Jax

Happening Now Anyone else find clumps of fur on their clothes while on vacation and wonder where it came came from.

In other genie news I found these fun cards on Red Bubble last year; I purchased extra so I would have some for upcoming cruises. It’s fun to give Berty cards throughout the week. Generally we tip our genie in cash but I have heard where an increasing number of genies prefer tips go to their onboard account. I asked Berty and he prefers onboard account so that is what we will do. Gift giving is tricky given their limited space but being we are on a holiday cruise I try to come up with something small for Christmas Day. This year we are doing something a bit unique being that we know Berty. Lindsay worked on The Last of Us (filmed in Calgary) and they got talking about this last year. We learned that Berty loved the PlayStation game version so we are gifting him an original crew gift from The Last of Us. Hoping he can use this on his travels.

Luggage It is a well known fact to some on these boards that I do not pack light. This cruise is no exception. I could say it was because of the cooler temperatures in Texas but it likely wouldn’t matter. This is the current state of packing. I set a goal to get the majority of packing done before the cleaners came this morning. I am in good shape. I have employed a new strategy this year by numbering the suitcases 1-5 and have packed all cruise wear in suitcase 1 & 2 so we won’t need access to those bags until we board. I love my packing cubes but they are so efficient it is easy to go overweight on bag limits. Suitcase #5 will be done on Saturday after all the last minute things are packed. I invested in Monos luggage last year and love it!! Definitely worth the investment. They wheel like a dream. I purchased protective covers for them last year but Lindsay thinks the covers will somehow send our luggage to Timbuktu so he won’t let me use them I am tempted to put a cover on his luggage to test his theory. I feel after @SweetPea underwear debacle I need to confirm Underwear although Lindsay has a slightly different formula he uses in a pinch. #N/2 + 1 (the turn them inside out method)

Thank you

Celebrations As I mentioned we have a lot to celebrate this cruise. Reyd’s 18th In Alberta the legal drinking age is 18 so I have a feeling I will be ordering a lot of beer and jack/coke (neither of which I drink) Berty will be soooo confused on my drink preferences. Reyd’s graduation along with his classmate Michael (son of our friends Mike and Jessica). They have gone to school together since pre k. This will be fun! Chanon and Simon’s 25th anniversary (Chanon is Mike’s sister and Simon is Jessica’s brother….I know right!) I still have to finalize celebrations for Reyd’s 18th but it will be in suite as will the graduation celebrations. The current plan is to surprise Chanon and Simon with a cake at a specialty restaurant.

Ditto! My feet will remain squarely on the deck.

Genie news …… so did we get Berty ???? I wonder what Hossain thought when he read that questionnaire. I may have been stalking Berty’s contracts; as I said I had a pretty good idea he would be back onboard. At exactly the 28 day mark I heard from Hossain that Berty would be our genie. In fact Berty had just boarded that day and was set to takeover on Dec 3rd. I heard from Berty a couple days later and we scheduled a call to discuss everything later that week. I don’t know if Berty arranges phone calls with all his guests but this is one perk I love! It is the best. It stops the need for lengthy email threads. I outline requests and preferences in a word document; that way everything is contained in a single document. Berty likes this format too. I expect to see a draft schedule sometime next week.

Star class questionnaire was received a few days before the 60 day mark. I had some fun with it as I had a pretty good idea that Berty (genie from last year) would be back onboard for our sailing. So I answered the questions like this: Q: Are you a morning or night person A: Ask Berty Q: What are your morning routines A: Berty knows Q: Favorite foods A: Not to sound repetitive but ask Berty Q: How can we deliver an amazing onboard experience A: We want Berty Q: Are you celebrating anything A: Berty if you are reading this you know we have lots to celebrate I think you get the idea.

Thermal Suite In previous cruises we have always purchased the couples thermal suite pass but with our busy port schedule we decided to use our free star class day pass and then pay as we go. Oh and in new news we receive a spa discount for being emerald so we will save a bit on day passes. Honestly maybe this isn’t new because I don’t pay attention to C&A perks. Maybe star class gets a discount. No idea, but it is nice to know anyways.

Yes, Surprisingly I am too!!

Oh no!!! Just our family of 3. I can’t even imagine that

Onboard Purchases 100 Digital photos package - I snoozed on this one and ended up paying the new higher prices. Regular price is $399.99 and I picked it up for $219.99. Ugh, but we are celebrating a lot and I can’t put a price on memories. So it is what it is. I won’t think twice about the cost when I am looking at all our pictures. Private Photo Shoot - I have considered doing this for a while but I was influenced by @Lovetocruise2002 and her beautiful family pics. I got it for $199.99 and it includes 5 digital prints. So not bad at all. The question is will I leave with only my 5 included digitals? Ultimate Flowrider Experience - the changes to this star class perk have annoyed me so I booked this. It happens on Day 2 Christmas Day at 7:45am. The star class 1 hour session is happening on day 2 or day 3 at 8:30am..still to be confirmed by our genie. If there are more than 15 star class guests that show up they will add a second session on another day. Hopefully there are no shenanigans with bathing suits But if there is I will be there with my camera.

Royal Up I received the royal up email shortly after final payment. We want to stay in the ATS so I didn’t bid on anything. Regardless I couldn’t justify the extra cost when we are already star class.

Excursions Puerto Costa Maya - Chacchoben Ruins Exclusive Drive. I booked the exclusive drive as it sounds like it’s a smaller van. This was covered in social studies so Reyd is looking forward to this. Roatan - Turquoise Bay VIP Beach Break. After last years overcrowding issues at Maho Beach I have tried to plan excursions that will hopefully avoid a repeat of that horrible experience. Reviews are very good and they say the VIP guests have a section of the beach cordoned off to avoid overcrowding We shall see but . The drive over there sounds interesting…..royals cruise planner says this Cozumel - Paradise Beach all inclusive passes and daybeds are booked. We booked this direct with Paradise Beach. Reviews are very good but I am definitely concerned with overcrowding so we plan to arrive early and book our activities. You could not pre book these. Check out the ships and passenger counts. What could possibly go wrong? Our whole group is going and it should be a fun day. Reyd is excited because he can rent a seadoo now that he is 18. Dealing with the resort has been a breeze. Our itinerary changed and within a few hours they moved our reservations. They also recently honoured the promo code RCBLOG which saved us 10%

Car Rental - Enterprise Booking early definitely paid off this year as prices have gotten really crazy. We pickup at IAH and drop off at Enterprise in Galveston. Car rental options are limited in Galveston and are closed Sundays and holidays so we are doing an after hours drop on Sunday Dec 24th. We have booked a full size SUV, not due to the number of people (only 3 of us) but due to our luggage (more on that in a bit).

Who's Going Me (Jacquie), Hubby (Lindsay) and son (Reyd). Our friends from last year are back so in total there will be 8 of us. But they are staying in their own rooms. Only the 3 of us in the ATS. One set of friends are travelling with a respite worker for their 13 y/o daughter and will be accessing many of the Autism Friendly Ship programming and supports. If you have any questions on this program feel free to ask and I will try to get answers. They have been able to schedule an expedited boarding time in a quieter area of the terminal along with various special requests/accommodations ion their staterooms. Flight WestJet from YYC - IAH in Premium. Leaving this Sunday Dec 17th. Pre Cruise Stay We will be doing quite a bit of driving and have multiple pre cruise stops/hotels. Marriott in Terminal hotel at YYC airport Dec 16th Embassy Suite at The Woodlands Dec 17/18th (this was through points accumulated from staying at the Hilton FLL Beach Club last year) Live by Loews in Arlington Dec 19/20 The Tremont House in Galveston Dec 21/22/23 JW Marriott, Galleria in Houston Dec 31 Itinerary Western Caribbean with stops at Roatan, Puerto Costa Maya and Cozumel. If I am being honest the itinerary didn't thrill me but it may end up being the one we enjoy most. We have excursions in every port that we are really looking forward to! Day 1 Galveston, Texas Day 2 Cruising Day 3 Cruising Day 4 Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 Roatan, Honduras Day 6 Cozumel, Mexico Dau 7 Cruising Day 8 Galveston, Texas Cabin 2 bedroom ATS #9730. We loved this set up last year.

️A “Starry” Christmas - Harmony Dec 24-31, 2023️ @Jax is back with a “Starry” Christmas ️ For those that have followed my blogs you know we have a habit of spending Christmas on the Seas. This year we will be back on Harmony doing our first ever Western Caribbean cruise. We spent last Christmas on HM and although my preference would have been to try another ship, the fact it was sailing out of Galveston was too good to pass up. Direct flights from Calgary are plentiful and considerably shorter than going to Florida so this was an added perk. Our son graduates from high school this year so future vacations/cruising are up in the air until we sort out his apprenticeship schedule at trade school and work schedule. So there is a very real possibility we will be on a land vacation next Christmas because I have no cruises booked beyond summer 2024. We have a lot planned so let’s get started…..

I will try not to disappoint. lol Our Christmas cruise is coming Dec 24th.

Nothing to be embarrassed about there!! I wouldn’t bet against that.

Haha funny you mention that. I planned on doing something similar.

If you show yours I’ll show mine in a couple weeks. Lol.

I am on it! Haha

I initially forgot to provide them with both my reservation numbers and within 7 minutes they had applied the promo code to both the passes and daybed and emailed me confirmation. Impressive.

I contacted them via Facebook messenger and they are applying the discount as well. I have to agree that so far their communication and customer service has been excellent. Not sure if I mentioned this already but our itinerary changed after I had booked with Paradise Beach and with a simple email both our reservations (passes and daybed) were changed and confirmed back in less than 24 hours. Plus I was talking to our genie yesterday and he had very good things to say about his experience there. I am cautiously optimistic.

I sent them a message too for our reservation later this month.