BopRN

We used Galveston Saltwater Moms and it was a great experience. She picked us up at our hotel near the Hobby Airport and dropped us off at the port. Easy peasy! You can only book them through Facebook Message. Facebook

How can I change our Chops reservation to a different day? I only see a way to change persons or to cancel. Do I make a new reservation and cancel the other day?

I have a travel steamer I have taken on 15 cruises and it has never been confiscated. It is shaped differently and I don't think they know it is a steamer. This isn't exactly it, but it looks similar. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norelco-Travel-Care-Fabric-Steamer-Wrinkle-Remover-w-Carry-Pouch/162895644320?hash=item25ed5646a0:g:tdoAAOSwp7tafmRl

When you do decide to go to Bermuda, don't forget that Bermuda is the same geographic level as North Carolina so weather could be iffy. My sister went there in April. It was cold and rainy. Temps were in the high 30's/low 40's. She thought Bermuda was in the Caribbean. :-D

We have just booked with MJS transportation for roundtrip from FLL to Port of Miami. It is HIGHLY recommended by folks on Trip Advisor. It is a shared shuttle. http://gomjstrans.com/MJS_Trans/Home.html

We did this a few years back as well. It was great fun and have looked forward to doing it again. It cost $50 a person. We had a delicious steak dinner from appetizer to dessert...very high quality food. However as we are preparing for our next cruise, the Mystery Dinner is offered at a cost of $79/pp. and from what I have read Giovanni's no longer serves steak on the menu. So really not sure we would consider doing it again with the changes. But it was a fun evening.

When we sailed out of New Orleans, the ship sailed partially on the Mississippi River...so why couldn't we do the Ohio River?? (I'm from Dayton)

We always do the automatic tipping and almost always give our room steward and Head waiter and Ass't waiter a cash gift on the last evening. It has never occurred to us to have our tips removed because they work SO hard for us. HOWEVER....last year .we were on a Carnival cruise (because of the itinerary). We were at a table for 10 but only 4 of us showed up. Our 2 waiters were the LAZIEST crew we have EVER experienced on any ship and it was pretty much a dining nightmare the whole week. The 1st night, they were attentive of course...but it went all downhill from there. A dirty used butter dish graced our table...we were served COLD coffee....they quit even asking if we wanted coffee(seems they wanted to call it a day!)....the ass't waiter did ALL the serving while the Head guy wrapped silverware for the next day.....we were given a "sigh" if we wanted more of something or heaven forbid, a second dessert.....had to ask for water and drink refills.... seconds of rolls were never offered.....chicken strips were served with no dipping sauces so the asst waiter informed us he had to "go all the way to the kitchen" like it was a HUGE deal...and even then, it took forever...the list goes on and on. When all the other waiters were creating fun for their guests with singing, dancing, jokes, etc , ours were standing in the corner and didn't even participate in the whole staff entertainment. They never greeted us friendly on any evening until the last....BUT on the last evening, they were all smiles and couldn't do enough for us! $$$$ in their eyes, I'm sure. We truly felt cheated in many ways! The dining experience makes or breaks a cruise for us. So we gave them quite a surprise....the 4 of us marched down to Guest Services...described to the attendant how our week was in the MDR and she said Yes, we absolutely needed to remove the tips for these 2 guys. So we did! They reimbursed each stateroom $100! We hope they felt the pain!