steverk

Please do not allow your phone to automatically adjust time zones! Set it manually instead. That should be enough to keep you on ship time, but I always wear a cheap Timex watch too. You can't be too careful and you don't want to be left behind.

Generally not. However, they have soft serve on Radiance class and Harmony served chocolate, vanilla and strawberry hand dipped ice cream for lunch and dinner. Otherwise, Windjammer will sometimes serve it for dinner.

Matt posted about it this morning. That was the first I heard about it.

No, but you can talk to the voom desk on board. They can transfer your free internet coupon to someone else in your party

In my experience, I enter my c&a number and state when I'm entering the number of people in the cabin. It adjusts the price then.

That explains things! I booked a 9 night interior on explorer departing Jan 12, 2024. I got a $150 obc and couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe it was from nextcruise. Btw, for those who don't think there are any good deals to be had, this cruise was one. 9 nights, $534 per person. And now $150 obc. What a deal.

If the ship docks on time, and it's cleared quickly, and you get in line early so you can walk off the ship rather than waiting on the suite concierge, then you can, probably, make it out of the terminal by 8am. At least that's how it worked for me. Next, you hire an Uber. If everything is working perfectly, they pick you up by 8:30. That means arriving at Hobby about 9:15 or Bush about 10, if construction and traffic doesn't slow you down. So, if everything works perfectly, you should be able to make your flight. How confident are you that everything will work so well?

I like Voyager too. In fact, I'm sailing on her this afternoon.

It sure sounds like you should have 14. I'd call crown and anchor to get it straight

Price gouging is usually defined as charging higher prices at times when people have no choice but to purchase your product. For example, a gas station charging $10 per gallon just before a hurricane. Last time I booked a cruise it was by my own choice. I'd call this pricing the ship out of the market. My guess, it will come down within the first year of operation.

You'll have 2 formal nights on each of these 7 night cruises. Usually, they're on day 2 and day 6, but check when you are on board. Most people won't go much more formal than nice pants and a collared shirt, but some will dress very nicely. It's up to you. Enjoy your cruise! It looks like a great itinerary!

Retired 2 years ago. I highly recommend it

Glad to hear this! It goes without saying that you need to keep after the agent in this case, but I'm sure it will work out.

Also, don't make the mistake of believing that you must purchase an excursion to leave the ship during a port of call. You can book through an independent operator or just explore on you own. Research the ports to see what is nearby and how safe each one appears. Some, like Skagway Alaska, are very easy to explore on your own. Others, like Belize City, can be a long way to the interesting sites and don't offer inviting areas to explore on your own.

I think the "phase 2" of the release was the Star of the Seas itineraries.

I'm going by memory here, but this sounds like the benefit that was already in place. Does anyone know if this is really a change?

Anything is possible, but I'd regard it as unlikely to be cancelled. Radiance has to get to the west coast for the Alaska sailing season. If the canal were to close down entirely, Royal would have to cancel, but how likely is that? Most of the canal cruises that have been cancelled were partial transits or pass through, then turn around and come back. I'm not sure exactly how the canal traffic is prioritized, but I suspect those crossings would be considered lowest priority.

I agree. We can see some of Royal's strategy already. Harmony is going to start doing some alternating 6 & 8 night itineraries out of Galveston. The 6 night goes to Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya. The 8 night gets to Coco Cay. Voyager does alternating 4 & 5 night itineraries hitting Cozumel and Costa Maya on the 5 night. A radiance class vessel frequently comes to Galveston for longer itineraries to other locations. Belize City is working on a port expansion to accept Oasis class ships. If this is ever completed, it could add an additional stop for Harmony. IMO this is a start and shows that Royal sees the issue and is trying to find ways to address it. Some other things I'd like to see them do: Develop more ports closer to Galveston. Campeche seems like a good choice but is only suitable for small ships that can tender. It has a cruise port already. For attractions, it has not 1, but 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I read a report that Campeche sent a delegation to Miami to talk to Royal, NCL and Carnival about going there. I'd say there's a good chance this will become at least an occasional stop out of Galveston in the next few years. As mentioned earlier, Tampico is also attractive, if they ever decide they want a cruise industry. Station a Voyager or Freedom class ship in Galveston doing 7 night cruises to Jamaica and the Cayman islands.

Star of the seas pricing is a non starter for me, but other ships aren't that bad. I just snagged a 2br aqua theater suite on harmony in October 2025. Price was $2400 per person including port charges. 4 people in the room. That's high for me, but YOLO. It's clearly a better deal than Star prices.

Are the cabins the exact same class as defined by the 2 digit code?

I don't know if Progresso can handle a really large ship. Last time I was there, it was on Adventure, so it can take a Voyager class. That's the largest I've ever seen. Given the length of the pier, it must be really shallow water. I suspect the draft of the ship would be the limiting factor.

As interesting as those ports may be, I doubt it will happen. Tampico rejected the idea of a cruise port about a decade ago. Unless they reconsider, that just isn't going to happen. Without Tampico a stop in Corpus or Mobile would be out of the way of a required foreign port stop.

I've never actually booked one. If I found one that fit, I'd call a travel agent

Some will, especially if it's an embarkation port, but it's a numbers game. Mobile and Corpus don't have major airports. That makes them drive in ports. If you live nearby you might make it a point to sail out of them, but the number of people that would fly there is very small. Are there enough locals to support a ship? It's hard to say. Mobile had Carnival's oldest and smallest ship. When it was scrapped, Mobile shut down. Is that because Carnival was done with the ship and didn't have anything comparable to put in Mobile? Was it that Mobile didn't work out? Both? Hard to say! What does Mobile say about Corpus? I'm going out on a limb and saying not much. Unlike Mobile, Corpus is the closest port to Austin and San Antonio. Both have more than a million residents and are growing fast. Does that make Corpus viable for a small ship like Vision? IDK but I doubt Royal tries it. As a side note, back in 2000, I went on a Carnival cruise out of Galveston. Carnival had just opened the port to cruise ships. (Yes, the building had been there for nearly a century, but it hadn't been used for more than a gambling ship in decades) When I talked to a supervisor at the port, Carnival expected Galveston would forever be just a drive in port with minimal growth potential. But, look at it now!

The deals can be very good. They can also be very lackluster. Waiting for the last minute is a gamble. This week, it appears to be a good gamble. Imo, you should plan your vacations as far in advance as possible, but check the GGG sale regularly. If something comes up and it fits your schedule, then bonus! If not, then you're not really risking anything. My point in posting this week's sale, was a response to the thread. It had turned in to gloom and doom. Kinda whoa is me...last minute deals are gone forever. At least for this week, it doesn't look that dire to me.