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Apologies for not reading the whole thread: Galveston is very problematic in my opinion for transportation. It's a haul from Houston. I like the West Coast itinerary, and if you can fly into Long Beach the transfer to a hotel or the ship is soooo much easier. Very nice little airport. If you are focusing on the itinerary, then I also suggest you look at Princess to see if they are offering a 10 day Mexico cruise. This one goes all the way up into the Sea of Cortez (between the "leg" of Baja CA and the mainland of Mexico). Great itinerary, and if it leaves from Los Angeles or San Diego, the transportation is easier, also. The San Diego airport is very close to the cruise port.

Be as late getting off the Carnival ship as you can. Go to the RCCL ship and drop off luggage. If you cannot go in the terminal building, and using the Uber app on your phone, take an Uber to the Bayside Marketplace. Lots of shops and restaurants: https://www.baysidemarketplace.com/directory Then, Uber back. $24 - $30 roundtrip. I did this on a b2b, plus another a day later, recently in Baltimore and Newark, NJ. Good opportunity to stock up on depleted toiletries, etc. I also had breakfast with my sister, who lives in MD, on one of the turnaround days. Take that lemon situation and embrace the lemonade you can make out of it!!!

This will sound weird, but it works: 1. Write the alphabet with your feet and ankles. This is what is recommended to reduce swelling after foot surgery. 2. (Weird part). Lie on the bed, feet to the top of the bed. Scoot your butt up until you can comfortably rest your bare feet on the wall above the head of the bed. I read a book. You will be surprised how quickly the swelling goes down after doing the alphabet exercise.

For me it's sugar and alcohol that cause the bloat. I consume little of each at home. I did a LOT of walking on the Anthem since my cabin was in the aft. I ended up with my legs, face, and arms smaller from the exercise, and a watermelon belly that took three days at home to go down in size.

Quite frankly, I think it's the ship's management. We had an inkling of the "rigidity" when we were on the Enchantment last October. Five of us tried to discuss using our specialty BOGO perk in Chops other than night 1 or 2, and were flatly refused. I even had a phone conversation "bait-and-switch" over this when it was my turn to try. We had 3 Pinnacles, and 2 D+ discussing this with Chops over the length of the cruise. Then.......the new menus hit in January.

I was wondering if anyone would get the reference! Thanks!

The ship was full on both cruises. First one was 13 nights, so it was pretty much a geriatric cruise, and the second was full of families and children. I do think the staff were probably newly rotated in the MDR, but by now may have come up to speed.

Anthem: The problem is it's one of those "dome" shaped chocolate desserts, and they have several varieties. I do know it must have been in the Windjammer, because we only ate in the MDR on the first night.

Agree about the tuna or egg "salad". They are a favorite of mine, but the Anthem needs to check for another recipe.

Instead of trying to find my posts over the last month while I was cruising, I decided to do a food recap in a new thread. Sorry for any redundancy. I was on the Enchantment for 20 days, and the Anthem for 8. I till update this thread the latter part of March, as I am on the Oasis, Grandeur, and Vision for about 4 weeks. The Enchantment, IMO, has problems with food prep and the new menus. In the MDR over 3 weeks my travel companions and I found a) the food came out barely warm-to-cold, with 5 of us with raw-to-semi-cooked salmon one night. Variety was an issue with the new menus, and eliminated items hit several of us hard. The Windjammer as an alternative was hit or miss. I went there for dinner twice and found the food to be very similar to the lunch offerings, which I found to be mediocre. I don't eat hamburgers or hot dogs, I eat a lot of fish, veggies, and fruit. I avoid chicken that is served in restaurants because it usually ends up overcooked. Desserts were also Windjammer-ish, and hit-or-miss. The additional issue is the description of the food was frequently incorrect. Much to my delight a chocolate dessert at dinner one night turned out to be the RCCL flourless chocolate cake!! I believer the Enchantment is dealing with the Food and Bev Manager skimping too much on ingredients, and the cheaper alternatives are not tasty. Yes, you will get sweet; yes you will get chocolate. However, I felt like I was not eating anything that special or different from what I could pick up in my local grocery store. On to the Anthem: HUGE difference! A spectacular Windjammer with specialty cook stations, creative salads, really good desserts, and great tasting entrees. One of my favorites on the former dining room menus was the vegetable tempura. The Anthem Windjammer had it as an entrée one night, and I loved it! I ate all but one of my dinners in the Windjammer to accommodate my travel companions, and was very happy the whole cruise. I especially liked sitting out on the aft open air eating area on warm evening. Very nice! I got the impression that the Anthem was using MUCH better quality ingredients, and the food was so much better for it. (And, an extra special non-food treat was we got to watch a rocket launch in Port Canaveral before we left one evening. WOW!) Rocket Launch video.mov

I just go for the fun. Don't care who gets the points and drinks, since the extent of my cruise gambling is my free $8 and a few slot pulls.

I'm on the Anthem right now, have found the desserts in the Windjammer very good. They have some pastry and dessert chefs that know what they're doing. The chocolate desserts are excellent, and this evening I had a fabulous piece of baclava. The cakes are also excellent: multi-layered, soft, moist, and one slice I had for lunch had a yummy, gooey vanilla frosting. Yes, I am a frosting lover........

Just got off a b2b on the Enchantment, and both lobster nights it was complimentary. The second cruise and a decent 5" piece of lobster.

Of course we did! It was a lot of fun, and we doubled our money. Our organizer said the points are not that much going on her card, especially when weighed against the time and effort of organizing it. We all thought she did a great job and was welcome to the points. She also gave out little "prizes", each person choosing based on the number of credits they earned from their pulls. Of course, the lady who won the $1,500 jackpot got first choice.

$30 each, 3 pulls at $10 on a dollar machine.

I iron my small bills before packing.

We have had different experiences with this. The slot pull I participated in 1/16/23 the casino had the person whose card was in the machine since the beginning of the slot pull, sign the W-2G form. We had 28 people, and had a great time. When one of our group hit a $1,500 jackpot we went CAH-RAZY!!

Many passengers tip extra, from what I've read on these boards. So, the statement should be adjusted to reflect the situation. For instance, ask that the included tip be removed so a cash gratuity can be paid at the end of the service, and adjust that based on the upsell.

You don't have to wait for the "wash and fold" bag to arrive. Just take the paper laundry bag that's already in the cabin, and label it "(your C&A level here) WASH AND FOLD". Also, enter zero for the total on the laundry order list, plus label that, too. Also, if on a longer cruise, you can ask the Loyalty Ambassador if you can have second one added to your account.

Yes, it is! We reached Diamond with our two sons very shortly after it started. I remember very well the argument I had over the phone a short time after that where they tried to reduce my sons to Gold. I said I would be happy to send them a copy of the letter with RCCL's letterhead, AND all four of our C&A numbers, AND all four of our names, welcoming us as Diamond.

Yes, but I found it more time consuming, got dropped occasionally, and the device using the hotspot connection was much slower.

Save the RCCL login page in both your phone and computer's browser. Makes logging in and switching easier.

Your body; your lungs; your decision. Me? I grew up with 2nd hand smoke until I was 18, so I'll pass on the vaping cabin mate.

Let me clarify: The casino will require the owner of the card in the machine to sign the W-2G form acknowledging the amount of the win. The form is required for winnings over a certain dollar amount (ask in the casino). The casino takes/withholds NO money. It's the card owner that does that on their income tax, AND that estimated amount is deducted from the total winnings BEFORE paying out to each slot pull participant. However, if anyone in the group has a personal tax situation where they don't pay any income tax, or can absorb the total slot winnings without paying income tax on it, they could put their card in the machine. I would volunteer to do this, because my income tax rate is 0%, and I can absorb a large amount more in my income and pay no taxes on it. This leaves the pot larger for distribution to the slot pull participants, INCLUDING the person signing the W-2G. Then, the W-2G person files their income tax, including the W-2G at tax filing time for that year.

A suggestion: check with all the participants and see if anyone is from Canada, or pays no Federal income tax, and put their card in the machine for the payout. This way if a large amount is won, you don't have to deduct Federal tax from the pot. Or, you keep back a lot less with a person with most of their income non-taxable.