We took Jacob and Hannah this time, and Corey and Meghan (and Jane) came as well. We started off booking in May, on a new ship and new company, and ended up changing the date and company and ship 3-4 times until finally settling on Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas. Yep - same ship as last February but different itinerary, and a great price, so we booked a month before actually going.
We all have been to these ports on Carnival Breeze January 2016. That was a family favorite.
Liberty is just over 10 years old, but doesn't show the age. Beautiful ship and well maintained. We thought Jacob and Hannah would like the activities and like trying a different cruise line.
Here are some interesting facts about Liberty of the Seas:
155,000 Tons
1112 feet long, 126 feet wide
29 feet underwater
1412 crew members from 65 countries
4500 passengers at full capacity
1899 total staterooms
$800 million to build in 2007, 18 months to build
Produces 712,000 gallons of water per day
Maximum speed is 26 mph, using 3,135 gallons of fuel per hour!
Prepares 125,000 meals a week
Serves 18,000 slices of pizza per week
13,000 pounds of beef per week
Uses 86,000 eggs per week
8,000 gallons of ice cream per week
19,000 bottles/cans of beer per week
18,000 pounds of potatoes per week
Enough with the text, let's move on to the pics!
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| As we were packing, James decided he wanted to go |
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| Waiting at the airport |
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| We arrived in Houston |
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| Line to go through Security before boarding the ship. Amazingly, the line moved pretty quick |
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| Our first look at the ship |
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| Corey didn't wait long to try out the Flowrider. No lines the first day! |
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| Interesting perspective - looking down into the atrium from above |
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| Part of the 3-level dining room |
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| Jacob said one of the "main" reasons to go on a cruise was to eat. We tend to agree |
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| Baked French Onion soup |
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| Salmon - Hannah loved it! |
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| Looking through the main promenade |
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| Waiting for the nightly show to begin |
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| The first night's show included some aerial acrobatics |
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| Caught this on the buffet |
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| Main pool deck at night - wasn't too busy at night |
VIDEO: Let's Go Exploring!
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| Looking down again - elevators on both sides |
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| This ship has very interesting artwork all over. The theme is fantasy and you are supposed to look and see hidden things and let your imagination go |
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| Another art piece to let your imagination go wild |
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| To keep costs down, we usually book an inside room. Here is the setup for four people |
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| Jane was being offered donuts. The waiter was totally serious that Jane needed and could pick one and eat it |
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| I think Jacob and Hannah were exited for breakfast |
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| Kiddie pool area |
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| Of course we had to explore and found the chapel (Every ship has one). I think they thought we were at church. Hannah was giving the prayer and Jacob was leading the music |
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| Is your imagination going wild yet? We called this one the "Lamacorn" |
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| Jacob wanted to test out the life ring, but the rope on it was very very short. |
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| Where were whee? |
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| Corey progressed quickly to standing up! |
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| He looks like he's walking on water - he was in the process of falling |
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| This water slide was very fun |
VIDEO: Water Slide Area
Video: View from the front of the ship and the mini golf area:
Video: If you've been on a cruise, you know the art auctions are big business. Some of these went for as much as $28,000! ?????
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| That's A LOT of water..how many milk cartons would it take to fill it all up? |
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| Royal has amazing ice skating shows full of tricks, flips and stuff you wouldn't think possible on a small rink while the ship is moving |
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| 1 of 2 formal night dinners |
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| Typical pose from Jacob and Hannah |
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| I guess Jacob had a long day |
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| ........so did Hannah |
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| They woke up when the food came |
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| Story here....Normally for dinner, you get water or extra cost stuff from the bar (soda). We however, know you can ask for lemonade, so 4 of us did. Half way thorough the dinner, we ended up with all these lemonades - he kept bringing us more and more and more. As the days passed, he just kept refilling our glasses instead of bringing us more glasses. |
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| Dessert time..of course you can order 2! (or more) |
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| Jacob got Apple Pie just about every night |
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| Let your imagination go wild again |
VIDEO: Hannah walking
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| Jacob practicing his "fancy walk" for the "fancy nights" |
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| Towel animals are always on your bed when returning from the day.... |
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| First stop was Cozumel. Last time Jacob and Hannah were here it was pouring rain the entire time, so the 85 degree sunny day was nice! |
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| Heading to Paradise Beach in the taxi |
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| We came here before and loved it. It's so beautiful and this pool next to the beach is amazing |
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| We docked at 7am and were one of the first to the beach, so it wasn't very crowded while we were there |
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| Lots of play things in the water |
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| Corey did the paddleboarding |
VIDEO: Paradise Beach Toys
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| The Carnival Breeze joined us |
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| Cozumel is very flat - no hills whatsoever |
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| Back on board, desserts again..This was our favorite-we tried asking for it every night, but it was only offered once. Warm chocolate baked cookie with vanilla ice cream |
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| Walking back to the cabin, Jacob and Hannah were being very brotherly and sisterly |
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| They kept all the water features going in the kiddie area all night....I guess in case you wanted to cool off or something? |
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| Next was Grand Cayman and we went swimming with the Stingrays and snorkeling. The natural sandbar is about 30 mins boat ride out in the ocean. Once at the sandbar, the water is waist deep. We also fed the rays squid |
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| The company we booked with took all kinds of pics and made them available for free, which was really nice! |
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| Here you can see how shallow the water really is |
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| I like this pic - it shows you how the Rays swim all around you, and how clear the water is |
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| Shelley snorkeling |
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| Me |
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| Jacob |
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| Jacob & Hannah |
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| Hannah |
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| Sting Ray "kiss" I think the guy holding the Stingray loves getting in the pics too - he was our guide and called himself the "Stingray Whisperer" - he made sounds and motions with his hands underwater and the stingrays actually started coming over to him and surrounded him and wouldn't leave! |
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| Jane didn't swim with the Stingrays, but went to the beach and played in the sand |
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| Our next stop was Jamaica and we didn't do much there. We took an island tour last time, but decided against it this time..been there done that... We just got off and walked around the shops and then returned back to the ship which was mostly empty and enjoyed the rock wall, flowrider, slides, ice skating, played games, golf and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets. |
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| The ships crew did an emergency drill in Jamaica and practiced lowering and sailing the lifeboats |
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| Shelley, Jacob and Meghan |
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| Add caption |
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| Meghan |
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| Jacob finally trying out the flowrider. Once we convinced him to try, we couldn't get him off |
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| Crashes are always a learning experience |
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| Getting up on his knees..... |
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| .....and then off his knees |
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| Jacob and Hannah didn't really "golf" as much as they played around |
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| Before......... |
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| ......After |
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| We didn't try the Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese - that didn't sound very good |
VIDEO: Playing the arcade games in 90 seconds!
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| View as we were just about to leave |
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| Rock Wall at night |
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| There was a parade down the promenade |
VIDEO: Parade
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| Ok...Story here........ Each night for dinner, Jacob ordered the Caesar Salad as his starter, and he ordered extra cheese and extra croutons. At first, they just brought them to him in a small cup. Hannah also started asking for extra cheese and croutons as well. They then just brought out these larger containers of cheese and croutons for everyone to use. |
VIDEO: Walking back to room from dinner.
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| Take a closer look - these are all guys. This was part of an "adultish" scavenger hunt and each team had to make up one guy, using stuff from their team members, into a female model. It was extremely funny. I know. I should have gotten a vide. |
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| My omelet for breakfast one day |
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| Ok...story here.... Jacob loves bacon....crispy bacon.... For breakfast, he asked for extra crispy bacon. The waiter didn't hear extra crispy, as in super crispy, but he heard extra crispy as in a lot of crispy bacon...so Jacob got "extra" crispy bacon. He ate it all and it was yummy |
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| Jacob graduating to standing up! |
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| Learning experience |
VIDEO: Jacob on Flowrider
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| Yummy chocolate covered berry crepes |
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| Time for the Belly Flop contest |
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| The last night was a completely cirque-de-solei type aerial show that was amazing! Especially when done on a moving ship |
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| Ok...Story here.... Hannah tried some asparagus and she saw someone else eating it, only they were eating the tops, while she was eating the bottom. She asked "why are you eating the top part?" She was unaware you eat the tops of asparagus, usually. |
VIDEOS: Of course, there is the obligatory waiter/server dances two of the nights too during dinner:
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| Time for some shuffleboard |
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| Hannah and Jacob with their normal poses |
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| Hannah and Jacob with forced poses |
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| Hannah doing....well, I'm not quite sure what she's doing |
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| Not sure about this either |
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| Jacob "shopping" |
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| Tonight's towel animal was creative! An alligator with the remote and a bedspread |
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| On the way home, we had extra time before our plane left, so we stopped at the NASA Space Center in Houston and it was very cool! (also very crowded) |
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| This is where they used to control the Space Station, but that's now been moved to another room. This room will be used for Orion, which is travel to an asteroid and Mars (manned) by 2045 at the latest. |
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| This is the vehicle and Space Center training room. It's HUGE! I think it was like 3 football fields long. It has an exact replica of the Space Station and the astronauts spend months and months training here before they go up |
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| Model of the Space Station |
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| Exact replica of the Russian Soyuz which is currently how astronauts get to/from the Space Station. It holds three people. Looks comfy. |
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| Orion capsule that will take people to asteroids, the moon and eventually Mars |
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| Various robots for moon/Mars landings. |
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| Life size (6 foot) robot with all movable legs/arms/head to be used for future missions. We didn't dare ask how much it costs |
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| The actual Saturn 10 rocket used for many launches. This thing was huge! It's 353 feet long - 36 stories - taller than the Statue of Liberty and when fueled up, weighs only 6.2 million pounds |
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| They have the only Space Shuttle still attached to the 747 that carried them. You can walk inside both |
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| Inside the cockpit of Space Shuttle Independance |
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| Inside the Cargo Bay |
1 comment:
I ADORE your blog! This would have been awesome!
We really need to go with you again- your family is da best!
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