PhilandSteff

Luggage tags. Clip-on retractable SeaPass holders. Hamper bag. A 9" fan. I can't tell you how many times this has made us relax so much better in the room. Yes, it takes a bit of space but is SO worth it. Multi-port USB charger. Charge your phones/etc. with one plug Just ordered the drink caddy as shown above. Wonder why I never thought of that. Seems I was always going for coffee at 5:00 AM and struggling back across the ship and up several floors.

We always sail from Galveston (being in Texas already) so this will be our first cruise on Harmony. We are going with D+ friends and will be our ninth cruise. Looking forward to it!

You also have the Coastal Kitchen (a 15 second walk away from your room), and I highly recommend it. We've stayed in a Loft Suite twice on Allure now, and it's awesome. The suite lounge is really nice, and depending upon the hour can be a quiet place to reflect or a busy social gathering. In the morning there is coffee of different sorts, and some snacks at certain times of the day. You can carry drinks from the SL to your room too, no issues. We've done (early) breakfast with room service, and dinner once, but that was it, and I don't think we used the MDR menu when we did. We're early risers (think 5-6 AM) so we get a light ensemble through room service around 6, then go on to real breakfast at the CK (the Baja eggs are awesome!). Rest of our dining times were split between the CK and other specialty restaurants. One of the Allure trips we never even went into the main dining room or Windjammer. Allure is a great ship!

We only sail out of Galveston for several of the reasons mentioned above. It's about a 4-hour drive for us each way to the terminal, but in Texas that's just "right down the road a bit." We always go down a day early, to eat out and relax before getting on the ship. There are the added expenses of the hotel and parking at the terminal to consider, but it makes the morning of boarding so much easier, and no worries about traffic conditions in Houston possibly messing with our boarding time. Thing is with Galveston, the prices of the hotels vary widely depending upon what's happening in town, so it could be a fair deal at 219/night for a decent one, to over 500/night in the same hotel depending on when you go. Sounds like a smoking deal though compared with what I'm seeing above with flights.

We did this a couple of years ago. It was an enjoyable time. The cove itself was very nice, the chairs and umbrellas good, food was "pretty good" as I remember it. There are basically no traffic laws in Roatan, so the van ride over there was a bit harrowing, although I applaud the drive for being able to place that van anywhere he needed to go. You'll see quite a mix of people and places on the way. Water was pretty clear, and very quiet. There are some in-water umbrellas and tables if you want to stay wet. This area of the resort for the VIP experience is reserved for this outing, so it was not crowded for us. Very constant service at your beach chair, but be prepared for tips, etc. so bring some cash. Multi-course meal and free drinks makes it as pleasant of an experience as you want. There are cabanas to rent out (a different excursion), but we kept it simple with just the beach and were satisfied. If you're looking for a quiet beach outing, this is a pretty good one, if a bit pricy. The ride back to the ship (about a 1/2 hour) again was a bit harrowing, but even the lady who admittedly over-imbibed slept all the way back, so wasn't too awful. We would do it again, but the wife didn't care for the ride over there and back, so we have stayed away since then. Hope this helps a bit.

Admittedly, we only have 7 cruises completed in total, but it's begun to feel that if we don't have a cruise or three booked, something is 'missing.' We have a couple of nice cruises slated for Feb 24 and Nov 24, with suites, but since we're trying to make Diamond, I booked a 4-day cruise to Cozumel for Jul 23 on a whim last week, the exact points (with a suite) to get us to Diamond with RCCL. With our other next cruise being 261 days out, and the next 519 out, it was just feeling 'wrong' and over-delayed, so I found us a relatively good deal to make Diamond and get us out there. We're leaving out of Galveston as usual to Cozumel (been there several times so it's a favorite) so it's hardly new ground for us. Is this considered "normal" among cruisers? The desire to be 'out there' and basically 'not here?' Even if it's the same places? Just wondering. Phil and Steff.

We've done the Taste of Royal on Allure (last Dec) and Radiance (in Feb). Did the wine pairing both times. I can't remember the actual names of the wines, but they were different. Also different was the amount poured, it depended on your waiter. Allure was kinda minimal, which is good when you've got 4-5 to go through, but Radiance just kept on pouring despite my saying, "Whoa!" A good time was had by all. We're going on Allure this coming weekend and doing the Taste again, as it's a good event to go to.

We're booked on this one, last minute (if you call booking in January for an April cruise last minute.) Second time on Allure, this time with friends. Looking forward. We always cruise out of Galveston, since we're only about 4 hours away by car. We always go in a day early, stay and eat somewhere nice, and board early the next day.

First time we went to Grand Cayman, we did the RCCL "Swim with the stingrays." Very unique experience and I'd say one you should try at least once in your life. The sandbar everyone congregates on is pretty shallow so most people can stand without issue. Second time there we stayed near the port and just ate/drank locally, no excursion. We never did a beach run there. GC is a small tender port so you have to ride a boat to the port itself. Everything to do is outside the port itself. Hope you enjoy your cruise to GC!

When we went to Playa Mia (Official RCCL cooking/beach excursion) we went into port (maybe a 300 yard walk?), found the person with the sign showing our excursion number, got wristbands, and waited at the main pavilion (with a lot of other folks) until someone called out for our group. There was a certain time this had to be done by. Their schedule, not ours. We walked maybe 50 yards from there, boarded a bus and went to Playa Mia. We were told that the particular bus we were on was the one we would go back to port on, and to be back on it by a particular time. The busses all remained parked the entire time, no shuttling back and forth. Neat place and we enjoyed ourselves. I imagine you could maybe catch a taxi back early. They do counts on the busses so I would think I'd inform the driver we were going back early if a taxi was available. That way the rest of the bus won't be waiting for your group before heading back. Never occurred to us to go back early, the day felt short enough the way it was. Hoped this helped a bit.

Sorry, I just saw this question. We bid just beyond the minimum for the room and won it. Didn't have to go anywhere near the top of the bid chart. We have two more cruises coming up this spring, and we are repeating our attempt on both of them. Time shall tell how much stumbling our first attempt was.

We were booked in a GTY Junior Suite for our December '22 cruise, and we RoyalUpped to a Crown Loft and won it. Was once of the best cruises we've had.

Well.... crap! I'm getting on Radiance in three weeks and was looking forward to playing the tables with friends.

Just to add a bit more detail to the thread, I am Not seeing my points/status on the web page now since I booked us on Allure again in April. It shows in the app just fine, and the spouse can see hers on the web page and app too. Seems to be just my online RCCL profile at the moment. I contacted RCCL to be sure our C and A numbers are applied to the April cruise, and they saw our points and verified they are on there, so I'm ok for now. We'll be on Radiance in February and that'll get us to Emerald status. With April being in a suite and one/two more sailings also in a suite we should make Diamond. At least that is the plan... Phil and Steff

Just to add another point of data to all this - We signed up late (October) for a GTY JS on Allure for 12/11/22. We got a RoyalUp offer for a GS, OS, and the Crown Loft (L1?) a few days after signup. I made just above the minimum bids (that were admittedly high since they we so late) on all three, with an extra $200 laid on the Crown Loft. We had no room assignment at all until last night, when the RoyalUp went through, and we were assigned a Crown Loft and had won the bid. So, we off to the races in an L1 suite (first time for one of those) for about 1/2 overall prices of what they had been asking this late before sailing. I'm going to call it a win!