Sand and Seas

We stayed at the Tremont pre-cruise last year. The two of us had a little less luggage than you, but we found it easy to walk to the cruise port that NCL uses. If you are able to walk about three blocks with your rolling luggage, it's a pleasant walk with sidewalks all the way. (We each had a rolling bag plus a duffle that fits over the handle of the suitcase.)

We loved the staying at the Tremont too. Easy to walk around to so many great restaurants, bars & shops. If you can, I recommend you stay at least two nights pre-cruise to enjoy the island. We also found it easy to walk to the cruise port for embarkation. We also loved using the Galveston Saltwater moms for our transportation. Our vacation truly started when our friendly 'mom' picked us up at IAH. And....we had our first stop at a Buc-ees! Didn't know what we were missing before that and we loved it😊 For us, the toughest part of our cruise planning from Galveston was figuring out transportation from the airport to the island. Now that we have found how easy & pleasant it is with the Saltwater Moms, we planned another cruise from Galveston for the spring.

We loved staying at The Tremont and easily walked to the port from there. (Plus walked to several restaurants, etc.) We did see some people getting into a shuttle that morning, but I don't know if Tremont provided it or what the charge was.

Choir of Man is still showing on the app for our January cruise.

Must be a pretty important event this week. If they all stay on for next week I don't know how we can keep them all busy🤔

Wow....extremely low again😕 Looks like they are proving the need for less staffing of that particular desk.

Interesting that the terminal has signs for Ambassador/Diamond/Sapphire, and then Platinum seating separate. I wonder if Miami will start doing that? Your photos & updates are so helpful for those of us preparing to sail. Hope you have an absolutely wonderful cruise! Thanks for another 'Live' post! Wonderful preview for us😊

When we weren't in a rush to be off the ship, it makes it very comfortable to be in the Haven. Ask the Concierge. We simply cleared out of our cabin (so steward could have it) and went to wait in the Haven Lounge area. Leisurely last Haven breakfast. The Concierge let us know how long we could hang out in their lounge before he took the rest of us down for disembarkation. Very comfortable and unrushed. Sorry I can't recall the exact time.

Are your cabins on decks that they have announced for major renovations?

Oh wow! Do we know where Escape is being moved to? Hopefully they will move another ship to Galveston. We love cruising from there.

Yes, you are on a very old thread😊 If you are thinking of cruising on the Escape, the best thing I can recommend for you is to read a recent @ BirdTravels review . Bird's reviews are always very complete and have great photos of what's on board. Here's a link

For CAS, can you tell me if your original cabin was just discounted by CAS, or fully comped? (I've gotten different answers about price drops with CAS)

We always walk to port in New Orleans from our stay at Harrah's hotel (and we have been retired for a few years). There are several hotels close to port. Have had no problems with traffic as there is a crosswalk to the 'whale' lot at the mall. There are rail tracks right in front of the port but there is always a police officer at that crossing. The porters are available to take your luggage just before you cross the tracks at the port. The only traffic we have seen on the rails is the trolley. If it comes by, it's just a few seconds of delay to cross the tracks. We have been walking back & forth from our hotel before and after cruise for several years. Worse walk we had was in the pouring rain. When we had the mandated NCL provided covid test, we were sent back across those same tracks by the whale lot to the Marriott for testing. (Perhaps that Marriott is the closest?) If you go by car/taxi/uber you will be in traffic lining up around the convention center to drop off at the port. It looked really bogged down when we cruised in January. Not hard to walk across at crosswalk when all the traffic is stopped😉

The Price is Right on Prima didn't have a cost. Hopefully 'Wheel' is complimentary.

Caesars Entertainment.

Shanghai is a favorite of ours. There can be a wait as there is limited seating. They will hand out pagers. We also enjoy OSheehans. They made a good Reuben there 😋 Hope you have a great cruise.

I hadn't heard of CET hosting groups on MSC. I would find that interesting too! My CET host has taken us on NCL for Alaska & Caribbean. CET paid the dsc/admin/port fees which made it nice. They also let us 'earn' airfare during a visit to LV.

Thanks @rattla for posting these pictures. I would be happy to order either of the two 'special's pictured above, even if it's the same item from the MDR. The Haven will freshly plate my order and customize it if I wish. In the MDR, they just do not have the resources so the MDR server will just pick up one of the dozens of pre-plated 'specials'. And, the Haven restaurant has such great service and that always makes the meal special.

We checked in last night and cruise docs were available 12 hours later. Try clicking on it to see. Strangely, we each got two emails today that reminded us it was time to check in. Still the credit balance glitch, but happy to have my eDocs already!

Oh yeah, the ice cream sandwich sounds pretty good too!

Just re-reading this thread for fun tonight and had a thought.... I'm guessing the sundeck lunch/snack menu is being prepared in the Haven kitchen? If so, perhaps I could enjoy those tempura vegetables and a chicken Caesar wrap while enjoying the air-conditioned dining room🤔

I've brought an empty plastic bottle onboard dozens of times. Never had them look at it.

Please let us know if you are successful later today. I will be attempting our check-in tomorrow.

Have you been able to check-in yet?

Thanks for reporting that it let you check in. I've got a negative $48 'due', plus an Onboard Activity for Dining of negative $140😕 @mking8288, also reassuring to have you tell us it's a 'known issue'. Hopefully check-in will go well for us all🤞