jbrinkm

I'm a "tucker" too. I really like Sunday Afternoon hats, especially the women's hat that has a gap in the back for a ponytail. I'd rather have the strap than lose my hat. I either tuck it up inside OR I put the strap towards the back of my head instead of by my chin, where it is covered up by the back brim of the hat and I can't feel it at all.

The lowest chain hotel I see on the island with exact dates is Springhill Suites by Marriott for $179. There are some independent places to stay that are slightly lower but I don't know anything about them.

Yeah, I was putting in random dates and seeing lower prices, before the actual dates were shared. Everything must already have gone up for those dates on the island... I DID put in the actual dates for the hotels near Hobby, so those $100 nightly rates should be accurate.

I see several options near Hobby for around $100/room (for 2 people) that have free airport shuttles if you want to go that route.

Galveston Limousine has a prebook, online option for $35pp one way and $60 round trip. That's the lowest I've seen to/from IAH from a reputable company. Their reviews seem ok. I thought about using them but then didn't want to be tied to a specific time from the airport (will use rideshare instead) and decided on a private option back to the airport after the cruise.

Just be prepared for some culture shock. I grew up in the rural Midwest, went to school in Atlanta, and then moved to the north Jersey area & Manhattan with my husband. I was the type to say "I'm sorry" if someone bumped into ME. I grew out of that quickly up there. It's just a different environment - many people squished into a small space, all looking out for themselves (it feels that way). I don't think it is that people are inherently meaner or less helpful than anywhere else - I certainly came into contact with very kind, helpful people, but the culture can feel like it to someone not from there. I ended up really enjoying living in NYC but it took me some time to get used to the push & shove mentality. So for example, if you are waiting for luggage at the carousel at one of the NY airports, be prepared to say excuse me and move yourself forward to grab your luggage if you see it. Probably no one will move to allow you through. I say this so you can go with the flow, understand that it is just a regional difference and hopefully not get too frustrated about it when you come up against it.

We decided to do an ATV/Paintball excursion in the morning and then try a Discover Scuba in the afternoon. The ATV/Paintball outing is at Ecoparque Cuzam which ALSO has a zip line that gets great reviews. We're doing zip line in Roatan, as I said, so we're not going to do it here. Decided on Cozumel Dive Academy for our Discover Scuba - great reviews and a 9 minute walk from the International Cruise Port where we'll be docked.

I see a Red Roof and a Quality Inn with decent ratings (4+/5 customer reviews) on the island that seem to be running $50-100 less per room than other hotels nearby. They probably don't have a shuttle to the port so factor in extra transportation if that applies. What some people do is stay near the airport in a hotel that has an airport shuttle, take the shuttle to the hotel, stay overnight, take the free hotel shuttle BACK to the airport and catch a paid shuttle to the cruise port in Galveston. He might be able to find a less expensive hotel around Hobby than on the island.

I've seen this system in a building where one of my doctors is located and it is really nice!

That's a good point. We're on EST and our 5pm dining will be on CST so it will still feel like 6pm for us, at least.

I think of each pair like a yin/yang symbol: ☯️

That looks so much nicer than the Malecon! I can't wait until April! I, too, am a fair redhead and wrote to them specifically asking for a full shade palapa and they said that my party of 4 was already booked in full shade. So they must assign spots pretty early. I wonder if we'll be in the same spot as @brillohead

Definitely call them before you go in the morning to get confirmation that PAYG is available. Then if the taxi tries to steer you to a different place, you can be definitive in telling them that you are going to Paradise Beach.

I just booked private transportation from the port back to the airport for our April cruise and asked the representative about what would happen if the ship arrived into the port late, specifically for fog. He told me that the ships don't come in late for fog any more - that when fog is expected, they bring the ships in at midnight. (but then he was kind enough to go through the steps for what would happen with our transportation if we did come in late for any other reason, like a medical emergency that delays us).

I would call before going to Paradise Beach to see if they are offering the PAYG option that day.

Just add some zinc-based sunscreen to your exposed skin and it would be perfect!

You're not asking me, but I have suggestions 😂 I have a few long-sleeved rashguards with UPF protection that I use whenever I'm going to be in bright sun & water for a while (I also have UPF swim leggings). I'm very fair skinned and burn very easily, so sunscreen would just not cut it for me. I don't worry as much about my face because my head is pointed down into the water (although I will do one layer of reef friendly sunscreen before leaving the ship AND a UPF hat so I'm protected getting to and from my snorkeling destination. The rashguards I have are cute (from Coolibar usually) and match a swim skirt or whatever bathing suit I'm wearing. ALSO, we were recommended this product years ago and just bought our second one last year (once both of our teens got phones) and really love using it for trips where we'll be in the water: https://a.co/bAp8A3f (SAFEGO Portable Indoor/Outdoor Lock Box Safe with Key and Combination Access). It is not perfectly safe as I'm sure someone could clip the cable and take off with the whole thing, and you need to be able to attach it to something, but if you just need a deterrent rather than leaving stuff on a chair or on the ground, this works great!

When we booked early dining on Allure, it was at 5:30pm which I don't mind too much because you're pretty much getting your main course around 6pm. Now they just changed it to 5:00pm. It looks like all aboard is at 5pm for our three ports which made 5:30pm dinner really nice - get back on the ship by 4:30pm, shower and get ready for dinner, head down to eat with plenty of time. Now if we want to eat in MDR we have to cut our port time a little shorter, and the days in port are fairly short anyway. Not the end of the world, I know, but just really wish they had the time correct from the beginning. Why did they change it? I know we can switch to MTD but I want to steer clear of all that mess, as being discussed here. I thought that the new menus were supposed to speed up dining?

I'd include a dated grid of payments made and payments received back with any specific notations that seem relevent (i.e. paid with gift cards).

When we were snorkeling at Roatan last spring, we were close to another group whose guide didn't give any instructions about the coral. That group had people kicking it and even standing on it. I was SO sad to see that!!

This should be a sticky!

Thanks for correct info - I didn't realize that different ship corps did it differently!

Yes, it is liquor that is the issue. And there is actually a limited menu of alcoholic items that you can get - I've seen the picture recently so I'm sure there's someone around here that can post it.

Since you are cruising on Royal, you can also take a peek at the message boards over at the cruise line fan site royal caribbean blog to get good recommendations for TAs that know the cruise line well.

We were on Allure last spring and are on her again this upcoming April. We travel with our teens and have rooms next door to each other. Last year, we had the bed by the balcony and I enjoyed having the "living room" space when we walked in, to set down anything we were carrying and to be able to plop down on the couch and put my feet up. But it didn't matter too much to me. However, my teens in the connecting room HATED the beds next to the closet and I think it was partially because they had the beds separated which pushed one of the beds really close to the closet and made it very difficult to get clothing in or out of the closet. My oldest was sleeping further from the closet and ended up trying to shove all their clothes into the drawers and shelves of the vanity/desk space (not well) because they couldn't easily access the closet. I made a comment once when I went into their room about how nice it was to sit on the couch and look right out to the ocean and they both started complaining about the bed/closet arrangement. So we decided to swap for our upcoming cruise. We're giving the teens the beds by the balcony and we're taking the bed by the closet. I think it will be easier for us with the bed pushed together, and because we're a married couple rather than siblings trying to figure out the sharing of space in a room together.