Cactus527

My TA recommended that we stay at an airport near Hobby the night before, then take a taxi/ shuttle back to the airport and catch the RC shuttle to the Galveston port in the morning. I think he said for our summer cruise it would be around $60 round trip (RC shuttle per person). Maybe this would be helpful to you? There are many decent hotels right around Hobby.

Trying to answer your original questions: We did Navigator in October. We had a check-in time at 10:30 a.m. We arrived at the port at 10:10. We were then directed to wait in line with everybody else that was checking in at 10:30 under a tented area outside after dropping off our bags with the porter. At 10:30, the line started moving and we were able to do the check-in process within about 15 minutes. The thing that took the longest to get on board was the actual checking of documents when you get on the ship. I would say that we were free to go about whatever we wanted to do on the ship by 10:50 a.m. When we disembarked, we waited as long as possible since we had a later flight in the day. I think we started the disembarkation process at about 8:45 a.m. The lines to get off the ship were ridiculous. We snagged a porter to make our wait through customs much shorter, and we were out on the curb by 9:35 a.m. We had to wait almost 40 minutes for Lyft, but it wasn't terrible outside. If it was raining or cold, that would have been another story. It appeared that all passengers were off the ship by 10:00 a.m. I hope this helps you with your planning!

This made me laugh hysterically - I have one child obsessed with morbid things. This could be perfect!

@steverk tagged because I know he'll have ideas. After our cruise this summer, we'll arrive back in Galveston on Sunday morning. Our flight out of Houston doesn't leave until 11:00 p.m. that night. Any thoughts on what to do after disembarking prior to going to the airport? I thought about getting a day use pass at a hotel, or doing the Royal Caribbean shore excursion to the Houston Space Center, but I was hoping for some other ideas that maybe I haven't considered. It will be myself and two teenagers. Thanks in advance!

I tend to use Lyft XL for myself or when my family comes along. Easy and available. RC also does shuttles to/from LAX - you might call them or your TA to find out the cost.

I'm waiting for California to fall off into the ocean due to an earthquake so that way Arizona becomes beachfront property. Then, I want a port in Arizona.

When there were issues this past August in Ensenada, RC did skip the port that weekend (but that wasn't the original plan). I'm sure they're considering this as they weigh what to do regarding Mazatlan. Luckily, the ship would still hit other out-of-USA ports to meet the non-US-port requirement. With Ensenada, that wasn't possible.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/crown-anchor-society/balcony-and-suites-chart?country=SGP It's interesting that this link (sent to me by my TA) has different rates than the ones screencapped by others on this thread. EDIT: it's because it's for Singapore! Am having severe issues finding the American one...

I had no idea you could call room service to do this! Very glad you posted this comment - I'm going to do that from now on!!!

For our LA port cruises, we'll fly into LAX or LGB and just use Lyft. I think it was $60-70 one way from LAX and about $20-30 one way from LGB (definitely depends on time of day and day of the week). LAX is about 40-45 minutes from the cruise port while LGB is 15-20 minutes. Orange County is WAY far away from the port - not recommended.

We did early seating (5:30) on Navigator in October. Most of the time, we were exiting dinner at around 7:00, and the My Time Dining lines were crazy long (back to the elevators!). If it's because of the 6:45 start time for it, that makes sense. I've read of others on here putting in a request for early seating/late seating - maybe that's a possibility for you? And if it's just the two of you traveling together, there's a good chance you'd get a table for 2 anyway, NOT put with a larger group.

I just looked at the most recent Cruise Compass for Allure 7 night. I highlighted the bingo offerings and times on Day 7.

Magnetic hooks. I will bring 35367557 because they are so useful.

We did one in Skagway and another in Anchorage (different cruise line). The one in Skagway was super fun because the dogs pull you sleg-dog style in a golf cart! We laughed the entire way through that one. The one in Anchorage was basically a show about sled dogs, what they do, how they're trained, and a meet & greet with the dogs and some puppies. Both places noted that they love having cruise guests handle the puppies because it gets the dogs used to people and being handled. I liked that neither excursion was super long, there weren't a ton of people around, and it was super interesting to learn about the whole operation. The first two photos are from Skagway, the puppies are from Anchorage. Hope this helps!

Did you use Uber/Lyft or another service?

I don't know if this helps, but my app kept flipping between December 12th and December 13th for check-in dates prior to me actually checking in. The actual date was, in fact, December 13th. Could you possibly be trying to check in a day earlier than it actually opens? RC's online stuff is for the birds...

I also recommend any shore excursion that involves sled dogs (if you like dogs). My husband and I ended up doing two of these excursions in different ports because we loved snuggling with the puppies so much!

If you're more interested in seeing glaciers (less ports, more sea days), do the former. If you're more interested in visiting ports and exploring the land, do the latter.

My MEI TA mentioned that RC was now allowing some OBC to happen through the cruise planner versus just allowing it once you were on board. That gave me $50 extra pre-cruise last month to use/plan for next month.

To piggyback - on my last cruise, there was nothing letting me know about any C&A events. Where can I find that information on board?

If you're looking for a fun beach that's a touch closer, I've always loved both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. They are still in the near vicinity of LAX but south of Venice Beach.

Venice Beach is actually just a bit north and west of LAX, so it's even further from San Pedro than the airport.

I am (sadly) still waiting for California sailings to post, and I don't think they're coming out until spring.

Thank you so much, @FireFishII! I figured I was searching the wrong term, I appreciate the links.

I remember seeing a link on here somewhere for a page of last-minute deals offered by Royal Caribbean. I think it was updated every week. Can't find the thread, and can't find the page - can anyone help?