ummgood

27 minutes ago, ssb said:

Call them:

 

Port of Galveston Parking (owned by Port)

 

Private parking lots

Dolphin

EZ

Falstaff

Lighthouse

Port Parking  

Park and Cruise

VIP

Do you have any experience?  I can call and they say it is all fine and dandy but it doesn't mean I get actual first hand accounts of people who have used them.  For example I have called hotels before and some employees have no clue.  I was looking for people with EV's who have first hand experience using a particular lot and what their experience was.

We have a cruise scheduled to leave Galveston in Sept.  Anyone have an EV (we have a Tesla) that has parked and plugged in during their cruise?  Who do you recommend?  Any extra requirements like calling the parking facility in advance?

6 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

Missing the point?? Just because YOU have decided what you think the point of this thread is doesn’t make it so.  
 

Have you not noticed that people see your point of view? It’s not that we don’t understand what you are saying, it’s that we don’t agree.

 

BTW you can’t stay at any resort you choose as you stated. You can’t go to an adults only resort with children either. Same thing.

It just came to me that Carnival isn't the only one that does this.  We actually love Hyatt Ziva all-inclusives.  They are a 'family' resort just like Carnival with water slides and a kids buffet.  They have kids clubs and teen clubs so it is safe to say they are targeted at families just like Carnival.  They have this exact same booking restriction.  The resort allows kids of all ages but there are rooms called swim-up Jr. Suites.  If you have a child under the age of 13 you CANNOT book those rooms.  These rooms allow you access to a separate pool that spans the length of those rooms.  Other resorts allow you to book a swim-up room with a child but Hyatt does not.  They don't want kids splashing around in those particular pools and if you have a child that is under that age it is impossible to book them.  This seems like the same exact situation as the Cabana area.

My kids are 8, 11, and 16.  While I think they would love the cabana area and I don't think they would get that rowdy I respect the age restriction.  We are going to Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana in May and I was wondering why I couldn't book a swim up for that trip but someone online let me know why.  I didn't pitch a fit I just booked a Club Jr. Suite for us and we'll use the main pool.  Anyway I figured I would give examples of other types of accommodations that have the exact same restriction.  I don't mind it and we'll be spending a couples trip in the Cabanas in September.

13 minutes ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

 

that would sour me too, not nearly enough compensation and too many strings attached. Reminds me of a story I'll never forget about our first family royal cruise. We all wanted showers before muster. Hubby turns on the water and it was freezing cold despite being all the way hot. We knew it wasn't going to get fixed before muster so we all took the coldest showers of our lives then reported it.

 

After dinner, maintenance arrived and quickly left without saying anything. The guy came back with a couple bottles of wine and champagne and cookies for the kids. Barely keeping a straight face, he apologized profusely because the knobs were installed incorrectly and the hot water was on the cold water side of the dial!

 

We all laughed so hard and we still laugh about it to this day.

thats hilarious. We actually have had that problem enough times we try the cold tap too if we haven’t gotten any hot water.

28 minutes ago, lottiegreen56 said:

Victory right above the casino was the loudest room I've ever had. We thought the people next door slept with the TV on to the music channel at first but what we heard was music all freaking night. That was the first and last time I ever did a PVP picked room, believe we paid an extra 100 each too! 

 

The worst room though was Sunshine 1st floor inside all the way aft. It was great for darkness and being quiet but the room never got below 78 degrees and there were two hidden portions of the floor missing just outside the bathroom and immediately inside the door that caused DH and I to both twist our ankles 3-4 times each on a 7 day cruise. 

 

We went 20 years without as much as a hiccup with our rooms, then went on a 2 year stretch of something always being wrong with it, regarding noise or a/c. Haven't had the issue for a couple years so hopefully it's behind us.

 

I must say, never had a bad cabin on Royal or Princess. Cruised them about half as much as carnival but still a lot. We frequently do inside cabins on the first or second floor for sleep purposes no matter what line we're on. Excited to try another Carnival Suite though.

Our only bad room was on Royal on Liberty of the seas. We had an aft corner wrap balcony which was amazing until we realized we had no hot water during our 7 day cruise. We called every day and they tried to fix it but we never got hot water. We got $200 toward a future cruise that expired within 12 months but we couldn’t use it because we have 3 kids and didn’t have a good time we could go the following year. We thought it was lousy compensation. We haven’t been back on Royal since. 

On 1/18/2020 at 2:03 PM, Amadawn1 said:

You will love (hopefully!) the cabin and location.  Don't know if you've sailed on her before, but if you're a coffee drinker just a head's up that there are actually two specialty coffee bars.  The main "Shake Shack" location that usually has a line and the Ocean Plaza bar, right around the corner from your cabin.  No one seems to notice that it's there. The only day it was not open was debarkation day.  Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks it is our first time to try Carnival!  We don’t cruise much. We have done two Disney Cruises and a Royal. 

16 hours ago, Amadawn1 said:

Absolutely agree!  Though the Havana Cabanas on the Vista had surprisingly little noise, even though they were right next to Ocean Plaza.  Ours was the second cabin (5203) from the elevators/ocean plaza, and there are doors to the Havana Cabana hallway that they close in the evening.  I was shocked at having no noise in that area at night.

this is great to hear. We have that cabana booked in Sept on Vista. I heard the rooms on the other side get some noise from the live music in ocean plaza. 

48 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Why so many people cruise and then complain when ports are missed is beyond me.

If you are on land then you are not cruising. It's not like you've booked a flight and it has to divert for technical or other reasons. You are on a ship "CRUISING".

The ports, (though I accept not to many people), are largely irrelevant. I couldn't care less where the ship gets to, the vacation is the ship not the ports.

Hope you stuck your hands in your pockets and gave out all those extra tips for the extra service you got.

Let's put it in another perspective.  I usually do two types of Caribbean vacations, cruising and all inclusive.  The entire reason we cruise is not to be on a boat but to have an all inclusive vacation where we get to site see in other countries.  If I wanted to be stuck at the resort all the time I would go to an all inclusive instead.  With an all inclusive you get better food (at least at the ones I go to), you get a bigger room, you get a beach there and larger pools.  Some like cruising to stay on the boat but there are a LOT of people like me that like the fact that you are going to different countries and get to have your room and dining go along with you.

If I was on a cruise that couldn't dock because of ship difficulties then I definitely would want some sort of compensation because I went on the cruise to go places and see new islands etc...

On airplanes whenever I travel if there are mechanical difficulties that delay or change my itinerary there is usually compensation.  When I fly to Europe those airlines actually have to pay $800 euros for a disruption for more than 2 hours to someones trip on an international flight.  You might not get annoyed when your trip is completely changed on you but it is completely unreasonable to expect someone else who is cruising to not be disappointed and not want compensation.  I would go stir crazy if I was on a ship for 5 days straight.  I need to get off at ports and sight see.  My wife is completely different and that is why cruising works for us.

2 hours ago, nissach said:

I believe our cruise on the Panorama in March is also sold out of HE category rooms.  Which tells me people love the idea.

It is definitely a popular option.  There are still some Havana Aft Balconies available but none of the Havana Cabanas.

I will also say that there are age restrictions in so many things.  I have 3 kids and I accept that there are certain things we cannot do as a family.  It is what it is.  That doesn't prevent me from enjoying those things when we go somewhere without the kids.

Also all this class stuff is nonsense.  Nothing is preventing anyone from spending money based on class.  Back in the early 1900's there was a class problem.  People in lower classes were not able to achieve a higher class.  It is still that way in many countries.  I spoke to a cab driver in Budapest and he was so excited that I was from the USA.  It was his dream to move there so he could have opportunities that seemed impossible to achieve in Hungary.  That is why the USA is so amazing because anyone with ambition can accomplish whatever they are capable of.  It might be difficult and they might have obstacles to overcome but it is doable.  I grew up in a small farming town where my parents were very poor.  They pushed and pushed me to do my best and achieve the best.  I am not filthy rich but because of my parents and working hard I am able to book a Havana Cabana.  If it was a class system that would not be possible.

I had the same issue.  If you want a Havana Cabana then on a lot of online websites for booking cruises you have to first go into the 'oceanview' category not the 'balcony' category to find them.  It was really strange and I figured it out because the oceanview category had rooms that cost more than the balconies and I realized it was because the Havana Cabana rooms were classified as oceanview not balcony.

After you click on oceanview then look at deck 5 to select your stateroom.  That is where all the HE category rooms are at.

4 hours ago, nissach said:

I get that you are totally against this.  But Carnival has created this area I am guessing because it is what guests have asked for.  If down the road it ends up being something that does not seem to fit the majority of their passengers or the Havana rooms are not being booked, then they will likely change it.  I personally feel it will it not change in the near future.

No one is being 'forced' to pay double.  It is a choice you have.  If it is too expensive then a family would book a different room.

I agree with you and in my case it really helped me book a Carnival cruise when I had no desire to previously.  I am pretty excited about it (maybe unfounded).  Also I will say that the Havana Cabana cabins are completely sold out for our cruise (HE category) and it is months away.  Most of the other room categories I looked at (suites and nice balconies) there was plenty of availability so I believe that it must not be that hard for them to charge the extra 1k over a normal balcony for a HE category room.

I checked out 4 cruises (out of Galveston) and on each of them there were maybe 2 or 3 available HE rooms at the time when the ship had plenty of options otherwise.

I never have cruised Carnival before but just booked a Havana Cabana room on Vista for Sept. I wanted to give a different perspective. I wouldn’t have booked Carnival if it wasn’t for this room and the exclusive pool area.   We take a vacation without our kids (now 8-16 years old) every year to get a break. My wife and I have been on a RCCL cruise and two Disney Cruises several years ago. I love Cruises and my wife not so much. She doesn’t enjoy the pools or how crowded the lido deck is. After our first few cruises we switched to going to all inclusive resorts (Hyatt Ziva is our favorite) and don’t mind resorts with kids. The reason is she gets a better pool experience. My issue is I missed the adventure of our resort moving from port to port and the better entertainment on cruise ships. When I found the Havana Cabana rooms on Carnival it was easy for her to agree to try it. 
 

I would venture to say the reason some think it is the “best pool and hot tub area” is because it is exclusive. Even if you come in after 7 I am guessing most of the ship passengers don’t think to go down there so it still is less crowded. 
 

As far as it being compensated by other paying passengers I disagree. I am paying a LOT more for that room (almost $1k) more than a normal balcony. I think my additional cost increase is what compensates for the exclusive area. 
 

With all of that said I wouldn’t have a problem if kids were allowed in the area as long as some rules were setup and enforced. For example anyone under the age of 18 required an adult present after 7. That means the parents have to be supervising the kids not in the bar without supervising.  Hearing about teens lying about their age the staff should ask room number and name and verify the age. Every passenger has DOB on file. If enough people on Carnival complained to management if they saw this happening they might do something about it. 
 

Anyway I can’t wait to try out Carnival and the Havana Cabanas. It relieves me that people won’t be passing by our room as much after reading this post. 

22 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Sorry, I can't read the article, because the last time I turned off my adblocker for the Miami Herald article linked above, it corrupted my virus ware, so I won't do it again.  However, the "non-sewage" gray water system would be the food disposal system, and this is not allowed to be stored in the ballast tanks without treatment.  If these systems had been cross-connected to allow untreated water into the ballast water, the court-appointed monitor and the third party auditors would have found this long ago.  These days, even clean ballast water, taken onboard at sea is supposed to be treated before it is discharged.

Thanks for the info.  Here is their quote:

"

Gray water is water left over from showers, baths, sinks and laundry facilities. Untreated gray water can contain bacteria, pathogens, oil and grease, detergent and soap residue, metals, solids and nutrients, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The U.S. prohibits cruise ships from discharging untreated gray water within three miles from land. Carnival Corp. policy prohibits gray water discharges within 12 miles from land. The Intentional Maritime Organization, a United Nations body charged with preventing ocean pollution, does not regulate gray water."

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

While this sounds serious according to an uninformed media type, it shows that the "process" is working (the problem was located quickly, it was reported, and they are working to find ways to prevent it in future).  And the "uninformed" part of my statement is because what they somewhat sensationalize is really a very technical violation.  This "gray water", which is in the ship's ballast tanks, is actually treated effluent from the waste water plant.  The water has been treated to near clear drinking water quality, but is nevertheless classified as "gray water" as long as it is in the ship.  The ship is not allowed to place untreated water into the ballast tanks.  So, while this is a "technical" violation, in that the water, by definition, should not have been discharged, it posed absolutely no hazard to the environment.

https://www.bradenton.com/news/state/florida/article238937103.html

This article states that it was untreated gray water.  

I am currently booked on Carnival Vista in a Havana Cabana room just to lock that in.  It worked for our dates and seemed like a fun room category for our 20th.  The ports are different than we have done.  If something else better comes up we can always move the reservation.

18 minutes ago, VideoTech said:

First of all, Galveston cruises (unless the ship is repositioning at the end of a season) are unlikely to go anywhere except Western Caribbean. It's simply a matter of how far they can travel and get back again in 5 or 7 days.

 

As to cruise lines, it really depends on what you're looking for. They all offer the same basic product, but each has a different kind of vibe. We would not willingly sail Carnival ever again, as the ships in the smaller ports like Galveston tend to be much older, and the cruise line has a deserved reputation as a "party" cruise line, which is not our thing. 

 

My DW recently completed a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston and was very disappointed with Enchantment. We've cruised one or two of Royal's larger ships, and been happy with them, but she felt Enchantment simply was too old and run down, with few options for dining. Allure of the Seas will be cruising out of Galveston soon, and that ship is certainly new, up to date, and huge, with plenty of options for dining and entertainment. 

 

Beyond Carnival and Royal, I believe Disney sails out of Galveston. Very different style of cruising, oriented towards families and children. No casino if that's part of what you like on a cruise. 

 

You can go to New Orleans, which isn't that far away, and you add the choice of NCL. As you'll see by my sig, we are longtime NCL cruisers and really like their product. But again, you'll mostly have Western Caribbean itineraries. 

 

So, unless it's just out of the question, I would consider flying to a Florida port. This opens up the whole of the Caribbean itineraries to you, and adds several other cruise lines to the equation. For special cruise like you're planning, I'd suggest either an NCL ship in a Haven cabin, or perhaps a Celebrity ship in a suite. 

Thanks so much for your input.  There are some newer Carnival ships sailing out of Galveston too.  We really prefer not to fly if possible.  We haven't sailed enough out of Galveston to exhaust all the ports yet.

Does anyone have any comments on a Carnival Havana Cabana room?  I might book one of those because it seems a little extra special for an anniversary cruise.

2 minutes ago, ssb said:

Adventure Galveston to Copenhagen 

I wish I could but I don't have that much vacation 🙂

I guess I should have clarified a 7 or 8 night cruise would be ideal.

Hi Everyone!

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2020 and were thinking of taking a cruise to celebrate.  We have been on 3 cruises before.  2 DCL cruises on the Wonder with our 3 kids way back in 2012 and 2013.  We also took a cruise on Liberty of the Seas a few years ago out of Galveston 4 years ago.  Our Galveston cruise went to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  I would like something different.

We would want to leave in the September or October of 2020 timeframe.

So the question is how nice are the Carnival ships out of Galveston now?  Should we stick to Royal Carribbean or go with something new?  We would also like to visit different ports so that is part of the requirement even though I don't think my wife would complain about Cozumel again but not Belize or Roatan.

We typically don't mind the dining room food but would probably want it better than what we experienced on Liberty of the Seas.  We also don't mind eating a couple times at upgraded restaurants.  We would also want to consider different drink packages when deciding what to book.  Any pros/cons?  I would love to hear everyone's opinion of the ships currently sailing out of Galveston and the itineraries for ideas.

The "extra fee showers" on DCL are part of the Rainforest Room and are NOT for showering, shampooing, etc. There ARE showers in the locker rooms on DCL that anyone can use as the locker rooms are shared by the fitness center and the spa. You can't accidentally find yourself in the Rainforest Room showers.

Thanks for that info! You wouldn't find me in there anyway because of what I said above. That is just what I was thinking was if they charge I would have probably asked if my wife could have used them for free considering we had no hot water. The first day was pretty bad because it was really cold when I showered. Then we realized it would get luke warm if we let it run for a long time. So what we did was I would let it run for say 10 minutes and then would shower and then leave it on as I dried myself. Then my wife would get in and it would be slightly warmer and tolerable but definitely not a decent warm shower. I showed the manager this and he even timed it for about 10 minutes on his watch and gave up. The temp did go up over time but even with the faucet turned to max heat it never got hot enough to feel not cold if that means anything. We tolerated it until it was fixed.

Not trying to minimize your hot water issues, but there are showers in the fitness center that are available in case you experience another hot or cold water emergency. These showers can also be useful just to alleviate demand on the one cabin bathroom.

Actually that crossed my mind. We had worked out there on the first sea day. I wasn't sure if they charged for them or not. I know Disney has some fancy showers that cost extra so I wasn't sure if it was like that or not. My plan was if they couldn't fix it when the managers got involved then I would have probably asked for that access for free. Turns out it was already free. It is a pain to lug up all your clothes and stuff. And to be honest when I was in Jr. High and High School I was overweight and was picked on relentlessly in the locker room so I still have a phobia of showering in public like places. So I probably would have showered with cold water vs. in the fitness center but my wife probably would have used it.

I think you are right in that it may be worth the extra $500pp. And we will someday. We are 4 (2 booked) cruises away from diamond. So it will be a while. The other problem is we want to try HAL and Celebrity some day also. First class problems for certain! Blessed!

haha Yep definitely first class issues. I don't have such a long list. I am just trying to find a cruise line we can afford but is nice as well. RCCL seems to fit the bill. The next step is to see how it works for the kids. Now that I have a discount I need to figure out the cost. I was quoted onboard but it was pretty steep >5k for the family on the Liberty in the summer. I'm going to have to move dates around and go right after they go out of school to get the price down. My kids go to private school so they get out a couple weeks before the public schools so the prices are more reasonable.

Nicely done.

 

I've never had a problem with hot water on my Royal ship old or new. That was sure a lame response by the Maintenance guy.

Yeah he really wasn't making an effort until management got involved.

Thank you for the review! I'm a DCL girl who's going to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas on Friday, so I'm definitely interested in the comparisons. I know there will be differences, and that different does not have to equal bad. It's just cool to see comparisons.

 

I'm really hoping I like RCCL as there's a cruise to Italy next summer that I really want to take. As long as there's more positive than negative, I'm booking. :)

I am excited for you Alaska should be awesome! I would love to cruise Europe. I got to Europe 2 times a year for work and love it but I am always working so it would be nice to have vacation time there. Keep in mind the Radiance is a smaller ship than the one I went on. Maybe that is better? I don't know. I did like all the cool features on the larger ship though like the ice rink and flowrider.

We just got off of Navigator two weeks ago. Sabor was by far our favorite. It was truly amazing. Chops food was excellent (I haven't had the prior menu so I can't compare) but the price was pretty ridiculous considering I would consider it slightly better than a Texas Roadhouse which costs less and that isn't including the offset that you get free food in the MDR. We had a lot of OBC we were trying to go through so we figured we would give it a try. I also think the ambiance was mediocre for the price because the entire time we dined we had a view of the Windjammer and all the people going in and out in swim trunks. They did have a wine pairing dinner that looked interesting but I wouldn't have booked it because we had the premium package.

To answer the previous question we ate dinner in both and Sabor was $25pp and Chops was $35pp not including drinks. Chops also has a extra dry aged steak up charge (or lobster) which adds >$20 more pp if you want that. Kind of crazy if you ask me.

If you book online then you pay the fee up front via credit card. We did that with Sabor. With Chops we booked it on the ship and we paid off of our OBC. It appears to me anything you book in advance on the website you pay in advance.

Other than that we only ate in the MDR and windjammer. I would say both are average cruise quality. Not bad not insanely good either. The Promenade Cafe had a couple ok desserts but the pizza wasn't that good and they only offered pepperoni. The sandwiches were decent but they didn't change the flavors so we got bored towards the end of the cruise. It was our light lunch place when we knew we were eating in specialty dining that night to not be over full.

Oh and the coffee is pretty gross. We tried each place once and it wasn't very good. If you are used to good quality coffee (grind the day you brew) you probably won't be happy with it. We brought along our Aeropress and coffee beans and made coffee with hot water delivered from room service every morning.

Fantastic detailed review, I like that ! I am booked on Navigator in December, I am looking forward to it.

I am sure you'll have a great time!

You should try freedom class or oasis with the kids!

That is probably what we'll do. Liberty is sailing out of Galveston next year so we might do that. The other option is to drive to FL and cruise out of there but I need to be convinced of that. We have one more itinerary we could do out of Galveston without repeating. We might try the Liberty for that first.

Thanks for the review. I've been considering Navigator with some girlfriends in the fall.

We've been on Disney several times and I always say no one does service like Disney. The cruises we've done with them have always been impeccable. We've tried several different RC ships. We loved Freedom of the Seas, my boys were 8 & 10 when we did the ship. It has the Flowrider and the water park for the kids. I think it's a nice balance of activities and size of ship.

Navigator has a flowrider. We had lots of fun watching people try it out. We also met several people have significant injuries from it. The guy behind us getting off the ship had his arm inside his shirt so I asked him if he was ok and he said he tore his shoulder up on the flowrider on the last sea day. He said they told him he would need surgery! OUCH.

We were on the same cruise and had a great time. We did notice the decking on our balcony was cracked and coming up but didn't notice any other problems with maintenance or cleaning.

We thought the staff we ran into was always friendly. We ate in Giovanni's one night and it was excellent. Our server saw us several times after that and greeted us by name.

Loved all the soups at dinner and had great service. Pizza is pretty lame but glad it was there for a quick snack. Used room service once for breakfast and it came on time.

Room steward was not the best and we only had one bath towel in cabin when we got back from shore excursion in Jamaica. Called the desk and had more towels in five minutes.

Not surprised that the OP didn't have hot water because that's all we had. The coldest water was on the hot end of lukewarm.

Great cruise and love the convenience of going out of Galveston.

I actually heard several people comment that they only had hot water. We had that one day when they forgot to turn on our cold water haha. I am wondering if they turned up the boiler for us so we could have hot water. Was it like that the entire cruise?

Don't let the giant colorful kids club room keep you away. They are constantly bringing out games and activities and experiments for the kids to play. The staff is interactive and leads the activities rather than letting it just be a free for all place to play. My kids (8&4) have done 2 and loved the kids club.

That is comforting. I am not letting it keep me away it was just an observation. I know the people can make it fun too without all the fancy theming.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review is that I was slightly annoyed by the location of the arcade on the ship. We want our kids to enjoy the cruise and the clubs but are not interested in letting them play games while on the cruise. The location of the arcade is annoying in that you have to walk through it to get to the clubs. This reminds me of why they put candy in the check out aisles in the grocery store and why the more expensive candy is lower to the ground. On Disney you can literally avoid the arcade all week and your kids never know it is there. My kids still don't know there is an arcade on the Wonder.

Well done review, thanks! DW and I really want to do a DCL cruise some day but every time I see a comparison like this I am deterred from doing so. I just looked up a "comparable" balcony 4 night cruise, all November 2016.

 

DCL wonder 4 night $1160

RC Navigator 4 night $ 629

RC Navigator 7 night $ 789

 

Disclaimer : there was a cheaper balcony on Wonder $980, but it is kind of like a coffin with an open window, not comparable IMO.

 

I still want to do Disney some day, but %46 increase is substantial! A better comparison, in regards to service on board, may be Disney to Celebrity. For that increase I would very well expect service levels and amenities to be better. We also enjoy The casino, only about 30 min each night, but definitely would be missed on Disney.

Yeah my problem is I like to book week cruises with a family of 5 so I would kill to pay $1160. I honestly think it is worth $500 if you don't look at the percentage in your case. My problem is for me and the cruises I take it can be 3 or 4 thousand more.