LIVE FROM Liberty of the Seas Repo

[Princess1965]

Love your reviews. I hope your pain problem goes away quickly. Do you know who the Captain, HD, and both DL Concierges and Suite Concierges are on this ship?

[EmpressofPurple]

Wait, pinnacles can't go in the concierge lounge? I enjoyed Pinnacles (and Diamond Plus too) being in the suite lounge on my last cruise out of Galveston. They were a friendly group with a lot of knowledge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

On the Concierge Lounge door it says "suites only 4:30-8:00pm" so I assume it's for happy hour -- but Pinnacles are essentially indistinguishable from suites so I'm guessing they're granted admission during those hours as well.

 

For the rest of the day, Suites, Pinnacles and Diamond Plus are all welcome, it's just during happy hour that it's limited to gold cards -- probably at least partially because of the high number of C&A folk on this cruise

[EmpressofPurple]

Day #7 – Saturday, Nov.7 – At Sea

 

Wow, so yes, I actually came back after dinner, and despite going back and forth about “should I, shouldn’t I” about dancing with the stripes and especially the silent party, which I had recommended to others on the roll call, I decided to be cautious, wrapped my foot and ankle with my handy-dandy ace bandage and called it a night. First time I had been to bed before midnight, meaning first time I actually got 7 hours of sleep before waking up at 6:30 for the 7:00am stretch class. Felt luxurious! (Though I did feel bad at dinner when I heard how funny "dancing with the stripes" was, and that there weren't many people dancing at the silent party -- you know I would've been one of them!!)

 

I’m going to keep the ace bandage on all day, it does seem to be helping with the pain a bit… and I really will force myself to take the elevators more, although they are kind of agonizing – not because they’re slow, or never come, or overstuffed… but because when they’re full they stop at every floor! It’s not like I’m in a hurry to get anywhere, though, so I’m just going to breathe deep and do it, give my poor foot a break.

 

So yes, this morning after walking the length of the ship from aft to forward, I RODE THE ELEVATOR to 11 for my stretch class. Stayed on for abs (it’s getting easier… does that mean I’m getting better at cheating or that I’m actually strengthening my abs?!?) and chatted with one of my regular classmates Emily about our adventures ashore in St. Thomas and St. Martin.

 

Then some more stretching on my own and off to breakfast in the Windjammer: two eggs over easy fresh from the omelet station, two pork sausages, a couple of “hash browns” (um, I call those tater tots!), a mini croissant to soak up the yolk, and my morning vegetables: a roasted tomato, cooked mushrooms, and a cucumber slice. Plus a glass of OJ. I took a banana for the room and stopped at the Concierge Lounge for cappuccino and a slice of fruit bread for my “breakfast dessert,” saying hi to Carlos and to Mike, one of our solo dinner table companions, who had stopped in the CC for the first time.

 

FYI For those who complain that “breakfast is always the same,” consider that they may always OFFER the same items, but you don’t have to CHOOSE the same items every day! I have had six completely different breakfasts since boarding, and I intend to have six more different ones before I disembark. Let’s review:

 

Day #1 (or Day#2, actually, since Day #1 is boarding day): Bagel, cream cheese, lox, tomato, onion, capers, orange juice +cappuccino, apple puff.

Day #3: Omelette with spinach, mushrooms and cheese, corned beef hash, tomato and cucumber, orange juice + cappuccino, cinnamon roll

Day #4: Oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar and hot milk… 2 pieces each of cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and pineapple… hardboiled egg, orange juice + cappuccino/raspberry Danish.

Day #5: (MDR) Chocolate banana bread, grapefruit half, kadota figs, eggs benedict, cappuccino.

Day #6: (MDR) Omelette with salmon, cream cheese and herbs, prune juice and a half-grapefruit (had cappuccino and fruit bread coming down from Concierge Lounge before breakfast).

Day #7: (today) two eggs over easy fresh from the omelet station, two pork sausages, a couple of “hash browns” (tater tots!), mini croissant, roasted tomato, cooked mushrooms, and a cucumber slice, orange juice + cappuccino/fruit bread.

 

The only repetition? Orange juice orange juice orange juice. How I wish they offered grapefruit, mango, pineapple anything different! Guava guanabana pear peach passion fruit anything!! All they have is apple, prune or tomato upon request, and orange juice is the only one out and ready to go in the Windjammer. I guess I ought to try some of the others just for variety (I did have the prune juice in the MDR one day). Oh, and I did have the fruit bread twice in a row because it’s SO DELICIOUS!!!

 

What do I still have to look forward to in my remaining seven days? Scrambled eggs and grits. Pancakes and bacon. Waffles and fruit. Cold cereal with banana. Muesli with raisins and almonds. Yogurt with granola, sunflower seeds and fresh fruit. (And several I probably won’t try, like biscuits and gravy, beans on toast, etc.) I have tried the “trainman special” (cream cheese and jelly on a lightly toasted English muffin with four pork sausages) and it was actually pretty good, but I’ll probably skip that on this cruise… because I can still come up with half a dozen more unique and delicious breakfasts, and pass this 12-night cruise with a different, nutritious and flavorful meal every time.

 

Now, if they limited and rotated their selection it might feel as though they were “providing different things” – but what if they didn’t serve pancakes on the day I felt like pancakes, etc.? I like having everything on offer all the time. I wouldn’t object if they did what Princess used to do years ago, and offer a different smoked fish every day (one day lox, one day smoked whitefish, one day smoked trout, one day herring, etc.) – that was nice, looking forward to a different offering. But it wouldn’t be the “main course” just a nice addition to whatever I had selected for that day.

 

In any event, I’m back in the room writing up these notes and relaxing before I head up to Olive or Twist to relax and await Progressive Trivia at 10:15. It’s only 9:00 so I might stop by the library and pick up today’s trivia and Sudoku. (I’ve been pretty good about picking those up, but they still haven’t put out the Day4 ones – remember, that’s the day we got day #5 of Trivia and da #6 of Sudoku… but we then did get day #5 and Day #6 of each, so they’re duplicates.) Not sure I’ll have enough time to stop by the Schooner bar, all the way forward on my sore foot, to pick up the 9:15 Sudoku Challenge and 9:30 Crossword Challenge, though I would love to do so. Sigh.

 

-----------

 

Indeed, just made it upstairs for Progressive Trivia… thought we would have to sit on the floor, but there were two couples on a couch and chair who were not there for trivia and they left because of the big crowds, so we had a great seat. And what happened? We were down by four!! All of them Frazier-related questions (the TV show, not the boxer) – and three of them we could have easily had right if those of us who had the right answers had stuck to our guns. Sigh. All the rest of the questions were America-related and we did pretty well on most of those. We're still in the hunt, though, so wish us luck!

 

After trivia I headed down to the Solarium, said hi to Texas Pete and Jenny, took a quick dip in the pool, then turned one of the chairs around to face out to the sea and relaxed for about an hour. Diana came to find me at 12:30 to go get lunch in the MDR and we headed down. Seated with a large group, we made conversation with a family from Arizona but originally from ALASKA!! Also their daughter/granddaughter was a ballet dancer, so Diana talked about her daughter’s college plans (she’s also a serious ballerina)… while I quizzed them about Alaska travel, shared running stories, and even got their email to stay in touch on these important subjects.

 

After lunch, Diana and I were heading to Studio B to see the 2:00 Ice Show. I went in solo and found a very good seat on the second row center. The show was good – not as good as Seasons on Explorer, in my opinion, but still very good. The theme was theatre around the world, starting with Phantom, then Carmen, then Japanese Kabuki, etc. As always the ice dancers, couples, and specialty artists were amazing – this time the specialty artist was not an ice aerialist, but rather did amazing things with hula hoops while skating!

 

After the show, I headed back up to the Solarium and got a windowside cushioned seat, where I settled in and rested/napped/relaxed/thought until 4:15pm. Then I headed to the room, hoping to get dressed in time to enjoy some music by Woytek in Boleros, but alas, after putting away my clean laundry bag (yay!) and getting ready for formal night (plus preparing for a quick change into 70s gear after dinner) I only had time for a quick visit to the Diamond Plus overflow venue in Olive or Twist before getting to the 6:00pm movie on the pool deck.

 

In the Diamond Lounge I ordered the first item from my “virgin bar drinks” list: A Roy Rogers (Coke with Grenadine) and tipped the bartender (I’m getting better at this Diamond Drinks thing!). Then I sat and chatted with a couple about the Liberty, cruising to Alaska, and more, enjoying the beautiful sunset from the expansive viewing windows before excusing myself to dash down to the movie. (I brought along my soda, plus a small plate with cheese, dark fruit bread, grapes, cucumber and broccoli.)

 

The movie was Jurassic World, which I didn’t get to see over the summer. I understand why everyone wasn’t raving about it; it was good but not great. I enjoyed some of the good scares and funny moments, but the overall movie story and structure wasn’t as good as the first two (the third was kind of a dud, too). Still, it was lovely to watch it on the deck under darkening skies, enjoying my snacks (I also brought some candy from my room, peanut m&ms and mini sour worms).

 

As soon as the movie was over, I put on my black net shawl to transform my outfit for formal dinner and headed down to the dining room. Once again we had some confusion about our tables, but we managed to more or less fill both of them again. We shared our usual fun stories of what we did that day, and our plans for Curacao. I also brought along my crystal block to show those at the table what it looks like. It was not a very “formal night” dinner menu: Portobello. Hmmm. I ordered the baked salmon appetizer, plus the jalapeno potato soup (that was good), and the seabass with (2) shrimp for the main course (not great), and the (sugar-free) vanilla mango mousse for dessert (I liked the fresh mango bits).

 

At 9:30 I dashed off to change into my 70s outfit: a psychedelic minidress, printed headband on my forehead, giant peace sign earring and necklace; and I had put my hair up for formal night in tiny braids wrapped into a bun, so when I took the braids out I had long frizzy hair. No, I really don’t have the body for a minidress but I don’t care: my amazing body runs 26.2 miles, swims, snorkels, carries me from here to there, I can dress it up and take it out dancing from time to time! And dance we did, boogieing out to all sorts of 70s hits from Brick House to Love Rollercoaster to In the Navy and YMCA… and wowza, I caught a light-up ring plus the t-shirt ripped from the ripped chest f DJ Tony Scott! Plus I got photos with Gio the activities director (sailor), doing the bump with the Indian (CD staff), the policeman (the DJ, holding his ripped-off shirt after walking behind him for the conga line dance) and even a selfie with cruise director Dru. Fun fun fun! (I will post the photos at the end of the review, after I get home, I can't upload to google+ onboard.)

 

Then I had to skip 70s dancing in the Catacombs to dash up to Olive or Twist for a special one night only nightclub music show by one of the RC singers, Isabel Commandeur (from the Netherlands), accompanied by the pianist Kiryl Herold (from Belarus). Brad was holding chairs for our gang, and Amy came to join us as well (and got me a diet coke, since I had left my room key in my room when dashing from one event to the next!). We enjoyed the show, especially the last song, and stayed to thank the performers – and the singer’s mother, who was onboard, too!

 

Then I headed down to guest services to get a room key so I could get back into my room, and asked if they had found an earring (I noticed at dinner that one of my earrings was missing) and they showed me one, but alas it wasn’t mine. Back in my room, I found the tiny earring BACK, so I though perhaps the earring would turn up, too… but no luck. I’ll check again tomorrow; perhaps I lost it in Olive or Twist when I was there for happy hour.

Spent some time putting away messy cabin build up (shoes in closet, dirty clothes in hamper, papers on table, etc., etc.), packing for my snorkel beach trip the next day, and writing up these notes… and now it’s time for bed!

 

Another great cruise day. Getting a little sad now because there are fewer days to come than there are behind me. Sigh. Time to plan another cruise!!

[cruiselvr04]

Sounds like you're having a great time!

[KLMB]

Enjoying your blog and review. Thanks for posting!

[maryjaden]

Very much enjoying your blog/review. I have never sailed solo, but am considering it in the near future as my children are all getting older and husband is not a huge fan of cruising (though he would go every few years).

[EmpressofPurple]

Thanks to everyone for following along despite the long breaks between posting! Getting online is indeed a challenge, I've had to call guest services a couple of times to get a special access code to log in since I can't get in with my usual account name and password. They even credited me a day since I lost so much time and had such little connectivity.

 

First to answer a few questions:

 

Piano Bar: Kim Kinrade

Pub Guitar: Samuel May

Most amazing guitar ever: Voytek(!!)

 

DJs: Resident DJ Tony Scott, DJ Lingo from Scratch Academy

Latin Band: Tropical Jam

Dance Band: Sofia Band

Pool Band: Riddim Wave

 

Captain: James MacDonald

HD: Rodney Darwin

F&B: Ron Kane

CD: Dru Pavlov

AD: Gio

 

FYI, Johnny Rockets charge is now $6.95. Sigh.

[EmpressofPurple]

Day #8 – Sunday, November 8, 2015 – Curacao

 

Oh, Curacao, Curacao, what a great day!

 

Started once again in stretch class at 7:00 am… hoping to stretch out this sore leg, but alas it seemed to make it worse. Had to miss abs today because I’m meeting my shore excursion companions at 7:40 for breakfast before we head out to meet our taxi driver at 8:40. (Our last-minute fourth person dropped out, fearful of returning too late to the ship. Of course we got back over an hour before all aboard.)

 

Anyway, after stretch I ran to the stateroom to get my snorkel gear and pre-packed beach bag, and headed down to the MDR where my friends Larry and Barbara were waiting for me. We went in and had our own table for four for the three of us, and we all ordered French toast with bacon! (Yet another breakfast option I hadn’t thought of yesterday.) I also had a bran muffin, grapefruit half, prune juice and coffee.

 

We then headed out to the “mega pier” to meet our driver. It turned out that Barbara and Larry and I were all in Curacao at the same time last year – I was there on the Explorer repo, at the mega pier, while they were on the Vision, docked downtown past the movable bridge. Cool! Our driver, Suleima (?sp) was lovely and informative both ways on our ride. She explained that most people on Curacao speak four languages: Papiamento at home, Dutch in School, English for Tourism, and Spanish because Venezuela is just 40 miles away and there are many Spanish speakers on the island (including her husband, who is from Venezuela).

 

The expected 30-40 minute ride to the special snorkel beach only took 15 minutes because it was Sunday and traffic was very light. Between the shorter than expected drive and the early pickup we got to the beach by 9:05 – but the gate doesn’t open until 9:30! Our driver started texting friends of hers to see if they could open the gate, and while we waited I took photos of the different varieties of cacti in front, the sign for the resort, and multiple groups of professionally-garbed offroad bike riders who came through and went around the side of the gate!

 

Finally a workman came and let us in. We drove a long way on the resort road to the beach, where there was a thatched roof bar-restaurant, a dive shop, and many chaises and umbrellas. There were also two couples on the beach – apparently their driver knew someone else to let them in even earlier! We made plans to meet our driver at 1:30, and promptly selected our shaded chairs. Larry and I then put on tons of sunscreen (it’s going up to 90 degrees today in Curacao!) and headed out to the left side of this beautiful cove. (I can’t wait to post pictures of this beach, it’s truly gorgeous, azure waters with striations showing the coral reefs underwater, darkening to deeper blue at the dropoffs. Stunning.)

 

Snorkeling with Larry was a treat, it was like having a professional underwater guide the whole way. He could locate and point out and name a wide variety of fish, even finding a long eel or underwater snake, and later a small moray, hiding in the coral undergrowth. We saw rainbow fish, angel fish, and dozens and dozens of tiny to huge fish fish fish! There was brain coral and bowl coral and fire coral (so different from the fan coral and finger coral we had seen on the snorkel trail in St. John).

 

Finally we were nearing the end of the protected cove and the water started getting a little choppy, so we headed back in at an angle to cover some other coral formations and see even more fish. By the time we got back to the beach area there were now dozens of divers in full wetsuit gear, walking into the water in groups to explore the farther, deeper reefs. We looked at our watches to see we had been out for nearly an hour and a half, and it was 11:00am! Barbara had paid for our beach entrance fee and chair rentals while we were out, and now that we were back she took advantage of our resting to go into the beautiful water herself.

 

After a half hour of rest (and some of my refreshing energy drink and a quarter of a Power Bar), Larry and I picked up our gear and planned our next course: he wanted to go straight out to the divers’ buoys on the reef, and then head back on the right. I was concerned about getting tired on the way out to the deep water, and not being able to see as much if the depth was 15-20 feet, so I wanted to start on the right by the shore (a mirror to the left hand side) and then head out to the buoys if I still had the energy.

 

I’m glad we did it this way for a couple of reasons: first of all, the swim out was amazing, we were surrounded by schools of larger colorful fish, it truly felt like swimming in an aquarium! Second, by the time we reached the rocky shoreline (about half an hour in) and I turned to head out to the buoys I realized we were going against the current, the waves and the wind – it had gotten quite choppy – and it was taking many more kicks than I thought to go even ten feet! I turned around and started swimming leisurely back towards the beach area, worried it would take me over an hour to get back against the current… and it almost did, but we made it calmly, enjoying the sights of the artificial reef on the way (large cement balls with holes in them, now completely overgrown with coral and filled with fish).

 

It was nearly 1:00pm, and we had promised to be as dry and sand-free as possible before our return, so we laid out in the sun, drying off VERY fast in the super-hot air, then packing up our gear and stopping at the outdoor shower by the dive shop to rinse off the last of the sand. Our driver was already there, and we headed back promptly to the ship.

 

On the way out I had asked about local fruits, and learned that since Curacao was so dry, and overcome by weeds, it was hard to grow many crops there – but they do have coconuts, tamarind, and some other fruits I had never heard of. I asked if we could stop at a fruit market but was told that they would be closed on a Sunday – and then on our drive I spotted a roadside stand! We stopped and I bought a half-papaya (red and sweet), six bananas (hmmm, these had stickers on them saying “Colombia”) and a fresh coconut! I ate the papaya in the car, shared the bananas with everyone, and drank the coconut… and then destroyed my manicure trying to dig out the delicious coconut jelly through the small hole! (I should’ve asked the vendor to decant the juice into a cup and then chop up the flesh for me… ah well…) The cost for all this bounty? Five dollah! Delish.

 

Then we were back at the port by 2:00pm, even with our stop at the fruit stand, and I bade farewell and many thanks to Larry and Barbara, giving them $50 for my share of the cab ride and tip, plus paying for my beach entry and chair fee. Then I browsed the dockside shack shops, picking up a ball of pepper gouda (yum! Last time I bought all three types but this was my favorite, and so unique) plus a “dushi” license plate magnet, that I had wanted to buy last time I was here but didn’t have time to do so.

 

Back onboard I returned to my cabin, showered and changed (I was feeling too grungy to stay in my swimsuit and do the hot tub sailaway today)… looking over the schedule I noticed there was a Dreamworks Move It Move It parade on the promenade at 4:00, so I headed down to the Promenade café to grab a good viewing spot. Well, it was already full, so I headed to Sorrentos – nothing outside, but I grabbed a booth which would have a good view over people in front. I enjoyed some of the (terrible) pepperoni pizza, plus a mini cup of fruit salad – and today’s salads, a chopped salad with cucumber, tomato, onion and peppers, plus a tuna salad with small white potatoes! Very nice.

 

The parade was fun, with CD staff, ship personnel, plus entertainment staff (I recognized one of the skaters – the one with gages in his ears – plus Woytek in the Kung Fu Panda part of the parade. Many other Dreamworks movie characters appeared, too, including the animals from Madagascar and the fairy tale characters from Shrek. The music was a little crazy in terms of tempo – this was not move it move it, it was more like St. Vitus’ dance – but it is fun to see the ship staff marching up and down the promenade. Not too many observers were moving it moving it, however; most, like me, were sitting (or standing) and taking pictures.

 

After the parade I planned to go up and find a spot on the solarium, but instead I got a chair on the Promenade deck and watched us sail away from Curacao and into the open ocean. I sat there mesmerized by the rushing sound of the waves, drifting in and out, for nearly two hours. No music, no reading, no conversation, no nothing but whoooooooosh. Amazing. I realized I had left a message for Ken to come look for me in the Solarium, so I called him to tell him what happened – it turned out he had been on the pool deck anyway, and was planning to go to the Ventriloquist (I was going to watch Voytek’s entire set, and invite him to lunch tomorrow). We agreed to meet up at dinner.

 

Ken also advised that sunset was on the port side and I should walk across the way. I did so (although Port side is the smoking side, so that was a bit of a challenge) and caught the very quick Caribbean sunset. Then I stopped by the room to get a few things for dinner, asked my cabin steward to keep an eye out for my missing earring, went to Olive or Twist to see if they had found it (they hadn’t), resisted the beautiful appetizers (I did just have a giant snack at Sorrentos after all) and headed down to Boleros for Woytek’s pre-dinner set. He was wonderful, as always, a great combination of beautiful classical music plus popular favorites, played with gusto and energy and true respect for the audience. He has to check with his supervisor if he can join us for lunch tomorrow – I hope it works out!

 

At 8:00 I headed into dinner, joining Penny, Brad, Kent, Ken and Gary at the smaller table. We all ordered multiple dishes: for appetizers I had the seafood salad, Indian Samosa, and beef broth (because it had truffle bits, and tonight was the “truffle” menu), and for main courses I had the beef bourginon (winey!) and the (4) tiger shrimp, plus I ordered the Papardelle with cream sauce and peas to share with the table. Dessert was… coffee ice cream! (Hilarity ensued when Gary pointed out that his came with two scoops, and a lady finger cookie placed suggestively between them to suggest the family jewels. Photos will be added!)

 

After dinner Penny and I joined Ken in the casino for a beginners lesson at Craps, something we have both tried to learn. He is a good teacher; after having tried to get the basic three or four different times, I think I finally have the very first part of this complex, multi-faceted game down, and can start adding on more bit by bit going forward. He asked if I wanted to try (we had each gone back to our cabins to get cash) and I asked if he would go first, which he did… and showed me how easy it is to promptly lose all your money! He went from $60 to $7 in a matter of minutes, at which point he said he wanted to go play blackjack… and with that same $7 he went back up to $64 in about the same amount of time. Wow, if I hadn’t encouraged him to drop it on craps first, he would’ve doubled his money! (Or rather, if he’d just played the $7, increased it nearly tenfold!!)

 

Ah, gambling, you siren… I heard the roulette wheel calling me as I walked through the casino to find them… 36, 24, 12, 9, 6, 4, 3, 2… all the ways you can bet those seductive combinations to win various odds… and everything down by one and then reduced further with the zero and double-zero on the wheel… sigh…

 

Anyway, then we sat in Boleros and listened to the (rather good) latin band and reviewed upcoming cruise prices. I had printed out a list of possible cruises to book onboard, including some long repo cruises in 2017 (remember in 2016 I’m just doing the big Alaska cruise and then nothing until November since I’m in training all year for the NYC marathon) – one through the Suez canal, one from Tampa to Rome with a great itinerary for a TA, one a Celebrity panama canal (since RCI’s 2017 panama canal cruises aren’t out yet)… and then we looked at my Alaska cruises, too… and continued our conversations about the value of cruising and travel and taking this time for oneself despite the stresses and demands of our every day lives.

 

Another great cruise day, and cruise night! Off to bed at 1:00 am after writing up these notes, having laid out my gym clothes for the A.M…. and being thrilled to return to my room and discover that my wonderful room steward had FOUND MY MISSING EARRING! Where I don’t know, but it was sitting together with the other one (I had showed her where I put the first earring, and the second earring’s back, and she put them together). Thank you, Emancia!

[EmpressofPurple]

Very much enjoying your blog/review. I have never sailed solo, but am considering it in the near future as my children are all getting older and husband is not a huge fan of cruising (though he would go every few years).

 

Solo cruising is a great way to travel, and CC makes it even easier with roll calls to have some friends onboard before you even get there! Some of my closest friends today are people I have met cruising over the years.

 

As a single parent, I really appreciated cruising when my kids were little -- they were entertained in the kids program and I could spend time with adults. So I've had some experience cruising "on my own" (even in the days before cruise critic) and I have always found it very easy to meet and make friends onboard.

 

I must say, the CD staff in years past was more engaged in terms of icebreaker events and helping guest to get to know each other -- you may have to be a bit more aggressive about organizing these yourself, such as our regular dining group, sailway with fun questions, and upcoming mini golf. But there are plenty of opportunities to meet others: at large table dinners, open seating breakfast and lunch, trivia, gym, and more.

 

I've cruised sharing a cabin and solo, both are fine, but it's best if you're on the same schedule as your roomie (I have to be SOOO quiet when getting up for my 7:00 am stretch class if I'm sharing with someone who likes to sleep in)... and when you sail solo, suddenly the cabin seems incredibly roomy with tons of storage space!!

 

Anyway, you'll have a great time. Enjoy!

 

Now I've gotta run go get a seat for progressive trivia!!!

[Princess1965]

Again, thank you for your wonderful information and reports.

[HouCplCruise]

Great review. I will be back on the Liberty 11/22. Hopefully there will not be that many C&A folks on that cruise. Maybe Diamond Plus folks will be able to use the CL again before the drydock. Who are the Concierges in the CL and DL. Also, I could swear I saw the Coke Freestyle machines on the Liberty earlier this year.

[ARCruisinNana]

Thanks to everyone for following along despite the long breaks between posting! Getting online is indeed a challenge, I've had to call guest services a couple of times to get a special access code to log in since I can't get in with my usual account name and password. They even credited me a day since I lost so much time and had such little connectivity.

 

 

 

First to answer a few questions:

 

 

 

Piano Bar: Kim Kinrade

 

Pub Guitar: Samuel May

 

Most amazing guitar ever: Voytek(!!)

 

 

 

DJs: Resident DJ Tony Scott, DJ Lingo from Scratch Academy

 

Latin Band: Tropical Jam

 

Dance Band: Sofia Band

 

Pool Band: Riddim Wave

 

 

 

Captain: James MacDonald

 

HD: Rodney Darwin

 

F&B: Ron Kane

 

CD: Dru Pavlov

 

AD: Gio

 

 

 

FYI, Johnny Rockets charge is now $6.95. Sigh.

 

 

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to the 11/13 cruise. If you get a chance, could you ask Carlos how many D+ and PC members they are expecting next cruise? Love your detailed reports.

[Stormy15]

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to the 11/13 cruise. If you get a chance, could you ask Carlos how many D+ and PC members they are expecting next cruise? Love your detailed reports.

 

 

Empress of Purple and Cruisjn Nana, do either of you plan on being August 21 Liberty cruise? You both post such great information. Think you! I haven't seen a roll call for that cruise yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ARCruisinNana]

Empress of Purple and Cruisjn Nana, do either of you plan on being August 21 Liberty cruise? You both post such great information. Think you! I haven't seen a roll call for that cruise yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I won't be on 8/21/16 but I just booked a B2B for September. I'm also on in March for Spring Break with the grandchildren. Thanks for the compliment[emoji1].

[EmpressofPurple]

Great review. I will be back on the Liberty 11/22. Hopefully there will not be that many C&A folks on that cruise. Maybe Diamond Plus folks will be able to use the CL again before the drydock. Who are the Concierges in the CL and DL. Also, I could swear I saw the Coke Freestyle machines on the Liberty earlier this year.

 

CL - Carlos Ortiz

DL - Anis Tebbeb

 

No Freestyle on Liberty (yet). I'll try to find out if they'll go in in drydock.

 

Glad you are enjoying the review! More soon.

[KMVigs]

What happened to the guy at "The Quest" game? How did he get hurt? Is he ok?? I didn't see what happened, but I saw the aftermath. Hope he is ok!

[EmpressofPurple]

Day #9 – Monday, November 9, 2015 – At Sea

 

Up before the alarm at 6:15, dressed and up to stretch before 7:00, Matt led stretch and abs, both very well attended for day 9 of a long cruise! After class I headed for the Windjammer, and as part of my quest to have a different breakfast every day I enjoyed Swiss Muesli, to which I added sunflower seeds and chopped almonds, plus some more milk – and I was thrilled to discover fresh strawberries and blueberries in the cereal! Oh, the tang of a perfectly ripe fresh blueberry bursting in your teeth, yum. Also had the largest banana known to man. This breakfast was surprisingly filling and satisfying – perhaps it is closest to the breakfast I have at home nearly every day, a whey protein shake with various mix-ins, including fresh fruit and/or nuts.

 

After breakfast I headed to deck 5 to fill out a community board message about minigolf at 5:00pm, then stopped back at my room and changed into my swimsuit. I finally got online (having to once again call Guest Services for a new access code since the old one wasn’t working any more) and posted yesterday’s blog. Then I packed a beach bag and headed up to Progressive Trivia – got there at 9:15 and it was already pretty packed for the 10:15 session. I put my bags down in the corner and headed into the Diamond Lounge, where I hadn’t yet visited. Wow, a LOT more crowded than the CL, though the location is lovely at the back of the VCL. There’s a different coffee machine here that actually brews a full cup of coffee, but with so many people waiting to use it that’s a good thing! I waited about 10 minutes for 3 people to make coffee (pushing these buttons is very confusing for some people), took a cinnamon roll as my “breakfast dessert” and went back out to the lounge.

 

I then struck up a conversation with a woman on the next couch who would be leaving shortly to play bridge, and I asked if I could move to her section since it would seat 6 (whereas the corner only seated 4) and she said yes. We talked about the planned changes to the ship, and then I helped her up so she could head into the card room. My team arrived – and team Canada (our friends from dinner, but our frenemies in Trivia) took over the corner I had just vacated. Well, it was a hard-fought round but we came in first once again, and I’m hoping we’re back up to number one or two overall. We’ll see, two more sea days to go!!!

 

After trivia I headed down to deck 11 and found an open deck chair by the Solarium pool, but it was in full sun, so I moved it down and out next to the starboard hot tub, so I had a lovely view of the water while I sat in the chair. Before I settled in, I walked out to the elevator and called guest services, getting the same person who helped me with the internet, and let her know that it worked. Then I asked if she had been able to contact the musician Woytek to see if he could come for lunch in the Windjammer. She said when she first called the activities manager that she had woken him up (!) so she would call back to see if he passed on the message. I also left a message for Ken about my plans so he could meet us, too. When I got back to the pool area, first I took a quick dip in the pool, then the hot tub, then settled into my chaise, listening to the musical “Hamilton” which I have on my phone. Bliss!

 

At five minutes to twelve, mostly dry, I put on my sundress and walked over to the Windjammer to see if Woytek was there – and sure enough, there were both Woytek and Ken, waiting for me! They’re both so tall I was standing on tiptoes to look right into their shirt collar button. Sigh. We walked into lunch together, and made selections from the Indian Corner: that great Indian cole slaw, raita, saffron basmati rice, dal, plus chicken curry and palak paneer (spinach with cheese). Yum!!! We sat and talked for nearly an hour and a half, about everything from a musician’s life, to cruise ship shows, to traveling in Poland and Europe, to family, history, culture, and on and on. What a delight! Woytek has been on cruise ships for 15 years, 5 with Celebrity and 10 with Royal, but this was the first time I had encountered him on board; he had played on ships I had never sailed (Enchantment, Freedom), or on itineraries I haven’t yet experienced (i.e., Brilliance in Europe).

 

At the end of this wonderful encounter, I went back to my deck chair, and after another dip in the hot tub (and conversations with our friends the Canadians who are joining us for our minivan adventure in Grand Cayman tomorrow) I laid out on my chair and watched the ocean for over an hour. Then down to my room, shower and dress for the top tier event in Studio B, which I invited Ken to join me for – and we were thrilled to find that it wasn’t just free drinks but a special ice show, designed and choreographed by the dancers themselves. We had something similar on the Explorer repo last year, and it was very special. These ice dancers are creative, talented, and daring, and it was a great show. We were lucky to find John and Jeremy, our friends in the “Cow Sweet” had two extra seats so we joined them to enjoy the performance in the packed theatre.

 

Afterwards we ran upstairs to see if anyone showed up for mini golf – but no, the notice clearly went up too late. Ken and I took photos on the (nearly empty) sports deck – a short line at the flowrider for stand-up surfing, a couple people closing down the rock wall, and one guy shooting hoops. There were about four other couples on the Liberty Dunes, and when no one else from the CC group showed up, Ken and I played a round ourselves – and he beat me by 4 points. Sigh. Afterwards we enjoyed the view of the pool deck from the chairs by the elevator entry on the 13th floor, then decided to see if the “low limit tables” in the casino until 7pm would be the place to try out my new craps knowledge. We stopped at the cabin to pick up cash, then to the casino – but no, there are no low limits in craps. I dropped $20 on roulette, saying farewell to that cash in about 20 minutes. Double sigh.

 

Then back to the cabin to shower and dress for dinner, write a bunch of work emails, and update this blog.

--------

I sat on the deck 4 promenade enjoying the cool night air and rushing waves, then met up with friends at 7:15 to pick up tender tickets for the following morning; we got #5. I heard about various members of our group winning prizes at different trivias that day (multiple water bottles). I followed them to the Schooner Bar for trivia and found out it was pirate night (arrgh!). I chatted with John and Jeremy at the bar about future cruising plans, and they told me the news that Celebrity was planning to phase out formal night on all their ships! Big news (and not my favorite, but I’m sure I’ll adjust). I also asked them to look over my list of virgin drinks and help me decide which one would be a good pirate drink. Jeremy suggested I ask for a “Moscow Mule” (lime juice, simple syrup, ginger ale and club soda) and call it a “Pirate Duel” – such a great idea, and a lovely drink, too, the club soda thinned it out so it wasn’t just too sweet.

 

Then it was off to dinner, where it was Italian night (Pimiento menu, I think). Having tried most of these dishes, I ordered two new ones for me: terrific cold antipasti appetizer, caprese salad (which wasn’t great), main course was the pork chops made with a fresh sage leaf and prosciutto, similar to a veal saltimbocca but made with pork (I also make this with a pounded chicken breast and it’s delicious) and the eggplant parmigiana. I also ordered the lasagna, which had long been a favorite with its unique swirl of meat and cream sauces, but this time it was rather indifferent, and others complained about their meal as well. The mini dessert sampler was delicious as always, with the flourless chocolate cake, cheesecake and boysenberry mousse.

 

After dinner, Ken and I went to the Royal Online Center to print out the driving tour directions we had researched before the cruise. I decided to forego the Quest, having participated so many times and often been part of a victorious team (usually contributing actively to the team’s success). Instead, I decided to enjoy Voytek’s entire set in the Schooner Bar, which was appreciated by the entire audience. I also took photos of the Pirate menu, including drinks such as “Walk the Plank” and “Bury Me In The Sand.” After the show, I spoke with Voytek about the crew show he had mentioned earlier, but he said he couldn’t get me in, and had to go meet his friends there…

 

… but I sneaked into the deck 4 balcony and enjoyed the entire show from there! It was great, the same as the show in Olive or Twist for guests a few nights earlier that I had missed, “An Evening with Guitars.” The guitarist played three different guitars, and one of the singers performed with him, along with bass, keyboards and drums. The show was introduced by the cruise director (in jeans!) and the audience of crew members danced in the aisles and sang along for the entire show, including two encores. The repertoire was amazing: While my guitar gently weeps, On Broadway, Johnny B. Goode, Skyfall, Scotch & Soda, Lost in the Masquerade, a medley of 4 on 6 and Sir Duke, Santana’s Gimme Your Heart, Make It Real (Or else forget about it), Fields of Gold by Sting, and the last song, Still got the Blues by an Irish guitarist (which was dedicated to Voytek), and the encores were Stairway to Heaven and Walking in Memphis. It was a great show, given more energy by the appreciate and engaged crew audience.

 

I snuck out of the theatre afterwards and up to the stateroom, to prepare my bag for a day of driving on Grand Cayman, lay out my gym clothes, etc., finally getting to bed around 2:00am… thank goodness we fell back an hour, so it was actually only 1:00!!

[EmpressofPurple]

Day #10 – Tuesday, Nov. 10 – Grand Cayman

 

(Catching up to the present with the late-night double post!!)

The day started as all my cruise days have, up before the alarm at 6:40 to dress and get up to stretch, continually happy to see the class full day after day! I stayed on for abs as well, and I can definitely start to feel the difference in being able to perform these challenging exercises. I just wish I could keep up this daily habit at home!! I wish the onboard trainers would give you a sheet with their stretches and ab exercises to do on your own, it would be a great way to bring the cruise home with you.

 

I stopped at the concierge lounge and made my daily cappuccino, plus put together a cup of cold cuts for a midnight snack, saying good morning to Carlos (dang, I should've been snacking while I wrote this! Forgot about that...). Then I headed back to the room and put on my swimsuit and a long beach dress, then went to meet Ken for breakfast at 8:30. We were seated at a large table and made conversation with various tablemates about our shore plans and cruise experience. I ordered the salmon benedict, plus a half grapefruit and some grits, which I ate with butter, salt, pepper – and hot sauce!

 

By the time we were coming out of breakfast (which took over 40 minutes to get to the table), they were already announcing tender tickets #1-5! We rushed up to our cabins to grab our bags, then back down to the dining room to meet our companions. Everybody hustled to meet this new departure time nearly 40 minutes earlier than we had expected to be able to leave! We got on one of the first large tenders and headed into Grand Cayman.

 

The walk to the car rental was indeed very short, but alas my ankle and leg were hurting once again, so it was quite painful for me. Ken and Ben kindly carried my beach bag and snorkel gear to make it easier on me, and that helped a lot. The van, which I feared would be tiny, turned out to be huge; we enjoyed spreading out, and Ken did a great job driving on the left side of the road in a right-hand drive car (with Ben's great backseat help as our rear-view camera).

 

We decided to do the Frommer’s driving tour #2, since that included Hell and the Turtle Farm, both of which we wanted to see, and they were great destinations. The driving tour directions were great except that they continually said “go east!” or “go north” instead of “go left” or “go right” and since we had no idea which way was east or north we occasionally took a wrong turn, but once we figured it out it was easy enough to correct for it.

 

We drove past seven mile beach and arrived quickly at the turtle farm, directly across the street from the dolphin encounter. I was expecting a small turtle farm and was surprised to discover an attraction more like a theme park… we just did the $18 ticket to view the HUGE green sea turtles, plus breeding tanks with smaller young turtles, and petting tanks where you could hold and wade with the turtles. We took lots of photos, and Debra purchased the group pictures, viewing it as a contribution to this great wildlife center. We had a tour guide take us around to the hatchery, picked up a few items in the gift shop, and got back on the road.

 

Next stop: the town of Hell. While described as a terrible tourist trap, I actually thought this was an amazing attraction. The post office and gift shops are kind of kitschy, but we sent the obligatory “I’ve been to hell and back” post cards with Hell postmarks on them… then asked where we could see the natural rock formations that gave the town its name… and walked out back to see a lunar landscape of bleak, black rocks and murky water that was the epitome of a hellmouth in this island paradise!!! I took some photos (including one of me in the devil cutout) and we got back in the car.

 

We proceeded to follow the directions to the end of the island by a bird sanctuary, then doubled back to go to a fishing dock, next to which were two seafood restaurants. We chose one and enjoyed a nice selection of fresh fresh fresh fish: mixed ceviche of conch and wahoo (delicate and delicious with microgreens including flower petals, orange and peppers in the sauce), fish tacos, and fish croquettes. Yum!

 

Back in the car, and heading back towards the ship, we stopped at the Royal Palms lot to enjoy a few minutes at seven mile beach (for $2 per person)… club music playing, lively beach bar, chairs to rent but we just went in the water for a few minutes, showered off, and headed out… alas, hitting a broken-off light pole on the way out and scratching the car door that resulted in extra charges on the rental bill (the car rental company insists you buy their insurance in order to rent, but neglects to inform you until you arrive that there’s a $1500 deductible, rendering the insurance nearly useless for all but the most horrific accidents).

 

We walked back to the ship tender area, browsed the various duty free and gift shops, and boarded one of the later tenders (last one was 5:15, we were on by 4:45). After dropping off stuff in the cabin, I headed up to the hot tub to enjoy sailaway from Grand Cayman, joined by Ken and a visit from Debra. Then it was a mad dash at 6:20 to get dressed and down to the theatre in time for the 6:45 Beatlemania Live show! Always a fun, interactive cruise show, I managed to sneak in at the last minute and still snag a solo front row seat!! Singing along, hooting and hollering, it was great.

 

Took the elevator up to 8, going past lines of people waiting to come into the theatre for the post-dinner show. Walked to the back of the ship (left foot and ankle still hurting a lot, though thank goodness my right leg seems much better), picked up a few things from the cabin, and headed down to dinner. Wow, it’s been really hard using the elevator so much on this cruise! I’m so used to walking the stairs all week. While I was in the hot tub before the show, I could see a guy running around and around on the track (he was probably twice as fast as me) and I felt so jealous, this was what I wanted to be doing on this trip. Oh well, hopefully the feet will improve soon and I’ll be back to my usual running routine.

 

We asked Naville to serve dinner quickly so Ken and I could get up to the pool deck for the 9:00pm showing of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Since we’ve never gotten out of dinner before 10:00pm this was going to be quite a challenge! We shared stories with everyone at the table about our day’s adventures, and heard about their outings as well. Dinner was the Shiitake menu, and I enjoyed the Harira Soup (which I have had before) and the ceviche (which was good, with lime and cilantro, but of course could not compare to our waterside meal a few hours earlier); main course was the rack of lamb, and instead of being lamb lollipops, these were meaty, medium rare, tender, juicy and delicious! I was sorry we had to rush off, as Naville kept bringing us extra lamb chops after extra lamb chops!

 

Ken stayed to get some dessert, and I headed up to get us some seats… stopping on the way at the Café Promenade where I picked up a plate of sugar-free chocolate cookies (his favorite) and a cup of coffee for me. It turned out it was RAINING on deck, so I moved a couple of chairs under the overhanging area where we would be able to see the screen. The deck staff came, after I had settled in (and moved three times) to say I was blocking the aisle and I had to move – not offering to help me, not making any suggestions on where I could go, just telling me I couldn’t stay there, and not very nicely either. I finally pulled the chairs up behind another couple, and Ken arrived with his desserts.

 

We started watching the movie as the rain picked up; Ken got me a towel to use as a blanket… but the rain got heavier and heavier, there was lightning and thunder and wind and we finally gave up, heading down to the Café Promenade for more cookies! I didn’t want any more coffee, so I just had a cup of hot water to warm up (yum, water!) and we looked at the invitations to the three behind-the-scenes tours we would be enjoying over the last two days: Bridge Tour, Galley Tour, and Theatre Tour.

 

Then we went to look at the logo shop, where I bought THREE cruisewear dresses, on sale for $12 each!! (Plus my usual cruise magnet.) They’re quite nice, one a maxi with large bright blue and white stripes and three cutouts at the neck, the second another maxi with very narrow navy and white stripes and a cinch tie waist, and the third a mini beach cover up in my favorite light purple and white Hawaiian style flower print. Lovely!

 

From there we headed up in the elevator with one of the skaters, thanking him for his great work in the C&A skating show. He was going up to the Viking Crown Lounge to see the jazz performances by four of the singers and five of the band members (including horns), where I was going too! There I met Kent, and we sat mesmerized by an hour of jazz, blues and standards sung by two solos and duets, just a great bunch of songs from the Lady is a Tramp, to the Birth of the Blues, to Almost Like Falling in Love, and on and on. After the show, I thanked all of the singers for their great performances, and headed back to my cabin, where I worked on these notes until 2:00am… alas, no fall-back on the clock tonight, and I have to get up for my 7:00am stretch, 7:30 abs, 8:00 breakfast and 9:00 bridge tour!! Good night!!!

[DKNYC]

Wow , I am exhausted. Thank goodness tomorrow er, today is a holiday. Adventurous day in Grand Cayman. You have given me a few ideas. I obviously have to explore the nightlife more on these cruises. I see I am missing a lot.

Sorry the mini golf tournament didn't work out. Also sorry about your foot issues and the auto mishap. Happy snacking. Good night.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[BecciBoo]

Denise, have enjoyed your commentary, but want to know just when the Cpt. expects your arrival to the channel in Galveston. Hoping she will come in a little later in the morning so we can see you well.

 

They are having a big celebration for Liberty's arrival with water boats, Coast Guard boats, possibly a flotilla, etc. and I don't want to miss it on the Galveston.com live web cam.

 

You ARE arriving on Thursday, right?

 

Thanks for the heads up....

:D

Edited November 11, 2015 by BecciBoo

[EmpressofPurple]

Denise, have enjoyed your commentary, but want to know just when the Cpt. expects your arrival to the channel in Galveston. Hoping she will come in a little later in the morning so we can see you well.

 

They are having a big celebration for Liberty's arrival with water boats, Coast Guard boats, possibly a flotilla, etc. and I don't want to miss it on the Galveston.com live web cam.

 

You ARE arriving on Thursday, right?

 

Thanks for the heads up....

:D

 

Hi Becciboo, no we are coming in Friday Nov. 13!!! I believe arrival is 6:30 am.

 

I had no idea about the celebration for Liberty's arrival! Nifty!:D

[dijo]

Can you please tell me what bands are on the Liberty for dancing and how are they?

[39august]

She named the bands in post #82.

[Charger2008]

So are there going to be any "dancing" venues on the Freedom class ships if they are doing away with the discos? I know they have the Latin themed venue but will they have any just plain ole "dancing" places????

[windjamming]

Yay, another EmpressOfPurple review! I just spent the last hour reading this thread, vicariously enjoying your sunny beach days, fun trivia team, and countless other adventures. I'm always so impressed by how much you pack into every day!

 

Hope your ankle and leg feel better, and enjoy the rest of the cruise!