Day 2 - All Aboard!

Taking that Dramamine for the flight was a good call (they warned it was going to be turbulent). I fell asleep early and slept like a log! John has no troubles sleeping so it was a good night despite the somewhat tedious day we had. Breakfast wasn't much but John has plenty of options in the next week for breakfast. 

The shuttle was on time, leaving the hotel at 10a as promised. The guy driving told us he would go back to the hotel and see that we were issued a refund for the taxi and call us back telling us that. Big surprise - We didn't get a call. Moving on...

We arrived at the airport and checked in at the Liberty desk. We had a short wait and then called to the bus for the ride to the port. Despite the torrential rain the trip was uneventful. We boarded within minutes (being a Diamond Member helps speed things up!) and soon we were in our cabin. I think it is a very nice balcony cabin and one of the most spacious we have had. I think because there is no coffee table. I might need to ask about that. 

Our Diamond Welcome Gift 

Spacious Balcony Cabin

Caymus Wines Onboard

We walked around the ship a bit and got the sign up card for Voom. Then we went to the theater to see a presentation about the ship, sort of an orientation. There was a raffle but of course we didn't win anything. Now it was time for muster, the most boring part of a cruise. After that we were famished and got a quick piece of pizza, picked up a free piece of artwork, and headed to the Diamond Lounge for appetizers and free drinks. What a mob scene that was. We did get something to eat and a glass of wine. I know the first evening is typically congested and this was no different. 

There was even a long line for dinner "with reservations" - I know tomorrow will be better, no worries. Our friends Marlys and Dennis were right behind us heading to the dining room. It was so good to see her after all these years. We had a delicious dinner and stimulating, enjoyable dinner conversation. We are all tired so we headed back to our prospective cabins. 

Departure time was moved up to 8p because of some underwater diving work being done on our ship. They commented that visibility was poor, I am sure it was as it has been cloudy all day. We set sail in pouring rain about 8:45p. We don't mind the rain as we know the Bahamas will be lovely, even if it rains a bit there. We heard it can rain for 10-15 minutes and then be lovely, we don't mind rain. 

I could not get the Wi-Fi up again tonight to post. Posting later. 

Day 1 - Travel to Houston

The fog rolled in this morning and therefore our flight was delayed.  Even after the fog lifted there was no sight of the plane. Our flight to PHX was so late there would not be another one from there to IAH until tomorrow. That won't do. We were re-routed though LAX to IAH. We had just 20 minutes to make the connection. If any of you know LAX and SFO when flying out of FAT, it is a challenge for the most part. You fly into a remote terminal and then take a shuttle to the main terminal for your connecting flights. The stars lined up (Thank you God) and our connecting gate was very close. The fun didn't end there. Oh no - We arrived at IAH and called the hotel for the shuttle only to be told it is not running today. Really? Why would I book a hotel without a shuttle. The guy told me he would check to see if he can get another shuttle. We waited and didn't hear back so I checked at the taxi stop and it will be $25 for the taxi. The hotel is 6 miles away, not 4 miles as stated on Expedia. So we waited a little longer for word about the shuttle and then I called the hotel back. He said he was just about to call me to tell me there was no other shuttle to be found. We got a taxi to take us to the hotel. I asked if the hotel would reimburse the taxi fee, of course not. So we were placed in a taxi by the taxi staff person and headed out. Unfortunately, that was when we realized our taxi driver didn't speak English very well. My patience is thin by now. I actually felt sorry for him when he handed us his phone for help with the address. After several wrong turns and calling the hotel for more directions, we finally arrived. Needless to say, I wish I had my friend Cheryl book us the hotel she spoke of right by the airport. When you add the $25 for a taxi the hotel ceases to be a bargain. We are told there will be a shuttle in the morning. In fact, the shuttle is sitting in the parking lot. I suspect they just don't have a driver and it is not a mechanical issue, like we were told. 

Anyway, all is well. We are safe. We made it to Houston. John got us some dinner down the street at Chick-Fil-A and we will watch TV. It seems like we put in a full day already but it is only 9p and that includes the 2-hour time difference so it really is early!

Flight Information

I typically check our flights before departure anyway, but just in case I will be checking them more frequently now. I went on to print our boarding passes and EACH of our flights had changed and we received no notice from American Airlines about this. A few minutes really doesn't matter much but when your departure is 3 hours before you thought it was, it is important. Thankfully, we can drop off Tony for boarding early enough to still make our flight. In the  past, we have always received  notification of any change. Oh well, it's all good for us. 

Leaving Tomorrow

We  have  never been on the Liberty of the Seas.  It looks like it was dry docked and had a lot of updates in 2016. Click here to check it out: Refurbishment. It will be fun to take a look at  this "new to us" ship. I printed our ship boarding passes this morning and I will print our flight boarding passes shortly - one must wait until 24-hours ahead of course. 

Excursions?

I just booked a couple of "foodie" tours for our time in the Bahamas. We will probably do a couple other things but at least these are in place for now. 

1. Nassau Food and History Bus Tour

2. Nassau Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour

Since one of these starts by the Pirate's of Nassau Museum, I bet we'll want to take that in as well! It looks pretty interesting with some interactive exhibits! Christ Church Cathedral is also across the street so that is worth a look while we are there. Since we have not been to Nassau before, there is plenty to see and we have the time to do it being in port for more than 48 hours!  

Surprise!

Yesterday I was on the RCCL site to set up dining with our friends. There will just be 4 of us, that is great. I booked the My Time Dining for us - we all like to go early. That is a perk with RCCL that you can book ahead and not have to call everyday when onboard to book it. Anyway, that is all set.

I thought I would poke around and see what excursions might interest us in Roatan, Honduras since it was to be a new port for us. To my surprise the only excursions listed were in the Bahamas. I didn't recall we were going there - Hmm... Sure enough, there has been an itinerary change! It is surprising NOT to have been notified about this. Since I was messaging my friend all the while, I told her. She had not heard either. She was off to call the TA (travel agent) to see what was happening. The TA was not happy as she didn't know about this either. Our booking is part of a larger "group" booking (why we got the good price) and apparently somewhere along the line the news did not make it to us or even the TA. I was not really bothered by this as I have not been to Nassau, Bahamas before and it looks lovely. I see that we will be docked there so visiting the city should be easy and interesting as well. 

Shortly after speaking with my friend, the TA called. It was a very nice surprise that we have a couple options because of this itinerary change. 1) We can cancel for a full refund and get 15% off the next cruise we book, 2) We can have an OBC (on board credit) for 50% of the cruise cost (not counting taxes/fees of course). We chose the latter and we will have $560. OBC. Unlike other OBC, whatever we do not use will be credited back to the card we booked with. Wow - that is a super perk! 

In addition, the story from the TA is that there is some maintenance of the ship that has to be done in port over the course of a couple days. This is obviously why they are offering the generous perk to keep people onboard. Even if the sailing ends up not being full, it is better than taking the ship out of service for the week. Overall, we are quite happy the way it turned out! 

One Month From Today

Next Cruise! One of my long time friends (also a LIMIAR family) is celebrating her 70th Birthday on a cruise. She has invited friends to join her - It sounds like a great plan! Even though we have stayed in touch over the years, I haven't seen her since 2003!!! We were unable to get together when we passed through TX last Jan-Feb. We booked this fantastic cruise back in June. We will be aboard the Liberty of the Seas departing December 3. The cruise is RT out of Galveston, we have not been on a Liberty Class ship yet. Of course we have insurance just in case there are any health issues that might stop us. We booked our airfare in August. We will fly out a day early, just to be safe and stay at the Red Roof Inn near the airport. We like to be sure we are "on time" for our cruise! 

Liberty of the Seas

Dec 3-11, 2017