steverk

I was at PDCC this week. There's some construction past the crew quarters. I don't know what it is, but I doubt it's a lazy river since it's so far from the guest areas.

58 minutes ago, Marlena said:

Anyone get emailed about their cruises going to USVI after end OCT? Seems I've heard of them noticing October cruisers but not after those sailings. Trying to get an idea about our nov sailing.

I've got a cruise in November that hits Puerto Rico,  st. Thomas, st. Croix and st. Kitts. No word yet, but I think it's only a matter of time. 

50 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I found plenty, just pretty poor reviews.  I'm not overly concerned.

 

My internal debate is transportation.  Last time we rented a car, dropped it off in Texas city and i ubered back to the hotel.  Not sure i want that hassle this time

Another option is to stay on the mainland instead of the island. You can take an uber to the pier. There are several decent, mid priced hotels on i45 in Webster or league city. (I would avoid anything close to either airport though)

15 minutes ago, Jill said:

You’d think though with all the crap that happened to that line, they’d be super cautious with their re-start. Obviously not. 

The last time they showed caution it was to cancel a major ship design and build in 2008. (I think it was called project pinnacle). Resulted in royal owning the giant cruise ship market for more than a decade.

Since then they've thrown caution to the wind. The result has been a lot of the covid debacle plus Carnival triumph, Costa Concordia and a few more.

I sometimes wonder how they are received at industry meetings. 

4 hours ago, Galveston Steve said:

Wait, what!!! Got this from my travel agent. Is this another intern error is is this real? If it's real, we're booked on the first sailing of the Newly Amped Liberty of the Seas!

I'm probably in the minority,  but I think it is possible that the amp is going forward.  Consider:

Liberty has been in drydock for quite a while. In fact it's a week late getting to Galveston 

All of the stuff has been purchased and sitting in storage. Therefore,  it can't be that much more money to go forward with the amp

According to the earnings call, bookings are stronger than expected,  so royal may feel they can afford it 

Royal might feel it's cheaper just to knock it out now rather than continuing to pay storage on the amp equipment and taking Liberty out of service in a year or two. 

None of this says it is happening,  just that it could. I'm really looking forward to seeing her when she arrives! 

6 hours ago, skittermagoo said:

Parking questions for you seasoned Galveston cruisers!  

I'm booked at the Tremont House the night before my cruise; I was intending to park my car at Port of Galveston parking, but then found out that the Tremont has a stay/park/cruise thing for $100.  

First question: is Tremont close enough to walk (with our luggage) to the terminal, or would I need to use their shuttle? 

The only downside I can think of for using the Tremont parking is that when we get off the ship, we'd have to get back to the hotel and wait for them to retrieve our car (they are valet only), whereas if we park at PoG, we can get off the ship and go straight for the car.  

Also I am not sure of the Tremont's security for wherever they park the cars -- is PoG parking more secure? 

What would y'all do? 

That's an interesting question.  If you're sailing out of terminal 2, then walking is doable. It's about 5 blocks. 

If you're planning to sail after the new terminal is complete,  then it will be about a mile or so.

Interested in my November sailing.  It leaves san juan,  hits st. Croix and st. Thomas.  And st. Kitts. I appreciate Matt publishing the whole story,  but rather disturbing  

I take airborne supplement every day  and hope for the best 

You can extend the stay before and/or after your cruise.  I'm not familiar with the Panama City airport, but I'd suggest calling Air2Sea and find out from them.  My guess is they can and will accommodate you, but it might cost more money.

I'm on the October 3 cruise and they have yet to inform me about the change.  In fact, they are still selling it as Ft. Lauderdale, Falmouth, Labadee and Nassau.

However, my cruise planner shows ports on a Western Caribbean itinerary, so it is only a matter of time before everything switches over.

I sympathize with anyone that bought this cruise for the itinerary.  The only solace I can give is that all cruising is in a major state of flux.

We have only two choices: go with the flow or cancel our cruise.  I choose to go with the flow, but it is rather annoying to have this moving target.

I don't blame Royal for this.  They have to deal with a rapidly changing environment.  This is the unfortunate result.

My thinking is undoubtedly biased by my distrust of the CDC, so take it with a giant rock of salt.

If the CDC loses the court case with Florida (and I think they will), then they renew the CSO as a guideline and use their mandatory health inspections as a club to bring the cruise lines in compliance.

If they win, then they not only extend the CSO, but add additional requirements. Will the new requirements be so onerous as to shut down cruising once again?  Time will tell.

52 minutes ago, San Diego Garrett said:

I know most of the sales for things like drink and dining packages usually last for 7-10 days at a time. Does anyone know if their Black Friday sale is just for that one day or do you remember it lasting for multiple days?

If memory serves, the sale started on Thanksgiving and went for the whole weekend. 

YMMV. My memory isn't what it once was!

Interesting.  I haven't received any emails about my October 3 sailing on Odyssey, but I just logged in to cruise planner and looked at the excursions.  It shows a very similar itinerary to #Atricks (Although no Cozumel yet).

I don't see Odyssey protocols on the Royal website.

for mine, it says  "For cruises departing Nassau before August 1, 2021..." Therefore, I believe at least for the July 31 sailing of Adventure, we'll use July protocols.

I'm on the July 31 Adventure sailing, and I haven't seen anything that would make me believe that it won't follow July's protocols.  I'd expect Odyssey to do the same.

I'll stay in just about any cabin.  

Even the worst cabin on a ship is better than being stuck on land!

6 hours ago, jack_c4321 said:

Let's say you get off the ship at ~8:00 am. That leaves around 6 hours to get to the airport, check in etc. which IMO is plenty of time. 

I'm sure it will be adequate.  In fact, you might have time for one of those excursions that picks you up from the pier, tours around the city and drops you at the airport.  It fills the time and gets you to the airport.

24 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

My CP shows -0- upcoming cruises.  

I will try back later.

That's what I've been seeing.  Sometimes waiting a long time (like 30 minutes) will bring them back. Sometimes hitting refresh after waiting works.

Bitten by Royal IT again!

I see the C&A website still says that we can book and get double points as long as we sail by Dec 31, 2022.

Does anyone know what the cut off is for actually booking the cabin?

Today I notice that it is VERY slow coming up with my list of cruises, but once it does, it appears to work OK.

Same thing happened to me when I flew to St. Maarten for a Celebrity cruise.

I called both Flights by Celebrity (Same group as A2S, but answer with a different name) and American Airlines.  Both said it was fine.  When I flew...it was fine.

On a somewhat related query, I'm thinking of a South Pacific/Australia/New Zealand itinerary on Celebrity in the Nov 2023 - April 2024 timeframe.

Looking at the Celebrity website, it is clear they release itineraries earlier than Royal.

Does anyone know when they would release these itineraries?

Explorer is a great ship with plenty to do. You won't get bored.

It has a solarium, but it is an outdoor pool.

12 hours ago, VoidoftheSeas said:

I'm operating under the assumption that the intermediate courts are predisposed to be favorable to the CDC's position. I could be wrong, but I think the reality is that by the time this thing works its way through the whole court system, we might already hit November, and none of it will matter much anymore. 

Sorry if this seems like a downer, but here goes anyway.

How confident are we that the CDC won't extend the CSO in November?

In 10 days!

This will actually be my second cruise this year as I've sailed Celebrity Millennium in June.

My co-workers think I'm addicted.  They're wrong!  I only have 11 more cruises scheduled in the next 18 months.