ceilidh1

The Ports: Our ports are Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. We have been to all before – this trip is more about the ship. Given that we are sailing at the tail end of hurricane season, I wanted to do ports that we would not be disappointed to miss, should the worst case scenario happen (looks like we dodged that bullet so far). We decided to do a sloth tour in Roatan and booked through Tucan Tours. It’s apparently a private tour that goes to Daniel Johnson sloth park, the iguana park, and the town. I booked on their website and got a confirmation, but payment is not until the tour itself. I have had no communication from them since the booking, so I’m hoping it goes as planned! Sloths, Monkeys & Iguana Encounter - Roatan Tucan Aventures (roatantucanadventures.com) In Costa Maya, we usually do Maya Chan, but this is still closed for the season. There were no excursions that appealed to all three of us so we are going to call this a “sea day”. For Cozumel we booked our favourite Paradise Beach with a daybed. The best all inclusive beach club in Cozumel | Paradise Beach Cozumel

The "Upgrade": One of the draws of this class of ship for DD was the neighbourhood balconies. She is fascinated by them and desperately wanted to stay in one. When I booked, the only option for these was a guarantee (I should add that, at the time, this was more expensive than booking an oceanview balcony even though it was a lower category). I’m not picky about room location, so went ahead with the guarantee neighbourhood balcony. I did not put in any bids for the Royal Up, as we had purposely booked this room type for a reason. Our room was assigned about 3 weeks ago and they had “upgraded” us (for free) to an oceanview balcony. DOH. I did try calling to see if we could go back to neighbourhood, but by this point all rooms to accommodate 3 were sold out. Needless to say, DD was disappointed. I was a little miffed at the fact that I could have just paid less and got an oceanview from the start. It won’t ruin our trip, but it was a negative first impression.

The Extras: One thing I never really thought about with RC (my own fault for not researching well) was that the fare is very basic. I am used to lines such as Princess and NCL where they bundle the most popular extras. RC doesn’t do that, and everything needs to be added separately. And the everything is pricey! I read about watching pricing for the extras and found that it did change quite dramatically – discounts ranging from 10% to 35% on the components I was interested in. I did appreciate the ability to book, and then cancel and rebook at the lower price (as an aside, after several years trying to battle the Princess site and app I have to say that the RC process was an absolute dream). I did find the constant emails from RC telling me about all the things I should buy a little annoying, but they did often feature some kind of discount. I added the alcohol package for myself, at a 35% discount, and the refreshment package for each kid, also at a 35% discount. I was considering the all-inclusive dining package but quickly decided against it when I discovered you couldn’t pre-reserve the restaurants. I’m not up for paying ahead and possibly not getting into what I want. We looked at Wonderland and 150Park and did originally book both, but then decided that they were things we didn’t really have to do and, for the price, weren’t sure we would appreciate! Instead, we booked both the Hibachi and the sushi as two separate lunches at a 35% discount – saved a lot of money and we all love both sushi and hibachi! For internet, I purchased one package for 3 devices as this seemed to be the best value – we will all just use one device each and share the log in. I should mention that the booking came with a decent amount of OBC and I was able to use that for all my pre-purchases (once again, Princess should take note) so the final bill for all of the add-ons wasn’t as scary as I had thought it would be, but it still makes that “bargain” cruise less of a bargain!

Pre-Cruise: Living in Vancouver, flights are outrageous prices to just about anywhere – including Houston! I had a discount code for Air Canada (the only non-stop option from Vancouver) so was able to save a little money by using that, but the flights still added another $2500CAD to our “bargain” cruise. I refuse to fly in same day, so looked at options for a hotel in Galveston – last time we stayed at Homewood Suites and, while the hotel was fine, it was so far away from EVERYTHING. Even just to go for lunch, we would need to get an Uber. This time I was interested in staying near the Strand so ended up booking Harbor House. It was more pricey than I would have liked, but I had an Amex offer to get $100 credit on hotel bookings plus there was a deal if you booked 2 nights so I ended up getting 2 nights at Harbor House for $800CAD (still more than I wanted but I figured we can walk to everything we want to do so no need for Uber costs). Harbor House Hotel & Marina at Pier 21 | Official Site (harborhousepier21.com) I did splurge on the transfer from IAH to Galveston as we use a private car company that we love and (in my opinion) well worth the extra cost. We use Highrollers by Shugg – Erika (the owner) is fabulous and always makes a stop at Buccee’s on the way to Galveston. Roundtrip, including gratuity and taxes, was $360USD. I did think of doing the cheaper shuttle option, but after all day travelling it is nice to just have no stress or worry. Highrollers By Shugg | Transportation Service in Humble, TX

Background: On this sailing will be myself, DD (17) and DS (13). We have all sailed many times, usually on Princess, but starting to explore other lines. We are very spoiled as we live within an 8 minute walk of the cruise port in Vancouver – for this reason, the majority of our cruises have been Alaska or West Coast (no flight costs). This sailing on Harmony was all my DD’s doing. She had been begging to sail on Wonder ever since it was first announced as a build. I occasionally looked and was horrified at pricing, so ruled it out very quickly. I will admit that I’m also not a “mega ship” kind of gal – not that I’ve sailed on a true mega ship, but I dislike crowds, lines, over stimulation, pretty much all the things I think of when I think of these huge ships. However, we were looking at something to do this summer, and the Harmony sailing on August 25th popped up with a great deal. DD was fine with it not being Wonder, given that much of what appealed to her was on Harmony. Without even thinking about it, I booked…and immediately got buyer’s remorse. After paying that non-refundable deposit, I started to discover that this bargain cruise was not such a bargain after all...

This is my first time posting on RC boards, so be gentle with me! I have only sailed RC once before, a long time ago (pre-kids), on Serenade of the Seas. While the cruise was “fine” there was nothing that made me anxious to book another RC sailing, and I stuck to my (former) favourite, Princess for a long time. Well, things have changed, I started exploring other options, other lines, other itineraries…and here we are!

I feel like I had an identical conversation with my 13 year old yesterday! Me: Can you grab your raincoat 13yo: Where is it? Me: In the closet, under your sister's raincoat 13yo: It's not there Me: I literally just put it there yesterday 13yo: It's not there Me: It is. Look under your sister's raincoat 13yo: It's not there Me: (stomping down the stairs to the closet). IT'S RIGHT THERE! 13yo: Oh. I didn't think you meant on a hanger. I was looking on the floor under the raincoat. Me: sigh

YAY! Virtually waving you off from the office in East Van...

Wait, what? The app is functioning properly?? I must have missed that press release....😜

I am sailing on RC next week (not very familiar with them at all) and they have a specialty dining unlimited package for purchase. I was considering buying it UNTIL I found out that you are not permitted to pre-reserve any of the restaurants - book onboard only. No way was I going to risk not getting the places I wanted after purchasing the package. I wonder if Princess would go that route - only allow paid reservations ahead of time and then take your chance with the packages? I also learned from the boards that RC doesn't allow you to pre-pay and then get the refund after the fact (which I believe Princess still does)....

Ah, ok! So they are for purchase! That’s what I thought…

Wait, what??? Inky is for keeps? I’ve always left inky in the room, assuming it was akin to taking home the towels (I mean…not saying I don’t have some red and white striped VV towels in my closet….)

So instead of getting double you got negatives?

Has anyone sailed and had the double credits applied yet?

I don't think you drank enough...🤣

Sad that it's over...but happy you are coming home so we can relive it all in person!

Living the Dream....so proud of you!

Coffee...with cream...with sugar...with whatever you want...🤣

On the subject of weird coffee phrases...I lived in Vancouver for 10 years before learning what a "Double Double" was because I was too embarrassed to ask.

I was just about to say....no way is white coffee that fancy in the UK. White coffee (and white tea) is "with milk" (or cream if you're fancy and lucky)

Nailed it! A stick of rock is mandatory for any visit to the seaside. Often brought back as a present (souvenir). It's pretty much a well-known fact that no one actually LIKES sticks of rock. But they must be purchased. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

The staple in my house is tuna, cheese, and pineapple pizza. You're welcome...

I have never been anywhere French...

Did you buy a stick of rock? You can't go to the seaside and not buy a stick of rock.

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