cruise-y

Chicen Itza is historically fantastic.  If you have a chance to go, without a long drive, it is well worth it.  30 years ago, when it was not at all well-trodden, we drove a rental car there and spent the night.  Very primitive but one of our best trips ever.   That would make Progresso a must-do stop for me.  But maybe not for everyone.

Southampton was one of the fast and easiest ports in which to disembark.  It was very smooth.
One warning: We booked an RCCL excursion on disembarkation day that took us from Southampton to Stonehenge for a few hours and then on to the Heathrow.  We planned it that way and it was great for us so we didn't have to rush.  We were spending the night at Heathrow (lovely hotel and great French restaurant) and leaving on our overseas flight early the next morning. The DAY BEFORE disembarkation (while at sea) RCCL cancelled the excursion.  We were stranded with no plans on how to get from Southampton to London.  I had to scramble around making calls (with at-sea satellite charges) to arrange transportation.  Then we were stuck at Heathrow all day instead of having the planned excursion.  RCCL has cancelled many events on us at the last minute.  That was kinda the last straw.

My personal opinion is that the Jr. Suite tubs are a huge waste of space.  I'd rather just have a bigger shower.  As a woman, I would NEVER take a tub bath in a hotel room.  For obvious hygienic reasons. And I've traveled a lot worldwide - both for work and for leisure.  If you are a woman and disagree, I'd like to hear.  Seriously.
 

There's a reason prices drop only after the window for final payment.  I always book cruises within the 90 day final payment window.  Sometimes the cruise is full and the prices aren't cheaper, but I can't make plans that far out anyway.
 

NE47 - I'm going to give you another perspective.  How often does your child get a chance to see other cultures and venues?  Pools, slides, ping pong (and generic dock shopping) all run together - but Mayan ruins, botanical parks, exotic animals, zip-lining in jungle canopies, cave touring and beaches with coconut trees are rarer occurrences and maybe make better memories.   You can still relax.  Just sayin...
 

NE47 - I'm going to give you another perspective.  How often does your child get a chance to see other cultures and venues?  Pools, slides, ping pong (and generic dock shopping) all run together - but Mayan ruins, botanical parks, exotic animals, zip-lining in jungle canopies, cave touring and beaches with coconut trees are rarer occurrences and maybe make better memories.   You can still relax.  Just sayin...
 

On board: Leave all your valuables in your room safe and just take your SeaPass to the pool.  Tuck it under a towel.  I guess people could sneak around stealing SeaPasses to use but I've never seen it happen.  People are on vacation, not on the take.  Your face comes up when it is scanned and they definitely look at that.  Not having to lug your wallet around is one of the great things about cruises.
Beachside: Rent a locker.   Don't leave your wallet unattended on the beach. 
 

I'm not a big breakfast eater but the reason I never order room service breakfast (even fruit and coffee) is because I don't know EXACTLY when I will get up on vacation.  I might wake up earlier or later.  I'm on vacation.  I don't want to set an alarm clock for room service.  I've dashed down a few levels to get coffee on the promenade and dashed back up again to drink it on my balcony, but the waits at the buffet and the promenade for (hot or cold) food are prohibitive to take back to the room, IMO.  What I will do is drag a plate out to a deck chair by a window.

I don’t disagree with your sentiment about hotel bath tubs, but don’t think it has to do with being a women. A gross tub is gross no matter the gender. 

Just remember...food will be cold by the time you eat it....at best its  "warm" even when you east it right away in the WJ....by the time you get it back to your room and eat it on your balcony it will be cold.....whether you cover it with a plate or napkin or not...
 
Cold eggs and bacon isn't for me.....its a nice idea, but bringing any food back to the room from the WJ or any place really isn't ideal or practical imho...or at least anything that's supposed to be hot or warm.
 
Worth a try sure...but I think you'll be disappointed....unless you enjoy your hot breakfast cold...

I like the idea of doing something on Cozumel itself.  That tender ride to Playa del Carmen can be brutal.

Hi Joe -
I understand your concerns but don't worry.  To broadly generalize, yes Texans can be loud and maybe more conservative than other places, but they really are very friendly and I promise you won't find many curmudgeons.  People on Liberty are there to have a good time, so you will too.  To me, it's much more fun to sail from a "foreign" port because I get to experience new, exotic things that I don't see at home.  Different people, different food, different music. I love it all, no matter what it is.  I'm looking forward to sailing out of Southampton in a few weeks.  
You'll get to meet many of our friends traveling from Mexico (as well as many Mexican-Americans) and you can enjoy dancing to the Tejano and Latin-themed music at Bolero's Bar (my very favorite spot).  Who doesn't love a margarita?  Texans will adore your accent and will want to buy you drinks and blab to you all night long   (And, most importantly, please remember that many Texans don't fit the stereotype at all.  It's a big state.)

Hi Joe -
I understand your concerns but don't worry.  To broadly generalize, yes Texans can be loud and maybe more conservative than other places, but they really are very friendly and I promise you won't find many curmudgeons.  People on Liberty are there to have a good time, so you will too.  To me, it's much more fun to sail from a "foreign" port because I get to experience new, exotic things that I don't see at home.  Different people, different food, different music. I love it all, no matter what it is.  I'm looking forward to sailing out of Southampton in a few weeks.  
You'll get to meet many of our friends traveling from Mexico (as well as many Mexican-Americans) and you can enjoy dancing to the Tejano and Latin-themed music at Bolero's Bar (my very favorite spot).  Who doesn't love a margarita?  Texans will adore your accent and will want to buy you drinks and blab to you all night long   (And, most importantly, please remember that many Texans don't fit the stereotype at all.  It's a big state.)

This has been covered many times before but I'll say it again.  Yes, there is an automatic 18% added to your bar bill and you don't have to tip extra.  BUT, in my experience, if you leave an extra $1 on your bar bill (usually just via your charge) your bartender will remember that and will wait on you faster (or, if you don't tip extra, totally ignore you) in the future.  This is especially true at the pool bars where it can be very crowded.  

This has been covered many times before but I'll say it again.  Yes, there is an automatic 18% added to your bar bill and you don't have to tip extra.  BUT, in my experience, if you leave an extra $1 on your bar bill (usually just via your charge) your bartender will remember that and will wait on you faster (or, if you don't tip extra, totally ignore you) in the future.  This is especially true at the pool bars where it can be very crowded.  

This has been covered many times before but I'll say it again.  Yes, there is an automatic 18% added to your bar bill and you don't have to tip extra.  BUT, in my experience, if you leave an extra $1 on your bar bill (usually just via your charge) your bartender will remember that and will wait on you faster (or, if you don't tip extra, totally ignore you) in the future.  This is especially true at the pool bars where it can be very crowded.  

You can walk (fast) between those two concourses; you won't have to take a bus.  There are moving sidewalks (walk on them, don't just ride).   BUT, Chicago flights in and out are notoriously delayed.  That connection is very do-able but nerve-wracking.  If your flight in is delayed, chances are your flight out will be delayed as well, but I wouldn't risk it if you can avoid it.  Plus, your luggage might not make it if you are checking bags.  Yes, fly in the night before if you can, it's just too risky on an international connection.  I used to travel cross-country a lot for work and have spent many nights in the Chicago airport on a cot or bused to some third-rate hotel they provided.  It was hell.

To me, it's all about the ports.  Where do you want to go?  England, Italy, Eastern Europe, Spain, France?  Think about that first.  Which port cities would you like to spend extra time in before and after the cruise?  Certainly Rome, Barcelona and Venice are at the top of that list.   Do you want to go to Pompeii?  Greece?  Monaco?  Let the itinerary drive your choices.  You can speak English everywhere nowadays.  Europeans (unlike us) are very multi-lingual.  I never worry about transfers and airport proximity because you do have to arrive at least a day ahead anyway.   Relatively speaking, Southampton is pretty far from London (like an hour and a half) but London is just so great to visit!  I always arrive several days ahead because there is so much to see.  The fun is in the adventure of new things.

Yes Galveston Steve is absolutely correct and I should have noted not to eat at the national chains!  Eat Local!   I’ve driven to Galveston just to eat the shrimp and I’ve bought it right off the boats on occasion. 
As Steve says, the snapper is a great fresh daily option too (yum) and I’m partial to another local fave -  fresh oyster stew made from plump gulf oysters with a shot of hot sauce.  It’s thin and milk based and may not be available all year round.  Steve can probably tell you when and where it’s best.  (I’m an adventuresome eater.)

Great advice @cruise-y! My favorites in Galveston are fresh Gulf Shrimp and Red Snapper.  So good!  My only caution is to ask the restaurants if the dish you are ordering is "fresh local seafood".  There are some places on Galveston (Landry's Seafood for example) that are famous for seafood but most of what they serve is frozen or brought in from other areas.  The restaurants I recommend in the original post do use fresh local seafood.  Blvd Seafood for example serves shrimp and Red Snapper fresh from the docks every day (as @cruise-y points out above). Red Snapper at Blvd Seafood is one of my favorites.  It's served with the "Gulf Wild" tag and you can enter the unique number from that tag at www.GulfWild.com to see when, where, and on what boat your fish was caught.

Galveston Steve has posted such great information about the port, especially concerning restaurants and hotels!  I always like to eat the local specialty food whenever I am traveling, because it is usually something I can't get at home.  If you have the same sensibilities, be sure to eat fresh gulf shrimp.   They come in on ships every day in Galveston and most seafood restaurants buy them in the morning and serve them right away.  They are sweet and large and so much more delicious than the frozen things you get in other parts of the country.   

The peak summer sailing dates probably skew a little to the right of this when sailing out of Europe, as most European children have summer holiday from around mid July to the end of August.  And many European businesses take the month of August off.

I too have been considering other options. I will be emerald after our september cruise on Oasis, and have only been on one 7 night carnival cruise. The food on carnival was better but I didn't fit in with the person type on board (not much of an obnoxious partier). Even after becoming Diamond and getting the happy hour and drink coupons I can't see my wife and I booking a cruise without the drink package. Not so much because we drink a whole lot but because it's really nice to have drinks paid for months in advance and not have to count dollars with how many drinks we have. So all this time building up crown and anchor points kind of feels like a waste at this point. I might have to venture to the unknown at some point. Royals pay for all the extra food is ridiculous. Carnival has guys burgers which I've heard nothing bad about and royal has sorrentos pizza which no one likes. If your going to have a standalone pizza place it should be really good pizza. If it was a restaurant it would be long out of business.
I say try norwegian just for the new ports of call. We went to grand turk on carnival and it has probably been my favorite port. 

I called RC about switching rooms and they told me
 

I totally agree with Doc.  We aren't huge cruisers like many of you (we've been maybe 10 times) but the Itinerary always drives the choice.   Best by far: Barefoot Cruise to the very, very southern Caribbean with 35 people on board.  That cruise line is now defunct (for safety reasons) but talk about small ports.  We are doing southern Spain for the first time on Indy in August.