Texas Tillie

There certainly was for the Jan 18 - Feb 3 segment, Rich Bloch, who used to introduce the show when Crystal had the relationship with the Magic Castle. He was great, as I've found all the magicians to be. Patty

I’ll be interested to see which Tastes dishes will survive. Time will tell. 😀 Patty

Yes, the serving area is where it always was on Serenity. Not sure if the bar area was changed. Tables, chairs, wallpaper, sconces are all new.

Try houstontranstar.org, that's the site with all the traffic info

No reservations for Tastes at lunch, but reservations at dinner, unless that's changed in the past few weeks. Patty

Just an FYI for anyone wanting to dine a a local restaurant, Willie G's is part of the Landry's conglomerate, a national chain. Go to enough Landry's various concepts and you'll find the food is more alike than different. And, yes, I know Landry's is owned by Tilman Fertitta, a Galveston native, but don't expect any of his locations on the island to be any different than the same ones any other place.

Then why do you bother to follow the Silversea board?

The odds are with you. The one fly in the ointment, Southwest has very few flights out of IAH, it's HOU where they predominate, and they do not put you on another carriers flight if there is an issue with their flight.

Silversea merged their airline booking into Royal Caribbean. Since then they go for the cheapest possible and charge for any and all deviation including coming in earlier than day of sailing except for the very few sailings that still provide a hotel on Door to Door. All the cruise lines are looking for any place to cut costs, but Silversea seems to be out front with it.

I was on the ship that date and after looking at the menu, I'm sure I ordered the chicken broth and the veal scallopini.

The math speaks for itself. It's just a matter of deciding if the food, service and enrichment on Crystal is that much better to justify the price difference. My one experience with Silversea says, yes, Crystal is that much better. YMMV. Patty

Only the Symphony is transiting the Red Sea, under protection of the US Navy. Since they paid next to nothing for the Symphony, maybe they aren't too worried about insurance coverage, like you carry just liability insurance on your 10 year old car.

Not sure you can purchase wine other than at the duty free store and you need to be on an international outgoing flight to purchase there and the bottles are delivered to your flight. Also, there are 5 terminals at IAH and you won't be flying into the international terminal.

Crystal has trash cans by all the elevators.

Think of the carving station that's always at the front of the hot part of the buffet, they have whole turkeys, whole pork loins, etc. already cooked. Put them in the fridge and use them in a day or so in another recipe. If it's a casserole and there's an extra, send it to the cruise mess. I'm sure they are pretty good at knowing how much to prepare, but it can't be 100% all the time. Patty

Very few people post these days on the Crystal roll calls. There is no indication as to how many are booked based on activity there. Patty

It got to be that I'd go to check out how the hard boiled egg penguins were decorated. Never did take even one! 🤪 Patty

Question in regards to food waste, my understanding is that if the food has been placed at the serving station and is still there when the venue closes, it must be thrown away. However, things prepared but still in the galley can be used again, either for guests or the crew galley. Correct or no? Patty

No offense intended to Julia, but I wish people would stop asking this question. Crystal says gratuities are included. Extra gratuities, if any, is very personal. Do what you think is right or don't do anything else. Patty

Think I remember reading that Greyhound had closed the bus terminal near downtown Houston. Check on it.

The problem is the difference between the subject of this thread - Hobby Airport Hotel with shuttle - and seeming to indicate you are referring to a Galveston hotel. Are you flying into Hobby or driving to Galveston? FYI, Hobby is at least 40 miles from Galveston. We need to understand exactly what you are doing before we can make suggestions.

I am doing the same cruise 2 weeks before yours. I booked door to door and that includes a bus transfer from Anchorage to Seward. The train would be an extra $250 charge. I elected to not add the train as I've done the transfer 3 times before and at least part of the way the train tracks run parallel to the highway. Since you were told to go to the Egan Center - the convention center in downtown Anchorage - I believe you will also be on the bus. All buses to Seward, no matter which cruise line, leave from the Egan Center. Suggest you do a Google search of a map for downtown Anchorage to locate the Egan Center.

At this time, the other cabins not designated as solo are usually (important distinction) available at 50% single supplement for that category, or about 40% more than those designated as solo. The only difference is the location more midship. I don't know about the identical cabins on the other decks with a balcony. Those are also identical to the Deck 7 cabins except the balcony. All suites are 100% single supplement usually (see above). I'm a long time Crystal cruiser and have done 1 Silversea with another booked and can tell you that everything on Crystal, especially food and service is better. Others disagree, but that's the way life goes!! 😱 Patty

Yes, it worked and yes, we want to see them. Thank you Patty

No way canola can be grown in Texas, it gets way too hot in the summer. However, we have plenty of things that set off allergies. April will have all kinds of pollens floating around. And, fyi, the area you mentioned isn’t considered South Texas, there’s a lot more Texas south of those areas. Welcome to Texas!!