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Galveston Steve

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Everything posted by Galveston Steve

  1. Definitely! When you factor in Star Class includes the Deluxe Drink Package, VOOM, Unlimited Dining, Gratuities (except Genie gratuity is not included), the stocked minibar, and free laundry/pressing services, it's a much better deal than it first appears to be.
  2. I didn't want to mix this in with the Allure news earlier in the week, but will be of interest to our Galveston fans: The Port will likely (not set in stone yet) re-number terminals 1, 2, and 3 with new numbers corresponding to the pier numbers that they serve. The pier numbers also align with the adjacent street names. The new Royal Caribbean terminal will be located at Pier 10, which lines up with 10th Street, and would become Terminal 10. Similarly, the Carnival terminal would be Terminal 25, and the current Royal Caribbean terminal would be Terminal 27. I think this really makes sense and now is a good time to make the change since there are no cruise ships currently sailing. They will need to coordinate this with the cruise lines so the numbering change can be made on cruise company websites and directions to the terminals can be communicated to passengers. Remember you heard it here first!
  3. Did @Galveston Steve book Allure out of Galveston? Back 2 Back baby! And when they announce what Allure is doing between the transatlantic arrival on 13 Nov 2022 and the first 7-night that is currently available on 27 Nov 2022, we might jump in again! I'm betting it will be a "long Caribbean" sailing, announced next week.
  4. Yes, Liberty is repositioning to Fort Lauderdale on 30 Oct 2022 for 3-4 night cruises.
  5. The 7-night itineraries landed late last night, and Allure arrives from Barcelona 13 Nov 2022. The first 7-night is 27 Nov 2022. Now the question is: what is she doing for the 2 weeks in between? Maybe we find out next week when they release “long Caribbean”?
  6. Made multiple bookings on Allure tonight with our travel agent. On the phone for over an hour. I’ll sort through my inbox of confirmations in the morning but right now I need a cigarette!
  7. If you have to interrupt your cruise for some reason, or if you get stuck in traffic and can't get back to the port before the ship sails, you will need a passport to fly. Birth certificates don't work for international air travel. What if you have an accident, get a serious illness, and have to go to a hospital in a foreign country while the ship sails off without you? Having a passport will make your life a lot easier. My 4 year old grandson has one. My 4 week old granddaughter will have one before her first cruise later this year. I don't leave home without my American Express card or my passport.
  8. ? BREAKING NEWS ? The following information was disclosed during today’s Wharves Board of Trustees meeting for the Port of Galveston: Royal Caribbean will announce tomorrow that Allure of the Seas will sail from Galveston beginning November 2022. Royal Caribbean plans to partner with Ceres Terminals Management to manage the new terminal and provide stevedore services at the pier. Ceres would have 50% ownership in the terminal and Royal Caribbean would have the other 50%. Ceres is already approved to provide stevedore services at Galveston and provides similar services for Royal Caribbean at Port Canaveral, Port Everglades (Silversea), Tampa, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Site preparation work by the Port of Galveston has continued during the pandemic. This ongoing work includes roads, utilities, parking, and wharf repairs, which are on track to support the new terminal timeline. Royal Caribbean is ordering two new gangways for the new terminal with a 2-year delivery time. They did not discuss whether the gangways would be available for the November 2022 terminal opening but some alternate method of embarkation would possibly be needed during the first few months of operation. There is a lot of focus on the April 9th expiration of the due diligence period for the new cruise terminal. All indications are that Royal Caribbean will begin construction in April but they have not officially signed off to proceed and have the ability to back out of the contract at any time up to April 9th. UPDATE: Royal Caribbean's March 4th press release on the Allure deployment to Galveston confirmed that they DO plan to begin construction of the new cruise terminal in April 2022! When cruises were suspended in 2020, Royal owed the Port $1.5 million in passenger service fees. Royal has paid off most of that balance and should be fully paid by mid-April.
  9. I noticed this on our Explorer B2B for May... passport is the only option. I just checked it again and passport is still the only option.
  10. Of course you said that in a thread with 101 posts haha.
  11. We're doing both holiday sailings and wanted to fly first/business class. Booking direct with AA was way less than Air2Sea in our case. We didn't want to take the chance of losing preferred flights and paying more later, so we booked 'em with AA, arriving a couple days early. With the change fees eliminated that makes it somewhat reassuring, except that if I cancel I still have to fly AA to somewhere!
  12. Short Caribbean deployments are starting to load on the website! Liberty heads to Fort Lauderdale on October 30, 2022 for 4-5 night cruises Grandeur arrives in Galveston for 4-5 night cruises starting May 4, 2022 through November 2, 2022 This most certainly means a different ship is coming to Galveston in late 2022 for 7 night sailings!
  13. I think you have a great point. This was a missed opportunity to have a cohesive theme of names for the worlds largest ships.
  14. As @emmef says, everyone has their likes and dislikes, just like the debates about onboard specialty restaurants. I haven't been to Top Water in a long time but that was always a good place for the seafood as well as the views of Galveston Bay! Flip Flops is right on the beach in a remodeled tiki-hut structure that was closed for many years. The remodel seemed to take forever (like a couple years), as do many Galveston restaurant startups. I think the delays are related to Galveston politics but that's just my speculation. I'll have to give it a try!
  15. @emmef thank you for reading my original post so carefully! Many people agree with you about Gaidos, including my brother-in-law. However after several visits we just didn't have a great experience. I look at 3 main criteria: are the ingredients fresh/local, how is food preparation/taste, and how is the service. Gaido's failed me on service and food preparation/taste each time, so that's why I left them off the list. They have been in business a long time and a lot of people like them, but I just think there are better options.
  16. Travel agents can sometimes book at a lower rate than is offered on the cruise line website because they have access to group rates. If any agent within their entire agency has booked a group for that particular cruise then your agent can usually put you in that group. Group rates are typically a bit lower and they are also typically refundable fares. I've found this to be a big advantage in addition to everything else mentioned above.
  17. That's exactly his point. Since Hawaii is domestic there is no testing requirement for that 10 hour flight. However a short 40 minute flight internationally does require testing. It seems that the science of 10 hrs vs. 40 minutes doesn't make sense.
  18. That's great info, thanks @twangster. Are you Pinnacle now?
  19. We've booked the Christmas sailing with our family! Looks like the six of us will be spending Christmas in St. Lucia. I think it would be difficult to home port a ship in the islands because of the logistics with provisioning the ship. Much of the liquor, food, fuel, and everything else would need to be imported to the island. As much as I like the idea, that would limit the options for home-porting more ships in the islands in my opinion.
  20. I think this also makes sense because you don't have to pack up and check into another hotel for just one night. Much easier to just stay in Orlando and drive to the port on embarkation day. I have dropped off a car at Alamo at the port. They have a shuttle, but it was very close to the terminal and the weather was nice so I just dropped the family off at the port with the luggage and walked from Alamo back to the port.
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