CrznTxn

Leaving on Liberty this Sunday. Last cruise on her we had a large number of Canadians who made the trip. There are shuttles from both airports but as stated before Hobby (HOU) is closer, although Sunday's traffic through Houston is quick in the mornings. Last cruise out of Galveston I had to go to IAH for an international flight and we arrived at the airport within 45 minutes of leaving the cruise terminal. I drove and we were passed by the shuttle taking folks back. August does not seem to be loaded with hurricanes and we have only hurried back to port once and that was due to possibility of fog.

Liberty on the 8th!

We use GeoBlue. Their coverage is for 30 days.

Understand on the addiction part. We were coerced into our first cruise by a friend of my wife and we had a fantastic time. The workaholic of her husband would never take off for more than three days. Fast forward to six months later and a near heart attack, we decided that the relaxation of the cruise was the best escape from the stress of work. We booked the next one and now we are one 3 to 4 per year. We have taken each of our 4 grandchildren when they turned 5 for their "rite of passage" and this past October have completed taking each of the kids and families (you took our kids, why can't you take us 🤧). Now all the family is hooked and are planning future cruises. Can't wait until the next one (8 days and counting) and the one after in January.

It is a sad week for Galveston Cruises. Three passengers from the Carnival Vista were killed in an accident in Belize on Wednesday during a shore excursion when their van was hit head on by another vehicle. A passenger from the Liberty of the Seas was killed during a shore excursion when the van she was riding in lost control and flipped. She was ejected through the front windshield when the van suffered a tire failure and flipped. Other members of her family were also injured in the incident. All five passengers who were killed were from the Dallas area. Please remember these families in your prayers.

We received our Platinum pins in our cabin on our last cruise. Our Emerald pins will be available after our January cruise which I cannot wait for.😀

We decorate our door every cruise as it is easier to find the room and gives a custom look. Never in all the years we have been sailing have we lost a decoration. Either we have been lucky or the decorations are so bad that no one would bother them.

We have sailed a number of times on both cruise lines on different size ships. The motion is going to be relative to the weather and we have been on roller coasters where you bump the walls when you walk and dead calm seas on all the size ships. As stated the vacation will be what you make of it. To us the Princess crowd was a little older (we are older but definitely do not act like it) and calmer with, to us, a little more opulence to the ships. The Royal's we love and do not hesitate to travel on. All that said, it is really up to you on the value and locations the ships will stop.

Our MEI is Stephanie Hudson. Has been fantastic on all the cruises we have booked with her. (919) 468-0652

Multiple power banks and a couple of multiple outlet USB chargers on every cruise and never had a problem with any cruise line. I do make sure they are in my carry on and not in the checked luggage.

No except the 4 pack has 2 sea pass holders. The sea pass holders are difficult to use and you can get a hole punched in your sea pass at the dock and just use the lanyard.

I receive a little over 5 weeks vacation and the wife has a job that allows flexible time off (single person office in a seasonal business). In the past the workaholic in me never took time off until the kids were out of college, married and gone. Now the wife and I enjoy 3 cruises (sometimes 4) in a year as we enjoy being "unplugged" from the world. We do not go for the expensive accommodations as we are rarely in them and make sure we take advantage of all the freebie or discounted items on the ship. We closely monitor the shore excursions and have favorites we like to visit. These are some with the cruise line and some via 3rd party depending on the location. Typical bill at the end of our cruises is about $200 for the occasional drink and specials (shore excursions not included). After cruising for a while we also receive "special" offers in the mail and usually arrange our schedule to match these discounted dates. On top of that we use a travel agent who usually gives us On Board Credit so it reduces the end bill. The other benefit is we are within driving distance of two ports so we save the expense of flying unless we find a super discounted air fare (last year to LAX $325 round trip for both of us).

Last cruise had several areas closed for "private functions" for a charter group but they were limited to particular areas (Star Lounge and Studio B) and not the pool areas. Was a member of a charter cruise on NCL last year and they closed the "Adult" pool area for a private function but it was later in the evening (after dark) when the pool is not in usual use. All other private functions for that cruise were held on-shore at one of the stops.

The dynamic dining is similar to DCL where you move to a different dining room each evening. The big difference is on DCL only the decorum changes and the menu and servers are the same. Not sure why they thought that everyone would move to different food styles but apparently passengers voted with their reservations and it was dropped quickly.

The priority boarding will depend on what cabin you booked. If you have a suite there is a different, shorter line for you. If you are like the rest of us with an inside or balcony room you will go in the normal cruise line which is like the TSA lines you have at the airport except it does seem to move quicker and you do not have to remove your shoes, etc. When you do reach the higher levels (Emerald and above) on Royal you do move to the shorter line. In April they removed the Platinum status from the short line 😣. All that said, if you want a short wait in the line, get there early (10:00 ~ 10:30) like we do and the line is much shorter. Any time after 11:00 in Galveston will be about a 30 minute wait.