steverk

I was fortunate enough to score a seat on NASA property to view the scrubbed Launch on August 29. Since this was going to NASA rather than the cruise port, your mileage may vary, but here are the travel times I experienced. We departed the DoubleTree hotel in Orlando near the UCF campus on busses at 3am. At approximately 3:45am we encountered very heavy traffic at US1 and S.R. 405. Arrived at NASA property at 4:45am On the way back: We boarded our bus as soon as the launch was scrubbed and tried to depart about 9am. Traffic was heaviest while still on NASA property, but we encountered traffic off and on all the way to Orlando. We arrived at the DoubleTree hotel about 11:30am Please note that we drove state route 50 out of Orlando rather than the direct route to the airport on route 528 I hope this answers your questions!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your vacation! Since you prefer IHG hotels, I'm going to give you my 2 cents: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston Space Center - Clear Lake 900 Rogers Court Webster TX This is a nice, fairly new hotel conveniently located near the freeway. Shopping and restaurants are within walking distance. Like someone said earlier, about 15 minutes from Hobby Airport and 30 from the cruise port. The prices are generally reasonable Holiday Inn Express & Suites Galveston Beach, 3228 Seawall Blvd Galveston My wife and I did a weekend getaway here. It was comfortable and clean. Well located across from Galveston Beach and within walking distance of food and attractions. This is more expensive than Webster. If you want to be near attractions and food, one place that is frequently overlooked is the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah TX. It's about 30 minutes from Hobby Airport and 30 from the cruise port. The Boardwalk Inn is in the middle of the boardwalk. The Courtyard by Marriott is within walking distance. Both hotels are very nice.

I have a sailing scheduled for September on Radiance. As far as I can tell, we will be the only ship at Coco Cay. So not many people in port. The Chill Island cabanas are currently listed at $699.

I hope you have a great trip! I've never been to Denali, but my research says that the mountain top is hidden by clouds about 75% of the time, so seeing it can be tough. Enjoy it if you get lucky! I also understand that most Denali excursions take a bus to a visitor center, where you change to a national park bus. (the pictures look like a school bus). from there, they take you in to the park on a dirt road. It takes several hours, but is supposed to be incredible. Taking a helicopter sounds easier, but I can understand why that might not be an option. Cost alone would keep it out of my list of things to do.

I think this portion of the film is from the show "flight." I'm not sure which ship it is on, but I've seen that clip on marketing videos for some time now.

My travel agent recommended a company called "railbookers" to arrange the land potion of an Alaska trip I was considering. I haven't booked it yet, so I can't really say much about them. Their itineraries look great and are customizable. All transport is done by the Alaska Railroad and you had your choice of Adventure (cheapest) class and Gold Star (nicest class). On my most recent trip to Alaska, I extended my stay in Seward. It was the highlight of that trip. We took the "Kenai Fjords National Park Tour with Dinner on Fox Island" tour from this company Multiple Cruise Options for Tours of Kenai Fjords National Park (alaskacollection.com). It was fantastic. The next day, we took the Alaska Railroad Gold Leaf service to Anchorage. It took 4 hours but was outstanding. One word of warning though. The train from Seward to Anchorage leaves at 6 pm. This means the whole trip is in daylight in June, but will be dark in September. As far as which side of the ship to book, I think it is an overrated concern. Ideally, you would want starboard for a northbound trip and port of southbound as you might see more land. In reality, it doesn't make much difference as much of the trip is winding through islands, so they are visible on both sides of the ship. Occasionally, you'll hear someone question if it even makes sense to purchase a balcony. You can put me in that category. Don't get me wrong, on a sunny day, sitting on your balcony in Alaska is tough to beat. However, Alaska is a chilly, rainy place and it is rare that sitting on your balcony is comfortable. On my last cruise, the balcony was 3x the price of an interior. I prefer taking 3 cruises on an interior to 1 cruise with a cold, damp balcony.

The revised launch date is now September 3, 2:17-4:17pm. This is a surprise since it was not one of the pre-published launch windows, but that's official. According to cruisemapper.com, Mariner of the Seas, Carnival Mardi Gras, Disney Fantasy and Carnival Freedom will be in port that day. Add in a holiday weekend, and it will be very busy. On the other hand, if you are on one of these ships, do everything you can to be on deck at 2:17pm and you might see an incredible show!

Can't say about the fender bender, but I look out my window and Oralndo I dry.

I find a battery operated alarm clock is very helpful. I bought min from Walmart. It wasn't very expensive. I've also done a lot of cruise shopping at dollar tree. Lots of useful stuff there.

Is that after my 1st, 2nd or 3rd freshman year?

You might also check the app. Under tips and tricks, it will tell you many things including how dressed up you should be. Also, under dining you can select either the main dining room or Windjammer and then look at the menu. Each day will be listed across the bottom. The mdr will have the full menu, including kids and vegetarian choices. The Windjammer will have the theme like tex-mex or Asian. Alas, different sailings have different release dates for this information so YMMV.

Btw launch window is from 8:33 to 10:33. The backup windows are September 2 at 12:48pm to 2:48pm and September 5 at 5:12pm to 7:12pm So, if Monday's launch is delayed, those are the other times that will be busy

Lol! I'm thrilled to be in canaveral during such an important and exciting event . I hope you enjoy cruise. I plan to enjoy watching the big candle leave for the moon

I found the process in Vancouver to be the same as any US port. As mentioned earlier, the terminal is not well laid out, so there's tons of confusing walking to do. Overall, we ere ready to board in about 20 minutes, but the ship wasn't ready so we had to wait in a lounge area. Not a great boarding experience, but you won't have any real problems

The lowest I've ever seen is $6.49 but I don't expect it that cheap ever again. I was on grandeur this week and soft drinks were $3.50 + gratuity each. That's up from $3 when I sailed at Christmas.

That would be a very cool perk. I'm not holding my breath though

I'm on grandeur right now, but if you have a $1200 budget for a 5 night cruise, I think Adventure of the Seas in Feb 25 would be a better choice. There's more to do and you can get a balcony for that budget. I'm looking now and you can get a guarantee balcony for $975 including taxes. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying grandeur. I just find Adventure to be a better bargain.

I think so, but you're still taking a chance with your deposit.

On grandeur. Same cups this week

Thanks. This is the first time I've noticed.

I've successfully upgraded a couple times and would say it was a good deal. Since the ships have been sailing full though, my bids have not been accepted. So I would say it's possible but not likely at this point.

I took these from Grandeur 30 minutes ago

I've been on many cruises, but never seen one depart before the sail away party or escorted by the coast guard until today. Is this a new thing or have I just been lucky enough to not experience this?

The best price I've ever seen for the soda package was $6.49. It was a black Friday sale and only on some of my sailings.

In my experience the fuzzy math is that the sale will say "save up 50% on drink packages." Sounds great, but when you look the $12.99 soda package will be $8.99. It's not a bad deal, but no cheaper than normal and definitely not 50% off.