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Just the Two of Us -- Liberty Sept 9, 2018


rsharp83
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Just the Two of Us!

 

 

We typically travel in groups. We have a large extended family and we vacation together. We have a large circle of friends as well. On our four previous cruises we have had 8, 16, 20 and 20 people in tow. In June of 2019 we currently have 57 booked for Harmony! We like our big group of cruisers and we love taking new people with us who have never cruised before. But this time, it’s just the two of us!

 

In June of 2017 our group of 20 flew home from a great trip on Adventure in the Southern Caribbean. When we returned we knew our next big group cruise would be two years away. My DW said to me, “I don’t want to wait two more years before we cruise again.” Post cruise depression was in full effect.

 

We had a couple of obstacles in our path though. One, our daughter was getting married in June of 2018 and that costs money. Two, I had an uncertain work schedule for at least the first 8 months of 2018. I was in charge of bringing a new community center online and moving out of two existing buildings with an AmeriCorps work team to manage as well. So, I couldn’t be gone for any length of time while the construction and move were underway.

 

My DW has always insisted on an oceanview balcony, so I have always obliged her. But since post-wedding money would be tight I ask her to consider a cheaper room and I could look for a reasonably priced sailing in September. We had a narrow window of opportunity during Hurricane season, we would have to take our chances. I found a Promenade view room on Liberty of the Seas that seemed to fit the bill so within a week of departure from Adventure we were booked on Liberty! Post cruise depression averted…somewhat.

 

Reader alert: I hoped to post pictures...but after over an hour frustration and 4 different photo sharing sites I guess it is just impossible to insert pictures via the computer into Cruise Critic these days?? I'll attempt to post some from my phone app. If anyone has any tips on posting from the computer I'd love to hear them!

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...

 

Reader alert: I hoped to post pictures...but after over an hour frustration and 4 different photo sharing sites I guess it is just impossible to insert pictures via the computer into Cruise Critic these days?? I'll attempt to post some from my phone app. If anyone has any tips on posting from the computer I'd love to hear them!

Some have reported good luck with the photo sharing site FlickR.

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44094489154_87cc0c0b3d_k.jpgrain 1 by rsharp83, on Flickr[/img]

 

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href=" rain 1" title="rain 1"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1845/44094489154_f89d643ab7.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="rain 1"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Here's my Flicker Attempt...fail

 

Really this is stupid. Why isn't this working now...I haven't tried to post pictures in a while...I had no idea that nothing worked anymore...

 

Never Fear dear readers -- I will use my phone pics. They just won't be as good as the edited pictures I spent so much time on!

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Getting There

 

As luck would have it Saturday work commitments interfered with our travel plans and we were trying to save some money as well. I did something I tell people to never do, I flew in on the day of sailing. I know, I know…you shouldn’t do that. I always said I wouldn’t to it but there we were booked for a Sunday morning flight from Kansas City to Houston. Despite nervously watching the weather all week and worrying about what would happen if our flight got canceled it all went smoothly. Our nonstop Southwest flight landed ahead of schedule and we were quickly headed to meet our Uber driver. But, I don’t think I’d do it again. Just too many things can go wrong flying day of sail.

 

We got an Uber XL because we are incapable of packing lite. The traffic into Galveston was pretty sparse for Houston traffic and we were at the port area in about 45 minutes. Getting to the terminal took a while but we were there at peak boarding time around 11am. The Uber fare was $123 including a $20 tip and we arranged for the driver to pick us up again on Sunday.

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Awesome! Great start! I can’t wait to hear more about the trip than I already gleaned from FB 😂

Sorry about the photos, this has been a frustration for me, and frankly why I only post a couple and then refer people to my own website. I don’t take good pictures, DH takes great pictures, on an SLR Nikon camera, not a phone. So now I don’t do big reviews on CC anymore. :(

Anyway, can’t wait to see this review (especially since we sailed Liberty last March. And can’t wait to join you and the rest of the mob on Harmony in June! 30 for 30 here we come! :hearteyes:

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Well, Interesting. On my Phone App (Tapatalk) one of the Flickr images shows up as a real picture...but here on my computer it does not show up. I apologize to the readers as I work through this mess. You may see a picture or 2 come up twice.

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Just the Two of Us!

 

 

We typically travel in groups. We have a large extended family and we vacation together. We have a large circle of friends as well. On our four previous cruises we have had 8, 16, 20 and 20 people in tow. In June of 2019 we currently have 57 booked for Harmony! We like our big group of cruisers and we love taking new people with us who have never cruised before. But this time, it’s just the two of us!

 

In June of 2017 our group of 20 flew home from a great trip on Adventure in the Southern Caribbean. When we returned we knew our next big group cruise would be two years away. My DW said to me, “I don’t want to wait two more years before we cruise again.” Post cruise depression was in full effect.

 

We had a couple of obstacles in our path though. One, our daughter was getting married in June of 2018 and that costs money. Two, I had an uncertain work schedule for at least the first 8 months of 2018. I was in charge of bringing a new community center online and moving out of two existing buildings with an AmeriCorps work team to manage as well. So, I couldn’t be gone for any length of time while the construction and move were underway.

 

My DW has always insisted on an oceanview balcony, so I have always obliged her. But since post-wedding money would be tight I ask her to consider a cheaper room and I could look for a reasonably priced sailing in September. We had a narrow window of opportunity during Hurricane season, we would have to take our chances. I found a Promenade view room on Liberty of the Seas that seemed to fit the bill so within a week of departure from Adventure we were booked on Liberty! Post cruise depression averted…somewhat.

 

Reader alert: I hoped to post pictures...but after over an hour frustration and 4 different photo sharing sites I guess it is just impossible to insert pictures via the computer into Cruise Critic these days?? I'll attempt to post some from my phone app. If anyone has any tips on posting from the computer I'd love to hear them!

 

I have given up on photo sharing sites since webshots ate my account.

 

I use this site: http://www.postimages.org

 

Very easy, very intuitive.

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No Balcony

 

DW was unsure how she would fare in a non-balcony room. As it turned out there were some advantages to the Promenade view room on the Deck 8. We were the highest deck with those rooms, so we had a good view of all the activity. When the curtain was closed it was very dark and great for sleeping. Being in an inside room forced us to go out more. The downside was that we couldn’t always tell what the weather was doing, and we sometimes took to long to get going so we missed some views we would have normally had. All in all, she said she’d do a non-balcony room again but not on Harmony.

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Doing Different Dining

 

With the groups we typically go to the MDR for dinner. In fact, we had only eaten at WJ once for dinner in our previous 4 cruises. We like the MDR for our groups because we all sit in the same area and we switch up tables every night. We have had no real complaints about the MDR food in the past.

 

This time we wanted to do it a bit different since it was, just the two of us. We wound up in the MDR only 3 times on this cruise. We did notice the menu seemed to be different and some of the things we liked from previous sailings seemed to be missing. Escargot wasn’t an every night option. There seemed to be fewer choices. We found things to satisfy us, but we weren’t committed to MDR every night so when the menu didn’t appeal to us we went to the Jammer.

 

We never knew ahead of time what the “dinner theme” in the Jammer would be and that’s too bad. I wish that computer display the menu boards included the WJ but they didn’t. We hit on Cajun night, and Mexican night which we enjoyed. I can’t remember the theme of the our other WJ meals, but we always found something we liked.

 

We did eat at Chops as part of the First Night Done Right promotion. When I booked it, the choices were supposed to be between Chops and Giovanni’s. However, when we got on board the choice was Chops or Sabor. Giovanni’s had some kind of dinner mystery event going on and wasn’t an option. We chose Chops. It was our 3rd dinner at Chops dating back to our first Allure cruise in 2013. Lot’s of things have changed about Chops in 5 short years. The menu is much smaller in scope and choice. The portions that were once ridiculously huge are now almost too small. The red velvet cake was gone from the menu. We had plenty to eat, nobody can starve on a cruise ship after all. The steak was fine but not outstanding in any way. My DW had the lamb and it was ok but not quite done enough for her tastes. The tater tots were good, but we had very few of them. The crab cake was again, smaller than it used to be and not really anything I’d rave about. And when I asked about the Red Velvet I got a rambling half understandable answer that said in part, we can’t get the right ingredients to make the cake and no baker in the port can make them to our standards, so we don’t have it on the menu. The best things we had at Chops were the bacon appetizer and my DW loved her goat cheese salad. I could eat a whole meal of just the bacon! We only paid $20 each for Chops on the special first night deal so that’s fine. If I had paid full price I think I would feel I paid too much for this meal.

 

We did breakfasts in both MDR and Jammer and they were fine. We ate some Sorrento’s pizza which is always a good snack. Wish they had more than just cheese and peperoni. Missed the Boardwalk Hotdogs from the Oasis class.

 

I finally did it. After 4 cruises of always adhering to the “suggested” dress code I punted and wore some dress shorts in the MDR. I don’t think I ruined anyone else’s dinner or made their cruise any less enjoyable, but I appreciated not having to wear long pants in tropical heat. And then the second formal night came around, we skipped formal night number 1. At the last minute I packed a long-sleeved dress shirt and tie. So, I put it on and was waiting for DW to get ready. Even just sitting in the cabin I was hot. I finally said I can’t do it. I am not going to be hot all evening. I put on a nice island style shirt and ditched the long sleeves and tie. There were people in shorts on formal night, not too many but a few. I really thought at this time of year with a large contingent of non-family cruisers that it might be a bit more formal, but it really wasn’t. I am so over formal night.

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What is that? Tater tots WITH French Fries? I don’t eat meat, but I agree that lamb is still bleeting! :eek: The fried goat cheese looks tasty!

 

The Goat Cheese was a huge hit with Amy. Really the salad and the bacon were the best things at Chops. And if you think about it, that is kinda sad...

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Wow, beautiful photos. It's like you have the cruise to yourself!

 

Sorry your meal at Chops wasn't amazing. I have to almost laugh. They gave you 3 tator tots? On Mariner, we had them in a side serving bowl.

 

We've statyed in a Promenade before and have one booked for our Dec cruise. Although it's not balcony, we quite liked it and it's a good alternative to a straight interior.

 

Looking forward to hearing more.

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