Crookshanks

Great insights! We chose this port because my oldest brother is in Houston, so it's easy to get to and from the airport and we get to visit with him. Made disembarking easy as well as we just walked out and he found us. We had a cruise booked in May out of Seattle. This will be my Mom, both brothers and 2 aunts. That should be fun, too. I did notice that there were plenty of grumpy people yesterday. I probably would have been more angry if I had to be somewhere early. I try and follow suggestions, such as don't fly out before 2 in the afternoon. But seriously, I was standing outside the theater watching the parade go by and not only were people getting hot about passengers going to the Theater, but also those trying to get to the bathrooms. That kind of behavior is so sad to me. I think it's because my Dad always told us that the only thing you can control in life is your attitude. But once that line started moving, it was easy! You could have yelled at me at any time! I love cruising because I get to meet all the people from all the lands! That show was fabulous!! All of the finalists were just wonderful! The kid, Scott, who I lovingly referred to as Baby Frank, blew me away! He was so kind and so much talent! I wish I had been able to listen to the performances a bit better, the green room doesn't have sound, so we didn't get to hear each other much. Really enjoyed Phillip's rehearsal of You Raise Me Up, so I can only imagine how that sounded in the Theater! Thank you for all your kind words there, it was so much fun but I was so nervous I was gonna fall over if another big wave hit us! 😄 The Judges told us after the show that they were afraid no one would come to the Finals because the Texans were in the playoffs at the same time, but it was still a pretty great crowd, or at least it seemed that way from all the noise. I couldn't see anything past the front row! I also didn't see a whole lot of kiddos. My last cruise I brought my sons, who were 8 and 12 at the time, and there were a ton of kids. But that was Spring Break last year, so that made sense. Staff was just amazing to me. I'm not sure I had a bad experience at all. Never had anyone hamming it up for tips or anything. Buffet servers were on point, omelet station was great, too. Dinner servers picked up on our frivolity and sarcasm, my brother and I are pros, and gave it right back. Sure made it fun every night! My cruise was also from the casino, I've only ever sailed with Princess as they continue giving me free cruises. I also still need to have the PTO and such to go. Was a great cruise, though! My brother had never been on a 'voluntary' cruise, he was in the Navy for 10 years so that cruising was a lot different than this! 🤣 My bestie had fun even though she didn't have all the clothes she'd planned on, but again, it's about attitude. She focused on the fact that she made it on the ship and we had time to go get some clothes and such before we boarded. Thank you so much! The audience was pretty awesome! At auditions, during karaoke and the show. Makes it so much more fun!!

What an amazing compliment! Thank you so much! This particular competition was crazy! So many great singers!

My Mom recorded the performance! 090C1E4D-23DB-4410-864E-74C42A38CF89.mov

I think the smaller events are loaded into the Ship Journey in the app about a week early. I saw the comedian shows, theater productions and Voice finals on the schedule about a month before the cruise, and then the regular schedule started filling out the week leading up to the cruise. I just started marking what I wanted to do the week before cruise.

They did do the Marriage Game! It was in the Princess Live venue. I also have AirTags for all the things! I like to see them move at each airport! I also like American as the app shows every single scan of the baggage. Alaska doesn't have that feature which seems so silly since it's not a 'cheap' airline. She stayed on Alaska flights the whole time, so it was the baggage that got all confused. However, the ridiculous service with Alaska in Houston Airport would have me livid. She'll be doing all the claims and complaints when she gets home today. So frustrating!

Here’s more info on the whole luggage debacle. I’ll kind of start from the beginning so it’s all in one place. Best Friend, Jessica, flew to Houston from Southern Oregon. The itinerary was 3 flights, a short one to Portland, a short one to Seattle and the last leg as a non stop from Seattle to Houston(IAH). First flight was all good. After boarding the second flight and pulling away from gate the airport crew starts de-icing the plane. During this process a passenger starts having a panic attack about flying. They have to turn the plane around and go back to gate to let them off. While at gate, they go ahead and let the people who got there late board the plane. Pull away again and then go through the de-icing process again. She took off 2 hours later than expected. Her layover in Seattle was also 2 hours, so she’s thinking she’ll miss the flight. She runs like the wind through the airport and is the last to board!! Flight attendant says she’s super lucky because the pilot on her previous flight was one of the pilots on this one, so it couldn’t leave without him. Well, as you can guess, luggage did not run as quickly and did not make the flight. Now another story that adds context and drama to the entire experience. My brother, joining us for his first cruise, is also flying from Seattle as he lives in Tacoma, WA. The previous evening(Friday), he found out from the news(NOT the airline) that his flight on Saturday had been cancelled. The flight was planned on one of the Boeing planes that had been grounded by the FAA. His height and comfort lead him to First Class, which nearly guaranteed him to get a new itinerary thankfully. They rescheduled him on a flight that was 2 legs, though the second leg was on a sister company’s flight. Seattle to Phoenix and then Phoenix to Houston(IAH). Jessica’s bags got added to that flight! They are on their way! Whoop whoop! Brother makes it to Houston at 12:30am. We wait patiently at luggage carousel…. And keep waiting. Not only has Jessica’s bag not arrived, both of my brother’s bags are missing. We head over to the luggage office. They track brother’s luggage tags and find out that the ground crew put his on a plane to Miami instead of Houston. But no worries, there’s a flight from Miami to Houston later this morning. This is all happening through the American flight office. American cannot track Jessica’s baggage because all of her stuff was booked through Alaska. Alaska’s luggage office and ticket counter are closed. They will not to open until the next day. Sunday morning at 5:30am, we head back to the airport to try and get more information on the status of the bags. Brother’s luggage is expected to arrive on the flight landing at 11:30am. Doesn’t seem too horrible except that the cruise port is an hour away and last call is 2:00pm. Jessica is now informed that her luggage made the first flight of my brother’s trip, but they failed to transfer them to the American Flight to Houston. So her bag is still in Phoenix. They do not know when it will be arriving in Houston as there are no Alaska Airlines flights that go from Phoenix to Houston. They tell her at the ticket counter to go to the baggage office next to carousels to start the lost baggage claim. She goes to that part of the airport and it’s closed. She goes back to ticket counter and everyone was gone. We go back to my (other) brother’s house where my Mom is waiting and I tell her “I’ve got bad news, good news, and more bad news”. “Bad news: Jessica has no clothes for the cruise, good news! Look what I got at the airport!” Brother walks in. She’s shocked. She had no idea he was coming on the cruise. “More Bad News: Tony’s luggage was flown to Miami but it’ll be here at 11:30”. We spend the morning shopping to get what we can for Jessica. She sits on hold for a long time with Alaska Airlines main number. Finally she gets connected and the agent starts the luggage claim for her. Plan is to fly her bag to our first port. Gives her numbers to provide to Princess Guest Services so they know what’s happening and can be ready for baggage. We go to airport at 11:30am and Tony’s bags have arrived!! Yay! We make our way to the port and walk on the ship at 1:30pm. Closer than I like, but hey! I’m on the ship! We go to GS to give them the information about luggage. All seems good. Monday Jessica gets a call(voicemail) that her luggage is in Houston ready for her to pick up. Um…. What? Jessica attempts to call Houston back, no answer. She leaves a message. No answer for a couple of hours so she calls main number again. Many apologies later, they make the decision to just keep the bags in Houston since we really don’t want to lose her stuff in another country. Every day Jessica calls Houston to verify that they are holding her bags there. Leaves at least one voicemail each time she calls. Never gets a response. On Friday we decide to start the Princess process on the lost luggage thing since we got the Protection Plan. Guest Services starts by applying a $150 OBC to her account and gives us the info to contact 3rd party for the claim. She also states that Jessica’s luggage was waiting at the port of Galveston for her. This throws us all off. Is her bag in Houston or Galveston!? She calls and leaves 3 more voicemails in Houston luggage office. On Saturday she calls main number, who also attempts to contact Houston. They also do not get an answer from them. They say the bag was last scanned in Houston and the notes in her account show that it is supposed to stay at airport. They tell her the office is supposed to be open from 3-3:30 for phone calls. Starting at 3:00pm she calls a grand total of 42 times. Never picks up. Calls main number again, they also get no answer. Now we are just planning to look at port and then go to airport after disembarking. Woke up this morning to a voicemail stating that her bag was indeed at airport and she could pick it up in between 6-7am or 4-7pm. Just to make sure, we did check at the port. No bag at port. She finally was reunited With her bag at 6:10pm!! So. Alaska Airlines main number: great customer service. Alaska airlines IAH baggage department: ridiculous.

The trivia sessions we went to were all quite fun but seem a lot easier than they have in the past. Maybe my general/random knowledge has grown or they want to make us feel smarter. 😂🤷‍♀️ He hadn’t finished the Marvel yet, but I really wanted to do that one! I brought the wine home with me since I had the package, so I’ll see what it’s like soon! Music trivia is usually my favorite. There was a couple who won every one of them. I spoke to the wife after one round and she said her husband was a DJ/Radio host for 40+ years, so I really didn’t have a chance! 😂 Still had a great time trying and singing along though. I was hoping to see Harry Potter trivia, but no luck on that one.

Our current cruise director is great! He was the CD on the Ruby last Spring, it’s Mika. He said he’ll be on Regal for 2 months and then go back to Ruby. The answer was given earlier, but I can confirm that you can use medallion or cash. There were a handful of slots on the Ruby that wouldn’t accept cash, but you could go put cash on your account in guest services and use your medallion. No fees for charges to credit card on file. I will personally let it charge my card and use my winnings to pay the card off at home so I aquire points on the card. I will also ask this after show. 😃 Line was crazy so I asked a server and she said 18 in International waters and 21 in some ports. I have learned that I don’t do LIVE very well! 😂😂😂 So much stuff to do and I had 3 people with me, so I hardly used my phone! Cruise was soooooo great! Ports were wonderful as well as the excursions we went on. We booked the bike ride and glass bottom kayak in Costa Maya. It’s about 3 miles from port to kayaking. Bikes are a bit old, but worked well. Watch out for pot holes on the roads to and from!! Kayaking was a lot of fun. Seeing the reefs under you is just super neat. Had a little break to enjoy a delicious beverage and then rode back. Roaton was our lazy port. We didn’t get off the ship until noon. Walked around the beautiful gardens, took some pictures, did a bit of shopping. Mom and Brother went back to ship to relax and BF and I went snorkeling. I brought my own snorkel and Jessica rented one for $20. Saw more reefs, and I found quite a few conch shells with inhabitants! That was a first for me!! Had to get on ship a bit early to do the first Voice of the Ocean rehearsal and that went well. Cozumel was so much fun. We booked the Dolphin Swim with Manatee encounter and it was great! I had done this same excursion last March with my 12 and 8 year old sons, so I was more focused on them than what I wanted to do. This time I got to walk a lot of the gardens, got spooked by a moving wall that ended up being an iguana! 😜 The sea lion show was short but very sweet and we got pictures with one and those were perfect! Food was not amazing, but it filled the void enough to get back on the ship to enjoy the delicious food. Last Sea Day was packed. Watched the culinary show (but skipped the galley tour, crowded and we were hungry) and that was super cute. They had a great banter going on. Alfredos for lunch and off to dress rehearsal for The Voice. The Finals were pretty early. 4 pm. Didn’t have a full theater if only because the ship was full of Texas residents and Houston was playing a playoff game. But it was still well attended and so very much fun! Everyone did such an amazing job! I was blessed to have been voted the winner and I’m so excited to proudly display the trophy on my desk at work! I’m a sucker for Trivia and did hit those as much as possible, but really enjoyed most of the little shows we saw. Only got to the Theater once, but I was happy that I did. The show was Bravo and it was just fabulous!! Lucy, one of the ACDs was just amazing! She will go far, that one!! What a hoot! Food! Oh all the food!! I really didn’t have a bad meal at all! Pizza, Crown Grill, Sabatinis were all amazing! Main Dining Room was wonderful as well. Last nights lamb shank was superb. The Veal at Sabatinis was just mouth watering. Disembarking was not smooth today. Gangway wasn’t connecting properly and facial recognition was down so we had to have passports out for physical examination. We were scheduled to get off at 8:35 but didn’t get out until 10. I know there were some very unhappy passengers that booked flights around noon. There’s definitely a reason they say not to book a flight until 2 or so. Once the line started moving we were off quickly. I will add a smattering of photos for your viewing pleasure. IMG_4227.mov

I have multiple options for different situations. Clip is great for clothing or even clipping on a crossbody strap. I’ll move it to a keychain AirTag holder when we get off ship as there’s less chance of it falling off. I also have one that attaches to my watch band, which is nice if you don’t want to carry a bag. I have the AirTags so I can watch them move at airports. But the other now know to get them!! BF’s bag has officially made it to Houston, but she’s opted to just get by with the clothes we bought for her there and what’s in my bags. Just afraid to send it internationally since things haven’t worked out well. Onto ship news! Great time so far! Trivia has been fun. Playing board games and casino also enjoyable. My brother is teaching me craps, though I still don’t grasp it well. Up on slots for the moment, but there’s time to lose the rest. 😂 We had the Voice of the Ocean auditions and I was lucky enough to end up being a finalist!! Super excited! Gonna be a great show! So much talent! Chocolate cake at the International Cafe as Premium Dessert was wonderful and 4 of us couldn’t even finish it!! Mint Chocolate martini is a great nightcap!

Both of them flew Alaska, though it was airport personnel at Phoenix who didn’t load BF’s bags. Alaska is doing their best to help, I think. But the proof will be in the pudding. 🤷‍♀️ We arrived at the port at 1:05pm. Dropped bags off and walked right in. No lines, no issues. In our cabin by 1:30pm. Guest services was very quick on getting BF’s incident report logged so airline can try and get bag to the port. Points there. Buffet after safety video and muster station and now heading out to explore.

I’d like to say that we have boarded the ship, after breezing through everything and I’m sipping a delicious beverage next to the pool. However, I can’t. A combination of weather, malfunctions and human error have delayed our enjoyment. My mother, flying out of Central Oregon, waited 5 hours to start boarding her flight. The plane needed some kind of repair and it took a while. She ended up missing the second flight and had to spend Friday night in Denver and catch another flight on Saturday to Houston. Not too big of a deal there. My best friend had a 3 leg flight. Southern Oregon to Portland Oregon to Seattle and then Houston. First leg was good. After boarding in Portland, the de-icing of the plane took a while and a passenger had a panic attack and they had to return to the gate to let them off. Then they allowed the passengers that arrived late to board. They had to de-ice a second time and they finally took off 2 hours late. She was able to run through the Seattle airport and make the last flight with 2 minutes until they locked doors. She arrived in Houston on time. Sadly, her luggage did not. Baggage attendant stated that her luggage was expected to arrive at 12:15am. Awesomely enough, on the flight my brother, coming from Seattle, was on! We go back to airport to get brother and all the luggage. Best Friend’s luggage…. No where. Brother’s luggage also not there. Hunt down more help. BF’s luggage wasn’t put on the second leg of flight and was still in Phoenix. My brother’s luggage was put on a plane to Miami. Went back to airport at 5:30 this morning to get updates. Brother’s luggage was expected from Miami at 11:07am. BF’s not arriving until 5-6pm, maybe. Off to the stores we went. Got the necessities for BF so she’d have something to wear. She was finally able to connect with airline person to start a lost luggage claim. They are hoping to fly her bag to one of our ports, but couldn’t guarantee anything. Thankfully brother’s luggage did show up at 11:30 and we were able to grab it. Now we are driving to Galveston to get on the ship. ETA is 1:06. Cutting it close for me, but as long as I get on the ship, I’ll be good. I’ll still share how the boarding goes for us late arrivals! 😜

Actually West Tennessee. Flying out of Memphis now!

Not super stress free so far! Had severe weather this morning with our tornado sirens blaring. Kids' buses had to stop so they could shelter in place until the weather authorities cleared travel again. They are all safe now, but it definitely added drama to the day!

Good morning!! It’s my travel day! Though I am going to work for a little while first, have a couple of projects I’m hoping to finish today. Thought I’d share another informational tidbit. I find value in the Premier Package, mainly because of the photos, so I’ll be able to share a few insights on that. Hopefully I’ll win a Princess Prize or two!! Another perk is the medallion clip. I had assumed they’d send me the same one as last time, but lo and behold! I got a different one! Yay! left: March 2023 right: January 2024

Booked through cruise line. I'm really glad about that now since the weather has been so crazy. If the ship is unable to dock or a port gets cancelled, they will issue a refund. If you book through another venue, it's not guaranteed. I really wanted to book a Sloth/Monkey encounter in Roatan, but there aren't any through the ship. I'm going to see if I can join last minute as Roatan has been a questionable port these last couple of week for some cruise ships.

I also sailed on the Ruby last year out of Galveston. Both times the embarkation was super quick and easy. I'm hoping they are working the kinks out and just gets better each week. Hope you do escape the cold! We have been lucky here and haven't had too much bad weather, but that can change quickly. I'm flying to IAH tomorrow evening. Spending 2 days with my brother, which will be great!

Yes, that has been my biggest concern going into this cruise, so I'll be as transparent as I can in regard to those issues! My Mom is an early bird, so we'll likely be arriving at the port at the earliest boarding time. My app shows that boarding is from 10:30am - 2:00pm. We'll be driving from Humble (where my brother lives), though stopping at the famous Buc-ees for Brisket Breakfast Burritos. 😂 We are planning to bring at least one bottle of wine to get us through Sunday afternoon, maybe 2 as bestie is a Green Bay fan and I'm a Dallas fan. Also a 12 pack or 2 of soda.

I figured I'd try my hand with this LIVE thing! Looks like it could be a lot of fun. Also figured I'd give as much info to people who may want to know more about the process. So please be patient with me as I overload you with all of the details! I got an e-mail from Princess on November 10th offering an Interior Cabin, $200 in Casino Play and Princess Plus included if I could sail in the next 2 months. I'd had to cancel our Christmas Cruise, so I was happy to figure something out for January. Called the casino line on November 13 to verify that it really did include PP as that's what got my attention and made it so tempting. First caller verified that it was so I called my Mom to see if she could get the time off and meet me in Texas. She could and so could my BFF from Oregon, so I called back and booked the cruise for the 3 of us. Later that evening, once I got the e-mailed confirmation, it didn't look right. There was no Princess Plus and the casino credit was only $100. I called back and spoke to someone who fought quite a bit with me, but I didn't let it go. I've worked in call centers so I generally know how it all works. Finally, when I kept pointing out that the wrong casino offer was applied, obviously because the casino credit was wrong, he admitted that there had been an error and that he would escalate the issue. I had him read the 'notes' he put into my booking to verify the information. I called back the next day to make sure the escalation had occurred. The gentleman I spoke to did acknowledge the notes and said it takes a couple of days to fix the issue. I asked when I should call back to check on it. This was a Tuesday, he said call back on Thursday. On Thursday, November 16, I called again and this time I got a bright lady who made sure all the t's were crossed and I's dotted. She even asked if I wanted to upgrade to the Premier, which I happily did. I LOVE the photo package. **I included the drama here, because I want people to know that things can be fixed. Write down the date and time of each call, write down the name of the person you spoke to, get them to verify what they have told you, not just 'agree' with if you said the words, each call is recorded and if push comes to shove, they will pull the call record.** Now with all happily set up, we start the planning. During the whole fiasco, I did get an e-mail stating that I could bid to upgrade our cabin. On November 16 I bid on the cabin upgrades. Options were as follows: Balcony: Minimum Bid: $70 per person - I placed minimum on that one Deluxe Balcony: Minimum Bid: $90 per person - I placed minimum on that one as well Obstructed Balcony: Minimum Bid: $20 per person - Also placed minimum bid Deluxe Obstructed Balcony: Minimum Bid: $30 per person - Since there are 3 of us, I was more concerned about more room than location on the ship, so I made this bid higher, which was considered a 'fair' bid. I bid $60 per person for this upgrade. Also on November 16 I ordered our medallions to be shipped to me. Booked 2 excursions on November 28, Bike Ride and Kayaking in Costa Maya and the Dolphin Swim in Cozumel. November 29, I realized that I really wanted a better chance on the Deluxe size cabin and edited my bid on the Deluxe Obstructed to $75 per person, that way the 2 highest bids were on cabins with more space. On December 13, Princess Accepted the bid for the Deluxe Balcony Cabin for $90 per person. Whoop Whoop!!! On December 23, E-mailed notice of Medallions being shipped. As of January 4, they still showed in IL, though that evening they reached Memphis, TN, which is the biggest hub in my neck of the woods. They were delivered the next day on January 5th. Now we're all set to go!! I'll fly out of Memphis on Friday evening to Houston where I'll stay with my brother until Sunday. My Mom will fly in Friday as well and then BFF on Saturday evening. I'll do my best to keep everyone informed as much as they'd like to be!! Super excited!!!

I tried searching, but it didn't work too well. I'm going on the Regal in 12 days, yay! I have the Princess Premier and I was curious if the Gelato Bar was included with the unlimited Premium Desserts or if that was still a la carte. Thank you in advance!

It extends to everyone in the cabin, but as stated above, photos that have a premier package guest are all included. I have a wonderful time with the photo package! Totally worth the Premier Upgrade!

I got my Bid accepted at 32 days out. But I've heard from some that they only got their bid accepted 2 days before the cruise, so I think it really depends on how many cabins are available. Our cruise is not even close to sold out.

I did it on the computer through the Cruise Personalizer. There are a few ways to get to Bidding Screen, but I think it's easiest if you start from the Cruise Summary page. If you scroll down on the screen there will be a section titled "Plan Your Voyage". For me, it's the 3rd link, Top picture on the right side of the screen. It's labeled Princess Upgrade. Click on that link. It'll then explain what a Princess Upgrade is and there's a Blue "Get Started" link that'll take you to a page to enter your Last Name and Booking Number. If you're eligible, there will be options to place a bid. I bid on all 4 options at the same time.

They took the most expensive, even though it was the very lowest I could bid for that stateroom. I was in an interior, the bidding options I was given were as follows: Balcony Deluxe Balcony Obstructed Balcony Deluxe Obstructed Balcony I put minimum bids in for the first 3 and a "fair" offer for the Deluxe Obstructed Balcony. There are 3 adults in the cabin, so we were just thinking more room would be nice, didn't much care where on ship we were or anything. Minimum bid for Balcony was $70 PP Minimum bid for Deluxe Balcony was $90 PP Minimum bid for Deluxe Obstructed Balcony was $30 PP Minimum for Obstructed Balcony was $20 PP We bid $75 PP for the Deluxe Obstructed, so more than twice the minimum. They accepted the $90 PP for Deluxe Balcony

I did the same process to place a bid, put in last name and booking number. Then it showed the 4 bids I'd placed. The most expensive one is on top and larger than the others, but the others are listed below. They'll have a Pending by them, or for me, it showed only the one as pending and the others listed as expired.

Totally what it was!! The pending bid ended up being accepted!! Yay!!