medicalma'am

We have booked a flight the day after our cruise ends that is at 6:00 a.m.  I am now concerned that we will need a taxi at 2:40 or 3:00 a.m. from our hotel to the airport.  Is it usual that a taxi will be easy to get for that early hour?  Will our hotel help us arrange it?  What is our best possibility at such early hour?

I have even thought about changing our flight to later in the day that we arrive from our cruise.  We just do not want to be rushed.  

On 4/2/2024 at 10:21 AM, RMS Olympic said:

A big thank you for all the construction photos! 
counting the days to Prima in January and then the Aqua in May next year.

Thanks again!

Wow, I and my siblings are on the Prima in January, and my kids families and we are thinking of booking the Aqua in May (as soon as my 15 yo granddaughter is out of school).  We have not booked yet and I keep sending them news of the build to convince them.

This is a good reason to have an NCL Personal Cruise Consultant that you consistently deal with.  You can call that person directly whenever you want to book, change a booking ,or  have questions that need answering.  

Mind sharing the walking tour?

On 1/22/2024 at 4:56 PM, RocketMan275 said:

We're on Prima the week following.  Will be watching for your review. Do you intend to post your review in increments as the cruise goes on?  Particularly interested in the embarkation process.

In Galveston you come into town on the bridge and you keep on that street and make a left on 23rd. It dead ends at Harborside. You can drop off luggage and passengers there and they will tell you to look for staff in flowered shirts to take luggage. Then get in line. The doors opened to the terminal opened not before 10:15. The line moved fast. We had Priority boarding. 
 

I have included pics of Haven/priority and regular waiting areas. We didn’t even sit down but proceeded right on to ship. 

 

So, I am Saphire and I told them that Sapphire has as a NCL benefit Priority Boarding. I told person after person until we were in the Haven lounge and they had boarded so we got on!  

According to my next picture it was 10:36 am!  That was when we were walking up the gangplank. 

On 1/22/2024 at 5:56 PM, RocketMan275 said:

We're on Prima the week following.  Will be watching for your review. Do you intend to post your review in increments as the cruise goes on?  Particularly interested in the embarkation process.

In Galveston you come into town on the bridge and you keep on that street and make a left on 23rd. It dead ends at Harborside. You can drop off luggage and passengers there and they will tell you to look for staff in flowered shirts to take luggage. Then get in line. The doors opened to the terminal opened not before 10:15. The line moved fast. We had Priority boarding. 
 

I have included pics of Haven/priority and regular waiting areas. We didn’t even sit down but proceeded right on to ship. 

The captain announced after all were safely off ship, that they had been out to sea for 40 days. They had started out with a small motor that ended up quitting. He said they only had the sail after that and were depending on rain water. They did not end up where they wanted to go. There was at least one ambulance we noted, maybe two. 
 

I will never forget this experience and am so thankful. Thank you all for prayers for them!

They were just taken by Mexican Government officials in 2 vans accompanied by their National Guard.  Some of them were in wheel chairs. Praying for them.  
 

I guess not Mexican, but thinking they were Cuban. I have no idea if Mexico and Cuba have any agreements about returning refugees. All I can do is pray. 

We were asked by the cruise director not to take pictures or video of them but, there are dramatic pictures on FB of anguished faces and the rudimentary home made ‘boat’ they were in. They were taken by someone with a Canon camera with a great lens. Those pictures are heart wrenching to see. 

2 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

Is it a requirement they disembark at the next port ?

I believe so. My brother in law is with us. He was a CBP agent (Customs and Border Protection-immigration) for 30 years. He says when we dock in Costa Maya tomorrow the Mexican Immigration and Custom agents will take custody of them. They cannot continue on the ship having no documents. 

The NCL Prima made a turn on 1-27-24 as makeshift ‘boat’ had been spotted with people waving a white piece of cloth.  One of the lifeboats was launched at about 4:30 pm. As cruise passengers watched from every deck, two trips were made to the craft picking up 12 total people who were on it.  A beautiful rainbow and the empty craft were seen after the rescue and then a lovely sunset could be seen as the lifeboat was raised back up into place.  We are now enroute to Costa Maya, Mexico as planned with 12 more souls onboard. 

YAY!  Another Ma’am Cruise Review!  

On 1/22/2024 at 4:56 PM, RocketMan275 said:

We're on Prima the week following.  Will be watching for your review. Do you intend to post your review in increments as the cruise goes on?  Particularly interested in the embarkation process.

We will not be live but can come here Saturday and let you know!

If you get it, do keep the banners and hanging decorations.  They are magnetic and you can use them on future cruises or with tape at home.  They folded flat and took up no room in my suitcase when flying home.  

I cruised on the Commodore Enchanted Isle in 1998 out of New Orleans.  It was so small compared to ships today!

You will have to do Alaska!  We have been 3 times and I am not tired of it.  7 night in 2007 on the new NCP Pearl, 7 night in 2009 again on the Pearl, and 9 night in 2018 on the Jewel.  We finished that one in the city of Vancouver for a few days and drove back to Seattle.  The scenery was the most beautiful when we went in May.  I preferred the beauty of that over the one we did in September.

On 12/31/2023 at 12:57 PM, bluey258 said:

We are sailing on the Regal at the end of January from Galveston. If anyone has pictures and or videos of the express port parking, please post them. I know it is close enough to walk, I use a walker when walking distance trying to see if there is sidewalk or on what you are walking. Do you have a different entrance for parking? We want to drop luggage off before parking. Thank You for any help you can give me.

The Port of Galveston Cruise parking site says that it has a shuttle.  I think that the 'Express' one is not operated by the cruise port but owned privately.

3 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Yea, we've always had a Chase SW card that we put everything on it (including our business expenses for our company) and have flown for free and also used points for booking hotels and such. So I know what you mean. 

 

 

 

It was warm to hot but not extremely hot like what I like. Although we were in the Caribbean and it was hot outside, so it was good enough for us at the time otherwise we wouldn't have been able to stay in it as long as we did. 

 

 

Glad you found it Robin. I hope you have a great cruise on Prima. Are all the Ma'am sisters joining?

Three of us with hubbies are.  If one hubby can't go at the last minute, they said that the other ma'am can go (up to 2 days before sailing) in his place.  Hoping he can go as this is their anniversary week.  We have often cruised or vacationed with them late January, tagging along on their "anniversary trip".  Oh M Gee,  like the fateful "Epic Icey Auto Race to Miami" after flights were cancelled out of Houston!  LOL 

Thank you so much for this review!  I loved the video tour.  We will be sailing on her on 1-26.

On 12/26/2023 at 8:48 AM, alexirina said:

Excellent questions, thank you so much!

 

Sailing out of Galveston is without a doubt more of a "Texan Thing". To be clear, music, entertainment, etc did not adapt to the great (well, second greatest by area, technically) state of ours, but the crowd was defiantly more Texan.  Quite a few cowboy hats and boots (not joking!). But it was all good, we are fairly laid back and diverse these days, no banjo in the hallways, crowd was very diverse, from Deep Country to LGBT, and anywhere in between! Even a few foreigners. All good!

 

Overall we felt that there were significantly more kids than typical (probably early Christmas Break and fair amount of entertainment from the Galaxy Pavilion to the Racetrack), yet not enough party people. We went to most late night events, but felt a bit underwhelmed: Syd Norman venue is way too small and the Prima Club is way too big (although we loved all the shows they set there, those shows just did not turn into parties).

 

We also regret that while in the past (~10 years ago) NCL used to be more open minded/encouraging adult activities (not necessarily the pineapple level, just good grown up fun without PC BS), they certainly toned all of that down to PG13 and crew does not TRULY comingle with the crowd, which is a shame. 

 

As we mentioned, Vibe Club is a must, if one wants to separate from 18- crowd

 

Overall, we are not at all disappointed, we had great time and we will share more stories/thoughts as we get them organized, yet I'm not sure if I pick Galveston again on purpose. Galveston is visually VERY different from any of the 3 typical Floridian ports. We did Galveston because we thought it would be an "easy drive", but with the holiday traffic it turned out to be 5+ hrs from Dallas. If you are flying into Houston, port is not that close and roads are a mess on the south side (well, everywhere in Houston, let's just be honest). Looking back, we could have probably spent similar time flying out to FLL or MIA with a transfer and everything and had more cruise options with NCL, Royal or Celebrity -- after all Galveston can only accommodate 2 ships at a time.

 

Hope this helps and happy holidays. Shout out if there is anything we can help with!

Galveston has a new cruise pier that was built by Royal Caribbean, so it now can accommodate 3 ships at a time.  That is how NCL was able to now cruise from there I believe.  RC has their own parking near their pier.

Just decided to check out your review as Wendy told me it was up.  Enjoying it!  I am trying to get excited about our upcoming week on the Prima.  : )

I was able to book my Thermal Suite Pass 2 days ago for our 1-26-24 cruise,  My sister tried to book it but it wouldn't take her payment.  She called NCL and was told it would not be available to book until 1-8-24!  Has anyone had trouble booking 80 days out?

I have stayed at the Le Hotel St-Paul post cruise and am going to book it again this Fall pre-cruise for a couple of nights.  So close to the cruise terminals, train station, the old city, and restaurants.  Worth it.

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I just made GOAL last week! I will be on an Alaskan cruise in May. I not only follow WW but I eat Whole Food Plant Based No Oil (WFPBNO) for my heart. I had a heart attack and stent placed last March 20th and made drastic changes because all my blood work 'numbers' were good two weeks prior to my heart attack. So 'normal healthy' range is not enough for me. I had 70% blockage in my LAD (the widow maker) and 55% in a branch of my circumflex that I hope clears due to my diet and lifestyle changes.

I plan to use the WW app and Dr. Greger's app (daily dozen) to keep on track on the cruise. No meat/eggs/dairy/cheese is easy for me but the no oil will be the challenge on the cruise. I use white balsamic vinegar for a salad dressing and I plan on bringing a bottle of it with me. I hope it doesn't get me sent to the naughty room!

I also plan to walk each day to keep my cardio up and get my steps in. If I gain, I know it will come right back off!