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Royal Caribbean diverts Liberty of the Seas to Miami due to Hurricane Harvey

In:
27 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

Royal Caribbean has diverted Liberty of the Seas to Miami, Florida after being unable to dock in Galveston, Texas due to Hurricane Harvey.

Liberty of the Seas will arrive in Miami, Florida on Tuesday morning instead to reprovision the ship. Liberty of the Seas will then return to Galveston on Friday, September 1. Guests on Liberty of the Seas will have the option to disembark in Miami, if they desire.

Due to the delays, the August 27 sailing of Liberty of the Seas is cancelled. 

Majesty of the Seas Live Blog - Day 2 - Nassau, Bahamas

In:
27 Aug 2017
By: 
Michael Poole

Here we are already halfway through our weekend cruise on day 2, in Nassau, Bahamas. These weekend sailings go by so fast, but oh so fun! This morning I woke up early and waited for the coffee shop to open at 7am. Believe it or not, they usually have 3-5 people lined up ready for them to open. I ordered my large Americano and it was $3, since I don’t have the drink package.

After enjoying my coffee and working on the blog, I decided to grab some breakfast in the main dining room. On Majesty of the Seas they have a Diamond and up section to the dining room. Only real perk here, is not having to “wait” for a table or them to seat you. I ordered an omelet with a side of hash browns; I guess my only complaint was I wanted more! I didn’t order more, but I did grab some fruit they had setup in the middle of the dining room.

After breakfast they had the Crown & Anchor welcome back party in the Spectrum Lounge.

Funny they are talking about how they had the name Spectrum for quite sometime now. They also have conference lounges named after ships in the Voyager class. The party is always a good time, free drinks, and great music.

They talked about the next cruise booking program and how you can take dollars off the next cruise or on board credit. Also went over some new ships entering the fleet, I enjoyed my champagne, needless to say.

It was fun watching us sail into Nassau, Bahamas today. I have so many photos of that lighthouse, but you know I had to take more.

The pool deck was very busy; it felt like a sea day.

I was happy to see Oasis of the Seas dock in port today, they are on a reverse schedule due to the total eclipse special sailing. Oasis of the Seas is truly one of my favorite large ships in the fleet; okay this is a live blog about Majesty, back to topic.

Day in Nassau

Today in Nassau we decided to explore the brand new resort, Baha Mar on Cable Beach.

We took the city bus (#10) over to the other side of the island. The cost for the bus is only $1.25 per person and I felt very safe the whole time. Most of the people on the bus are local residents or local school kids. Once we made it over to the resort I made a comment to my friend Nick, “it feels like we are in a movie or something” we were the only people in the casino that’s one hundred – thousand square feet. While playing they quickly come over and offer you free drinks, you just have to keep playing for more.

They now restrict access to explore the outside grounds, as that’s for guest only. We did request a tour from the front desk and she showed us most of the property. I don’t think she liked that I was taking pictures of everything and thought that could upset some guests. I really couldn’t believe how beautiful the property was, they have seven swimming pools on the grounds!

They offer a lot, but I’m sad to report they have zero plans to ever offer day passes for cruise passengers. My suggestion is booking a room for one day, and enjoying the property since you are a paying guest.

Evening onboard

Tonight we were invited to dine at the Captain’s table with the hotel director, John Denton. We received an invitation in our cabin to meet in the Schooner Bar at 8:15pm for cocktails. They had a large section reserved for us to sit and we all talked until our host arrived.

Once he arrived we talked for a while and then they walked us to the main dining room to the table.

This is one of the nicest meals I’ve ever had, the service and wine was outstanding. We talked about Majesty at the table and her future within the fleet. Majesty of the Seas is going into dry dock in February 2018, so we talked about some options they have for the dry dock.

For the meal itself, I ordered the surf and turf. The steak was wrapped in bacon, so what’s not to love about that! The steak reminded me of a very large filet from Chops Grill.

After dinner we headed up to the under the starts dancing party. The cruise director, Ricky Mathews can create one party. He really knows how to get the passengers involved into the party. I was really surprised to see he joined the ship, as he’s usually on Oasis of the Seas.

That’s a wrap from my day 1 in Nassau, Bahamas. Stayed tuned, tomorrow we are headed to Royal Caribbean’s private island of Coco Cay.

Liberty of the Seas to return on Sunday, depart one day later

In:
26 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

It appears Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas is planning to arrive back to Galveston as scheduled on Sunday, but depart a day late to provide extra time for guests to get to the ship.

Royal Caribbean indicated that Hurricane Harvey and weather conditions around the Galveston/Houston area, as well as the port's current closure, Liberty of the Seas will arrive to the Port of Galveston tomorrow later than originally scheduled. Because of this, boarding for the next cruise will now take place on Monday, August 28 between noon and 3 p.m. The cruise line is asking that guests not arrive to the port before noon.

Royal Caribbean's Chief Meteorologist, James Van Fleet, shared a number of updates via Twitter that provided details. Port of Galveston Pilots & U.S. Coast Guard will head out at day break to confirm if it is safe for arrival. If everything is confirmed safe and cleared, Royal Caribbean would have delayed arrival around early afternoon in Port for debarkation.

Guests sailing on the next Liberty of the Seas sailing will recieve 25% off future cruise credit. They will also have an option to cancel completely and receive 100% future cruise credit (if impacted by Harvey).

Royal Caribbean updates Liberty of the Seas and Hurricane Harvey situation

In:
26 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

Royal Caribbean issued a new update to its guests at around 3 p.m. CT today with regards to Liberty of the Seas.

The cruise line indicated that guests sailing on the next scheduled Liberty of the Seas cruise should not proceed to the Port of Galveston until instructed to by the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean will provide another update on August 26 at 9 p.m. CT.

Majesty of the Seas Live Blog - Day 1 - Embarkation Day

In:
26 Aug 2017
By: 
Michael Poole

There is nothing more exciting than the day you board your cruise and today was no different. I woke up around 5am in Tampa, Florida and drove over to the port in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The trip over was uneventful and I arrived early enough to have breakfast at Grills beside the port. This has become a little tradition of mine over the years when I sail out Port Canaveral.

Boarding

I arrived to the terminal at 10:20am, first I think it’s easier to pull through and drop your bags off, then go park. This way you avoid pulling the bags through the parking garage to find the porters. Parking for my cruise was $64 at the terminal and you pre-pay when you enter with cash or card.

Boarding started at 10:30am and I must have been one of the first to board because the ship was totally empty for a few minutes. My friend Brandon Owen had a guest pass for the day, so I was able to enjoy a few drinks with him around the ship.

Lunch

We waited to have lunch a little later, since we had such a large breakfast at Grills. Note if you are ever sailing on Majesty of the Seas, they have two Windjammer sections. When you walk in, that’s the busy one, just keep walking back to the other section, it’s almost always empty.

That’s when I found the meat!

They had a rather large cut of pork roast, it was the next best thing to park café. They had plenty of options for lunch, so a little something for everyone. Those who are wondering, yes they had Indian food!

Sailaway

Muster drill was at 3:30pm, and all the bars shut down at 3pm to prepare for the drill.

Nick and I hung out in the cabin until the drill actually started and then went to the dreaded drill outside by the lifeboats. I think this is when I noticed how hot it is cruising in August.


 

After the drill we decided to attend the spa raffle, since it was raining.

If you have never attended them, it’s a short free raffle for prizes in the spa. They are basically trying to educate the guest on their services, while giving away things too. I couldn’t believe it, but my friend Nick won $100 credit in the spa! Sadly, I never win anything…

Evening onboard

Right at 5:00pm we headed up to the Diamond Lounge in the Viking Crown Lounge. First, I noticed how busy they were tonight; usually on Majesty the lounge is kind of slower, since it’s mostly first-time cruisers. But they had a rather large setup of snacks to enjoy while having a cocktail during the sunset.

I really enjoy the lounge on Majesty of the Seas for the views. We ended up staying up here for a few hours making friends. At 7pm I looked around and our table was the only one here, so it really clears out for first dinner.

We originally planned to dine in Chef’s Table tonight, but we waited until the afternoon to book and it was sold out for tonight. Lesson learned, if you want to book something do it right away when you board. We did schedule to dine there night three of the cruise. So we kept things simple and enjoyed a quick meal in the Windjammer. Once again, they had a little bit of everything from Belgian waffles, pulled pork to Chinese food. I was pleased and enjoyed the express option of coming and going, as we wanted.

After dinner we enjoyed some adult karaoke, this might have been the most entertaining thing I’ve ever seen! Well some of them at least, my friend Nick got up there and did some singing to get the crowd really going. After an hour we got that urge to hit the casino. Let’s just say I walked in with no cash and left with $5! I call that a victory. They don’t advertise this well, but there is a Crown and Anchor perk loaded on our sea pass cards for a free $5 in the slot machines. The casino was so busy, a lot of younger cruisers gambling for the first time.

Stray Observations

  • VOOM on aboard with the Diamond Plus discount was $13 for the weekend.
  • They are scanning sea pass cards in the diamond lounge as a trial, however this does not count for the 3 drinks you can use at any bar. So it virtually means nothing, other than handing them your card.
  • The youngest crowd on a cruise ship, I’ve ever seen. I think for the first time, I feel like older guy watching them.
  • VOOM works outstanding, always stays connected and streaming is no problem. It’s one of the few ships I’m able to watch live periscopes.

Royal Caribbean issues Hurricane Harvey update for Liberty of the Seas

In:
25 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

Royal Caribbean has issued a new update to guests that are onboard the current sailing of Liberty of the Seas, as well as the upcoming sailing on Sunday.

The cruise line has made no changes to Liberty of the Seas' schedule, but is actively monitoring the path of Hurricane Harvey.

Royal Caribbean's Chief Meteorologist, James Van Fleet, provided a bit more detail into what the cruise line is seeing.

Royal Caribbean will post another update on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by 12:00 PM CT.

Friday Photos

In:
25 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

Every Friday, we share our readers favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos because, we all can use a "virtual escape" to relive some great cruising memories.

If you want your photo featured in an upcoming Friday Photos post, be sure to use this form to send it to us.

Brian Robinson shared this photo on Royal Caribbean 1 Love of sail away.  Great start to a cruise!

FrodeofNorway took this photo of Rhapsody of the Seas, as seen from Santorini, Greece.

Here is a photo of Adventure of the Seas in St. Maarten, taken by Shana Smith.

Michael Poole took this photo in CocoCay.  He will be back there this weekend with his live blog from Majesty of the Seas!

Glenn Wildenmann took this photo on Anthem of the Seas, and caught a great angle of a lovely ship.

Hannes Scherz took this photo of the Bionic Bar on Harmony of the Seas while on his first cruise ever.

Speaking of Harmony of the Seas, Anne took this photo while docked in Labadee.

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos that were featured this week, and we want to see your Royal Caribbean photos too! Use this form to send them in and we will feature them in an upcoming edition of Friday Photos!

Royal Caribbean monitoring path of Hurricane Harvey for Liberty of the Seas

In:
24 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

The Port of Galveston issued an update today regarding the forecasted path of Hurricane Harvey and its impact on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas.

The Port of Galveston issued an update on their Facebook Page to indicate no changes have been made yet to Liberty of the Seas' itinerary, but Royal Caribbean is monitoring the path.  At this time, Liberty of the Seas will keep her original schedule for Sunday’s turnaround in Galveston, TX. Should the cruise line make any changes to Liberty of the Sea’s itinerary, Royal Caribbean will make sure to inform their guests and travel partners.

Royal Caribbean will provide an update tomorrow, August 25th by 12:00 PM EST.

Cruise industry pricing on Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

In:
23 Aug 2017
By: 
Matt Hochberg

This week's podcast episode is ready to go, as we present episode 212 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for your downloading pleasure.

This week, Matt and Len Testa talk about Royal Caribbean's Price Integrity Policy and how it, and the cruise industry, are changing the price of cruise vacations.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 212. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!