Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Newbie Live review: Liberty of the Seas Oct 28th Western Caribbean

Tree_skier

By Tree_skier,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

Posted
Posted

I have fallen in love with CC!  We booked our cruise 5 months ago and I "discovered" CC shortly thereafter.  I think I might have actually found CC back in 2016 after I booked our 2017 MSC Mediterranean cruise but I know never "discovered" the forum. Anyways, one of my favorite parts of the forum has been to follow live reviews and live vicariously through other posters experiences.  DW and I are not veteran cruisers but we're planning on becoming veterans :classic_biggrin:. So this review will be seen through the lens of someone who is discovering RCi.  We cruised once on RCi 11 years ago on Seranade of the Seas to Alaska but as I have read here on CC a lot has changed since then.  Honestly, I barely remember that trip.  I'm neither a prolific writer nor a particularly talented photographer so apologies in advance for any short comings there.

 

For context, a little about us... We are mid 50's, love to travel and do so extensively.  We are originally from Vancouver BC but now make our home in Central CA. We have seen a goodly portion of Western Europe, a tiny bit of of Southern Europe (the Med cruise last year) and have travelled through 32 of 50 states. When we travel we usually stay in mid-priced hotels (read Hampton Inn) but enjoy splurging now and again for luxuries or more exotic experiences.  This cruise is the result of a trip we took early this year to Florida.  We agreed to a time share pitch that included a 3-4 night RCi cruise to the Bahamas.  Sit through the time share get a cruise and a $200 Hilton gift certificate.  One of the alternatives on the cruise certificate was to use it for up to $500 off any cruise RCi offered.  That was our choice and we choose as our cruise this 7 day Western Caribbean cruise departing from Galveston TX.

 

We will be staying in Spacious Balcony Cabin #1704.  This is an aft cabin.  Thanks to all of you great posters on CC I learned that aft cabins are the best.  After booking a regular balcony cabin I discovered there was an aft balcony available.  I called and had our cabin changed to this aft location.  Interestingly, this cabin is listed as a 3 or more person cabin but they allowed us to book it with only two people.  I called and changed to this cabin after final payment date so I'm not sure if that had any impact on our ability to get it.

 

Day 0:  Today is travel day.  We fly out of Fresno CA at 10:15 am through LAX into IAH.  We should land about 6pm CDT.  Right now, I'm packed and ready to go. I'm sitting outside, drinking coffee, listening to the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo, waiting for one last west-coast sunrise.  DW is still sound asleep.  More later...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

Posted
  • Author
Posted

United delayed flight out of Fresno😩so we will miss our connecting flight at LAX. They’ve rebooked us with American to get to LA and put us in a later flight to Houston so we’ll get in quite late to Galveston. I should have known better than to book with United but we’ll get there eventually. Another good example of why you should always travel the day before embarkation.

 

Fresno is a small airport so it really easy to fly out of.A completely nonexistent line at security.  A minor hiccup but we’re still super excited. 

41B9E069-936C-435C-800E-EFE049F56011.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well we made it into Galveston.  After getting rebooked onto American Airlines for our Fresno to LAX leg , American announced a delay in their flight and we were going to have  20 minutes between landing and takeoff for our next flight.  Needless to say nerves were starting to fray.  However, all of a sudden they announced that the flight was getting in earlier than they anticipated and when we managed to board, only 10 minutes later than originally scheduled, our boarding pass beeped as were being scanned in and we were reseated into first class.  So what started out pretty bad has ended pretty good.  

 

We arrived in IAH, got an Uber to Galveston and are now resting comfortably in the Hilton Galveston Island munching on a club house sandwich from room service anticipating embarkation tomorrow.  For those interested... Uber from IAH to Galveston was $61.32

 

The Hilton seems fine.  Looks like a typical Hilton. We ‘re on the 9th floor and looks like we’ll have a good view I just can’t really tell yet.  Thanks to everyone for following along, this is a lot of fun for me. More tomorrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

Posted
  • Author
Posted
17 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

Looks like a gorgeous day in Galveston. Thanks for sharing it!

It’s a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for an amazing sailaway. Bright blue sky and 79 degrees. I’m sitting on my aft balcony waiting to leave. 😎

53C1DB4A-65D7-460B-8046-D5EFAF5E126C.jpeg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...