Liberty Live-ish!

[Cindy]

Our next event was the ice show, Encore! I loved this show in October, and it didn't disappoint this time either. This is the sixth different ice show we've seen, and we both think it's one of the best. We used the reserved seating and so got there a little later than we would have ordinarily. The first couple rows were filled when we arrived at 1:30ish, and by about 1:45 people were starting to hunt for good seats. Studio B was completely full for this performance. The ice show was also at 4:00 Monday, and repeated at 6:00 and 8:00 on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

 

 

 

 

 

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[George C]

Glad to hear Giovanni's had both gold card plus normal lunch menu, will do both on next cruise ( I know it just sea days)

[Cindy]

We wanted to go to the Blind Wine Tasting in Vintages at 4:00, but I knew from experience it would last quite a while and so we skipped it for the Suite Cocktail Party with the officers at 5:00. Dinner was in Chops for our Anniversary, and it was excellent. For all the complaints about the new Chops menu a couple years ago, the quality of our meal was outstanding. We were a little apprehensive at first because the servers were all hustling and things were slow, but we ended up being very pleased with both the food and the service. Our only "complaint" would be they were out of the wine we wanted, which seems to be an issue ship-wide. In just two short days, we encountered three or four instances of a bar being out of something we ordered. There's either a problem with provisioning back at port or the individual venue managers aren't doing a good job with inventory management.

 

CHOPS MENU:

 

 

 

 

 

 

MONDAY (FORMAL) MDR MENU:

 

Those of you who are familiar with Royal Caribbean's menus may notice some subtle changes if you look carefully. The tenderloin on the first formal night is gone, and now a "striploin" is served in its place. The filet is missing from the new Giovanni's menu[emoji22]as are many of the appetizers. There are probably other changes, but those are two that stand out. Since I'm only eating in the MDR once this week I'm not sure what else is different.

 

 

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Edited December 1, 2016 by Cindy
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[Cindy]

Another example of inventory problems is at the R Bar, where there are no drink menus. Someone will ask for something to be told they don't have the ingredients, then ask what they can make and be told, "Whatever you want!" That happened to me and a friend in a span of about 5 minutes. It's both frustrating and comical at the same time. I ended up getting a chocolate martini because it was the first thing that came to mind, but I would have loved to try something new.

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

We would have liked to go to the show (El Gaucho) but it was too late when we finished dinner, so we opted for a drink and some gambling. Much to my surprise I found myself up $75 and walked away while the getting was good. The slots were NOT kind to me in October, and I decided not to push my luck![emoji23]

 

 

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Edited December 1, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

Monday while we were eating lunch the captain had made an announcement we would be diverting back towards New Orleans to rendezvous with a Coast Guard helicopter for a medical evacuation. About an hour later he came on and said there was a change of plans and we would be stopping in Cozumel instead. I assumed it was because of the wind. Tuesday we woke to sunny skies and MUCH calmer seas. We were eating breakfast as we arrived in Cozumel.

 

 

 

 

Sadly, when we got back to our cabin and went out on the balcony the reason we stopped in Cozumel became very clear. There were THREE ambulances lined up on the pier.[emoji22]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

We watched while the sick passengers and their families disembarked. One lady in particular looked gravely ill and I pray all of them are on the road to recovery. My heart really went out to them. In 2005 Jim and I had to leave a cruise early in Cozumel when we learned my dad had passed away. I remember how difficult it was to get off the ship and see all the happy vacationers around when I was stressed and heart-broken.

 

 

 

In no time at all the passengers were on their way to get the needed care, and we were on our way to Roatan.

 

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Edited December 1, 2016 by Cindy

[vettecruiser1]

We wanted to go to the Blind Wine Tasting in Vintages at 4:00, but I knew from experience it would last quite a while and so we skipped it for the Suite Cocktail Party with the officers at 5:00. Dinner was in Chops for our Anniversary, and it was excellent. For all the complaints about the new Chops menu a couple years ago, the quality of our meal was outstanding. We were a little apprehensive at first because the servers were all hustling and things were slow, but we ended up being very pleased with both the food and the service. Our only "complaint" would be they were out of the wine we wanted, which seems to be an issue ship-wide. In just two short days, we encountered three or four instances of a bar being out of something we ordered. There's either a problem with provisioning back at port or the individual venue managers aren't doing a good job with inventory management.

 

CHOPS MENU:

 

 

 

 

 

 

MONDAY (FORMAL) MDR MENU:

 

Those of you who are familiar with Royal Caribbean's menus may notice some subtle changes if you look carefully. The tenderloin on the first formal night is gone, and now a "striploin" is served in its place. The filet is missing from the new Giovanni's menu[emoji22]as are many of the appetizers. There are probably other changes, but those are two that stand out. Since I'm only eating in the MDR once this week I'm not sure what else is different.

 

 

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Ask nicely when you go to Giovianis and they might just get you the filet. I was on last week and you when I asked since I did not see it, they came back with a "we will see what we can do". A couple of minutes later they came back and said "yes" and put his finger in front of his mouth as to keep it a secret. You should have seen the people face sitting around us when they brought out the filet. Everyone was asking me how I got it, I just shrugged my shoulders and said I guess I was lucky. It goes that you get more flies with honey then vinegar. I was very pleasant as compared to some of the others sitting around me that were huffing about no filet on the menu. Maybe they did not even bother to ask.

[Cindy]

Ready for the 70's party...

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

On Tuesday, we again went to Giovanni's Table for lunch. We almost missed it, because the times on our letter from the concierge and the actual open hours were different. For future cruisers, GT is open for lunch from 11:30 to 1:00 on sea days. After we ate, Jim went to the gym while I went through pictures and scans and started doing some light editing.

 

At 4:00 we went to the excellent Caymus wine tasting in Vintages. We both think the sommelier in Vintages is very knowledgeable -- even though I went in October some of the wines were different and I ended up learning some new things even though both were Caymus tastings.

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the suite lounge before dinner, but we did stop in Olive or Twist for wine before we went to the lounge. I like spending time in the lounge, but as primarily a wine drinker I find it's best to take my own wine with me.

 

Tuesday was our only night to eat in the main dining room, and after our experience I'm glad we will not return. We had a very good MDR experience in October, but our experience on this cruise was very chaotic. There were children running every place, and several staff members walking around on phones or walkie-talkies. The whole experience was a lot closer to Applebee's than to a nice restaurant. I realize we're somewhat picky, but there was just nothing about the meal that was memorable. Even getting seated was problematic, because the girl who escorted us to our table got lost in the dining room! We were happy to leave at the end of our meal and get away from the children running around and climbing in the window sills while their indulgent parents smiled and took their picture![emoji15]

 

Tuesday's menu:

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited December 2, 2016 by Cindy
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[Cindy]

We're docked in Galveston. Obviously I struggled with the "live" idea... maybe I was trying to upload too much stuff. I'll finish this up today and tomorrow once we get home. Right now I have to wrap my head around the fact that it's in the 50s and raining![emoji13]

 

 

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[sellwingri]

Welcome back! I'm boarding in about 4 hours so I'm glad you made it back safely. Looks like we'll have to swim to the port. I really enjoyed your posts.

[Cindy]

Welcome back! I'm boarding in about 4 hours so I'm glad you made it back safely. Looks like we'll have to swim to the port. I really enjoyed your posts.

 

 

Have fun! Stay dry![emoji38]

 

 

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[Cindy]

Welcome back! I'm boarding in about 4 hours so I'm glad you made it back safely. Looks like we'll have to swim to the port. I really enjoyed your posts.

 

 

FYI...disembarkation seems a little backed up today. We just got out of the terminal, and we were in the priority group right after self-assist. I haven't seen anybody with #1 tags come off yet. That's what we had in October, and we were off about 8:50.

 

 

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[Cindy]

Tuesday night's show was "In the Air" which featured some fantastic aerialists.

 

 

 

 

 

[fdthird]

I hope you didn't break the rules the young man at the start of the show in the green top hat details.....NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE! Just kidding. He's our son, and when we were on the cruise in October, he pointed right at his Mom when he said that line! Loved In The Air, but we're a little biased! . .

[Cindy]

I hope you didn't break the rules the young man at the start of the show in the green top hat details.....NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE! Just kidding. He's our son, and when we were on the cruise in October, he pointed right at his Mom when he said that line! Loved In The Air, but we're a little biased! . .

 

 

No worries...my camera only has an external flash! I seldom use it.

 

 

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[Cindy]

Sigh… I need to get this finished since we are obviously not even remotely live at this point! I think it's going to be pretty short. I completely underestimated my lack of readiness for Christmas and how much I was going to need to do when we got back.

 

Wednesday was our stop in Roatan. We had a driver from Victor Bodden, but really weren't sure what we wanted to do. We've been to Roatan many times and decided to just have a nice relaxing day. The weather was picture perfect – one of the nicest days we have had there with not a cloud in the sky.

 

Our first stop was at Mayan Eden to see the butterflies and the monkeys. We went there a few years ago and literally had the place to ourselves, but that was not the case this time. It seemed a little more commercialized to me than it used to be, but that's probably the case with everything on the island since it's become such a major cruise port. The butterflies were not very cooperative, but the monkeys had no problem posing for pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

We left Mayan Eden without a definite plan. As we were going down the hill I saw this and had the driver stop while I grabbed a quick picture:

 

 

After that our driver took us down the beach at Anthony's Key. That was where we went the very first time we were in Roatan, and it's still just as beautiful today as it was then.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Cindy

[Cindy]

Our next stop was at Half Moon Resort for a leisurely lunch out on their deck.

 

The views never disappoint, especially on a day like we had!

 

 

We both ordered shrimp, and relaxed with some local flavor while we waited for our food.

 

The local residents were very interested in our shrimp!

 

 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Cindy

[moopetguy]

Our next stop was at Half Moon Resort for a leisurely lunch out on their deck.

 

 

 

The local residents were very interested in our shrimp!

 

 

 

I just found your thread :)

 

My family went to Half Moon for lunch as well! That's where Tex (our Bodden guide) took us. I had shrimp as well...yummy :)

 

DD kept wanting to feed the cats...DW and I kept telling her no, she had to eat her own lunch and that those were some of the best-fed strays we had seen...:rolleyes:

 

Our server was very kind to DD in particular because she ordered off-menu. She wanted a grilled cheese sandwich and that's exactly what she got without an issue.

[moopetguy]

Our next event was the ice show, Encore! I loved this show in October, and it didn't disappoint this time either. This is the sixth different ice show we've seen, and we both think it's one of the best. We used the reserved seating and so got there a little later than we would have ordinarily. The first couple rows were filled when we arrived at 1:30ish, and by about 1:45 people were starting to hunt for good seats. Studio B was completely full for this performance. The ice show was also at 4:00 Monday, and repeated at 6:00 and 8:00 on Wednesday.

 

 

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Hey, you managed to snap a pic with my family in it :cool: From left to right, there's DW, DD (who was leaning forward a bit), and me. Right side of the photo, second row from the front, by the support post.

 

It was a really good show, agreed it's one of the best we've seen. DD was well-behaved and also clapped when we did :)

[moopetswife]

Our next stop was at Half Moon Resort for a leisurely lunch out on their deck.

 

The views never disappoint, especially on a day like we had!

 

 

We both ordered shrimp, and relaxed with some local flavor while we waited for our food.

 

The local residents were very interested in our shrimp!

 

 

 

I am, as my name may suggest, the wife of the poster above me. We were definitely at the same restaurant, it was great. I have that same picture of that same adorable kitty and her sister. Best fed strays ever.

 

Roatan was my favourite Port on this cruise. Lots to see and do. The view was gorgeous, and the coffee I brought back is the best I've ever had. Many thanks to our driver, Tex, who took us to a local grocery store to get it.

[Cindy]

After lunch we slowly made our way back to the ship. Although I wouldn't have minded shopping in West End Village, Jim wanted no part of it, and I didn't NEED to shop so I was fine with skipping it.:rolleyes: We stopped along the way to take some pictures of the ship and arrived back at the port about 1:00.