LIVE FROM Liberty of the Seas Repo

Love all the Cow stuff in the sweet, but it does take up a lot of room.

As an FYI, I just read that Voyager and Explorer will be meeting in Sydney Harbor on Saturday evening November 28. On the Royalcaribbean Blog.

http://www.******************.com/2015/11/23/two-royal-caribbean-cruise-ships-set-memorable-meet-sydney-harbor

Denise

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Morning rainbow (between stretch and abs at around 7:30am)

Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins

New suitcase!!

Mavi bar in Old San Juan

Plaza park at night

San Juan cafe by port

Gary enjoying some Mavi at dinner

Delicious Osso Buco

Towel Animal #2

Voytek in Olive or Twist

White Party on Deck

Laundry Bag

Day #4

Perfect Eggs Benedict

St. Thomas

View of Liberty from our boat headed to St. John

Photo with the Captain! (Of our boat to St. John...)

Best seat in the boat...St. John harbor in the BG:

Beautiful Trunk Bay

Trunk Bay Snorkel Trail

Path to the beach

Baby stingray by shore

Jellyfish!

Snorkel Trail underwater sign

Snorkel Trail sign with fish

Brain Coral

Chasing after giant stingray

Cool drink on our way back to the ship

Amy and I would dance at a moment's notice

Rainbow and rough water on our return trip

View of the Liberty as we pull back in to port

Post-port stop sustenance at Sorrentos

Medley of melon and grapefruit

Pub Menu

More Pub Menu (nothing on here for me at all!)

Ben and Jerrys on the Promenade

Day #5 - St. Martin

Walking into Port

We were in port with Jewel of the Seas

Waiting in the taxi station

Beautiful Karakter Beach!

chaises in the water

Foot massage with fresh aloe

Karakter Beach Bus Bar

Guavaberry shop in port area

Music by Boarding Area

Salmon and asparagus pizza

Love all the Cow stuff in the sweet, but it does take up a lot of room.

As an FYI, I just read that Voyager and Explorer will be meeting in Sydney Harbor on Saturday evening November 28. On the Royalcaribbean Blog.

http://www.******************.com/2015/11/23/two-royal-caribbean-cruise-ships-set-memorable-meet-sydney-harbor

Denise

 

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Yes, I commented on the lack of storage space in the cow sweet.

Cool re: voyager and explorer together in Australia... Wish I could be there to see it!

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The only food carver demonstration I saw was at the entrance to the Windjammer on day 10 at lunch time. They did have both food and ice carvings spread across the evening Windjammer and changed them around a bit during the sailing.

 

I was a bit surprised they did not have an ice carving for the Portofino's brunch that was offered on day 9 of the sailing.

 

The art for all RCI ships up until Allure had been handled by the Oslo office of the company that is now ICArt (International Corporate Art) and this market of course goes through the same cycles as the international art market.

 

http://icart.net/clients

 

Sadly the new RCL has moved away of it's support for the arts and they have given up their RCCL Arts grant in Norway from this year. They had previously been very supportive of the arts and appear to have had a strategy shift recently.

Thanks for sharing this, MADflyer, I wondered who handled their art and design purchasing decisions. Sorry too hear they're not using this company any more!

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Hi Denise!!!!!!! I love your review and being able to relive our wonderful trip. I can't wait until we can all do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Denise!!!!!!! I love your review and being able to relive our wonderful trip. I can't wait until we can all do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right?!? I will dance with you anywhere, anytime:D

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We are on the last cruise January 3 before dry dock. Glad to hear the library is still open. Can you report what areas are being changed out now? I read on another review that things were already in progress for the upcoming dry dock, and frankly, I'm a little worried about being on the last cruise before the changes. Thanks soooo much!!!! Enjoy your cruise!

We're on this one too, just booked yesterday! Also a bit worried about works going on - but got it for a bargain with drinks and tips included, so not feeling too bad :-)

Hi everyone, as I just said in my last post, we've booked the 3rd Jan sailing on Liberty just last night. Really looking forward to it! This will be my 15th RCI cruise (I think) and afterwards we'll go up from Emerald to Diamond. Just in time for our Harmony TA later next year.

Thank you so much for all the info about the ship Denise - it really helps. I will definitely look out for the guitar player and I hope he is still on board. We had an amazing piano player on Anthem earlier this year in the Schooner Bar and went to see him every evening, so I understand how finding a good musician can really help to make a cruise.

Anyway, my questions are really more about Galveston, if anyone on here can help me:

1. I saw about it being a temporary facility while they refurb the port. Does anyone know what the embarkation process was like on the 1st cruise going back out again after this one? We're planning to get there early just to be sure!

2. We have two nights in Galveston beforehand - any recommendations for things to do and places to go would be much appreciated. We love nice bars and restaurants, and we're into photography, so nice outdoor stuff probably more our thing than museums etc.

3. We've booked the Hotel Galvez at the moment but this is fully cancellable. We know it's a walk or taxi ride to The Strand from there and we don't mind too much, but are open to the idea of moving closer to there and the port - maybe the Tremont or Harbor House. Any advice on whether this would be a good decision?

4. Any recommendations on the best way to get to Galveston from George Bush airport? We're thinking Super Shuttle, or someone on Tripadvisor recommended Island Breezes. Any other suggestions welcome!

Think those are the main things :-) Thank you!

Hi everyone, as I just said in my last post, we've booked the 3rd Jan sailing on Liberty just last night. Really looking forward to it! This will be my 15th RCI cruise (I think) and afterwards we'll go up from Emerald to Diamond. Just in time for our Harmony TA later next year.

 

Thank you so much for all the info about the ship Denise - it really helps. I will definitely look out for the guitar player and I hope he is still on board. We had an amazing piano player on Anthem earlier this year in the Schooner Bar and went to see him every evening, so I understand how finding a good musician can really help to make a cruise.

 

Anyway, my questions are really more about Galveston, if anyone on here can help me:

 

1. I saw about it being a temporary facility while they refurb the port. Does anyone know what the embarkation process was like on the 1st cruise going back out again after this one? We're planning to get there early just to be sure!

2. We have two nights in Galveston beforehand - any recommendations for things to do and places to go would be much appreciated. We love nice bars and restaurants, and we're into photography, so nice outdoor stuff probably more our thing than museums etc.

3. We've booked the Hotel Galvez at the moment but this is fully cancellable. We know it's a walk or taxi ride to The Strand from there and we don't mind too much, but are open to the idea of moving closer to there and the port - maybe the Tremont or Harbor House. Any advice on whether this would be a good decision?

4. Any recommendations on the best way to get to Galveston from George Bush airport? We're thinking Super Shuttle, or someone on Tripadvisor recommended Island Breezes. Any other suggestions welcome!

 

Think those are the main things :-) Thank you!

Hi GT, I hope you have a great cruise and welcome to diamond!!

Glad to hear the review was helpful... More photos still to come... I recommend reading through our roll call for this sailing... There were MANY locals who posted ideas for cool stuff to do in Galveston... So much that I made a word doc to save for future cruises from that port (alas, I couldn't stay even one day this time as i was flying out to meet my daughter for a long-planned Orlando trip).

I know a couple people took a cab to Texas city to rent a car (cheaper than at port or airport), booked a private tour at NASA... I'd be interested in the historic buildings in Galveston though that might not be your thing... Have fun researching options! :-)

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Day #6 cont.- IN THE AIR

Mermen!

Fiery dancers

whirling human chandeliers

Singing snow queen (as she rose into the air, a dancer was suspended under her chair!

Amazing aerialists

Voytek in Bolero's

Basil Menu Appetizers: Summer fruit medley (pineapple, papaya, mango, kiwi, strawberry, coconut and pistachio yogurt), smoked duck breast, arugula and pear salad. Yum!

Beef two ways:

Beautiful towel animal

Day #7-MDR Lunch (looks like Octopus salad, yum)

Apple packet with vanilla ice cream

Day #7 cont.

Ice Show - Encore!

Hula Hoop Artist

Vegas Finale

Jurassic World on deck

Diamond Lounge snacks for the movie

Seabass with Shrimp

(I'm reading along in my notes as I post photos, trying to keep them in order... so sorry I can't go back and insert them on the appropriate days in the review!)

Seventies Night on the Promenade - YMCA!

Doing the bump with the Indian (Godfrey)

With Activities Director Gio

OMG could my smile be any bigger? Just finished doing the conga line right behind DJ Tony Scott... after catching his shirt when he tore it off onstage!

Finishing off the event with a selfie with Cruise Director Dru!

One last shot from Day 7-- Singers in Olive or Twist

Day #8 -Curacao

Playa Porto Mari

Bikers!

My beach

Beautiful snorkel route

Here are two full posts of photos from my snorkel buddy Larry who did a great job of capturing shots of some of the underwater beauties we enjoyed:

Brain Coral:

Colorful fish:

Seafloor fish:

Tiny Moray:

Leopard Fish:

Black and Yellow Stripes:

Needlenose x 2:

Big eyes x 2:

Artificial reef x 2:

Tube coral:

Bowl coral:

School of blues:

Divers heading out to the reefs:

Local Papaya, coconut and bananas:

Bought pepper gouda from portside vendors:

Lovely Liberty tied up in port:

(This reminds me of a similar photo I took of Explorer last year... notice the lifeboat hanging down, victim of a rogue wave on our journey down from Bayonne!)

Closeup of damaged lifeboat on Explorer in 2014:

Missed my pre-excursion breakfast photo of French Toast in the MDR:

After we got back onboard and I cleaned up from a day of snorkeling, I went to Sorrentos for a snack and to watch the Dreamworks "Move it Move it" parade

Sorrento's Salad

Move it Move it

(More with Alex and King Julien later in the cruise)