luv2sail

This is what I would do, too. Allow plenty of time to get to the airport on Monday. My kids loved Space Center Houston when they were young.
I haven't cruised near as much as some on the board. I have never arrived late on disembarkation day. But I don't like to chance it - way too stressful. Even in FLL where you could see the ship from the airport because it was so close, I did not want to chance it. The flights were early or 6 pm. We took an excursion to see the aligators and got to the airport so early that we could not even check in.  But I would do it all over again not to have the stress of missing our flight.

That is probably best.  I'm not sure about all the ships, but I was on Wonder last month.  On the big screen TV at the main pool a "friendly reminder" aired about every 10 minutes to not be a chair hog.  It said any unattended items left on chairs would be removed by staff and could be picked up at the towel station.  It was being enforced.  Crew were putting those cards down (like the one shown above from 
Celebrity) and were removing people's belongings.

Here is how I like to add some spice to a lazy sea day:
 
Go down to the pool and take a random chair hog’s towel clips, crappy book, and grimy flip flops and switch it with another random chair hog on the opposite side of the pool. Leaving the towels cause they are all the same. I’ve found you just need to shuffle an arbitrary 5-6 of them and it takes less than two minutes to do. Oh! You see an odd number of reserved chairs like three? Make sure you do it to the one in the middle!
Then I like to grab a big cappuccino and go up to the Viking Crown. The Viking Crown offers the perfect vantage point for watching the unsuspecting chair hogs as I giggle like a school girl. 😀

Thank you everyone for your reply! Everybody is right - the anticipation and planning is so exciting!! I am going to surprise her early (which is now LOL) so we can plan it and be excited together! Let the cruise planning begin!!!!

If 30 people are walking down the pier, all late, my money is on an RCI excursion. 
If a couple is running down the pier, my money is on someone who is not on an RCI excursion.   Especially when alcohol is clearly a factor.  I've yet to see an RCI excursion with only 2 guests.

I think it's rude to hold up a ship full of thousands of people who were on time because of whatever reason they couldn't make it back in time.
I think it's rude to cause a cruise line to burn more fuel at significant cost to make up for lost time to reach the next port because of whatever reason they couldn't make it back in time.
I think it's rude to the dock workers at the port who want to go home after a long day of work but can't because of whatever reason they couldn't make it back in time.

This is why you always have the number of the pier agent when you disembark. If you are running late (and not on an RC excursion), call the pier agent 
I just asked this question to a friend of mine who was a hotel director with Royal for over 20 years. HD is in charge of every passenger who disembarks. He told me that if you call and let them know you’re running late they will wait IF THEY CAN! Not saying they will but they really don’t want to leave people behind. 
He also said the majority of pier runners involved alcohol. 
 
So snap a pic of the pier agent’s number (bottom corner of cruise compass) and don’t be late!!! 

I hope that everyone here gets to sail with Captain Marek Slaby. He has been tenured on Radiance for a number of years; there is a running rumor he may tapped for Icon— and for good reason. He is the most personable and likable captain I have sailed with. His announcements are honest, frank, and each day he rattles off every birthday aboard, including crew. Passengers stop and listen to his words when he is on the PA.   Honest.
 
Let me describe how Captian Merek deals with those who are late to come back aboard. “This is Captian Merek coming to you from the bridge. It’s now 5:40 and all aboard was at 5:30. We are still waiting for Tom and Mary in cabin 9632, Rueben from cabin 3126, and Estelle from cabin 1174…..” There a grins from ear to ear on everyone onboard when they hear the captain very publicly call out those who are late.
 
Those grins turn out to widespread laughter the next port stop when you here the following “the local authorities have cleared the ship and the gangway on deck 2 is now open. I would like to remind Estelle in cabin 1174, Tom and Mary from cabin 9632, and Reuben from cabin 3126 that all aboard is at 6:30 pm tonight….”
 
Allow me to say one more nice thing about Captian Marek. Capt Marek loves to sing. He has single handedly created a show that happens once a week in the Centrum; Rock’in With the Captain. It’s the band and six or seven crew members (all amateurs) who also like to sing and are shockingly quite good! They are wearing their work uniforms of cabin attendant, server, laundry person, etc. They sing whatever songs they want across any genre. The Captain…..his jam is 80’s Judas Priest!

Same with major construction delays on I45. But they do happen,  so it is wise to build in extra time just in case

My son used it last June. My daughter and I were TSA Pre-Check and my son does not have it.  We did beat him through security, but he was not far behind.  We signed him up prior to our arrival at the airport while on the ship, but I don't remember how early.

Hey y'all.
We LOVED Galveston. We spent 2 nights there before our cruise. We would vacation there.
We loved the historic homes decorated for mardi gras and the architecture downtown, the food and nightlife.
Stayed at Holiday Inn on the Beach. Used there shuttle and did their parking.
Embarkation was very smooth EXCEPT we allowed one of the porters to take our bags-- one of our bags got lost and was damaged. Our cabin steward found it in security. (It was the smallest least important bag but still)
The hotel shuttle was ok. Crowded and slow. It's a large bus that makes several stops. The holiday inn long term parking is actually at another hotel next door. You can walk back to the lobby or the shuttle will pick you up at the lot.
Disembark--We were worried about missing the first shuttle so we did self assist. It was fine. We were there before the bus and it was about 45 minutes before we left. But the whole shuttle process is kind of slow.
Anyhow we left BIG galveston fans.
 

Just purchased one of the water cooler bags for our cruise on the Navigator this Friday! I'll report back.
I'm super jealous that Corona's were not an option for us...only Bud Light, Coke, Diet Coke, Water, or Truly hard seltzers.
I'm glad this site exists....had I not known, I wouldn't have scrolled all the way down on the 'gifts and gear' page and seen it (at the very bottom) and it said there were only '3 spots left' so they sell out fast I guess?! Thanks all!

Sailing in two weeks..if no one does before then,I'll definitely report back 

No, this would absolutely not be cheating. 🙂

No, this would absolutely not be cheating. 🙂

No, this would absolutely not be cheating. 🙂

I've criticized RCG for some of their health protocols over the past year or two, but I'm here now to praise them. Since the restart following Covid, Nancy and I have taken 21 RCG cruises over 16 months. In not a single instance did we return with the usual "cruise crud", Covid, or other sickness. Not once.
We just returned from the 2nd US sailing on MSC Seascape, MSC's newest ship.  There are plenty of comparisons to be made. But as far as health goes we knew we were going to come home sick... and we did. Virtually no automatic doors, so every door/bathroom we entered we had to touch a door handle, push it down, and pull or push the door open. The bright chrome finish in all the public areas was beautiful but graphically showed all the handprints on door handles and handrails. Very few hand sanitizing stations or hand wash stations. Very few complimentary options for breakfast and lunch, so they essentially pushed everyone to the buffet which was a crowded mess with everyone serving their own food. Even the security person who scanned sea passes as you get on/off the ship would not scan it unless you handed it to them so they could spread germs from all the other passengers to your sea pass.  So yes, I'm sitting here with "cruise crud" and fever for the first time in years.
I'm not here to compare MSC to RCG which I could spend a lot of time doing. I am here to say that RCG has its act together on their protocols.  If you complain about RCG that's fine (I certainly have), but you might want to check out the competition occasionally to see how others operate their ships and treat their passengers.

You can use this link to sanity check for the schedule release. If it returns more than 3 results (currently 3 ICON itineraries), then you know the schedule is released
 
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises?search=destination:CARIB|startDate:2024-06-01~2024-07-31
 

Perfect!  That's what I was thinking but wasnt sure!  Didn't want to look too much like a newbie!  Jane

I was considering these options myself in recent weeks (but in reverse as I am in Texas and was thinking of heading in your direction).  Previously, my kids and I sailed on Liberty and Harmony.  The kids were in their late teens during those cruises.  While we enjoyed the slides, we only used them a few times.  I am really just a big kid. Last summer, Mom and I sailed Allure out of FLL. It was an 8 day cruise with 4 sea days. Even though the kids were not with us on this cruise, I thought that I would miss the slides. But I didn't miss them at all. In fact, we just rebooked Allure from our "home" port. 
Oasis class ships are so fun. We only have a short drive to Galveston. A quick drive home instead of dealing with air travel after a cruise is great. I don't know how long of a drive you would have. We have also made the long drive from Port Canaveral back to Houston after a cruise (16/18ish hours). Never again (famous last words. . . . . 🙂).
There are so many positives about any cruise choice. I bet you will have a great time regardless of what you decide. If you guys come our way, welcome!!

And if I'm bad here, you should see me with my disney trips lol!   I'm on youtube every day for harmony cruise videos too.  Hi I'm Jane and I am obsessed with my upcoming trip lol!  Jane

I wish you the best outcome possible and Godspeed in the months ahead. I hope this trip is your best yet, with many more wonderful trips in the future.

Yes, please!!!!
This made me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. So funny. . .

Yes, please!!!!
This made me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. So funny. . .