HAK1906 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 My family and I are s l o w l y but surely counting down to January 2017 for our cruise on L.O.S. out of Galveston. We plan on driving from our home in Frisco on Saturday, staying with family Saturday night, parking the car at one of the parking spots on Sunday by the cruise ship and getting there around 10:30am. I wanted any and all thoughts on parking in Galveston, embarkation, cruise experience, etc... The refurb video is very exciting (slides, sabor, etc....)and my assumption is that VOOM will be available by this time next year. Responses are encouraged :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Hi Hak1906. This post should be helpful.... http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php/topic/568-all-things-galveston-answers-to-your-questions/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Steve's post is extremely helpful. Definitely give it a read through especially the part about avoiding Harborside Drive as it's a parking lot on embarkation day. I had a good experience with Park N Cruise Galveston. It was about $85 including all taxes for the week for secured parking inside a garage. The best part is that it was close enough to wheel our bags to the terminal ourselves so we didn't have to get into the traffic mess. Sarae and Galveston Steve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldinetheQueen Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 Would like to hear some comments from people just returning from Liberty's first cruise after her refurbishment. What did you think in general? Did you go on the new slides? How was the food? Were the balcony cabins refurbished? How did you feel about the EXORBITANT drink prices? We are leaving on 2/28/16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 JKP, I was not Liberty but I just wanted to tell you that the drink prices are that high on all Royal ships now.. Last year when Quantum of the seas came out they raised drink prices fleet wide to try and get people to buy the expensive drink package. The only reason I am telling you this is because you seem to think only Liberty of the seas have these high prices but really all Royal ships now have them. I am not a drinker so for me I don't care but I do feel bad for people like you who do drink that they raised the prices so much, but then again people seem to just keep paying the prices so Royal I'm sure has no intention on dropping the price... In fact I was on NCL in December and their prices are even higher! Couldn't believe it. I hope you enjoy your cruise and maybe you are right maybe Royal isn't for you and you need to go back on princess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldinetheQueen Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 AGSLC5: Thank you for your reply. Personally, I'm not a drinker either but my husband and cruise buddies do like an occasional drink. For clarification, I in no way thought only this ONE ship, Liberty, had high drink prices. I too have cruised a LOT and know how prices on ships/lines work. You are right about one thing though...I have a feeling...although it remains to be proven...that we will go back to Princess in the future. I've never been on RCCL and that is why we planned the 2/28/16 cruise out of Galveston...to give them a try. I don't care for Holland American Line because of their dark decorating schemes onboard. All the ships we have been on are decorated in dark blue and gold...everywhere...and it's just to heavy and depressingly DARK. Also, the last cruise we were on with HAL, the dining experience was AWFUL!! So...we embark 2 weeks from today on Liberty and we will see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 The Liberty did offer a "drink card" for $69 that provided you with 10 drinks up to $12 in value and said that the card could be shared. I'm not sure if this is always offered or not, but that would help mitigate high drink prices. GeraldinetheQueen and Galveston Steve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldinetheQueen Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 DocLC: Wow that sounds like it just might work. Did you just get off the Liberty? Was this sold only onboard? Was it sold the day of Embarkation or was is later in the cruise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 Liberty had that advertized last November, but Independence last September did not (that I noticed). Trial offer on a select few ships maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted February 14, 2016 Report Share Posted February 14, 2016 The Liberty did offer a "drink card" for $69 that provided you with 10 drinks up to $12 in value and said that the card could be shared. I'm not sure if this is always offered or not, but that would help mitigate high drink prices. I wish someone who has people "in the know" (cough cough, Hochberg, cough) could find out if the drink cards are available at the discretion of the Beverage Manager onboard. Since the availability of the cards seems so inconsistent, it seems to me that if they aren't selling $X on a particular sailing they are then allowed to offer the cards to increase onboard revenue. But if drinks sales are OK, they don't offer them. It's a double-edged sword though. If I bought one of the bev packages, I'd be pretty ticked if the much cheaper cards were offered later in the cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 15, 2016 Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 I wish someone who has people "in the know" (cough cough, Hochberg, cough) could find out if the drink cards are available at the discretion of the Beverage Manager onboard. The discretion is a ship-level decision. I have asked RC directly about these sort of things and they told me it's something the management on the ship decide as a means of experimenting with revenue. I do not know who exactly on the ship makes the decision, but it is something outside the scope of HQ, which is primarily why you cannot book them in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted February 15, 2016 Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 DocLC: Wow that sounds like it just might work. Did you just get off the Liberty? Was this sold only onboard? Was it sold the day of Embarkation or was is later in the cruise? It was advertised in the Cruise Compass and I just read that it was offered on the sailing that just concluded today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Vitale Posted February 15, 2016 Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 Doc, as I mentioned in my review, it just popped up on Friday afternoon. I was getting coffee at the Promenade Cafe and there it was. $67 for 10 drinks. IMO the drinking was WAYYY below what they need all week. There were 2 for 1 specials, drink cards and reduced prices on all packages. Bars were not busy at all. The lack of hot, sunny weather seemed to change the whole atmosphere around the ship. Think about it, if you're laying around reading a book, are you gonna drink as much as if you're in the pool all day ??? I know I didn't. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoddyNYC Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Okay guys what are drink cards? I am set to sail on the Liberty 5/8 and was already going to wait until we board to purchase drink package, but now I hear (well, read) there is some sort of drink card which is far less expensive than the cost of our two Ultimate’s which is roughly $990. Please if someone would take the time to explain the difference between the drink card and the drink package in detail, I would GREATLY appreciate it!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 NoddyNYC The "Drink Card" is something that has been showing up sproadically (that I can tell) on some RCCL ships. From what I can tell it may be tied to potentially low bar revenues, as I've only noticed it being offered late in the cruise, not at first. For example, Last week on Liberty, I saw them have a table set up in front of the Windjammer selling drink cards, good for 10 drinks (up to $12 each) for $67 + 18% gratuity = $79.06. ($7.90 per drink). This only appeared on the lasty 2 days of the week (Friday and Saturday), so I am assuming that it was being used as an incentive to generate additional bar income. NoddyNYC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Okay guys what are drink cards? I am set to sail on the Liberty 5/8 and was already going to wait until we board to purchase drink package, but now I hear (well, read) there is some sort of drink card which is far less expensive than the cost of our two Ultimate’s which is roughly $990. Please if someone would take the time to explain the difference between the drink card and the drink package in detail, I would GREATLY appreciate it!!!! PRC nailed it. It is a promotion sometimes offered on certain ships. It is nothing you can really plan for, but here is a blog post about one such time it was offered: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/12/30/spotted-royal-caribbean-10-drink-punch-card-ticket-grandeur-of-the-seas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoddyNYC Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Thank you Matt and PRC. So if I see this aboard I will just do the math and cancel the remaining days in our packages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krysmith27 Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Hello, does anyone know if the Liberty of the Seas now has the Coca Cola Freestyle machines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Liberty does not have Freestyle machines. I don't know if you can cancel remaining package days once purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krysmith27 Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 Liberty does not have Freestyle machines. I don't know if you can cancel remaining package days once purchased. You can cancel the first day as I prepurchased the soda package for my wife on the Jewel and she wasn't thrilled with the quality/taste of the soda, so the refunded the price as an onboard credit. It simply needed to be approved by the food and beverage manager. PRC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 I do not know who exactly on the ship makes the decision, but it is something outside the scope of HQ, which is primarily why you cannot book them in advance. Hotel Director has the final say over things like this. While the F & B Manager may make a recommendation the final approval is the Hotel Director. Three members of the crew are on top of Cruise Ships, Master Captain, Chef Engineer, Hotel Director, and while the captain is at the top he or she rely upon the other two for top decisions within their areas. If it involves passengers and revenue it falls to HD if it is the mechanical running of the ship the CE. So the person that controls this decision and really all decisions (outside of running the ship & passenger safety) that effect passengers id the HD. Any problem or issue passengers have on the ship really go through the Hotel Director's Staff. And while you may never even see him or her they really know everything going on during your cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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