Kristin7701

Was the app working? Off Harmony the week before and the app wasn’t working.

That's a bummer! It did work for us.

We were there last week on the Allure. The people who did the RCI excursion were at the beach for significantly less time than we were. I'd definitely go on your own.

I highly recommend downloading the Mobile Passport app: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control.

We debarked from Allure on Sunday and the customs lines were much shorter for those who had the app.

Realize this is more future advice but...don’t wait till the cruise survey to give a a low score. The surveys are so important to the crew it’s only fair to give them the opportunity to fix what’s not working. It’s also important to give your servers/staff feedback during the cruise so they can get a 10.

 

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You are right! This would have been a much better way to go about it.

We are just off Allure. Had a fantastic week but our main dining room experience was not nearly as good as it has been in the past. Candidly, our waiter was not great. With all the reminders to give 10s (including a number from the waiter himself), I’m conflicted.

I’m wondering how honest people are in their post-cruise surveys.

You're welcome. My DH is checking gangways now....I'll let you know more in a minute.

What happens if you show up before your allotted time? Chance of getting on or just stand around waiting?

I just booked Allure for our family of 5 this week -- sailing in April. Originally I had an OV cabin for $3300. DH decided it wouldn't be much of a vaca sleeping in the same room as 3 kids, so we switched to 2 interior cabins next to each other. It added $900 to the price but still not bad all in all. Think it's a busy week with Northeast schools on vacation. Checked 3 different ships and there were no adjoining cabins to be had.

How were the lines for the slides?

I didn't go there much but no one in our party was complaining. I know my brother headed there right after we got back on the ship on a port day and rode 4 times in a row.

I just got off Liberty on Sunday. They want you out of the cabins by 9am, not 8. You'll certainly have plenty of time to make your flight. Ours was at 5pm and it was a long day in the airport. JetBlue let us check in 6 hours prior, so at least we didn't have our luggage. As recommended here, we did use a porter to go through customs. Since we had cruise ship transportation, we disembarked just after the self-carry group, starting at 8:45. I think we were at Hobby by 11 or so. We didn't rush and weren't on the first bus to leave.

Did the gym have free weights? Was there a place to get water there?

There were free weights. The only water I saw was a fountain and the water was warm. Ick!

What night did you eat at Sabor? I was on the ship 2 weeks earlier and had a similar issue Friday night or rather Saturday morning. It wasn't enough to go to the infirmary and I figured it was something I ate in Cozumel on Friday or Sabor where we dined Friday night.

Wow! We ate at Sabor on Thursday night, were in Cozumel on Friday and he was sick by Friday night. We ate a lot of the same food (they served the apps family style at Sabor) so we were all trying to figure out what happened.

I know this thread is old but since it has been bumped, a question. We didn't get any of this. Are these benefits still available?

Yes, plenty of AC.

Did anyone in your group of 11 purchase an internet package?

 

If so, were they satisfied with connection, speed, and was it the surf package or surf_&_stream?

 

Thanks!

We all went device free.

There was a report of new menus on the Oasis ,did the Liberty have the new menus also ?

I don't know whether they were new or not.

I didn't realize any suites had hot tubs on the balcony. That sounds heavenly!

I also wanted to add that my brother got sick on Friday night of our Sunday to Sunday cruise. We assumed it was something he ate in Mexico but the captain announced the next morning that they had an uptick in reports of GI illness. Unfortunately for my brother, he was quarantined for 24 hours but I was impressed with the way the ship handled the situation (as was my husband, who is a family medicine doctor).

So what were your overall impressions about the ship? And the new terminal in Galveston?

We absolutely loved it! For me, it only felt crowded at the pool -- sometimes wall to wall people. The Windjammer was crowded on port mornings, mostly because we could get off the ship so early. They did a good job clearing the tables and asking people to vacate tables as soon as they were done to accommodate everyone. The food was good, as were the pool drinks of the day. The ship itself is lovely, especially enjoyed the promenade (even if it's mostly shopping). One thing I felt was missing was a place to go dancing. Olive & Twist was full of 18-25 year olds, of which I am not one!

The embarkation process was smooth enough; the employees were certainly friendly. I think we got on the ship on the early side since my parents were in a suite. It's also fun to be on the ship when it's so empty. The terminal itself is fine but you do have to weave through all the people disembarking, which is definitely chaotic. Disembarking wasn't too bad since I read to use a porter. They'll put you in a shorter customs line. We got off early (second group) since we were using cruise ship transportation to the airport. The terminal itself is depressing in that it's like walking through a giant hot warehouse. I'd say we cleared customs in less than 30 minutes.

Our Cruise Planner shows that the $99 deal is only available for Liberty of the Seas.

I didn't realize that! We were on Liberty.

Any drink cards offered during the cruise?

Yes, I caught an ad on TV for them on the 5th day. Available for purchase in all the bars. $75 for 10 drinks of up to $12 in value.

We had a group of 11. My parents were in a Jr. Suite (aft) on the 10th deck. My family (kids aged 10, 6 and 3) and my brother's family (kids aged 6 and 4) were each in adjoining oceanview cabins on the 3rd deck.

My husband and I have cruised before but never with kids. This was our second cruise on RC. We did early seating and ate there 5 nights, 1 night in Sabor and 1 night in Windjammer so we could take in an early show. We saw Saturday Night Fever, the In the Air show and the ice show. In Roatan, we went to Little French Key. Belize was cave tubing with VIV Tours and in Cozumel, we hired a taxi in advance to hit the chocolate factory, ruins and snorkeling beach. My husband and I used the gym, and I sampled the spa services. Our kids all spent some time in Ocean Adventure.

Questions?

Make sure to do it in advance. The $100 offer for all of your pictures was never available on the ship. I sucked it up and paid the $150 because our pics were great!

Just off Liberty on 7/10. Only first night special we found was at Giovanni's and it was only 10% off. Asked at Chops and nothing offered that we ever found during the week. We did end up eating at Chops and it was WONDERFUL!!!

Interesting. We were offered 20% off at Giovanni's on the first day. We already had reservations at Sabor on our anniversary and stuck with that. A fantastic meal from start to finish!

Our group of 11 had a fantastic time with VIV tours on 7/7/16. I wholeheartedly recommend them. If you are lucky, you will have Cardinal and Eddie for your guides. When tubing down the river, we also noticed VIV's lifejackets and tubes (with headrests) were nicer than the other tours on the water at the same time. They also had the tubes carried up in advance, so we didn't have to carry our own. That would have been tricky as we had 5 kids in our group, ranging from 3 to 10 years old.