tiny260

I don't fly in, this port is drivable for me, there was just another thread about this, I'll have to see if I can find it. The consensus on the other thread was uber or a shuttle. It really depends on which airport, Hobby is closer, so probably uber, Intercontinental is on the far North side of Houston, so purely from a cost perspective a car service or shuttle. Hobby is about 50 minutes, Intercontinental is 1.5 to 2 hour depending on Houston traffic. In the other thread @WAAAYTOOO recommended a limo service which seemed responsible.

I'm with @WAAAYTOOO , especially at Galveston, it just makes cruise day so much easier, I usually stay at a Courtyard by Marriott because I'm either accumulating points or using points. There are a lot of really nice hotels, the beaches are ok, they are definitely not Caribbean island beaches, but any day at a beach is better than working.

Second this.

@WAAAYTOOO can’t wait to cruise with you in SC on Allure in 2021 ?? DW

Yes, that’s the group on FB that I follow

@WAAAYTOOO these were mine that I did, they have a small tag attached that says where the duck is from ? DW

Yes, I took Ducks for the first time on the July 4th Anthem group cruise to hide, it was a way to put a smile on some little ones faces or maybe even made an adult smile if they found one. I did sort of make sure that some of my ducks found their way to some of the kids in our group lol but it was fun and made them happy. I’m not sure I’ll do it on every cruise but glad I took them on this one ? Mrs Tiny260

Only problem I'm going to have, because it took so long is my Wife's TSA pre check will expire in October, we have a cruise in October and the Global Entry interview is September 27th, so it's going to be tight.

I've had to do this once, I used the European plug on the desk with an adapter, only problem was the cheap fan wasn't dual voltage, so burned the fan up. So I downloaded the APP and it worked pretty well except no wind blowing across my face, I still slept alright but not great. At home I have a ceiling fan going and a fan blowing across my face.

It's small enough to pack but makes enough noise on high that it helps me sleep, it usually sits on my side of the bed and blows directly on my face. It takes up one small corner in my suite case which is a small trade off for sleeping well. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZFRKE2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_12?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01MZFRKE2&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTVg3OTRCMUxCUThIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODg0ODEzM1NIRTFaNlZDTUNWTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUExMDA5NjI3WEFFSzBXVzlCRUwyJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Welcome back and yes, that is how I became loyal to Royal (By taking another cruise line).

Yes, I always pack one, never had any issues.

Yes, I was approved at almost exactly 12 weeks, exactly like you said, then I tried to find an appointment close to me that was pretty fast, first I could get was September 27 in DFW, will go down, make a day of it and then head to the interview. Thanks.

Bon Voyage ???

That's the point, MEI gets or takes nothing from you, doesn't matter what your budget is, they get paid by Royal Caribbean, you do don't get charged a fee in anyway on any cruise MEI books for you. As a matter of fact when looking at your booking papers the only fee listed is "Taxes, fees, and port expenses" and those are a fee charged by the ports not Royal. I used to be like you, I only booked 1 cruise a year and at first I was going through AAA, they were doing nothing for me, plus they were charging me a fee, so then I took back control and did all of the planning and organizing myself, then I got up to 2 cruises a year, summer and Fall Break (Wife works at a school), then life happened and I didn't have the time I felt I needed to properly plan so I went to MEI. I now have 7 cruises booked through MEI through April of 2021. If it's a control thing I get it, even now when I book some cruises I email my MEI representative and tell them exactly what I want (Because I've already researched it), after MEI books the cruise for me I still have full control over the cruise in the Cruise Planner, if a new "special" comes out from Royal I not have to go mess with trying to re-price the cruise, I email or call my MEI Rep and ask them to re-price and see if I get a better deal. It's just something to consider, if it is something you might be interested in ping or PM @AnnetteJackson and she can get you a representative assigned. If you work with them and still don't like it, then ask for the cruise back and resume control for yourself again.

? we learned that trying to get to Anthem, early birds from now on ? DW

Thanks for your service and welcome to the boards.

Sorry Annette had already hit enter when I saw your response.

Who is your agent and pinging @annette As an example my agent is Michelle, (+ thumb up, lost count of where we are) and she is on vacation this week, a cruise.

No one has really mentioned it on this thread, from a pricing perspective watch the voom combined with one of the drink packages, the voom may not necessarily be less but the combination of the 2 will be less verses separate pricing.

This needs to be your top consideration, I didn't drive but had an uber picks us up at the pre cruise hotel at 10am for the Anthem GC (Embassy Suites in Elizabeth, NJ), uber made really good time until we turned Terminal Blvd then everything slowed way down, we didn't drop our luggage off until about 10:55. I would have left earlier if I had known it could get backed up that bad. uber XL was $37.00.

On Anthem it was held at the Music Hall.

Get with MEI Travel (They sponsor this site) and let them figure it out for you, a lot less hassle and they deal with Royal and you don't have to. It's no charge so you might as well let them look for you and present alternatives on solo rooms.

Since you already said you are in, standard balcony, this is probably over kill, but if you are in a suite all room service is free.

I do this so that I get the best possible pricing and I have the choice of rooms I want. An example, in December for 2019 (Don't know the exact date) Royal will release the Caribbean cruises for the remainder of 2021 through April of 2022, when they are announced I will book cruises for the beginning of 2022 and get my picks of dates and rooms. If by chance life happens and a date will not work, I will move the cruise to a new date and pay a $100pp change fee and I will not loose my non refundable deposit. If you were to look at booking something in 2021 the furthest out you can book is April of 2021.