HappyTexan44

One funny thing I forgot to add. DH is going to rehab twice a week. First rehab after he got back they said, "Did you eat?" His weight hadn't changed at all, and it wasn't because he didn't eat. We did use the stairs much more than I expected. The stairs seems much less of a bother than I expected. Maybe each story is shorter than I'm used to? I know the one at work is much taller than normal, so maybe that skewed my expectation. The steps were padded, and maybe that made a difference. We were on Floor 7, and our MDR was on 4, and the pool etc was on 11 or was it 12? So, within that range, we used the stairs unless we were just pooped.

Overall, I was really impressed with the Royal's Galveston Terminal. Well, except for the lack of signs on the street. I thought I'd mention something that came as a surprise to me. When you go to get your luggage, all the luggage is out there and available. You walk into a giant warehouse. There are ribbon barricades to corral the traffic. The luggage is in labeled groups with empty floor space between. I really wish I'd taken a photo. Our group had maybe 40 pieces of luggage. This was our first cruise, and we got group 24 which was expected to disembark at either 9:00 or 9:30 am, they kept changing that. We'd probably left our rooms at 8:30 am. Our daughter was sick, so we'd left her in the room and ate breakfast. The cabin attendent seemed happy with us after we'd tipped him, so he said it was fine to leave on the later end since he'd be working on other cabins. About 8:40 we were on the right floor and I told the crew guy standing there that we were group 24 and asked where we should go. I was expecting him to point me to a waiting area. But, he said to just get in line. Since it was long, by the time we got to the front they'd be calling our number. The line went past the elevators. So, we get in the line which was moving pretty fast. No problems leaving. No one asked for our group number, and while in line I didn't hear any groups called. We got to the luggage warehouse and I see all the luggage and our luggage group. DH goes to get the car from covered parking, while I grab the luggage. It seems that we were the first from our group to arrive. I'd had yellow ribbons on all of ours, so they were easy to find. The porters seemed very eager to help people with the luggage. There was a line of them waiting to help people and it happened to go near our luggage. A porter tried to get me to ask for him (so he could cut the line) I just took the next porter. I just had the porter take our luggage to the barricades since DH wasn't back with the car yet. DD and I waited at least 10 minutes for DH to come with the car. We had the car loaded up including tetrising the luggage in the trunk, and we are just getting into the car to drive away when I hear them call "Group 24." The front outside area had been sparsely populated when we first got there, but was crowded by the time we left.

I thought I'd report the duck situation from our recent cruise. I overheard several adults commenting with disappointment that there were fewer ducks on that cruise. One lady on the elevator was showing off the neat duck that she'd found to her friend. She brings one home from every cruise. We hid a duck and it was found before the rooms opened. On the last full day I was with my friend and her daughter in the library. I noticed that a duck was really high on top of the highest books. I moved it lower where a kid could find it, and it turns out that my friend's daughter had hid it. Not five minutes later a mom and preschool boy came along and the boy was so happy. The mom smiled at it us, since I'm sure she knew we'd hid it since we were paying such close attention. Then the boy 'hid' one of his ducks in the same place. My friend's daughter snagged that one.

A commentary on this particular cruise. I really really didn't want to be on a cruise that was a partial charter. So, it is with irony to say that there was partial charters and it was a benefit. There were two big religious group charters on the cruise. One of them was "Sing and Sail." I forget the name of the other one. One of those had church services in the afternoons. That meant that a large chunk of the people disappeared in the afternoons, and I assume that the bars were less crowded. A work friend was interested in cruising because I might have been talking about it for awhile. They are considering joining their next cruise and the next one in America looks like one that will be announced in a month, is 7-days and I assume leaving from Florida based on the ports. I mention this in case someone wants to be a normal passenger on the cruise. There were still lots of the normal cuise passengers. DH and I joked that he was a party attractor. He'd find an empty area, usually outdoors not near the pool to sit and vegitate. He'd be there for about 10 minutes, and then the space would be filled with loud drunks. He'd find another empty space, and *bam* a party would show up.

If I were interested in the pool, I wouldn't get a cabana. I'd just claim a chair by the pool. I've been thinking about this and I think one of the things we really liked about the cabanas was that it felt like we had the beach to ourselves. Since we are all introverts that was a welcome mental break. They have plants between the cabanas so you don't really notice the other ones. We had to go to the bathroom when we were near the sea lion show. As I walked into the Chank. bathrooms a woman leaving said, "Only one of the toilets has paper." The first one I looked at had paper, but no toilet seat. Although someone came by to clean while I was in there. We originally reserved for 8 people in a VIP cabana, plus a one-hour massage and that totalled $320.

That was included. It was a one-tank dive which lasted a little less than an hour. One of the teens just had a face mask and nothing else. Manuel at Booth#7, our guide, took a TON of photos. I don't know that there was enough to see for a two-tank dive. Unless I guess you just like hanging out underwater looking at the prettiness, which I can get behind. But, since we had non certified, I assume they HAD to be with us. Also, he charged extra for using the credit card. I was feeling stupid for not grabbing more cash, and it was so much cheaper than I expected that I didn't fuss. Then at the end he'd done such a good job taking care of the girls that I'd sent DH to get a $20 to tip Manuel.

It was $30 for the 6 of us. There were two prices depending on how many people there were. So it would have been $30 for up to 8 people. The lower price was $15 or $20 and I think up to 4 people. On the way to the Cabanas we were squished in a minivan and the way back we had a full-size van.

That is what I called our cruise. We had never been on a cruise before, so the entire purpose of the cruise was to see if we'd like cruising. I suspected that we'd like it. But still wasn't entirely sure. So, starter cruise. The goal was to go on a cruise not too long (in case we didn't like it), not too short (so we'd get a good feel for it), within driving distance because we can only afford to fly cattle class, mid-range ship size (so that we'd have lots of stuff to do but not get spoiled) and as cheaply as possible. Most people probably go on their first cruise for a Reason. For example, the friends that went with us went on their first cruise for their honeymoon. Another friend of ours recently went on her first cruise as a plus-one on a friend's free casino cruise. Us, we went to see if we liked it.

She is going through teenage angst right now. Deep angst. She'll do things like that where she cuts off her nose to spite her face, then she'll get mad at her parents. She'd have even had a cabin all to herself. She could have spent the sea time lounging in the room or playing video games. DD isn't a fan of the that girl. Once a week, those two sisters, DD and DD's former best friend (and still close friend) get together. So, DD does know socially the sister that chose not to come.

I forgot to mention that. The trip was originally us three, plus DD's best friend. DD is 13 and her friend is 14. We got two connecting promenade rooms, so two in each room. We thought that was awesome, particularly for the price. As this was our Starter Cruise I was aiming for as cheap as possible, so I looked at a gty interior for 4-people first. Then I saw that I could get two gty promenade rooms for cheaper than one four-person! I had genuinely been confused about that and asked cruise people I knew who assured me that can sometimes happen. It made it a tish more once I picked our rooms since we'd need connecting. I think I would have ended up with the two promenade rooms even if they weren't cheaper after I'd looked more at the sleeping arrangements in a 4-person room. Two adults and two teens, one of which is unrelated to the adults would have been uncomfortable. Plus, their stuff completely filled their room and their counter space was filled with ducks. The best friend's parents when they decided to come along got promenade rooms next to ours. Originally they were going to bring their two other girls, so they booked two rooms. Then the oldest realized that she couldn't go since she is in college classes. Then the middle declared that "she doesn't like cruising" so she stayed with relatives and went to school instead of going on a cruise. Then she pouted when she saw some photos of our dive. Teenagers! They seemed to enjoy free-roaming. I think they checked out the teen area but didn't spend any time there. One thing that amazed me was how cheap the cruise was. We go to a convention every summer that moves around the country. The hotel rooms are a negotiated cheaper rate and most meals are included during the convention. I always thought of that as a cheap vacation. The one this summer is a little over $1000 for the hotel and a little over $600 for the convention for the three of us. Then tack on touristing in the area and some restaurant meals. The cruise was $1440 for the four of us, plus tips, plus $200 for the pre-cruise hotel, plus touristing at the ports. Both vacations are about the same length, and same ballpark price. Funny story about the whippersnappers. In the pre-cruise hotel the girls were playing with the hotel phones calling each other. I'd put our hotel phone in the nightstand cubby to make room for DH's CPAP. When DD was done with the phone she just tossed the handset into the cubby. I told her "to hang up the phone", and she was genuinely confused by that. Then I realized that was probably the first time she used a regular phone.

Pancakes were from the MDR. It wasn't just that they were cold but the batter was... I don't know. Something weird. To-go entrees are just things from the menu. They give them to you with the cover still on. The library seemed to be eager-beaver 7th floor people. I forgot to mention most of the luggage was somewhat near our room when we were able to go to our rooms. I had to go about 20' for one bag and DH had to go on trek for the Dive Bag. But otherwise our stuff was right outside our room.

Wow

One thing that didn't occur to me until just now. We only got a few inches in the ice bucket every day. It wasn't a problem since I just moved the stuff that really needed to stay cold to the medicine fridge. But, without it, that would have been annoying.

I'm back! Cruise: Voyager of the Seas 2/19/24 5-days from Galveston to Costa Maya and Cozumel. Who: My DH, DD, DD's best friend who we invited along to keep her company, DD's best friend's parents who decided to come too, and of course me. For my family this was our first cruise, for DD's best friend I think that was her third, for the other parents they cruise once or twice a year. Overall: We enjoyed it. DD oozed joy the entire cruise (well, until the last day when she was sick). Parents understand how important this is. DH was pretty miserable for the first half of the cruise. He had a quad. bypass early December. We thought it would be fine, he'd just be less active than he normally is. He felt perfectly fine on our first shore excursion to the Mayan ruins. Then that evening he figured out the problem, it was the vibration of the ship. In what I called the "Data Dump" where medical people told us stuff about her heart, they told us that vibration would bother him for awhile. It hadn't made an impression at the time because so much was going on. Once DH remembered that, he actually felt better since he wasn't worried about something being 'wrong.' Food: We usually liked the MDR food, but I was glad I'd paid close attention to the reviews. I often asked for extra sauce and that made a huge difference. For example, the pulled pork enchiladas. I mentioned that I hate cilantro and that I'd be scrapping that off, and that I'd like a side of sour cream. I don't know if they scraped that off for me, or if the enchiladas naturally came with that little on top. But the enchiladas had a good taste, and they were quite good with a nice amount of sour cream. Our waiter had figured out that extra sauce made me happy, so he'd bring enough so that others at our table had plenty too. DH loves lamb and he ordered that whenever it was offered. He was pleased with it and said while there was a bit of mutton in there, he's been served mutton pretending to be lamb in Michelin starred restaurants. The desserts were often a miss, but I was prepared for that, plus the girls weren't that picky. The ice cream was decent. Not Blue Bell, but not generic grocery store either. One night some of us order the Apple Cobbler. The next night the same people ordered the Apple tart. Funny thing, they were the exact same dessert. The pancakes at breakfast were the worst I've ever had. Even the real maple syrup I'd brought couldn't rescue them, and that is saying something. The maple syrup came in very handy when some of us ordered the chicken and waffles. Tabasco honey, while a thing in Louisiana, don't belong with chicken and waffles in my opinion. DD and I loved the snails the first night, and they weren't as good the second night. On I think the second night they told DH that he'd have to finish his soup before they brought out his second starter of I think Shrimp. He said he wanted them together and they quickly got the second. Since that hadn't seemed to have been a problem anymore, I hadn't mentioned to him that they might fuss about that. After that we specified when we wanted stuff together. Sidenote, this trip DH didn't want to know anything about it beforehand. The night before he wanted to know just enough to know what to pack. DH and I ate all meals but one in MDR. He loved the cheese grits at breakfast. They were a little undercooked but within the edible range and he doesn't normally eat grits, or breakfast. On the Costa Maya day we knew we'd get back late so we had our friends order to-go entrees for us. Plus the Caribbean menu didn't appeal, except I really wanted the tiger shrimp, and since I got something to-go, DH got some steak. I took the food to the windjammer which worked out really well. I got some fett. alfredo-ish in the windjammer, mixed in some herb butter from some entree and dumped the garlic tiger shrimp on top. If I were to do that again, I'd asked for some shaved parmesan from the MDR. I didn't really like the atmosphere of the windjammer. I don't know why since I'll happily eat at the Golden Corral if someone with me wants to go. I've happily eaten at similar places, e.g. Universal Florida Cabana Bay Food Court. I did like the MDR atmosphere. Maybe it was that the one time I went, DH had messaged me that he was "In the back by the window" and the windjammer seemed to go on and on and on. It was also likely more crowded than usual for dinner because of the late port day. For breakfast, I did like the eggs benedict with extra sauce. I'd add bacon to the inside. Shows: Liked the ice show. It was what you'd expect. Lithe, ahtletic people in pretty costumes skating gracefully and/or amazingly. Comedy show, g-rated farewell show. I forget the comedian's name. I really really enjoyed that. It was in the Royal Theater, so plenty of room. DH said that he'd seen the comedian's adults-only show and didn't particularly enjoy it. It was vulgarity just to have vulgarity, and he is fond of vulgar humor. I skipped the musical production show since it just didn't seem appealing. Water slide. I love a good water slide. Voyager's wasn't worth the stair climb. I should have known when the guy at the top said that if I got stuck to just push myself along. Based on that, I should have really thrown myself into the tube, but no I did my normal somewhat gentle entrance. Then I spent half of the slide pushing myself along using the ceiling. Then I got going for a bit, and then the end was just an end, nothing exciting. Flowrider was fun. I did the belly version. I spent a little bit of time on my knees. Then I wiped out and my bottoms were coming off so I just focused on keeping those on. So, wear a one piece. The woman running it was amazing. Other activities, we would have normally done more things, putt-putt, rock-climbing for example. But, with DH not feeling good, I either had to do stuff alone or skip it. I used to travel solo, but this time I preferred to hang out with him. DH would normally have bought a few beers during the cruise, so we didn't get him the drink package. But, because of the heart surgery, he didn't drink but he did want his Diet DP. Since I'd learned that they had that on board, we got him the soda package and skipped bringing any onboard. He quickly learned which bars had Diet DP. On the third evening he said to me, "I started a bar fight." My response was something like, "Wha?" because that isn't like him. Then he said that "Well, I started a bartender fight which is even better." I just gave him a look at that. Then he elaborated that the bartenders fought over who got to fill his cup with Diet DP. Apparently soda drinkers don't tip, and they were fighting over the $1 cash. Ports, we loved both ports. Although both felt like you had to run a gauntlet to get out of the shopping area. I'd thought about seeing if I could find a quantity of vanilla beans but I didn't even want to look and just wanted to get back on the ship. I'd asked here about where to wait for the rooms to open. I ended up picking the library. Other Mom and I grabbed some of the comfier seats and we were alone for a little while, but it quickly filled up with people. There are several things I did just because it was our starter cruise and you need to do stuff once. Like I went to the Art Auction. Glad I went, but once is enough. I'm not picky on my bubbly and I used to buy Cook's, but what they served was an embarrassment. The ducks were a hit with us moms. We'd planned on leaving that to the girls but we ended up getting involved too. Someone had complained on the FB roll call that it sounded like the ship would be filled with women wearing evening gowns hiding ducks. I had my family take a photo of me hiding a duck in my evening gown. Then we got into the hiding too. An older woman in the elevator was showing off her duck she'd found. She brings one back from every cruise. It was so adorable to be around when a kid found the duck that you'd just hid and they got excited. Casino. I'd brought $1000 cash to play at the casino, then I went to the Learn to Play session the first afternoon. The smell of smoke was just too depressing. I'd thought I might try craps or video poker. As someone with literally more books than the local small town library, I'd read a few books on how to play both. I checked out the video poker games but the payouts were riduluously bad. I took a photo of the payout chart, and I'll try to figure out precisely what the payout is. Kiddie Casino aka Arcade. I'd bought arcade credits for both girls but the arcade was really pathetic. Only the air hockey worked and even *I* don't want to spend $200 on air hockey. So, I got a refund on that. I thought it was funny that the arcade is under the casino manager. since we call that the kiddie casino. Ports: In Costa Maya we booked a Viator tour to the Mayan ruins. I'll post a review of that. We enjoyed it. I'd seen Chitzen Itza and it was interesting what was different. In Cozumel, we had a Cabana at the Cabana Beach and went diving. That was amazing! We were glad we did Costa Maya first because otherwise it would be a letdown. I already have a review of that here. Galveston terminal. I was impressed with how slick they had that. Our friends commented that they really streamlined things and whereas before you had to show your passport 2 or 3 times, we only had to show it once. I'd wanted to switch to a cash account, and we had to go to another line for that. But otherwise it was super quick. The only snag was that DH looked for a parking garage when going to Covered Parking so he drove around for awhile. It is more of a warehouse.

This one was at least silent.