Home Suite Home - Liberty February 13-20, 2022

[melmar02]

Finally, after 732 days on land, we will be embarking on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston on February 13! DH has been on the fence about going due to Omicron, but he booked his covid test and our hotel yesterday, so I think I finally nudged him to go. Ok, I might have pushed him off that fence while holding a pitchfork, but a girl can only stay at home watching the FCCs pile up for so long!

We originally booked under a Kids Sail Free promo (remember those?), and our lift and shift froze pricing for our daughter who has aged out of the kids’ pricing during the shutdown. We really got a steal on our cabin, and we’ll turn diamond on this cruise thanks to the double points promotion. I really did not want to cancel this one!

Like everyone else’s rescheduled cruises, how we got here is kind of a convoluted story. 2 years ago (almost to the day) we took my MIL on her first cruise, which was Enchantment in February 2020, for her birthday. We get along great and always have fun together, so we headed to the Next Cruise office and booked another family cruise with her for the next year.

We found a real gem – 7 days on Jewel from Galveston going to Perfect Day! Little did we know that covid would shut everything down for so long, and our trip was lifted and shifted to Liberty visiting Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. Of course, two of those ports have changed, and we are now stopping in Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Belize. That’s fine with me as long as I can still get a lava flow on the pool deck or a habanero grapefruit daiquiri in the Schooner Bar!

A little about us:

Me - longtime homeschooling mom who runs a wedding bakery from home. I’m either grading papers or covered in icing.

DH - engineer who likes naps. I’m the night owl who likes to sleep past the sun rising, whereas DH is a morning person who naturally wakes up early. 5am is sleeping in for him.

DD – 13 and is starting those fun (ahem…awkward) teen years. 

DS – 9 and is your typical bouncing boy. The kid literally has no off button.

Unfortunately, due to some ongoing health issues, MIL decided a couple months ago to not come along. This is our fifth cruise, and the kids’ third, all on Royal.

Cabin details coming soon...

[GregD]

Have a great time! Liberty was our last cruise just before the shutdown, with the fabled $18 beverage package.

[melmar02]

29 minutes ago, GregD said:

Have a great time! Liberty was our last cruise just before the shutdown, with the fabled $18 beverage package.

We missed out on the $18 DBP, but we were on her in September 2019. That seems so long ago now!

[GregD]

3 hours ago, melmar02 said:

We missed out on the $18 DBP, but we were on her in September 2019. That seems so long ago now!

It does. My first cruise post shut down is in 19 days, 728 days in dry dock for us. Star Class on Oasis, we can't wait!

[kadmgs]

We love Liberty. We were on her when the world shut down in March 2020. We were sitting in Bolero's when the captain made "the announcement." Have fun and congrats on escaping this crappy weather we are having right now. We are back on Liberty in July and it will also make us diamond. 

[melmar02]

Cabin

We’re suite snobs and need to have room to move.

1. DH needs a place to go in the mornings when everyone else is asleep so someone doesn't hurt him. It's me...I'd hurt him.
2. He’s also 6’4” so the extra space, while not vertical, helps.
3. DD is on the Autism spectrum (Asperger’s) and needs a place to skip around and stim. She processes all the stimulus of the day by moving around in a safe space and reciting the events/conversations of the day to herself. At home she does this just before she goes to bed. But in a different environment with additional stimuli, that’s usually early afternoon/evening on a cruise which conveniently is about the time we get ready for dinner.

We have sailed in the 2 bedroom grand suites a couple of times, and it’s a great layout for our family and needs. The kids get their own room, and DH can quietly move to the living room in the mornings without having a book thrown at his head. DD can move freely for 15 minutes or so in the living room while DS is in the shower before dinner, and it resets her for the evening’s activities. This time, we selected aft 2 bedroom grand suite #8714. We stayed in the same stateroom category just one deck up on our last Liberty sailing in November 2019 (and on Enchantment February 2020) so the cabin will feel like home. And the double wide aft balcony can't be beat.

 

Excursions

We’re sticking with Royal excursions this time around.

Belize – We were planning on the Ancient Ruins of Altun Ha. The homeschool mom in me wanted to use this one as a field trip with a unit study on the Mayan culture in the weeks leading up to the trip. We have recently decided to stay on the ship instead, although we may tender to the tourism village to get a t-shirt and ornament. Even though masks are required in Belize right now, we didn't want to be in a confined space for the hour long bus ride to get to the ruins.

Costa Maya – Mexican Salsa Experience and Beach Break. The description for this excursion says you make 2 kinds of salsa, learn a little salsa dance, and get a little beach time. DD is a picky eater and may even be a super taster. She’ll eat salsa though, and she is excited about making it herself. DH and I met through competitive ballroom dancing, so that part is purely for us. This excursion is 3 hours long and starts at 1:30pm. DH doesn’t know that this excursion ends at 4:30 with a 5pm ship departure. That’s going to make him a little nervous, but since it’s a Royal excursion I’m not worried.

Cozumel – Dolphin Swim & VIP Experience All Inclusive. We kept this one a surprise for the kids until Christmas, and wrapped up stuffed dolphins as one of their gifts. DD wants to be a marine biologist, and loves the thought of getting to interact with the animals. I think DS will have a good time exploring Chankanaab after the swim. This excursion is 3.5 hours long, and this is the only one where I had a choice of start time. I selected the earliest available at 10:30. The excursion includes lunch, and since it ends at 2pm we’ll have plenty of time to get ready for our second formal night.

[JohnK6404]

Have an amazing time! 

 

[melmar02]

@JohnK6404 Thanks!

 

 

Food Glorious Food!

We love My Time Dining, and when we originally booked this cruise, MTD still had options as early as 5:30 in the Cruise Compass. I think Royal had started to push that to later on Florida sailings, but the new, later start time had not yet hit Galveston. The earliest time is now 6:45, and we really want to be closer to 6pm. So, we switched to early seating. We love several dishes in the Main Dining Room, so we will eat there most nights. We are contemplating Chef’s Table, but have heard the location is loud on Liberty – it’s in the MDR on the back staircase landing between a couple of the decks. Maybe we’ll save it for Radiance in June.

Day 2 is Valentine’s Day, and Chops is offering a special dinner. It showed up in the cruise planner the day before the Black Friday sale began at $64.99, then jumped up to $79.99 the next day for the big sale. In addition to the regular menu, each guest gets an individual bottle of champagne and an amuse bouche. A “celebratory” lobster tail is listed in the seafood section. The dessert menu has petit fours and a raspberry mouse cake plus all the Chops standards. Also, the seafood tower is listed as being available on this menu and I can't find an additional charge in the terms and conditions beyond the extra cost of the special meal. Maybe it will make a comeback! While we might eat at Chops or Giovanni’s one night, we are not purchasing the Valentine’s dinner. It just doesn’t really jump out at me as being that much above and beyond the regular menu for the cost. Besides, that’s duck night in the MDR!

I’m sure we’ll have lunch at Johnny Rocket’s one day, and I know we’ll have our share of pizza at Sorrento’s. We’ll order room service once or twice too. We’ve never actually taken advantage of the full dining room menu room service that’s available to suite guests, so maybe we’ll try that one night if we’re too tired to get out.

 

Other purchases

We purchased the deluxe beverage package with Voom ($57) and the refreshment package ($18) for the kids. We also bought the 100 picture digital or print photo package ($124). These were all purchased during a Black Friday sale a year and a half before the cruise.

[melmar02]

The pups may be loving the snow and ice we got in Dallas, but this girl's ready for something a little warmer.

Single digits - 9 days to go!

[KristiZ]

On 2/1/2022 at 8:28 AM, melmar02 said:

I’m either grading papers or covered in icing

Tell the truth... is it really "or"?  

Sounds wonderful! Enjoy your trip!

[melmar02]

@KristiZ You caught me. I try to keep work and school separate, but yeah, sometimes buttercream gets on a math quiz!

 

Pre-cruise plans

Since we’re just north of Dallas, we drive down to Galveston. We are taking an Alaska cruise this summer, and to prep the kids for the flights, we thought we would take the short, 1 hour flight to Houston this time. DD and I would fly down while DS and DH drove. Then we would switch for the return trip so they could at least get a taste of the process (more important for DD to know what to expect). We changed those plans with Omicron and will see if we can transfer the flights to visit MIL in a couple months. 

We usually stay in the Clear Lake / NASA area, and are keeping with that plan. We’ll be staying at the Homewood Suites in a 2 bedroom which we’ve stayed at a few times before. We like it because of the extra room in the suite and the kids love a free breakfast that includes a waffle maker. It’s a 30ish minute drive to Lighthouse Parking in Galveston from there. Lighthouse is a raised lot (not that we have to worry since it isn't hurricane season), and they offer covered and uncovered parking, although the covered parking is just a roof, not a garage. They have a shuttle and have always been quick to drop us off and pick us up from the terminal.

We toyed with going to the Aquarium in downtown Houston the day before the cruise, but because of Omicron, I think we’ll take our time driving down and just go to the hotel, pick up something to eat, and try to call it an early night. 

We've scheduled our covid tests at CVS for Friday afternoon. The kids and I will leave from our co-op to test, and DH will get his after work. I'm going to schedule back up tests at Walgreens for Saturday morning as soon as the appointments open up.

[melmar02]

Went through the kids' clothes. The last time we really did any clothes shopping was for our last cruise 2 years ago! Took DD to get a pair of black flats for formal night today and she came home with a new wardrobe!    Also checked and renewed the travel meds and first aid kit. DH pulled out some clothes this morning to make sure he's got something to wear. Just had to order him a new swim shirt. Thank goodness for Amazon!

I've got a lot of laundry to do over the next few days! 

 

[GregD]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:48 PM, melmar02 said:

Went through the kids' clothes. The last time we really did any clothes shopping was for our last cruise 2 years ago! Took DD to get a pair of black flats for formal night today and she came home with a new wardrobe!    Also checked and renewed the travel meds and first aid kit. DH pulled out some clothes this morning to make sure he's got something to wear. Just had to order him a new swim shirt. Thank goodness for Amazon!

I've got a lot of laundry to do over the next few days! 

We did all the same things yesterday as well, and somehow also bought a new couch and recliner  I will be spending the day today organizing clothes as well.

[melmar02]

The covid test anxiety is real, y'all. Spring comes early in Texas, and although we had snow a few days ago, our trees started to bud a couple weeks ago. Of course along with that comes allergies for all of us. With every sinus headache and sniffle DH and I panic just a tad. We're planning on taking at home (un-proctored) tests today, assuming we can find some, just for the peace of mind. 

[kadmgs]

On 2/4/2022 at 1:41 PM, melmar02 said:

We toyed with going to the Aquarium in downtown Houston the day before the cruise, but because of Omicron, I think we’ll take our time driving down and just go to the hotel, pick up something to eat, and try to call it an early night. 

You do have the option of the Aquarium at the Kemah Boardwalk if y'all decide you want to do it. However, there are tons of food options near your hotel if y'all decide to just skip it this time. If you want something casual, I highly recommend Mia's Table @ Bay Area Blvd. & I-45. It's typical comfort food, but really good. 

[melmar02]

28 minutes ago, kadmgs said:

You do have the option of the Aquarium at the Kemah Boardwalk if y'all decide you want to do it. However, there are tons of food options near your hotel if y'all decide to just skip it this time. If you want something casual, I highly recommend Mia's Table @ Bay Area Blvd. & I-45. It's typical comfort food, but really good. 

Thanks for the recommendation. We considered Mia's Table last time we were there, but went with the Cheesecake Factory across the street instead. We'll check it out. 

[melmar02]

Pre-packed with the kids this afternoon. Found out DS doesn't have enough socks that fit anymore. He's been mostly barefoot or in soccer cleats for the last two years, so regular socks didn't even cross my mind. Who knew kids grew between the ages of 7 and 9! #momfail

 

Tomorrow I can schedule our backup tests at Walgreens for Saturday just in case we need it on the way out of town, and I have some car maintenance scheduled too. 3 days until our CVS test, 4 days 'til the drive to Houston, and 5 until we step aboard the ship!

[melmar02]

Lots of errands completed yesterday, and the clothes packing started today. Tomorrow the kids and I have our homeschool co-op all day and then we rush to CVS for our tests. We'll finish packing up after dinner tomorrow and hopefully have all our negative test results by then too. 

I have a really extensive packing list, but I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh well, there's a Walmart close to the hotel if I remember what it is.

[melmar02]

Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day is engagement season in the wedding industry, and my poor email has been overflowing for weeks. I'm happy to say, I'm all caught up and the out of the office message is turned on. I'm officially on vacation!

[melmar02]

The kids and I rushed over to CVS once our co-op day was finished, and even though our appointments were 3:50, 4:10, and 4:20, they swabbed us all at once. DH went from work and had the 4:40 slot. The kids and I are good to go... just waiting on that last text...it would be a shame to have to leave him at home! 

 

[melmar02]

I guess DH took his test at the beginning of an after work rush? Or maybe the proctor took a dinner break? Whatever the delay, we now have all our negative results printed, and we'll hit the road tomorrow between 10 and 11am. Time to celebrate with a glass or two of wine! 

 

 

[MichelleB1234]

I have family going on this cruise tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great time.  Is internet free for suite guests?

[melmar02]

10 hours ago, MichelleB1234 said:

I have family going on this cruise tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great time.  Is internet free for suite guests?

Only on Oasis and Anthem class ships which have the Royal Suite program. Suite guests on the Freedom class and older ships are slumming it with the original suite benefits.

[melmar02]

DH got up at 3:30 this morning, only an hour before his usual. He said DD came downstairs at 4:30 completely dressed and ready to go. I was up by 5 and DS came down, also completely dressed, at 5:30. I guess we were all too excited to sleep in!

We took our time finishing up the packing, and when we opened the garage door at 10am, there were a few flurries in the air. We thought, "wow, I don't remember weather guy mentioning that," and put it out of our minds as they stopped before we were out of our neighborhood. 

 

We dropped the dogs at the kennel by 10:30. Time to hit the road! In 5-ish hours, we'll be at the hotel!

 

...or maybe not. We got a couple hours into the drive and made a quick stop. Noticed there was ice on the road signs. Hmm...I certainly don't remember any mention of ice or snow. But we sure found it! A few minutes after getting back in the car, we were hit with big, fat snowflakes! Traffic came to a stop a couple times and there were several wrecks.

 

The weather finally changed to rain and then stopped. Our usual 5 hour drive took 7, and we were all ready to just be done with the car. We decided to just have something gourmet delivered because neither DH nor I was going anywhere. Here's what was left of our first night of vacation dinner.

The important thing is we're here, the kids have showered, and they've been given a dose of Benadryl for good measure. Time to do our night before the cruise tradition - open a bottle of red and put the luggage tags on all the bags. Tomorrow's cruise day, y'all!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Yikes !  I had not heard any forecast  of snow in central Texas !  Glad it didn’t cause any real problems.  Happy that you made it down safely and on time.  Have an awesome cruise !!

[melmar02]

I didn't take pictures of the hotel because it's the same one in my liberty and enchantment reviews. I think I linked them in  one of the 1st posts. 

 This morning we went down to the breakfast that was included included. It was nothing special. Scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, waffles. We're about to make the final short drive. Thankfully it's sunny today!

[melmar02]

No traffic getting to the parking lot, and we could see the ship from the car. We were the first on the shuttle, and they had enough other passengers to fill the bus, so it took almost 30 minutes to get across the street. We had to wait a couple minutes until they opened the terminal doors, but we were through check in about 15 minutes. We're now sitting upstairs, waiting to get on the ship - it's almost 11:30, so I am not sure why they haven't started boarding yet.

[melmar02]

They called us to board just after I clicked submit on my last post. To the Windjammer! We met Amit, the suite concierge in the elevator after we did our muster check-in  and he told us we could wait in the suite lounge until rooms open.

[melmar02]

All to ourselves. 

[MichelleB1234]

Looks like a great start to the cruise.

[melmar02]

Rooms were ready a little before 1:30. We dropped off our bags and took care of a few errands. First stop was the dining room. We were assigned to the everyone deck, I assume because of DS's age. We asked to change to the vaccinated deck and were pleased to find our new table was by a window. Then to Adventure Ocean to register DS and sign him up for tonight's session. Our next assignment was to get a drink.

Mai Tais for the adults and a virgin strawberry daiquiri and Shirley Temple for the kids.

We headed back to the room to unpack and before we knew it, sail away was upon us. We went back up to the top deck where it was pretty chilly, especially in the shade.

We ordered another round of drinks and decided to go back to the room to continue sail away on the balcony, which was perfect as we were in the sun, and get ready for dinner.

I'm terrible at getting food pictures, but we could see the sunset from our window.

DS went to AO, but only wanted to stay for an hour, so I headed to the casino. I'm down a little, but it's early in the week. DD was planning on going to the teen meet up, but decided to just stay in the room and watch music videos instead. DH was ready for bed right after dinner. After the last couple of early mornings, I thinknit will be an early night for all of us.

Tomorrow is a sea day.

[melmar02]

Day 2 

We had a leisurely sea day today. It was still only 65 degrees or so which was too cold for the pools or hot tubs, but others were braver than us.

We explored the ship after breakfast at the Windjammer. This was Valentine's Day and Schooner Bar and the Star Lounge had balloons (maybe Bolero's too?) in addition to what I think was supposed to be a heart at the end of the Promenade.

DD and DH wanted to relax in the cabin so I made a quick reservation for DS in Adventure Ocean and headed to the casino. At AO registration, they told me there were only 120 kids on-board. I assume that's everyone under 18.

The casino was not kind to me, so I picked up DS, and after WJ for lunch, we explored the outside of the ship. It was still pretty cold, but we decided we would try a round of mini golf. I lost. Miserably. 

Since this was formal night, we headed back to the room to get ready. DS even ordered the duck, and loved it!

We went to the suite lounge for a few minutes - Amit had called us while we were getting ready as we didn't go to happy hour on day 1. Then we decided to call it a night after having eaten so much at dinner. We arrived to 3 towel animals, and the Allen Zoo was started.

Meet "Grumpy Winnie"

 

"Blue"

and "Mom and Dad".

DH thinks Diasa, our suite attendant, was making a short joke.

Tomorrow's another sea day.

[melmar02]

Liberty still has water bottles, but I did see a can go past me at the theater last night.

[melmar02]

Here are some photos of the cabin. There are 4 two bedroom grand suites on Liberty. All are aft - 2 on deck 8 and the other 2 are on deck 9. The balconies are slightly deeper on deck 9. 

Closet with the safe is in the entry hall. We use our over door shoe hanger here and magnetic hooks for masks as it's right by the door.

The smaller bedroom is directly across from the entry closet and the 2nd bath, which is standard size, is inside this room.

The master bedroom has a huge port hole and the master bath is the same size as in a junior suite.

The living room has a third closet and lots of drawer space. There are 2 pullmans in the second bedroom a d the couch pulls out, so this room sleeps 8. I wouldn't want to squeeze that many in here though.

Lots of room to spread out.  

I prefer the layout of the 2 bedrooms on Enchantment as the 2nd bathroom is in the hall, so anyone needing to access it doesn't disturb anyone who may be sleeping. There is also a window from the 2nd bedroom to the living room on Enchantment. On Liberty the 2nd bedroom feels a lot like what I imagine an interior old be like. The light that comes in from the living room on Enchantment helps quite a bit with that since you can get some "second hand" natural light.

[melmar02]

Day 3.

 This was another sea day. After breakfast in the Windjammer, DS went back to Adventure Ocean for a little bit. DH and I tried the casino again, and I'm still down. We had lunch and the kids and I decided to give the hot tubs a try as we knew the pools were still too cold. The hot tubs by the pools have all been hot, but those by Splashaway Bay are scorching this trip!

We went back to the room and got ready for our evening. A little trivia, the ice show, dinner in the MDR, and a production show.

The ice show is called Encore and is a tribute to music and theater through time. We saw this show last time we were on Liberty a couple years ago, but it was just as good. Only a couple falls by the performers, and you could feel the ship was rocking .

The production show is called In the Air, and it reminded me of a Cirque de Soliel production. Lots of ariel acts. Sorry, not a lot of photos here.

We have three new friends tonight. Bugs Bunny (which I think is a dog, but I'm not going to argue with a 9 year old on this one), Shelly the turtle, and Harry the hippo.

Next up is Belize.

[melmar02]

Bravo was just called in Sabor's galley.

[melmar02]

Then kilo was called (crew to assembly stations).

A few other announcements were made, staircase closures and the like. Then the alarm sounded - you know, the one you never want to hear after muster drill. Anyway, we grabbed our packed excursion bag and my travel purse that has our passports in it and headed down the hall. Crew were in their vests, but not noticeably guiding anyone to the staircase. I started to think this was a drill. We got to the stairway, and I asked a crew member who confirmed. 

We never heard the announcement that this was a drill!

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, melmar02 said:

We never heard the announcement that this was a drill!

This happened to us once.  We were on Grandeur and it was our one and only time in an inside room.  We heard the alarm and went outside....and of course, everyone was obviously NOT alarmed or moving toward the life boats.  It was obvious, pretty quickly, that it was a drill.  I felt like such a dolt.

[melmar02]

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This happened to us once.  We were on Grandeur and it was our one and only time in an inside room.  We heard the alarm and went outside....and of course, everyone was obviously NOT alarmed or moving toward the life boats.  It was obvious, pretty quickly, that it was a drill.  I felt like such a dolt.

We backed into the pier at Costa Maya today, and I was pretty sure it was a drill when no one in the pier was looking up at the "fire" on the ship. When we heard the alarm minutes later though, we were not waiting for anyone else! 

However, I had my priority in line. I mafe sure to grab our shore excursion tickets!

[melmar02]

Day 4

Today we anchored 5 miles off the coast of Belize, and it didn't take long for the tender boats to start lining up. Since we had no real plans, we had a leisurely breakfast in Chops. We met Amit in the suite lounge just before 9:30am to get on a tender. It took 10-15 minutes to reach shore, and we just browsed the shops for about an hour. We came back on an almost empty tender.

We went back to the pool deck when we got back on the ship. It was still a little chilly, but tolerable. The Lava Flow helped.

Then we got ready for dinner and tonight's show. Puck the Magician from America's Got Talent was today's headliner. It was a good show, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back.

Three more new friends today Dino Dude, Trumpet, and Funky Monkey.

Tomorrow is Costa Maya.