cmich068

Cruise ship supply chains are fascinating, read the labels and you'll find some interesting things - like how the Red Stripe cans served on board Royal Caribbean are brewed in Amsterdam.

Newcastle was available on draft on Harmony a couple weeks back (consistently in the pub and intermittently in Schooner Bar and Pool Bar) and I'm fairly confident it was the original brew found in Europe and Canada. Certainly tasted the same as the last Newcastle I had at a Spoons in London. Though now that I know the American one is different I will have to grab a bottle on my next trip south to try it out.

A couple weeks back on Harmony we got the letter in the stateroom at embarkation and then a business card sized reminder the day before the top tier event.

Was on Harmony a couple of weeks ago - the points posted after one week but still showing old status level.

VIA Rail is the national passenger rail service - similar to Amtrak. If you wanted to get to Montreal airport, you would want to book a ticket from Quebec Gare Du PALAIS to Dorval. This is roughly a four hour train trip. VIA operates a free shuttle between Dorval Station and Montreal Airport, but the frequency leaves much to be desired - also Dorval is on the other side of the line from Montreal's central station, so what you'll find is every train from Quebec City stops at Montreal Central for 30-40 minutes before continuing on to Dorval as a Ottawa or Toronto bound train. As an alternative to taking the train to Dorval, you could also take the train to Montreal Gare Central and find your own way to the airport to save some time, from there you're looking at a 20-30 min taxi or Uber ride but it'll obviously cost more than taking the train the whole way. Driving is faster than the train, so renting a car is another option. You have two autoroutes that run between Quebec City and Montreal - Autoroute 40 on the west side of the St. Lawrence and Autoroute 20 on the east side. Both are multi lane interstate style expressways. Either way, this is about a 2hr 45 min trip without traffic. Finally, your third option is to take a coach bus operated by Orleans Express - which also leaves from Gare du PALAIS. You can book a single ticket which includes a connection to the airport from the Montreal bus terminal. One other consideration is that Montreal Airport has US Preclearance facilities - so you need to leave enough time before your flight to clear those formalities as well. Flying out of Quebec City is going to be the easiest option, but there is limited direct service to the US so you may need to fly through Toronto to get to your final destination. Which opens its own can of worms....

My one other flag is if this is a concern - make sure you do the booking in person if you want CAD, especially if you're doing one of those open ended Book Later offers. If you just drop the form in the box or use the app there's a very high chance it gets booked in USD.

They can do both USD and CAD - you can choose which currency you want at time of booking. If you make a CAD booking the deposit will be charged in CAD.

Going on Harmony in January. Locked in the Soda Package and Water Bottles as they're the cheapest I've seen since I booked in the summer. I was hoping to see the Wifi a bit cheaper, still $20.99 for one device. Might not bother booking that at all.

If you travel enough to get a higher loyalty status, then sticking to one brand can be smart. If you don't, then price is king.

Does anyone know where the Galveston Limo shuttles pick up from at the new RCCL terminal?

Going to be flying in to IAH two days before our cruise, renting a car and staying near Webster. Is there any reason for me to return the car in Webster and get an Uber from there vs using a drop off location further south like La Marque, which would save some money on the Uber ride? On the way back to IAH, will probably do a shared transfer, though not sure with RCCL, Galveston Express or Galveston Limo. 6pm flight home so no rush.

We booked this a month or two ago. Got a really good group rate. First time cruising out of Galveston, first time back on Royal Caribbean in 5 years or so, first time back on an Oasis class ship in a decade or so!

Should note that shuttles to the port are only offered from the 2520 Miami Road location (shared with Avis and Payless) - the location on 17th Street is now a counter inside the Renaissance Hotel without any shuttle service.