Btank

I did a quick search on the forum, but didn't find any reference to this. Ben and David are relentlessly positive people, so this was kind of surprising. We try Royal Caribbean's NEW Controversial Menus Your mileage may vary. 😬 --bruce T.

We sailed on her in December, and enjoyed it! You can read about our cruise (and some of the Adventure pros and cons) here: Adventure of the Seas: 8th - 12th Dec (Galveston to Cozumel) --bruce T.

I took 'em on Adventure of the seas last December with no issues at all. --bruce T.

I don't know what your preferences are... but IMHO Costa Maya is best only if you like local beach clubs. One beach challenge is seaweed; as far as the divers, visibility can sometimes be an issue. Almost anything else will require a long drive (as in 1 - 2 hours each way) - allowing up to an hour to disembark and get on the road, you won't have much time at your destination(s). As far as the port itself, remember that in the Mayan dialect "Cost Maya" translates to "Overpriced Tacos". They do have an overpriced and underwhelming water park at the port (complete with a fake Mayan pyramid), but this may be a good "stay aboard" day for Mom & Dad. We enjoyed Roatan a couple of years ago, but I've heard mixed reviews from people who have been there lately. Myself, I'm not letting them keep me from going back this December. This is also the place where your divers may be the happiest! I'm digging the early arrival at Cozumel! It gives you a lot of options. Again, this is another place where your divers will be happy. If you're not interested in the standard excursions, you can take the ferry across to Playa del Carmen for the day (remember to convert ferry departure times to ship's time). Enjoy your cruise! --bruce T.

I was hoping that either Nassau or Cozumel would meet that requirement. Oh well... Thx for the quick reply! --bruce T.

Harmony will be leaving SFL in late October and standing up in Galveston. Does RCL normally offer cruises like this as a repositioning cruise, or do they just deadhead over and use the time for maintenance? Yes, I know it's US to US... but I wouldn't complain if they stopped somewhere on the way. 😁 thx... --bruce T.

LOL - Native of Hollywood (FL) here. It's only half because of a lack of cheap tickets. 🤣 --bruce T.

I told you kids to leave your d*mned surge protectors home! 🤣 --bruce T.

I can't speak to Mexican Riviera cruises but on our recent 4-day to Cozumel from Galveston, we stayed on ship's time (Central Standard Time). Cozumel was one hour ahead (Eastern Standard Time). --bruce T.

I'm sorry, I don't. But from memory: ice show days 1 and 3, theatre show day 2, headliner show days 1 and 4, and theatre movie on day 3. With the switch away from paper Cruise Compasses, I got lazy and relied on the app without capturing more info. 🙁 --bruce T.

Point taken. Internal network management on the ship can also apply. My original comment still stands; the speed and quality of service seemed improved over a year ago on a different ship taking the same route. --bruce T.

FINAL RANDOM THOUGHTS Here's a few odds and ends that either didn't fit, or (more likely) I forgot. HOW DID WE LIKE THE SHIP? We had differing opinions here. Our first cruise was on the Celebrity Summit; this was similar (not identical) in size, and I really appreciated both the layout and the shorter walks between places. On the other hand, it was missing a few things for Mark; in particular, Sorrento's Pizza (these are on the Freedom class ships and higher). As I might have said, I've cruised on both Freedom and Liberty; that is probably our sweet spot. We sailed on Anthem with a bunch of senior citizens family and friends relying on walkers, wheelchairs, etc.; that was a little much, but I think Mark and I alone would be OK with it. I sure hope so, because our cruise next December is on Harmony! HOW WAS THE RIDE? All in all, very good. The weather cooperated with us, with gentle swells all the way down to Cozumel and back. One thing that I noticed more than others was a slight side-to-side rocking of the ship; I'm recovering from blowing out my knee, and I definitely didn't feel as stable as I wanted to. Fortunately, I had brought a trekking pole (used for hiking) with me; that was enough to give me a little more lateral stability (although I's sure I looked pretty goofy). HOW WAS THE INTERNET SERVICE? I was pleasantly surprised! Adventure has been converted to Starlink satellite service. Without getting too obnoxiously technical, I found improvements in both speed and quality of service over our last cruise on Liberty with Voom: Don't worry if you don't understand any of this. What you can take away is: It was more than quick enough to support streaming. It was more than quick enough to support Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service. It was probably quick enough to support videoconferencing through services such as Facetime, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom, albeit with some possible reduction in quality. Coverage seemed much better than Voom - much fewer service dropouts. Is it good enough to keep in touch with the home front or your office? Absolutely! Would I rely on it for critical business communications? Only if the folks I was talking to understood that I was subject to dropping out... and I would probably not enable video or screen sharing from the ship. WHAT ABOUT IZUMI? The Izumi on this ship is the smaller one (without the hibachi). I would have loved to go there for lunch on Day 2; however, on both sea days the lunch was taken up by Sushi-making classes and Saki tastings. Oh well. WHAT ABOUT THOSE DAMNED KIDS? So, I never let the kids bother me; in fact, sometimes I have more fun watching them behave better than the adults. Still, there were not a ton of kids on the ship; it was a little too early for their Christmas break. The kids seemed generally well behaved... their parents deserve the credit. But, I know a lot of cruisers do not like the distraction of kids; just be aware that like it or not, they're gonna be on your Galveston cruise. DID YOU HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT ICON COMING TO GALVESTON? Ahhh... the $2 billion dollar question! I know there's been some speculation on Icon being rotated into Galveston in 2024 (or 2025). A friendly crew member told me that this had been informally and unofficially (my words) communicated to them. Myself, I have a hard time believing it... but I guess it depends on how well Allure and Harmony do? It would certainly put Icon within easy driving distance of the 4th, 7th, and 9th largest cities in the country... along with a major international airport (Bush Intercontinental) featuring a carrier hub (United) and lots of international flights. ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU'VE LEFT OUT? We did get a couple of milkshakes from Johnny Rockets. There were OK - nothing memorable, except for the guy who made Mark's shake suffering an equipment malfunction and being covered from the waist up in strawberry milkshake. ANY FINAL WORDS? Nope - I'll shut up and answer any questions that I can. Thanks for cruising with us! --bruce T.

DAY 5 - ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END Gooooooooooooooood mornin' ever'bodeh! I was impressed at waking up rested after not going through the last minute packing fiasco. This is a strategy I'll repeat for our next Cruise. DISEMBARKATION BREAKFAST The Key includes an a la carte breakfast on the morning of departure. I managed to get Mark up at 7:30 (not easy for him and we headed down to the MDR; if I remember right, it was deck 4. The menu was a slightly reduced version of the normal MDR breakfast menu; the service was good, the food was hot, and the relaxed pace was absolutely a winner. Yet another reason why The Key works for us (as I duck & cover 😁). DISEMBARKATION We "walked the plank" around 8:30. There were signs up indicating that RCL & the Port of Galveston were partnering to test optical recognition for departing passengers. We were routed to one of about 5 passport kiosks, which seemed to be a tablet with a separate camera. You position your head so that your face is visible in a box on the screen, you get a green box, and you're through! I never had to take my passports out of my bag. LUGGAGE Our luggage was waiting in The Key's dedicated area; however, that was not immediately visible. We had to ask for directions; it was at the front of the room near the exit, and the sign was not obvious. Again, the Galveston crew really came through here; after pointing out the luggage area for me, the rep asked if I wanted a porter (it was across the room from where they had gathered). I told her yes, and she told me to head on over - she'd have a porter meet me there. Sure enough, by the time we had picked our bags out from the line the porter was there! He took us directly out without stopping at CBP, and we exited on the right side of the terminal at the passenger pickup area (right side if you are facing the terminal from the front). Now, the important part: If you're cruising out of Galveston and parking at the port, pay attention! Apparently, there has been a recent change in policy for the porters. They had been taking luggage out to the passenger's cars in the port parking lots; this is no longer allowed. Our porter told me - a couple of times - that they were sending other porters home for violating this policy. They can only go to the other side of the shuttle buses and cabs; I've highlighted that area below in red: Fortunately, this zone ended right where we parked (in handicap parking). He did help me load our bags in the back of our car since it was right there. This policy seems counter-productive. What if it was a senior citizen and/or handicapped person, or a large family with only a couple of adults and multiple bags, parked in one of the other lots? I'm sure there is a reason for it; insurance, a limited number of porters plus increased time back and forth to the lots... whatever. It just doesn't seem right, and I would hope that they'll change the policy soon. In the meantime, if it were me and I was in one of the above situations, I'd leave someone with the bags outside the pickup door, go collect the car, then circle back to get them and the bags. HOMEWARD BOUND Exiting the parking lot was a little confusing (all of the signs aren't up yet). We managed to get out safely, and hit the road. With minimal traffic plus use of the HOV+ lane coming into Houston, we got home by 10:30. Note that if you use the HOV+ lane you will exit into downtown; however, you'll skirt the edge of it and get back on I-45 very shortly. Once home, we unpacked & started laundry. Then, thre was only one more thing to do: I got the girls out of jail and brought them home so they could resume their duties of cutting off circulation to my lower legs.

Things really looked nice with the Christmas decorations. Have a great cruise! --bruce T.

Outstanding! Have a great cruise. --bruce T. P. S. More dog pictures incoming!

I didn't hear anything, but Big Red indicated that he could get us a good deal on another reservation. I think that was a one-off; but if your headwaiter is named Louis and he's from India, it'd be worth asking. The worst he could do is say no! --bruce T.

We really didn't see her much. We (ahem) heard her a lot more times. 🤣 --bruce T.

I questioned that myself. Big Red told me is was like a vodka sauce, without the vodka. It may have been a simple cream & tomato sauce; I didn't get a strong parmesan taste like would have expected in a tomato / alfredo sauce blend. Whatever it was, it was tasty! --bruce T.

DAY 4 - CRUISING Gooooooooooooooooood mornin' ever'bodeh! Our last day at sea... I had my usual early morning wakeup, coffee, & walk. For some reason, I didn't take my usual picture of the sea day sunrise. But I had the latest pictures of our girls waiting for me: EDITORIAL COMMENT: How rude! 🤣 DAY 4 BREAKFAST Back to the MDR for us. nothing exciting... a repeat of the previous MDR breakfast orders. DAY 4 ACTIVITIES Today was very low-key. One of the things I promised myself is that I would not be "panic packing" at 7:30pm... so I actually got things organized and packed all but our essentials plus the next day's clothes. It was great getting that done by lunch and not having to worry about it! DAY 4 LUNCH Lunch was at Chops Grille, courtesy of my awesome travel agent who shall not be named to keep the Cruise Critic modmins happy. 🙃 Unlike tthe "Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille® menu", this service experience was top-notch - waiter Rose Ann really took great care of us! I started with the Ceasar's salad and then had the filet (closer to medium well than medium), and Mark has his mushroom soup and burger. For dessert, I went with the key lime pie and Mark went with the red velvet cake). The only problem with this kind of lunch is that it's nap time afterwards... DAY 4 DINNER Back to the MDR for our final night. As always, Eduardo and Gede took great care of us. I wanted to ear light, so I had the lentil soup and the cheese tortelloni; Mark started with the seafood cakes and then had fish & chips. For desert, I had the chocolate cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream; Mark went back to his apple blossom. If there was one regret of only being on a 4-day cruise, it was not seeing more of Eduardo and Gede - they were that pleasant. One interesting story from dinner: the head waiter Louis got into a discussion with the table next to us on Day 3. One of the wives told Louis how much she liked to cook, and they all commented on how much they enjoyed eating Indian food. Louis offered to feed them a traditional dinner the next night, and did he ever! Served family style, it included a chicken dish, chickpeas, lentils basmati rice, and naan. Heads turned from all of the surrounding tables when they smelled it - it smelled that good! That was a great personal touch from Louis, and they really appreciated it. After dinner, we made a quick stop by the casino and Cafe Promenade for a late night snack, then it was off to bed to get ready for disembarking in the morning.

DAY 3 DINNER Dinner was in the MDR. I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember what Mark had... I had a Ceasar's salad, brazed short-rib (outstanding), and cheesecake along with my Kendall Jackson. A great dinner leading into... MOVIE AND SNACKS This was an unusual night - one that featured a 7pm movie in the theatre. We had tried to watch a movie the previous night, but it was just too windy on the pool deck. The movie was "Elf", and was pilled as a pajama party night - show up in your pajamas and enjoy hot chocolate & cookies while watching the movie. We never found the hot chocolate & cookies, and we didn't wear our pajamas - but it was a nice break regardless. After the movie, we returned to Cafe Promenade for a couple of slices of pizza (Mark) and a cookie & jello (me), then called it a night.

DAY 3 - COZUMEL Gooooooooooooood mornin' ever'bodeh! I was up early to get coffee before we docked in Cozumel. Why no pictures? Well, I've been there a bunch of times. And chances are, a lot of people reading this have been there a bunch of times. So, what is there to take pictures of... especially when we don't stay in Cozumel anyway? (more on that below) Of course, PetSmart was happy to remind me that the girls were doing well without me: DAY 3 BREAKFAST Breakfast this morning was in the Windjammer at about 7:45. We wanted to get in and out quickly, and the MDR just wasn't gonna cut it. Plus, we were gonna eat a light breakfast because we were going to eat an early lunch ashore. Why early? Well, on the 4-days cruises we stay on ship's time - not Cozumel time (an hour later). Let me repeat that for the folks in the back of the room: STAY ON SHIP'S TIME! It was amazing how many times this was announced - by the captain, by Tanya, etc. - and people were still confused about it. DAY 3 EXCURSION So, we left the ship at about 8am (or 9am Cozumel time). After running the gauntlet of shops, we took a taxi to the downtown pier to catch the Ultramar ferry. The taxi cost is $8 per cab, but it's a little cheaper if you pay in pesos like we did. Don't let them tell you there's a per-person charge, and don't let them put another party in your vehicle if you don't want them to! Here's a complete list of taxi fares in dollars from September: (image source: Cruzely) There are two ferry services operating - Ultramar (blue & yellow livery) and Winjet (Orange). Both services run the same route, but alternate each hour. We prefer Ultramar because we've been taking them back and forth to Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres for years: (image source: Ultramar) The Ultramar ferry will cost $250 pesos one way (they will accept dollars at a slightly higher cost). Buy the one-way ticket! Why? Remember that they alternate service on the hour... if you buy a round trip, you may be locked into staying an extra hour! Also, buy your ticket from the official Ultramar or Winjet booth at the terminal... don't buy it from street hawkers! The ferry ride is about 40 minutes. It can be a little choppy. OK, sometimes it can be a little choppier. Hell, sometimes it's a real roller coaster! But you're on a large, safe boat... and 40 minutes later, you're in Playa del Carmen. For us, it's pretty straightforward: Get off the boat and walk up to 5th Avenue. Avoid the hawkers. Go eat lunch at Karen's. Avoid the hawkers. Take a walk down 5th Avenue and stop in any shops we find interesting. Avoid the hawkers. Karen's is a tradition for us - we've been going there for more than 10 years. A small family-owned place with reasonable prices (they have gone up) and... wait for it... an air-conditioned area! It's easy to find - a couple of hundred feet past the bus station (ADO) on the left: (image source: Tripadvisor) Fair warning: more often than not, the air-conditioned area will have futbol on the big screen. What I thought was funny on this trip is that it was too early for the UK - France World Cup match... so they had the US NCAA Men's Cup on. Pure soccer fans down there! After we ate, we strolled down 5th Avenue and did some Christmas shopping: Stores range from very high-end jewelry and fashion to small souvenir stands, and everything in between. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate! It's amazing what a polite "No thank you, that's too much and a turn towards the door can do for your price. 🤣 There are also plenty of additional restaurants and bars available. If you want to do some shopping for legal pharmaceuticals, you'll get better prices at the drug stores here than in Cozumel... but do some comparison shopping. And the obvious: don't take a chance on buying any illegal drugs. Massages are available here at much cheaper rates than on the ship. Just be careful and watch your belongings at all times (sometimes difficult on a massage bed). And unless it's your cup of tea, avoid the massage places promising "happy endings." After shopping for a little more than an hour, Mark was getting tired. We took the 2pm Ultramar ferry back, then grabbed a cab back to the International Pier (where Royal Caribbean and Celebrity dock along with Carnival).

DAY 2 ACTIVITIES One of my first stops was the Next Cruise desk. I had stopped by the night before and the manager (Alona) had offered to help me out then, but I told her that I had all of the details in my cabin and that I would stop by the next day. Imagine her surprise when I did! I had the cruise ship, day and date, cabin numbers, and C&A numbers ready to go - all she had to do was type 'em in. We'll be on a 7-day on Harmony next December. The itinerary isn't great: Roatan, Costa Maya (which in the Mayan tongue translates into Overpriced Taco), and Cozumel (which we only stay in long enough to take the ferry to Playa del Carmen anyway). But the best part: we picked up at least one straggler for this cruise, and I hope to get a couple of more friends to tag along! The rest of the day was pretty low-key. I cashed in my spa raffle credit on a massage, and spent some time walking and exploring some more on the ship. In the evening, Mark stayed in his cabin to watch movies and I stopped by the Casino... my first night wasn't so good, and I had to make up for it. Well, I did! Every time I go to a casino, I have one $20 bill with a good friend's initials written on it in pencil. We split the net of whatever I win playing for her. Her share was $44.68 - I sent it to her from the ship via Zelle. Technology is a beautiful thing! From the Casino I went to the show: Like the ice show, there wasn't much (if any) of a story or plot - it was just a bunch of vignettes coupled with snippets of songs from movies. It was more confusing in that it wasn't all "rock" - for example, it featured music from All That Jazz and Shaft. Still, what it lacked in writing was more than made up for by the talent. These folks had some vocal shops, and they were moving - almost constantly except for a couple of solo & ensemble performances. It definitely was a good use of my time. At this show, I finally "met" the Cruise Director - "Tornado" Tanya: EDITORIAL COMMENT: Tanya, sorry for the absolutely awful picture! As her name implies, Tanya is definitely high-energy. I was ok with it, but I can't say I was a fan. Others were not as kind. From the show, it was off to Cafe Promenade to get some cookies and back to the cabins. An early wakeup in the morning for Cozumel!

DAY 2 DINNER Dinner that night was at Giovanni's Table. Let me be very clear here: the filet you will get here is better than any other on the ship. Better than Chops... and better than the MDR chops option. We split an order of Mozarella di Bufala for our starter, and I had the arugula salad with that. For the main course, I went with the filet while my brother went with the eggplant parm - and for both of us, we went with a half order of the daily pasta (spaghetti in a pink sauce). The meal was outstanding! It was accompanied by my Kendal Jackson (our server "Big Red" - a great name, I think he was from Indonesia - gave me a generous pour for 50% off) and Mark's two virgin pina coladas. The quality of the food here may start pushing me into unlimited dining for my next 7-day cruise - with their menu variety I could easily eat there 3x over 7 days. I'll have to see what the prices are next time...

DAY 2 LUNCH This was our only Windjammer lunch for the cruise. I thought it was good, but it seems like the selection was slightly less - for example, there definitely seemed to be fewer entre selections and desserts. I don't know whether this was a function of the smaller ship, the different ship, or of time passed since my last cruise. Whatever it was, hot food was hot and cold food was gold, and everything seemed reasonably fresh. After lunch, Mark (who also serves as my social director) decided that we needed some post-lunch provisions - so we headed to Cafe Promenade. This is where we felt the smaller ship the most - the lack of a dedicated Sorentos for pizza. Don't get me wrong - the pizza was good, and in our experience was always fresh & hot! But, the selection was pretty limited - and yes, there were lines to get it.

DAY 2 - CRUISING Gooooooooooooood morning' ever'bodeh! After getting a much needed coffee from Cafe Promenade, I went up to the heliport for this: Yeah, I can dig it! After my coffee, it was back to the cabins to collect Mark for breakfast. DAY 2 BREAKFAST We headed off to the MDR for breakfast. Again, I saw a few minor service quality issues creeping in here. For example, my menu: EDITORIAL COMMENT: Some personal background on me... before retiring, I spent the better part of 32 years as an engineer and program manager in product and service development & quality assurance for an (ahem) "large personal computer manufacturer". I realize that many people won't notice things like this - I'm just more likely to! And it's not a big deal for me when something like this occurs - I'm not gonna go Full Metal Karen and request a new menu. But the lesson for Royal (or any service organization) is that things like this will be noticed... and the effect of such "observations" (I'm old enough to remember when we called 'em "defects") is cumulative. Why take a chance of having someone's perception of a meal tainted by something like this? It's better to spend 2-3 seconds verifying that the menu isn't stained, then grabbing another one if needed. Anyhow, back to breakfast: Strangely, I find myself eating healthier on cruises... as in light breakfasts, lean meats, etc. I went with 2 pieces of french toast (no powdered sugar / whipped cream / berry compote) and a fruit cup. Mark went with his favorite - banana pancakes, plus some hash browns. No surprises in that breakfast was what I expected - good, not nothing memorable. What was unusual was that our waiter (a nice guy that I won't name here) could only bring us two glasses of orange juice. I tried to explain to him that I wanted an extra glass for Mark so he could take his medicine; he apologized and told me that it was "company policy" that he could only bring another glass after 5 minutes. So, Mark got both glasses and I stuck with water & coffee for the requisite 5 minutes. Things that make you go hmmmm... (too subtle?)