skittlesdfw

On 6/17/2021 at 3:10 AM, NC State said:

We are looking at doing a quick cruise in December.  We would also be flying in to Houston Hobby. This will the first ever going to Texas. Cruzingal #9 and skittlesdfw are you flying in the day of the cruise?  We were thinking since our cruise would leave on Dec 24 we need to arrive the day before.  Would these shuttle services take us to a hotel? I'm looking for all the help I can get at this point.

My group is flying in the day before.  

We chartered a shuttle and they are taking us to a Galveston hotel when we arrive, and picking us up from the port on the day the ship gets back in.

It ends up being a few dollars less than if we arrived "day of cruise" and had to have the shuttle take us straight to the port.

On 6/9/2021 at 10:27 AM, Cruzingal#9 said:

I know this subject has been talked about many of times, but I’m not finding much.  First of all, we are sooooo excited that our October 3rd cruise on the Liberty looks like it’s going to happen!!!  We are looking into shuttle services to take 4 adults from the Houston Hobby area (don’t have a hotel yet) down to the pier.  We used VIP Shuttle a few years ago and they were amazing, but their website isn’t showing up and when I called the number I had it said to leave a message for that number; no mention of it being VIP Shuttle.  I left a message, but haven’t heard anything back.  Does anyone know if they’re still in business?  I talked to another service and got a good quote, but their website is very minimal and I can’t find any reviews on them.  It’s called “Houston to Galveston”.  We found it online.  Has anybody heard of them or used them before?  Or any other suggestions.  We’re not trying to be “unsocial”, but we’re not looking for a shared ride program and prefer not to use Uber.

 

 

I just went through quote requests for 4 different transfer companies.  I ended up booking with Galveston Shuttle & Limo for our September 26th sailing on Liberty of the Seas.  They had really good pricing, their reviews were really strong, and their communication was super solid. 

For me, the tipping point with booking with them was that it's a 100% refundable reservation if you cancel 7+ days ahead.  The other services I contacted kept some/all of the payments, regardless of when you canceled.  

After the year we just had, I couldn't imagine not having a refundable reservation.  

47 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

that is right, according to the lady on the phone Liberty will be back in Galveston after September that means Liberty will be back in October 2021.

Liberty is still departing out of Galveston on September 26th.  

1 minute ago, dominicr said:

i hope not.  I’d rather Indy stay there so the boat out of Galveston has coke freestyle machines and a playmakers. 

I'm on the Sep 26 sailing and  really hoping that we get "shifted" from Liberty to Indy.  All those shiny upgrades would be so nice, especially for my first vacation since COVID

Interesting...

When I looked earlier in the week on Royal's website, they showed several sailings for Liberty out of Galveston in September.

After today's announcement, it shows just one sailing in September... the 9/26 sailing.  

I'm wondering if the Independence deployment to Galveston is just a stopgap measure until Liberty can finish drydock and vaccination.  

Also just got off Freedom this past weekend. We were in line at 6:50am, off the ship by 7:05am.  In the terminal 5 - 10 minutes later, and in the taxi by 7:30am.  

10 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

See Day 1 Compass in this thread:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2681726-freedom-of-the-seas-cruise-compasses-july-7th-sailing/

Thanks Bob! I did searches for Freedom Muster and didn't find anything... I didn't even THINK to check Cruise Compasses. 

I know that with Freedom's sailings out of San Juan, she has two different Muster Drills.  

Can anyone that has sailed on her recently tell me what time the first Muster Drill is?  Thanks in advance 🙂

Cuatro Sombras in OSJ is also pretty amazing. They're a micro-roaster a few blocks from Chocobar.  I usually doctor my coffee with milk/sugar... but I drank theirs straight-up.  

Bonus: They have amazing breakfast sandwiches too (the ham & cheese croissant with guava butter is my go-to)

So, for NextCruise bookings... what if we know we want a Caribbean cruise in late 2021, but it hasn't been announced yet? 

Our next cruise is in a few weeks, and we were debating doing a "placeholder" booking for something in early 2021... then moving it once the late 2021 deployment calendar opens up further.

Is there a risk with losing money on that? 

51 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I can only dream of finding "Pappy Van Winkle" on a ship because it will never happen. I have seen and heard of "Blanton's" being on some ships but not recently. Harmony does have "Whistle Pig Rye," which I like a lot so I will be happy. Anything Buffalo Trace puts out is great IMO.

I'm not sure if you'd qualify it as recently or not... but when we sailed on Harmony in October 2018, they had Blanton's in the pub.  They also sold it in the duty-free shop 🙂

2 hours ago, shellunderwater said:

So, last two cruises... Freedom from San Juan and recently Majesty from FLL, I've wanted some better premium bourbon or scotch, such as Blanton's or an 18 year single barrel.  I just couldn't find it on either ship.  I guess the Freedom is catering to their key clientele with rum.  

 

We will be on Enchantment is a few months and I'd like to set my own mental expectations.  Anything better than their normal Makers, etc? 

 

Not that the top shelf is bad, I'm just willing to pay a couple of dollars extra (above my package) to get a premium pour.

Hi there! Just wondering, when was your sailing on Freedom?  We leave on her in the next few weeks, and one of our travel mates was really keen on getting Blanton's from the ship

18 hours ago, dancingfish said:

I guess I am like a little kid... I want to do it all! but know that I can not.  We are booked on a short cruise that will take us to Cozumel and Costa Maya.  I review all the offerings and I just can't seem to pull the trigger.  Dolphins sound fun, a day at the beach sounds fun, Ruins sounds interesting! ---->>>> Whats a girl to do?  

 

Anyone else freeze up when it comes time to choose? How do you make your choices?? 

I just remind myself that there's only one excursion per port that I can do... and pick what I think is best! If I like that port enough, I'll try and find another cruise in the future that lets me go back there.

Case in point: 

I went to Costa Maya for the first time in 2016.  I wasn't super looking forward to it, because the official excursions from Royal weren't very remarkable. Eventually, after doing a LOT of research, I went with the CruiseCritic recommendations and visited Maya Chan Beach Club.  

It was, without question, one of the BEST port days I've ever had!  

My family is already talking about our 2021 cruise, and we are thinking of another sailing out of Galveston, specifically so we can go back there.  

Hello! Apologies if this has been covered before, I made several attempts at searching the forum to find this information.

I'm sailing on Freedom of the Seas in October, and was wondering if there's any way to find out the order of the MDR menus in advance.  Generally, there's 1 - 2 nights where the menu just ends up falling flat for me (I'm looking at you, Chicken Cordon Bleu) and I'd like to book a specialty restaurant reservation for those nights.  

The ship isn't included in the Royal Caribbean app, sadly.  Is there a place on the web I can find it, or would I be able to email someone at Royal and find out? 

Even if the ship docks at 5:30am, it still has to clear its port check and begin disembarkation.  On top of that, you will need to clear two checkpoints once you get to SJU  (the first is an agricultural check, the second is standard TSA)

I can't fathom you'll make it in that kind of time frame. 

Chops should be open at 12pm on embarkation day, as well.  It's an upcharge, but you can book it now via Cruise Planner.

We did this for our upcoming Freedom cruise in October... it's always so nice to get out of the hectic Windjammer on departure day and have a quiet meal.  

Nope they are not. It depends on where your room is onboard.

Hello there! First of all, thank you SO much for your review. We leave on Liberty in two and a half weeks and your photos and write-up have only helped increase my excitement. :)

I do have a question though...

Muster was at 3:30 pm and we were inside in Star Lounge. It was the quietest muster we have ever been to. LOL. People actually were quiet when they were asked to be. ;) The overall vibe of the ship was different though, of course, with the majority of passengers appearing to be couples, and probably older couples at that. There were so few children that it seemed a little strange.

Or is that a perk for top-tier C&A / suite guests?

My friend and I are going to be sailing on this cruise. We're sailing with a bunch of friends, but would love to meet others from here onboard!