huntnewt

21 minutes ago, alterego816 said:

I was on the Breeze recently. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

How is the Cloud 9 Spa area on the ship as well as locker room sauna?

Also, I guess Galveston will not have a 4/5 day ship for February-April 2026? I assume we will have to wait for the 2026-2027 deployment cycle to see who will replace Mariner in February 2026, unless she is just going for drydock.

Any thoughts on sending Serenade or Radiance to Galveston for the Long Caribbean cruises? Galveston has Jewel doing Long Caribbean cruises in the 2024-2025 season, but nothing yet in the 2025-2026 season.

Has anyone been on Carnival Breeze and have any insight? We will be in a Cloud 9 Spa Balcony.

You can see all itineraries on cruisetimetables.com

I am slightly intrigued on the Mariner dates released. I see that the last departure date from Galveston is January 29, 2026. I know in these cycles, the dates released are usually May-April. It would be about time for Mariner to go into dry dock considering the last dry dock was in April 2023. Does anyone have any indication as to what will happen to the Galveston 4/5 runs after that date, when we will hear, what ship, etc.?

Also, is there any indication that Galveston will get a Long Caribbean ship in 2025-2026, like Jewel is doing in 2024-2025?

I am able to see Mariner from Galveston.

Has anyone been on Carnival Breeze lately? We have a Cloud 9 Spa Balcony and are wondering what the spa area is like. We had a Cloud 9 Spa Balcony on Carnival Splendor and enjoyed it.

Just now, firefly333 said:

There are 6 months of 6/8 days then 7/7 in 2024. I'm booked the oct 8 days to coco cay oct 2024, not 2025. Prices to coco cay went so wild I guess rcl said let's keep doing this. Next year the 8 days start.

Most definitely! It's all about revenue! I follow the Deployment thread, so we will have to see how the future plays out for future deployments. It's always so much fun trying to speculate and put the puzzle pieces together!

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Well good news kinda. If you follow the deployment thread. Harmony shows a TA march 2026. My TA who is a good guesser thinks we get a even newer oasis ship like symphony to replace her. 

 

Believe me, go check icon prices and you will appreciate harmony. Star comes out dec 5. A few posted hoping texas gets star, but he thinks star goes to PC. PC has enough high priced cruises lol. 

I did see that. I think we know almost for certain that Star is going to PC considering the schedule that is already released. Some are speculating that Galveston will get Icon 3 because it is due to come out around that time, but I just do not see that being the case. I think it will be more profitable in Florida, but with Miami having Icon and PC having Star most likely, it will be interesting to see where it goes. I expect Symphony, Wonder, or Utopia, but leaning towards Symphony, so that the newer ships stay in Florida for Harmony's replacement after she leaves in 2026. For 2025-2026, I see that Harmony is doing more 6/8 instead of purely 7, which is a nice change. I know that they don't really have the pier space unless they start using Terminal 28 again or the new Terminal 16, if it gets approved (I saw in an article that RCL expressed interest in this along with MSC, Princess, and NCL), but I wonder if Royal would ever have a ship dedicated to 6/8, one to 7, one to 4/5, and one to Long Caribbean so that they can compete directly with Carnival. I think that more lines are leaning towards the 6/8 model instead of purely 7 to allow for more diversity in itinerary options. I am also curious to see if Mariner stays with us for 2025-2026 or if we get another ship (I wonder if we would get a Freedom class on 4/5 since Oasis class is moving to the 3/4 in Florida). I fully expect a Radiance class to stay on the Long Caribbean for 2025-2026, but we will have to wait and see which one. I would be interested to know your TA's opinion on all of the above speculations.

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I read there is a shortened TA invited cruise before the official first cruise. The chances that during this few days for TAs to show them the ship it goes all the way to Galveston and back is between slim and  none. Sorry. Texas will make do with harmony.  

Thank you for the information. I did not expect it to come to Galveston, but was hoping so!

I have heard some rumors that Icon of the Seas will do a tour so to say before it goes to Miami. Is this true? If this is true, I am wondering if it will make it to Galveston.

What are the odds of Star going to Galveston?

I understand that options are limited from Galveston, but Carnival could investigate other options, like possibly a 6 Day Bahamas to Key West and Nassau or somewhere in the Bahamas or an 8 Day Western to change it up in order to offer Bahamas cruises on the 6 day run and western Caribbean on the 8 day run that could include Jamaica and Grand Cayman. There could also be other options for Jubilee, just introducing more ports in the Western Caribbean. I also noticed that Breeze 5 days no longer include Costa Maya and only offer Progreso. This makes sense due to the afternoon arrival into Costa Maya, but I am slightly disappointed in Carnival, as expressed above due to the lack of variety. On the flip side, I do not feel that we have room to complain about our ship offerings, as we have 2 Dream class and 1 Excel class, which is fairly premium compared to other homeports. I hope they put another ship on the longer runs like Miracle will be doing.

6 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Thanks again for your hard work. I’m trying to figure out what O-class ship may be coming to Bayonne in summer 2025. Assuming that Allure heads to Europe for its check-up, and assuming that the above schedule is actual ships and not placeholders, the only possibility would be Symphony —— heading north around May 8th or so. 
 

Unless they would consider doing longer summer itineraries on Oasis , but I really doubt that. 
 

I love trying to put the puzzle pieces together. 
 

mac_tlc

With that, the question then becomes, what O class will be based in Galveston? I do not imagine an O class (will be Harmony in April 2025) doing cruises to St. Maarten from Galveston. This makes me wonder if Galveston will get Wonder, Utopia, or maybe Icon 2?

Walk around the Strand right across from the cruise terminal. Lots of shops and restaurants.

4 hours ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

Key West, Florida - Port Bookings (Correct as of 07/08/23)

There are a few bookings currently scheduled for Jewel OTS in Key West, throughout the Summer 25 season. Port of origin for all bookings is marked as Port Everglades, suggesting this will be her likely homeport, with destinations set in the Bahamas.

 

10th May 2025 - Jewel OTS

26th August 2025 - Jewel OTS

7th October 2025 - Jewel OTS

Is there one site that you go to see these port bookings or is it just on each port's respective website?

Brickhouse Tavern is just down east of the hotel on Seawall Blvd—good restaurant and bar.

4 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

Totally a guess on my part and I have not heard anything about it, but seeing all the money RCCL just sunk into a new terminal in Galveston and the fact that they just completed the President's Cruise out of there, I am assuming they want a major presence in Galveston and would continue to port an Oasis class ship there for 2025 (unless sales of the Harmony in 2024 and early 2025 go really poorly, which I doubt).

I have thought the same and have wondered if Galveston would receive the second Icon class due to all of the attention that it has had lately.

Home2 Suites in Texas City is a good one that we have stayed at several times.

It seemed like it was a medical emergency.

6 hours ago, knagl said:

 

Is there a particular Carnival ship you're looking at? I've been on the Conquest, Magic, and Spirit.

 

Spirit and Conquest had single-sex steam rooms and saunas. Magic had a small single-sex sauna in the locker room, and an additional-charge larger co-ed spa facility with steam rooms, heated loungers, etc.

 

Are you familiar with the spreadsheet posted in the other thread in this section? It has a nice listing of many cruise ships and the steam room and sauna setups on them: Sauna/Steam Room Spreadsheet

Not necessarily. Planning a cruise for Summer 2024 and looking at several ships - Legend, Mardi Gras, Panorama, Magic, Celebration, Vista, and Horizon

48 minutes ago, happytraveller said:

I was on the Carnival Glory in January. It has a single sex steam and sauna both with windows looking out to see. Also a seated area in changing room. There are also about 5 showers including a disabled one.

The steam sauna was never full

Thanks for the info. That would be great. 

Does anyone have any experience with Carnival ships? I only have experience with Carnival Splendor that has a shared pool and steam rooms and a small sauna in the men’s locker room.

19 minutes ago, bejwee said:

Go naked in the men's area! A lot of time many of the other folks want to but are waiting for someone else to lead the way. It never fails...one guy finally sits down comfortably and loses the towel in the sauna, suddenly everyone else's towels are gone..

When you say naked, do you have the towel wrapped around your waist or just sitting on a towel and not covering yourself?