wolfganghowell

I had a King Ranch quarter horse in my tweens.  Man, that mare was a beauty!  King Ranch forever!  And then King Ranch casserole.  Mmm mmm.

I've sailed almost every ship from Texas since Rhapsody waaaaay back in the day.  We were on Rhapsody's last cruise from Texas after being here many years.  The last night everyone gathered in the Centrum - the Captain and crew were very emotional leaving Texas.  It's a popular port for the crew since the passenger base is known for being very friendly.  At the end of the goodbye ceremony, the passengers started singing The Eyes of Texas as a farewell as they removed the flag.  A lot of us were crying, including officers and crew- it was such a beautiful moment.  Rhapsody really established Royal here.

Glad you are home and reunited with your orange friend.  thanks again for a wonderful "trip".

We will be there on May 16th.  We were there last December and the only incident I recall is the guy trying to seat the 6 of us attempted to give us a one palapa with 4 chairs.  yeah.....no.  We were the first ones there.  Luckily, one of our group is Hispanic and spoke Spanish to clear that up. It was a very firm conversation! Sorry - six chairs, 3 palapas my friend.  Didn't notice the drinks but I've reached the point where two frozens is about all I can have before I switch to beer.  No issues with service and attitude was fine other than the first guy.  We had been there many times before but it had been about 6-7 years when we switched to Mr Sanchos for awhile.  However our last 2 visits to Mr Sanchos saw a huge decline in service, food and drinks so we headed back to Nachi.  I'll report back in a few weeks.  We're pretty low maintenance types so I'll try to be fair! 🙂

We checked out Jimmy's once since we had heard good things - walked in while the restaurant was closed and never made it back.  It is a further distance from our usual hangs. The new terminal in Galveston is awesome so I'm sure you will have a good embarkation!

I can't wait to follow along!  YOWZA - what a long vacay. I don't think our chihuahuas would EVER forgive us if we were gone that long.   I pray to the flowrider gods that it is in good working order for you! Hope you enjoy Galveston - that's our go-to port and we'll be there in 2 weeks on Mariner.  If you're interested - here are some quick recommends:  If you like a great dive bar, The Poop Deck on the Seawall is the best.  Stare at the ocean, ice cold beer and a jukebox of classic country and rock that can't be beat.  The Spot is a great venue for bar food - we like RumShack the best out of the 5 options there.  Seafood options Gaido's or Katie's.  Tex Mex - The Original Mexican.  And for a great breakfast, Millers.

have a great cruise, I'll be following along.

I'm obviously behind the times.  When did the Falmouth Margaritaville close?  Glad they don't go there from Galveston anymore.  That was our go to spot since we didn't want to leave the port area.  what a shame.  we had lots of fun there.

Since I have a Canadian sister in law, I even know how to pronounce sorry correctly.  Your apology is accepted since as a Texan, we feel Canadians are the next best thing to us.  As for unconditional dog love, may I present one of our chihuahuas, Taco.  As you can see, she has the temperament of a cat and I have not earned her eternal love after 12 years.  My husband, however, has.  She makes no secret that she prefers him to me at all times.  Juliet is a beauty and orange cats are the best (says the redhead).  Back to cruising - we are looking forward to our first Playmakers on this cruise.

That is so strange.  I take it you have checked your spam too.  Hopefully you will hear something and if not, they will take care of you onboard.

I have always received a response within at least 1-2 days.  I wouldn't take it personally - it could just be a chaotic week for them.  You could always forward them the original email and just ask that you are confirming they received it.

laurie, proverbial good news and bad news.  The good is that I loved this review so much I went back and read all your older reviews.  So thank you for those links.  The bad news is that I have done virtually no work the last two days and now I am behind and I am depressed that I am not on a cruise.  The good news is that I sail on Mariner in 18 days.  The bad news is I still have 18 days to go.  Continue on your journey and thanks again for letting us stow away with you. 

Oh - dogs are superior beings and bananas are the nectar of the gods.  Sorry, I felt compelled to pick a fight with you for no good reason other than jealousy that you are having such a great cruise.

Absolutely loving your review - thank you for taking us along.  The Disney portion was a real treat - been 10 years and it brought back memories of the happiest place on earth!

Royal's IT is it's usual chaotic self.  I can get it, then I get the upgrade message, then I can get it in again.  So basically I just keep trying until I get in.  Guess I don't have to get that new phone yet.  I know the day is coming.  Royal's IT is at least consistent in it's inconsistency.

Changed my password BUT now I am being forced to buy a new phone.  I still have an Iphone 8 (I know I KNOW - but I love my phone).  Now their app requires you to have ios version 17.  Guess what?  8 does not support 17 - my version is 16.7.7.  Since we cruise in a month and I need the app, I'm forced to buy a phone.  I don't know who I'm mad at the most - Apple or Royal.  Naturally, my IT husband is snickering since he hates me being "so behind."  Really irritated that I am backed into a corner on this.  Grrrr.

rrraydon - we did the guacamole class last December.  Meh.....of course we are Texans so we like our guac very flavorful.  Their ingredients are pretty limited so it was a bit bland.  The margarita drinkers had a few nice ones and lunch was included - again, Sabor on Harmony is just a miss for us.  We loved it on other ships but something seems missing now.  Were the guys nice who did it?  Yes. Did some people enjoy it?  Sure.  It wasn't for us but that doesn't mean there weren't plenty others who like it.

Carry on - enjoying your review.  Yeah - the Aquashow was cancelled three times on our sailing.

Not thrilled about this but since we always stay in suites, I am hoping that they will continue to assess the SL capacity when there are large numbers of Pins.  It's nothing personal but especially on the smaller ships, I've seen the SL get taken over.  I'm sure this will stir things up here.

You can get some good snorkeling from the beach in front of Infinity Bay resort - veer left when you enter the water.  There are small boats that can take you out as well - prices negotiable.  We stayed at Infinity Bay for a week so we know firsthand how good it is there!

We did South Shore canopy years ago and felt very safe.  Their harnesses were in great shape and the guides were fun.  Yes there is a lot of walking and stairs.  If you are in reasonably good shape, it's fine.  It's by West Bay which is our favorite beach in the Caribbean.

We have been to Roatan for over 10 years on cruises.  We loved it so much we stayed there for a week at Infinity Bay.  Is there poverty and crime?  Of course - so use your common sense as you normally would.  Years ago a taxi driver told us the crime was not so bad there because everyone knows everyone else - and he said their mothers would take of them!  We walked along the West Bay beach at night and felt safe.  We went to West End and wandered around.  Safe.  The area around the port is pretty sketchy so on a cruise you should definitely have a plan to get out of that area either in a taxi at the port or an excursion either through the ship or the various resorts.  You are missing out on a wonderful experience if you don't explore Roatan - it's our favorite place and we can't wait to go back.  Tourism is their livelihood and we met amazing friendly people.  There are bad areas just like everywhere but I would not hesitate to go there.

Definitely look at Home 2 Suites - the pizza place is in the parking lot.  It's been there for years and I've heard it's pretty good.

Love virtually cruising with you again. Have a wonderful cruise!  LOVE the rainbow for you.

Yes depending on how far you want to walk.  Almost any place on the Seawall will have a restaurant within walking distance.  I can't recall anything right there other than a pizza place because we always go to the same places and they were a few minutes by car.

Get To - I don't think a rollaway bed would work on harmony since it has a "wall" between the sitting area and bed.  There's nowhere to put it.  You would have to make do with the sofa bed.

I would add that it's great to have such a large bathroom - both of you can get ready at the same time!  Two sinks.  In addition to getting on first,  you can also disembark first and get a concierge escort in certain ports.  We enjoy the daily happy hour, getting lattes in the morning and having a nice space to just relax during the day sometimes that is nice and quiet.

His next sentence is "until next time".

So   Never again until next time!  😉