Liberty of the Seas, 26 Sept 2024: Semi-Live or Not ... Times-a-changing, perhaps. Return to RCL after 10+ years

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Saint John - as seen from the ship 

 

Hope you saved room after lunch for BeaverTails,

 

[Arzeena]

9 hours ago, dexddd said:

 ........three letter line, not starting with 'N'.

 

 

Practice a lot of patience, yoga, meditation. Listen to a lot of calming zen music, take a course in self hypnosis etc etc before making that phone call to the 3 letter cruise line to book.
Also pray for the Yannis to be HD and onboard your sailings......😁Unless he is in an institution already.

 

Remind me to check on your sanity after the booking experience.😬

And go YC or bust.

 OTOH, You could save a lot of sanity using a TA who will take care of that.
 

Edited Thursday at 08:09 PM by Arzeena

[mking8288]

 

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Hope you saved room after lunch for BeaverTails,

Yes ... always room for pastries but we didn't go ashore this afternoon, the clan being too lazy to exercise and or change to go out 

 

Besides, this is depressing enough

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Tonight's dining theme - Caribbean 

 

[mking8288]

Unless one is doing B2B and staying onboard, here's the timeline and info ... 

 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

48 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Yes ... always room for pastries but we didn't go ashore this afternoon, the clan being too lazy to exercise and or change to go out 

 

Besides, this is depressing enough

 

If you are unhappy about leaving the ship, then that is a good sign that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

... a good sign that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

 

Well, that's a fair and reasonable conclusion 😸 

[mking8288]

A wonderful early dinner, again. 

 

With fixed dining, just walk in ... no waiting

 

 

Size of these coconut shrimps 👍

 

 

Tiger shrimps served with rice

 

 

 

 

[NE John]

5 hours ago, mking8288 said:

NCL's Breakaway docked behind us, passengers streaming along to return to their ship, all abroad 2:30 PM for them.  It's much, much later for us with a longer port stay.

From what I saw about NCL in Alaska, they too had shorter stays than we did. Are shorter stays on port normal for NCL vs other lines?

[Sugar Magnolia]

4 minutes ago, NE John said:

From what I saw about NCL in Alaska, they too had shorter stays than we did. Are shorter stays on port normal for NCL vs other lines?

 

NCL's 7-day roundtrip itineraries from Seattle have shorter stays in port. The longer roundtrip itineraries from Seattle (9-11 days) have longer stays in port. The 7-day Vancouver to Seward and Seward to Vancouver itineraries also have longer stays. Last year I sailed the back-to-back Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver itineraries and covered a lot.

 

[NE John]

7 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

NCL's 7-day roundtrip itineraries from Seattle have shorter stays in port. The longer roundtrip itineraries from Seattle (9-11 days) have longer stays in port. The 7-day Vancouver to Seward and Seward to Vancouver itineraries also have longer stays. Last year I sailed the back-to-back Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver itineraries and covered a lot.

 

Alaska is a big trip to make only for a seven nighter. I’m so glad we picked a 10 night itinerary. Same with this Canadian cruise, longer itineraries make it worth it. 

[Sugar Magnolia]

3 minutes ago, NE John said:

Alaska is a big trip to make only for a seven nighter. I’m so glad we picked a 10 night itinerary. Same with this Canadian cruise, longer itineraries make it worth it. 

 

Yes, I agree, for those of us luckier ones who can sail for longer periods.

 

The 7-day Alaska itineraries out of Seattle are very popular with young families during the summer season when kids are off from school but parents have limited time off from work. But you won't find me on one of those sailings, unless I am sailing with family. I prefer the longer voyages.

 

[mking8288]

Deck 4 - one of the many bar lounges 

 

 

 

Denny, the CD on stage introducing tonight's country music performance 

[mking8288]

Highlights from the Platinum Theater tonight, featuring the trio, Nashville Tenors with the 9 person Liberty band, live - very good and we aren't into country music.

 

But, later tonight ... the Liberty bridge will be humming " Take me home ..." (name that tune, by the late John Denver) 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, the audience on their feet 👏

 

Or, is it ... "And now the end is near ... "

 

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

A wonderful early dinner, again. 

 

 

What is in the bowl on the left?  Is that a lemon sorbet on the right?

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

What is in the bowl on the left?  Is that a lemon sorbet on the right?

Warm Blueberry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream. 

[Luckynana]

1 minute ago, mking8288 said:

Warm Blueberry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream. 

Thank you!

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

Thank you!

Glad to, as long I remember the names 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Tomorrow's Cruise Compress - and at 2 AM, we turn the clock back 1 hour for that extra sleep.  Still 90+ minutes to all abroad time here in Saint John. 

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

October is the month to renew my passport for another 10 years of travel, rest and sustain, dental procedures scheduled and appointments made, since the double digit countdown has already started ... 3 months until the next cruise for us and our friend. 

 

 

Sorry, it's not NCL's turn yet - gotta decide as final & full payment is coming up, DSC covered by TA plus extra OBC/cash back (late winter - BA was here this morning).  I am comfortable that we'll also love the Odyssey cruise - warm, tropical ports 👍

 

Stay tuned for more this winter. Just sad reading about those changes announced by NCL 😤  after final payment as it really messed up cruisers booking private excursions.

 

 

Edited Friday at 12:10 AM by mking8288

[mking8288]

Meanwhile, trying to explain to brother-in-law that prepaid MNVO isn't necessary a good & smart choice. 

 

We are 95% covered, especially 4G LTE and 5G data 

 

 

Liberty's hotspot / WiFi routers 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Mid evening in Saint John  - we're here just about a year ago, Escape back early, direct to NY early to avoid a storm ... not this time 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 12:17 AM by mking8288

[mking8288]

Quick check of those prepaid data plan options using GigSky ... probably can last & manage w 600 MB data if metered carefully after we sail for a full sea day tomorrow. Otherwise, just buy another 24 hour Voom pass after midnight. 

 

[mking8288]

Almost forgot to check, my T-Mobile/ Google Fi partner network speed from the ship from Rogers/Bell, or whatever - used about 600 MB today, mostly tethering w hotspot enabled 👌 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

14 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Mid evening in Saint John  - we're here just about a year ago, Escape back early, direct to NY early to avoid a storm ... not this time

 

No repeats for you 😅.

 

Heard from friends on the MSC Meraviglia that their 3 day port stay in Bermuda was cut to 5 hours due to inclement weather, so they have become a floating hotel like your Escape adventure last year and my Getaway adventure also last year.