shortyjoesmith

I was there last week. I have been around 7 times since 2010, including three after the covid shut-down. The food was as good as it always is, same with the amazing ice cream. The first several times I went I didn't bother with dessert and then a friend had me try their vanilla scoop. It was the best ice cream of my life. I am not a big ice cream person but this has become a Nachi staple. I didn't drink this trip but the others in my group didn't complain about theirs. When I was there the first time, the water was so clear I could see my toes when I was in water up to my neck. It hadn't been clear since. I think my friends thought I was full of it. It was clear last week, so beautifully clear. The photograph lady and the check-in lady were both friendly. The friendliness went down-hill until it was time to leave. We had a group of 18. They didn't allot chairs for the 7 year old that they charged us for or the two year-old (he was free so I do get that one). My daughter was told kids didn't need chairs. Then, one of the people had a reservation for 3 on her confirmation but wasn't sure the other two would be able to join us. She was required to pay for all 3 of them when we got there, even if they weren't coming. Now, that wasn't great but again, I get it (kind of). The lousy thing is they wouldn't give us the chairs for the two people that weren't there that she paid for. (They ended up coming and two of us jumped out of our chairs discretely so they didn't feel awkward). If we have to pay for them, we should have gotten the chairs for them so our group could be together. They were very short with us, we didn't argue with them. We also weren't able to sit together in the empty dining area because not everyone had walked over yet. Four of us sat at a 6-top table knowing others were on their way and were forced to move to a 4-top. Within a few minutes, two more came. Then another four. They had up split up over 4 tables, without utilizing all of the seats at the other two tables. The poor service did mess with a treasured tradition. It really felt like they viewed us as herding cattle. I cannot imagine having to deal with the many entitled Americans I am sure they have to deal with (I saw some on the ship). I don't think I would love that job at all. But we were polite, asked nicely to be able to sit together (and stayed polite even when the answer was no), tipped each time a drink was brought. Two guys did jump up to help us when it was time to leave, calling a cab for us and even helping us carry the stroller (unasked). So, the food was good, the water was glorious, the service was good to great coming and going but the attitude of the people during our stay was the worst I have ever experienced. We may try them again, we may look elsewhere.

Went to Guest Services and got an answer. It’s deck 3 forward and mid.

I am trying to figure out what deck we exit on for the ports so we can make our plans. I think we exit on deck 3 but I cannot tell if it’s forward or mid or aft. I tried googling it and completely struck out.

I love the spice-rubbed ribeye with every ounce of my being.

You are my favorite person today! Quick question, do you recall which night the second Elegant Night falls?

I am so very afraid this is what is going to happen to me. 😬 I sail her in April.

I would love to be able to schedule my morning coffee order in the app. I liked the door-hanger breakfast menus from before because I could get it scheduled and go to bed without having to talk to someone. I know it is silly, but I would much rather use the app than have to make a phone call to order. Instead of morning cabin coffee, I get up and go to the Lido where I can get coffee and not have to talk with anyone. I tip on room service deliveries, I would love to tip for morning coffee. ❤️☕

@chasinraynbowz Thank you for taking the time to write this review!

If you add their booking to your booking, you will have full access to check them in. I have been able to do this for others I cruise with. I just skip the sections for travel documents and onboard spending. I am able to get through it all and get to the arrival time slot together. Then everyone can log in later and complete the parts I skipped. Now we all just set an alarm and all log in at the same time and do our best to get close arrival times. Setting the alarm and doing this has become a part of our travel fun two weeks out. It's less smooth but it is something we can look forward to doing together.

John Heald did a video walk-through of the Jubilee last week. On the desk area (like normal) there were 3 regular outlets and 4 USB outlets. Now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing a European plug-in with the set-up. This next cruise is going to feel so decadent with all those power options. 😉

Although the port itself is not attractive, I have a soft spot for Galveston. On my first cruise, my sister and I saw dolphins taking the boat out. We were on a secret deck (after plenty of pre-cruise research in CC), they were having fun leaping and crossing in front of the ship. My sister called it our "boatercade." We still laugh about that.

We used our birth certificates in April when debarking in Galveston. It was definitely longer than an hour. The price of a passport was added to the cost of my next sailing. 😉 I don't want to ever go through that again, it was brutal.

When we did the Cruise Companions, we were all sat together in the MDR. When I booked the steakhouse, paying for the same number of people that I had listed as my Companions, they did not put us together. I didn't know that until I stopped by the steakhouse on embarkation day to confirm that we were all ready to go. The lady there entered the update in their reservations/seating chart and got up put together.

I think going the phantom second passenger may goof the online check-in. I'm pretty sure we had one in our group that couldn't proceed with the check-in because it was set to check two people in, our friend and a TBD.

The cheesecake with the strawberries on top was absolutely worth the fee if you enjoy cheesecake. It was maybe $3 or $4.