Sea Dog

Only out of Galveston. I’d get some weird looks cruising out of Florida.

I don't see the offer from my AMEX email. I have only a green card could that be the reason it's not offered to me?

I'm looking too. Thanks Lenny good to be back even if I'm behind.

Beautiful photos from a beautiful place. I need to visit Tuscany. I've heard so many wonderful things about it.

Yes it was hard because most of the people doing lives are my friends. That's why I will go back and re read. I will be interested in what doc says about PT. We stopped at Buc-ee's on the way back and got some of the nuggets everyone talks about. Really good like caramel corn. I also had another cinnamon roll. Those are really good and another BBQ sandwich. I guess I should get a cowboy hat now don't you think?

Oh I forgot. Internet This was my first experience with Star Link. When it worked it was great. What do I mean? From time to time in different locations on the ship, my Liberty-Guest Wi-Fi on my phone would show no connection. I found myself more than several times a day having to reconnect to the server. I don't know if this is as someone suggested Starlink switching from one satellite in the sky to another or something else. Sometimes when I would upload a photo to CC it would take a few seconds others would stall out. Could it be a CC thing? I don't think so because I don't experience this at home. Also most videos from my phone would never upload, they would stall out. I had better luck uploading video to You Tube and then posting a link. In the end it was a vast improvement from before. I don't think I could have even done a live review had it not be for Starlink. I'm confident that with time they will work out any bugs and it will get better.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS GALVESTON I really enjoyed Galveston. It has a charm to it with it's historic district and a great variety of restaurants and bars to visit. We enjoyed traveling down Seawall Blvd and looking at the beach goers. Unfortunately we did go to the pier, not enough time but it looks fun with it's rides and the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant. We really enjoyed "The Spot" on Seawall, great bar and restaurant. Willie G's was also a great restaurant that we will go back to. UTMB ER John Sealy Hospital is a hospital that is a part of the University of Texas Medical Branch complex in Galveston, Texas, where I went after my fall. I must say this was one of the best ER's I've ever been to. Luckily it did not seem like there were too many patients. But I was seen fast and the ER doctor was fantastic. They ran all the proper tests to determine what exactly happened. The doctor was firm from the beginning that it would be him who would determine not me to whether I was healthy enough to cruise after my injury. Sometimes we patients try to influence people on what we think is right for us when really it should be the other way around. I got prompt, expert care. I hope you never have to go to Er pre cruise but if you do UTMB was awesome. Terminal It may be old but it served it's purpose. I will be excited to come back and experience the new terminal. One thing I thought was odd in discussing it with the porter. There is a huge parking lot for guests but they did not build a garage. I wonder why that is? Liberty of the Seas I read a lot about some people saying it looked worn and was outdated but I really liked this ship. Yes it was old but it wasn't a rust bucket. Every place looked like it was recently painted even though it probably was not. The only thing I noticed being a little ragged was the carpeting in the hallways. It looked like there were water stains at some point. The ship was clean everywhere. The crew was always cleaning. The cabins were great. Again like I said, Linda's aft balcony was incredible. I am hooked on aft balconies now. My inside cabin was just fine. The only problem is that when both beds are pushed to together for a king it did not leave hardly any room to getting out of. The couch was very close to the end of the left side and the table was too close to the right side. I ended up really pushing back the covers and scooting down the middle to get out of bed. The Crew The crew was outstanding. A lot has been said on other ships about the crew being inexperienced. Not here. Everyone knew what they were doing. We had great service in the MDR, all the bars and housekeeping. Food The food was outstanding all week. I had only one bland dish in the MDR in the Chicken Parm. Everything else was great. WJ for breakfast was just ok. Lunch was much better and I did not eat there for dinner. Bars and Cocktails Schooner bar which is always my favorite was a disappointment. Only because it was so crowded most night I could never get a seat. And the poor piano player had to suffer while most were watching the Astros game instead of him. Bartenders were ok but not a lot of personality. I did not connect with anyone. Most disappointing was the liquor selection. You know I'm a bourbon guy. There was no Makers, no Four Roses, no Elijah Craig, no Woodford Reserve, and others. Clearly Symphony got the love not Liberty. They did have Buffalo Trace and Templeton Rye which satisfied me. In the pool bar I did notice a lot of light pours for the alcohol. On a Kraken Colada with a Kraken floater one bartender did it the right way by putting Kraken in the mixing blender and then Kraken on top. But most other bartenders only put Kraken on the top. I saw numerous bartenders short changing the amount of alcohol in the cocktails. Excursions We really enjoyed all the excursions except for one. The Bamboo Beach Club in Falmouth Jamaica. Beach was too small. Not a large enough area for swimming. Horrible complimentary rum cocktails. The food was good however. Stingray City was by far our favorite. I will book this again. It was amazing to see these beautiful creatures and to swim with them. Entertainment I'm sorry that we did not go see more entertainment. Main reason was I got pretty tired at night and my shoulder was killing me with pain. We did see Saturday Night Fever which was so good. I highly recommend you see this show on Liberty. Piano player in the Schooner bar was great. He did some awesome Beatles covers. Specialty Dining Chef's table was fantastic as usual. I know it's the same menu but the food was wonderful. I'll keep going if nothing else for "The World" dessert. The Chef did a great job explaining the dishes and the Sommelier was the best I'd ever experienced. Sabor was good but not as good as the one on Harmony. The Avocado Margarita's were better on Harmony too. Wasn't bad but it did not taste the same. That's it for now. I may think of some other areas to comment on. I need to get ready for my doctors appointment to tell him what happened and hopefully get a new X-ray. Thanks everyone, Questions??

I agree. I need to find the right balance because it's not fair to Linda to always be on my phone. I need to get advice from John and others on how they do a live. Yes the pups have been giving us lots of love and attention. Lizzy cried and barked when we put her in the crate last night after being home a hour and half. She did not want to go to bed. She wanted to play with us. I think this will not be the last of the Bella cruise. So hopefully you can join us for a future one. Cheers!

Got home last night at 10pm after a 12 hour drive. Good to be home so I can get back to the diet. Gained 12 pounds. That's double what I gained on Symphony with the UDP. I'm hoping a lot of it is liquid weight from various frozen drinks and cocktails.

Linda did express some disappointment and rightfully so that I spent too much time on my phone and not enough time enjoying our time together. We made a pact that in the future at dinner I would just take pics of food but not post or write so that we can have some dinner conversations. She says she prefers the “as if lives” as it doesn’t take as much time on the phone.

Fantastic review John! Great pictures as always. I want to go back a re read so I don’t miss anything. Safe travels home.

Hello Friends I’m back! Thank you to everyone who took the the time to read and comment on my Live Thread. I wasn’t able to check in here on my cruise. I left this tab open on my browser on my phone. Turns out I’m 58 pages behind. I hope I can get caught up but forgive me if I’ve missed anything.

I gained 16 pounds. More than I gained on Symphony with the UDP. Hoping a lot of it is liquid weight from all the cocktails. Back to the Diet. Safe travels home.

Thanks for the great review John. I want to go back and re-read to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Yes they have and Lizzy’s bark seems louder.

We are home!!! Exactly at 10pm, 12 hours after leaving Galveston. It really helped having a good breakfast in the main dining room because we were not hungry all day. Just stops for gas and a bunch of bathroom stops. Boy I need to get off these blood pressure meds. Needless to say the pups now a year old were very excited to see us! I’ll post some final thoughts tomorrow as well as be around to answer anyone’s questions they might have. Again from the bottom of my heart I thank you for all the wonderful responses and comments. I was glad I got to share my story and experiences with you even if it was a little embarrassing for me. I will sleep well tonight with visions of Diamond vouchers running through my head! Ho Ho Ho!

Bravo well done. I like the Bokeh pic a lot too. Wow that’s impressive. I’ll have to add up all mine but I was no where close to yours. Pain in the shoulder kept me from enjoying more. If you have time tonight. Try a Hennessy Old Fashioned. Even better if they have Hennessy Black.

Yes I would depending on price and the number of restaurants on a ship. Liberty had only 3 so it did not make sense to me . On Symphony I ate at a different restaurant each night. Right now for the Bella cruise in March the UDP is over $260 per person. Not going to buy it at that price. Yes we are driving it straight. 777 miles and takes us close to 13 hours. We left Galveston around 9:30am. Now it’s taking us longer because I now took my blood pressure medicine and I have to go to the bathroom every hour and a half. We just passed Muskogee Oklahoma. We should be home right before 10 pm. Jury is still out on whether driving or flying would have been better. Thanks Lenny! First time I ever broke a bone in my body. Let’s hope it’s the last. Thanks for following along. Your comments mean a lot to me. Next cruise is the Bella Cruise next March with @John&LaLa and about 50 of us from here at CC. Going to be a blast. You should join us! Thank Graham. Hoping for good news. Cheers to you and Pauline.

Enjoy your day! I wish I was there instead of being on the road.

Hard lesson learned but I promise you I won’t make that mistake. Yes every 60-90 minutes for me too. Whether driving or staying the house. That’s great advice!!

🎶On The Road again🎶 Remember water is your friend…. Water is your friend…. Water is your friend!

They easily charged us but after going to GS they easily took it off. Does anybody think those blue towels are a coveted souvenir? She asked us if we wanted daily pics we said don’t worry about it. She sent us a couple of pics early on. I figured no news is good news.

Yes sir I already took several waters out of my mini fridge and put them in my backpack. Thanks Andrew for following along.

Thank you ! You will love Kraken! It’s so good in cocktails.

Will do. Thanks Deb. First thing tomorrow is make appointment with my primary care doctor and have it re-xrayed and consult about therapy.