Monday, March 25, 2019

Crown Royal and Anchor Society- Grand Cayman

A Grand Day in Grand Cayman
Georgetown, Grand Cayman 
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
It is already MID WEEK... TIME NEEDS TO SLOW DOWN!

Morning
Our ship was supposed to be in port from 10AM to 6PM. We left Cozumel late so I expected us to get into Grand Cayman a little late, but Captain Anders put pedal to the metal and got us to Grand Cayman not just on time but EARLY.
Good morning gorgeous GRAND CAYMAN! Oh how I have missed you!
(Grand Cayman truly is one of my favorite ports! Looking back I wish we would have gotten off the ship) 

INSIDERS INFO- Grand Cayman is a TENDER PORT which means the ship cannot pull up to the island and instead has to drop anchor miles from shore. In Grand Cayman, this is because the reef near the shore is too delicate to dock the ship there. Now what this means for passengers aboard ANY cruise ship, is there will be a TENDER SHIP to take passengers from the cruise ship to the actual island. Most of the time this means larger boats that can carry 100-200+ people at a time and are hired out by the cruise lines, but sometimes ships will just use their own lifeboats to taxi guests back and forth from the mainland.

TIP- The Liberty of the Seas (and Royal Caribbean in general) use hired tender boats to carry passengers to Georgetown. If you have an excursion WITH ROYAL CARIBBEAN, meaning purchased through the cruise line, you will meet on the ship at a designated location and then move as a group to the tender boat. HOWEVER, if you are going ashore independently, you will need to get a TENDER TICKET! This is usually passed out on the morning of or, in some cases of an early arrival, the night before. Look on your Cruise Compass to find the times and locations for getting these tickets. Unless you plan on not getting off the ship OR getting off much later in the day, you need this ticket. All of the Tender Ticket numbers were called by 1PM and guests were free to go ashore without a tender ticket after this time.


A view of the Tender Boat around 2PM.
These are HUGE tender boats and carry over 200 passengers and are usually OPEN top! 

We woke up around 9:30AM, which is VERY LATE for us but we needed the rest. We got ready and made our way to the Windjammer thinking it would be lighter since it was so late. BOY WERE WE WRONG! It was wall to wall people and perhaps even more crowded than the previous morning. Jeffrey, our Cruise Director, started calling Tender Ticket numbers around 9:45AM and this helped get the people out of the Windjammer but it was still WAY TOO CROWDED for my sanity. TIP- Royal Caribbean offers a sit-down breakfast in the Main Dining Room every day and we prefer this option. However, we woke up too late to take advantage of this. Be sure to check the open times in the Cruise Compass.

After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon enjoying the Solarium Pool and Hot Tubs. The ship was more or less empty as about 80% of the passengers got off the ship to explore Grand Cayman. Since we had been to Grand Cayman 4 times prior to this cruise, we opted to stay on the ship. We used to make fun of these cruisers and now we are enjoying every minute of the quiet ship and open hot tubs!


This is where we spent MOST of the morning DAY!

I LOVE these SWINGS! I spent a good hour or so on these throughout the day! Such a great addition to the Solarium adults only area! 

This is what the Solarium looks like on a PORT DAY!
We love the emptiness of the ship! 

Afternoon
After a few hours and many cocktails, we made our way to the Windjammer for lunch. I was not excited about this buffet food but they did offer a Mongolian Wok where we got to meet both the executive chef and Assistant Head Chef for the Liberty of the Seas. It was a pleasure talking to both of them and listening to their stories about how they became the Executive and Assistant Head chefs. Thank you both for making this cruise a GREAT one!
Each PORT day the Windjammer had a LIVE station at the entrance. It featured Mongolian Wok, Pasta and a Carving Station. 

After lunch we spent a little time at SQUEEZE bar on Deck 11 Aft just enjoying drinks and talking to each other and other guests. This became one of our favorite bars on this ship and we really enjoyed it. We spent the rest of the afternoon laying out in and out of the sun in the Solarium. As it grew later in the afternoon, we continued to see more and more people getting back on the ship and it became more crowded but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a gorgeous afternoon on-board.

This became a favorite for us! We loved MARCOS the bartender! 


 Pre-Dinner Promenade walk! 

Evening
Our evening was filled with food, fun and fellowship with friends. We enjoyed pre-dinner drinks at Boleros on Deck 4, another favorite of ours, before eating dinner in the Main Dining Room with our server Roy. His service was record breaking fast and we were in and out of the MDR in just over an hour. The food was also surprisingly good for this lack-luster menu.

This became a great spot to enjoy drinks and people watching! 
Day 4 DRINK SPECIAL- Only $8
This was the only one we didn't try... Sorry! 


Since we had My Time Dining, we were always on Deck 3 Dining Room... Rembrandt! 

Once again, after dinner we enjoyed a sunset on Deck 4 Promenade. This sunset was not picture perfect but once again a simple reminder of God’s Almighty Power.



Wow... This was PRICELESS! 

On Night #4, the Liberty of the Seas has a Caribbean Themed night and party on the Royal Promenade. TIP- Bring a "Hawaiian or Caribbean" themed shirt/ outfit to fit right in! We made our way to Vintages to watch the festivities which included live music and other cool events.
Caribbean Night was a "little" crowded! 


Our view of the bartender showcase from Vintages!
(It was not the best viewpoint but we enjoyed it)

While in Vintages, we were able to meet and talk to the Beverage Director who told us all about this rise to the top of the industry as well as unique offerings on the Liberty of the Seas.  INSIDERS INFO- This is something I have noticed more and more while sailing on Royal Caribbean... The suits! I really appreciate that the "Upper Management" crew members get out in the trenches with the guests and talk to them! Well done Royal Caribbean! 

After the festivities Chris decided to take a brief nap so I made my way back to Deck 4 Promenade to enjoy the “public balcony” as I like to call it. The chairs were comfortable and I love sitting and watching (or listening) to the ocean sail by.

I met Chris at On Air on Deck 3 for the Majority Rules game-show. We have played this game before and liked it so we tried it again. Unfortunately, we did not win but it was still lots of fun! We met Nate and Julie at Olive and Twist and enjoyed drinks and dancing for a few hours before making our way to Sorrento’s for another late night snack. We called it a night shortly after 1AM.

The Royal Promenade pretty much shuts down around midnight! 

Sorrento's... Oh how good you were to me! 
We loved getting late night pizza! AND it was actually GOOD pizza! AND... It was FAST! 
Ahem... Carnival, Y'all need to come and take lessons from Royal Caribbean! 

It was a great day of rest and relaxation and although we did not get off the ship, we still had a GRAND day!
Day 4 Recap!  (Click to watch our video) 

 Once again, thank you so much for following along!

Next up... Falmouth, Jamaica!

God is good… ALL the time!
Click on a link to see our past cruising adventures:
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018

Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018 



 



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