Momof4crazytocruise

Karaoke. No seriously. I would NEVER do this in the real world, except maybe in Japan after a business meeting where it's totally socially acceptable and expected to participate in drunken karaoke sessions. But i don't know man, the drink package got me BRAVE. LOL. And line dancing. I don't know what it is (drink package again, who am I kidding?) but I love me some line dancing on the pool deck. I am terrible, but I don't care. 

Also, I love to try different foods. I love that I can order whatever I want and try ALL the things. I would never do that in the real world. 

Honestly I check very frequently (maybe once a day) and have found very small windows where I get the best price. For example, for months, the drink package was priced at $58/day. Then there was a 'sale' and the price was $46/day. But I kept checking and during the 'sale' I saw it go down to $42/day but only for a few hours. I bought at that price, and the next day it was back up to $46/day. I have since not seen it go below $46/day, and is consistently at $49/day with the 'sales'. You have to keep checking fairly diligently, but it does pay off doing that. 

I bought our drink package for our November cruise simply because, aside from the $18 intern special, it was the best price I have seen in a loooonnnngggg time and I didn't want to miss out on that price. I haven't seen it go that low since, so I think it was the right call. I haven't purchased our excursions yet, but if they are the right price, I will book them. 

I only book refundable fares when the WHOLE family is going - and I am dropping $1500 for a deposit on a 7 day cruise. Overall it costs me generally around $100-200 more in my experience, but that is like insurance to me that if for some reason we can't go, I am not out that $1500. If it's just my husband and I on a 5-nighter, $200 deposit, no reason to pay the extra fare, and we just take the risk that we're out the $200 if we need to cancel. I rebook both fares all the time when I see a price change. There is no difference in your capability to do that. 

Book that immediately! What a great price if it includes roundtrip airfare!

I'm hoping with the continued delay to restarting they extend the date for double points past Sept 30, 2022. I have a GS booked in October 2022 and I would like to cash in!

Hopefully in Texas Gregg Abbott, who loves to shadow DeSantis when he thinks he's getting the upper hand in popularity, follows 'suit' (see what I did there?). Even if it's long and drawn out in the courts - at least it feels like they're doing SOMETHING. 

Sigh. I have 5 scheduled.

One on Carnival in October (my friend I'm going with is diehard Carnival so I thought what the heck, I'll try it). Then Liberty in Nov 2021, Adventure March 2022, Grandeur Sept 2022, and again Grandeur Oct 2022. 

I'm not holding my breath for the October, I am pessimistic about November, hopeful for March, and if we're not sailing by September 2022, I give up. 

My November Liberty cruise has drink packages at $43/day with this sale - lowest I have seen in a loooonnnnggg time. So of course I booked it. 

What convinced me to go Passport only for the kiddies (I always keep a current passport) was when I read that you can't fly internally in Mexico to get to the US Embassy in Mexico City without a passport. So if I needed one to get home I would need to drive there from Cozumel - which would be like 20 hours on unfamiliar Mexican roads, and that ain't happening. There is a now a US Consulate in Playa Del Carmen which would help me out, but it was the fear of not being able to fly home if I needed one (from anywhere). A lost passport is much easier to replace at the consulate than starting from scratch (ask me how I know this... LOL that's why we make copies y'all!). To me, it is worth the cost and the trouble for something I need to do every 10 years (5 for kids) for simply the security of knowing I can get home easily if I needed to. 

May be wishful thinking - but we're booked for:

Liberty Nov 7-14, 2021

Adventure March 14-18, 2022

Grandeur Sept 21-25, 2022

Grandeur October 19-24, 2022

Fog is only really a problem in February-ish. Some years it's bad, like 2020, this year we had like 1 foggy day. 

If you can go into Hobby - do it. IAH is WAAAAAYYY north, and to the port will be like 1.25-1.5 hours with no traffic. With traffic, whoa-nelly - no thanks!) 35 minutes from Hobby airport is actually not that bad. Lots of hotels between the airport and the port, nicer in the Clear Lake area, so can definitely stay cheaper, but will need an Uber or taxi to get you there, which could negate the savings. We live near Johnson Space Center, and it is literally 35 minutes from door to terminal. When we cruise with family from out of town, we stay with them at the Harbor House hotel, where we can park our car and walk over to the terminal if we're feeling spritely. Last time we loaded up the bags in the car, dropped them off, came back and parked, and walked over, about a 10 minute walk. It wasn't bad at all (and to be honest, the exercise was probably needed before cruise calories set in). If it's just us, we have someone drop us off or take an uber. 

Lots to do in the Galveston area, or, spend a day at the Space Center, which is pretty cool (I am not biased at all... being a member of the ISS Flight Control team and all...) There is a fantastic Children's Museum in the basement of the Bishop's Palace. Last year, while waiting for boarding, we sent all the kids and a few adults down there to burn some time. It's cheap too, like $7 or something. There is also a cool Pirate museum within walking distance of the port. I had no idea Galveston had pirates back in the day. There is a great brewery on the island (Galveston Brewing - try the Tiki Wheat). Moody Gardens is way over priced, but the Palm Beach water park is okay in the summer, and the Aquarium is cool. Have never been to the Schlitterbahn, but I hear that is good too. Pleasure Pier is a nice place to spend an evening, and lots of great restaurants along the Seawall and the Strand. 

Sailing in winter months can be some pretty rough waters on the way out, but I would think that would be the case for lots of places. 

If either means we can finally get going again, I would do either. I do question the need to wear one outdoors or on the pool deck - but we went to Disney World with the masks being required unless actively eating or drinking, and it was annoying, but doable. I won't be thrilled with wearing one on the pool deck, but I will remedy that by ensuring I always have a drink in my hand. I am more worried about what the requirements for excursions will be. I don't want to have to be on a RC excursion to leave the ship. If that is a condition to sail again, they better start contracting with my favorite beach clubs and restaurants. 

What kind of items are being reported as non-refundable? just curious

In the meantime - I am booking a suite on Grandeur in fall 2020 to get those 4X points! Can't wait to book the inaugural of whatever Oasis class is coming - was so bummed to have to cancel our Allure sailing for this fall   However, I will happily take the replacement 7 night on Liberty if we would JUST START SAILING AGAIN ALREADY!!!

They will greatly interfere with my drink package - but if I have to wear one to get to go on vacation, I will wear one. There are bigger, worthy hills to die on these days. Now get me on a damn boat!

I agree with Twangster that the bigger issue is not being able to leave this ship without a booked excursion. All I can say is, they better start contracting with all the places I want to go! 

And any RC ship in and out of Texas also flies the Texas flag. LOL. And hangs it prominently in the centrum or promenade. As a non-native resident of Texas, I find this pretty amusing. The Texans love their flag! RC know how to pander to their audience. 

My 6 year old son, who was 5 at the time, wears a little captain's hat around the ship - and him meeting the actual Captain. Man, it was like meeting the REAL Santa Claus.

Was scheduled for Allure Nov 2021 out of Galveston, but that was canceled and we were swapped to Liberty Nov 2021. 

We've always done the self carry off, and left when we felt like it, except this last time, we decided to put the luggage out and go on our time schedule. I must say - this was a MUCH easier option than I realized. I figured it would be royal pain, but honestly, no line, no waiting to get off, and bags were right there. Only glitch was my mother in law packed ALL her pants  and we had a panicked search for acceptable pants the morning of departure (she worry my super stretchy pajama pants off the ship ). Pretty sure, unless we're in a BIG hurry (and we never will be, because we sail from Galveston and live about 35 minutes from port) - we will mostly likely use the time slot departure in the future. 

I get to wear funny t-shirts 7 days a week instead of 2. Also, I think my job will be more open to flexibility with telework - they already were pretty flexible, but i think if I asked to work part time from home in the future, they wouldn't blink. We got 2 puppies right at the beginning of this, and I'd like to be able to keep up with their potty training by being here more.

You have to look at from a standpoint of risk. We use third party insurers and find a rate that covers what we find to be most important. For example, we typically cruise from Galveston, about a 40 minute drive. So I don't need insurance that covers flights, hotels, rental cars, etc... But when I travel with 4 mini crazy people I live with, accidents and injuries are a possibility. So I focus on a policy that covers heavy on the medical,  less on the cost recuperation  or lost baggage. This would change if we were to travel to another port, we would look at a different level of coverage. Booking 3rd party lets me pick and choose better what coverage I want with all the variables attached. And it's cheaper the than the version the cruiselines typically offer.

I would be more concerned about the touch pad and the drink selection. Put a washy-washy right next to it, good to go. 

Any good scotch will do. 

The cruise planner prices you see now aren't really that much lower than what you'll see on board. Especially with the daily Cruise Compass specials you'll see advertised. There's not a huge advantage to booking spa stuff in advance. I would say to visit the spa, find out what the specials are, and use your coupon on something once you see what they have.