csr10236

What does DBE stand for? Never sailed VV. And status match from other cruise lines?

14 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Grog walk is starting. 

What is a Grog walk and does it cost extra?

2 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Let’s bungee

oh my goodness what time was your class??

32 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

 

 

 

 

 

That last pic looks disgusting! It looks like an intestine 

54 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Good luck finding a seat out here anywhere. From just where I'm standing, I can count at least 27 people eating ice cream cones... I guess it's a cruising tradition... 

 

 

 

Cruising in January you'd think there would be less kids. It's the week of MLK holiday but do schools get the whole week off????

21 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Champagne 

What kind of champagne do you order? 

6 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Legit question: how do taller women shave their legs on a cruise? I’m 5’3 and that is hard enough. Wow. 

no need to when you get the hair on your legs lasered!

Check out Ensenada tours and excursions. 

On 10/10/2021 at 4:55 PM, scottca075 said:

I bet they'd like the Mexican Craft Beer Brewery and Taco Tour.

Have you done this tour? I am thinking of booking through Carnival. 

I second the Cruise Stop for luggage drop off. I used this service after my cruise on Saturday. We dropped of luggage and went to have breakfast at Star drug store for breakfast. Cute place for breakfast. We then did a segway tour, but I wish we had just walked around The Strand. Cute little area. We used a private car service to get back to Hobby which we pre-arranged for pickup at 3 pm for a 7 pm flight. We should have requested a little later pickup.

Personally I would just use Lyft.  I discovered a private car service called Galveston Saltwater Moms. Look them up on FB. I used them for my ride to Hobby from the port on Saturday. Great service! It's a group of Moms that do driving on the side. The cost was $60

On 8/17/2021 at 5:19 PM, vicky3vicky said:

I am interested in knowing if there are any indoor smoking areas, if the sky-ride is a little scary, if the platinum/diamond party is still on the last full day of the cruise and the average length of the Bonsai Tempanyaki dinner/entertainment.

The sky-ride is a little scary only one portion of it where you swing around and catch up speed. I never get used to that but it's fun. Nothing spectacular but you will get your workout on. I can't remember how long the Bonsai Tempanyaki is. It was just alright wasn't that impressed with it. I did it on the Bliss (NCL) and it was better on that ship than the Panorama

Anyone been to Mr. Sanchos recently? I'm wondering how crowded it will be. There are three ships in Port when we are there. I realize that may not be a lot nowadays but I'm hoping for lots of social distancing while there.

Hello! Just got off the phone with the manager there at Gaido's. They are not providing shuttle service to the cruise terminal any longer. Just an FYI. That was one of the reasons I booked with them. 

On 7/29/2021 at 7:17 PM, csm5986142 said:

Sorry csr10236, just saw your question now.

Going to Galveston, we were booked on Southwest into Hobby.  Our connecting flight from DEN to Hobby was cancelled, and we were rebooked into IAH instead.

On the way home, we were already booked out of IAH. 

So yes, we took more Uber’s in a 24 period than I ever have.  We had to Uber from IAH to HOU because our luggage was supposed to be arriving on a specific flight.  Unfortunately, they scanned the luggage but didn’t actually put it on the plane (likely due to weight restrictions) so at that point, it was technically lost.  They made a report and told us to we should just go to our hotel and wait for their call (the hotel was right down on the pier).  So, we took an Uber from Hobby to Harbor House in Galveston.

Our luggage arrived at HOU in the middle of the night, and we had to Uber back to HOU as soon as baggage claim opened the next morning at 7am (as they couldn’t guarantee delivery before we got on the ship).  And we were so glad we did – they had tons of lost/delayed luggage in their office – we doubt we would have gotten it in time.

We had no trouble getting the Ubers from Hobby to Galveston.  I thought all of the Uber’s were reasonably priced, except that last one from Galveston to IAH.  One of the drivers called and told me that he was trying to get across to Galveston/the port, but they’d shut down the ferry.  So maybe that contributed?

It might have just been timing…it was early enough that drivers weren’t bringing people down to the ship yet (I guess). 

But someone else (more familiar with the Galveston port) told us that typically there are tons of taxis lined up outside the ship, but for some reason there were none of them either.  It was the first time the Breeze sailed, so maybe drivers didn’t realize we were coming back into port that day (it was a Monday)?  Or maybe just supply/demand...too many people leaving at once.

I actually did see some Lyft drivers pull up (and was trying to pull up their app) when the taxis started arriving, so we just took one of them.

Thank you so much for your explanation! That helps me more than you'll ever know. We're set to sail on Monday the 30th and fly into Hobby on Sunday and land at 12:30-ish in the afternoon. So it seems we should be okay especially since people will be aware of the cruise line schedules. Also, thank you for posting the cost. While a shuttle would be less expensive we did want to get to our hotel as soon as possible and not have to make multiple stops along the way to pick up or drop off other people.  Hopefully we'll be okay port to Hobby on our way home too. We have a late flight out and keeping my fingers crossed our flight leaves on time. We, too, are flying on Southwest from Los Angeles and we have a direct flight both ways. Always worth the extra cost cause I'm terrified of my luggage not making a layover.

Just now, SCBarker said:

What day are you getting to Hobby? And is that your embarkation date?

we getting into Hobby on Sunday the day before our cruise.

On 7/20/2021 at 2:01 PM, csm5986142 said:

My family was there as well, and I totally agree.  For different reasons, we only travel during school breaks, so I completely agree there too - the reduced capacity is what I liked the best. 

I have read people saying they wish they'd waited longer to book a cruise.  I'm the opposite, I wish I could book many cruises in the next few months.  I joked to my husband (while sitting with only 3 other people on the serenity deck) how I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to "normal" cruising again after this.  😃

We are booked on the Mardi in a month, so it will be an interesting comparison.

Our trip wasn't without frustration (but it wasn't with Carnival).  Southwest was terrible.  Connecting flight to Hobby was cancelled, luggage was lost, flight home was delayed 5 hours (arrived home at 2:30 in the morning). 

Also, in case it's helpful to others, we were shocked by the lack of ground transportation.  On our past 12 cruises, anytime we have walked away from a ship, there have been tons of taxis lined up, plenty of Uber options.  An Uber from Galveston to IAH was quoting at $300 (and no cars available) so we decided to do the flat rate taxi option ($160) but had to wait until they become available.  I've never used Carnival airport transportation, but had I been aware that this industry is still struggling to recover (which makes sense, I just hadn't thought of it) I would have considered Carnival transport this time.

Did you fly into Hobby or IAH? I'm still trying to figure out if I will be able to get an Uber or Lyft from Hobby to Galveston. You indicated it was $300 from Galveston to IAH but didn't indicate if you had a problem getting Uber or Lyft from airport to Galveston. In another post you indicated you had to take Ubers back and forth to get your luggage. So I'm confused.  I am still trying to find someone who's flown into Hobby and experienced Uber/Lyft to Galveston. I've also had people respond in different groups that Uber has not been a problem from Hobby to Galveston. so please if you wouldn't mind clarifying for my I'd appreciate it. I really trying to avoid booking a shuttle even if it will be easier.

On 7/20/2021 at 2:01 PM, csm5986142 said:

My family was there as well, and I totally agree.  For different reasons, we only travel during school breaks, so I completely agree there too - the reduced capacity is what I liked the best. 

I have read people saying they wish they'd waited longer to book a cruise.  I'm the opposite, I wish I could book many cruises in the next few months.  I joked to my husband (while sitting with only 3 other people on the serenity deck) how I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to "normal" cruising again after this.  😃

We are booked on the Mardi in a month, so it will be an interesting comparison.

Our trip wasn't without frustration (but it wasn't with Carnival).  Southwest was terrible.  Connecting flight to Hobby was cancelled, luggage was lost, flight home was delayed 5 hours (arrived home at 2:30 in the morning). 

Also, in case it's helpful to others, we were shocked by the lack of ground transportation.  On our past 12 cruises, anytime we have walked away from a ship, there have been tons of taxis lined up, plenty of Uber options.  An Uber from Galveston to IAH was quoting at $300 (and no cars available) so we decided to do the flat rate taxi option ($160) but had to wait until they become available.  I've never used Carnival airport transportation, but had I been aware that this industry is still struggling to recover (which makes sense, I just hadn't thought of it) I would have considered Carnival transport this time.

Did you fly into Hobby or IAH? I'm still trying to figure out if I will be able to get an Uber or Lyft from Hobby to Galveston. You indicated it was $300 from Galveston to IAH but didn't indicate if you had a problem getting Uber or Lyft from airport to Galveston. In another post you indicated you had to take Ubers back and forth to get your luggage. So I'm confused.  I am still trying to find someone who's flown into Hobby and experienced Uber/Lyft to Galveston. I've also had people respond in different groups that Uber has not been a problem from Hobby to Galveston. so please if you wouldn't mind clarifying for my I'd appreciate it. I really trying to avoid booking a shuttle even if it will be easier.

On 7/21/2021 at 6:35 AM, SCBarker said:

Here is some recent Uber situation. Uber quoted $300 for Galveston to Hobby but didn't have any cars that would do it.

 

Thank you so much for this!!! This is the info I was looking for. 

Hello fellow cruisers! Now that cruising has been happening out of Galveston has anyone used Uber or Lyft from airport to a Galveston hotel? I know there are issues getting Uber/Lyft as there are not a lot of drivers as there were pre-Covid. I am wondering if I should schedule a shuttle to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel. We are a party of two arriving Sunday around 1 pm staying at Gaido's one night pre-cruise. This is my first time sailing out of Galveston. 

And if you recommend taking a shuttle can you recommend one, please and thank you!

Thank you!!!

oh my goodness this thread completely confused me. I get the drink package every single time I cruise. Now according to this thread people are saying day one I have to pay for my drink plus tax, tip etc. So for example, I get on the ship, order my first drink and I pay the 10 bucks (or whatever it costs) plus tax tip etc. even though I have the cheers package. I've never sailed out of Galveston so perhaps this is different than sailing out of Florida or California. When I sailed out of NOLA and had the cheers package we paid just paid whatever extra taxes were required because we weren't in international waters yet. We did not have to pay for the actual drink. Can someone please clarify for me. I'm sorry I'm confused. We pay for the cheers package for five days why would we have to until 6 am on day two? If that's the case then we should be charged for four days not five days.

On 1/12/2020 at 7:29 PM, Powersurge! said:

I'm looking to do the following in Riga Latvia:

 

KGB Museum WITH tour

Central Market

Ghetto Holocaust Museum

Old Town

 

Ship is docked from 11am to 6pm in mid-May.

 

Is it possible to do all this in that time frame?  if walked? or would tram/bus be needed?

We're thinking the same! anyone have info on this?

On 2/18/2020 at 8:40 AM, Oliver Hansen said:

Hi everyone! We are planning a day on our own in Tallinn, any tips for a lunch except Old Hansa? As we are there in summer I think my family would prefer to sit outside. Based on what I read so far there should be some restaurants/breweries on the main square. Is there any beer gardens somewhere in the center? This should lovely 

I was thinking the same thing, lunch somewhere more casual. And a brewery would be awesome!

On 10/4/2019 at 2:50 PM, paradiselivin1 said:

Surprised no one ever mentions using AirBnb. We had a terrific place last year and you should be able to find a location that meets your needs unless you wait too long.

I agree. We are a party of three adults. Having a hard time finding a hotel to accommodate us. Where did you stay, if you remember?

On 10/4/2019 at 4:48 AM, buzzard05 said:

 

Exactly....I just assumed they were like the Carnival cards I bought last year and eagerly gave AARP my money before reading the restrictions on the gift certificates (and it wasn't like it is in fine print...they have it plastered right where you buy them....so this is totally on me.)

I made the same mistake. I have 500 bucks sitting in a basket waiting to be used. I do group cruises through a company so I haven't been able to use them. I currently have one booked with RC in May of 2020 but because it was through a company I was SOL in using them. I guess one day I will use them. Lesson learned...the hard way.