UkuleleCruiser

We are cruising Liberty starting this Sunday! Our plan for this trip is to bring two bottles of wine that are screw top. If we use them at dinner, we'll pay the corkage fee to unscrew them. Good thing: I'd hate to risk a wrist sprain from turning the twist cap! Anyway, if we drink them anywhere else on the ship, we'll just open them ourselves. We'll risk ruining our cruise with a sprained risk, in that case.

Wondered about that. We were mostly going to sit in the uncomfortable beach chairs and complain to each other about the service. For that, my sandals would do. But if we venture into the sea, I will need to score some water shoes...

That's good to know. Yes, we did book through RC. We've had that happen before on cruises just because weather prevented a particular stop. Always found a use for the credit! I will let it go, and let RC decide.

That sounds good.

OK, Here's the skivvy on how you can sort of build your own drink package without going completely broke: I checked the wine celler on board the Liberty, and found the following available on the low end: Cabernet -- $42 Reisling -- $38 Sparkling Wine (Cheap Champagne) -- $35 So, if you bought a mix over the course of the cruise for all seven nights, I came up with: $230 (note: we are booked into chefs table, so alcohol included that night. your mileage may vary) If you bring on two bottles of cabernet, there will be $30 in corkage fees, but you would take $84 off the budget. New total: $176 If you brought two bottles of wine on, and bought just sparkling wine each night: $170 This is considerably cheaper then an all inclusive drink package. It also assumes you are a fairly light drinker: Maybe just a couple drinks at dinner. We would still be buying drinks at other day parts if we wanted too. Plus, we can either buy this ahead of time if we choose, or buy a bottle each night at dinner...

I believe the answer is "no" but we are scheduled for an excursion to the bamboo Beach Club. With the travel advisory centered on Montego Bay (I believe), we should be OK. But your thoughts?

My wife is worried about the same thing. I believe the area we are in is safe. I think we OK. Our excursion will be to the Bamboo Beach Club. That's a drive, but it's Falmouth, not Montego Bay. I believe the violence is around Montego Bay. On the other hand, should I pack weaponry?

How about any secret on the Liberty? I cruised on Navigator, and loved it. One of the theaters....ice rink? Not sure.... Anyway, one of the theatres has some very cool quotes on the walls.

We only used a travel agent once. That was for our first cruise on the venerable Carnival Conquest. Well, my first cruise. My wife has cruised before. I don't recall a pro/con situation back then: I just have always signed up online after that. So, I am not worried about the time or finding my way through the website: That's fine. I am just wondering if there are perks, discounts, or upgrades I might be missing out on by booking direct. Thoughts?

Are we safe? More specifically, are we safe on excursions? Has Royal Caribbean commented on this?

I've made final payment. But I'm hopeful I'll get a drink coupon....or.....something....

I'm gonna take another look tonight. Maybe I'll build my own drink package!

I'd do it for a sandwich. Seriously, how about a t-shirt? I'm in! Someone call RC Brass!

This was why we decided not to take advantage of the specials for our upcoming cruise: The wife ONLY wants to eat at Chops. So, we pay more. We don't have to move the reservation. Why make embarkation any more stressful then it is? (It's not always stressful. But if my responsibility is only to get on board and make our way to Olive or Twist for Sailaway and alcohol, the stress level is way low!)

Yeah. I told someone they should have "help rebuild" excursions, but my friend said no one would sign up.

Thank you for your comments. What ship was this? (You probably have already answered this later on!)

I wore a watch that tracked my distance and mapped it. I wore it once doing time on the track: Of course it tracked the ship movement, too! Completely innacurate for distance purposes, but the ship movement made an interesting and odd route in the middle of the ocean!

We went to the "Naughty Room" once on an unrelated matter, and they had a huge stack of them that they'd pulled from luggage.

I think I'm excluded, since we sail on 2/4/18. But I'm gonna call anyway.... Maybe I'll get a free cookie or something...

I understand the more you drink, the less confusing it is! :-)

There bottle prices aren't that bad. I suppose you can always "do it yourself" for a wine flight.... I imagine the corking fee is included if we buy it from RC?

Perhaps this is just me, but I don't drink near enough to make this package work. I find the drinks to be fairly inexpensive, especially compared to drinking in a restaurant. Between my wife and I, according to my math, I can't get anywhere near enough alcohol in my system to make this economical. Carnival used to have a wine flight package that we loved: You could by 5 or more bottles of wine at a "discounted" price at the beginning of the cruise, and thy would bring them out for you at dinner or in bars throughout the cruise. Then, if you had wine left over (presumably unopened: We drank all of ours) you would just take it off the ship. I haven't seen it, but a smaller "drinks with dinner" type package would appeal to people like me, too. Something like $20-$24 a day, and it covers 2 or 3 drinks with dinner....

3! That's awesome!

I know this has been done before, but let's count 'em off: I am at 17 days until embarkation!

no worries, Mon. We are laid-back in the Caribbean!