HtownHolly

Guess I should be glad I didn't mention out loud that we got a FREE TOWEL MONKEY in our deck 2 oceanview room one night. Mighta sent someone into a rage.

Or both! Haha, good job :)
 

We rolled into a "formal" night dressed like normal. Nobody batted an eye. I think they are "recommended" attires.

Yes.

We have solved the hard mattress issue two ways. 
First -  we roll up a 3" mattress topper as tight as we can get it and tie it together.  Stuff it in a suitcase and fill the rest of that suitcase with whatever else we are taking.  This requires 2 large suitcases for most trips.  BUT - the comfort of the softer mattress is worth it.  Just remember to take it off of the bed when you come home.
Second - if we are flying and can only check one bag - we ask the room steward for 10 extra pillows.  We put them under the sheet and remake the bed.  We have a "pillow-top" mattress literally!!!  
 

Thanks all! Man, I am glad for porters. The rooms weren't ready until 1pm, and having to babysit our luggage for 3 hours would have been a PITA, haha. Terrific cruise - we already put a deposit down for Harmony for this next Thanksgiving. SO excited to see one of the big ships with the bells and whistles :)

Ah, no. I wouldn't cut it that close. Even leaving from Hobby (the airport on the south side of town), it would take about 45 minutes to get to the airport from Galveston with minimal traffic (by taxi/car... dunno about any kind of bus or coach). Plus, snags happen. I'd build in a bit more cushion than that... especially if they fly out of IAH, which is another hour north from Hobby.

LOL, now you're talking! My 10YO will be a bottomless pit by the time we get onboard :)

LOL, now you're talking! My 10YO will be a bottomless pit by the time we get onboard :)

Thanks all :) Sounds like we'll just pack some snacks and head straight over to the ship!

LOL, now you're talking! My 10YO will be a bottomless pit by the time we get onboard :)

Oh this would be great! We really want to try one of the Oasis class ships, but the airfare on top of cruise costs are kinda scary. Driving an hour down the freeway to Galveston would be way better!

Oh this would be great! We really want to try one of the Oasis class ships, but the airfare on top of cruise costs are kinda scary. Driving an hour down the freeway to Galveston would be way better!

Oh this would be great! We really want to try one of the Oasis class ships, but the airfare on top of cruise costs are kinda scary. Driving an hour down the freeway to Galveston would be way better!

Oh I think he could find a way to use it up, lol.

While RC and Celebrity are sister cruise lines, each maintains it's own loyalty program.  You only earn points in each respective program when you sail with that cruise line.  Points can NOT be added or moved between programs.  As a Celebrity Captains Club member you may already have a Crown and Anchor number assigned to you.  You can call either Celebrity or Royal Caribbean to ask, just be aware if you have never sailed Royal, your initial status will be "Pre-Gold".  
If you have achieved Select or higher with Celebrity your status will be recognized when you sail on a Royal Caribbean ship.   Select will gain your the same benefits as if you are Crown and Anchor Platinum level, Elite or higher will gain you Diamond benefits.  
It is detailed here:
https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/enroll
(go to the bottom)

Oh this would be great! We really want to try one of the Oasis class ships, but the airfare on top of cruise costs are kinda scary. Driving an hour down the freeway to Galveston would be way better!

Yes, a lot of us here end up doing that, sometimes a couple of times in a month. Do be aware that when you cancel and re-book, it gets processed as an actual cancellation with a full refund to your card, and the full charge for the re-book. It would be SO nice if they could just credit our cards the difference in price, but I guess that would muck up their own bookkeeping or whatever metrics they use to track sales during promotions vs. regular times.
Also, it usually takes a couple of business days for the refund to show up in your credit card's processed transactions, but the re-book typically shows up the same day (unless you rebooked after 5 PM EST, in which case it'll probably appear the next day). So if you're right at the end of a billing cycle and do a cancel/re-book, you might find that the refund didn't make it in before the statement went out, even though the re-book charge is there. Rest assured it'll show up in the next statement.

Y'all, I'm excited! We are eyeballing the Southern Caribbean cruise on Navigator, over Christmas, and I'm so glad I found this site!
A bit of background for us: we are in Houston (hence my handle) it's me, my husband and 10-year-old daughter. DH and I have been on 2 cruises before (one way back before we were married, on Celebrity in 2001, to Alaska... in fact we were in the air flying back from that when 9/11 happened! eeek!), and then one in March 2003 to the Western Caribbean on Carnival, where my daughter and lots of relatives went along on that cruise, too. We figured out on that second one that we DEFINITELY enjoy cruising, and so now that life has settled down a bit, we want to get back into it (and also thankyew for the nice upcoming bonus at work this year, haha).
DH liked what he saw on the RC ships better, so we're looking to go that route. I'll be reading and looking around more for an idea on how to get the best deal we can for at least an ocean view. I saw that a new sale started today, so that's great. I'm ready to pull the trigger on this cruise, and DH just wants to look at it a bit more first. We'll probably move on it pretty soon.
Thanks! Love what I see on this site :)

DH just greenlighted our first RC cruise (and 3rd, overall). December 21, 2018 - Navigator of the Seas :)
So, should I book at RC or through MEI/here? (and then Air2Sea for the flight to Miami)

Y'all, I'm excited! We are eyeballing the Southern Caribbean cruise on Navigator, over Christmas, and I'm so glad I found this site!
A bit of background for us: we are in Houston (hence my handle) it's me, my husband and 10-year-old daughter. DH and I have been on 2 cruises before (one way back before we were married, on Celebrity in 2001, to Alaska... in fact we were in the air flying back from that when 9/11 happened! eeek!), and then one in March 2003 to the Western Caribbean on Carnival, where my daughter and lots of relatives went along on that cruise, too. We figured out on that second one that we DEFINITELY enjoy cruising, and so now that life has settled down a bit, we want to get back into it (and also thankyew for the nice upcoming bonus at work this year, haha).
DH liked what he saw on the RC ships better, so we're looking to go that route. I'll be reading and looking around more for an idea on how to get the best deal we can for at least an ocean view. I saw that a new sale started today, so that's great. I'm ready to pull the trigger on this cruise, and DH just wants to look at it a bit more first. We'll probably move on it pretty soon.
Thanks! Love what I see on this site :)