Lane Hog

The current two terminals at Galveston are fairly bare bones but efficient. We've gotten onboard in 35 minutes with both Carnival and Royal. Ten minutes per step is about what we experienced in February -- ten minutes to get in, ten minutes to clear security, ten minutes to check-in, and then no wait at ship's security.

That's an expensive trip back to the dock....

When I'm eating the food and enjoying the view, the color the lifeboats or what shape the funnel is simply don't matter.... The cruise industry's financial situation is still very shaky. To think about spending money on frivolous eye candy is silly to even consider. Hat's off to Carnival for being financially innovative and repurposing a mostly depreciated assed with several good years left, and not adding more long term debt like Royal, NCL, Virgin, MSC, and Disney are with those fancy new builds....

Tray's are the only way to manage WJ if you have small kids or a special needs adult like we do. Room service is still on trays, and I've seen people keep them. I've also seen people bring their own. This will be going with us on our next cruise -- we got a few of these for our granddaughter's arts & crafts... https://www.amazon.com/Carlisle-CT121623-Café-Standard-Cafeteria/dp/B00BM8GX0A At 12x16, It's small enough it fits in my carry-on, and also doubles as protection for my laptop...

Nope. A passport is preferred, but you miss the ship or get hurt, you'll still get home.... As mentioned, if your passport is in your safe, the ship's agent will have it after the ship leaves. Worst case you'll have to explain to a CBP agent what happened. I worked in the customs facility for several years at ORD, JFK and occasionally DFW. You might get hit with a fine, but they still let you in after taking you to secondary inspection.

Any documentation of when you first tested positive?... Did you test at home or a lab? If you have a lab test showing positive, you might be in luck. If it was a home test, possibly not so lucky. Here's Royal's policy. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-recovered-from-covid-19-need-to-be-vaccinated-or-take-a-test-to-sail

CDC and government entities never required it. Cruise lines agreed to require testing voluntarily as a way to get approved to restart cruises...

Oh, you've paid for it. Either insurance premiums, or taxes....

Or, maybe the supply chain problems are manifesting in a shortage of the tumblers, and that's the backup tumbler?......

My phone worked great as a Hotspot while logged into Voom, so in the cabin or on deck together, we only needed the one device plan. Wouldn't work for people in separate cabins, but worked fine for us in one cabin and staying together most of the time.

But is it? Between Noro and other respiratory illnesses that were rotinely passed along on crowded ships prior to 2020, arguably things now might be safer because of the awareness and a higher degree of paranoia from those with co-morbidities...

I'd say that's a very real possibility. We're booked on Quantum for next June. Hope they figure things out by then... 😉

No, but on HAL or Princess, your chances of having to dock for a medical event are probably double or triple...

Seriously, that nacho topping on a plate of fries would be awesome....

Are there somehow 435 empty cabins on that sailing?.... You'll never have a 1:1 replacement of kids to adults because those 870 kids are almost always in cabins with their parents or grandparents.... I seriously doubt anyone looking to do a real adult cruising experience is going to be looking to double up with another couple in the same cabin...

Pulled pork? Chicken? Who knows, but with beef prices and availability, neither would surprise me.

Leaving the door open is a fire hazard. You get scanned as off the ship when you walk off, so Housekeeping knows which rooms are already vacant.

A good TA will manage both for you if you think it's too much to handle. Managing the booking of flights to a cruise is nothing to me... I don't have to worry about the agency pushing an airline who might be giving the TA a better commission....

All times subject to change....

Surface lots for now. There are garages available at the old pier, hopefully they'll offer shuttle service.

There's a reason they buried it in a hallway.

You can still test negative for a week or longer after exposure, so all that testing is stopping is the few who were exposed over a week ago and don't have symptoms... Those who got past the testing will then be at their most contagious partway thru the cruise.

https://cruise.blog/2022/06/cruise-lines-dont-require-pre-cruise-covid-test

And now CCL brand P&O is dipping it's toes into the waters of no more testing... https://cruise.blog/2022/06/cruise-lines-dont-require-pre-cruise-covid-test

The OP's low points are the exact same things we've noticed between Carnival and Royal. We really enjoy the comedy shows and entertainment on Carnival, especially the Dive-In Movies. On Royal, we're in the stateroom watching TV by 9pm....