DavidMutchler

On 4/6/2023 at 11:29 PM, chukli said:

I booked an Uber from Galvestone to HOU for 8.20am priced at $60. 
There has been chat that Uber cannot provide this service due to contract issues, but if their APP accepted the booking they must be providing the service?

As another poster said, "Uber has made an agreement with the Port to pay the fees necessary to access picking up passengers".  However, be aware that the agreement is not effective until May 1.  On the other hand, also note that Cruise Critic folks report that Uber is already (before May 1) dropping off and picking up people just fine.

If you are traveling before May 1 and want to play it safe, you could do Lyft instead of Uber, but Lyft may have fewer cars available (hard to say).

More worrisome, if you are traveling on a Sunday morning, then Uber/Lyft rides are in short supply.  You are probably OK at 8:20 a.m. but may experience surge pricing.  Also note that on Uber's Scheduling page (https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/how-it-works/reserve/), it says:

"¹ Uber doesn’t guarantee that a driver will accept your ride request." (emphasis mine). "Your ride is confirmed once you receive your driver details."

Have a great cruise!!!

What day of the week is your debarkation?  On Sunday mornings, on all recent weeks (I checked each week for last 4 weeks), Uber and Lyft had surge pricing and low availability from about 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

You should be able to get an Uber/Lyft at 8:45 or so, but expect prices to be as much as double what they were in getting from Hobby to the Port, on Sundays.  (Thursdays don't seem bad according to another poster, and I have no data for other days of the week.)

FWIW, I think (NOT SURE) that if "booking" means using the Uber reservation system, then booking an Uber ride at low-availability times does very little by way of a guarantee (unless you have made a private arrangement with the driver).  If you know otherwise, please post.  Thanks!

42 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I saw a post as of 2 or 3 weeks ago uber does have privileges. They paid the terminal. Seen it posted several times. My uber driver had no issues dropping me off. .. we will see today picking me up.

Thanks for the update.  Please do let us know your experience with the Uber pickup today.  Thanks!

10 hours ago, clover18 said:

Thanks for all the replies. Taking an Uber to hobby from port and sticking with our 11:00 flight. 

Uber does not yet have port privileges, so not really an option.  Lyft will be sky-high ($250 or so to Hobby) at that time (and the addition of Uber in May (?) is unlikely to change it much).  Do a shuttle service like Galveston Express instead.

Uber/Lyft FROM Houston TO Galveston works fine, because there are lots of such drivers in Houston.  Uber/Lyft FROM Galveston TO Houston is a disaster from 8 to 11 a.m. because there are not many drivers in Galveston.

17 hours ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Luggage to haul around is a killer. Last off is usually 9am but all that means is sitting around the ship somewhere with all your luggage. I would stall around the ship then get taxi/uber to the airport. It's about an hour so to the airport. 

Any chance you can be first off and get standby for an earlier flight?

 

Getting a Lyft (or Uber once they start coming to the terminal) from Galveston is impractical in the hours from about 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time.  Just not enough Galveston drivers, and way too much demand.  Use a shuttle service instead, especially given your party size.

3 hours ago, chukli said:

Allure of the seas May 7/23 popular show reservations opened up now. 
As noted in the thread, Mamma Mia, days 1,2,7

Ocean Aria, days 2,3,4, Aqua theatre 

Blue Planet in Amber theatre, days 5,6

Ice show, days 1,4,6

comedy show, days , 1,2,3,5,6.

I am not sure when additional headliner shows or other shows that require reservations will be available for reservations- if anyone has an idea, please let us know.

 

The April 30 cruise (just before the May 7 cruise referenced in the post) lists a Headliner show featuring comedy juggler Adam Kario where Blue Planet is listed in the above.  He is listed for the Amber Theatre days 4, 5 and 6 (one show each day).  There is no opportunity to reserve seats for his shows.

Judging from that, perhaps Blue Planet will start on the May 7 cruise (and not the April 30 cruise that I will be on).  I like juggling, so while I was looking forward to Blue Planet, juggling is OK by me too.

BTW, Blue Planet was on Allure pre-covid, as far back as 2014, I think.  It looks like a spectacular show.

On 3/20/2023 at 8:39 PM, theotherchad said:

What is Blue Planet? Is that an Aqua Theater show? 

Perhaps this helps, perhaps not, but according to the web:

A WORLD OF WOWS

Celebrate Mother Earth during a one-of-a-kind, environmentally charged show as Blue Planet transports you from mountain summits to the bottom of the sea with powerful music, soaring vocals, energetic dance, and aerial acrobatics that will leave your entire family breathless.

20 hours ago, villagenut said:

Booking

Overall the process was easy.  Found the web site to be a little difficult when trying to set or change details such as dining times, bed arrangements, etc. otherwise no complaints.

 

Embarkation at Galveston.

The only real issue we had was signage.  Our arrival time was 11:30.  We arrived exactly on time and headed to the Baggage Drop Off.  That was pretty easy to find given the huge sign out front.  However, when we got to the line there was a small sign that read Baggage Drop Off for 12:00-12:30.  Well, OK??  Its 11:30 so where do I go?  We finally asked someone(said he was the porter supervisor) who took us around to the main line and called over a baggage porter.  As they were assisting with our bags some security came over and started ordering us and the porter to move.  Well, we hurried along to load the bags onto the cart and went on our way.  It would have been good to have a line for On Time and a line for Early and Late arrivals similar to the other port.  If there is such at the new port, there were no signs to tell us.  The remainder of the process was pretty simple but they made our entire party retake pictures.  We all had already uploaded pictures in the app as instructed.  We looked around and saw that no other lines were doing this. Only the gentleman that was doing our line.  He had also made the people in front of us retake their pics.  I think he just liked being in charge. After that, security was simple.  As we were making our way thru security i heard them calling groups to board.  By the time we were done, we had no wait, we walked right on.  From parking lot to ship was maybe 25-30 minutes.  

 

We went immediately and did the muster which was a snap.  We watched the video on the app prior to arrival.

 

Then proceeded to Giovanna's to set our specialty dining reservations.  We pre-purchased the 3 night package.  Had no issue getting the times we wanted.  We prefer early so we got each night for 5:15.   Later in the week we ended up changing our last night to 8:00 and had no issues with that either.  Party of 7.

 

Ate lunch at the Solarium which was ok.  nothing special in my opinion.

 

By now it was 1:00 and we went to our rooms and luggage was there.  Interior room on 8th floor forward.  We liked the room layout but bed was too hard for our liking. No issue with room or steward.  

 

The remainder of the review will be some quick hits about various things we did throughout the week.  Will answer any questions you may have.

 

Specialty coffee in Promenade Cafe was good.  We had unlimited drink package so they were included.

 

We tried breakfast at the Solarium, Johnny Rockets, and Park Cafe.  Solarium breakfast was better than the lunch.  Park Cafe was good.  Johnny Rockets was horrible.  5 people.  took 20 minutes to be seated.  All 5 meals were cold and almost inedible.  big disappointment for us.

 

Hung out each day by the pool.  no issues. bar service was good.  seemed to be plenty of chairs if you weren't too picky.

 

Pizza was good

 

Main Dining food and staff were above par.  Early Dining.  5:00.  Were done each night by 6:20. Party of 7

 

Chops was good or great depending on dish. The filet's were excellent.  Strip and Ribeye just ok.

Giovanni's was 10 out of 10

150 Central Park was 11 out of 10

 

Mamma Mia was the hit of the entire cruise

Aqua Show was outstanding as well.

 

We enjoyed the group at Dazzles.  Its somewhat hidden.

 

Casino was smoky as usual.

 

We never ate at Windjammer

 

Wipe out Cafe was really good for lunch.  Nachos, tacos, etc

 

Tried to go to Johnny Rockets for a Milk Shake one afternoon.  seated immediately.  numerous open tables.   After menu after 10 minutes of waiting.  over the next 15 minutes 3 different waiters said that would return to take our order.  After another 5, we left.

 

Ship was at capacity. 6400 guest, 700 crew.  There were only a few times that it "felt" crowded. Otherwise it was enjoyable.  If you want to attend any event at any venue, you better arrive early or there will be no seats.  We were never able to get into Schooners, On Air, or Bow and Stern.  All seemed popular and people seemed to be having fun, but we were never early enough to get seats.

 

Many cruises on Carnival but this was my first RC cruise.  I will be returning.  Oasis Class are a hit in my book.

 

Questions?

 

Glad that you had an overall great cruise!

Did you drive to the port yourself, or fly to Houston and use transport from there?  If the latter, how did you return to the airport upon disembarkation.  (Getting from the airport to the Port is easy, via Lyft among other approaches, but getting Lyft on the way back seems nigh impossible, so I am interested in what shuttle services folks are using...)

18 minutes ago, KEG21552 said:

Thanks for the review.  We are sailing in September.

Did you make reservations for Mama Mia and the Aqua show prior to boarding?  If so, when did reservations open?

Any excursions?

Thanks!!

Thanks to OP for the excellent review; I am sure that they will respond to your question above.  But perhaps the information that I have is helpful to you:

For the Allure, for April sailings, reservations for shows opened at various times between about March 1 (as reported here on Cruise Critic) and March 9.  For my April 30 sailing, reservations opened on March 9 about 6 p.m.  (I was watching several times each day.)  It seems clear from various posts that the exact day/time that reservations for shows open varies from ship to ship and from sailing to sailing, but a rule-of-thumb is that sailing for month X start around the 1st of month X-1.  (So sailings for April started seeing reservations opening about March 1, but not all at once.)

Reservations stayed open for a surprisingly (to me) long time -- they are still open for all but the Comedy Club (it is now 19 days since reservations opened), and even the Comedy Club remained open for about 10 days.  Others have reported much shorter availability on other cruises, however, so best to check daily starting about August 1 (for your sailing in September).

Thanks again to OP for the great review!

24 minutes ago, junior8 said:

Sorry I thought I replied. This was the reply  "The comedian is Dan Wilson and the Tribute Band is Rookie"

See 

 for a sample of Rookie.

2 hours ago, chukli said:

Just joined the roll call. I checked in on the APP when that opened up a few minutes past midnight but was only offered 11am as earliest time to arrive at terminal . Interesting that this time was still available for many hours. Were you able to secure desired arrival time?

For me on the 4/30 Allure, I checked in when the app opened but 11 a.m. was the earliest offered.  Perhaps they are not offering 10:30 a.m. at this time.

3 hours ago, rimmit said:

The nursery hours can book fast.  On the smaller boats they really max out on the formal nights and day time sea days very quickly.  We always waited for them to open up to be the first to book.

 

The smaller boats maxed at as low as 4 (Grandeur).  The bigger boats could go to 12-16 if I remember.  They only allow you to book an X amount of hours on the first day depending on length of sailing.  Sometimes it was just 10,  sometimes 20 hours initially.  Then after a day they let you book as much as you want after everyone is given a chance.  If you want formal nights or sea days I suggest you book those first.

 

The nursery will always give you a Dec phone (phone that works on the ship) or a pager.  AO only if you ask, although there was times they randomly gave us one.  It was random for AO if you got a pager.

 

The staff all had training and is well educated.  Many have childhood education degrees.  
 

There was a splash pad for babies on Liberty when we went on it last on a TA when our son was 15 months old back in 2012.  I assume it’s still there.

 

If you want some more info, we used to run a nonmonetized ad free blog with lots of kid traveling info especially on cruises.  Has lots of good tips.

 

https://thesmallworldfamily.com/2018/09/19/how-to-take-a-cruise-with-a-baby-and-have-a-great-time/

 

We just didn’t have time to keep it up but there are some good articles for traveling with babies on cruise ships.

Thanks!  Your web site is lovely and very helpful (even though my wife and I are long past having babies) -- your photos are great and your child is adorable!

6 hours ago, dna1990 said:

Disembark can vary depending on method.  We still always choose the standard option for putting bags out the last night and getting off according to a number system.  We never feel rushed or crowded this way.  You can choose your preferred disembark method/time in the App about mid cruise.

Do you recall what the LATEST time slot to get off the ship is?  10 a.m.??  (Trying to plan for a shuttle to the airport, and would rather wait on the ship than in the airport for our 5 p.m. flight.)

15 hours ago, mojomanny said:

All that will be changing is the schedule and the addition of Blue Planet.  No shows are going away

Thanks!

On 2/26/2023 at 9:58 PM, mojomanny said:

Beginning in late April ( I believe the last cruise of the month) there will be changes to the Allure entertainment schedule in the Amber Theater as they are bringing back Blue Planet

 

Currently it is:

Day 2 & 3 headliner

Day 4 Different headliner

Day 5 & 6 Mamma Mia

 

It will be changing to

Day 1 & 2  Mamma Mia

Day 3 & 4 Headliner

Day 5 & 6 Blue Planet

(or something very similar to this)

 

Any update to this?  We are currently booked for Ice Show, Mamma Mia, and Aqua show on 4/30 cruise.  Will those be changing???

10 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I used OBC to purchase this, today I decided to try and just cancel it and see what happened... well the OBC was credited back instantly. Like as soon as I canceled, I refreshed and the OBC was on top of the page again, along with the 50 they gave earlier in the week. So if you are tired of waiting for them to do it, just go ahead and cancel and you'll get the original OBC right away 

I hope that you are right, but I am nervous that they might take the $50 OBC away in that case...

15 minutes ago, swdke said:

I'm confused, you say to check in at midnight EST.  But I thought check in didn't open till midnight Ship time which would be 1 am EST.  Can you please clarify what I'm missing?  Thanks 

Different people have reported different times to check in, for different sailings.  FWIW, my sailing was on the Allure out of Galveson for 4/30.  For me, I am on EST and check-in appeared to open at 1 a.m. EST, i.e., midnight CST (ship) time.  But like I said, others are reporting variants. 

Sorry to be confusing!

Wow, nice thinking out of the box! (to the poster who changed the time on their computer).

It seems that different people have experienced different times at which the app starts allowing check-in.  For me, I am on EST and it allowed me on beginning at midnight CST (ship time).  But others have reported different experiences.

Bottom line:  If you want to get the very first crack at it, start trying at EST (or at local time if yours is before EST, as is the person in Rome).

10 minutes ago, rpp77 said:

Like David said earlier, your best bet is doing it on the app right after midnight (EST) on exactly the 45th day out if you want the earliest time. I was able to get the 10:30-11:00am slot for all 13 of us cruising in a few weeks. Went back in later that morning around 8 am to enter in some additional information and the earliest times available was starting at Noon. Don't wait to book shows either, the reservations fill up quickly.

For me last night, it was a few minutes after midnight CST (Central, ship, Galveston) time.  No idea whether that is normal or not (and I certainly don't deny your experience!).  I did try midnight EST (and thereafter) but with no success then.  (And it is always possible that I screwed up on that, since if there were 10:30 a.m. slots, they were gone when I got entry to check-in.)  YMMV.

12 hours ago, sjlogghe said:

We'll be on Allure out of Galveston in about 2.5 weeks. There aren't a lot of options for transport to/from the terminal from Houston! I currently have an Uber reserved on embarkation day ... the shuttle I had found only had times left that would get us there after our check-in time. Also, we are staying at a hotel the night prior, so I think it will just be easier to be picked up at the hotel then to have to take a shuttle back to the airport to catch another shuttle. Right now, Uber is about $60 for 2 people. Does that sound about right? How long should I plan for to get from Houston (IAH area hotel) to the terminal? 

 

I'm debating on how to get from the terminal back to the airport. We fly out of HOU. There is Galveston Express that has a decent time available. There's also a shuttle booked through RC - are there different times to pick from or is it just one time, and you're pretty early off the boat? Or an Uber, but that's not letting me reserve ahead of time because I'm going to the airport. I've read a few things that say the new Galveston terminal is sort of a nightmare in terms of finding the shuttles or Uber. Does anyone have recent experience with this?? I'd like to book Galveston Express, as it's less expensive than the RC shuttle, and I can pick a time that's not super early (I'd rather stay on the boat a little bit longer than sit in the airport.) But if it's going to be more hassle than it's worth, then maybe it'd be better off to book RC shuttle. 

 

Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated! 

I am doing the same on Allure 4/30 - 5/7.

1. Getting from IAH or HOU to the Port of Galveston is no problem.  There are plenty of Lyft drivers if you want to do that.  Or you can do one of the shuttle services at what is probably a similar price for two.  I am doing Lyft but I have 4 of us (my wife, 2 granddaughters and me) and I expect to pay about $50 plus tip from HOU.  The prices that I have heard from IAH are more than the $60 that you list -- more like $80 plus tip, but that is just what others on the board have suggested.  In any case, you have lots of easy options for embarkation.

2. Getting from the Port of Galveston to HOU (or IAH) is much harder, since there are (as another poster said) 6,000 people trying to leave within a 3-hour or so window, and there are far fewer Lyft drivers in Galveston than in Houston.  Last Sunday (3/12) morning, I made "mock" (temporary, did not "pull the trigger") reservations on Lyft to test prices to HOU.  I tried at regular intervals throughout the morning.  They were normal (circa $50) until about 8:30 a.m., at which point (or soon thereafter) they skyrocketed to about $200 and stayed in the $150 to $250 range, with limited availability, for several hours.  So Lyft is a reasonable option only if you self-disembark AND are quick about it.

Traveling with children, being quick is not possible for me. (:-)  I am looking at Galveston Express, which another poster found reasonable.  (Their overall rating seems a little mixed, but certainly not terrible.)  Saltwater Moms comes highly rated, but I am hesitant to book with a company that does booking only through Facebook.  (That's just me, others feel very comfortable with them.)

I would be grateful if you share your experiences here, upon your return.  Have a GREAT cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 hours ago, springgrl said:

Pretty much everyone was called to disembark by 9:30am and I don’t recall seeing anywhere to sit in the terminal.

Thanks, good to know!

3 hours ago, swdke said:

I'm traveling with 8 adults booked separately in 4 cabins.  I think I have all 4 cabins linked on the App.  So when we're eligible to check in, and all I want to do is select boarding time for all of us to board together, can someone please describe the steps to do so?  I don't want to complete everyone's check in information, just to select boarding time only.  Appreciate knowing the steps and process.  Thanks so much.

As another poster said, you must use the ** app ** and not the Web site.  I did it last night.  It was a bit confusing to me since it listed 3 steps:  1. Enter passenger data (which I do not yet have, like my passport number), 2. Choose arrival time, 3. Fill out health form.  You can go straight to Step 2 (clicking on it) and choose your time.  It saves that and you can go straight to the next passenger for their arrival time, etc, and you can come back another time to fill out the passenger information.  Step 3 cannot be done until the day before you sail.

FWIW, check-in opened for me a few minutes past midnight SHIP time (Galveston time, in my case for the Allure).  The earliest arrival time slot available was 11 a.m.  Since I did check-in within 2 minutes of it opening, I am guessing that 11 a.m. was the earliest time slot for my sailing (Allure, 4/30), i.e., no 10:30 a.m. slot (unless those are reserved for folks with more status points than me).

13 hours ago, Spencer71 said:

My flight home from IAH doesn't leave until 630pm on Sunday, April 9.  I'm wondering if I should just go straight to the airport, or hang out in Galveston for a while. I'm guessing it might be better to stay in Galveston to avoid higher Uber costs first thing with heavy demand.  If so, any recommendations on what to do?  And then what to do with our luggage, since I don't want to lug it around all day?  Also, seems like the self-debarkation option is best because you have more flexibility on when you get off the ship?

I did brief "mock" bookings on Lyft last Sunday.  Pricing was very high from about 9 a.m. to about 11:30 a.m. (circa $150 to $220 for a regular car to Houston Hobby, instead of the usual $50 of so).  Like you, I would like to hang out in Galveston until at least noon, but I don't know how to get anywhere with luggage.

All, is there even a place with chairs to sit down when disembarking?

4 hours ago, zaylyn2590 said:

I can only answer the first one. You can preregister when you check in and also take a tour on the first day. You just present your s&s card when you drop them off and pick them up. There was no sign in. They had specific hours 9 to 12, 2 to 5 and 7 to 10pm on sea days and maybe 9 to 4pm, 7 to 10pm on port days. Then they had the night owls which was from 10 to 1am at an additional costs. 

 

The staff are very much trained and very professional. My 6 year old still remembers their names and the games that they played. 

Thanks, very helpful!  Do they ever fill up and have to turn away kids?  If so, how often and how does that work?

On 1/28/2023 at 7:09 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Rideshare(Uber. Lyft) will be traffic dependent but budget $100 from International and $70 from Hobby

Getting from Hobby or a hotel near Hobby is easy via Lyft.  Plenty of rides, cost is about $50 plus tip (so about $60) for a regular Lyft, or about $57 plus tip (about $70, just like the quoted person said) for a Preferred (bigger vehicle, but still for only 4 passengers).  So if you have 2 passengers, you are just as well off going with a transfer service (circa $35 per person) or Lyft, your choice.  If you have 3 or 4 passengers, the Lyft is cheaper.

The problem is going the other way - from the Port to Hobby.  Everyone is trying to do this at once during the time frame of 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and there are far fewer Lyfts based in Galveston than based in Houston.  This morning (Sunday) I saw prices that were about $110 to $200 for a regular or Preferred Lyft during the 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. time period, and often no guarantee of even that.  If you can wait until noon, prices drop back to under $60 plus tip for Port to Hobby, but I don't yet know a good place to spend the time from 10 a.m. (last off the ship) to noon.

I am on an 4/30/2023 cruise, and my problem is that the transfer services mentioned elsewhere in this thread are booked until about noon (by which time Lyft works OK, judging from this morning).  So I need to find a place to relax from about 10 a.m. to noon, with my wife, 2 granddaughters, and luggage.  Any suggestions from anyone out there?