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LIVE FROM Liberty of the Seas Repo

EmpressofPurple
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EmpressofPurple

EmpressofPurple

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Greetings CC friends!

 

I'm on the lovely Liberty of the Seas... in RC Online so I don't have my trip notes with me, just checking in to let folks know I'll be posting a live from of this one-off Skyscrapers to Rodeos cruise.

 

I have my laptop and an unlimited internet package so I'll try to upload some photos when bandwidth permits, otherwise they'll all be at the end. If you want to ask questions, feel free and I'll do my best to answer.

 

Highlights so far: GREAT Cruise Critic group, we met up at sailaway with terrific ID badges and icebreaker activities organized by Maria (RCI CD staff could learn a few tricks from her!) -- wonderful solos and friends dining corner organized by Diana, with two full tables of ten -- a great progressive trivia team (we're in the lead as of day 1) -- and more fun activities planned including a slot pull (organized by Jeremy) following the Meet & Mingle today, a cabin crawl (organized by Ken) tomorrow... and on a later sea day, hopefully, a mini-golf tournament organized by yours truly!

 

I'm happy to have met up with the various CC members I planned shore excursions with and am thrilled that we all get along so well... I enjoyed actually getting off the ship in Bayonne after dropping my carryons in the cabin when they opened to walk over and visit the Teardrop Memorial in person (thanks, Debra!)... and sitting after dinner to enjoy the sound of the ocean waves on the Promenade deck (thanks, Ken!) returning to be drawn into the Schooner Bar by an AMAZING guitar player who we'll be following for the rest of the cruise (thanks, Vojtek!)

 

Great start to what I trust will be a great cruise. I have more to report, including comparisons between Voyager and Freedom class ships, areas we're making sure to use a lot before they are lost in drydock, shore excursion plans, meal descriptions and more... but I want to post this before it gets lost on the unreliable internet connection!!

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EmpressofPurple

EmpressofPurple

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Thanks for all the good wishes, first two days have been delightful. Internet is slow but working thank goodness, $20/day (minus any c&a discounts you may have). Have been writing up detailed activities and hope to post more soon.

 

Lots of Texans onboard bringing liberty home! I was excited to have a larger ship in nyc too, sorry to see her move on so quickly. Not half about most of the planned dry dock changes but what are ya gonna do? As noted above, we're planning to send off the mini golf area, the disco and portifinos with a farewell.

 

More soon,

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

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caddyrag

caddyrag

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Thanks for all the good wishes, first two days have been delightful. Internet is slow but working thank goodness, $20/day (minus any c&a discounts you may have). Have been writing up detailed activities and hope to post more soon.

 

Lots of Texans onboard bringing liberty home! I was excited to have a larger ship in nyc too, sorry to see her move on so quickly. Not half about most of the planned dry dock changes but what are ya gonna do? As noted above, we're planning to send off the mini golf area, the disco and portifinos with a farewell.

 

More soon,

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

Keep your posting coming, I'll be reading everyday, waiting til my turn. We will be at the dock to watch her come into Galveston and jump on board for a wonderful 9 days. We live close by the pier so we can make it down to watch the arrival. Let us know some of the things on the ship we must not miss.

Thanks for posting - Nancy

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Any sign of them adding the Coke Freestyle machines to this ship? I don't believe they have them yet and the general thought was they will be added since she is staying in the US all season now. (I think) Enjoy your cruise and take your time answering. I won't book her out of Galveston until at least 2017.

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EmpressofPurple

EmpressofPurple

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Greetings CC friends, sorry for delay in posting due to the usual situation when writing a "live from" -- too much fun cruising to take the time to write it up!!

 

(Actually, I've been pretty good about taking notes, so I will have daily details, just haven't had enough time to get online... yes the internet is pretty challenging, for some reason it kept thinking that I had another device logged in which I do not, but Guest Services helped me with a workaround, so here I am!)

 

I'm going to post my notes from Day #1 right now, Day #2 and#3 will come later. Glad to have you sailing along with me on this 12-night adventure!

 

--------------------------------

 

LIVE FROM Liberty Repo – Bayonne to Galveston - Skyscrapers to Rodeos

 

A delightful trip so far… travel to the port worked out well (despite getting caught in NYC marathon road closures). We had an ingenious plan, since I had a friend on the prior Liberty sailing: my daughter drove me to my friend’s house with my bags, I picked up my friend’s car and transferred my bags, then picked up a new Cruise Critic friend, Debra, who was staying on the upper west side with friends, drove to the port… and met my friend disembarking from the prior cruise, who loaded her luggage and drove home in her own car!

 

Debra and I wended our way through security relatively quickly, thanks to the early boarding number we obtained in the Diamond Plus line and we checked in together, even though we were in separate cabins. We were able to board immediately, and headed up to the Windjammer where we were welcomed to share a large table with two other unrelated couples. We enjoyed a selection of food (I had the carved roast beef with horseradish sauce, spinach salad with Raita as a salad dressing, and green beans) then headed to our cabins to drop off our carryons at 1:00pm.

 

(Having previously met only via CC and email, Debra and I were very happy that we seemed to be quite sympatico… especially since we have planned shared excursions in nearly every port! We’re doing different things in Puerto Rico, where she’ll be doing a walking tour and I’m doing the bio-bay excursion… but in St. Thomas we’re both doing “St. John on Your Own,” in St. Martin we’re sharing a cab to Karakter Beach, in Curacao we’re sharing a cab with two other CC members to Playa Porto Mari for some snorkeling, and in Grand Cayman we’re part of a five-way van share to tour the island together. Good thing we get along!! In fact, we’re now part of a great, competitive progressive trivia team, too, as well as being part of the large CC solos dining table group.)

 

Anyway, after boarding, Debra and I agreed to meet up and walk back off the ship to visit the Teardrop Memorial in person. I had taken pictures of it from the deck of the Explorer in the past, but I had never actually walked over to the site. I liked getting photos of the Memorial in front of the ship, and the NYC skyline with Lady Liberty in front of it, as well as the Verazzano Bridge – where 67 of my fellow Galloway Marathon and Half-Marathon Training Program members were just commencing the NYC Marathon! (I’ll be joining them next year; I’m running three half-marathons this year, having already done the Rock’n’roll halfs in Virginia Beach in September and in Brooklyn in October, and I'll be doing the Virtual Galloway Half in December).

 

Once we made our way back onto the ship (it was definitely an adventure getting through security going both way, having to be checked off a special list, go through a specific door, etc., etc.) we stopped at the Promenade Café and each had a macaroon (moist and tasty with very fresh coconut) and I had a cup of coffee which I poured over a glass of ice to make my own iced coffee! We then proceeded to the Spa on deck 12 to do the spa tour and enter the raffle. A new twist: instead of just walking you around to the treatment rooms to show you where the procedures are done and introduce you to the staff, they actually gave us a “taster” of the three massage techniques, hot stone, herb poultice and Thai Stick Massage. Nice! (I have since seen spa staff giving these "taster" massages to cruise passengers in the promenade, by the Windjammer, etc. Great promotion.)

 

We walked downstairs to get the fitness schedule, but the doors were already closed for muster drill, so we continued to walk downstairs to our respective muster stations. My fun moment: After being directed by staff to the back wall on deck after we checked in for msuter, another staffer asked if an older gentleman and I were together. With a naughty twinkle in my eye, I replied, “Not yet,” in a suggestive tone, and his eyes lit up. We laughed, and he said he was married but the bed in their cabin was big… the only requirement was that I have warm feet. His wife arrived a few moments later and we shared the story and chuckled together. We talked about New York, where they were visiting their granddaughter in college before the cruise. I love meeting people all over the ship, it’s so much fun!

 

After muster we gathered at the Sky Bar to meet up with all the other Cruise Critic roll call members. One member (Maria) had written up nametags for all who had signed up, as well as stickers where those who were solo cruisers with anytime dining could identify themselves to each other and make dining plans. (I’m happy to be part of a group 18 solos and friends who are seated at two large tables for late dining.) Maria also brought along little sheets of paper with 16 fun “icebreaker” type questions, and we met and mingled trying to fill in the sheets. What a great way to meet new people! I wish the RCI CD staff would learn from her example and actually host solo get-togethers with these sorts of activities, rather than just lead formal events like Bingo, line dancing, trivia, etc. So important to get cruisers to interact and learn about each other.

 

I ran down from this gathering to get to Trivia, but I was really late, arriving just in time for the last question, so that wasn’t too much fun. (Worse still, I missed the great sailaway moment under the Verrazano bridge. Sigh.) Then I dealt with some things at Guest Services and returned to my room to unpack my suitcases which had arrived. Alas, my large hard-sided rolling suitcase was damaged; both wheels on one side had been dented into the body of the suitcase. I called Guest Services and asked if they might be able to repair it, and if not if I could have a report for an insurance claim. No problem, they said, come fill out the form and they would have bell services pick it up.

 

Then I walked down to deck 3 to the Platinum Theatre for the Welcome Aboard show. I was five minutes late but there was still space in the front row (in fact the theatre was quite empty). We enjoyed Dru’s intro, and of course Royal’s great live band, plus “taster” presentations by an exceptional aerialist (wow, that was fun to watch from the front row!), the Comedian (Tom Teague… um, here’s hoping his full length show is better than his standard welcome cruisers comedy…) and the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers (a large and seemingly very talented group). We were also introduced to the “A Team” – Food and beverage director, Marketing and Revenue, Loyalty Ambassador, Stateroom Services, Executive Chef, probably a few others (Sports? Bar? Adventure Ocean? I don’t recall…)

 

Walking through the Schooner Bar after the show I met up with Debra, plus Diana (who had organized our late seating dining group) and Amy, another late dining group member, who had tied for second in music trivia! I ordered a Virgin Mary (three olives!!) and we sat in the Schooner for a while before heading down to dinner. We introduced ourselves to our various tablemates and service staff (Yolanda and Kedik) and enjoyed dinner. I’m familiar with most of the menus, tonight’s was Mojo, and I wanted to try some different items, so I had the Thai seafood soup, the spinach salad and the herb-crusted salmon with celeriac mash and snow peas. (Okay, I have ordered those before, but I’ve also had the beef broth with farro, the seafood roulade, the fruit medley, the chilled soup, the prime rib… hmm, guess I’ve tried most of these!)

 

I also ordered the Aloo Gobi, since I know from experience that the Indian and Indonesian items are often prepared with experience and love by chefs who are native to those cuisines, and this was indeed delicious. Dessert was my favorite mango pudding in a special swirl mold… plus COFFEE ICE CREAM! (Those who have read my threads before know that I love coffee ice cream and would eat it every night if available. I thought it wouldn’t go too well with mango pudding, but guess what… it goes with everything.)

 

After dinner I started chatting with CC members from the other large table, and we agreed to mix up the dining tables over the coming 12 nights (which might be an issue since we have two different servers… but I’m sure we can work it out). Talking with Ken, who organized the cabin crawl for day 3 and was the lead on our 5-way van share, we decided to go out on the Promenade Deck and enjoy the cool evening air. This is one of the absolute best parts of cruising, talking with new people and appreciating the sound of the waves, the gentle rocking of the ship as it moves through the seas towards our next destination. We had a great time, relaxing after a day of travel and wrapping up work and other responsibilities before embarking on this 12-night cruise – especially Ken, who had flown from the west coast… and me, who had run two 5Ks in the two days prior to embarking! ("Run with Hart" a pop-up run with comedian Kevin Hart through Nike+, and the NYRR "Dash to the Finish" where runners start at the U.N. and run across 42nd street, up Sixth Avenue and into Central Park to finish at the actual NYC Marathon finish line. Great fun!)

 

We walked back indoors, intending to head to our cabins, but we were grabbed by simply wonderful guitar playing emanating from the Schooner Bar. We wandered over to investigate and were thrilled to hear a truly exceptional musician, Wojtek Kozikowski, who played with passion, skill and intelligence. Every song was a story told in a completely new way. Even familiar tunes – would you believe, Hotel California? – was like a new experience. We stayed to chat with him after his set, and I bought his CD (which he signed for me) and asked where he would be playing the next day. I’m sure we will follow him around for the rest of the cruise! (I’m playing his CD in my stateroom right now while I’m writing up these notes.)

 

Tried to finish up my unpacking and tidy up the cabin in preparation for the Cabin Crawl on Day 3. (Yep, I’m on the list of cabins to visit – Ken was originally the Promenade Cabin on the list, but then he got upgraded to a balcony (sweet!) so I volunteered my Prom cabin for the tour.) I also laid out my workout gear for the morning since I know it’s one thing to plan to get up at 6:30 to go to the gym but it’s quite another to actually do it: what makes the difference for me is having everything ready to go so I don’t need to think about it, I just put on my clothes and go… and I did!

 

I completed the day 1 Trivia Quiz (5/12) and Sudoku puzzle I had picked up from the Library (I’m going to try to remember to get these every day), made notes for this log, and went to SLEEP. My wonderful cabin steward Emancia had turned down my bed and closed the blinds to the Promenade so I didn’t have to worry about forgetting to do that and having an audience as I undressed!

 

A few notes on Liberty: I am surprised that it is not noticeably larger than the Voyager class ships (I have been on Explorer and Mariner twice each). I like the separate location and décor for Sorrentos vs. the Café Promenade, and the H20 zone is huge and fun… but that’s about the only improvements. Sadly, the quality and variety of the artwork and architectural details throughout the ship are far inferior to Explorer (at least before Ex’s drydock; I haven’t seen her since then). Every little detail: from the displays on the way into the Windjammer (beautiful carved wooden birds on the Explorer, displays of the specialty restaurants on Liberty), the entrance to the casino (lady luck and the glass floor on the Explorer, boring 40s paintings on Liberty), even the design in the gym (awesome suits of armor and paintings of the great explorers on Explorer, plus the thalassotherapy pool… um, a boxing ring and heavy bags on Liberty).

 

I could go on and on, but basically it just doesn’t compare. Even the photographs and paintings in the stairwells, behind guest services, and in the hallways on the way to the staterooms are of a much lower quality than the Explorer. As I said, surprising (and yes, disappointing).

 

Food, service and staff have been terrific, and as I said we were thrilled with the talent of the guitarist in the Schooner bar and look forward to hearing him again.

 

More soon!

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KLMB

KLMB

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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!

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DonnaK

DonnaK

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Very interested in your thoughts! We were on Liberty 3 weeks ago.

 

It was our first Freedom-class cruise, and agree with the previous poster that it was surprising that it didn't feel larger than a Voyager-class ship.

 

On our sailing, we didn't have access to the cabins until 2pm - it was reported by staff onboard that they were replacing mattresses in most of the cabins (alas, our cabin still had the old mattress on it, however it had a wonderful thick eggcrate cushion place on top, so it was very comfortable).

 

This was the only thing we saw/heard about with regard to upcoming drycok changes.

 

No sign of freestyle machines being added. Internet was frustratingly slow.

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EmpressofPurple

EmpressofPurple

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Here's what I copied from another thread on the planned changes. FYI, the area behind the mini golf course is already under construction, and the Wipeout bar and cafe are closed, I'm assuming in preparation for the construction needed to install the new water slides. Our assistant waiter has told us that drydock will be in the Bahamas and will take a full month, with all the decor being redone, etc.

 

Our CC roll call followed this list with great interest, and we are doing our best to say farewell to some of our favorite areas, including the Catacombs disco, the library, the Sphinx Lounge, the Champagne Bar, minigolf, the jogging track, etc.

 

Planned Changes for Liberty in Drydock

 

Deck 2, no changes

 

Deck 3

Catacombs disco removed, for 19 new inside cabins.

Art Gallery reduced for 4 new inside cabins.

Bernini and Velasquez private dining removed for additional passengers in MDR. (10 outside cabins currently not added as they were with Freedom.)

 

Deck 4

Catacombs disco upper level removed to make room for Sabor specialty dining.

 

Deck 5

The Sphinx Lounge converted to Star Lounge

Champagne Bar converted to R Bar.

 

Deck 6

Business Services area removed for 4 new inside cabins along with one additional forward inside.

 

Deck 7

The Library removed for 4 new inside cabins along with one additional forward inside.

 

Unclear what is happening with starboard hump balcony cabins, but they could just be getting renumbered with a possible suite added?

 

Deck 8

Forward inside cabin added.

 

Deck 9

Forward inside cabin added

 

Deck 10

Concierge Club removed for addition of combined Library/Card room

 

Deck 11

The next to last Portofino in the fleet is removed making room for Giovanni’s Table

Outdoor area around sides and forward of gym removed.

 

Deck 12

Forward sun deck area removed and jogging track redirected.

Small sitting area with sofas and chairs portside removed.

14 Balcony cabins added

4 Inside cabins added

26 Panoramic cabins added

 

Deck 13

Forward St. Tropez sun deck and sitting areas removed and replaced with a large open possible sun deck without function defined on the area added above the new panoramic cabin area.

Liberty Dunes mini-golf and the Golf Simulator removed along with the Wipe out bar and café to make room for the new water slides.

Possible addition of suite sun deck not specified on deck plans.

 

Deck 14

Seven Hearts card room and Cloud Nine function room removed for the new Suite Lounge.

 

79 new cabins added increasing the double occupancy count for the ship by 158 + passengers

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DonnaK

DonnaK

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One of the things we love about RC is all the beautiful artwork throughout the ships. You said you were disappointed with the artwork on the Liberty. I hope I won't be also. :(

 

Until I read your post now, I didn't realize how unimpressed I was with the art on Liberty. When I was onboard, I didn't notice the art at all, which is odd since I always admired it on other ships.

 

Maybe that will change if they are updating all of the décor during the drydock.

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