UkuleleCruiser

I haven't been on it, so I can't comment directly. My wife and I have looked at it many times as a way to sneak in an extra inexpensive cruise. I have seen the triumph docked in Cozumel -- They seem to have all the little Booze Cruise ships huddled together like a pod of whales. Made for a great picture.  I'd say go for it.

No kidding. I was reading some complaints by people onboard. You'd think they were on the Triumph...

I wouldn't knock the Triumph. It's a cheap cruise out of New Orleans. If that's what you can afford, it's still a cruise.

I may be showing my ignorance here: We like to make payments over time, and I always thought it was pretty much cash up front if you are using a travel agent. So I assume that's an advantage for booking online, but I really have no idea. I have also heard that sometimes travel agents can get little extras for you like a bottle of wine in the room or something like that. Again, no idea. Maybe I need to drop in on my friendly neighborhood travel agent and ask them?

I have mixed feeelings about this one: Once you are on the ship, the fun starts. Granted, RCCL should have control over wear and tear on life jackets, so this really shouldn't have happened, but I am not sure this is the worst cruise experience ever. I haven't read about RCCL compensation to these passengers, but I think I probably would have had just as much fun stuck in Port Canaveral as i would if the ship had left on schedule. My two cents worth, and I don't even have two cents...

We were "fogged in" to Galveston, and had to spend the first night in Galveston at Port. (By the way, there's a big hallabalu about The Majesty being in port for the night due to a lifejacket issue -- Doesn't seem like a huge hardship to me. But then, i think it's a shorter cruise the mine.) We had a great time: Vacation started as soon as we were on the ship. However, the delay meant we couldn't make Belize City, the murder capitol of the Caribbean. They substituted Costa Maya. For us, we had no shore excursions in Belize City, so we didn't care. And I liked Costa Maya. Actually bought a hat there. The guy said he made it himself. I examined the hat more closely when I got back on the ship. Apparently, his name is China. So, if you want a good hat in Costa Maya, ask for China. He makes good hats!

So, here's a worst-case scenario: You come down with a virus and you are confined to your cabin. If you have an aft cabin, you have an entire cruise right there. Great balcony with more room then a standard balcony, and because it's an aft facing cabin, your view is.... Concentric? Does that sound right? It's like this: When I fly, every now and then, the pilot will come on and say "If you look out the left side of the aircraft, you can see The Grand Canyon!" -- I'm ALWAYS on the right side! With an aft cabin, you will never have that problem. I hope that kinda explains my view on the thing...

I think I'll save another 10 bucks.... Still, I'm gonna call about that tomorrow!

I invested in an otterbox for my Kindle Paperwhite, so it's considerable heavier then the unit alone. However, the otterbox also boasts a two setting easel, so I can read at the table without holding the thing up. I'd like to think it's virtually indestructible, but I'm hoping not to put it to the test. I really wouldn't mind terribly if Amazon upgrade the "experimental" web browser built into the device. I sort of imagined one day I could use the Kindle as sort of a scaled down tablet. But at the same time, part of the attraction is that it's primary purpose is reading.

Oooh! New Voyage and Oasis models.... They don't look that much different from my Paperwhite, but I'm interested...

Kindle Paperwhite is my choice. Wouldn't cruise without it. And here's a faily exhasutive sometimes repetitive list of books taking place on cruise ships:

CRUISE SHIP MYSTERIES (YA) Deadline by Eric Weiner (YA) Mystery Cruise by Gertrude Chandler Warner A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh A First Class Murder by Elliot Roosevelt Birds of Passage Bernice Rubens (not quite a mystery but interesting) Birds of Prey by J.A. Jance Board Stiff by Tony Alexander Buzz Cut - James Hall Charlie Chan Carries On by Earl Derr Biggers Cooks Overboard - Joanne Pence Damned in Paradise - Max Allen Collins Dana Chambers' THE BLONDE DIED FIRST Death in a Deck Chair - K.K. Beck (1984) Death in the Middle Watch by Leo Bruce Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie Death Takes a Passage - Sue Henry Decked by Carol Higgins Clark Don’t Blame the Snake by Tony Fennelly Inspector's Holiday by Richard Lockridge Jane Heller: PRINCESS CHARMING Killed in Paradise - William DeAndrea Lori Avocato: DEEP SEA DEAD Maddy Hunter: HULA DONE IT Murder in Absence by Vincent Starrett Murder on "B" Deck by Vincent Starrett Murder on Deck - (ed.) Rosemary Herbert Murder Sails at Midnight - Marian Babson Nancy Fairbanks: BON BON VOYAGE Nancy J. Cohen: KILLER KNOTS  Night Train to Memphis - Elizabeth Peters No Honeymoon for Death - Mary Kruger Nobody Cared for Kate by Gene Thompson Risk by Dick Francis Several Deaths Later by Ed Gorman Shelley Freydont: HIGH SEAS MURDER Singing in the Shrouds - Ngaio Marsh Susan Sussman: CRUISING FOR MURDER The Angels Will Not Care - John Straley The Case of Sonia Wayward by Michael Innes The Cruise of a Deathtime - Marian Babson The Fennister Affair by Josephine Bell The Goddess Affair by Lillian O'Donnell  The Informant - James Grippando The Midas Murders - Margot Arnold The Patient in Cabin C by Mignon Eberhart The Trouble with Going Home- Camilla Crespi The Widow's Cruise by Nicholas Blake To Davy Jones Below by Carola Dunn  Too Much of Water - Bruce Hamilton Voyage into Violence by Frances and Richard Lockridge You Belong to Me - Mary Higgins Clark

I think cruising is a lot like pizza: When you have a good pizza, it's really good. When you have a bad pizza.... It's STILL pretty good!

I treat it the same, regardless: I estimate how much I will drink on a given cruise, using generous restaurant drink pricing. If my total indicates the drink package will save me money, I'm in. If it doesn't, I buy the drinks as I go. Incidentally, since my wife and I enjoy the art auctions on sea days, we always can factor that in with the free "inexpensive" champagne they provide.Royal Caribbean can jack with the prices all they want: My spreadsheet never lies.

Just received a discount for my 2/4/2018 Liberty of the Seas cruise. The discount was only $22 off what we had booked on the ship, but that is a couple drinks, right? Anyway, you might want to check your upcoming cruises and see if you might save some sheckles.It was easy to do. Just had to sit on hold for awhile. Which led me to wonder about Royal Caribbean's on-hold commercials: I don't mind waiting on hold, but if they know I'll be there awhile, shouldn't they produce LONGER spots? I had this one memorized and was annoyed by it in just a few minutes! :-)

That makes me sad - I had really hoped that they had one...I will bring my own wine bottles

It makes me sad, too.

Following this thread closely...

I generally book out as far as I can so I can pay for the cruise over time. My next cruise is only $58 a paycheck. Very affordable. Plus, every time they deposit a check, I get a little email reminding me of the fun to come.

That's why we book out of Galveston: Because it's not too bad a drive from Dallas. Fortunately, Royal Caribbean sails out of there with two ships. Never been on the Vision: Actually, never did a short booze-cruise 4-5 day cruise. It's always been 7. That seems to be exactly enough time for the wife and I to look forward to going home. Otherwise, we probably just wouldn't leave the ship.

One of the great items we loved on our recent Liberty cruise was the photo process. Back when we were on Majesty, they just stuck all the photos on a board and you had to hunt down your picture. On Liberty, even when we did not state our cabin number, they appeared in our account.  Anyone know if they are using some face matching software?

 

The price for each picture is a little steep at $20 when the entire process is digital.. but it is what it is..

 

My question though.. In December we are going on Freedom and taking the young adult children as a last family vacation as they all head to, or leave, college etc. We want to get lots of pictures. Looking at the photo packages, it looks like the cost is $199 for unlimited pictures downloaded to a USB stick.  That feels a little 'cheap' when compared to $20 per picture so just wanted to hear of anyone's experience..

 

Also, when on Liberty we kept seeing families gather for what looked like a more organized and scheduled photo shoot. Is that also included in the unlimited package and is it something you schedule on board or just turn up?

 

Thanks!

Yes, the photographer said they were using a face matching software. In our case, it didn't always work. But the photos weren't hard to identify. The staff down there was very friendly.

Just heard from a friend on this ship, Liberty of the Seas, that it is delayed one day outside galveston because of fog.   Anyone experienced this kind of delay, either parting or entering?  If you are at the gate and the ship never comes in, does Royal Carribbean make arrangements for the waiting customers or are you on your own?  If you bought a 7 day drink package, do you get a refund for 1 day less?  My friend said his drink card just got deactivated for the extra day, so any new purchases are billed.  We will be boarding this ship next sunday and wondering if this delay affects next weeks sailings also /.

We were on the Liberty sailing 12/26/16, and it was delayed arriving due to fog. We didn't board until almost 4 pm. I didn't hear what happened with people who had the drink package, but every person did receive a $20 credit. This was to offset the cost of eating an extra meal in Galveston. 

 

The departure was further delayed because after we all boarded, the fog closed the port again. We didn't leave until noon the following day.

 

The bigger problem largely had nothing to do with Royal Caribbean: Port of Galveston is just not equipped to handle 3,600 people showing up at exactly the same time, which is what happened. It was a complete mob scene. In addition, the port should have had a way to deal with baggage throughout the day so people who were there prior to 3:30 or so won't glued to the pavement with their bags. We should have been able to drop them off and wander around Galveston. We couldn't use the $20 credit to buy lunch because we had no way to stow our baggage. 

 

Finally, Royal Caribbean's computer crashed, and they tried to do manual boarding to get things started. This was also a mess, because the port staff (Not Royal Caribbean staff) didn't really understand what to do, and tried to send people on to the ship without their sailpass cards...

 

That didn't really answer your question, but perhaps you will hear from someone who has a drink package...

I agree they need to have the drink package include the drinks there.  By not doing it, it's confusing for guests and crew and it provides a negative experience.  

Or just drink free champagne at the art auctions. 

If this is true, then it's unconscionable as people are already paying a premium for a holiday sailing.

 

I'm all about Royal making money; after all, they are a business. But as I write this, I just realized that Disney does the same thing. They charge more for rooms during the holidays and increase the prices of the buffets, so I either can't be critical or need to hold Disney accountable, too.

 

Regarding the $12-$13 drink price limit, I suspect nobody is being asked to pay more. If they were, we'd be hearing about outcry from those onboard. This likely only affects those not on any sort of package.

We just returned from the 12/26/16 sailing of Liberty of the Seas, and this was not evident. We could buy an $8 glass of champagne, no problem. I think a whiskey was about $7. Now, there is an 18% gratuity added.....

Ukulele: Did the Galvez have a 2 night minimum?  I have been trying to make reservations online, but it says no available rooms.  When I put in for 2 nights the rooms are amazingly available.

We booked it awhile ago, but no there was no 2 night minimum.

Many of the hotels offer to keep your car and include a shuttle to embarcation. We take advantage of that when we come down. We are sailing 12/26/16, and staying at the Galvez this time, but many less expensive hotels offer the shuttle as well.

The original poster said debarcation, are these the tags for getting off the boat or on?  I did buy the plastic ones with the cable for the luggage tags, I got the larger ones in case

I decide to go on another cruise line.  Never had an issue.  Some times I have a hard time getting it off the bag.  But I used to use staples before I got these.

It was debarcation. The baggage wound up in an unclaimed luggage pile, which wasn't particularly hard to find. But I'd rather avoid it if possible. Think I will pack some packing tape.

I don't limit this adventurous dining to the ship...I do this at every restaurant.  Wait people will always bring you the best they have to offer since they know their tip will reflect their choices.  They KNOW what is good coming out of the kitchen.  

Good advice. I always question a restaurant if a wait staff doesn't have a favorite on the menu.