Galaxy last year Panama???

[Stanley]

Did any of you sail on the Galaxy out of Galveston last year on the Panama Canal cruise?

 

If so, how was it? How was the weather? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[siam]

We did this begining April 2 and as you would expect the weather was hot and only rained in Panama and Costa Rica. Otherwise weather was fine and the cruise was good.

[excitedofharpenden]

Stanley, we did that cruise last November. We had a great time. A link to the review I did is at the bottom of my signature.

 

I'm not sure what time you are planning to do your cruise, but the weather for us was generally pretty good. It was cool when we left Galveston and for the first sea day, but then warmed up and mostly sunny with a few heavy showers. The only notable rain we had in port was in the Panama Canal and on the excursion we did there to Panama City. It was cool again that last sea day.

 

Phil

[TEXASMUNK]

We were on the April 14th sailing. Spectacular weather. But we were lucky, APril starts the rainy season.

Service, entertainment, quality of the food were all outstanding. Port of call were varied, we love "beach and snorkel" ports and the itinerary mixes both beach time and what I call "tour tour bus time" well.

[Randyk47]

We were on the March 21 sailing out of Galveston. Great weather, ship and cruise. You can see some of our cruise at www.geocities.com/theklugspage/ . Look for the link to the Galaxy. Until I change it the avatar I use is sunrise at Montego Bay taken from our verandah. :)

[Randyk47]

Should add that those of you who are thinking of the Galaxy Panama Canal cruise better do it this next season (2005-2006). Celebrity is moving the Galaxy to San Juan, PR for the 2006-2007 season. I don't recall which itinerary other than one of the Caribbean ones and it doesn't include the Panama Canal. Right now I don't see another Celebrity ship/itinerary out of Galveston. Too bad for us as it was great to be able to drive to a port for a change. With the increasing cost of cruising it was nice to save the $700-$800 in airfare.

[Andy]

Should add that those of you who are thinking of the Galaxy Panama Canal cruise better do it this next season (2005-2006). Celebrity is moving the Galaxy to San Juan, PR for the 2006-2007 season. I don't recall which itinerary other than one of the Caribbean ones and it doesn't include the Panama Canal. Right now I don't see another Celebrity ship/itinerary out of Galveston. Too bad for us as it was great to be able to drive to a port for a change. With the increasing cost of cruising it was nice to save the $700-$800 in airfare.

 

Hi Randy !

 

I am pretty sure you are correct. I do not think Celebrity (at this point) will have a ship in Galveston for 2006/2007, as Galaxy is being moved to San Juan. One comment... 2006/2007 is still a long time from now, and schedules can change.

[pboedeker]

I find it curious that the Port of Galveston is spending millions of dollars to upgrade/renovate the terminal used by RCCL and Celebrity if there isn't a committment from that parent company to keep those pier busy?

[Randyk47]

Certainly Celebrity or HAL or anybody else for that matter has sufficient time to adjust their schedules and itineraries. At this point I don't think every line has every ship committed to a specific port.....at least not that they've published or that they couldn't change but slowly but surely the 2006-2007 Caribbean schedule is coming together. However, checking a number of sites that book cruises by all the major lines I can't find any replacement for the Galaxy out of Galveston. Believe me.....I really, really want somebody like Celebrity or HAL to use Galveston. I agree that you'd think, or at least hope, that the Port of Galveston had some idea that they'd get a return on their investment for the improvements they're making to the terminals down there. We'll take the Volendam out of Ft Lauderdale next year and just hope that somebody fills the void caused by the Galaxy leaving Galveston the following year.

[canderson]

I find it curious that the Port of Galveston is spending millions of dollars to upgrade/renovate the terminal used by RCCL and Celebrity if there isn't a committment from that parent company to keep those pier busy?

Perhaps RCL and Carnival are enough to keep them going? By June 2006, that's all I can see that will be there.

[Stanley]

I want to thank you all for your informative replies.

 

We have a deposit on a NCL cruise (also in November) out of the Houston port. Because we sailed on the Galaxy last summer (our only ever cruise) we know we will be a bit disappointed in the NCL ship because the Galaxy was just perfect for us. We liked the assigned seating. Probably because we sat with wonderful people. NCL is open seating and the ship is getting mixed reviews from one extreme to the other.

 

I believe the Galaxy cruise we looked at is Novemer 12th and is 5 nights loner than the NCL cruise. If the Galaxy is in fact moving to San Juan next season then maybe we will do that one too. Who knows? We may never sail a different ship the rest of our lives.

 

Thanks again to everyone. I spent a lot of time on this board last year before our July cruise. I like it here.

[tabasco]

Where's the Grand Princess going - they cruise out of Galveston too?

[Randyk47]

Princess is still showing the Grand out of Galveston for the 2006-2007 season. We haven't tried Princess but we might because of the convenience of driving to the port. Having said that, my wife and I both still work and only get to cruise once a year and we prefer the longer cruises of 10+ days. As I recall the Grand Princess itinerary is only a 7 day cruise. Oh well.....might not be our first choice but any cruise is better than none. :)

[canderson]

Princess is still showing the Grand out of Galveston for the 2006-2007 season. We haven't tried Princess but we might because of the convenience of driving to the port. Having said that, my wife and I both still work and only get to cruise once a year and we prefer the longer cruises of 10+ days. As I recall the Grand Princess itinerary is only a 7 day cruise. Oh well.....might not be our first choice but any cruise is better than none. :)

Perhaps the site I'm using hasn't updated yet, but it's showing that the last Galveston schedule for the Grand is 4/15/06. After that time, the Grand is off to Europe until 11/3/06. Perhaps it will restart Galveston operations after that? That's as far out as that site has the Grand scheduled.

 

From 4/15/06 through 11/3/06, I see no Princess presence in Galveston at all...

[Randyk47]

Princess doesn't station a ship in Galveston year around like say Carnival does right now. I didn't check but I'd guess that the Grand moves back to Galveston late in the calendar year and runs the winter season out of there. The Princess website does show the Grand doing the 2006-2007 winter season out of Galveston. On the other hand, Celebrity shows no ship sailing from Galveston during the same period. Again, I hope they change thier mind but I'd imagine some of the folks who like early bookings are already signed on for the Galaxy out of PR.

[Maximus Decimus]

Princess just gave us a refund for the April 29th, 2006 sailing... said the Grand will no longer sail from Galveston...don't know how true...ok with us,we just booked the Galaxy for the same price & it's 4 days longer

[Randyk47]

Indeed it appears the Grand will leave Galveston after it's 8 April 2006 sailing but Princess still shows it starting back up in Galveston later in the year in November. Glad you got on the Galaxy though, great ship and a great itinerary. I too had noticed that I could get the Galaxy cruise for about the same as the shorter Grand cruise and that was in comparable cabin categories. Interesting.

[tawcat]

not sure what ncl ship, but i bet its the Sea. nice ship. not the galaxy, but a well kept ship. you can request traditional seating if you desire. see the maitre'd the first night and tell him when you desire to eat and they will set it up. as you can see we have sailed the sea several times, have yet to be disappointed. happy sailing. btw, the panama cruise on the galaxy was the greatest. do the zip lining in costa rica, its a blast!

[pboedeker]

The NCL Dream will replace the NCL Sea out of Houston this fall. The Dream is larger.

[Stanley]

pboedeker is right. If we go (final payment not due yet) it will be the Dream we will sail on. I've been reading all sorts of stuff about it. One day it's good, the next day it's OK and the following day it horrible. I don't know what to think.

 

I'm not sure what the zip lining is. I have an idea but don't want to put it here in case I'm way off base. Will you tell me (and the rest of us who need to know just what it is)?

[CaroleSP]

I'm not sure what the zip lining is. I have an idea but don't want to put it here in case I'm way off base. Will you tell me (and the rest of us who need to know just what it is)?

 

Think harness and sailing through the trees. Not a great plan, if you don't like heights. It's a biggie in Costa Rica. Oscar Brown, I think, runs lots of them.

[excitedofharpenden]

Here's a pic of the zip-lining. We loved it, but as Carole says, you do need a good head for heights. There about a dozen platforms that you zip between up in the canopy. Safety precautions were excellent.

 

Phil

[Stanley]

That's exactly what I thought zip lining was...

 

Just call me Tarzan.

 

Thanks.

[CanTex]

Don't forget Splendour of the Seas is coming back to Galveston this winter and again in the 2006-7 season. So the RCI "family" will have three ships there this winter and at least two the winter after -- we can hope for more!

 

And Grand Princess is indeed back again in 2006-7.

 

This makes for 3 ships homeported year-round in Galveston and 5 or 6 in total seasonally. Not bad when you consider there were none not all that long ago. I've heard that the Port of Galveston is making longer-term plans for a third cruise terminal which signals they're confident of further growth in this market.

It would be nice if NCL moved there too instead cruising out of the Port of Houston.

[Randyk47]

I don't suppose that this is the right place for me to say if Celebrity doesn't come back to Galveston that I'd like to see HAL there???? :o (Not just one of the company ships, one of the HAL "Dam" ships.)