cruisinlife

Just got off Freedom on 8/4/19 and the Diamond Concierge was Francisco from Jamaica.  He was very friendly and helpful.

I know that Royal Caribbean flies the Bahamian Flag because that's where their ships are registered, I also know that when they are in port they fly the country flag of whatever port they are in. My question is: Whenever Royal Caribbean ships are in a U.S. port, do they fly the U.S. Flag, the State Flag of that port or both ?

Thank You in advance for your responses.

71 Days !!

Please tell Morris that Teri and Paul say "HI" and will see him in 18 days and we can't wait. He is AWESOME !!

Thanks !!!

Bill.

Thanks for the great review. My wife and I would like to do the Hawaii Itinerary either from Hawaii to Vancouver in April or Vancouver to Hawaii in September. As a general rule, are the seas calmer in April or September and which time frame would the weather be the best ?

Thanks in advance for any and all responses !

Paul

Thanks for the invite, Bette and Bill. I have been following the Roll Call when I can. My wife and I will be on this cruise. I'm sure we will see you around the ship.

Thank You for the review and the Great Pictures !! We set sail this Friday on the Navigator on this itinerary and this gets us in the mood even more.

I stand corrected it's $29.95 for a rider.

Yes, they charge for a rider. I think it's around $40.

83 %

Just off Oasis this past Saturday, September 17th. I had the Royal Replenish package pre-paid at $19 a day and my friend purchased the Royal Replenish package on the ship for $26 a day. Both of these included drinks from the "Stand Alone Starbucks", in Starbucks cups as well and also included Fraps. We could also get Seattle's Best Specialty coffees from Cafe Promenade and Park Cafe.

Yesterday, Sunday, August 7th, we purposely got the last luggage tag # that Royal Caribbean had (#50), because our flight wasn't until 3:45 pm out of Hobby and our shuttle reservation was for noon. Our # was called around 10 am and once we got off the ship the line never stopped moving. We collected our bags and went straight to customs line without using a porter. We were outside in the heat and humidity by 10:20 am. Not only have we heard the horror stories of Galveston departures, but we have experienced them as well. I was expecting 45 minutes to an hour of wait time inside the terminal and the only time we even stopped walking was to collect bags and gather our group back together.

I give a thumbs up to the new terminal if for nothing else but spreading people out.

As promised, here is my report on Galveston Express Shuttle. On Sunday, July 31st, our driver "Ben" was 15 minutes early for our 10:30 am reservation and when we got to the port area, traffic was backed up, but he knew a few of the tricks to get around the traffic and got us to the terminal fairly quickly. Today, August 7th, we were fortunate to have Ben as our driver again. He was almost 10 minutes early for our 12 noon reservation and had us to Hobby airport by 12:45 pm. I have nothing but great things to say about the promptness, the professionalism of our driver, cleanliness of the shuttles and the overall service. The only negative is that we got through customs so quickly (without using a porter either) and we had to wait outside for over an hour before our scheduled time. With all the horror stories of going through customs in Galveston, I was expecting 45 minutes to an hour and it was maybe 5 minutes at most.

So "Yes", I would use them again and "Yes", I would recommend them.

Our group of 14 is scheduled on a Private Shuttle, round trip to and from Hobby with them on 7/31-8/7. I have had nothing but good dealings with them so far in the reserving part . I will report back on our experience after the trip.

You are so right Bob, many members of my family get the kids menu brownie almost every night on every cruise we take. We sail in 10 days and they are already craving it.

Thanks for the review and as others have stated, nice writing style !!

My question is, Does Royal do the valet luggage service out of Galveston ? I have been looking at many Cruise Compasses and cannot find any info on it. I'm guessing that means "NO", but thought I would ask just in case.

Thanks in Advance.

We do not have our own equipment and we quit snorkeling when the group was done. Sorry that I can't be more helpful on that. No loungers on Rendezvous just the straw mats that you mentioned plus our towels from the ship. Seems like we were back on the ship 1:00-1:30, in fact we grabbed a quick bite to eat and still had time to tender into Belize to do a little shopping.

We have done Rendevous Cay before and plan on doing it again next month. We were picked up from the ship by the excursion without having to tender into Belize and brought back directly to the ship. The island is beautiful and the snorkeling good. They divide us up into 3 groups; beginner, advanced and expert. I highly recommend this excursion.

75 DAYS !!! Just made final payment !!!!

69 days !!!!

If I remember correctly, Jethro was torn between being a fry cook and a brain surgeon.:p

Hey Bob,

Jethro also attempted to be a "Double Knot" Spy and a Street Car Conducter.

For those of you who have done the Hawaii Cruise to/from Vancouver, is there a better time to do this cruise (April or September) due to the weather ?

Thanks in advance for the info.

112 days !!!

Sailed last month on Indy and had some of the best service ever on RC and we are almost D+. Our stateroom attendant Asep was tremendous and he opened our balcony divider for us as well. Go see Matica and Owens in Olive or Twist, they are a BLAST!!! The Ice Show was the best we have seen on RC. We were fortunate that Beatlemania was one of our Headliner Shows, what a Fantastic show. We are booked again in October on Indy and cannot wait. Go and have a wonderful time!!!