Galveston Steve

It looks like the Port of Galveston is going to be some six months late in completing the expansion of Cruise Terminal 2. The port has a contractual date of September 30, 2015 to complete the expansion for Royal Caribbean, but won't complete the project until March, 2016. The expansion is needed to accommodate the arrival of the larger Liberty of the Seas, which arrives here November 13. According to the Galveston Daily News, Royal Caribbean is "disappointed" and has demanded that temporary measures be taken to relieve terminal congestion. The port is investigating the purchase or rental of a 10,000 square foot air conditioned tent. The delay was apparently caused by unexpected soil conditions which forced the design/construct contractor to go back to the drawing board with their foundation design. The 90,000 square foot existing terminal would be expanded by an additional 60,000 square feet. The expansion includes seating for 2,000 more passengers, expanded passenger screening, baggage handling, and customs enforcement. The expansion of customs enforcement capacity is a much needed improvement in my eyes.

This is disturbing news. The ability to board a ship and have the all-inclusive experience for the duration of your cruise is one of the hallmarks of cruising for me. I'm ok with the specialty restaurant concept, but if they go all the way as WAAYTOOO speculates... that would be devastating to the whole concept of cruising.

I believe the days counted include embarkation day and each day thereafter, but not including disembarkation day. For a 7-day cruise leaving on Sunday, you would pay for Sunday through Saturday. Since embarkation day is a partial day, I believe they would honor it on disembarkation day since that is a partial day also... if you can find a bar that is open. By the way, I just noticed that the cruise planner for our September cruise is offering some free stuff if you purchase the Ultimate Package: free Royal Refreshment package with free souvenir Coca Cola cup to share with a friend, plus a free bottle of Champaigne. Good for sailings between June 15 and August 31. That could make it attractive enough for some people to try the Ultimate Package.

Make sure data roaming is turned off in your phone settings. That will prevent you from accidentally running up a huge data bill. You will still be able to send and receive texts and use your phone. If you don't want to pay for phone calls just don't answer the phone. Remember there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.

AT&T does charge $0.50/text sent while onboard. They bill incoming texts at your home rate plan, so if you have unlimited texting, you will not pay extra for incoming texts from travelers who are onboard the ship or from people back home. We have found texting to be a reasonable way to communicate if you are smart about it (maximize the amount of information you put in each outgoing text and don't reply unless you really need to). I agree the cell phone voice charges are much less than using the ship's phone, and cellular at sea is SLOWLY dropping in price every year or so. AT&T is $2.50/minute for voice when using the ship's cellular service (unless you have a package which DocLC points out). AT&T data is still insanely expensive while onboard at $19.97/MB, so the Royal Caribbean internet packages are more affordable, although still pretty costly.

cruise-y I misspoke on the Dasani, I meant to say Evian. I have corrected my original post. Yes it's a ridiculous price but a little cheaper than buying as you go.

I can't tell you about Rome, but want to welcome you to the message boards!

Welcome! You will love Navigator! We sailed her out of Galveston, Texas last year and had a great time. She was refurbished last year and there were a lot of upgrades installed like the FlowRider surf simulator and more specialty restaurants. Have a wonderful holiday!

Click on "Cruise Compass" at the top of the page and look for previous cruise compasses for your ship. It won't show the special activities for your Halloween cruise, but it will give you an idea of the types of activities that occur on board.

We are big water drinkers too. There are several options, listed in order from least expensive to most expensive: Bring a water bottle and refill it in the Windjammer. I have a Camelbak Groove water bottle that has a built-in carbon filter, and I fill it in various places around the ship. You can pre-order bottled water packages online in the Cruise Planner. These are various size cases of Evian water in 1-liter bottles. You can buy the Royal Replenish drink package, which includes ALL non-alcoholic drink offerings, including bottled water. That gives you unlimited bottled water, available at any bar on the ship. We have done all of the above on various cruises. On our cruise in September I plan to order a small case of bottled water for my wife and I plan to use the Camelbak Groove water bottle for me. I don't find the drink packages to be worth the money because I can't drink that much, but the $6.50/day Royal Refreshment (unlimited fountain drinks only) is worth the small cost if you drink a lot of soft drinks.

A similar option is what we did on a couple cruises with our older children, including an Alaska cruise: We booked a balcony room for my wife and I and also a small inside stateroom across the hall for our kids. It worked out great because they could enjoy our balcony and the Alaska scenery any time they wanted to, but they had a place of their own to sleep and get ready. Great tip on the fitness center shower by the way!

Great topic DocLC! I learned of the luggage tags from these message boards last year and loved using them. Thanks for pointing out the updated version. Here are a couple of mine: 1. Camelbak Groove Water Bottle (With Activated Carbon Filter) http://smile.amazon.com/Camelbak-Groove-Liter-Ounce-Graphite/dp/B00437XJDQ/ref=sr_1_19?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1437704795&sr=1-19&keywords=camelbak+water+bottle I like using this around the ship rather than buying bottled water. It's BPA-free and has a carbon filter built in. One caution, this is fine for use on the ship, but don't use on shore in countries where you "don't drink the water". I don't think it would destroy the bacteria that makes us gringos sick. 2. Amazon Kindle (or equivalent) http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kindle&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Akindle Cruises are a great time to relax and read a book. If you load up your Kindle before the cruise you can pack a lot of books into this small device. For reading by the pool these have screens that you can read in direct sunlight, unlike your iPad. I find there is nothing more relaxing than sitting on the Promenade Deck (the outdoor deck that runs the length of the ship, usually deck 4 or 5) while reading a book and watching the sea roll by. Wow, can't wait.

NickyNewark, great suggestions! Yes, holidays and special events drive up hotel prices on the Island. There are some nice museums, restaurants, shops, bars, juice bars, historic homes, within an easy walk of the cruise port which does make Galveston a great place to arrive a day or two early if you can. For cheap hotels, that's a good suggeston for staying in Texas City. And hey, why not get on the ship as early as possible and start enjoying your cruise!!!

I agree Matt. The "official" port parking used to have plenty of open spaces, but with four ships here now they are almost full. Some hotels on the Island offer packages that include cruise parking and a shuttle to the port.

If you will email Royal Caribbean's dining department at [email protected] they can probably help you. They were able to override a wait list for me on a previous sailing when I tried to be in the same seating as another group we were traveling with. Hopefully they can help you!

In driving by the Galveston Cruise Terminals this week, I can report that construction on the Terminal 2 Expansion has resumed! I drove past at 6:30 am a couple days and the construction crews were already on site and working. At 5:30 pm today they were still busy working. That would indicate overtime has been authorized to push for completion before Liberty of the Seas arrives on November 13th. The activity so far appears to be earthwork/excavation and preparing for foundation construction. There are two large backhoes and several other pieces of rental equipment on site along with the construction crews. Once there is something to see, like steel and concrete, I will try to get close enough to take a few pictures, although Homeland Security tends to frown on that kind of activity.

cruise-y, that's a great question. No, Royal Caribbean no longer provides envelopes for gratuities like they used to do when you tipped in cash on the last night of the cruise. It's just understood by the crew that everyone pays an automatic gratuity. The Guest Relations desk will provide envelopes and comment cards if you decide to give special recognition to someone. You can write a note on the comment card (I believe they call it a WoW card) and you can either give it to the crew member or to the Guest Relations desk. Those count toward the performance review of the crew member. Of course you can always hand a crew member an extra cash tip if you feel inclined to do so.

I'm also growing weary of this theme weaving through a number of recent posts.

Thanks for the statistics! I'm a little surprised by the 44.6% of 25+ with earnings over $44,000 having taken a cruise. I would have guessed much lower. Most people I talk to who haven't cruised have some pre-conceived notion that keep them from even considering cruising (too boring, norovirus on every ship, they'll get sick, etc.)… and I find it impossible to change their opinion with facts. i guess it either appeals to you or it doesn't.

That's what is so great about this Message Board... the simple tips and tricks that you learn from all the other cruisers. And Matt's insight of course!

There are plenty of good points here. My only issue with the automatic gratuities is that it may tend to reduce the incentive for the crew to provide the above and beyond service that RCI is famous for. I felt some of the crew were not top notch on Navigator last year, but I don't have proof that automatic gratuities were directly correlated to my experience that week. In all fairness, most of the crew provided excellent service. Overall I favor the automatic gratuities for several reasons: - Convenience for me. No bag of cash to carry on board. It's also more convenient for RCI and the crew. - If I want to give an additional tip, I still can do that. And that might have a bigger impact on a crew member now with automatic gratuities because it's less common and makes me stand out. - We are going to pay the crew's salary one way or another. Whether it's cruise fare or gratuity, you and I are paying them. I'm sure RCI knows what level of compensation it takes to attract competent crew members, and crew members take all that into account when thinking about their compensation and which cruise line to work for. Automatic gratuities mean more predictable income for them.

I recall reading that Liberty will undergo a dry dock refurbishment in January 2016. I'll be on her less than two months prior to that!

NickyNewark, that would be a great podcast and might help to quell some of the negativity that some of us, including me, have expressed. I'd just like to know that someone is listening. RCI does do an extensive online survey after every cruise, so that is a great way to express our opinion of the cruise experience while it's fresh on our mind. I do hope everyone takes advantage of that opportunity.

Actually, I'll take a properly calibrated fountain Coke over a can any time. Just a matter of preference, but I love the extra carbonation that you get with a good fountain drink poured into a bunch of crushed ice. It doesn't matter to me what RCI's cost is, what matters is the value that I perceive.

You won't see the Crown & Anchor discount until you select your cabin and then click on "View Summary of Charges" just below the price shown on the right side of the page. This brings up a pop-up window with the pricing detail. In this case, my Platinum Crown & Anchor discount is $100 and there is also a BOGOHO discount. Your results may vary :huh: . >> You have to click on the icon to open the screenshot << Here is my official Royal Caribbean invoice for the same cruise, which was booked a while back. It shows the "CAS Balc Suite" discount and the 30 for 30 discount that was happening at that time. The discounts absolutely do exist. I think this is just a case of RCI not being very savvy with their website. I agree with others that it would be nice for them to flag the cruises that offer the CAS discount and make a bigger deal out of it. This company is so innovative in many areas, but they sure don't show the WoW on their booking website.