Goodtime Cruizin

On 7/22/2019 at 5:36 PM, mjkacmom said:

There is a huge difference between the supervision of a 6 year old vs. a 16 year old. 

Yep.

6 yr olds often need help/assistance

16 yr olds often need controlling

On 3/17/2019 at 10:08 AM, Saab4444 said:

Around December 19

OK, so I should expect 2021 release date for the Greek Isles to be around Dec, mid Decspecifically. Correct?

SIAP... can anyone assist? We’re looking to book a cruise the Greek Isle and trying to find out the release dates of the 2021 schedule. Typically speaking, when can one expect Royal to release these cruise dates? 

TIA ! 

Your best/favorite bar & why? 

Particular drinks? Brand of beer &/or liquor?

Particular bartender(s)?

Best place for a Bloody Mary?

This is a pretty smart way for RCL to qualify their pricing and potentially establish price on future sailings. 

3 hours ago, bilyclub said:

I wasn't hating on Galveston. Just want to rent a car at a reasonable price and drop it/pick it up,  on the Island, not Texas City. I was on the first cruise by Voyager out of Galveston and had a great time in spite of boarding issues in the terminal.  

 

It wasn't loving on Galveston either. To post for all cruise critic members to read to expect that it costs $250 to rent a car when cruising out of Galveston... when you personally never have done this and you actually spent much, much less was deceitful and wrong of you to do this. You knew better and did it anyway. It is what it is. The post was so misleading that it should be removed/deleted. 

45 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Seriously doubt it will jump ahead of PE.  Only reason PC is ahead of PE is the plethora of 3/4 night ships.   That seriously pads the departure numbers

I don't know any of the numbers...so I don't about PC or even PE, but I do know that Houston is now the 4th largest city in the country and it just keeps growing each week, each month, each year. Along w/ DFW, San Antonio, and Austin. The potential customer base is huge for the industry as a whole. I would think that RCL could run a few ships out of Galveston w/o any problems. 4, 5, 7 and 10 day cruises are very doable. If they don't, Carnival will and RCL knows it. 

48 minutes ago, BSocial said:

     Why do folks want to diminish others’ joy?  

 

I don't get it either. It's a odd, strange dynamic. 

24 minutes ago, bilyclub said:

Speaking of distortion. I saw this in the Gulf Coast Departures which has a lot of threads about the terrible rental car situation in Galveston.

 

f you take this option be careful which location you rent from - ours was Budget in Texas City which turned out to be a $50 cab ride from the pier.

Well... I guess people just don't know how to do proper research. I just looked it up. I suggest everyone do the same. Because you suggested that $250 is the expected rental car fee, & it's BS. I also looked up the uber fee from Texas City to the terminal... $15. Another savings of $35

$250 / day for a car, $50 for a cab = $300  I just saved you enough money for Internet for two, and a Specialty dinner package for two for the week. 

You're welcome. 

$37 rental + $15 uber ride w/ a 15 min to the cruise terminal = $52. That's $198 less than what you posted. 

You posted it was $250 to drop a car in Galveston which is flat out a distortion of reality.

If you don't like crising out of Galveston... fine...that's on you.  But there is no reason to blatantly falsify data in an effort to supoort your personal dislikes. 

Whether you accept it or not, each week 1,000s of people fly into Houston and board ships out of Galveston. Thousands. There will be 1,000s more when the new terminal is completed. 

20 minutes ago, bilyclub said:

I prefer to fly in and rent a car and check out the area when I arrive early for a cruise. I'm paying $40 a day for a one way rental car in FLL this February . That's in the high range for Florida.  Just checked the rental car rate from IAH to Galveston was $250 and this didn't involve a Sunday.  

Budget, SUV pick up on 2/9 @ Bush International, drop on 2/10 Texas City Mall (15 miles N of Galveston) $37/day .... Galveston is an island and you really don't need a rental car but if you do you have options.... you don't need to spend $250 bucks that's for sure! 

That extra half hour to arrive at a port isn't all that bad and who doesn't mind an extra day of fun while vacationing? It sure sounds like to me that you didn't enjoy what Texas had to offer.  Which is a shame. I tell you what, if you ever make it to Texas again, we'd love to meet up with y'all and extend some good Texas hosptality and show y'all  a good time. I'm very serious and sure would enjoy it. 🙂 

17 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Is that true? I was advise on the Gulf Coast departure threads that weekends are always a 2 night minimum stay. The info came from Galveston residents so I assume it to be true.

 

It's usually not as issue for me as I like to have a little pre-cruise vacation from my departure port. But as it turns out, I was sailing the first weekend in November during the Lone Star Biker Rally when the hotels required a 3 night minimum.....and with 400,000 bikers in town, rooms were scarce and expensive.

Yes, it's true. There are known weekends where two nights minimums are required. These include but are not limited to the following: 

Memorial Day weekend

Labor Day Weekend

Mardi Gras

Christmas on the Strand

Lone Star Rally

I'm sure there are other weekends sprinkled in but these come to mind quickly. Try finding a one night room in Ft Lauderdale during spring break, Memorial & Labor Day weekends or a one night stay in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Like I said in an earlier post, the weekend we're crusing out of Miami, there is either a two night minimum or close to $300/night for something not much better than a Best Western. So pick your poison. One night minimums are not what most believe they are these days. I'm looking forward to a new ship and new itineraries for Galveston. And don't fret it folks. While Galveston Island is not Ft Lauderdale, but I can assure you, it's better than cruising out of Jersey. Peace out!

18 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Sure, never said otherwise. Huge metro area for drive-in cruisers.  However, it's still the most inconvenient US Royal port for the fly-in cruiser. 

And likewise, the ports in Florida are the most inconvenient to drive to. I mean Texas is centrally located (East/West) while the Florida costs aren't, especially the Miami & Ft. Lauderdale. And the cruises we've been to in Galveston we've met many, many cruisers from out of state that flew in etc. I guess one's perspective on convenience is where one is traveling from. We're in Houston and we're about to spend a half a day of travel (if not more) and about $750 to cruise out of Miami. Such as it is. 

5 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Totally agree, I'd take any port in Florida, New Orleans, San Pedro, Seattle, and beautiful gorgeous Newark over Galveston. 

Well somebody is cruising out of Galveston... it's the 4th largest Cruise port in the US now... when they add a 3rd terminal and it could jump another notch. I'm not sure about all of the talk of two day minimums on hotels.  I'm sure it happens on traditional busy weekends but it's the same everywhere else too. In fact, in February, we have a two night min in Miami due to the boat show. My point is there are plenty of weekends that this does not occur. Now w/ regards to the rental car agencies....I couldn't tell you. They're too much of a hassle. Rideshare is the new rental car. Uber X is roughly $65 one way from Bush, $35 from Hobby.  

On 8/8/2018 at 8:12 AM, island lady said:

Actually that's OK with me if they are charging for front row seats....it keeps the "seat savers" (close relation to chair hogs) from doing their thing up there. 😉 RCI may as well make money

on saved seats. 😮

I see this coming to the pool chairs eventually. A 'fee' for a reserved/select chair that includes a drink, towel and the only autograph is the one given via signing the bar tab receipt. 

Curently RCL is showing cruise dates for the remainder of 2018, early & then late for 2019, & finally a few early 2020 cruises. We're looking to book a cruise for the 2020/21 cruise season. Typically the ship assignments and the release dates come to us about the same month each year. 

A couple questions...

1. What time frame (month) are the ships for the Aus/NZ ports announced?

2. What time frame (month) are the cruise dates for Aus/NZ released?

TIA.  🙂 

RCL has Oreo Cookies on board? 🙂 

On 10/7/2018 at 9:02 AM, cello56 said:

Ok, call me a stick in the mud, but I am getting very tired of all the hoop a la in the dining room. Just got off Brilliance, on a five night cruise, and THREE of the nights had a head waiter yelling on a microphone for at least ten minutes. Yes the staff work hard, and I reward them with a polite thank you, and with my gratuities. Do we really need to have a staff member going on and on and on telling us how great they are? The exact same thing happened on Allure last month. Both times the person was literally yelling into the microphone to the point where it was hurting my ears. The woman last month went on for 20 MINUTES on the last night. Way over the top.

 

It used to be that they started this once you were at the end of the meal, and we could easily leave before it began. Now, they seem to be doing it earlier and earlier so they have a captive market. Last night we waited 58 minutes to get our entrees, so we were in the middle of dinner when they began.

 

I wish they would go back to the way they used to do it. Five minutes on the last evening at the end of the meal. People twirled their napkins, the staff did a short parade around the dining room, and they called it a night.

Stick in the mud. 

Cucumber Jalapeno Margarita

It’s hard to follow the rules when the White Russians get you!

Oh.... so this is what the Russian collusion is all about.

Loved the 'high cotton' reference! And what a very nice score on the suite! We're following along virtually!

Oh and it appears we'll be on the 9-7-19 Symphany Cruise w/ y'all. ;)

On my May 2019 10 day sailing it has been $60 per day since May 2018.

 

Today it's $62. I hope it's because they want to do a 'Sale' in a couple of days.

RCL just ended a 30% off promo/sale on two different sail dates and ships we have booked. But no price increase other than the sale price ending.

You should really read back as to his catastrophically wrong decisions last year. He should have been fired then. I am not looking forward to decisions being made about our 9/16 cruise itinerary on his say so.

Don't need to. Hurricanes have been hitting the Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, and the Caribbean before ships were even conceptually thought of. Guess what? They aren't going to stop either. Aug & Sept is prime time for them but nevermind that, book a Caribbean cruise! They're cheaper then for a reason.

Did you even read the article about who is suing him?

Nope.

But each year, during or right after hurricane season we all begin to read the posts of complaints of problems either w/ travel services or the cruiseline.