-LIVE- Liberty - Transatlantic 10-26-14

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I can easily post a quick update the morning we depart so you have an idea as to the status of cleanup :D!

 

 

Wonderful, can't wait for the rest of your updates!

[TMorr68]

As I'm a day behind on this update, bear with me!

 

DAY 2: Monday, Oct. 27, 2014

 

Monday we had a full day at sea, sailing from Barcelona, Spain to the lovely city of Cadiz, which is also just a 1 hour bus ride from Seville, Spain. The weather was much nicer than I had anticipated on a TransAtlantic cruise but very welcome after the chilly weather we had in the Northeast US. The waves were calm and the sun was shining. We spent the beginning of the day eating breakfast in the Windjammer (always amazing in our opinion) and then cleaning up for the Meet n' Mingle.

 

Prior to the Meet n' Mingle we were sure to get a new favorite of mine, the Wildberry Lava Flow drink from deck 5. Just as my track history with the Grandeur of the Seas last November, this cruise the Hotel Director stated we had the largest Meet n' Mingle yet on Liberty of the Seas (Again don't quote me but somewhere near 250?) We filled the entire Sphynx lounge on Deck 5 forward and met some great people. RCCL handed out at least 5-7 bags of goodies to raffle ticket winners as well as 2 bottles of wine. Following that official Meet n Mingle give-a-way, we had our own personally arranged Gift Exchange. Many thanks (I'm sorry I forget your name!) to the lovely woman who hand painted the flower of California and gave it to us as a gift, we'll be hanging it up on our return!

 

After the Meet n Mingle we had a Windjammer lunch (So far folks I'm sorry to say the Windjammer has been a bit better than the dining room, but that's strictly due to my personal tastes in food) I'm just not that into the main dining room menu the first 2 nights. While browsing around the ship all day and taking in the sites, we hit the pool deck for sun, as well as met Kelcey's ex-boyfriend in the Promenade. Boy let me tell you how awkward this was, meeting someone who's bigger than you and talks louder than you, let's just say I was forced to take a photo with them:

 

 

After this awkward run-in with Shrek we had more Sangria outside of Sorrento's while waiting for a photo with Captain Teo. What can I say folks, he personally requested our presence for a photo and stated we were the best behaved group of these party animals!

 

 

Now, in honor of mpoole3, I went into the Hoof & Claw for a little brewsky. In honor of our Scots on bored, I wanted to 'Schlep' around a bit. I sat right in front of the tap and stared down the bartender. I asked "Do you have some type of beer or drink named stella?" What can I say here other than I never had it and apparently never had the paycheck to claim ownership of a case of it! The bartender looked at me like the moron that I am, backed up a step and stated, "Nahhhh man We don't have that." Now, find the humor in this photo:

 

 

Obviously the red tap handle was 1 foot from my face. Regardless mpoole3, this Stella's for you! Here are two more shots from in the Hoof & Claw (My photos range from GoPro Hero3+ Black and Nikon Coolpix cameras) so sorry for some bad shots.

 

 

 

I did enjoy the atmosphere here.. without my flash, it was more dark and cozy than I expected.

 

Hahaha! That was funny! I am loving your review and the humor you add to it! Will definitely be following, as we sail Liberty in March!! :)

[Bobal]

I'm also on this cruise and enjoying this thread. Tim, not sure if you realised that we almost left two people behind in Cadiz. They were announcing a couple of names for a while and we finally set off 10 minutes after departure time just as the couple came running into the port. We were a few yards from the dock when the captain reversed back and picked them up. That was one lucky couple - another few minutes and I think we'd have been too far gone to turn back.

[lutzkibbutz]

GR8 job, Tim! Also a shout out to DW Brenda Lee for getting us to par on the slot pull! Two pics...the first is the Rock of Gibraltar and the second is Morrocco. Sorry for the quality but did not have a tri-pod.

 

Jeff

[lutzkibbutz]

GR8 job, Tim! Also a shout out to DW Brenda Lee for getting us to par on the slot pull! Two pics...the first is the Rock of Gibraltar and the second is Morrocco. Sorry for the quality but did not have a tri-pod.

 

Jeff

 

OK...for reasons unbeknownst to me I can only upload one TINY shot at atime and it chose Morrocco first. Below is Gibraltar!

[Twibes]

Thanks guys / gals for your input. I knew when we were leaving Cadiz the ship pushed away a few feet, and then returned right back against the dock. Personally, I think we should've left! :o

 

Let's get to today:

 

DAY 4: Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014

 

- I woke-up this morning and heard such a chatter, a girl, a fairy, who knows and what's it matter!

 

- I came to life just as fast as could be, to hear a high pitch voice squealing at me.

 

- "Tim wake-up for we're going to be late, today we have so much stacked up on our plate!"

 

- Kelcey was hyper and in a big tiff, for she thought that the clock said "you're late it's like 10!"

 

-Too bad for her that in fact she was wrong, cause the clocks got turned back, it was early, I could've slept so long!

 

- So to my dismay I was already showered, and Kelcey then said "oh no big deal just go back to bed, flick the lights, cut the power.

 

- I said "H$ll no I'm awake now my dear" and then began the day sipping expresso and then beer.

 

This morning's weather was warm, lightly breezy, and overcast. The good news is that for a TransAtlantic the water is amazing. The sun was trying to beam through the horizin for most of the morning:

 

 

We spent time today drinking coffee and grabbing some breakfast in the Wind Jammer and consuming it on our nice sized JS balcony. Afterward, I was off for some more Espresso while Kelcey occupied her time online (Guys we all know we aren't aloud on electronic devices around the ladies on vacation so isn't this unfair!)

 

Our first event today was a Bar Mixology gathering at the Schooner Bar. This only lasted 30 minutes but was very informative on the history and originating location of the MaiTai, Cosmopolitan, and Margarita. Do you know the significance of the worm in the Tequila you drink? Shout out your answers and I'll tell you if you're right tomorrow. This went well for the first 15 minutes, until the lurkers sneaked up and walked right up in front of many of us. There they stood while taking drinks and then walking away, so we were forced to wait a short few seconds longer while they brought more out. None the less, nothing can ruin a trip for us so we just laugh it off, stare a bit, and move forward.

 

Bar Mixology:

 

Immediately after this mixology / intoxication finale, we walked a few feet into the Smoke House...AKA: Casino. Here Mike was kind enough to organize a well run Slot Pull. Each member present put in a $15 donation and then a few pints of blood and prayed for the best. We had a good turnout, however in the end wound up $2 less than breaking even per person. All in all a good time to meet, drink, and be merry. Also a Happy birthday to a3Lakes today (As well as another young lady in the group who I cannot remember at the moment!)

 

 

Suffering the loss of our bubblegum funds, we found our way back to the Pool Deck where to our delight, the sun broke through for a few hours. Again, this was great weather that we hadn't expected! Unfortunately there were not enough willing seniors to participate in the Pelvic Crusher Contest. I'm sorry, I meant in the Belly Flop contest! I can admit that we were disappointed as we had prime seating and video ready to roll on this catastrophic yet hysterical event. This was probably for the better though as I saw no splints, stretchers, or medical personnel on stand-by for the bone breaking malpractice suits to follow!

 

 

[Twibes]

One of our favorite places to get a Martini, Wine, or Cocktail this week thus far has been the Champagne bar in the Promenade. Even though it gets more crowded than a starbucks or McDonalds drive-thru combined, it's worth the few minutes of patience to get something here.

 

Few shots of the area today:

 

(Chocolate Martini & Razzle Dazzle Martini)

 

 

As we did yesterday, we also enjoyed Sushi and casual dining at Jade & The Wind Jammer tonight as the menu in the main dining room wasn't what we were craving. I'm sure everything there would've been fantastic though so I'm not degrading anything served there tonight!

 

 

Tonight was also the Welcome Back party for all Crown & Anchor members. Although it wouldn't be my first or second choice, it was held in Studio B AKA: Ice Rink. The line began about 20 minutes early and it was hotter than a sauna in that hallway. Once we were in, with typical RCCL Fanfair, they had plenty of drinks and champagne ready for the guests. Kelcey and I were happy to grab 2 bar height seats near the back of the studio and a 3rd seat was available to our side. Now, here is where our amusement came into place for the evening. I'm as guilty as anyone for going to a Welcome Back show knowing you get a free drink or two, but let me tell you, there is someone sharing this ships space with us tonight who needs to find Bob. I'm sure those of you who know what meeting that is are understanding me here... aka: A little alcohol detachment!

 

I believe a lady much older than us utilized this 'sitting and waiting' time to drink as many alcoholic beverages as her liver could process. It was like Hells kitchen only Hells Liver. She must be a competitor because she downed 2 champagnes and 4 mixed drinks (at least 12oz in size each) in under 15 minutes. The show hadn't even started and she was gone. Seriously, who walks up to the table and takes 6 drinks..please enlighten me! If I knew her room # I'd call the medical staff to give her a liver transplant tonight. Hope she has the bottled water package tomorrow!

 

Sorry for this blurry shot but here is the Welcome Back environment:

 

 

After all of this excitement, it was time to relax back in the room where I type to you now. Here is our night time friend, Tipsy the Elephant as well as a view of the size of our room. It's only 8:30pm now so we may catch a parade soon and some other activities. Tomorrow morning we arrive in Tenerife at 8:00am where we plan on walking the streets, legally that is! Stay tuned!

 

 

[Justmekaren918]

DAY 3: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014

 

Today we arrived in Cadiz/Seville Spain around 8:00am. We woke up in time to streak across the large Junior Suite balcony in the buff to see this view:

 

 

 

I'll say now that Liberty is the largest of the ships I've been on thus far but she sure does handle well. I'm sure Richard Gere would say she handle's like she's on rails, or would I say that about... Well anyway..

Today turned out to be about 80 degrees and Sunny and very nice during the a.m. Many cruisers had already booked excursions or had some type of bus tour setup, but Kelcey and I opted for the more manly tour AKA: 'A man not asking (ever) for directions tour', which was the 'Tim getting us lost excursion.' You all should participate in that excursion, it's as easy as turning up two alley ways and walking west instead of East for 45 minutes but commonnnnnn who's watching. :cool:

 

Here was the beginning of our walk alone. No,really, literally alone. Perhaps we were the only ones with a sense of adventure or urge to play frogger with the unlimited amount of mopeds taking turns passing in this years Nascar race. Nothing like the smell of moped fuel in the morning to fire up your taste buds.

 

 

 

This was a pretty nice experience to be honest. It's a priviledge to be able to say you've walked in the oldest Civilized city known in the world, and walked the wall that protected it without any sign of people traffic. Once we walked a good mile on this route (Ok well to me it felt like a mile!) we decided to put Plan Tim into affect. We cut toward the left and walked straight into the heart of Cadiz. If you're curious about why we embarked on such an adventure, I blame it on my navigator who forget the 'Rob Me I'm a tourist Poster' AKA: map.

 

So the plan was simple, walk into the city halfway, turn toward the ship, and rendezvous with our lunch location. Well I'll spare you the suspense, it never worked out that way. If you are able to see a normal walking map or even a google image of Cadiz, take 90% of the streets you see, and scribble a red line over them with a crayon. We pretty much laced a security perimeter around and inside the whole city, yup, we hit every street. Needless to say, we took some photos of things we accidentally found that are historically important:

 

 

Thank you for the great review and pix's ! I will be on her in March and the 1st time on her and her class! Getting excited.

 

Actually it was Julia

Vivian: Man, this baby must corner like it's on rails!

[cruiserdudebobby8]

Love the pics

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[MiniChunks]

Does a bartender named Lucille still work in the Champagne Bar? She was one of our favorite employees on that ship, and I wrote a long letter to RCCL explaining how highly we thought of her.

[cruizinmimi]

Twibes - enjoying your review. Thanks for doing that. Please say hello to our cruising buddies "Tugboat" (Curtis & Kathy) from Linda and Arthur. Thank you.

[SnappyNappi]

Steelers fans from New Jersey checking in... :)

Just stumbled onto your LIVE from the Liberty thread and decided that I will follow along with the rest... We will be sailing on Liberty from Bayonne next July (9-night Caribbean) and are really looking forward to it. I love the sights, great pictures and the fact that you had such a great adventure on your own in Caldiz, sounds like fun! Sometimes you see more when you are lost, than you would if you plan. :) Now I am touring vicariously through you and Kelcey, since we have no plan YET to get to Europe.

 

Contrary to some of the things I have read on CC recently, Liberty looks to be in great shape from your pictures. I REALLY need to take reviews on CC with that grain of salt that I have heard about.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the live review... love it so far and your sense of humor makes it an interesting and entertaining read!

 

GO STEELERS!~

[BecciBoo]

Twibes - enjoying your review. Thanks for doing that. Please say hello to our cruising buddies "Tugboat" (Curtis & Kathy) from Linda and Arthur. Thank you.

 

I'm following too Linda! Hi Tug Hi Kathy!!!!!!!! Is the poem still there?

[Twibes]

I'm following too Linda! Hi Tug Hi Kathy!!!!!!!! Is the poem still there?

 

BecciBook, if you mean the poem that just popped out of my head yesterday it's still there, or here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44582917&postcount=56

[Twibes]

Does a bartender named Lucille still work in the Champagne Bar? She was one of our favorite employees on that ship, and I wrote a long letter to RCCL explaining how highly we thought of her.

 

Is she a very petite girl, brunette/brown hair, glasses and extremely hardworking with a Russian Accent by chance? If so... then it must be her! I'll double check the name tomorrow but if in fact it is the same person, she's our favorite as well.

 

I should add that our room attendant's name is Camelot and he looks like a linebacker for the NFL. Excellent guy, extremely friendly, and always stops to have 5 minute conversations with us.. you've won the lottery if you get him on the Liberty (Deck 9, Port side).

[Twibes]

Twibes - enjoying your review. Thanks for doing that. Please say hello to our cruising buddies "Tugboat" (Curtis & Kathy) from Linda and Arthur. Thank you.

 

That's awesome that you know Tugboat! I will pass this message along tomorrow (It's almost bedtime for us since we're hiking the volcano tomorrow in La Palma!)

[Twibes]

Steelers fans from New Jersey checking in... :)

Just stumbled onto your LIVE from the Liberty thread and decided that I will follow along with the rest... We will be sailing on Liberty from Bayonne next July (9-night Caribbean) and are really looking forward to it. I love the sights, great pictures and the fact that you had such a great adventure on your own in Caldiz, sounds like fun! Sometimes you see more when you are lost, than you would if you plan. :) Now I am touring vicariously through you and Kelcey, since we have no plan YET to get to Europe.

 

Contrary to some of the things I have read on CC recently, Liberty looks to be in great shape from your pictures. I REALLY need to take reviews on CC with that grain of salt that I have heard about.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the live review... love it so far and your sense of humor makes it an interesting and entertaining read!

 

GO STEELERS!~

 

I appreciate your feedback. I can attest personally in my experience and views that Liberty is in excellent condition. I don't see anything in our JS cabin nor the public areas what-so-ever that immediately made me look closer. If you want a specific photo of something specific, just ask.After tomorrows port stop in La Palma, we'll be at sea for 7 FULL days in a row which leaves plenty of ship photography time.

 

I will be wearing a Steelers shirt this weekend as well! :D

[Twibes]

I'm a bit wiped out from walking today so I won't be able to post a full thread about today (That will come tomorrow or Saturday) but here are a quick views of how great our weather and day was:

 

Sunrise Port Side

 

 

Pulling into Port in Tenerife

 

 

View of the MSC ship and Liberty from Information Center

 

 

I'll give a hint as to todays sights since I'm not able to post yet, we saw in the balcony photo above that I posted first at least 5-7 (What we believe to be) dolphins in the distance surfacing! Prior to going to sleep I'll also give you all a quick video clip of the amazing view of Tenerife from Port.

[MiniChunks]

Is she a very petite girl, brunette/brown hair, glasses and extremely hardworking with a Russian Accent by chance? If so... then it must be her! I'll double check the name tomorrow but if in fact it is the same person, she's our favorite as well.

 

I should add that our room attendant's name is Camelot and he looks like a linebacker for the NFL. Excellent guy, extremely friendly, and always stops to have 5 minute conversations with us.. you've won the lottery if you get him on the Liberty (Deck 9, Port side).

 

No. Lucille is a pretty darker skinned girl from South Africa. If she's not still in the Champagne Bar I hope she got promoted to something better. She was the best.

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Thank you for taking us along!!! Im LOVING this! We will be on her in April. All the ship pics are awesome. Keep it coming & I'll be following!

[peteukmcr]

Great pics. If you get to chat to Ana in Olive or Twist or Edin (a host of MTD on deck 5) or Oana in the DL, please say hi for us.

[Twibes]

Here is a view of Tenerife:

[sweettara]

love ur updates we were on liberty last thanksgiving and loved it u picked an awesome ship to do a ta on I hope someday to go on a ta cruise but right now having a child in school it hard to do

we will be on liberty again april 6 for my bday cant wait

[BecciBoo]

BecciBook, if you mean the poem that just popped out of my head yesterday it's still there, or here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44582917&postcount=56

 

That is cute too, but I meant one I wrote for Liberty's Inaugural that hangs on the wall outside the Cruise Director's door. Just wondering if they left it hanging.

[TPCRUISER2]

Well decided to chime in and ask about Celia-bartender from Peru. Thanks in advance!