Scatmanjack

August 15 is live sail date for Independence of the Seas from Galveston per Matt... We were booked for August 1... and school starts... ?

Matt had reported Liberty is to Dry Dock in Spain this summer... Perhaps they are moving in another Freedom Class to cover the existing bookings from Galveston? Could use the majority of existing room assignments given similar layouts? If this is the case, and August 1 sailings happen, we would complete our Freedom Class Hat Trick having previously sailed on Freedom, Liberty, and now Independence...

Would it not make sense that Royal moves ALL operations to new terminal thus opening the old terminal to a new Cruise Line, Norwegian? Royal wouldn't be running multiple ships on same day so they wouldn't need to have two slots...

Quadruple Crown and Anchor points? Double for Suite Double that for 2021-22 Sailings People trying to level up quickly Suites on smaller ships less $$$ than larger Oasis Class...

Need firsthand accounts on this Ferry from Cozumel to the mainland... Hear all the rumors/talk from Matt describing (in my mind) vomit inducing 20ft swells but how is it in real life? Never had a problem with motion sickness on land or sea and have been to Cozumel enough times already. Starting to consider options on the shore vs. staying on the island... (not the 8hr trek to Chichen Itza) Paul

We are 90 days out from our scheduled sailing on Liberty, Have a corner aft balcony and am thinking getting the same spot on a replacement ship is going to be tough,,,

Untitled by gretchenandpaul, on Flickr

Can't offer recent info, but I will advise to make sure you are comparing apples to apples when looking at different excursions. Some are only an 'encounter' in which you stand on a submerged platform and animal swims up to you... Others are actually 'swimming' during which you get drug through the water while holding on... Second option is generally more expensive...

Let's Finish This... Falmouth, Jamaica Green Grotto Cave/Dunn’s River Falls excursion via Royal Caribbean Having never been to Jamaica before, we decided we wanted to do the Dunn’s River Falls excursion. Not knowing if we’d return to the island in the future, we wanted to experience it despite the long journey from Falmouth to get there. Normally it is an hour or longer bus ride to reach Dunn’s River from Falmouth port. We researched this beforehand and decided to do the combo excursion of Dunn’s River/Green Grotto Caves to break up the ride. The caves are about half way between the Port and Falls. Our tour guide gave us some interesting background on the island/scenery on the shuttle ride East. Some beautiful plants surround the welcome center- be sure to take the time to enjoy them and read the informative plaques about each species. We met our guide in the welcome center and made our way to the cave entrance. We were each issued hair nets and helmets. Some of the clearances were quite low and the helmets were a necessary precaution to prevent accidental bumps. The caves themselves were contained within several segments in which you travelled into a room and exited back outside before entering into another system. The tour guide did a nice job explaining the history of the caves- both historically and more recently events. There are many geological formations to look at on this tour. Numerous small cave entrances in the ceiling allow from dramatic vistas with small beams of light cutting across the rooms. Long, dangling tree roots stretch multiple stories in their quest for water. Towards the end of the tour your group makes it down a stone spiral staircase, and that term is being very generous, to an underground lake. We are told this was used as the villain’s lair in the James Bond film ‘Live and Let Die’. It seems like most of Jamaica has a James Bond ‘story’… The lights were turned off briefly at this point of the tour to give everyone the sensation of total darkness. Several types of wildlife were observed in the caves. You will find swallows near the entrances in small mud nests they have built into the cave walls and ceilings. Bats were also observed hanging from the ceiling in numerous locations. No snakes were noted on our tour but evidently they are seen… Towards the end of the tour, the guide split the group up in two- keeping those families with children in one group and groups without kids in another. Those with kids were sent down a small tunnel with ‘kid-sized’ entrances and exits. About mid-way down this detour I noticed a rock formation near the floor that I had seen in the Royal Caribbean Excursion informational video. It’s best described as a drum rock that resonated throughout the cave when struck. I stopped our group and played a few bars to everyone’s delight. We joined back up with the other group further up the path. The guide has stopped at another drum rock and explained that they were used for entertainment and communication. He seemed surprised that I had played the other one. Except for the ‘staircase’ climb, the paths were pretty even and well travelled for those with any mobility issues. They did warn everyone about the ‘stairwell’ and there were benches at the top for those that chose not to make the trek down to the lake. A brief rest at the cave welcome center allowed everyone to rest and catch their breath, use the restroom, and change into swimwear before getting back on the bus. Drinks were reasonably priced and the wife and I each enjoyed a Red Stripe on the remainder of the bus ride to the Falls. We even got some Jamaican change that would prove valuable later on the cruise… I had watched many a Youtube video of the Falls and read trip reports and was somewhat nervous that this would turn into a line of elderly people slowly walking up the rocks holding hands then entire way. The entire trip up the Falls turned out the complete opposite. There was a communal aspect of helping those who needed it, but we were free to ‘explore’ a bit on our own on the upward journey… Let me jump back a bit… At the Falls, our group was walked down to the base of Falls and introduced to our guides- 1 was a Guide and one was a cameraman. (There was little pressure to buy the video.) The guides added several ‘play stops’ along the way that certainly proved their worth. (In-Laws did same Cruise 2 weeks after us and did this excursion on own and without river guide- had to be a different experience for them…) Once again, there was a James Bond ‘tie-in’ as we walked on the beach to begin our ascent. We were told this was the beach from Dr. No from which Ursulla Andress makes her famous entrance in the white bikini… The flowing water was cool and refreshing and provided some needed relief from the warm and humid environment. The guides routed us to several areas for unique experiences that weren’t obvious to the naked eye. We did a ‘waterslide’ down a channel in the limestone as well as the ‘Nestea Plunge’ into a pool. Other highlights included walking under a waterfall and sitting in the some rapids as a family. There were multiple exit points on the ascent if you felt like you’d had enough. After all of our group had reached the top, we followed the exit signs back to the bus area. This routed everyone through the market and the endless ‘sales’ pitches from the locals. My wife and daughter were mostly ignored but evidently my beard made me a target as I was subjected to countless ‘respect the beard maaan…’ comments as I walked past the vendors. A simple ‘no thank you’ with no eye contact didn’t stop them from hounding me. This really made for a bad end to the trip and looking back I’m not sure why we couldn’t have taken same path we walked in on… (I know ‘why’ we were told to exit that way but still…) The drive back to port was uneventful with little commentary from the tour guide. Once back inside the port, the wife stayed behind to shop for our usual assortment of shot glasses, fridge magnets, etc… that we seem to acquire at each port. My daughter and I headed back onboard and hit the pool. We knew Falmouth would be a long excursion and planned accordingly by booking a reservation at Giovanni’s Table for dinner (We also knew the show was going to be a comedian we didn’t mind missing…Thank You RC Blog Cruise Compass Archive!) . We had eaten at Giovanni’s on a previous cruise and really enjoyed it. We got cleaned up and took a brief sunset stroll on the upper decks before heading to Giovanni’s with one of our bottles on wine from home. (This cruise departed 06/XX/2017 and the corkage fee had just been reinstated as of 06/01/2017 and we were charged it...) My daughter had discovered calamari on our previous cruise in this restaurant and was excited about having it again. To our disappointment, the menu had been ‘updated’ in the previous 12 months and calamari had been taken off the appetizer menu. Our server did indicate that if we had asked a day or two before, they could have had some for us… (tried asking for this on 12/17 cruise and it didn’t work). The appetizers we chose included Caesar Salads, Beef Carpicio, Mozzerella and Tomates, Octopus . The carpaccio was paper thin and practically melted when your fork touched it. Our daughter didn’t find any appealing on the adult menu and they made her a custom dish of chicken over noodle with an alfredo sauce. Some food allergies allowed for us to have some Red Velvet Cake smuggled over from Chops for dessert… The Drink Card appeared this day but I passed due to already booked alcohol activities for the following sea day… A couple packed Sea Days to go...

still testing

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You never know what will happen... When our March 2020 sailing was cancelled, I immediately logged in to cruise planner and cancelled everything. Refunds to credit card within days.... People that left items booked waited months for $$$ to be returned... Just my experience...

We are booked in August 2021 (rebooking of March 2020 cancellation) and if Liberty goes away, hopefully they will at least bring in a different ship to handle some of that business if they are sailing from USA ports by then...

So Matt is saying Liberty is getting dry dock in Spain in July... Guess we need to start making other plans if we have Liberty/Galveston sailing booked for this summer...

Cuba back on the table? 2022 would probably be earliest sailings from logistics standpoint...

With COVID-19 and its effects, has anyone else noticed fewer official shore excursions being listed on their sailings? Some tour companies have suspended operations so certain items aren't being offered until mass sailings resume...? Also seeing fewer options that include food- many that used to include a meal and now do not... This is my experience in looking at 08/2021 sailing to Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan... Paul

We had our bags packed to sail on 3/15 and then everything hit the fan on 3/13... Next booked sailing is 08/2021 on Liberty to Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel... Hopefully...

Just booked a cruise with MEI this week using FCC to cover Deposit and Fare. MEI agent advised she would not be able to reprice cruise if there was a future price drop if I went this route and didn't pay separate deposit... Paul

We just booked AFT Corner Balcony for 08/2021 on Deck 7 of Freedom Class with our FCC from 03/2020. Went from Interior to almost the biggest balcony on the ship... ? Love the drop-down ceiling bed for our daughter vs the sofa bed... That Balcony.... drool.... Trying to decide to show this video to the family or just surprise them...

So everyone with a kid age 12 should be booking a dummy cruise that qualifies for KSF and then L&S it to a cruise after child turns 13 and then they get free cruise?

Within 12 hours of this post my points magically reset to the correct amount... It's a conspiracy...