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Live from the LIBERTY of the SEAS 3/26/17 sailing

sldispatcher
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earlydiner

earlydiner

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We have so much enjoyed your play by play on the LOS the last few days. Thank you so much for the

time you took from your vacation to share with us.

 

We so much agree with you on the "service dog" problem. It is so much abused. Agree that something needs to be done. Even the official service dog organization agrees. Hopefully something will be done at the federal level to curtail the abuse.

 

We are getting on the ship tomorrow morning with our kids and grandkids. So much fun to be had.

 

Thanks again for sharing.

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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tOSUsteve: You know the abuses occur..and on cue, the offended showed up

 

Like everything else if you don't put a limit on things it gets out of control. How would you feel about a service animal being a snake for comfort or emotional support.

 

As a primary care physician, I can tell you, if someone can't do without a pet for 7 days or 7 hours, they are not ready to fly or go on a cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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JupiterTwo

JupiterTwo

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@sldispatcher, you said "Dunn River Falls, well, let's just say was interesting. It was crawling, literally with people. You can go and look at them with a day pass, or you can climb them, literally climb them. Our tour was a climb and it was exhilarating and crazy at the same time. It was also extremely crowded."

 

We are on the Liberty in June; DH and both DS's are itching to climb the falls. I however am not. I've read other descriptions that mention the wooden stairs that go down the side of the falls. For the falls climbers, do you walk down those stairs to the bottom before starting the climb up? What I'd like to do is walk down the stairs and then walk back up the stairs at my own pace, watching my climbers as they go up and taking pics as they go. Will that be do-able?

 

I did the Dunn River Falls on my LOS Cruise last May. My wife didn't want to climb the falls either.

 

Yes, you can walk the stairs all the way to the bottom, and then take them back up to take your own photographs.

 

FYI... we also did the tubing on the White River combo. A very nice excursion. Lunch was a nice buffet at a nearby hotel.

 

Steve

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lifes-a-beach

lifes-a-beach

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Thanks sldispatcher for your perspective. My wife and I are aboard Liberty as well and I couldn't agree more with your review. I would add for those that will be aboard soon, we have really enjoyed seeing the Bubba Feathers Band perform every night. If you like live country music give them a look. We first came across them on Navigator several years ago. Good bunch of guys and real music chemistry. The small venue musicians have all been very good too.

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sparkinator99

sparkinator99

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You need to do some research on service animals - they are not just for blind people.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

and we all know that a dog being pushed around in a stroller is not a service animal. It is not providing a service to a disabled person and is not legally entitled to the same protections as a service animal. Emotional support animals are not service animals, and as such can be rejected from places of business.

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sparkinator99

sparkinator99

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I believe most of those videos are people who were just out on their own shopping or having a few drinks. These companies are the people who live there's livelihood. Getting people back late would tank their business. It would be all over these boards "joe's tours made me miss the ship" no one would use them. If you feel more comfortable then use who you want but local tour guides missing the boat are few and far between. Some even have their own guarantee they wouldn't do that if they had to pay out very often to get people to the next port.

 

My first cruise, we are being careful. My friend who cruised once before with her husband asked to book with the ship for excursions. I can see there are more options, and want to point them out to her during the trip.

I will admit to being amused by some of the people missing the boat. The ones who are running to the boat as it steams away. What do they think will happen?

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nolimits

nolimits

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My daughter has a service dog which reacts based on her diabetes,She is mentally hadicapped and doesn't reconize shifts in her sugar,Not Blind, We have monorters,pumps all kinds of tech,Alarms Ect .The dog always knows before gadgets. We don't take dog on cruises but probably should.

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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In Our Wake

 

The day has had a thin meringue of grey high clouds as well as a subtropical haze hanging in the air. This combination has muted the usual blue color, but onboard it has been anything but muted. The Royal Promenade has been made into a Fire Marshall's worst nightmare with Asian born trinkets being offered at "terrific deals" on tables covered with "luxurious" pashminas. What normally would be space that allows free flow of passengers, RCCL barkers have caused a block in the flow of foot traffic.

 

The overpriced photo area is making some vice president of revenue management's annual bonus go up by the minute. Park West continues to find a supply of rare art but able to make good deals. They must have the same wholesaler as Tanzanite and Amber suppliers.

 

The MDR was shut down for a galley tour and special lunch for ...surprise....a special fee. We did not partake for $35/person. Lunch was back in the Golden Corral on deck 11 for some. Others bit the bullet and went to Johnny Rockets and called the food "subpar" but the musical breaks were entertaining enough. Apparently the main attraction were the milkshakes.

 

The Tidal Wave machine was actually working and a line formed for it today since the ride had such little availability this week due to various maintenance issues.

 

I'm not a prophet, but I fully expect there to be daypasses/etc. in the future for those slides. The nickle and dimers will not be able to refrain at RCCL.

 

The MDR experience on our last night was made great by the waiter and assistant waiter with just a lackluster menu to work with. They try hard and did "the ask" for 10's from the overhead announcement by the dining room manager as well as the waiter himself. He related one family gave him glowing reviews in a written format on the survey, but gave them just 6's on the survey which impacts his future. I have not seen the questionnaire yet, but if the numbers are tied to the staff AND the food, then that may be unfair for the wait staff.

 

 

Let me be clear as we close this trip out, that I think the LOS is at a level where first time cruisers will be overwhelmed with the options and never have an excuse for being bored. There will be some that will be happy with the food choices. In my humble opinion, it is still a good choice for those who have limited options to get to one of the larger cruise ports with other options.

 

The specialty dining onboard LOS is probably a rip off at the price offered. They are not that much better than the main dining room. The more cruises under my belt, the more jaded I have become about specialty dining places. Those especially centered around steaks are often overpriced and under deliver because the prices keep going up and the quality is not matching. With a good wait staff and friends/family to fellowship with, the MDR is adequate.

 

Another thing I find is that the Jr. Suites are a fairly good value for the space and limited amenities offered. The superstructure involving the aft of the ship is not conducive to enjoying the cabins as much as on other ships, but it wasn't all bad. I would not want to have these cabins in a scenery heavy destination. The lack of good air circulation kept us off of the balcony 90% of the time anyway.

 

So this has been a critical, but not necessarily negative "live from" review. In fairness, you can look back at my Marina review this January and find that I did not give them a glowing review on a daily basis just because they at supposed to be a super premium line. I'm not going all negative on the LOS just because RCCL is a mass market line.

 

As stated at the beginning, the many "live from" reports help me to prepare for my trips and making decisions. We are all thankful for everyone's efforts to post these and we certainly don't have to agree with the opinions. It amuses me how you can read two reviews from the same cruise and have 2 completely opposite end of the spectrum perspectives.

 

Here is the one sentence summary of our trip.

 

We've had a good time with family and friends this week, but as we come to the end of the cruise, we will probably leave RCCL in our wake.

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internetwhiz

internetwhiz

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So, I'm curious, if you are writing RC off, what line matches your taste. Oceania, Crystal, or something more boutique like than those. We really like Liberty and we have cruised 30 times on various lines. You also didn't look and see pre-cruise, that you could have eaten at Chops for $15 each (First night done right) and for $15 each any evening at Sabor booked online pre-cruise. I'm glad you liked some things onboard at least. I was honestly shocked at this final summary and its content. I at least can say that you were a Cruise Critic to the nth degree. Safe travels back to wherever it is you are from. Enjoy whatever line matches your needs more closely, although I'm betting it's a higher cost vacation.

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Skippy

Skippy

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Dont know if you'll check this when you're so busy, but watch out for the weather, hail and some tornados here north of San Antonio, gettin scary!:o Drive carefully.....

 

 

 

I'm in austin and the storm was crazy about an hour ago. My friend even heard a tornado pass by.

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