slc22

Thanks, good information.

We were on the liberty in May and will be on it again September, spend the extra money stream and surf package. The internet speed on the surf package is spotty and slow.

thanks for the feedback!

I purchased the regular surf package and only checked email and Facebook. Some days were better than others.

Thanks, good information.

Did anyone in your group of 11 purchase an internet package?

If so, were they satisfied with connection, speed, and was it the surf package or surf_&_stream?

Thanks!

according to this post on Gulf Coast departures, yours was the FIRST sailing to depart from the new side of terminal 2, and the old side was closed at the same to further remodel. The entire project is not yet complete. It's quite likely your boarding experience (no boarding lounge for those with C&A status) is just temporary until the project is complete. Hope you had a lovely cruise anyway!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2371646

Oops - now that I've had my coffee, I see OP was talking about disembarkation from ship, not Galveston departure lounge in the terminal!

OP, disregard my previous post. Still hope you had a lovely cruise!!

Just sailed on Liberty of the Seas on July 3, 2016. As a Diamond Plus member, I was disappointed to hear about the loss of a Concierge Club benefit on ships that now have Suite Lounges., but I had read about the change prior to the cruise.

 

However, my bigger disappointment is the loss of an exclusive Departure Lounge & No Priority Disembarkation for Diamond Plus & Diamond tiers. On the Liberty of the Seas, all Crown & Anchor members are now lumped together for departure.

according to this post on Gulf Coast departures, yours was the FIRST sailing to depart from the new side of terminal 2, and the old side was closed at the same to further remodel. The entire project is not yet complete. It's quite likely your boarding experience (no boarding lounge for those with C&A status) is just temporary until the project is complete. Hope you had a lovely cruise anyway!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2371646

The problem is not (and has never been) the amount of sodium (that pretty much does not exist in distilled water or water produced through reverse osmosis), it's the chlorine that is added to the purified warmer because of health regulations (to keep ship's water lines germ free) and which is a known cause of water retention.

...

Thank you for this information! I didn't realize the problem could be chlorine from the treated water (I assumed it was excess sodium). All I know is that when I consume mostly bottled water, instead of drinking only the ship's water, I don't experience the water retention in my feet, ankles and hands.

Thanks for the explanation!

I, too, have had a major problem with ankle swelling on ships for the last 3 years. I get on the ship and within a day my ankles are swollen up. I had assumed it was the salt in the food until I read a post that it could be the tap water. Since we are in an OS on our next cruise we will have bottled water provided, and I can test my theory by drinking bottled water as much as possible.

Good luck! Hope you report back if this solution works for you, too.

People also tend to eat and drink vastly different on cruise ships than they do on land, and this could lead to different conditions...

I agree completely! The combined sodium levels likely contributed to my issue. Since I do drink so much water throughout the day, it was the easier option to eliminate any higher sodium levels in the water to control any swelling. This lets me enjoy all the lovely meals and ensures my shoes still fit :)

I will continue to consume bottled water in the future on cruises. Just hoping for reasonable on-board prices.

That's fine for you, I just find it to be ridiculous to change because of bottled water. Tap water is perfectly fine.

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Tap water on the ship may be fine for you. But possibly not everyone. Ship's water cause my feet and hands to swell. After my first 2 cruises on 2 different lines with swelling, I found that switching to bottled water during my cruises prevented this condition. I drink a lot of water on a cruise, and bottled water is fine for me :)

I've read quite a few other CC posters on various forums who also experience swelling from ship water. I appreciated NCL allowing me to carry bottled water on board when I sailed them last year. Sad to see that the only option now is paying the inflated price on board when I cruise. Hopefully they will follow CCL's lead in providing an affordable option on board.

I just sent an email. Again, without CC I would not have known about the access desk number or email. We have never had this problem before. We live our lives normally and/or I plan &research before we go. I don't make this issue run our lives. We bring what we need, or make sure it's available.

Good luck, I hope you get a satisfactory resolution. You've planned well, and had NCL not changed the policy effective after your final payment period you would not be having a stressful time right now.

When this issue surfaced with NCL's policy change - I'm surprisd your TA did not then automatically update your reservation with dietary restriction needs when you called TA to contact the Access Department! You mentioned Access Department again today asked why there is not a notation. I suggest having your TA add this ASAP.

Good luck, and I sincerely hope for a good outcome, and a wonderful trip for your family.

We thought the speed was OK last week on LB. My husband watched a couple of our recorded movies with no problem.

Hi, did you have the regular Surf or the Stream package?

Thanks!

Thanks to you both for your suggestions!

Hi,

We have a group of friends that will be sailing together on Liberty of the Seas soon. Thanks to this forum, we understand we can email RCL dining with a request. We are in 3 different cabins, all confirmed for early Traditional dining.

This will be our first time on Liberty, and would appreciate advice on any section of the dining room that could easily accommodate either a table of 12, or 2 tables next to each other. There will be 6 children in the group, so would not be wise to be out in the middle of the dining room.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

No, RC told the TA no. Nothing below balcony. In other words, we were being forced to book balcony when balcony capacity is 4 & there are 2 OV cabins that have a capacity of 3 (2602 & 3602).

What sailing? Have you tried to book either of those 2 OV cabins online for 2, and then transfer to the TA?

I just tried some mock bookings for 3 random dates for 2 people selecting the box for needing accessible cabin. 2 dates returned no OV cabins met that criteria. * However April 8-17, 2017 did allow 2 to book accessible cabin 3606. So yes, you can still sail from Baltimore as a couple. Your TA should be able to find you other sailings.

Try the online booking to see if you can reserve 2602 or 3602 that you are referencing above. Good luck !

Yes, we are part of a large family reunion group and all our staterooms are deck 8 aft. We can see if there's anything open, and she and her hubby are very budget-conscience people so that very well may be an idea to try. I do know that she picked those inside rooms because they are directly across the hall from her parents Royal Family Suite. They wanted their own space and didn't want to share the suite. But we'll check because I agree, if there's a deal now, best to take advantage of it now.

I understand budgeting - that's why my daughter chose this cabin. Have your cousin view youtube video on Liberty of the Seas 8500. Only drawback for her is it is all the way forward on 8, while the rest of you are aft.

Have fun!

... Well our group will have eight kids 7 years old and younger and three more under age 18. At least kiddos often don't mind being on a couch or bunk bed [emoji6]

is your cousin's family on the same sailing as you, on Liberty of the Seas? If so, she might want to call and see if a family oceanview is available, instead of 2 inside cabins. Many are much larger than a normal cabin, with a bunkbed room, larger living area that should easily accomodate 2 pack-n-plays. Just check this board for the larger room suggestions. Not all family oceanviews are the same size!

For example, deck 8 has 8500 and 8200 that are huge. My daughter priced 2 insdes, and then found she could get the large family oceanview for about the same price, for their family of 5. They will be sailing in July in one of the deck 8 FO cabins. The ones on deck 8 only have 1 bathroom, but they are willing to trade that for the large room space! With a bunkbed room, huge living area, and a bedroom too, they are excited to try this FO option.

Liberty also has brand new Panoramic Family Oceanviews (on deck 12 I think) with large living area, and 1-1/2 baths, and bunkbed room For 5 or 6 members of a family. Seems like this may be another viable option, giving them lots of room for the babies' beds, and accomodating the toddler in a lower bunk or couch, and the extra half bath. Again, check deck plan as some are much larger.

she will have to call Royal Caribbean for availability and price. With the current BOGO 60 sale, she should check prices now!

Good luck, and have fun!

 

At the M&M we were told Voom was still 2-3 weeks out.

.

Hope you are enjoying your cruise, and Thanks for taking questions!

If you aren't tired of more Voom questions, and only if you have time, could you ask what the tiered speeds will be on Liberty - the Surf vs. Surf & Stream. Any info they may have would be appreciated.

many thanks!

Hi, I was pricing a 2017 cruise and noticed this also.

It appeared that for all all cabins within a category (ex: inside cabin), the special was free upgrade within the category. All insides were priced the same, whether lowest deck and lowest category, or superior large cabin on a higher deck.

I'm not sure if that is the correct answer, just my observation with the British Isles cruise I priced.

Hi, You mentioned you booked a regular inside guarantee ( at 200% ).

How will Royal handle your cruise points? Past posters said solos in Studio insides only get 1 point per night, instead of double. But if you do a mock booking for TA westbound on Serenade in the fall to check GTY, it only lists categories Q through L. Does not specifically include SI on the Guarantee booking details. Seems like you booked and paid for a category that would provide you with double points as a solo. But the assignment of an SI studio may not allow the double points. Maybe you can get it in writing about points before you go ... or see if they will switch you to the westbound TA instead in a regular inside. Just a thought.

Good luck! The Eastbound TA sounds wonderful! If you go, I hope you have a great cruise!

I appreciated your review, tips and pictures.

Nice job!

Thank you so much for your extremely helpful insight. When you are used to one type of cruise line...the transition is not always smooth.:(

...

However the more relaxed free style kids options on Disney are very inviting.. and you can plan your whole day around YOUR family's needs and wants VRS what the cruise line says you or your child MUST do in order to be allowed to participate. :confused: So we have pretty much determined that the 3 grand-kids will not be utilizing the kids club at all except maybe on one port day...which is fine, they enjoy more outdoor activities anyway... :). By the way which port days are they open?? Or is it everyday your in a port?

...

Am sad about no rotational dining but sounds like the WJ will be a godsend for the 3 year old and myself..because honestly 3 floors of BUSY/LOUD dinning isn't really my style either. :)

I sure hope you go with an open mind, as you and your family may have a great, fun cruise on Liberty of the seas!

If you go with the attitude that if it's not the same as Disney so no sense trying things ( dining room, kids club, etc) you may be setting yourself up for just an OK time, instead of a family cruise adventure to remember.

I am cruising with my daughter's family on Liberty this summer. My grandkids (ages 7 - 10 at cruise time) have cruised on Disney Magic previously, and they loved the activities and the kids club. But they are also excited to have fun in Liberty's kids clubs. We searched cruise critic for daily cruise compasses that listed kids activities, and let them read about it. Guess what - they are excited to try! Each found activities listed that sounded fun. Of course we will take advantage of family time with all the other activities this wonderful ship offers! By including the grandkids in planning activities, they are super excited to sail Royal Caribbean.

I really hope the cruise exceeds you and your family's expectations. No, it's not Disney, but if you go with the right attitude, you may be pleasantly surprised. Please come back after the cruise and let us know how you liked it.

 

That said, I'm a little peeved that RC hasn't had British Isles cruise from 2014 to 2016. There is one British Isles cruise in 2017, but it's in May, before U.S. schools let out for the summer.

 

There are 2 BI cruises on Vision in 2017 - May 22, and another June 27.

Both 12 day cruises RT Amsterdam, slight itinerary differences between the two. I priced the June cruise last week and it had great availability and really decent prices. Hope it works for your family

 

On a whim, looked at cruises leaving the following day, and got 3 of the last 4 rooms on the Disney Dream for a 4 night carribbean cruise. It was not ideal (we had been on the same cruise 2 other times) but Disney could not have been more accommodating and worked hard to make it work for us and at that point, it beat going home after being fully prepared to be taken care of for 7 nights.

Berddog, - welcome to Cruise Critic! And thank you for taking the time to warn others to check passport expirations and destination requirements. I appreciate you sharing this as a learning experience.

Glad to hear you were able to salvage part of the vacation - and your parents' milestone anniversary celebration - with a family cruise after all!

Has anyone been on Tortola, and been swimming with Dolphins there?

Is it any good?

There were 8 of us from the Getaway April 25 roll call, that booked directly with dolphin discovery. They have a new package called Dolphin Adventure Memories ... They give you a disk with all your photos from the session, and lunch, and followed up with an informative tour.

I highly recommend it!

There was never a problem last month. I believe it rolled out after May 1st....depending on what ship one was on.

 

Harriet

I agree. I'd posted this on the poll about my experience on the Getaway (May 1).

"I'd read in cruise critic that folks could order items from O'Sheehans to go. I tried to order a sandwich and chips to go on my last sea day (May 1), and was told by the hostess and the supervisor this was no longer allowed. No food could be taken away per policy.

I had been reading and listening to the sea in the nice wicker chairs on the waterfront area on deck 8 - and wanted to bring the sandwich there, rather than tie up a table for 4 (all that were left) in the restaurant.

Instead I sat at a table for 4 in O'Sheehan's by myself, with my kindle, and had a leisurely meal. I Felt the use of the 4-person table for one person wasn't the best use of their resources, but really didn't have any choice. I politely complied with their policy, even though I would have preferred to eat outdoors in a quiet spot where I could see and hear the ocean.I was not going to take it back to my room but was going to take it to a quiet, empty part of the ship where tables and chairs existed."

I didn't try earlier in the week, but at least on May 1, the no take-out policy was being enforced on the Getaway.