Mike n Ky

Just checked in for our cruise with the earliest available boarding time

Invariably at some point before the cruise I will have a dream/nightmare about an event that threatens my being able to board. It always involves something I forgot or something that got lost and trying to solve that before the ship leaves. Oddly enough it never involves my wife, always me. In one I arrived back at the pier just in time to see the ship leaving with her waving to me as they sailed away. We always have to fly so the 'checks' and 'rechecks' happens several times on the way to the airport and with one exception we fly the day before.

We hit D+ this past January and our first cruise on Royal with that status won't be until our January 2025 cruise on Harmony. Our status was upgraded on Celebrity, which was nice but not comparable, and we are looking forward to returning to RC with our added benefits.

Prior to Covid my wife got the flu while on a 7 day cruise...they quarantined her to the cabin for three days and released her the day after her fever broke...she was awarded a FCC for those days.

I must have seen these cruises right after Covid and we didn't have the time then to take such a cruise, but I filed it away for the future. I do appreciate all the responses.

Gty balcony online wouldn't allow me to specify what part of the ship. However, we booked a gty balcony on Next in early 2023 for our Symphony cruise this past January and they set it as OV balc gty. Upon check in we did the 'magic trick' and saw our cabin and it never changed. We were also very pleased with the location.

You made me look again and I did see those. Didn't consider sailing out of Texas and New Jersey. However, those are early dates and extended. What I have seen in the past are cruises out of Florida on a 'repositioning' over to Europe that last 7 or 8 days. usually to somewhere in Spain or Rome, and that's it. Then you can book another cruise, b2b or on another ship, in the Mediterranean.

Smaller ships have posted some sailings but as of this morning none of the larger ships have. I was told by RC after the first of November they open, and that's correct given Liberty etc. are, but anyone know when the add the others? We are looking at a 2026 to connect to a Mediterranean and want to get into one asap to grab a good cabin.

Over the past couple of years, I have had no issues but as others have said, security over an open network is important. Have used Nordvpn for quite a while with no issues.

Canceled and rebooked a couple things...the refunds came a couple days later. Never been that fast before.

Southwest.

I was using a Chase travel CC in Europe this summer and noticed that I was being charged a foreign transaction fee. I immediately changed my card use to one that didn't charge that fee.

This reminds me of my time in retail sales...in another state far, far away, a long, long time ago, when men were men...anyway...we were paid hourly, but we also had a quota and there were no commissions on sales until we passed that number. It wasn't a fair system because other stores with much higher volume easily reached the mark. Looking at the recent changes in auto added tips it has increased by about 50% over the past few years. It's one thing if that is added to wages, another if it's a quota system and worse if it's just a way for RC get hires then increase profits by raising tips and using that to cut their costs. As Cez responded above I am reconsidering the amount of auto tipping and looking more at the cash. I can set my auto, or tell them a set figure, at any amount I want and then I can always add more to my cash tips.

We might be distant relatives. I have family that lives between Houston and Galveston and anytime I drive there I pass through Hope and take 59S.

I buy my internet, as well as excursions and dining, during the 'black Friday' sale in November...which is usually earlier than the official black Friday date. I almost always find cheaper prices at that time.

SW Arkansas? My mother's side of the family settled in Hempstead County over 200 years ago. We have done this itinerary a number of times but the only Oasis class ship we have sailed out of Galveston was the Allure.

We're on the Harmony that goes out 1/19. If you are traveling on the day before you are a lot less likely to hit bad traffic in Houston since it will be Saturday. And after you return early on a Sunday traffic north should be pretty light as well.

We have sailed Liberty several times and love the ship. One thing we always notice, you SEE people over and over around the ship giving you more of an opportunity to interact with them. Like you said, it's dated but we have always enjoyed every aspect of this ship. Alas, they took her out of Galveston but before they did, we sailed on her about a month before the move.

Our TA always gives us an OBC and it's there on embarkation. Don't recall ever seeing it before. However, she might have it timed JIC we didn't make the ship.

Yes, the closed shops in ports and limited options weren't great as well as the inconvenience of masks...we also missed the 'energy' that a full cruise has...but that feeling of being free to cruise again and that welcome...won't forget that. Our first back was Symphony early September...met some awesome lifelong friends on that one and have cruised with them a number of times since...we also did four additional over the next 12 months 2 on Allure, 1 each on Liberty, and Navigator.

It wasn't 5 years ago but I miss being on an Oasis class ship with 25% occupancy, the joy of returning to cruising after being denied during the pandemic and having the crew lined up on embarkation welcoming us back and as well at virtually every event as we entered. The applause and salutations, wow, talk about a brief experience of being royalty!

Not sure if this will apply but the drinks we 'qualified' for on Celebrity was due to our booking a concierge cabin. And, yes, it was only 5-7 which did NOT include the MDR.

Does anyone know if the Europe sailings include trans-Atlantic from Florida? We are looking to book one in 2026 and then continue with a Mediterrean cruise.

Add your set sail pass to apple wallet from the RC app on your phone.

We always stay in Webster when we visit the area and like Staybridge Suites. Usually have good rates, large rooms, an excellent breakfast and it's not far from I45 which is the direct route to Galveston. If you have never been to Torchy's Tacos...I would recommend it. A little pricey but the servings are large and everything is excellent.