Guy Gadwa

On Board Pre Cruise Stuff
Adults $23 CDN/ day deluxe beverage oops packages ?
Kids: $25 CDN/day refreshment packages--we have saved over $100 CDN since we first bought these
Internet: 4 device surf and stream totatl $125 CDN-- we think there was an oops here as we have saved over $100 total since we bought
Digital Photo Package $199 CDN
Mystery DInner 4 ADults
Ultimate Flowrider Private Session: 6 of us get an hour with two instructors first sea day first thing in the morning!  Excited about this
Anytime DIning in MDR when we went to book in March as soon as we booked cruise it was either 545pm or 730pm or later...... we went with the 730 pm for the week. We think we are ok with this but will see once on board
I think this pretty much sums it all up for precruise stuff. Please let me know if you have any questions, want photos or anything checked out I am happy to do it! These boards have been so much help to me and my family to enjoy our cruises. I can say reading reviews is a passion and I can only hope to help someone a little bit. 
OHHHHH our ship will be newly revamped too!!!! Can't wait to see all the new stuff ?
 

Staterooms:
We are booked one cabin apart in Aft Balcony Junior Suites. My GF and I are very very excited about this..... the "big boys" and "little boys" as we call them really could not care less lol.  I will definitely post pics of our rooms when we are on the ship
 
Excursions:
Aruba- Booked through Royal-- National Geographic Catamaran Sail and Snorkel with Lunch
Bonaire: Golf Carts booked on our own--they were awesome to deal with although we booked in April 2020 we have ended up with 3 two seaters as the four seaters were already gone
Curacao: Resort for a Day-St Barbara Beach Resort for me, GF, little boys,  GOLF the Old Quarry Golf course at the resort for the big boys
St Marteen: Exploring around, we do want to go to see the Yoda guy as except for GF Hubby we are all huge Star Wars Fans
 
Pre Cruise: We decided to stay at the Embassy Suites San Juan Hotel and Casino -- I will post room photos and photos of happy hour and breakfast as both are included
Travel: Ok I will be honest I am frustrated, not happy, then happy, then not happy etc repeat with our flights.  First of all We booked as soon as flights were released May 5, 2019 and got an AMAZING DEAL!  We are all flying business class on 375000 points and $3200 CDN.  You may think this is expensive but to put it into perspective: Economy flights round trip with no luggage, no food, no drinks, no lounge for the looooonnnngggg wait between flights was going to be $1400 CDN each! We are in Calgary-YYC and the only way to get to San Juan-SJU is through Toronto-YYZ or Montreal-YUL for the most direct or multiple changes in the USA.  Disclaimer: I did expect some minor changes with our flights given how far out we were booking... it's been a few more than minor to say the least.
Originally we were flying YYC to SJU with a 3 hour layover in YYZ. Excited as we have never used the Maple Leaf Lounge in YYZ and it's supposed to be awesome. Coming home we were supposed to be SJU to YYC with a 1 hr 45 min layover in YUL. This is totally doable to clear customs etc...
First Flight change June 19 leaving 10 min later arriving in YYZ 10 min later -- expected no big deal
Second: July 03... Flight to YUL was now leaving almost 3 hours later and would arrive after our flight for YYC took off, Changed to the flight coming through YYZ and have 1 hr 40 min layover there... a bit tighter but still doable
Third: Nov 14 we were now going to be on the Max 8??? and arrive in YYZ 8 min earlier??? Really I'm sure this is going to change again
Fourth: Dec 03 Minor changes again and all to the Max 8-- I'm still ok because really it's just minutes apart but I know the Max 8 is still grounded and I'm waiting for AC to get their acts together
Fifth:  Dec 10 FLight YYZ to SJU and SJU to YYZ were all changed by an hour ..... ummm we cannot make the connection now!!! from YYZ to YYC we only have 25 min???
Sixth: Dec 11 Cancelled flight YYC to YYZ and rebooked on AC Premium Rouge???? UMMM I paid for business class and I am not happy, after research we knew no change to luggage allowance or perks.... ok we are still getting there lets just not rock the boat I just want to get on my cruise!   AND the flight home...... we can't make our connection so we need to stay overnight now ? Ok I am not sleeping on an airport floor for 10 hours..... so we lucked out at the Hilton Toronto Airport and Suites and got a great room with a king, queen and a double pull out for the teen sons to share, adults don't care it was reasonably priced, it is right at the airport and there are 3 beds and we can get a bit of sleep until we have to be back at the airport again.
Seventh: Jan 28 leaving now 25 min earlier from YYC , different aircraft, different seats all over the place AGAIN!
Eight: Feb 11 Flight YYC to YYZ cancelled now back on a AC flight not AC Premium Rouge-- Ok I am a bit happier, time is basically the same, I log on to select seats AGAIN.....  The reason is this is such an issue is that every time there was a change in flight AC must have put our names in a hat and tossed them around and pulled them out and we were sitting everywhere, not together, switched husband/wife/kids it was weird!  Our DS 16 is on the ASD spectrum and very high functioning but "rules" ie assigned seats must be the one you sit in there can be no switching when you get on board as that is where we are supposed to sit..... SO I was a bit stressed when I looked I had to do a double take as the flight , our overnight flight!!! had the PODS!!!  Beyond excited for this ...... however waiting for another change and praying there isn't one ??

Background cont'd:
The B2B cruise my hubby and I went on my GF was there with her mom Vivianne- her mom had stage 4 breast cancer and was palliative. She lived the cruise to the fullest and we had so much fun! We lost her in March last year right before our respective spring breaks so this cruise will be in memory of her!! This is not the best shot of us all as it's 4 am in Venice at the airport waiting to start our 20 hour journey home but it's us ?

I debated if I would do a blog for this trip or not and finally decided to take the plunge. I have lurked around here for about a year....... I know how helpful the "cruise boards" can be from all of my previous cruises and the research I had done..... My husband used to think I was crazy..... Then on our first cruise he was sitting in the ESPN sports box next to a guy-- drowing his sorrows in a beer as he didn't get any Palo reservations during the cruise for him and his wife and was in the dog house-- and realized that we had got dinner, champagne brunch and afternoon tea reservations because I knew where to be when. He realized my endless hours scouring the cruise boards really do pay off!!!   THEN WE SCORED THE START THE CAR $23 CDN/DAY OOPS OVER THE CANADA DAY LONG WEEKEND FOR THIS CRUISE AND HE WAS SOLD ON MY RESEARCH ?
I have read 1000's of cruise reviews so I will use some of my favourite styles to write this one ?
How this cruise came about:
In March 2019 we were away at our time share for our annual spring break getaway with our son. I was still recovering from a very serious concussion and couldn't travel and our time share was only 3 hour drive from our house so we went there. I was so sick of the weather--cold, snow, cold, snow and more cold and snow. I was jealous as our best friends and their son were away at an all inclusive in Mexico.  So I started looking one morning when I couldn't sleep at cruises for in March of 2020. Hubby and I had done a B2B on Royal to Greece and Croatia out of Venice (our first with Royal and our first B2B) along with a whirlwind tour of England and Switzerland for a total of a month in Oct 2018 and were pretty much sold on Royal. We previously had cruised Disney.... (huge break 15 years almost) and then Carnival a number of times. Needless to say Royal won us over.  I came up with this cruise ABC's (a bucket list for cruise) and St Marteen or Carnival Breeze- a ship we liked to Amber Cove, St Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk..... well this one won out.  Got hold of our stellar TA and this was booked same day........ AFT Junior Suite .. SO EXCITED!!!
Sitting with our friends about a week after we all returned from our March breaks we told them about our cruise and she was booked within 24 hours.... It was supposed to be a surprise from her hubby and our teenage sons but ...... It's not lol.... and Everyone is excited for our vacation.
Background:
Our family is Me, DH, DS 16,  Our Best friends- my GF, her hubby and their DS 16.  We have been friends since we met them camping when our boys were 3 and had a knock down drag out fight.... You know the one where the playground is all theirs and myself and GF hubby are mortified about their behaviour and then later in the day these darling 3 yr olds are best friends?? They are a strange pair but are the best of friends and brothers!
 

Just wanted to post a funny story.  We were getting the drinks In the diamond lounge pictured a couple posts up and a couple sat down with us and started chatting.  They asked us “if we cruise often” and we all got a chuckle out of that! She realized what she asked and said “oh wait you are in the diamond lounge so you must”!  

Update on the seas...captain just said 12-15 feet and winds are 25-30+ mph.  Highest we’ve had on a cruise in a long time!

Well we finally got time to walk around the ship and take pictures!
Starting with the diamond lounge

This is an outside seating area for the diamond lounge overlooking the basketball court.  It’s awesome they have a special area outside on this ship!
This is what area above over looks and at this moment there was a Zumba class going on there!

Here are some pool deck pictures.  Notice the one side is closed...out suspicion is because we are doing some rocking today.




The arcade

This is a mesmerizing machine that has moving golf balls and just constantly keeps doing stuff.  So much fun to watch

Of course Johnny Rockets

This is the computer area with an opening in the middle looking down to the library

 

The community board in the library where you can post any meeting or meetup you are looking for.  Looks like a few people were looking for game players

 
Here where we are going after lunch!  NEXT CRUISE!  Never miss that on a cruise! ?

And here are several promenade pictures.  Notice the one area has Valentine decorations!









And lastly the casino

This is the floor entering the casino.  Pretty cool 3D

 
and a quick shot of the rougher seas

Ok that’s it for now but we will have some more a bit later!  Tonight is formal night (as expected on Valentines Day) and lobster ? night!  My favorite night of the entire cruise for dinner!!!
We are going to go walk around and film some of the ship now.  See y’all soon!

Magic Kingdom Day! Woke up earlier than I like to on vacation at 6:45am ate breakfast of French toast casserole and fruit then off to magic kingdom. Arrived at 8:30am and through the craziness of security then the monorail then entrance that is magic kingdom. 
 
finally time for our first view of the legendary castle. It was amazing! 
 
our first fast pass ride was up and that aS the Mad Tea Party! I love the spinning tea cups and it was tons of fun to me my mother on the other hand was feeling a little sick by the end of the ride. Then off to Mickey’s Philamagic orchestra this was super cute and I loved the 4D aspects. Then was Aladin’s magic carpets then another fast pass for Pirates of the Caribbean. Then we wandered to Main Street for the parade this was great! 
 
 
 
 
then off to Be Our Guest for lunch! This was not quite what I was expecting but was still enjoyable. I had the French onion soup ( no where as good as Royal Caribbean’s) and the grey stuff cupcake - I trusted them and it was delicious  
 
 
 
then it was time for our final fast pass the little mermaid while in line I booked another fast pass for buzz lighter. After both those off to the space orbitz then the carousel of progress, another fast pass monsters ink laugh floor, then the people mover. 
 
got my magic kingdom Starbucks mug!!! And an iced coffee as the humidity was killing me then off to TGI Friday’s! Had my normal the sampler platter then back to magic kingdom for the fireworks then home to bed! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As a whole magic kingdom was amazing!! So cool! I never felt too old or that we were judged for being a family of adults. I would definitely go back!

After 3 long flights I arrived in Orlando at 4:45am this morning, got my bag and checked both Lyft and Uber with Uber being $2 cheaper decided on that as my way of getting to our villa. We have a rental car but no one was picking me up at 5am so Uber it was. I arrived at the villa and my first action after finding my room was to find the fridge for a snack strawberries and yogurt sure made life better, then a quick shower and a nap that lasted until 10am.
 
We ate breakfast as a family then off we went to REI. I’m a big canoe fan as well as really into backwoods camping and as REI is not any wear close to where we live that was a stop to make. Then off to Disney springs! I enjoyed walking around, got a Florida Starbucks mug (I collect them so this will be a theme) and a dole whip! I found it to be a little humid but overall the heat is welcome for this Canadian! ? 
finally it was evening time everyone else was going to the Orlando magic game but I wanted to enjoy time to myself the really large jacuzzi bath tub at our place and some wine! And that is what I did and I enjoyed it so much! 

Some updates from this past week: 
Izzy has confirmed that the Thermal Spa is indeed complimentary for Star Class guest.  Each adult receives a one day pass.  Too bad for the kids.  We asked Izzy if we needed to pick a day and make reservations ahead of time.  He told us no, we could just show up whenever and he would let the spa receptionist know and they will handle the charges.
The other thing that I found interesting, which I did not know before this, is that they reserve specific blocks of time in the Escape Room for SC guests.  He originally had us in for Day 7 and we wanted another time and date.  He told us that if we went to a time slot that wasn't blocked for SC, we would have to pay the normal fee.  Again, there may or may not be inconsistencies with this between ships in the fleet.  In the end, we moved to another SC time block.
We are just about a month away and everything is pretty much good to go.  All schedules and reservations are taken care of already.  Izzy has already given us information on what to do when we arrive at Terminal A.  I am really pleased with how smooth this has been.  I also think that it has to do with the fact that I know more of what to expect this time. 
I asked Izzy if he could make time go faster?  That is pretty much the only "No" that I have received so far. ?

Would it surprise you if I told you I always prefer to style my own hair. I even prefer me over my hairstylist.  Hopefully she is not reading this...?

Quick morning post on this First of two sea days.  We went to the windjammer for breakfast and saw this happened sometime last night!

i looked at it and can’t tell what caused it to shatter.  We have never seen that before on a ship!  Good thing dry dock is coming very soon!
 
EDIT: so apparently we haven’t been very observant!  The broken window happened a few months ago!  We just noticed it this morning for some reason even though we are here everyday!  Hahaha oooppss!

We finally made it to the happy hour in the diamond lounge!  First alcohol drinks on the ship of the cruise....only took 7 days!

So our day in Curacao is ending.  We are relaxing a bit before shower and getting ready for dinner.  Again, today was hato caves and mambo beach.  The caves were neat but it’s really a once and done thing.  I would say of all the things we did on this cruise we both rate it at the bottom (but we did some really great stuff).  
 

I do not know why it keeps uploading us upside down!!!  I tried reloading the image in several times with no luck so...sorry ...you will have to stand on your head to see it right! ?
After the caves we continued the island tour and ended at Mambo Beach!


This was very nice.  Small little area for swimming and hanging out.  We all got one of the lounge chairs you see!  Nice little 1.5 hour swim and chill out time!  When we were done here we got a continued tour back to the ship.  
 
Once at the ship we dropped our stuff off and walked to the city.  This was VERY nice!  One of the best ports so far in regards to walking distance stuff!


Of course we checked out the floating bridge and even watched it open and close.  Pretty neat to see

 

Again I don’t understand why all the pictures of us upload upside down!!!!  UGH!
So during our shopping we tried some blue Curacao liquor and chocolate Curacao liquor.  Chocolate wins HANDS DOWN!  We bought both though because the bottle are cool!  Along with a sampler pack of all of the bottles because they just look cool!  Probably won’t really drink all of it, except for the chocolate!  I forgot to take pictures before the ship took them from us.  I’ll take some either at home or when we are in Miami.  
 
So that’s a quick update for now.  Gotta get in the shower for dinner now!  It’s a Royal Caribbean singers and dancers show tonight and then “love and marriage”.  
 
 
 

Yes, there IS Old Bay Beer

Preamble
Some of you know that we have tried to sail with Royal twice before. First, we were booked on the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan when our sailing was cancelled due to an unscheduled dry dock. We tried to rebook with RC, but we weren't able to work something out with them when we wanted to go. We sailed on NCL and while we had a decent time, NCL didn't win us over. So, when we found a good deal on a sailing on the Navigator of the Seas for February '19, we figured we'd give RC a shot. That was supposed to be her first sailing after her amplification and, if you remember, it was cancelled a week out because she wasn't ready. Scrambling at the last minute because we needed to get away last winter, we found a sailing on Carnival out of New Orleans at the last minute. I went in not expecting much, but surprisingly, we had a great time on Carnival. So much so that my wife and I agreed if we only sailed on Carnival again, we'd be happy. In fact, we had already booked this trip prior to the last cancellation and afterwards, I was tempted to cancel on Royal - you know, because I'm mean spirited like that.
We kept the sailing and on February 2nd we finally boarded a Royal ship - the Liberty of the Seas to be exact. Full Spoiler Alert - we had a great time! I share that because I want you to know where I am coming from if I mention something I didn't care for or would change (it isn't much). In fact, I won't go as far as to say we are Royal exclusive, but we are Royal preferred. I'd sail on other lines again (and we've now sailed on the four major ones in the US Market [Disney, NCL, Carival and Royal]) but we'll look to Royal first. So much so that we've already booked our next cruise on the Symphony of the Seas for next January (shhh, that's a secret from our boys). I know at times I've been critical of RC on these boards, but I have to say that once we finally got onboard, the crew and the ship absolutely blew me away!
Pertinent Information
Crew: Myself, my better half (Julie) and my boys (George and Lucas [and yes, that is because I love Star Wars!]). Also joining us were my father-in-law and his wife (we all get along great - dad remarried after mom passed a few years ago and I have no idea what the correct term for your father-in-law's second wife that doesn't sound stupid. Loved having them along!)
Ship: Liberty of the Seas
Dates: February 2nd to 9th
Itinerary: Galveston - Sea Day - Sea Day - Roatan - Costa Maya - Cozumel - Sea Day - Sad Day (aka get off the boat day).
Other Notes: We're eating in the MDR (more on that) and Julie and I scored the $18 UBP mistake. 
Day One - Driving to Galveston - Friday, January 31st
As a family of four, flights can be pricey. Thus, whenever possible, we'll drive to vacation. If we can get there in two days drive, then it's load up the family truckster and head out. We got the boys off to school and began the ritual pre-vacation cleaning. I love coming home to a clean house after vacation so we make sure and allocate time to do it just before we leave. Julie had been sick for a few days and I didn't want to get denied boarding, so I sent her to the doctor (yay antibiotics) and I had one last work obligation to go to (as a pastor, I had to make a quick hospital visit to pray with someone). Got back and loaded up the car, ate the last of the leftovers for lunch and went to get the boys from school.

The plan was to leave home from just south of Des Moines, IA, and drive to Muskogee, OK. Google says it is about 7 hours so we hoped to be there by 8-ish after picking the boys up from school at 1 pm. We actually arrived a little after 9 pm with a stop for dinner in a little town in Missouri where I had the most amazing burger I've had in some time.
       
Made it the Comfort Inn or Suites or something ... we usually stay at a Choice Hotel because it includes a decent breakfast and they aren't horribly expensive. After a fitful night of sleep, we were up and at it early ... but that will have to wait for my next post.

I should be packing, but somebody has other ideas.

Here is the email from the concierge for those who are interested. Does anyone have any thoughts on Francis?
It’s a great pleasure to welcome you in advance via email onboard the beautiful Liberty of the Seas. We are honored that you have selected Royal Caribbean International for your cruise vacation.
My name is Francis, your Suite Concierge onboard. I am available to assist you with any special requests you may have throughout your cruise vacation. My desk hours in the Suite Lounge are daily from 8:00 am to 11:00 am and 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

As a special VIP guest you are offered exclusive amenities and services not available to other guest’s onboard Liberty of the Seas. For your convenience, here is a brief summary of those services:

·        Access to use of the Suite Lounge, located on Deck 14 Aft by using your GOLD colored Seapass card.
·        Continental breakfast and specialty coffee is available inside the lounge daily from 8:00 am to 10:00 am on sea day & 7:00 am to 9:00am on Port days.
·        Complimentary bar setup and Hors d’oeuvres, petit fours is served inside the private lounge every evening before and after dinner from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.   (Selected Beers, Wines and Mix drinks are available to be consumed at the lounge)
·        Daily snacks available inside the Suite Lounge by noon time until 3:00pm
·        Daily dining room menus displayed at the lounge and assistance on pre-ordering for your dinner wine.
·        Complimentary pressing on the first Formal night only and one set per person only.
·        Full Dining Room menu for room-service complementary daily privilege. (Available during Dining Room open hours only & dial 1012 for room service to place your order)
·        Reservations assistance for our specialty restaurants, shore excursion and spa appointments.
·        Business services such as copies, printing and etc.
·        Reserved VIP seats for production shows located at Deck 4 Platinum Theater & Ice shows located at Studio B, Deck 3. Seats will be reserved until 10 minutes prior to the show time and no need for reservation. (Please kindly show to Cruise Director’s staffs your Gold colored SeaPass card at the theater.)  
·        Private exclusive breakfast at Chops Grille located in Deck 11 aft, daily from 8:00 am to 10:00 am on Sea days & 7:00 am to 9:00am on Port days. Exclusive for gold colored card suite guests holders only.

The Suite Lounge is a private lounge accessible on a 24-hour basis, with your golden colored suite key you will have access. The private lounge has been designated a smoke-free area. We respectfully request that guests observe a proper dress code when visiting the lounge (no swim or pool attire is allowed, footwear is required at all times).  To ensure all our guests are able to enjoy this exclusive lounge we require that all guests 20 years old and younger must be well behaved and accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. We also kindly ask not to bring any friends or a family member who is not registered on the Grand Suite and above room category.

Please come and visit me in the Suite Lounge or kindly contact me by dialing 3812 from any ship phone. If there is any way I can be of assistance to make your cruise vacation more enjoyable, please do not hesitate to ask. We hope you will have the vacation of a lifetime onboard the Liberty of the Seas.

Kind regards,

Francis
Concierge | Guest Services
Suite Lounge Ext # 3812

Thanks for sharing another great adventure!!!

Thanks for taking us along.  Enjoyed!!!

Ok trying to keep up to date here!  So much going on with port stops!
Today was Aruba and we did the Aruba Trikes!  We got this Idea from this forum!  That was fun and nothing like anything we’ve done before (never driven in a foreign country)!
 

After the trikes we did a little shopping and walking around
but after being in the sun and riding around for several hours we were exhausted and just headed back to the ship.  Of course we went to the “mouth jammer”!  I haven’t posted food pictures but thought I’d post my nachos!  This ship has them for every meal!!!

We just hung out the rest of the day and enjoyed the weather and views from the ship!  Tonight it is going to be -16 with a -35 or more windchill at home so this feels extra awesome! ?
Just a couple shots from the ship of the island.  Top one was from our seat in the windjammer and the bottom from one of the upper decks.

 

We went to the dining room tonight, as usual.  Just wanted to comment that it was more than half empty since all aboard was not until 830 (our dinner is 530) so it was very peaceful and quiet.  We actually got to talk with our staff since they weren’t running around trying to keep up.  That was nice!
Tomorrow will be Curacao!  We have a laid back tour of the cave and then mambo beach to chill!  It our earliest all aboard of the cruise (430) so we will be back early!
So far between Bonaire and Aruba our favorite is Bonaire so we will see what Curacao brings tomorrow!

Our progress...
 3,754 nm cruise distance.


Breakfast in the Windjammer at 6am.  The view down to the self assist line at 6:16am.


I finished packing, collected my bags and made my way down to leave.  By 6:46am I was outside and on my way to the train station.


Walking to the train station one last view of Ovation.



The train.



At the airport by 7:24am only to find out Delta check in doesn't open until three hours before the flight.  Another hour to wait.


Eventually made it into the American Express lounge.  Last chance for an Aussie beer.


Now I'm home from this cruise, I can comment from my original account!
I can now say two things: I've been to New Zealand - Kia Ora to all my new mates there! And that I've cruised with @twangster … although, there were ~4200 other guests and I never knew who any of them were unless we had the good fortune to meet at dinner in the main dining room, or on a shore excursion.
I chose this cruise for the Hobbitses - I did the tour out of Tauranga that takes you to Hobbiton. The actual movie set rebuilt for The Hobbit trilogy, in the same spot on the same farm where they filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then in Wellington, I visited the Weta Works studio, where they did the props and costumes for both trilogies, and are currently working with James Cameron on the next four Avatar movies.
Like @twangster, I also visited Mount Victoria, and took in the splendid, if very windy, scenery, and then took a walk to some spots where various scenes in the trilogies were filmed. That was pretty neat.
But hands down, the Sounds, particularly Milford Sound, were the most wondrous. It was so still and quiet from my balcony in Milford Sound, I could have been the only person on the earth there. It was an exquisite experience.
And I really loved Ovation - for all that she is a honking great ship in the Australian cruise experience, I rarely felt crowded or hemmed in by people. And the crew were pure gold.
I'm already planning ahead to another cruise to New Zealand, and it will be Ovation all the way for me!

Day 12 - Sydney
I went up to get some pictures of our arrival into Sydney.  
One is the loneliest number... someone put their luggage out too late.

A wet morning for our arrival into Sydney.

Other shots from around the ship.
I think that's all, folks. If you have any questions about the ship, I'm happy to help.