PDCC Twice, Our First B2B - Liberty OTS 10/31/23-11/10/23

[melmar02]

Being from Dallas, we love sailing out of Galveston because it is relatively close to home – a 5 hour drive, a day in Houston at a museum or Space Center, then a short drive to port the next morning. But to say itineraries are limited is an understatement. We were looking for something a little different this time, and DH found a 6 day followed by a 4 day on Liberty sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. This was a no brainer for us as Liberty is our favorite ship, we get 10 days instead of our usual 7, and while we do go back to Cozumel and Costa Maya, which are on every Galveston sailing, we also get to visit two new ports for our family - Nassau and CocoCay…twice!  

It will be the usual suspects: myself, DH, DD 15, and DS 11. We are staying in our favorite cabin, the 2 bedroom Grand Suite 9708. The 2 bedroom suites face aft on the Freedom and Voyager classes of ships, so we have a partially obstructed view with the superstructure. That doesn't bother us, and the extra living room and balcony space makes up for it.

We will hit 140 points on embarkation day, so we should be receiving our first crystal block. This is also our first back to back. We booked an excursion through Royal on turnaround day, so I will make sure to report how that process goes.

 

Here are the itinerary and excursion details:

Sunday 10/29 Fly from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale

Monday 10/30 Ft. Lauderdale – Beach? Surf lessons as a Flowrider warm up? Nap all day in the hotel? We haven’t decided yet.

Tuesday 10/31 Embarkation – The kids have their Halloween costumes ready to go.

Wednesday 11/1 Sea day

Thursday 11/2 Costa Maya – No plans. Maybe the aviary to stretch our legs.

Friday 11/3 Cozumel – Save a Sea Turtle Experience

Saturday 11/4 Sea day

Sunday 11/5 Perfect Day. No plans. 

Monday 11/6 Turn around day / Ft. Lauderdale – Everglades Airboat Ride

Tuesday 11/7 Sea Day

Wednesday 11/8 Perfect Day – Thrill Waterpark

Thursday 11/9 Nassau – Queen’s Staircase, Fort Fincastle, and Pirate Museum on our own

Friday 11/10 Debarkation

[asquared17]

the way i have always wanted to do a B2B and a double run of PDCC!!!!!!

you are living my dream!!

[Ampurp85]

I love the B2B aspect of cruising but PDCC is not as much as a draw

[JohnK6404]

We'll be following! Have a great time! B2B is a bucket-list item for sure! 

[melmar02]

2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

the way i have always wanted to do a B2B and a double run of PDCC!!!!!!

you are living my dream!!

This was a good find by DH. He gets all tue credit. 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love the B2B aspect of cruising but PDCC is not as much as a draw

I have mixed feelings. There are two ships there both days. We decided to just do the beach and pool when Allure is with us, and the waterpark when we are there with Adventure. Hopefully I didn't plan that backwards  

1 hour ago, JohnK6404 said:

We'll be following! Have a great time! B2B is a bucket-list item for sure! 

Thanks! 

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

the way i have always wanted to do a B2B and a double run of PDCC!

That's the only B2B we've ever done, a 3/4 just to go to CocoCay twice and otherwise not leave the ship. If you like CocoCay and not doing much else, it's a good time.

I can see how others would find it boring though.

[LandstromCruise]

1 hour ago, melmar02 said:We decided to just do the beach and pool when Allure is with us, and the waterpark when we are there with Adventure. Hopefully I didn't plan that backwards  

I would think that is a smart decision. Would presume less people at the water park that day. Obviously weather could play a role. Might watch that as it gets closer and switch if need be. We did the water park back in January and it was about 60 degrees and windy. I had booked a cabana so I made those kids go on those slides no matter how cold they were while I sat in the cabana in a sweatshirt and blanket over me ….yep father of the year right here 

[Xaa]

8 hours ago, LandstromCruise said:

I would think that is a smart decision. Would presume less people at the water park that day. Obviously weather could play a role. Might watch that as it gets closer and switch if need be. We did the water park back in January and it was about 60 degrees and windy. I had booked a cabana so I made those kids go on those slides no matter how cold they were while I sat in the cabana in a sweatshirt and blanket over me ….yep father of the year right here 

Ah, the sunk cost fallacy.  The cabana would cost the same whether you all froze at Thrill or did something more enjoyable.  After payment is done, only the enjoyment is left to harvest and that need not be through what was purchased.

I say this tongue in cheek because I suspect they had a great time at Thrill.  I've seen many a shivering kid have a blast on water attractions and if I can think back many decades may have been one myself.

[melmar02]

3 hours ago, Xaa said:

Ah, the sunk cost fallacy. 

I think some people use this thought process with the drink package as well. 

[melmar02]

This past April when we went on Allure, I thought it would be a good idea to squeeze in just one more wedding before we went on vacation, and I delivered a cake the morning that we left town. Then we got back and I had a wedding 4 days later. We tried to do all the things on the bigger ship. Not going to lie...our genie was an enabler who kept getting us access to all the things too. That whole vacation felt rushed and stressful. 

This time, I am doing it right. I'm done with deliveries and consultations until we get back, and the emails are under control. I am making the kids do school this week (we homeschool), but DS has worked ahead in anticipation and has a very light week. DD needs to work on her time management skills, so she still has a full week. We have our homeschool co-op on Friday, but I am only teaching two classes this semester. DD is taking a logic class that will require her to work a little bit while we are out of town, but the homework and test can be turned in online and should only take 30 minutes or so each. I already feel much more relaxed than our last trip. DH won't start to relax until we are seated on the plane - we're flying Southwest.

I pre-packed the kids yesterday and once again they decided to grow since our last cruise. Today I'll be updating DS's t-shirt collection, and, thanks to DH's 6'4" genes, DD needs some longer athletic shorts. Time to start the final cycles of laundry and drag out the ironing board. The only time it makes an appearance at our house is when we pack for a cruise. 

I forgot to mention our other pre-cruise purchases. We all have the refreshment package and will use our D vouchers and the suite lounge happy hour for adult beverages. MTD - I made reservations for 7:15 each night. DH and I are doing Chef's Table on night 3 of the first leg. Photo packages and internet have been bought as well. I'm sure we'll hit up Johnny Rockets for lunch one day. Since we sailed star class in April, we haven't tried the new menus yet, so the plan right now is the MDR for all our other dinners. 

We decided to stay at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach about 40 minutes north of Ft. Lauderdale. The hotel was cheaper than the Embassy Suites in FLL, and it is right on the beach. We plan to Uber/Lyft to the port the morning of the cruise. 

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 hours ago, melmar02 said:

We decided to stay at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach about 40 minutes north of Ft. Lauderdale. The hotel was cheaper than the Embassy Suites in FLL, and it is right on the beach. We plan to Uber/Lyft to the port the morning of the cruise. 

That's probably smarter! I have never liked the Embassy suites in FLL. I know it is very popular amongst cruisers but to me, that property has always been way overpriced and very dated, and run down. I have never been able to bring myself to stay at that location.

[melmar02]

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's probably smarter! I have never liked the Embassy suites in FLL. I know it is very popular amongst cruisers but to me, that property has always been way overpriced and very dated, and run down. I have never been able to bring myself to stay at that location.

We stayed there on our very first cruise 14 years ago, and it seemed dated then. I'm hoping the one we are staying at this time is as nice as the pictures on Hilton's website. 

 

There are no menus or anything in the Daily Planner section of the app yet for either of our sailings. Liberty is currently completing her last New England cruise. Then she has a 3 day non revenue reposition to Florida. Our first leg, the 6 day, is a one off, and then she will do 3/4 night sailings. I'm sure that has something to do with the delay. I've uninstalled/reinstalled the app with no luck and people in the FB group have complained, so I know it's not just me. The planner in me wants to see everything, but I'm really trying to just go with the flow on this one. 

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

Our first leg, the 6 day, is a one off, and then she will do 3/4 night sailings.

Same exact situation for my Allure 5-nighter leaving Wednesday. It's a one-off to get it on the 3/4 schedule. The MDR menus were always there but they changed order a couple days ago and night 5 was blank. Then yesterday it populated. Some other stuff also changed a little in the past few days.

Makes it a bit frustrating if you like to plan around certain menus or specialty dining. In the end, I'm mostly OK with what I have, but I'm going to try to switch nights for one specialty dinner once onboard. Hopefully I'm able to.

[melmar02]

I just received a marketing email trying to get me to book specialty dining for this cruise. It lists Izumi right between Giovanni's Table and Sabor - Royal IT at its finest or is a change happening over those three days with no one onboard? I'll be sure to report if I see evidence of the later, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

I’ll be on Indy Nov 6 and no menu yet for that either!  Today is her last cruise from PC then it takes one day to head to Miami for the winter sailings.  Hopefully some sort of menu will show up soon!

 I was originally booked on Liberty for the Nov 6 sail but since we were just in Nassau and PDCC early August with our kids and grandkids we (actually I since I plan all our cruises lol) switched to Indy to head to Labadee this time.  Still flying in and out of FLL though…but staying in Miami the day before.

Looking forward to your blog and especially your thoughts (as well as your kids!) on PDCC.
 

[asquared17]

18 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Still flying in and out of FLL though

a fellow friend after my own heart!! we also prefer FLL

12 hours ago, melmar02 said:

We decided to stay at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach about 40 minutes north of Ft. Lauderdale

we’ve stayed in deerfield before and it was really nice!! not at the embassy property but i’m excited to hear how you all do there

hoping this sailing (and days before) will be more chill than the last jam-packed round

love the aft cabin on these ships

 

[melmar02]

10 hours ago, asquared17 said:

we’ve stayed in deerfield before and it was really nice!! not at the embassy property but i’m excited to hear how you all do there

I have a list of restaurants from Trip Advisor/Google reviews, but I'm open to suggestions.

[melmar02]

Last night I received the concierge email and activities/entertainment started to populate into the app. Still no menus. The headliners are a juggler, adult comedian, and a singer in addition to the usual Encore ice show, Saturday Night Fever broadway show, and In the Air production show Liberty always has. There will be a family Halloween party at 8pm in the Star Lounge and an adult Halloween party at 10pm in Studio B.

Today I'm getting my hair done - I went from purple to magenta with blue lowlights after Allure, and I'm wanting to go back to (what I think) my natural brown is with burgundy ends. We'll see how it turns out. Also need to pick up prescriptions, grocery shop for Friday's classes, and keep the laundry going. Is it just me, or does laundry seem to multiply in the days leading up to a trip?

[Ampurp85]

Oooh I am loving the color schemes for the hair.

I had so much laundry before we left and now, I have an insane pile to shoulder through before I go back to work on Sat. 

[jbrinkm]

21 hours ago, melmar02 said:

I just received a marketing email trying to get me to book specialty dining for this cruise. It lists Izumi right between Giovanni's Table and Sabor - Royal IT at its finest or is a change happening over those three days with no one onboard? I'll be sure to report if I see evidence of the later, but I'm not holding my breath. 

I got a marketing email last week telling me that an Internet package would make my Labadee excursions more enjoyable! 

[melmar02]

@Ampurp85 here's the before...

 

and the after...

I had forgotten how dark my natural color actually is. It still surprises me every time I walk by a mirror. 

[melmar02]

I received our email from the concierge for the second leg yesterday morning - 13 days prior to sailing. I guess with three days without passengers, he can really catch up on some things! We will have Jayson in the Suite Lounge. I emailed him back this morning asking about the process on turnaround day since we have an excursion and aren't staying with the rest of the consecutive cruisers.

I have not heard from the Diamond/Crown Lounge concierge yet. 

Received an email that there's still time for a Royal Up Bid. Suites are showing sold out on Royal's website, but in case you were wondering for comparison, the email has minimums of $55 for an Owner's Suite, $405 for the Villa, and $490 for the Royal Suite. Still no menus in the app.

We got DD a phone for her birthday last month. Last night DH pointed out that we only have a 2 device internet package. Surely this will work out, right? 

[FireFishII]

2 hours ago, melmar02 said:

We got DD a phone for her birthday last month. Last night DH pointed out that we only have a 2 device internet package. Surely this will work out, right? 

Yes, it will work out.  All you need to do is make sure only 2 devices are on the internet at one time. It can save you money if one person only needs to get on line for a few minutes each day.  My husband usually carries both his computer and his phone while I only have my phone. So we get the 2 device package.  

What happens if a third device suddenly logs on while the other 2 devices are one?  I believe that one of the other 2 devices will be kicked off so the third device can log on. 

[Ampurp85]

I love both but there is something about fresh color and the new cut to go with it. 

I also love that you waited to get your daughter a phone. I see so many little children with them and wonder what it will do to their attention span.

[asquared17]

hair is looking FAB!!

[jbrinkm]

14 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love both but there is something about fresh color and the new cut to go with it. 

I also love that you waited to get your daughter a phone. I see so many little children with them and wonder what it will do to their attention span.

I agree about the little children, but in hindsight, I also regret waiting until my daughter was 13 to get her a phone. I think 11 or 12 is a great age, because there is so much social stuff via phone going on in middle school and she was definitely left out of that and it hurt her socially with her friends (i.e. they had inside jokes, played games together, etc.). 

@melmar02 Your hair looks great! And yes, laundry before a trip is like Gizmo having water poured on him.

[melmar02]

Thanks for the hair love, y'all.

@jbrinkm fortunately we got to avoid that drama. Some of her friends have phones, some still do not and are older. To be honest she didn't really need one since she was with us most of the time, and an adult I knew could have gotten in touch with me if there was an issue when we weren't there. But she went to DFW's homeschool homecoming this year which was over an hour away with over 500 kids. I certainly wasn't going to volunteer to chaperone so we figured it was time. 

 

Jayson, the suite concierge, got back to me within 30 minutes this morning. We'll get transit cards before we leave on our turnaround day excursion, and he said he would explain in more detail once we are onboard. 

[FireFishII]

@melmar02 - sorry for hijacking your blog.  I have to speak out. 

@jbrinkm - I have to agree to hold off on getting the kids phones until later unless the phone is a simple cell phone to make calls to home.  2 of my 3 kids were bullied in junior high school (11-13 year old). I could not get their school principal to do anything about the bullying until I threaten to go directly to the bully's parents.  I can only imagine the horror that they would have endured if the bullies had access to their phone number or social media accounts (if they had phone numbers and social media accounts).  High school was soon enough for my kids to get their first phones and social media accounts. Our community have been plaque with pre-teen and teen suicides. So this topic really hits home. 

But I will also agree that each child is different in their mental development. Therefore, each parent needs to make their own decision about their own kids. 

Where are my kids today?  A military Major, a nurse practitioner, and a software engineer; each in a solid relationship with 2 kids of their own.

[Lovetocruise2002]

23 hours ago, melmar02 said:

Jayson, the suite concierge, got back to me within 30 minutes this morning.

Jayson is a pretty awesome concierge.

About the menus and activities populating on the app, when we sailed LB in August, those things did not pop up until a day or two before sailing. I thought it was super late as well. Then, on the day of sailing, they moved all the shows around yet again. People were mad because they actually removed Saturday Night Fever all together, and then added it back in later on a totally different day. I don't know. It was Coco Colette's first sailing as CD so I just assumed her team just needed some time to get things together.

[melmar02]

We're starting to actually put ironed clothes in packing cubes and suitcases, so I can see the light at the end of the laundry tunnel! Most of the packing for the kids will happen today. We lose tomorrow because of our co-op. Finish up packing on Saturday and drop the dogs off at the kennel. Then it's real. They have no clue what's going on yet. 

It always surprises my how into theme nights some people are when in reality, we're talking about a 30 minute event on the in the promenade. Am I missing something? We made a point to dress for tropical night on the kids first cruise (just floral dresses for me and DD and tropical shirts for DH and DS) and besides the waiters, it seemed like we were the only people in the dining room who got the memo? We got cute pictures in match-y-ish tropical outfits, but beyond that I don't see what the hoopla is about. I'm a spiller, so there's no way I am going to participate in white night. I don't even have to be eating anything, and I'll get back to the room with something on my shirt.  I understand everyone cruises differently, but what am I missing? 

We're in that weird period before a trip where we are trying to clean out the fridge, but may not really have enough leftovers to last through Saturday night. I teach cooking and baking classes to the 7-12 graders at our co-op, and I foresee us having class leftovers for dinner tomorrow night. 

 

[Ampurp85]

I don't get the theme love either, but I will say it was out in full effect on the past Allure sailing. Like they merged 70s night with the second formal night, and it was a hodgepodge of weirdness. Also, I refuse to wear white for anything, top-heavy and that is where all spills land

Also I love the doggies, they are adorable. 

[HollyQueen]

1 hour ago, melmar02 said:

It always surprises my how into theme nights some people are when in reality, we're talking about a 30 minute event on the in the promenade. Am I missing something? We made a point to dress for tropical night on the kids first cruise (just floral dresses for me and DD and tropical shirts for DH and DS) and besides the waiters, it seemed like we were the only people in the dining room who got the memo? We got cute pictures in match-y-ish tropical outfits, but beyond that I don't see what the hoopla is about. I'm a spiller, so there's no way I am going to participate in white night. I don't even have to be eating anything, and I'll get back to the room with something on my shirt.  I understand everyone cruises differently, but what am I missing?

 

Echo this 100%. Our cruise group on FB has made at least 30 post this week about dress code because Halloween falls on the typical "formal" night, so it was unclear what day it would be on. I don't think I've ever seen more panic over something so trivial to us. They finally uploaded it to the app, but we literally had people fighting about what day is white night/ Caribbean/ formal...people were even making up their own nights just to be funny.

DH's "formal" is close toed shoes and jeans. If I can get him to wear a shirt with buttons on it that might as well be a tuxedo for him. 

[OCSC Mike]

16 minutes ago, HollyQueen said:

Our cruise group on FB

I’ll resist ranting about those, lol. They’re a mess. On the plus side, my wife did find a nice couple on there to split a taxi with us to go to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel tomorrow so they’re not completely useless.

[melmar02]

Current situation - 1 down, 3 to go. Plus carry-ons. We're planning on 3 smaller bags and one large, but my hair dryer and straightener may make it a tight fit and necessitate 2 big bags. We'll each take a backpack as our carry-on. Planning on laundry at least once on the ship with our $10 off diamond discount. Do we get the discount on the 4 day as well?

While DH didn't love how busy we were in Star Class, he sure loved the benefits. He keeps asking if we're coming home with clean clothes again and if Sabor is included. Guess it's time to pull the purple tags off the luggage.

[melmar02]

Then there were two.

Unfortunately my kids like to eat, so I'll have to stop to feed them dinner before their taekwondo class. I also have to make a batch of macarons for tomorrow's baking class, so I may not make any more progress until Saturday afternoon. I scheduled a massage for Saturday morning, and I'm not bumping that.

Sunday's weather isn't looking great here or in FLL for our flight. The forecast for Monday may cancel our pre-cruise beach plans too. Rain, rain, go away!

[melmar02]

I'm still received Royal Up emails for the first leg. Come to think of it, I haven't received a single email to pre-purchase anything or bid on the second leg. A lot of people on the FB group have said their bids were accepted so it looks like we aren't sailing at full capacity.

Current forecast for Dallas on Sunday. We take off about 2pm.

 

And FLL. We arrive about 5:30 local time.

 

Monday has a 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms. I'm looking for things to do near Deerfield Beach, but so far all I'm really finding are water sports. The beach back up plan search continues!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Here’s hoping once you’re out on the sea the weather will turn sunny, warm (or hot ) and the sea calm.

OH!  And NO weather delayed flights!

 

[melmar02]

Menus are finally on the app. The 6 night has no Royal night, so no lobster. Again, the FB group has people up in arms. Rumor in the group is that Royal changed to only include it on 7+ night sailings when they switched to the one tail rule. I haven't been following the dining policies since the change. Is this now the case? 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Sounds about right.  Typically it is on the 6th night so on a 6 night Royal must want the Bon Voyage dinner that night but geez…it wouldn’t hurt to make it night 5 of a 6 nighter!

[Sweety]

Have a nice cruise.