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Does anyone know the showtimes on the 5 day sailing of the Mariner of the Seas? Trying to make MyTime dining plans and have no idea when the shows are. Thanks!

I am having the same experience although a friend of mine said she booked Donna Summer yesterday. Not sure how?

How much is the Vibe Beach Club?

So you did get an email about winning your upgrade for a sailing on the 10th?

Sorry, somehow someone else's title came up on my post. I will repost.

So we are two days out for our next cruise and I haven't received anything regarding the upgrade bid I put in. Aren't you supposed to receive an email either way? I don't even see the link to see my upgrade from my reservation anymore since everything is locked in now. Thanks!

How late can you hear about the upgrades? We put in a bid (low) for an upgrade to a junior suite a few weeks ago for a sailing next week and didn't know when we'd hear. I assume the only way we'd get it is if someone canceled at the last minute as the sailing is so full.

Sorry but I didn't read through the entire thread but we have the Shareholder's credit and I used it right away for purchasing the drink package so I don't believe there is any issue here.

Can anyone let me know how much the internet is if you wait to purchase it once on board?

So we are Diamond. How many days free do you get? I have never seen where there were 2 speeds to choose from and they don't offer that information if you buy the package ahead of time. ???

It looks like the price for internet has been the same at $18.99 for the past few months but I wanted to know if it is worth buying ahead of time or waiting until on board? We don't need the "streaming" part but just really want internet. Any thoughts on this? I want to be able to connect pretty quickly after we get in our room. Thank you!

I am not on board.

Does anyone have a picture of the wine list? My husband and I like Brut champagne (not prosecco) and hope it is included in the drink package.

We have never been on 15 before and even though we heard a little noise from the crew rearranging the chairs above us but it was not bad and/or disruptive to us at all. I have read complaints from other passengers but we did not experience much of that so I totally recommend being on that deck as it was really convenient. Would definitely do it again.

I am so sorry you are confused by my review and couldn't figure out that I made a few mistakes in the review with typos and confusion with RCCL venues but thought anyone could read through it. Yes, it was the Marina deck, Good Spirits and yes the gratuities are prepaid with both Plus and the Platinum package (so in essence, they were pre-paid). We did have a boarding time of 11:00 am so that part is correct even though it didn't seem to matter once we got to the port. I am not aware of any perks for mini-suites so that part is correct. Not sure what you comment about "the TA" is all about so can't respond to that. Sorry to have confused you.

I can't answer that question but am sure you can get that resolved quickly once you board. The Specialty venues were not as full as they make it seem when you try to book ahead. In fact, we had not booked the Steakhouse ahead of time and were able to get a reservation for 7:30 once we got on board even though the app only showed times like 9:00 pm.

We are on the Prima 1/19/24 sailing - is that when you are sailing that ship? I don't want to jinx us but last time we did the Prima out of Galveston, we had no issues on sail-away.

The tips are included in the Plus and Premium packages on Princess. If I said we prepaid tips, I was thinking about a different cruise - sorry! And same for if I said Chops I meant Steakhouse - again, my bad. Sorry, thanks for catching that. Of course it was GOOD SPIRITS and it was just a typo on my part.

I have written a letter to the Galveston Daily News in hopes that they will publish it to address the issues with the embarkation and debarkation process. We also sailed the Ruby last April (funny we may have been on the same sailing as you!) and had no issues either so am unsure what the issues were this past sailing. I don't know exactly who you should write to but I suggest any and all of anyone you think. I plan to also find some other avenues to see if our voice will be heard! Thank you!

I believe the Premium package gives you 2 specialty dining venues but we only did 1 so I am not sure. Alfredo's seemed to be included and is considered "casual" dining venue and we ate there twice as it was very good. Totally recommend it on embarkation day. Not sure what the "suite" guest gives you since we had the Premium package anyway. Totally worth it for the champagne in general.

We recently sailed the Regal Princess out of Galveston 11/12/23 - 11/19/23 and I wanted to share my review with you. General We are a couple in our 60’s who live in Galveston and cruise a lot. We booked this cruise directly through a Travel Consulting Company that we signed up with last year and got a really good price compared to booking directly with Princess. We booked a mini-suite and were very happy with the cabin and location. We chose a room on the Mariner Deck (15) which gave us easy access to coffee (Deck 16) in the morning. We prepaid our tips and booked the Princess Plus package that includes drinks, tips and internet. It also included some fitness classes and extra desserts but we didn’t take advantage of either of those. We knew we would want to upgrade to the Premium Drink package once on board and had some OBC that we planned to use for that. Embarkation and Debarkation Embarkation was a total mess. We had an 11:00AM boarding time but when we got dropped off at the pier, the line was insanely long. Since we are Platinum and had booked a suite, we tried to find someone who could tell us if there was an expedited line only to be told that our “green line” status would only help us once we were inside the terminal. We had ordered our Medallion lanyards and received them ahead of time so figured we would save some time there. We weaved through the line outside, only to find that once inside, you had to weave at least 10 more times before you got to show an agent your passports. And only after that did they separate out the people with “green line” status from the others. The total time to board was almost an hour and a half. The debarkation process was extremely challenging as well. We chose to walk off with our bags so planned to leave around 9:00AM since we live in Galveston and were just having a friend pick us up. The line to leave the ship weaved completely up through the exit ramps and the captain came on to say the waits were “longer than usual”. Once we could see the baggage area, the line was even longer. We heard many really upset people complaining that they were going to miss their flights. Once we got closer to the customs area, we could see the problem was that they then divided us into 12 lines only to have only 6 Custom agents so at the end, they had to merge all the lines together. The people that were in back of us in the main line made it through customs at least 20 minutes ahead of us just because of the speed of this incredibly inefficient process. Once on Board When we finally got on board, we went immediately to get our drink package upgraded from Plus to Premium. It was only $20 pp/per day and we felt it was worth it because we like to drink Brut champagne instead of Prosecco. The Premium package also gives you unlimited specialty restaurants and we wanted to go to the Steak House so that worked out well. The first sommelier we ran into was Thana and it was his very first sailing! Unfortunately, he was unsure how to handle the upgrade so he called another sommelier, Stefan (from Serbia), who walked him through the process. Then Stefan asked us about our dinner plans and when we told him how difficult it had to make reservations, he told us to meet him in the Allegro dining room at 7:00PM and he would take care of us. Well, we can’t say enough about Stefan because not only did he seat us at a wonderful table in a very quiet section of the dining room, he served us excellent wines and took care of anything else we needed on the cruise. Stefan really was one of a kind and I can’t say enough to commend his knowledge and kindness to us. Kudos to him! Food Overall, the food was very fresh and good. We thought the selections on the menu were good and never had trouble finding something we liked. My husband and I are not big eaters but do enjoy good food. We do not care much for the buffet area on the ship and preferred to eat in the MDR, Alfredo’s (pizza) or the International Café and had good meals in all places. Since our room was on deck 15, my husband would run up one level to get coffee in the morning and then we’d head out for a mimosa and a bite to eat. We never did room service. We did eat at the buffet in Horizon Court one day for lunch and found it very easy to get a drink which has not always been the case. I would like to recognize Hanmant who was very nice. We had dinner at 7:00PM every night at a table for 2 in the Allegro dining room. Alex and Blessing were our servers and they were excellent. We were in a smaller part of the dining room where there were other people sitting at tables nearby that we spoke with every night. That was fun and interesting. The bread on the ship is amazing and they really do have a great fettuccini alfredo and onion soup every night as an option. We ate at Chops one night and really enjoyed it. Bar Service There are many bars on the Regal Princess but we spent most of our time at Grand Spirits (in the atrium), Vines (Valerian and Christina) and at Bellini’s (shoutout to Melvin and Sebastian) which has a great selection of champagne along with other drinks. The service in both of these bars was top notch. We also want to recognize Jackson who is the manager in Alfredos and Good Spirits and Francis who managed at Vines and Good Spirits. The servers everywhere were super attentive and would often get you a drink before you even asked for it. We had friends who recently sailed who said they spent time at The Wheelhouse and Crooners but we did not spend time in either of those bars. We liked the Atrium because there was always something going on there whether it be music or some game and it was very entertaining overall. We only went to the pool bar a few times and the service was very good there as well. One issue I will mention is that for some reason, Princess thinks that it is a “Galveston” thing that you can’t honor the drink package until you hit the international line. We know for a fact that this is not true as we have sailed RCCL and NCL and neither of those lines have that rule. The bartender told us that everyone with the drink package was given a $25 credit toward drinks once you board however, we boarded at 12:00PM and we didn’t set sail until close to 4:00PM so it was at least 6:00PM until the drink package would kick in. $25 is certainly not going to cover that time. It is just not right since you are paying for the package and if you are on the ship for 6+ hours, you should be able to get free drinks. The cruise line has convinced all the crew that it is a Galveston thing when we know it is not. We are well aware of the limited drink menu until we are in International waters but nothing about limiting the drink package. Room We had a mini-suite on Deck 15 and had excellent service by our room steward, Sarah May Taay. The room was always tidy and clean and she brought us ice every day. There was plenty of storage space since they moved the TVs to the walls. The only negative thing about the suite was that there was a tub/shower combination and the tub was somewhat difficult to get in. Entertainment The entertainment was good and we saw something most nights. There were 2 comedians – we thought 1 was funny but not the other. The best shows were the small ones in the “Princess Live” theater which is a smaller venue. We enjoyed hearing live music in the Piazza a lot. Excursions We are not big fans of excursions and didn’t plan any but we did get off in Cozumel because we like a restaurant there called Las Palmeras (in the center of town). Other-wise we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the fact that most people did get off the ship. We did note that the lines to get off the ship seemed to be longer than most people expected so it cut their time in port. Overall The cruise director, Allie (from New Jersey) was excellent as was the assistant cruise director. We liked and watched the Wake Up show to give us an informed start on the day. They were both totally enjoyable and full of energy. We met Allie and she was super friendly and obviously loves her job. We made a point to attend the session where she answered questions from the guests as well as the session where the people that work on the bridge talked about the ship and fielded questions. The ship itself looks really good and was in excellent shape. We love the size and layout so were very comfortable on it. It was pretty easy to figure the layout after a day or two and the theater spaces and dining rooms never seemed very crowded. Medallion application This was our third cruise with the Medallion application and I have to say it is much improved. We love the way your room unlocks when you get near it and the fact that the crew know who you are without asking you for anything. We were cruising alone so did not have a need to find our friends so I am not sure if that part of the app has improved since our last cruise (when it didn’t work very well). Internet The internet was okay but not great. I did feel that it was better than our last Princess cruise so hope it will keep improving.

Thank you for that! I totally forgot about the Diamond vouchers!

So glad to hear the embarkation and debarkation were easy. It was that way when we sailed the Allure last January and RCCL really has their act together. Unlike our recent Regal Princess sailing where the process was horrendous. They need to fix that quickly or people won't come back to Galveston to cruise. My question to you is: Does RCCL allow you to use your drink package on day 1? I know they limit the selections until you are out in International waters but I was wondering about the drink package rules. Thanks!

Sorry but what is a "Star Class room"? Thanks.

Thank you!