Kellie in Texas

We did the tour last week on Adventure OTS and it was worth every penny.

After day 3 of our 5-day cruise, we received a printed-out statement of charges to our credit card on file up to that point (gratuities, bar charges, etc.) I assumed we'd get an email from RCCL with the final tally. Since the cruise is over, the information in the app is gone now too, so that's no help.

Yes, you'd miss a ton! But what ports will you have? Some have more availability of places to walk around on your own without an excursion.

There are some itineraries that are round-trip to/from Vancouver, not just Seattle. We were on one this past summer.

Just back from the five-day Adventure OTS cruise from Galveston to Cozumel and Costa Maya. This was our 8th cruise and 5th with RCCL. We had two standard balcony cabins on deck 8. My oldest son's fiancee had never cruised before. The new Galveston RCCL terminal -- This place is gorgeous and the workers were all extremely nice and helpful. We had reserved parking in the North lot which I would definitely do again. Our boarding time was 10:30 so we arrived at the parking lot around 10:00. Very short walk to the porters to hand over our large checked bags, then into the terminal. There were escalators and stairs to go up to the check-in level, as well as elevators. We went through security and were directed to the seating area to wait for boarding. They started calling the Key and the higher levels to board and all of a sudden, they were calling us (Emerald). We were on the ship and headed to the Windjammer even before our 10:30 boarding time! We did the self-assist debarkation which was estimated to start at 8:15 am, but they started a few minutes before 8:00. We were in the car in maybe 15 minutes. Cabins ready early and the Emerald loyalty "freebie" -- We had just become Emerald before this cruise so we were to get some kind of "goodie" in our cabin. I didn't bother to call C&A ahead of time. Turns out, it was two bottles of water and a plate with three cookies. They had said cabins wouldn't be ready until 2:00, but they were open by 1:30, as I recall. The app and the now-free messaging capability that started Jan. 1 -- We had all downloaded the app and stayed off the messaging feature until day 2, Jan. 1, when the messaging became free. It was definitely helpful, mostly when we were arranging times to meet for dinner, etc. Like others have said, you don't get a notification like when you get a text. You had to be in the app and an orange bar comes over the three dots to indicate that you have a message. No paper Compass until I asked -- There was no paper Compass in the room on the first day. When our room steward came by to introduce himself, I asked him to bring one each night, which he did. I think the paper Compass has way more information on it than you find in the app, plus it's easier to see everything on one page instead of scrolling and scrolling. And the paper Compasses are built-in souvenirs of the trip. New Year's Eve and "formal/dress to impress" night in the dining room -- Our sailing day was NYE and that's when the main dining rooms had formal night. Not surprisingly, a lot of people were DRESSED UP! We almost never eat in the main dining rooms but decided to do so for NYE so our oldest son's fiancee could experience the dining room. They had a few special holiday dishes still on the menu along with the usual items. We all enjoyed what we chose. There were lots of NYE activities all over the ship but we were asleep by 11:00. It had been a long day and we aren't big partiers. Windjammer and Cafe Promenade -- Except for NYE dinner, a couple of lunches and one breakfast at Cafe Promenade, we ate in the Windjammer. We always found plenty of good stuff to eat. We missed having the separate Sorrento's pizza like on some of the other ships; the CP has pizza but we didn't think it was quite as good as Sorrento's. The pleasant surprise was breakfast at CP. They had some Egg McMuffin-type sandwiches, some egg and avocado tortilla wraps, and a few other things. It was much quieter than the Windjammer can be. We'll definitely check out the CP for breakfast in the future. Cozumel and Costa Maya -- In Cozumel, I had booked the RCCL excursion to Playa Mia, the deluxe version that included open bar and the buffet lunch. The beach was beautiful and we had great weather that day. We also had one of the nicest buses we've ever had on an excursion for our roughly 15-minute drive. The buffet was delicious and the drinks were good. DS21 especially had fun on the inflatable obstacle course, etc. I didn't book anything in Costa Maya and I didn't get off the ship. DH and both DS's and GF decided to walk around the port area. They ended up going to the aviary and enjoyed it. The trolley on the pier was running that day, but not in any big hurry. 😄 The shows -- We went to the theater for the Invitation to Dance show and the Can't Stop the Rock show. DH and I also went to the ice show, which was really good. That was it for any shows that we attended. The all-access bridge tour -- Everybody should do this tour at least once. It was very exclusive and super-interesting. We had right at 4,000 passengers and they only offered this tour twice with a max of 12 persons on each tour. So we were five out of 24 people in the 4,000 that got to see this. You bring your Sea Pass card and you can bring your phone, but no purses, bags, etc. We could take pictures of anything but no videos. Before the tour, security checked our Sea Pass cards against their list and we were wanded/patted down (lightly); there was a female security guard to check the women on the tour. We started in the dining room, then the galley, the provisions store rooms (we saw the ice cream freezer and the liquor storage -- it had three locks on it! 🙂 ) Down some stairs to the engine control room, the laundry, and the long hallway known as I-95. There was quite a bit of stairs, up and down, but we were able to take the elevator to the bridge. We were checked again by security before going onto the bridge. That was amazing and a highlight of the trip. The disappointing thing -- My sons are soccer players and have always loved the soccer availability on the ships. Youngest son is also a rock wall climber and looked forward to that. Sadly, on our two sea days, the rock wall and the sports court were "closed for maintenance". Both days were fairly windy and I can understand the rock wall being closed due to wind, but not sure how kicking a soccer ball on the sport court would be affected. It was a disappointment but they got over it. Went to the gym a couple of times, walked around deck 12 a bunch, but didn't get to kick the ball. Maybe next time. Once you have a junior suite ... -- On Serenade in Alaska this past June, we sprang for an aft junior suite and it was amazing. This time we had regular balcony cabins and definitely felt the difference. I expect that even when it's just me and DH on a cruise, we'll be springing for that junior suite for sure. 🙂 I think those were all the points I wanted to pass along. I'll try to answer any questions. Happy New Year!

It's probably too early to reserve excursions. Usually, they are available 60-90 days prior to the cruise date.

We just got home from Adventure and did not have a paper Compass in the room on day one. I asked our cabin attendant when he came by to introduce himself to please bring a paper one each night and he did. The paper copies are SO much easier to see/read than scrolling, scrolling, scrolling through the app. Plus I'm positive there were things in the paper version that were not in the app. Plus I keep the paper ones for souvenirs.

DS30 did this on Adventure on New Year's Eve. Got three appetizers plus an entree plus the dessert.

We are about to head to Galveston for five days on Adventure OTS -- myself, DH, DS age 30 and his fiancee, and DS age 21. Starting with oldest son's high school graduation, we have picked special cruises for celebrations. June 2011 was our first Alaska cruise; June 2016 when he graduated from college was a Baltics cruise from Copenhagen. When DS21 graduated from high school in June 2020, it was going to be Alaska again but it got Covid-ed out (twice!), so that cruise was this past June and celebrated high school graduation and completion of sophomore year of college. 😄 I've been asking him where he wants to go when he graduates from college but no word yet. We've sprinkled additional cruises over the years but we like celebrating the big events with cruises. My son's fiancee has never cruised before so it will be fun to see her reactions to everything.

Yes, @Biker19I was talking about set sail passes and I think @John&LaLawas talking about luggage tags because I had found those on page 19 of the edocs. That being said, I tried again to access the set sail passes and this time it worked. So I guess the Royal hamsters had been on their little wheels long enough to recharge it. 😄

Thanks @pspercy

That's what I tried and it would just time out. I'll try again in a bit.

Thank you @denamo. Hopefully the Galveston webcams website will add this one eventually.

Two of the Galveston webcams (Cruise Cam and Emerald Cam) show the ships at the old terminals, but do any of these webcams show ships sailing from the new terminal?

We cruise in two days and I can't access the boarding passes on the website either. However, they are in the app, so that's the backup. I'm still old-school and want everything printed on paper. 😄

When is your cruise? If it's more than 90 days or so, they are most likely still adding excursions to the available choices. We went to Isla Pasion several years ago on a Carnival cruise and it was absolutely gorgeous, but I've never found it available on an RCCL cruise.

@dwHokiewhen we are in Cozumel next week, there will be five ships, so not quite as packed as yours was. We are in port from 8:00 to 18:00. Re: the Playa Mia excursion, did you use the ship's excursion or book independently? We purchased the ship's excursion including transportation, so I'm hoping the return wait that your wife had won't be an issue for us.

@dwHokiewe are from that town "between a Rock and a weird place" 🙂 and are cruising on Adventure from Galveston at the end of this week. Looking forward to reading your review of the new terminal, as well as Playa Mia which we have also booked.

Love your review, your sense of humor, and your dogs. 🙂 We are on Adventure in a couple of weeks.

Haha, no, it's more to avoid the tripping hazard. 🙂

We've cruised several times with the four of us in one cabin. Yes, it's crowded but completely do-able. Rule #1 is don't leave your shoes in the middle of the floor. 🙂

Well, just saw this on a certain blog: In a Q&A session on Wonder of the Seas on Thursday, Michael Bayley told travel agents that the cost to use the chat feature will be removed starting January 1, 2023. My cruise is Dec. 31, so I guess we'll just wait until Day 2 to chat in the app. 🙂

Hmmm, well, given everyone's replies, I'm thinking we'll just make our plans while we are all together in person and forget the app.

I think I understand that you have to be onboard first but how do you actually use the app to communicate with others in your group?

Looks like the mall on Christmas Eve. 😄