*** The Galveston, Texas "Cruise Cam" Watch Group ***

[Rancher Dave]

I'm with ya on this one Becci--sure seems like there would be an easier traffic flow!! By the way, how was your Mariner Cruise? How was debarkation? We just got back from our Panama Canal Cruise and Princess has debarkation figured out!! We did self assist and had a group #, that's the only way it will work--everyone gets a number and they give you a ticket that you show when you debark so they know you are debarking with the correct group. We had 7:40 debark time--we were off the ship and at the airport at 8:15.

 

Leave next week on the Disney Magic--too good of a military discount to pass up!! An 8 day, going to Castaway Cay, Disney World and Key West.

 

Thrilled RCCL will be sailing out of Galveston year round!!

 

DW caught in middle of shooting at airport today...she would probably love to go on an 8 day cruise now. She is pretty stressed out over events at IAH.

 

Wish I had time to go on the 8 day sailing as I'd love to see Castaway Cay.

[CGBCruiser]

DW caught in middle of shooting at airport today...she would probably love to go on an 8 day cruise now. She is pretty stressed out over events at IAH.

 

Wish I had time to go on the 8 day sailing as I'd love to see Castaway Cay.

 

Scary!!! I watched that unfold on the news today. It could have ended so much worse. I know she must be pretty shaken up!

[BecciBoo]

Hey Carla....Mariner was wonderful. one of our best! Eric- Diamond Conc. got us off in prompt fashion. We did wait in Lotus Lounge for about 1 1/2 hours until about 9:00, after suite and departing flights left, we went and were on the road at 9:15. Two tips I have found worth taking, send your baggage the night before so you can get down the escalator NO ELEVATOR!! and snag a porter and there doesn't seem to be a problem then. I got the porter while Todd walked across to get the car...whoosh! And we will always do the Diamond departure from now on.

I would love to see Castaway, I love CoCo Caye and they are right next to each other! Have fun! See ya.:D

[crazy4themouse]

Leave next week on the Disney Magic--too good of a military discount to pass up!! An 8 day, going to Castaway Cay, Disney World and Key West

 

 

 

Best.Itinerary.Ever. I didn't think it could get better than sailing on the Magic, and then I didn't think it could get any better than sailing on the Magic practically out of my back yard -- And then we got to do that itinerary, and it is so amazing!! It was almost surreal.

 

Usually, when we saw Port Canaveral from the ship, that was "sad day"... it meant our cruise was over. :( But this time, we got to get off, spend the day at our Happy Place, then get back on the ship!! It felt like a whole new cruise.

 

Have an incredible time, enjoy every minute of it!! :D

 

 

-gina-

[golfpccc]

Hey Carla....Mariner was wonderful. one of our best! Eric- Diamond Conc. got us off in prompt fashion. We did wait in Lotus Lounge for about 1 1/2 hours until about 9:00, after suite and departing flights left, we went and were on the road at 9:15. Two tips I have found worth taking, send your baggage the night before so you can get down the escalator NO ELEVATOR!! and snag a porter and there doesn't seem to be a problem then. I got the porter while Todd walked across to get the car...whoosh! And we will always do the Diamond departure from now on.

 

I would love to see Castaway, I love CoCo Caye and they are right next to each other! Have fun! See ya.:D

We have also found this is the best way to get off the ship, so much easier than dragging your luggage. We don't use the porter, found it is almost as fast without them. We then roll our bags across the street, actually have found best to walk down the side walk in front of cruise terminal to the Carnival terminal then use the walkway across Harbor Dr. at the stop light. I wait on the corner while Dave gets the car--we park at EZCruise.

[golfpccc]

Best.Itinerary.Ever. I didn't think it could get better than sailing on the Magic, and then I didn't think it could get any better than sailing on the Magic practically out of my back yard -- And then we got to do that itinerary, and it is so amazing!! It was almost surreal.

 

Usually, when we saw Port Canaveral from the ship, that was "sad day"... it meant our cruise was over. :( But this time, we got to get off, spend the day at our Happy Place, then get back on the ship!! It felt like a whole new cruise.

 

Have an incredible time, enjoy every minute of it!! :D

 

 

-gina-

Thanks for the great remarks on this itinerary--we are really excited!

[BecciBoo]

Hey Gina, you little Mouskateer you!:D

[crazy4themouse]

Hey Gina, you little Mouskateer you!:D

 

 

 

Hiya Becci! :D Long time no talk!

[TEXASMUNK]

Navigator is not showing up in May. So, called RCI, agent said dry dock not over until first few days in May. So tried again, nothing in May.

Fairly certain I got an agent what may have said the first thing that popped into her mind (a very short journey, I am guessing).

So, will wait until the IT department gets down messing up the system with the Saturday update and figure out if we are on Navigator in May or not!

[ARCruisinNana]

Navigator is not showing up in May. So, called RCI, agent said dry dock not over until first few days in May. So tried again, nothing in May.

Fairly certain I got an agent what may have said the first thing that popped into her mind (a very short journey, I am guessing).

So, will wait until the IT department gets down messing up the system with the Saturday update and figure out if we are on Navigator in May or not!

 

That would be one L O N G dry dock;)

[TLex]

This is from Ron Don on the Roll Call for March 2 (we're going March 9), provided FYI (I also noted this on a separate thread):

Here is Ron Don's explanation:

 

talked to RCI last night - not a problem, but because the Navigator is going in for refit and only being released one week prior to our cruise, they have stopped taking new reservations until the end of May as they are ‘restructuring’ some of the cabins. Apparently some of the interior cabins are getting ‘virtual balconies’ and other upgrades, so there may be some renumbering of cabins. She said that all of our reservations are intact and that they will all appear again once the hold comes off the ship – probably sometime around the end of May she said.

 

BREAK// I contacted my TA and confirmed that my reservation, which is NOT showing up on C&A RCI Website, is still valid. But a lot of other menu links aren't working such as Gifts and Gear, etc. Must be really burning the midnight oil at the RCCL IT shop....

 

VR,

 

T Lex

[BecciBoo]

Had to release our aft for October....sniff sniff...DH says we just can't do it that soon after Allure! So if anyone is interestedin 9390, it's back on the market this morning.... we'll have to wait until some time in 2015 to cruise again. Boohoo He says I got the "fever" too badly the other day when I jumped on it. Easy to get caught up yeah?;)

[Cindy]

Had to release our aft for October....sniff sniff...DH says we just can't do it that soon after Allure! So if anyone is interestedin 9390, it's back on the market this morning.... we'll have to wait until some time in 2015 to cruise again. Boohoo He says I got the "fever" too badly the other day when I jumped on it. Easy to get caught up yeah?;)

 

That makes me :(.

[BecciBoo]

Me 2! But ya never know, if someone orders a big server deal, we could get back on, but probably not the aft:(

[Texas Teen]

I feel dumb right about now. I added my fairly new Yahoo email account on my signature the other day, but just realized I mixed up my email address with the username I use on other (non-cruise related) forums. :o

Edited May 4, 2013 by Texas Teen

[klingoncruiser]

Maybe we can catch some more cruises on RCL not that they will be year round. Yeah!

[TEXASMUNK]

The web site is showing Navigator again. Whether is is cabin re-configurations, or whatever. Would not a simple statement when you attempt to pull up the dates that says: 'Itinerary being updated, pls check back later"

 

information is power. You want your customers to be informed (empowered)..the same thing occurs when there are boarding delays in Galveston> I swear, they hold a staff beiefing and tell everyone, when they are asked by the delay to reply "I DUNNO" or make up their very on fairy tale.

 

Talk to the customer!!!!

[Clarea]

The web site is showing Navigator again. Whether is is cabin re-configurations, or whatever. Would not a simple statement when you attempt to pull up the dates that says: 'Itinerary being updated, pls check back later"

 

information is power. You want your customers to be informed (empowered)..the same thing occurs when there are boarding delays in Galveston> I swear, they hold a staff beiefing and tell everyone, when they are asked by the delay to reply "I DUNNO" or make up their very on fairy tale.

 

Talk to the customer!!!!

I agree with you, but timely, accurate, corporate wide communication is a skill that seems to escape Royal quite often.

[Cindy]

The web site is showing Navigator again. Whether is is cabin re-configurations, or whatever. Would not a simple statement when you attempt to pull up the dates that says: 'Itinerary being updated, pls check back later"

 

information is power. You want your customers to be informed (empowered)..the same thing occurs when there are boarding delays in Galveston> I swear, they hold a staff beiefing and tell everyone, when they are asked by the delay to reply "I DUNNO" or make up their very on fairy tale.

 

Talk to the customer!!!!

 

Between that and those of us booked between February & April not being able to see our reservations I'm dumbfounded. You would think they woke up last Tuesday, hauled out a world map and tail, and decided where to re-deploy the Navigator in a rousing game of pin the tail on the home port:eek:! I think in truth this has been in the works for quite a while. Several people had reported hints being dropped long before I got the news on the Mariner.

As it is right now, they have a splashy page touting Navigator's improvements and new cabin categories, and a link to the new deck plans that takes you to...the existing deck plans.:confused: The cruises that disappeared don't seem to have any new cabin categories, and the pricing didn't change.

How difficult would it have been to have everything ready to go? Phone reps with answers to questions? Updated deck plans?

Chaos and disorganization drive me crazy...I love RCCL ships, but I have a hard time understanding why communication seems to be so difficult. It's not just Navigator either. Yesterday I was on the phone with C&A, converting a next cruise certificate into a booking. I had the pricing open on my computer. I couldn't complete the reservation and had to wait for a return phone call, because the representative didn't have pricing on her computer!:p

Don't even get me started on the problems I've had with my Celebrity booking and getting my Captain's Club status. The communication apple didn't fall far from the tree.:( The PVP I was assigned when I first called them should be dismissed for total incompetence.

OK...I'll stop now!:o I just had a really frustrating day on the phone yesterday, and it was all somehow related to RCI. I had to call 3 times for my Serenade booking, I found out my Celebrity reservation is a disaster, and then I spent over an hour on the phone with BoA because somehow they let a charge from China go through on my RCCL VISA...while I was on a cruise in the Caribbean that they knew about!:mad:

[golfpccc]

Hey Cindy,

 

Look on the brighter side, you could cancel all your booked cruises and purchase a new suite at Kyle Field--only $15 Million!! Oh and of course, that doesn't include tickets...lol GIGEM :D

[cricketts]

Cindy, I feel your pain ;) We're on the Jewel in two weeks, and trying to do the check-in was a nightmare! They're only doing bag tags now for D+, pinnacle, and GS and higher. Our daughter is in a JS with her friend...bottom line is bag tags only printed through internet explorer! Of course if you want to view the shore excursions best, you need to use Firefox...and then the staff at RCCL recommends using Chrome :confused: I think they need a new IT department!

[Cindy]

Hey Cindy,

 

Look on the brighter side, you could cancel all your booked cruises and purchase a new suite at Kyle Field--only $15 Million!! Oh and of course, that doesn't include tickets...lol GIGEM :D

 

Sigh...I think this year or maybe next is probably going to be our last for season tickets. When they redo the West side we're going to be priced right out of the market. We already pay a lot more for our A&M tickets than our Texans tickets. I hate to admit it, but I'm about ready to just go to the occasional game by purchasing tickets on the secondary market, and stop the bleeding from my bank account.:rolleyes: $15M...LOL is right!:p

Too bad we love football and theater as well as cruising, and I've gotten heavily into photography since I retired...I seem to have some expensive hobbies!:eek:

[katygirl5]

Cindy, I feel your pain ;) We're on the Jewel in two weeks, and trying to do the check-in was a nightmare! They're only doing bag tags now for D+, pinnacle, and GS and higher. Our daughter is in a JS with her friend...bottom line is bag tags only printed through internet explorer! Of course if you want to view the shore excursions best, you need to use Firefox...and then the staff at RCCL recommends using Chrome :confused: I think they need a new IT department!

 

We were just on the Jewel, in a JS, and D+, we had to print our own tags. They only send them for GS and above and Pinnacle. We printed them, then had them laminated, cut them out, folded them over and stapled around bag handles, worked very well.

[Tucker in Texas]

We were just on the Jewel, in a JS, and D+, we had to print our own tags. They only send them for GS and above and Pinnacle. We printed them, then had them laminated, cut them out, folded them over and stapled around bag handles, worked very well.

 

I'm D+ and had to print my own. I went to Walgreens and bought a travel tooth care kit--actually 2 of them for $1 each. It has a small tube of toothpaste, a tooth brush and cover. What's important is the packaging. A nice plastic case just the size for luggage tags. Attach it with a cable tie and I'm good to go.

 

Tucker in Texas

[cricketts]

I'm D+ and had to print my own. I went to Walgreens and bought a travel tooth care kit--actually 2 of them for $1 each. It has a small tube of toothpaste, a tooth brush and cover. What's important is the packaging. A nice plastic case just the size for luggage tags. Attach it with a cable tie and I'm good to go.

 

Tucker in Texas

What a great idea! Always something new reading CC :)