TexasGal#35

Greece has been on our bucket list for a while, but airfare has been so expensive. My husband found a 15 day transatlantic cruise out of Galveston, Texas (where I was born and raised and we currently live 40 minutes from) going to Barcelona, Spain. It was so inexpensive, we decided to do it. Then he found a 15 day cruise of the Greek Islands out of Rome. To make this story shorter, I found that the ship we will be on, will continue on a 11 day cruise from Barcelona to Athens by way of France, Italy, Malta, Turkey and some Greek islands. We will have to change cabins, unfortunately, because the cabin we are originally in, was already booked for the second cruise. 

This will save us so much money to fly home one way. That's how we decided on and found our B2B.

Gloria

Thank you everyone for whatever part you played in allowing us to see these awesome pictures and videos. I'm not a very strong swimmer, so I haven't ever been snorkeling for long periods of time. I always had either a life preserver or pool noodle. I've enjoyed everything posted.

Gloria

When I tried to make a reservation for the Comedy Show, it was "sold out" for the Feb. 12th Allure sailing.

It's our first time on Allure so I'm sure we'll be trying to find our way around the ship and all it has to offer.

Gloria

I've definitely enjoyed the conversations the last week or so. It makes me get more excited that the cruise is just around the corner, the 12th. I am so jealous of your B3B. One of these days I may get to do that too.

Safe travels everyone. I'm looking forward to the rest of the posts coming.

Gloria

On 1/27/2023 at 1:44 PM, macsails said:

I've been sitting here for at least an hour reading y'all's postings.  Great job! We are going on the Allure departing Feb. 12th. and I've made lots of notes from your postings.  Thanks for sharing.

One question, do you know if the Texas Tenors will be entertaining on board in Feb?  I'm not sure where to look for that information on line.    

We will be on this cruise also celebrating hubby's birthday and our 48th anniversary. We've never been on a big ship like Allure before, but we are looking forward to it.

Gloria

22 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Look for 8- and 9- nighters out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. We did a 9-nighter out of Miami on Navigator back in 2018 that went to all three ABCs. Our tablemates raved about the snorkeling in Bonaire.

We did that cruise to the ABC's but out of San Juan, PR. We hired a sailboat and 3 man crew that took us snorkeling and fed us all day. The snorkeling in Bonaire was fabulous and only with a pool noodle and crew member by my side.

I am enjoying your postings. We board on February 12th hopefully. I'm learning a lot about the Allure on Cruise Critic and other websites. This will be our first time on the Allure or any ship this size. 

Voyager size ships is about the largest for us. 

Thanks for the comments and pictures. The drinks look good.

On 1/21/2023 at 10:23 AM, George C said:

We have loved every ice show we have seen , on some cruises went to see it twice. 

Our first time on Allure Feb. 12th. I didn't realize you had to make reservations for the shows, so we were only able to get a 10:30 pm reservation Sail Away night. What happens at the skating rink? What shows, games, skating?

1 hour ago, TGCRUISEOMAHA said:

Just booked Holiday 2023 that just came out

Oh. Ok. Thanks. Have a great cruise.

On 8/22/2022 at 9:36 AM, jphks said:

I received an email from HAL about getting ready for our trip, suggesting using VeriFly to make our check-in faster. Land First, 31st of Aug. to 4th of Sept. Verifly says we can submit our Covid Test from the 31st to the 4th of Sept. We will be at the McKinley Chalet Resort. How do we go about testing?

 

We fly into AK on the 31st and have our Covid test set for the 30th of Aug.

 

It would have been great if the upcoming changes had changed for our cruise. I'm not complaining about testing. I'd have done it before we left anyway.

 

Our TA is very friendly and responsive, but I feel all the testing requirements are confusing even to the TA.

 I am assuming you are on the Neiuw Amsterdam cruise. We are too. Yes, testing requirements were confusing and I called HAL to get clarification. We fly in to Anchorage from Houston on the 31st, layover in Seattle, arriving at 12:10 am on Sept. 1st. Alaska Air cancelled our original earlier flight. Darn it. We will test the morning of the 31st and HAL will give us a complimentary test before we leave Denali.

We will be in Juneau September 8th on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Are they expecting rainy, cold weather? I'm trying to figure out what to pack, trying to limit myself to one piece of luggage for a 17 day trip from Denali to Seattle.

Thank you.

On 8/25/2022 at 9:34 AM, Ferry_Watcher said:

Final ask for Nieuw Amsterdam insights, tips, must do's, suggestions for a 1st time cruiser who is sailing on an Alaska B2B this Sunday.  I am trying give my friend as much info as I can.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Don't have any input for NA, but we will be on the second part of your friends cruise. We are doing the Denali land tour prior to getting on NA in Whittier on Sept. 4th. We have cruised on HAL before but that was way back in 2015. I love the Crow's Nest even though it can get crowded. I love the view and it's cozy. We've spotted whales from that vantage point. I'm jealous that she will do this cruise twice. 

Whatever she does, she will love it.

18 hours ago, TGCRUISEOMAHA said:

Where is the club Orange Breakfast located on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  Pinnacle Grill?

 

 

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to your question. I was just interested in if you are going on a cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam soon.

Thanks

Do any of you have NA daily itineraries that are left in the room each day? I just wondered when the gala dress up nights were. Also, the Orange Party. 

TIA,

Gloria

12 days and hoping for negative result and hassle free boarding/check-in on the Apex.

Nado44,

Thank you for the posting. We are on the January 8th boarding. To say we are nervous, is an understatement. Hope your sail is very uneventful. And I mean that in a non-Covid kind of way.

Gloria

This will be our first cruise on the Triumph so I'm unfamiliar with the layout of the ship. I was unaware that there were clubs below us. We can sleep late if we are kept up, but I take ear plugs when we travel just in case.

Gloria

We usually cruise on Royal Caribbean, but decided to try the Triumph for a short cruise to see what its like. We're only about 20 miles from Galveston so it's a hop, skip and jump away.

Do you have any suggestions for a first timer on this ship? We are also in an aft cabin. A first for us. I usually like a Jr. Suite on the hump.

Thanks,

Gloria

We did an Alaskan cruise roundtrip out of Seattle May 12-19 2012. It rained every day except one which was beautiful.

We just got back from one we went on from May 21st to the 29th which was southbound only from Seward and ended in Vancouver. Every day was gorgeous, sunny and about 65 degrees.

I've been told July is the best time to go, but it's also much more expensive than in May. Alaska is like no other and IMHO is a fantastic trip any time during cruise season.

Gloria

Just in case someone responds to your question, we're in Aft cabin #6467. I'm interested in that one too.

Thanks,

Gloria

10 of us are boarding the Radiance of the Seas in Seward and ending in Vancouver. I AM EXCITED. I'm packed for cold weather and to this Texas Gal, 60 is cold. :D

Maybe I won't have as many layers except during the Hubbard cruising, but I'm only going to have 1 pr. of shorts and short sleeved shirt to get me by.

Everyone enjoy their trip.

Gloria

I really enjoyed the Glacier National Park cruise day. We were lucky to have fantastic sunny weather. It was cold and I had five layers on, but it was gorgeous.

These pictures have really piqued my interest in the Hubbard Glacier day on the itinerary. I hope we will have clear weather if we can't get close. I wish I had a better camera.

We head out on the 22nd from Seward southbound on the Radiance. I'm getting excited.

Gloria

I just went to ***************** and downloaded mine.

I had no problems with it. It took a little bit, but I received an email and downloaded and printed from that.

And yes, I know I'm not MsDot.

Gloria

"How do the drinks packages work?"

 

Really well!

This was a cute response. Sure wish there was a like button just like Facebook has so I could click on it. :D

Gloria

Thank you for your post. I feel better about having an inside cabin on our May 2015 Southbound Radiance cruise. We've never stayed in an IC and always had a balcony so I've been giving DH a hard time.

This is what we can afford on this cruise since we did a Southern Caribbean Cruise out of Puerto Rico in February for our 40th. We were in a Grand Suite and didn't even use all the drawers available. This was probably our one and only time to live it up.

I've been looking at what was available in a balcony room and the prices are ridiculous. IMHO. I think the only thing I will have to do is run a brush through my hair and throw on some jeans to get that first view of the port!

I guess I'll apologize to DH and just be glad we're on the ship!

Gloria