BallFour4

https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/article/galveston-cruise-ships-19941170.php Texas, more specifically our little island of Galveston remains a big player in the cruise market. The text below is from the link. Starting in May 2026, Symphony of the Seas will begin offering 6-8 day vacations from Galveston to the western Caribbean, including stops at Costa Maya, Roatan, Nassau, and CocoCay. See You At Sea! .

This is group discipline from a 3rd grade teacher level. I have carried a small Bose speaker for years. We download a few playlists on Spotify Pro and enjoy the music and waves as white noise at night. Carnival cannot or elects not to enforce their own rules so they take things away from all. Senseless.

Nope, that's not calling me out at all. I guess you are correct. .

Ok, we can disagree. The also a ham comment made it very much seem directed along with using the Quote feature. I've been here on Cruise Critic since 2002. This is a first. .

Remarkable amount of assumptions here. Let me be more specific. For decades both Carnival and Royal sold GMRS/FRS radios in their respective gift shops. Second, you assumed (and wrongly) I used them in territorial waters of a foreign country. When and where did you get that idea? Why accuse a fellow ham operator, one that is ARES and a member of four clubs of breaking the law? I'm on QRZ. Look me up and send me the laws I broke. Disappointing... .

My wife and I both grew up along the Gulf Coast. As a kid we had a fishing shack on Chocolate Bayou and could run that 75 Johnson to West Bay in short order. I later spent my college Saturdays surfing 53rd street and Seawall Blvd. Now... well, I am 66 so the Galveston events are bikes and kayaks at Galveston Island State Park. Our friends went over to NCL and have asked us to join them a couple of times. We went to Royal after a long absence when we shopped Alaska last summer. The Quantum was a deal from Seattle and the experience was great. In March we grabbed an amazing price for the Icon to celebrate my six month remission (cancer is a drag on cruise life) and are booked on the Allure this winter. We're diamond on them also, like status is of major importance. The Jubilee looks beautiful, and the reviews are excellent, so maybe next summer we will look into it. We watch it sail often from the pier by the Elissa. That's about halfway on the Saturday rides. See you at sea! .

Conquest Class ships have aged, yet still are cash generating machines for Carnival. Think Fantasy Class ships from several years ago. Carnival took them back to dry dock and added Lego balconies on some cabins, a new water park and sent them back to saltwater. Of all the ships we loved the Conquest Class the best. One key reason is the flat sides. You could walk out on your balcony and not be part of the morning show. Now with wedding cake design if you have a Havana balcony or are on decks 6-8 you have zero privacy. We felt like we were in a elementary school project as a living diorama. After sixteen years of being Carnival exclusive, primarily to being thirty minutes from driveway to cruise terminal in Galveston we gave up. The Breeze did it for us. While not a Conquest ship it was the same experience of late. Understaffed dining rooms, cabin steward with more work than they could efficiently handle and a 100 decibel sail away and sea day lido deck. Nope, nope and nope. Other lines have seized on this. Their advertising, pricing and product has surpassed what going from the original Mardi Gras to diamond has been. Maybe never, but for the short term we are not going back. See you at sea. .

They do.

OK, what lines have you sailed where they were prohibited? Here is the text from the Royal website posted elsewhere on this thread: Guests are allowed to have two-way radios, more commonly know as walkie-talkies, for onboard personal communications. Basic specifications are as follows: Up to 10-mile coverage range, Up to 5 watts power, Internal Voice, Operated Transmission, No external mounting antenna. For the original question: They will work on a limited distance. For example, from room to room on the same deck, from one part of an outdoor deck to another. You get the idea they are limited in range. If you want to get a pair of them spend a few dollars and pick up a pair of Baofeng radios from Amazon. They should be less than $50 for the set. Make sure to get the programing cable and then download a free program called Chirp. Import the FRS and GMRS frequencies and make sure no ham radio channels are used without a license. A license is also required for GMRS radio use and some countries prohibit their use. Do some research. I have a ham license and carry them aboard programmed as described. I also add the marine frequencies for listening in while entering and leaving ports. If all this seems not worth it, you are probably right. Get the app for each member on their phone and use the intranet based text feature. I wish you well. .

Part of me says don't reply... Here is from the other part. Sixteen cruises and platinum. That's an average of over six days per voyage. Share with me the other experiences. Were all without any event that caused you to be back in port a few hours early? Did you make all your ports on time and leave on time? Was the weather perfect? So you'd understand some logistics, ships make revenue on the last sea day big time. The casino, bars, onboard shops all are in full swing. All of them except alcohol purchases shut down once the ship leaves international water. Why would they do that? The answer is someone had a health concern. That person was triaged and the medical team decided their health was more important than the Wheel of Fortune slot machine spinning to win. Strong chance that person was off the ship a few minutes after the dock lines were secure. You and fellow passengers were not allowed to disembark due to the infrastructure team not being in place. A small (or large) army of people are needed. They range from US Customs, shore staff, Boatsmen for lines, tugs standing by, law enforcement, ground transportation and the list could grow. This little foray cost Carnival a wheelbarrow full of cash. They took care of a fellow passenger and made the right call. .

Yep, check the cameras overhead that watch them close. .

I debated a while before answering your question, but here goes. The Breeze, and the last two cruises aboard were the reasons we left Carnival for the time being. We cruised exclusively on Carnival for sixteen years and forty trips from here in Galveston, Miami, Ft Lauderdale and Boston. Post Covid they went the wrong direction. 100 decibel music poolside, buckets of beer in the pool, women grinding on the shower pole and fights in the buffet on both of our last two trips. When we researched Alaska it was tough to walk away from diamond benefits but we went back to Royal and the Quantum. We've been on the Icon and have two more booked. I watch the Breeze sail often, and you can stand at Katie's Seafood and hear the music and crowds. If I were 25 and had no kids, I'm all in. But here is no way I would let a young kid within two decks of that pool on the lido deck. Sorry to be the Grinch, but we are done unless things change. .

Sodium bicarbonate antacids stop the stomach pain rapidly, think fire extinguisher. Liquids antacids work rapidly as well. H2 blockers like famotidine (generic Pepcid) work to slow acid production, but they take a while. Proton pump inhibitors like Nexium aren't good for a fire extinguisher effect. They take a day or so for full effect. Talk to your doctor. Don't ignore persistent symptoms. .

Kinda fun right? Google the group that took a Camaro ZL1, had the state troopers close down 130 and they hit 200 mph. .

Not on this route. The tolls are limited to 65. The 80-85 toll roads near Austin are Hwy 130 between Austin and just east of San Antonio near Luling. .

I would have bet the farm this was a done deal. Fertitta has few losses. .

You will be fine. Your family will know to take I-45 from here in Galveston north to the Beltway 8 toll road and go west around to I-10. Go west to Columbus, Texas. From Columbus take Hwy 71 to Austin. The airport is clearly marked. Hwy 71 is dotted with small town police departments that patrol for speeders. The speed will drop from 75 to 55 quickly. Not the best way to meet a Texan. . .

Mayonnaise a fight at the lido buffet. I gotta go get video for my Facebook page. I'll ketchup with you later. I'll stop now...

I am at the same risk ashore or on the ship. Using the cheap phone eliminates a bad vacation experience if I were to leave it somewhere. This option gives me a backup. The cameras are so far advanced with the new iPhone I will often carry it anyway, just for that reason. I get the inference of humor. Trust me, I'd love to sit in the breeze on a lido deck and drink a few beers, but that option has been taken out for me. .

You're right, you missed my point. I'll explain. I am (at 66) at a higher risk to walk off from a pizza lunch on the ship and leave my iPhone on the table. If I had that phone in the safe and the Amazon $50 phone then my total loss would be not much. If I lost my iPhone I'd not be able to communicate with my friends and family in port and for the travel home until the insurance replaced my phone. I've never lost either my personal or company iPhone, but for some this option is great for kids or those that don't want to have that much at stake. For the second part; I haven't been drunk since college, and that was the blur known as the 70's 🙂. There is a chance, albeit a small one I will partake in more than one drink Tuesday evening. I have a scope to determine one year of being cancer free. Bladder cancer is no big deal until it is. Surgery and a year of follow up BCG and I'm ready for the final year of treatment! .

One more idea; leave the $1000 iPhone in the safe, go to Amazon and purchase a pre-paid cell phone for $40-50 bucks, delete all the junk from it and use the Carnival App on it. The downside is i Phones have amazing cameras and you give that up. For sea days we do this to prevent big tears if I leave or drop my phone somewhere. .

Well, you need one for when you wear jeans in the dining room. 🙂

Agreed. Now, raise your hand if you've ever been to Calica. It's Spanish for gravel pit. The Carnival Ecstasy and Celebration used to back into a rocky area with zero room for error. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calica .

More worthless trivia; the host of the skeet shooting was Joe E. Ross from Car 54 Where Are You. I don't remember the show, and due to the rum I drank I barely remember the cruise. .

As long as Kramer is there to take the blame... Side note; my wife just retired a second time from teaching. She's done this time!