jbrinkm

At 13, yes, she can have her own account. But most people say that you won't get a notification when messaging through the app (with a few random exceptions) so if you are relying on this, you and she will need to be looking at messages in the app regularly to communicate. If you send a message to her, she will need to open the app and actively look for a message in order to see what you sent her - it most likely won't pop up or chime or indicate a new message in any way.

We usually let our waiter and the head waiter know that we'd still like to come to dinner on those rare occasions when an excursion is going to delay us for our dining time by a few minutes, and ask if it would be ok so they don't give the table away too early. MTD often isn't starting until 6:45pm and we found that dinner went much faster with the new menus so it would probably be ok but just check with the staff to make sure the night before. It would help if you preview the menus and know what you want to order right off the bat. The table next to us often showed up at 5:30pm or even 5:40pm when our dinner was scheduled at 5:15pm and they were still allowed to come - we probably would have been uncomfortable being that late.

You may have people yelling at you on here, saying it is rude to come "late" but IMO that is between you and the wait staff and the only concern would be if you are holding up the table for MTD. I would not have said that under the old menus, but the new ones definitely streamline things. If you can order and eat quickly and be out around the time you would have for a slightly earlier, more leisurely dinner, then no harm done. Our lobster night was a port day and the entire dining room came late for early dining since people wanted to dress up and there was a huge security line to get back onto the ship.

On non-formal nights, there isn't much of a dress code. I think just no bathing suits and no tank tops? Jeans would be fine, I'm sure. 

OK, we are signed up for the class and the pool here at home and are booked on Symphony of the Seas next March to do our OW referral dives to finish the process (Aruba & Curacao). I hope we don't get sick of diving for two whole port days back to back! I know there is a recommendation that you don't fly for 24, or 48? hours after diving - we won't be doing that as we have two more sea days on the ship after our dive port stops, but are there recommendations about not doing dives one day after another? 

Once we finish our class & pool time, I'll be back here to check in on dive shop recommendations. I see there is another thread already for Aruba and Curacao, perfect for us as well! 

19 hours ago, SKSMIKE5 said:

What taxi company did you reserve? I called Ready Set Go Taxi and get a weird answering machine. I left a message and am waiting to hear back. 

We called 832-421-2666 but there is a gas station also called Ready Set Go phone # ending 2714. When we called the taxi service, Jim answered so I'm not sure what the voicemail sounds like...

We also loved our embarkation day lunch at Giovanni's on Allure, first week of April. We made the reservations once we were on the ship (boarded a little after 11am and got 12:45pm reservations, showed up at 12:30pm and they were fine taking us then). Adding a few pics of food, mostly appetizers.

4 hours ago, JupiterTwo said:

I was on the Allure two weeks ago. They were scanning SeaPass cards at the door to ensure that those with reservations got to enter the theater.

 

That said, Sunday's (Day 1) late show (that I attended) was lightly attended. My wife was falling asleep and left at intermission. We went back to see act 2 on Monday night's late show and the theater was full.

This was also our experience on Allure, first week of April (sold out sailing). We had reservations for the first night's show - the 8pm one - and it did not fill up completely so people were let in from the standby line.

There are 2 - right in front of the Ellipticals

1 hour ago, bayportkat said:

This sounds like a great concept but wondering if you then have to wait for it (or any other requests) to arrive or are they put in your cabin?

We used it twice for ice, once to have the balcony divider opened, and once to separate my teen's beds. Had service for ice and balcony divider within 60 minutes (not our room steward) and our room steward stopped by within 60 minutes to let us know he would do the beds during our room service the first night while we were at dinner. We made requests when we knew we would be in the room for a bit, so didn't test out whether they would put items into your room if you were not there.

On 4/24/2023 at 1:27 PM, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I don't think cruise ships typically miss the B in an ABC Islands cruise. Don't forget about Bonaire, which is probably the best diving of the three islands you'll be visiting! You can't go wrong with just about any operator on that island, but I've only ever booked through VIP Diving and never had anything except an excellent experience.

We're eyeing one for my teens' Spring Break next year on Symphony of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) that goes to Labadee, Aruba and Curacao (not Bonaire). It does seem rare, but it happens! We're thinking about doing our open water dives for our PADI certification during these two port stops.

Looks good to me. I planned clothing similarly to you during our last cruise, and thought I overpacked but ended up wearing almost everything and recycled capris for a short while one day. Maybe 2 bathing suits if one will get wet? 

59 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Late March, GGG had balconies on an 11 nt spring transatlantic for $529pp ($366pp w/ D+ discount).  I actually booked for $329pp with a weekend sale (it was actually a real sale 🙂 ).

This seems like a pretty good deal if your schedule permits:

8 hours ago, Wivian said:

What’s that? And what’s in it?

OG is just slang for original, as in a regular old mojito, but without alcohol/rum, hence the "No"jito... Just very refreshing and Boleros makes the BEST of these! Lime, soda water, mint, sugar.

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

You can also now request things (like more ice) online by scanning a QR code in your cabin (or there may be a link in the app). From what I have read, most requests are fulfilled in 30-60 minutes, either by your cabin attendant or another attendant.

We had the QR code on Allure at the beginning of April and it was great. Got all of our requests within 60 minutes, including an ice bucket. We also kept it in the cooler (had to rearrange shelves but it did fit) and it made warm water bottles turn cold and the ice lasted for 2 days. 

BUT it may not be rolled out on all ships yet. I was following a trip report last week and one of the older ships did not have it yet. 

Thanks @mac66 for all of the detail! Do you mind sharing how long each port stop was and how long you needed for the dives? I'd probably plan to do what you did, and just find local places that are willing to do the paperwork for us. We'd be a group of 4 which seems like the ratio that most PADI places use, if I'm not mistaken?

On 4/18/2023 at 8:29 PM, omeinv said:

It's a bit more complex doing your referral dives while on a cruise as you'll almost certain;y be doing two dives in one port, with one shop, and the other two someplace else.  If you can tell us your itinerary, people here probably know a shop to recommend.

Thanks @omeinv/Harris! We don't have an itinerary yet but would love suggestions. I'm eyeing one for the kids next spring break that does Labadee, Aruba and Curacao and would love to do our dives like @mac66 did in two of those ports, then just relax and enjoy Labadee... 

Another option might be to do two of our OW dives locally and then only need to do two from the ship, leaving more time on shore to explore some other parts of the islands. Any pros/cons to that approach that you can think of?

We had great experiences with Roatan Getaway Tours (April 2022 and April 2023). If we go back to Roatan, I wouldn't hesitate to book with them again. You can book them directly on their website as well.

We stayed at a hotel further down the seawall (about 20 minutes from the port terminal 10 - Allure and probably Harmony also). We just prebooked a taxi 2 days before and had no problems. Some of the local taxis would rather do a few runs between hotels and the port rather than go to one of the airports. 

We were on her at during the first week of April and got a shot from above (the little 9th floor balcony), where you can see more green. Then they brought more plants on the week after us to fill in some of the remaining empty spots. The overall impression was green, but the trees were sad...

We had the refreshment package for the first time during our cruise at the beginning of April. I had read all of the recommendations and tried several different mocktails. I did not like the Miami Vice or the Blueberry Nojito as much as others seem to, but my OG Nojito was delicious! As was the Watermelon Mint Lemonade. I also enjoyed virgin fruit daquiris (peach, strawberry). 

My teens loved Shirley Temples and virgin Pina Coladas. 

13 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

Can you get Irish Coffee with the Refreshment Drink?

You can pay for a shot and add it to your free coffee.

1 hour ago, slyster said:

OH OH OH....i thought we were talking about Allure in Galveston. Yes, I am aware other ships have check-ins at 10:30.  Allure is the first one I knew of with a 11am check in time.  

11am was the earliest check in for regular guests when we sailed Allure during the first week of April. Our rooms were ready by 1pm.

21 hours ago, Tricia28 said:

On the same cruise as you. Went on the Christmas sailing out of Galveston 4 months ago. That was the cruise that all the plants in Central Park froze. I truly hope they have replaced them. It is my favorite place on the ship. This will be my 8th time on Allure. Last time we went in a Crown Loft Suite but this time it's a balcony guarantee for us. We bought the UDP but did not purchase the drink package.

We were on Allure the first week of April and it looked like this (below). Trees were still bad and there were some empty spaces but the overall impression was green and it looked about 70% back. I saw another report that more plants were being brought on last week, so perhaps now some of the empty spaces are filled in. 

21 hours ago, SKSMIKE5 said:

Thank you. How early can you prebook a taxi? Did you do it online? Sounds like that might be a good option. There will be 6 of us in our VRBO about 5 miles from port.

21 hours ago, binro01 said:

I would love to know who you prebooked with 🙂

We used Ready Set Go taxis (Jim). They were recommended by our hotel. I booked with them 2 days before our cruise (also recommended by our hotel). 

How would you feel about checking in with a GOOD travel agent to see what they can do for you? They often have a better price due to group rates and can find unusual rooms. It might be that you can book an additional inside room across the hall for the same price as 4 in a room by using a TA. There is not as much of a discount from Royal on teens as there would be for kids 12 and under in the same room. 

22 minutes ago, binro01 said:

Galveston is an interesting town. I hear that Uber can be difficult, and have the Lyft app ready. We are also the earliest boarding time, so hopefully we might miss the big rush.

We prebooked an old fashioned taxi and it worked out really well. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Suites, the one further down the Seawall, so it was a good 20 minutes away from the port. There are some taxis on the island that may not want to make the big trip to one of the airports but would rather just run a few small trips from hotels to the port. The rideshares sometimes do seem to have problems - really long wait times or cancelling. Maybe that will get better on May 1 when Uber is allowed in. (Prebooking a rideshare doesn't mean anything; they can still cancel at will.) Our taxi driver (minivan) was hailed many, many times by people who wanted to go to the airport, but she was on her way back to another hotel to drive another group to the port. 

7 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

And this time there was a freak winter storm and many people from the east and north didn't even make it to the cruise (even though they were flying in the day before). Some even boarded in PR...

We had a tornado watch! My family was in the plane and next to depart when weather shut us down. We had nonstop lightning, rain and bad winds (the plane was bouncing up and down because the wind was catching the wings). Then a tornado warning, then a watch. We departed 3 hours late and didn't get to Galveston until 1am (felt like 2am to us due to the time change). 

On 4/11/2023 at 3:23 PM, mac66 said:

I looked at doing it on a RCL ship, it's offered on Oasis class ships but couldn't swing it. Finally did the class/confined water part at home (in a pool in Nov)  and the OW part on a cruise in Curcao and Aruba. OW dives are two a day, a day (or two) apart. 

 

Doing the OW part at a different dive shop is called a referral dive. Just about every dive operation in the Caribbean (or Florida for that matter) will do referral dives. If you want to do warm water OW dives.  Just need to contact them in advance and set it up.  You take your paperwork from your class/confined water part to your OW dives and have them sign off on the requirements.

Thanks! I've located a local PADI dive shop where we can do the class and the pool time. Can you explain more about how you did the OW dives? The shop will do free referrals, and I'd love to do our dives in warmer water! What did the timing look like from a cruise ship? How long was each dive? Did you do two a day with the same operator? How long were you in port to be able to work those dives in? 

My husband wants to just do a dive (land) vacation to either do the whole certification or the OW portion. I've read all of the advice on here and want to do the class at our local shop, and would rather do the OW part during a cruise if we can manage it. 

If we end up doing a land vacation to do some or all of the certification, I'd love to be in Roatan, Belize or Costa Rica. Any advice or suggestions about that? 

39 minutes ago, Katems75 said:

You can get fruit cup each night even though it's not on the menu?

It was on the kids' menu, which you can order from.