Sheeba67

The quick guide work just fine to figure out the basics. I used mine zip lining last year when I just got it. The biggest thing is probably the mounts. You can carry it in your hand, but it really limits what you can do. I think for most things the chest harness works pretty good. Make sure you download the app that allows you to sync with your smart phone so you can see the picks and video. Have a great time.

maybe the need to preserve van space will also be a bit of extra incentive not to overpack:);)

We have been on three cruises, and each time we bring a little less. Carnival makes it that much easier with a little less formal attire required.

Your Budget rental van does sound like a good way to transport your group, and having a vehicle for meals etc should be nice. come back and let us know how it works out for your group.

We will. Budget did confirm that the whole group can get a ride to the cruise terminal for $50 total, if there is room for the driver.

I think both of you have great ideas. For our group, a 10 person passenger van through Costco was only $150. We pick up at IAH and drop off in Texas City, where we are staying at the Fairfield Inn. The Costco rental is through Budget, we did verify that they have cruise terminal drop off for $50 (like mentioned above, they share the same desk as Avis). They said the taxi fare is $45-$55, so if they will take our whole group to the cruise terminal for $50, that is huge. If not, I will have to make the drop off of the families at the port and then turn in the van and take a taxi or the shuttle back. This option gives us a ton of flexibilty for dinner, and picking up water, etc... Last year we did the Super Shuttle to Galveston and then a private shuttle back, but with additional taxi fare to the port was actually a little more than the rental car option, with no flexibility. Thanks for all the input.

Yes, Avis (Texas City location) is trying to accommodate cruise passengers by driving them (for a fee) to/ from the Galveston cruise port. Avis does not currently have a Galveston location. Enterprise has a Galveston location, but we could not get a one way rental from them on our dates.

 

Here is our recent example: Our reservation included car rental return to Avis in Texas City on Sunday 1/18/15. We stayed at the Hampton Inn a stone's throw from Avis Texas City. That Avis was scheduled to open at 10 am, but when we saw they opened early that day:). We left our luggage in the rental vehicle and went inside. The Avis agent processed our return paperwork, adding a $50 cruise port drop fee to the bill. DH and I and an Avis driver went back out to the same car, and he drove us straight to the cruise port. The driver drove well and we had a pleasant conversation with him. At the port, the Avis driver knew the port workers, waving and joking with many as he pulled the car in. He waved over a porter, and our luggage went from rental car trunk to porters bin quickly. We tipped both and headed to check in.

 

As the first rental car returned, it was easy for us, though maybe it would be slower later (traffic and othercruisers waiting for drivers). They may use a van instead of the rental cars if multiple cruisers are waiting.

 

We did not use it, but they said they offer the service in the other direction, too. Our Avis driver was hoping a returning cruiser with a car reservation would call for a pick up while he was dropping us off at the cruise port.

 

When I was researching my Galveston options, Avis/Budget option had not been extensively discussed here on Cruise Critic. Having found it and tried it, I am trying to post about this option, so others can consider it, too.

 

Our one day car rental (including the $50 fee) was less than we'd have paid for a car service from IAH to Galveston hotel and then hotel shuttle from hotel to port. Plus since we had a car, we stopped for meals, bought water and wine to take aboard, and drove across the bridge to visit Glaveston the day before the cruise. having your own wheels in Texas is a big plus in my opinion.

That is a great option, but we have a party of 8, and the Avis van is twice the cost of the Budget van I got. Do you think Avis would shuttle Budget customers? We will check tomorrow.

We did it recently and found it easy. We did not use a taxi. Drop off at port by Avis (using our same just-returned rental car so luggage stayed in trunk until we got to pier) was $50.

So Avis dropped you off at the port? Never heard of that before. Are they in Galveston, or did theyt take you from Texas City? Thanks for the help.

Has anyone used them in the past. There are what seems a million tour companies but this one does a private eco tour.

Before I book I'd love to know how they were.

Thanks

Elaine

We used them for the Stingray City snorkel tour last spring and it was great. The only problem we had was local time vs ships time. we ended up waiting an hour until the girl got to the port and set up the table to check in. We were a little lost for a bit. There is very little parking at the cruise port, so had to walk a little bit through town to get to the van, but that is probably the case with all tours in Caymen.

Anyone rent a car and have to return it to Texas City the day of the Cruise? How big of a pain is that, and how much is the cab ride back to the cruise terminal?

We did both last year and they were both great. The Blue Hole is mostly deep river and great for jumping off the little cliffs in a very tropical environment. DRF is a crowded tourist stop, but it is well worth it climbing up the Falls. You may want to just do that on your own, without a tour guide for a little more adventure. It is not hard and would be easy to do on your own. Why not do both as we did? It is a very reasonable excursion.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and mine is it ruins a nice dinner and makes it feel cheap. I would prefer the wait staff concentrate on better service.

We were on the Magic last October, and I wore a long sleeve shirt and tie with slacks on elegant night, and shorts with collard shirts on the other nights. I don't mind dressing up a bit, but do not like to have to drag the coat around on a Carribean Cruise. If no one wants to dress up, they should just bag it and have all nights cruise casual. What if they had a seperate venue for those who wanted a more formal dinning experience a couple of times on the cruise?

John heald did his quick questions today and one was will you purchase cheers on your next cruise. It was about 10 to 1 no. (If not more) I thought that was interesting.

I was lucky enough to catch the cost reduction to $37.50/day on a cruise on the Magic out of Galveston in 2014. That was great, and even though we split up our booking with the kids so one could buy the package and the other not, we both ended up buying the package. That was well worth it for us, and I bet Carnival still made plenty off us. I think they would do better, if they cut the cost a little to sell more packages. We never got to 15, but hit 12 and 13 on the sea days.

Hello,

 

I have never cruised Celebrity, but I have been on 7 cruises total. WHile browsing cruises, I found a very nice deal to even better places (4 new places even after my Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan in March) onboard the Celebrity Summit. It is visiting bucket-list places of mine, such as Dominica, Grenada and Tortola.

 

What is the atmosphere onboard? I honestly don't care about the passenger age, as it is a 5-port cruise, and on the sea days, I like to work out, read, sunbath and relax. So I don't really care about what's onboard. Heck, I'm even considering getting an interior cabin!!

 

But back to the original question. What is the atmosphere onboard? How are the crew? What do the passengers enjoy and where are most of them from? What are popular day time activities? Night-time? While I may not attend many activities, I just want to see what the onboard like will be like, as I've never cruised Celebrity.

 

So happy I've found my way over to these boards! :D

 

Thanks,

 

CruiseXLife

We were on the Summit last November and had a great time. Food was good in the MDR. Normandie was excellent. Pax mostly 40-70 and friendly. They seem to be from various cities around the US, unlike cruises from Galveston where everyone is from Texas. Crew was great. Seemed like more from Eastern Europe, so interesting conversations. With the port intensive itinerary you tend to not miss all the comedy shows and trivia events on Carnival. You will have a great time

I think you have pretty much answered your own questions in the course of your post. If you are not needing a "top shelf" set of liquors for your mixed drinks, the most common drinks you can ask for will be covered with your Classic Package.

 

I will tell you what I tell anyone that asks me and that is to try out the Classic package "as is" for a day or two while on the ship. You will have a chance to look at drink menus at every bay you visit and see what the prices are relative to the cap in the Classic Package. If the package meets your needs and you like the selections and pricing, then you are off to a good cruise.

 

However, if you don't like what is being offered, you can always choose to upgrade to the Premium package for $11.50 (per person, per day, including tax/tip). This cost is pro-rated for the remainder of days you have on the ship and can be done at any bar around the ship.

 

I have a NOV 2015 cruise booked and it has the 123 GO ALL IN promotion. I will be upgrading the package once on the ship with my OBC that I received for booking this cruise while on my last cruise. :D

Spot on response, but we never had a problem with the calssic package last year. It seemed that almost everything we ordered was covered, you only get into trouble when you start requesting certain alcohol in your drinks or at the Martini bar. Take advantage of the waters for your excursions and stay hydrated.

With the classic bev pkg does anyone know if there is a daily limit on the number of drinks you can order, and a minimum time between orders? On HAL recently it was 15 drinks/day, same a CCL I think, and 5 minutes between orders. The waiters offered to keep our cards and bring the drinks when the time limit permitted ... b/c when yer eyes are crossed it's hard to read your watch.

I had trouble on two occassions on the Summit last year. One was they wouldn't give me a water when I dumped a shot of Baily's in my coffee, and the other was they wouldn't give me a beer until I finished my Tequila shot. Other times I had no problem, so I think it is more of the individual bartenders.

Ditto.

 

I was going to post this too but you already did. Cosol Tours was wonderful. Long but interesting day.

 

The roads are hilly and windy though so if you get car sick, take a pill first.

 

If you haven't seen the BIG PLANES land in St. Marteen, this is a must see thing to do.

 

Enjoy your trip on the Summit, you are traveling just after us and I would have preferred to try this itinerary but we are tied to my school break.

The Cosol tour is great, except for the ride back to the ship. It would be much better to take the land tour to the Pitons and then after Jalousie Beach, take a boat back to the ship. Don't forget to get your Banana Ketchup.

Antigua is best for a half day beach day. Just walk up the main draguntil you find a driver that is noit too aggressive. be sure to make sure you are not the first on their bus, or you may be waiting util they fill the mini bus.

On Barbados get a private tour when you get off the ship to msee a little of the island, check out some beaches, and do the Rum Factory tour.

I agree with most posts, but it really depends on the ships. We did the Celebrity Summit last November with the free beverage package and without the kids. We did the Carnival Freedom this past May with the kids. Carnival for Kids, Celebrity for the perks like the beverage package. Food very marginally better on Celebrity. More activities and a younger crowd on Carnival. More formal on Celebrity. The Carnival ship seemed like it was much more stable in rough water? Bottom line, go with price and Itinerary, and don't forget the perks. Odds are you will have a great time on either line.

Congratulations! You are quite lucky!

 

I entered several slot tournaments when it was free as a platinum perk and have 2 black and 1 white tee shirt to show for my effort. I did well in the prelims and bombed horribly in all the finals.

Can anyone tell me how the slot tournament works? We are on the Magic Oct 12 and would be interested in playing, but have never been in a slot tournament before.

No noise at all!! We were set a good ways from yhe casino, not directly over it. We were right above the coffee bar/oceanside plaza (i think that was the name of the area). Still no noise from the music.

 

Privacy wasnt an issue either. If you lean on the railing, sure, but other than that, not an issue at all!

Thanks for the quick response. I am sure it will be just fine for us too.

Ok, I would get a lanyard and just put both cards in the lanyard. Problem solved. Not really carrying around both cards and only paying for one cheers program. But yes if you switch they will notice that for sure!

That is exactly the way we dealt with it on the Freedom this spring and how we will deal with it on the Magic this October. Was not a problem having both keys on the lanyard for us.

we were on the magic last month. stayed on deck six (6395, to be exact). i quite liked being on 6! everything we wanted and frequented the most was on deck 5 and it was just an easy, quick walk down to it. casino, coffee bar, taste bar, hottubs, dining room, Red Frog Pub, shops, seaside grill, computer hub, karaoke, meet up for tendering. If we werent booking a cove on the Dream for next year, deck 6 would definitely be it for us again!!

We are just a couple of rooms in front of where you were for our October cruise and are a little concerned about the casino and bar noise right there? But, the proximity to all that is available on the Promenade and lack of other available units near and inside for the kids sold us. Was noise or lack of privacy a concren for you?

Thanks everyone for the quick response!! :D :D :D

 

DJ

That's the best way to do it so one of you can get cheers and the other not. Don't change rooms, just get additional keys and put them on the lanyard.

I was so dead tired when they called that code that night that I thought they said señora reed. Omg. I was out of it.....

 

I will try to make time to finish up the review tomorrow

Do you remember where they took you snorkeling, and how was it. We want to go to Tabyana for snorkleing, but if there are other spots to check out, that would be great to know. Thanks

:confused:Please help with good information on how we will be able to carry on our 12 bottles of water while Embarking on to the Fantasy? Thanks

Strap it on top of your rolling carry on, or just throw it on your shoulder.

I just mentioned this on another thread. We got stuck on a pre dry dock once, and they spent the entire week just shutting everything down. Even with a price slash, I would never do that again!

We hope that is not the case, but as long as they keep the bars open and keep serving us food, it should all be good. Maybe if the crew gets a break they will be in a good mood all week, and we will get good service.