riofriotex

My mistake. I knew it was one of the cruises that was set to leave on Monday instead of Sunday due to the holiday. It would appear that I confused which sailing it was. Once again, my apologies.

No big deal - easy to get this mixed up, if you weren't actually on a cruise affected by it! I'm just glad we were not this time around. :)

The cruise that departed on January 2 was delayed by a day. Boarding still took place on the 2nd but it happened much later because the ship could not dock in the morning as expected due to fog. This also prevented the ship from leaving until the 3rd. As far as I know, none of those passengers were compensated.

UM, no. I was on that January 2 sailing and we were not delayed by a day - we left right on time. I believe it was the cruise just before ours that was delayed by a day. We also returned right on time too.

However - as the veteran of five cruises out of Galveston, all in January, three of which were affected at one end or the other by fog - it is very likely that time of year. My biggest advice would be NOT to book a flight home from your cruise the same day the ship returns. Stay an extra day and enjoy Galveston.

I loved reading your review! We just booked Liberty for May of this year yesterday, so I am trying to read all about her and figure out what we want to do when we go. By May I'm hoping for smooth sailing as I too am not sure how well I would handle the rough seas. :)

I would think May would be a pretty good time to go out of Galveston, in terms of avoiding rough seas. It's before the official start of hurricane season, yet after the period when Arctic fronts might create rough seas.

There has not been a real library on Liberty since her refurb. There were a couple of book shelves at the aft elevator banks on deck 9 last Dec. The card room was in the former concierge lounge on deck 10 aft. The card room had lots of games available. Every time I noticed it was about half full, so tables were available. I have not heard that the cigar lounge is going to be changed to a library. That is a very large space to limit to only a library. Even on ships that have had a real library the area has been much smaller. That is going to really upset the cigar smokers.

39august is correct. I was on Liberty 1/2/17. It's just some shelves built into the wall, always available (that part is a plus), and a few chairs - plus a book return box. I was a little disappointed at first, but I found a pretty good selection of books on the shelves. I do have an e-reader, and used it much of the time on the cruise, but when the glare is bad, I prefer a print book.

We saw that one on the Mariner as well! It was fantastic!!! In case anyone is interested, I'll post a link below to the pictures my wife took for her website

 

Christmas Ice Skating Show

Great pictures! Looks like maybe some of the regular singers/dancers combined with the ice skaters to produce this show - I saw some folks in it without ice skates! Just to clarify, our (early) January 2012 Mariner cruise did NOT have the holiday-themed show - maybe they just don't do it after Christmas week.

By arriving around 1:00 p.m., did you have any problems driving up to unload passengers and luggage, or were the crowds and traffic thinned out good by that time? We having parking reserved at Park N Cruise across the street from the terminals and were hoping to arrive later and avoid heavy traffic and long lines.

No, we did not have any problems - crowds and traffic had thinned by that point. This is about the time we usually arrive - unless told to come later because of a fog delay on the arrival of the previous sailing, of course! Love Park N Cruise!

They are sliding doors, the steward has a special key to open them. They tend to rattle when open, so you might want to stick a folded piece of paper in there if it bothers you. Have fun!

They can rattle terribly when closed, too. We were on the January 2 sailing with terrible weather from Cozumel almost all the way back to Galveston. Rattled all night long; even with sticking folded paper in. I HATE these dividers. They are too translucent - too easy for neighbors to see onto your balcony.

We were on the week before. We left port a day late due to fog so we missed Belize but got to go to Costa Maya instead. Which is my new favorite port. Cheap food, cheap massages, nice local beach. Felt like a local with lots of friends!!

 

So sorry about the rough seas. We had smooth seas, but a week later, I am still rocking. Never has happened to me before. We are going on another 4 day cruise out of Galveston in 3 weeks. I am going to start praying for more smooth seas. I don't know how i'd handle rough seas!

 

The Eagles tribute band is not staying aboard LOTS. They were on for the 2nd half of our cruise and the first half of this cruise (Jan. 2nd cruise). They are playing on a lot of RCCL ships this year though. Their web address is :

http://www.thelongroad.info

We loved them. They had mentioned there web address and we looked it up when we got home. They are from South Florida and sadly do not have any shows in the Houston area. My family all live in South Florida, so maybe we will see them in concert again when we visit them.

The only good part about the rough seas (which were caused by the front that brought all that cold weather into Texas and the South) was no fog on our return!

You are right about the band. They were immediately behind us in the INS line at the end of the cruise - took 3 or 4 porter trolleys to handle all their equipment!

We enjoyed cruising on the Liberty of the Seas. One thing we wanted to see was the Christmas ice skating show that has been featured on other RC ships at Christmas time. There wasn't one at all on this cruise. The ice skating show we attended was nice but still not the same as a Christmas themed show.

I agree, it would have been neat to see a Christmas themed show. I wonder if we were just too late for it, perhaps? Or maybe they only do it on the larger ships? In any case, I had not seen this show before, so I was satisfied, although the one I saw five years ago on Mariner (with a circus theme) was better - went to that one four times!

Hopefully the link works. Here is the collection of photos separated into Albums or segments of the cruise. https://www.flickr.com/photos/margilevin/collections/72157678911138596/

Link works fine - great photos! Good idea to put them in Flickr, I might do the same thing.

For another experience of the same cruise, read MLevin's review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51967179

Can't wait to read your review as well. Don't get me wrong...we loved the ship and the cruise. We are already booked for next year!!!! I just wish people showed more respect and compassion at times. The weather, rough seas, and not being able to see the Show did not ruin our trip. We made adjustments and had fun. We did not go for the food....we went for the experience. I think I am now hooked on cruising!. :-D

Here's my review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51967058

It's pretty long! I will try to add some pix to the thread later.

Liberty of the Seas Jan 2-8, 2017

This was our seventh cruise, the fifth in January out of Galveston, and the second with RCCL

We selected this cruise for three reasons: departure point, the week it happened, and Costa Maya. We have missed Costa Maya on two previous cruises (hurricane in 2007 deleted from the itinerary after booking but before departure, and rough seas prevented docking in 2013). The nature of my work means I can only cruise in the first couple weeks of January. And, my husband and I hate flying but live within a six-hour drive of Galveston. Despite waiting fairly long to book, I managed to get “hump” (Centrum) balcony staterooms on Deck 8 (my preferred deck) for us and for my 86-year-old aunt and her 82-year-old traveling companion, who accompanied us from my aunt’s home in Houston to/from the ship. Otherwise, they did their thing and we did ours.

Pre Cruise:

We like to be flexible so always do My Time dining. Yes, sometimes it means a wait, but the pagers allowed us to go back to our stateroom if we wanted. I already knew what I wanted to do in Costa Maya (the same excursion I’d had to cancel in 2013) and in Cozumel. Both of those excursions were not through the ship. With tender ports, I generally prefer to do the ship’s excursions, but as you’ll read below, that did not work out for us.

We’re a bit older and my husband has some health issues, so that influenced our excursion choices. We aren’t much into entertainment, gambling, or shopping. We’ve eaten in specialty restaurants in the past, but felt those on Liberty were excessively priced, so did not book any in advance. We also don’t do Internet or drink packages. Most of my pre-cruise planning was deciding what to do in Belize and what specifically to see in Cozumel (again, more on that in a bit).

Embarkation:

We spent the night before the cruise in southwest Houston (where I grew up) near my aunt’s home, as we needed to pick her up the next day. Normally we stay in Galveston (different hotel each time) and do some things there. We left Houston about noon (after the morning rainstorm had ended), I dropped the other three off at the terminal about 1 p.m., parked the car and walked back to join them. We had requested a wheelchair for my aunt in advance so she and her companion were whisked off right away. As Gold members we boarded quickly. We actually had time to get a quick bite to eat in Windjammer before the muster drill.

Cabin:

I didn’t get the *exact* “hump” cabin I wanted, but instead the one next to it, so had to lean out a bit to get that 180-degree view. However, the balconies on the Liberty are MUCH bigger than those on the Mariner (last RCCL ship we were on). Also, the chairs had adjustable backs, so I was able to construct a “lounger” using them both. I spend a lot of time on the balcony in good weather – I was out there almost all day the first sea day. Unfortunately, along with the bigger balcony on Liberty came worse partitions. They are somewhat translucent, meaning you can see your neighbors to some extent – and they you. Fortunately, our neighbors were not out on their balconies as much as I was on ours, so this worked out. Also, the sliding panel on one of the partitions rattled quite a bit in the wind – which became an issue later. All in all though, I was happy with our cabin. We also had a fantastic steward who always remembered to bring ice and wastebasket liners without our having to remind him, and was not the type to chit-chat. He got a big tip for both of those qualities.

The Ship:

The ship was still decorated for Christmas until we got back on board from Cozumel – so that was nice. Compared to Carnival (we were on the Magic our last two cruises), the elevators were much better and faster. Otherwise the layout seemed very similar to Mariner, just bigger! One thing I missed though that Mariner had was an art tour. RCCL puts some pretty neat art on its ships, and on our cruise in 2012, a highlight was a tour pointing out some of the background of the art (and artists) in the stairwells, lobbies, etc. I had hoped for a similar tour on this cruise, but if it happened, I somehow missed it.

I will note that there did not seem to be that many things to do on the ship on port days, particularly for those not into the pools, sports deck, fitness center or spa. I’m speaking here for my aunt and her companion who stayed on the ship in Costa Maya and Belize. As the International Pier in Cozumel has a relatively short walk to a nice shopping area (and their waiter – they had My Time Dining reservations at a set time - arranged for my aunt to get a wheelchair), they did get off the ship to do a bit of shopping there, then enjoyed a room service lunch on their balcony overlooking said shopping area.. But not a lot of activities otherwise – I have seen more for stay-aboards on other cruise lines.

Dining:

The food is not a big deal to us. I don’t eat breakfast and my husband only eats a light one, so I’d run up to Windjammer each morning for coffee for us both and a little food for him. I *do* love muesli, and had a little the mornings I did the extra-cost indoor cycling (aka spinning) sessions, as I needed a little carb boost after those intense workouts. Also ate some the last day – more on that in a bit.

Lunches were either in Windjammer or in port in Belize and Cozumel. As mentioned previously we did My Time Dining for dinner. We thought the food was good and appreciated the smaller portions. You can always ask for seconds if you want more, but some days, we did not have room for dessert, or opted to share one. We did make a reservation for My Time Dining the last night (I’ll explain why later), and did not eat in any specialty restaurants. I did get a coffee drink at Café Promenade, only because my Gold status got me 20% off one.

Entertainment:

We thought about going to the tribute Eagles band show (we are of the right age to appreciate their music), but did not get out of dinner early enough. My aunt and her companion saw the ice show on the first sea day and we saw it after coming back from Belize. I am always amazed at how good a show they can do on such a small ice arena. I’m like a little girl again watching ice shows though! My aunt and her companion went to other shows as well as some of the movies shown on the ship (like “Sully” the last sea day) but we did not do those.

Excursions:

As this was our fifth cruise, we opted to book through RCCL only for Belize. As you’ll see, there were problems there – but we also had some problems in Cozumel with our private tour.

Costa Maya:

We have never been to this port before and going here was the main reason for this cruise. We did the Chacchoben Ruins tour with Native Choice. I’d read nothing but good reviews and had originally booked with them in 2013, only to not dock due to rough seas. They promptly refunded my money. I had wanted to see some good Mayan ruins but did not want to spend hours on a bus (or any time on a rough ferry) getting to them. Our ride was a little under an hour each way in an air-conditioned, comfortable bus, with some narration initially on the way out. The tour itself was just under two hours and was extremely informative. The bus was large but our large group was split into three groups of 15 when we got to the site. While Diego, our guide, was not so great talking on the bus (did not use the microphone well), he was wonderful on-site. He also improvised and did the tour in a slightly different order so we could avoid some of the crowds (and thus I got better pictures). The day was hot but plenty of ice-cold water was provided by Native Choice, even brought to us in a cooler in the middle of the ruins tour. Highly recommended.

Belize:

We had been to Belize on our very first cruise (ship excursion to Bacab Nature Park, which was great), but we wanted to tour the Traveler’s Rum factory this time and taste rum. As this is a tender port, I booked through RCCL. My husband is NOT an early riser and they had two times to choose from, so I chose the later one. This was pre-cruise. When we got to our cabin, I was dismayed to see on our tickets that the time had been moved up, and we’d have to meet WAY earlier than he could be ready. So I switched to the Baymen City tour which also was supposed to include a stop at Traveler’s. The Shore Excursions desk kindly gave it to me at the pre-cruise price. Unfortunately, it was cancelled late the day before by the tour operator – I suspect because they did not get enough people to sign up. I did not want to mess around booking yet another, so we took a tender over around 10:15 (the meeting time, I thought, for our originally-booked tour), went to the Wet Lizard (upper level) for an early lunch at 11:30, and enjoyed a few drinks there as well while my husband people-watched and I checked Facebook and my e-mail! Bought a few postcards and headed back to the ship about 1:30. It was another hot day but there was a nice breeze at the Lizard.

Cozumel:

This was our fifth visit to this port. First two, we did some shopping and eating downtown (including at Casa Denis, highly recommended for authentic Yucatan food). Last two, we did the America’s Cup sailboat race excursion, which we really enjoyed, but we wanted something different this time. I’d read a lot of reviews that recommended going over to the windward (east) side of the island, and also many reviews recommending Tours Plaza to take you there. I e-mailed back and forth with the owner (who was very good about answering my questions) and set up a tour to start at noon for up to four people (in case my aunt and her companion wanted to go). The minimum time was three hours but we were open to spending as much as five hours total. I specifically wanted to go to Bob Marley’s Rasta / Freedom in Paradise, and to Punta Morena, and to see El Mirador, and had a few other places on the list if there was time.

We were supposed to meet our driver, Aldo, at the head of the taxi line at International Pier at noon. He would be wearing a yellow cap and holding a sign with my name. We got out to the taxi line about fifteen minutes early, waited an hour in the sun (got sunburned) – nobody in a yellow cap with our sign. No phone call from him, no answer at the number I’d been given. A female taxi supervisor took pity on me and made some calls. She told me Aldo said he thought the tour was starting at 1, but he was “on the way.”

Finally, at about 12:45, a taxi driver named Raul Torres arrived, spoke to that supervisor who pointed us out, and came over and told us he’d been sent by the owner of Tours Plaza, Eduardo Esquer, to “take care of us.” He was a nice guy, but his taxi was rather dirty inside and there was no cooler as promised for our water bottles. He also made it pretty clear he was only available for three hours, not any extra time. (We found out on the way back that he needed to pick up his wife from work in town at 4 PM – and in fact he did that, although he did ask us first if we minded. Given that the man was stepping in to try to save a day that would have otherwise been much worse, we said it was OK. But still – not very professional).

We did go to Freedom in Paradise where we ate coconut shrimp (very good, as many reviews had said) as well as shrimp quesadillas recommended by Raul (not so good). Also had a shot of the peanut butter rum there as I wanted to try it. I’d hoped to have time to stop at Ohana’s in town to buy some if I liked it (I did), but there was not time for that.

With the three-hour constraint, I did not feel as relaxed at each of our stops. Once we finished our food at Rasta’s (eaten with a lovely view of the ocean), we continued on. We did stop at El Mirador, which sadly is marred by too much trash and WAY too many vendors. We made a couple other brief stops suggested by Raul who told us a bit of the Mayan history of the island. We were going to stop at Chen Rio to swim, but it was WAY too crowded. Seven ships in port, plus a holiday (Dia de Los Tres Reyes). We wanted to stop at Coconuts for the view and some conch ceviche, but felt there was not time, especially since we wanted to hit Punta Morena.

To make a bad day worse – I went wading at Punta Morena, and long story short, a rogue wave knocked me down. Getting wet was not the problem – I was dressed for that possibility – but the wave knocked off my best sunglasses and prescription eyeglasses (thankfully a backup pair) despite straps, and I could not find them. I also apparently swallowed some sea water which had negative repercussions later.

By this point there was not time to do anything else, so we went back to the ship. We had a little time for me to buy some Kaokao chocolate (I HAVE to bring goodies back to share with co-workers, an unwritten rule at my workplace) at the pier. However, I had hoped to stop at the factory and get it cheaper there.

I did contact Eduardo to express my feelings and asked for a refund of the deposit. He apologized, saying Aldo had a “tire problem,” and agreed to refund the deposit – which, to his credit, did in fact happen.

Later that evening, Montezuma had his revenge. I don’t get seasick, but the rolling of the ship that night and all the next (last sea) day from heading directly into 40-50mph winds did not help my recovery. I think it was the seawater because my husband and I shared our food and drink and he did not get sick. I spent most of the last sea day in bed, mostly sleeping and reading some, and ate very little. That was the one day we did make a reservation for My Time Dining, right at 5:15 when they opened, but I was unable to eat more than a few bites. They did give me the cold fruit soup in a paper cup and I was able to eat that later in the evening. I was mostly recovered by the time the ship docked on Sunday, and was able to eat some muesli from Windjammers that morning.

Bottom Line:

We enjoyed the cruise, despite the less-than-stellar second half – and none of that was RCCL’s fault.

Great review! I was on the same cruise as you and will try to write a review - somewhat different experiences. :)

Thanks so much for your post! This is exactly what I am looking for. I want to travel over to the beach side of the island and have lunch at one of the seafood restaurants.

I looked up Tours Plaza and sent them an email.

I hope this works out!!

Please let us know after you get back from your cruise!

Please refresh me - since I too am on the fence about cruising this January, and have never been on Princess before - how far in advance are final payments usually due?

Thanks!

I did this excursion minus the drinks just last week. After reading reviews, we chose to pay as we go because my husband drinks wine (not included in the drink package) and I also wanted a little more choice on what I did drink. We were happy with our decision. The bus ride to the site was comfortable, but our driver (from a different company than the one operating the site) was silent and we learned nothing about Freeport. The site itself (operated by Bahama Adventures) was fine. It is Taino Beach, but from a map of Grand Bahama Island, you can see there are two beaches with that name, and this one is NOT the one with Tony Macaroni's and the Smith Point Fish Fry. However, we had some conch fritters and fresh conch salad and they were good!

My husband wanted to be near the bar and in the shade so he sat in the covered area. Not the most comfortable place as there are just picnic tables there and you are also too close to the loudspeakers for the music. I spent much of my time in the water. Swimming was good and I also tried out a paddleboard. There were a lot of people there and it was a little busier than we like our beaches to be. However, we had plans for non-beach activities in our other two ports (Key West and Nassau) and I must have at least one beach day on a cruise!

We were on a 4 night cruise with Norwegian. Our first port was Freeport. We had booked a rental car ahead of time and it was ready to go when we arrived. We drove out to the east end to go to Bishop's. Had a fabulous lunch and we were the only people on the beach. Water was lovely and warm. We then drove to Port Lucaya, had a beverage and looked around.

 

The next port was Nassau. We walked over to the British Colonial Hilton and bought a day pass. Both the beach and pool were lovely. They had great loungers with clam shell shade canopies. Used our vouchers for Bahama Mamas and lunch.

 

The next stop was Norwegian's private island Great Stirrup Cay. We travelled via tender and they had a large barbeque set up for lunch. Nice swimming and you could see a few tropical fish quite close to shore with our snorkel & mask.

 

Highly recommend getting off of the ship and make the most of your Bahamas stops!:)

Such helpful info; thanks for sharing! Where did you rent the car from in Freeport? Is it close to the port?

We were on the ill fated November 23rd cruise, and I just wanted to give some info for anybody that might want to know going to Bayport. Bayport was great for embarkation and disembarkation, easiest in all my experience. I just wish we hadn't waited the extra 18 hours to leave!

Ill-fated? Fog delay?

We're looking at the Jan 11th departure and this thread is quite helpful First, is fog season essentially the wintertime in Houston? And in regards to parking, can anyone confirm that they are saving spots for those who reserved parking?

Yes on the fog - tends to be worst in January. I would advise anyway flying to/from Houston/Galveston for cruises to plan to fly home the day AFTER the cruise - or at least as late as possible on the day you return.

As for people being turned away on parking - think about it - how can they let people IN to park early if the folks from the previous cruise are not yet gone?

Another reason to call ahead to check - particularly if there is fog down in Galveston (everybody comes in through the same channel). Could be clear at Bayport but if there is fog in Galveston, there will be a delay.

Boarding time could definitely be affected.

I'd be shocked if that meant the doors were closed to people checking in.

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

On our cruise that departed late, a message was sent out (e-mail/text/phone) asking people not to come to the terminal until 4 PM, if I remember correctly. Previous sailing did not arrive until around noon instead of the usual 7 AM or so. I remember arriving about 5 PM and there were still long lines outside the terminal. Not sure if they were checking anyone in before 4 PM or not.

If I was leaving Galveston or Bayport on a foggy day, I'd call before heading out to the terminal! We had just checked out of our hotel when we got the message, but had a car, and spent the afternoon at the Hotel Galvez brunch and doing the tree sculpture tour before heading to the port.

No one has posted yet about having to wait at a closed door.

Definitely open by 11AM.

Wouldn't the opening time be affected by what time the previous passengers are all off the ship?

I mention this because we are 2 for 2 on January cruises out of Galveston affected negatively by fog (late departure on one, late arrival on the other). I would think it would be worse for Bayport once we hit fog season.

Thanks ReggaeRoy, that's very helpful!

Best thread I've seen on the new Houston Port. We haven't cruised in a few years, and love going out of Galveston, but after comparing prices for March 2014 and knowing both Princess and RC, I was surprised to see almost a $400 cheaper fare on Princess/Balcony over RC. I assume it's the new boat syndrome, but to get Princess at that price point seems like a killer deal.

 

Just assume RC is filling the boat and doesn't need to discount?

Maybe Princess is just trying to get people to try them at the "new" port. I am looking forward to Norwegian being there next year (as I've sailed them a couple times before), but I'm not an "early adopter" - wanted to let those folks work out the kinks at Bayport so everything is smooth for me when I sail out of there in January 2015!

We arrive at IAH as the birds are barely starting to chirp at 4:30 a.m. and of course have all day to get to the cruiseship at Bayport terminal. At the end of the cruise our flight isn't until 5:30 p.m. We are cruising over New Years.

Glad to hear you are departing late on the day the ship gets back. In Galveston (which we've cruised out of the past two years in the first week of January), fog can be a big factor, and I imagine it will be for Houston too as I think you have to use the same channel to get into the port area. On last year's cruise, we were delayed 7 hours coming in - did not dock until 2 PM, so folks with flights out of IAH 4 PM or earlier were in a bind.