Stevesan

Fax Transmittal Form

To: Princess Cruises

From:

ATTN: Special Services

Number of Pages: 1

Fax: 661 284 4885

Message:

Please request cabin steward place an egg-crate mattress topper and a top sheet on queen arrangement bed.

Passenger: Booking Number: Voyage Number: Ship’s Name: Date:

Cabin Number: Thank You

While at St Thomas, "She Who Must Be Obeyed" had to have a new diamond ring NOW. We purchased a very nice (read expensive) ring.

Upon return home we took the ring to Fred Cuellar, author of "How To Buy A Diamond", for appraisal.

Surprise, Surprise, we paid too much.

No worries. I sent a copy of the appraisal to Diamonds International head quarters in NYC and, believe it or not, they refunded the difference.:)

All's Well That Ends Well!

That was my experience last February on the Royal. The new cards are also good for Gelato on Royal and Regal.

How much does gelato cost?

I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the other posters here. A 1:10 departure from IAH will be difficult to make. If cannot change your flights to Hobby, can you at least change to a later flight from IAH? I would opt for something no earlier than 3:00 pm. Here's a couple of good reasons why this would be best:

 

• Your ship arrives in Galveston at 8:00am, I believe. In our experience, the earliest debarkations usually don't begin until 830 at best. First off the ship will be Diamond, Platinum, FTTF, and Self-Assist passengers. After that, you are called by your pre-assigned zone number. Not knowing your situation, I can't tell you what time you can expect to be off the ship, but I feel that it's unlikely it will be before 9:30 or 10:00.
  
• Once you are off the ship, you will proceed into the terminal to collect luggage (if you did not carry it off yourself), and proceed through customs. Here's where it can get bogged down. The operations at the Galveston cruise terminal are unpredictable. Congestion builds up quickly and frequently. And the porters and dock workers are union. They do not work for Carnival. And as dock workers union members, they are subject to union guidelines and restrictions when it comes to working hours, breaks and lunches. They can be forced to take lunch breaks right in the height of the debarkation process, and Carnival cannot do anything about it. We experienced this on the Magic on March 2 of this year. The terminal backed up so far that we did not get off the ship until 1130.
  

Look at our history below, and you will see that we have sailed out of Galveston quite a number of times. More than once, we have experienced some stressful and uncomfortable debarkations. Experience has taught us to plan ahead for any possible situation at Galveston. Of course, we are close enough to the port that we can drive and don't have to worry about catching flights. But the principle is still the same: you have just wrapped up by what will have been an enjoyable and memorable cruise aboard a beautiful ship. Why put yourself in a situation where the last thing you remember about your cruise is the stress of worrying if you will catch your flight. I urge you to look at all of your options. Feel free to throw your questions out here . . . and on the Galveston page on the Home Ports threads. We will do our best to offer suggestions.

My one cruise on Magic disembarkation was like herding cats. No one paid any attention to their "schedule".

At the International Café and some lounges:

Brewed coffee is $1.25/cup, most specialty coffees are $2.50-$2.75 for a regular size, espresso $1.75.

$33.35, including gratuity, buys a coffee card with fifteen punchouts for specialty coffees, and unlimited brewed coffee at the cafes and lounges that have brewed coffee. You can also use it in the dining rooms for specialty coffees. The server is directed to take two punch outs for double shot orders, some do, some don't.

Since the coffee card is for a discrete quantity it's not time limited. If there are punch outs remaining at the end of the cruise the card will carry over to the next cruise. The unlimited brewed coffee does not carry over.

__________________

If you are accustomed to good quality coffee, you definitely will want a coffee card. The vile concoction in the Horizon Court (buffet) is syrup based. Room service is also syrup based.

Not that syrup-based coffee is always a bad thing. My hometown source, http://www.javacoffee.com/, informs me there are different grades for syrup coffee, just as with ground coffee. Regardless of grade, the taste of syrup based is always going to be somewhat inferior to an equivalent grade of ground. Based on flavor, Princess must use the lowest grade (cheapest) available.

Not all ships have the Int'l Cafe. They do, however, have a Coffee Bar for regular and specialty coffees.

Yes you can. If you post a business name or link to a censored site' date=' a series of **** will appear in the posted name or link. It usually means that particular website has spammed our community with advertisements for their site. If it is another cruise or travel site such as ours, it would fall under [b']Other Cruise & Travel Sites[/b] in the Advertising Is Not Allowed section in the Guidelines.

 

Those of us that live in or near this port of call cannot recommend individual businesses in our area, but we can offer general information.

 

Do you mean this one, Galveston Park N Cruise? It is one of those mentioned here: http://www.galvestoncruisetips.com/getting-to-and-parking-for-galveston-cruise/. If so, their link is as follows: http://galvestonparkncruise.com/

 

If I remember correctly, Galveston Park N Cruise and Galveston VIP Cruise Parking are the only two of the various cruise parking lots in Galveston that do NOT offer a shuttle to and from the cruise terminals.

 

Kat

To repeat: Park N Cruise is across the street from the terminals.

At the International Café and some lounges:

Brewed coffee is $1.25/cup, most specialty coffees are $2.50-$2.75 for a regular size, espresso $1.75.

$33.35, including gratuity, buys a coffee card with fifteen punchouts for specialty coffees, and unlimited brewed coffee at the cafes and lounges that have brewed coffee.

You can also use it in the dining rooms for specialty coffees. The server is directed to take two punch outs for double shot orders, some do, some don't.

Since the coffee card is for a discrete quantity it's not time limited. If there are punch outs remaining at the end of the cruise the card will carry over to the next cruise.

The unlimited brewed coffee does not carry over.

__________________

If you are accustomed to good quality coffee, you definitely will want a coffee card. The vile concoction in the Horizon Court (buffet) is syrup based. Room service is also syrup based.

Not that syrup-based coffee is always a bad thing. My hometown source, http://www.javacoffee.com/, informs me there are different grades for syrup coffee, just as with ground coffee.

Regardless of grade, the taste of syrup based is always going to be somewhat inferior to an equivalent grade of ground. Based on flavor, Princess must use the lowest grade (cheapest) available.

Not all ships have the Int'l Cafe. They do, however, have a Coffee Bar for regular and specialty coffees.

I have seen older postings of where best to park when leaving out of Galveston. I am wondering if there are any new places this year or what is currently the easiest to use. We will be sailing on Carnival at the end of July. We would greatly appreciate hearing suggestions from past guests.

 

Thanks!

It's not new, but there's convenient covered parking across the street from the terminal.

Cruise critic doesn't allow a direct link.

Just google or bing the name "Galveston Park And Cruise" for a direct link.

True story:

The evening was cloud covered and drizzly until a solo soprano started singing Amazing Grace. The clouds parted and a full moon shone thru.

That experience was enough to convert a dedicated atheist into a believer!:)

ParkNCruise is directly across the street from the terminal.

First I park my car, then wheel luggage across the street to the terminal entrance.

Easy Peasy!:p

We are on this and noticed the day before everything was sold out except 31 balcony cabins. The following day they were gone. Any ideas on what happened? Maybe guarantees assigned?

We have an assigned cabin and are ok.

With Edinburgh Castle in the background, this show is a must see! 600 military musicians, with more than 100 bagpipers! Each tableau showed the extent of these military bands' skills in music, drill and even dance! The choreographers were all unique and original. The projections on the castles added to the magnificence of the event. Along with the Scottish Pipers were military bands from Switzerland, Chili, Japan, Nepal and New Zealand. The pinnacle of the event was the poignant performance of the Lone Piper on top of the castle! Unforgettable!

Was at Tabyana Beach last week and loved it would highly recommend

 

 

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If you used the ship's "excursion", do you recall how often the shuttle bus ran to/from the dock?

The cost of the insurance is much smaller than the deposit...

Except when you deposit with an FCC ($100).

How frequently does the shuttle bus make the trip to/from the dock?

Taxi cab costs approximately $160 to IAH from Galveston cruise terminal.

http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Houston&from=George+Bush+Intercontinental+Airport+(IAH)&to=Galveston+Cruise+Terminal

Personally, from Dallas, I would drive.

 

B

Probably quicker than flying.:rolleyes:

It must be beat up on Bayport/Houston time. Bayport certainly had their weather problems last season as did Galveston and a good part of the country. Hopefully this season will be more normal with less weather problems. The Houston shipchannel is used 24x7 by large cargo ships and is the most active port on the Gulf coast. I would say that the weather problems doesn't seem to bother the shipping. Nice part is that if you hate Houston/Bayport, you can go somewhere else. You will not be missed.

 

The new Bayport terminal is heads and shoulders above the minimally converted warehouses that Galveston uses.

The shipping barges are equally impacted. The Coast Guard determines whether ports are open or closed, not the ship captains.

At the International Café and some lounges:

Brewed coffee is $1.25/cup, most specialty coffees are $2.50-$2.75 for a regular size, espresso $1.75.

$33.35, including gratuity, buys a coffee card with fifteen punchouts for specialty coffees, and unlimited brewed coffee at the cafes and lounges that have brewed coffee. You can also use it in the dining rooms for specialty coffees. The server is directed to take two punch outs for double shot orders, some do, some don't.

Since the coffee card is for a discrete quantity it's not time limited. If there are punch outs remaining at the end of the cruise the card will carry over to the next cruise. The unlimited brewed coffee does not carry over.

__________________

If you are accustomed to good quality coffee, you definitely will want a coffee card. The vile concoction in the Horizon Court (buffet) is syrup based. Room service is also syrup based.

Not that syrup-based coffee is always a bad thing. My hometown source, http://www.javacoffee.com/, informs me there are different grades for syrup coffee, just as with ground coffee. Regardless of grade, the taste of syrup based is always going to be somewhat inferior to an equivalent grade of ground. Based on flavor, Princess must use the lowest grade (cheapest) available.

Not all ships have the Int'l Cafe. They do, however, have a Coffee Bar for regular and specialty coffees.

We just booked a cruise on Emerald in Feb. What problems did Princess have last year? Just curious?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Fog caused several late arrivals and departures.

And does anyone who has cruised out of Bayport during the past cruise season recommend spending the night of disembarkation, a Sunday this coming season with Princess, in downtown Houston (before flying home the next day) before transferring to Bush Airport? Someone on these boards mentioned there's not much to do in downtown Houston on Sundays, but there must be some museums or theaters open? Any hotels that are in a good location for sight seeing?

There is almost as much for a visitor to do in downtown Houston on Sunday as any other, just less traffic.:p

http://www.downtownhouston.org/

The Alley Theater for plays:

http://www.alleytheatre.org/alley/default.asp

I lost my cruise companion last year, so am new to solo cruising. Recently did my first inside to keep the cost down, and I was fine with it. Did the bridge cam on the TV with volume turned down overnight thing....worked great. Not thrilled with paying double, but it is what it is.

Try the Stick N Click light. I place one on the top shelf in the head.

Another in the cabin if you want a night light there.

http://www.amazon.com/Fulcrum-30010-301-Battery-Operated-Stick-On-Silver/dp/B000R7PM36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402321014&sr=8-1&keywords=stick+n+click

Bed Bath is another source.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/55798-stick-n-click-lights-set-of-3.html

I do remember seeing lots of empty spaces in February when we cruised out of Houston. I don't think there will be any problem with parking spots.

There well may be with two ships in port and Princess on Sunday.

My January cruise saw many empty slots, but the April trip the lot was near capacity. I recommend a reservation as early as possible.

Is brewed cafe available in horizon ?

 

 

 

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Nope.