Scatmanjack

Not necessarily caused by COVID, but what is something you miss from current Royal Ships that you used to be able to do or purchase onboard?

I miss ship specific postcards in the gift shop...  Always enjoyed sending those out as well as purchasing an extra one or two for bookmarks...

Switched over to shot glasses and now those seem to be dwindling...

Am I imaging things or is there an upper age limit for Royal Caribbean shore excursions?  The number 72 sticks out in my mind but I cannot find anything with a quick search...

My parents are approaching that threshold and would be concerned if they couldn't join us on an excursion...

15 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Plus freestyle has powerade and flavor juices and water.

when it's working and stocked...  

Hoping that this terminal upgrade results in better ship assignments and varied itineraries for G.

Seems like Galveston is the dumping ground for ships that didn't get Amplified...

Liberty- last of Freedom Class to get full scheduled Amplification... not yet complete...

Allure- Oasis Class but missing items found on others in same class... not yet complete...

Yeah COVID and all that, but it would be nice to get nice things out of Galveston...

We just sailed on Adventure in Late December and had UDP.  Daughter has Peanut Allergy.   Izumi on Adventure does not have Hibachi nor Hot Rocks.   Menu also did not have noodle dishes.   She could not have anything that was tempura or had Panko due to cross contamination issues.  She had vegetable fried rice from the menu and two items chef made - a couple pieces of thinly sliced tuna with a dab of sauce and a shrimp based sushi roll that had a Fish and sauce on top of it.  She would have enjoyed it more without the Fish...

Honestly  we had plans to eat here multiple times on that cruise and we never went back because the menu was pretty much off-limits to one of our party.   We ate at Izumi on Vision of the Seas several years ago and had a great experience with noodles, hot rock dishes, etc...

Are these cabins for 5 on Oasis-Class only bookable for 5 via the phone?  Was trying to do a dummy booking for availability/pricing and cannot put 5 in a cabin...

I've always used the Royal Key with the understanding that room for 3 has a sofa bed, while the room for 4 has two ceiling bunks.  This has been for Vision, Voyager, and Freedom class sailings....

We are booked in an Aft Corner Balcony on Freedom Class for June that is for 3 but has a single Ceiling Bunk... and a BIG balcony!!! Had to research this big time beforehand as sleeper sofas take up too much floorspace when deployed...

We booked two adjoining staterooms at the back of Deck 7 on Allure.  One room is set for 4 and one for 2.  Hoping the 4 is bunks but never sailed on Oasis Class

So will the adjacent parking included in this project be enough to handle all passengers from Allure plus other RCL ship at same time? Booked our first Allure sailing for 2023 and started thinking about parking... Our current favorite lot, EZ Cruise, would be too far from new pier for our liking...

Could parking be potentially sold at same time as booking if operated by Royal?

We sail on 12/20.   

I work at Quest Diagnostics - the lab that the CVS PCR test would go to for processing...

Getting tested on 12/18 at CVS but did not have confidence that results would be ready by PCR in time for boarding at 12pm 12/20... Weekend staffing/Holiday rush/etc...

Instead, booked Rapid Antigen test done at CVS... Results in 30m...

Clearing up something in above post:

Vaccination produces antibodies to fight infection in subsequent exposure...

An Antigen is molecule found in Sample that equals active infection and is what triggers an immune response...

I have contacted Royal in the past about excursions when issues arose.   They even refunded one several months after the cruise when I spoke up.  I cannot remember if it was via email or via a portal on Royal Website... sorry.

I cannot remember which line, but somebody had 7 night sailings from Galveston that went to Bahamas.  Looks to be about same distance to Roatan so it should be within fuel budget.

I'd book a 7 nighter to Coco Cay out of Galveston in a heartbeat...  I think the problem would be other stops same trip... Nassau?  Key West? Cozumel? Not sure what maximum overnight nautical mile capacity is...

Carnival announced new ship Jubilee will be based out Galveston... 

Competition is good for the customer and our future cruise options out of Galveston...

Anybody sailing on Adventure in November or Early December 2021?  Would love some reports...

Did online check-in for our December cruise at 4am this morning...

We were booked for 03/15/2020 when everything shut down on 03/13...

Probably had 4 Cruises booked and cancelled in the down time...

Feels good to be heading out to Sea again and seeing Seacards with our names on them (even if they are virtual at this point)

Safe to assume Royal will move all operations to Pier 10 once it is complete?

Have always parked and walked from EZ Cruise Lot but I guess the lot included in Pier 10 project should be my new choice...

With Final Payment being moved to 30 days of sail date for some, can you do online check-in on App without having made final payment yet?

we had UDP drop from 120 down to 104 this morning for a December sailing... (Gratuities included)

Shout out to Sharla @ MEI Travel!

She has rebooked two upcoming cruises for us over the past month and has saved us almost $1000.

Will probably be sending her a message soon to book another one...   (FCCs needs to be spent, we are trying but she keeps saving us money!)

Paul

Do we know what changes were made to Liberty of the Seas in the Spanish Drydock this summer?  Strictly behind the scenes engine maintenance type stuff or new restaurants and bars?

Has anyone done both of these and can recommend one over the other?

We've done Playa Mia and had a good time but are possibly interested in Chankanaab Park this time.  We have no interest in doing the dolphins and are concerned that base ticket from RCI doesn't include many of the add ons - snorkeling, beach activities, etc... Everything I've read and watched on YouTube seems to indicate it is very much an a la carte place that charges for each activity.  

Food and Beverage input appreciated as well...

Thanks

Paul

We often stay between Houston and Galveston when sailing...

Webster has several reasonably priced Marriott Properties.

Galveston hotels sometimes require multiple night bookings.

All of this was Pre-Covid...

12 minutes ago, Momof4crazytocruise said:

So you cancelled altogether rather than Lift and Shift? I think there is some wiggle room in the lift and shift if you explain your intinerary concerns - so my advice would be to talk to someone, or your travel agent, and see what can be done. It never hurts to ask the questions. 

We haven't cancelled.  Royal has cancelled on us 3x.   

Will either lift and shift or take augmented FCC and apply to 2022 pricing,,,

There is a sailing 15 days off from our original sail date that we are interested in Lifting to if Royal lets us...

Congrats! Looking forward to the vlogs...

I am intrigued by some sailings in 2022 from Galveston.

Normally for 7 nights it is either :

A: Cozumel, Falmouth, Grand Cayman

B: Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan

Seems like they have added another option with an additional port...

C Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize City

One less sea day but a good spot for seeing some sealife via a mask and snorkel...

Trying to decide between B and C for our rebooking...

Paul

We were set to sail 08/01/2020 on Liberty out of Galveston for $3366.61, Deck 7 Balcony, Party of 3

Sailing was cancelled on Friday... (Actually it was originally cancelled 03/13/2020... Paid for 12/2019)

Trying to explore Summer 2022 Options and am having a bit of sticker shock...

We don't want to Lift and Shift because Galveston Liberty sailings in our 4 week window are ALL Falmouth/Grand Cayman itineraries which we've already done and don't want to repeat.

In looking at other sailings on Liberty that Summer, they are $4244.26-4789.75 for same Deck 7 Balcony.   

Summer is pretty much only time we can do a 7-night cruise so we have to go next...

So now it's give Royal even more $$$ to redeem the $$$ I gave them in 2019 to sail in 2022...

Very Frustrating...

Sharla look out for some emails...

Paul