration to my post if you like.

 

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I've done so... hopefully we get somewhere tomorrow.

This suspense is killing me!

My gut tells me Royal is probably changing the schedule around and possibly changing the home port for those four months.

 

Goodbye San Juan????

 

Maybe the San Juan bad press is catching up????

 

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Sent Royal a Facebook post last night about Jewel. Within minutes, i got a reply that they were checking on it and would get back with me.

 

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Did they get back with you?? Nothing is showing up in Jan/Feb 19 this morning!

Edit: make that January-April.

She looks great! Definitely made me miss my time on her.

I haven't kept up with home ports - is she sailing out of Miami from now on? And I guess that means Freedom is now moved down to San Juan?

My friends got a copy of the 50s/60s dance party because they got engaged on stage - we watched the video last night and saw your crew twisting and having fun!