lrn2cruise

Texas weather is hit or miss in January. It could be 70+ degrees with clear skies or it can be 40 degrees. Depends on a cold front coming through. Galveston is a great town but January is NOT beach weather even in Texas.

That quoted price of $1500 is the average price per person after they have discounted the fake base price.

"fake base price" Exactly. That is my point. Be up front and be honest. I don't like lying or playing manipulation games.

I am looking at a RC cruise for May 2019. The quoted price is 1500.00 for a balcony per person. There are 3 of us. One would be 50% off. At the final itemization, the first person goes up to 2500.00, the 2nd is 50% off of the 2500.00 and then our son is around 800.00

I was not the greatest math student, but I do know basic math. Who can explain this to me? If the price is 2500.00, then be up front about this price. I don't get this playing with numbers.

My son is 18 now and heading to college. My vote is to take your child out of school. In the big picture, as you look back over your child's life, that one week will blend in and you get quality time with your child. The school and the teacher will be upset (and very jealous) Even if your child's grade plumets downward, I think it is worth it. Prices are down also

We took my son's class on a short "C" cruise (port close to home and cheap) the kids told me about some behavior issues that happened with some other teens at the Ball Sports court. I couldn't believe what they were telling me! bulling. Our students were ok in the big pic and they are 18, but we didn't have any issues on RC like that. There are kids in the summer, so I would go during the school year if you can. My son just graduated, so finally hubby and I can travel during the school year. We are so excited!

I have to thank the OP on this thread.

 

This is how I discovered Ovation is coming to Alaska. I also booked this for August 2019 within 24 hours of first reading this thread. For our family with 2 teens, this provides the perfect storm of ship time with plenty of activities and the ease of round trip airfare to Seattle (a city I can’t wait to visit) plus Alaska! I can live with only 2 Alaskan ports, then we can splurge on one excursion. I think I will also like Victoria. With fewer port days we splurged on a JS with the extra large balcony.

I am way more excited about this cruise than our upcoming Caribbean one.

You are welcome! I heard from Jim Zimmerlin on youtube. Look up his channel. He does cruise videos and he is the one that announced OOS doing Alaska in 19'..

Sometimes your actions have unintended consequences. I may have been the last cruiser on earth who did not know about Ovation and Alaska. That changed when I saw your post. One hot minute later, my husband and I are booked also in July 2019 in a Grand Suite, on the forward edge of the midship bulge. Thank you!!!

What a blessing to be a in a Grand Suite! We are looking at July 19' also. Most likely at the end of the month. That is usually our vacate week.

Went on one carnival cruise. It was the last. The Dream was a nightmare. The boat listed to port all week. The food had a laxative effect. The vibrations at the stern were headache inducing. The entertainment was amateurish. I’m not a fan of cruising in general but RCI is much better than Carnival.

I feel the same way about Carnival and RCCL. We took my son's senior class on The Carnival Valor out of Galveston this past May 18' because it was cheap and short. The kids had a blast, but for me? I didn't like it at all. The pool deck was so loud and crazy. I saw really fat people (very obese) wearing bikinis, even a thong. The decor was, IMO tacky. The food in the dining room was good and that is all I will say that is positive. Oh, and our cabin steward was fine.

I feel that there is a better class of people on RCCL. I am just a Royal Fan. I hope to do Alaska on Ovation next summer. We have a kid in college, so I have to work extra this year to save for the cruise.

I would give yourself a few hours after disembarking to get to the airport. Best to fly out later in the day. Houston traffic can get bad. I would not want you to be stressed out.

This is exciting news for every RCI Texan!

Question about Galveston Port? I sailed this past May on Carnival out of Galveston with my son and his senior class. I thought the Porters were terrible. We walked our own luggage into the warehouse. Porters were just standing around and did nothing to offer.(of course we tip and tip to bless) I was very surprised by this. In Port Canaveral (RCC) it was totally different. Porters were willing to take our luggage with no problem. Is the RCC Port separate from Carnival and a totally different area? I have not done RCC out of Galveston, but really want to. I am in San Antonio, so getting there is easy. My son has graduated and our school year calendar is now free for the most part. I will never ever do Carnival Valor again. It was fine for the students because they don't know better. My son knew though, because he has been of Freedom of the Seas.

My friend is on a Greece Princess Cruise right now (July 12) They left out of Rome. I will ask her when she gets back in a day or two. I do know that they flew in a couple of days before the cruise and spent some time in Rome and got adjusted to time change and all.

We stayed at Cocoa Beach at the Marriott Cruise and Snooze package. Our transportation worked out great. Stepped out of the airport and there was the van to take us. I would rent a car at the airport if we did Port Canaveral again. Once we got to the hotel, we walked everywhere and we were tired. I think a car would have helped and then turn in before getting on to the boat. We had a GC for Marriott and it ended up costing us $9.00 for the night.

I am so sorry about your Driver from Hobby taking you out of Houston into Galveston. What a jerk. The driver knows Houston to Galveston if he is a true Houstonian. Give me a break. The Houston traffic can be horrific but there are ways to navigate and this driver should have known. I live in San Antonio and if we head east, there is always a mapping out of our timing to get through Houston. We left at 2:00 in the morning to head to Florida for one vacation. That got us to Houston at 5am before the morning traffic. I would think that there are plenty of transportation options to Galveston cruise port from both airports in Houston.

Our family likes the soda package on RCI better. RCI ships have the freestyle machines and will put a drink cup in your stateroom. We just got off Carnival in early May. No cups, unless you pay extra for it. You have to go to the bar and they fill a glass, then gave you a slip with a line for a tip.

I have not been on a newer Carnival ship, but I think you will find Royal a nice ship, nicer clientele. More family oriented. Carnival looked like a trashy party to me.

I just got off Carnival Valor with 11 Teens, mostly boys. They loved Guy's Burgers and piled several on their plates. The teens loved the food, but not sure if they even taste it when they eat it. Mongolian scored really low. Carnival food was good, but the rest of the cruise was way too chaotic for me. I personally will pick Royal anytime or day over Carnival. My son has been on Royal and he knew The Valor was no where near as nice of a cruise. His Classmates didn't know the difference. I love the fresh salads in the WJ. If i could go to The WJ every night for dinner, I would. Oh yea, we are not MDR people on Royal. Carnival was come as you are for most nights

I was given that cabin for my 50th bday reservation by RCCL Rep. I had to lose it, because we moved our date up a week and that cabin was not available. The Rep said it was the best.

We were diverted in July on FOS Eastern to Western because of a tropical storm. I guess any month it can happen, but more likely in Sept as well as the kids are in school

Your 12 year old will love the Anthem

This is my thought also. I think the 12 year old would have a blast on both, but I think The Anthem has even more for kids

Thanks for your replies. So, I am not missing anything then. No place to store info on future cruises that I find interesting. ok.

Royal, if you read this, please add a save button on your sight to save into our account like you use to have. Thank you.

We took 11 teenage graduating seniors on The Carnival Valor out of Galveston in early May. The muster was outside on deck 4. We were shoved in 4 lines and packed in like sardines. It was very HOT and a lady was already drunk and thought she was funny.

I think RCI does the muster better then Carnival, not that Royal was fun and it was hot (Port Canaveral in July). Carnival scared me a bit the way they checked in everyone. My impression was it was unorganized. On Royal, I could tell the lady from the cabin next to us was missing. It was obvious the way they have everyone line up. With Royal, I had more confidence that they accounted for all the passengers. Carnival seemed like a "free for all" I have noticed that some of Royals ships do their musters indoors. You might be able to go to the theater. I would ask

I dont tolerate heat well either. My BP meds make it tough and I have to watch it too. The only heat exhaustion I had was in Cozumel getting from the port to our transportation to Playa Mia with the kids. It was about a mile walk. The mile walk was ok, but I had my Land's End long sleeve swim shirt on. Never again will I wear the shirt off the ship getting to a location. The fabric does not breathe at all.

RCI use to have a way to save itineraries that were interesting in our account page.

I don't see any way to save a cruise when I am searching? Am I missing something?

I have several cruises that are interesting in and would like to save them somehow, instead of having to re-search the cruise I want to compare

TIA

I was actually thinking about Alaska on the Ovation for summer 19 as well. I am concerned about the reviews too.

Maybe the agent makes a better commission with Carnival?

Agreed. The site has RCI. The 2nd quote for for Carnival Breeze.

I told her that she is not giving me what I asked for and that I see no reason to continue working with her.

There are plenty of TA out there. No need to settle

I asked for a quote of LOS July cruise with a specific cabin. The TA got back to me with Carnival Freedom instead of Liberty of the Seas. I deleted the email and refuse to work with them.

I am feeling a bit peeved with this.

I just got an email notification of another Carnival cruise quote from her. I might need to block her.

#learningcurve