Advice please

[Aggiebuttercup]

If you're tired of the normal ports out of Galveston, Carnival Freedom does a once-per-month itinerary that stops in Key West, Nassau, and Jamaica. My husband and I really want to take that one. No flying, but no Cozumel!!

 

We prefer Carnival for trips that are just the two of us, and RCCL for trips where we bring the kids. The Carnival comedians are usually really good, and we like the cove balconies.

 

I'm doing a 5-day in January (the first week back of the spring semester). I chose Carnival because I liked the excursions in Progreso better than what RCCL offered; my mom is actually doing a 5-day the week before and chose RCCL because she likes their ships better.

 

I do also highly recommend cruises out of San Juan (I did that on RCCL 15 years ago and loved the islands), or Alaska if you don't mind skipping the beach.

[nelsonbrandyl]

If you're tired of the normal ports out of Galveston, Carnival Freedom does a once-per-month itinerary that stops in Key West, Nassau, and Jamaica. My husband and I really want to take that one. No flying, but no Cozumel!!

 

We prefer Carnival for trips that are just the two of us, and RCCL for trips where we bring the kids. The Carnival comedians are usually really good, and we like the cove balconies.

 

I'm doing a 5-day in January (the first week back of the spring semester). I chose Carnival because I liked the excursions in Progreso better than what RCCL offered; my mom is actually doing a 5-day the week before and chose RCCL because she likes their ships better.

 

I do also highly recommend cruises out of San Juan (I did that on RCCL 15 years ago and loved the islands), or Alaska if you don't mind skipping the beach.

 

 

 

Thank you that's a lot of info. I am nervous on Alaska cause I don't care for the cold. Maybe one day I will go, but not sure. I am really looking at us actually driving the 19 hour drive and leaving from Ft Lauderdale on one of RCCL 's bigger ships. If we do Carnival their bigger ships seem to be leaving Galveston, other than the Magic

 

 

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[Aggiebuttercup]

If we do Carnival their bigger ships seem to be leaving Galveston, other than the Magic

 

Carnival is sending the Vista to Galveston next fall! I can't wait to sail on it.

[nelsonbrandyl]

So I think we decided on May on the Harmony of the Seas and we're driving from Texas

 

 

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[dh464]

You will love it enjoy. It's a great ship we are going again 11/4/17!

 

 

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[rum & monkey]

So I think we decided on May on the Harmony of the Seas and we're driving from Texas

 

 

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Keep an eye on airfare we have friends that get great rates from Austin to FLL on jet blue. We have done Spirit from Houston to FLL all in with bags for under $130 RT per person. If you fly from DFW you may get a deal on Southwest (probably not as good as JetBlue & Spirit though). By the time you pay for gas, parking at the port, & wear & tear on your car it maybe cheaper to fly. Spend the time you would be driving enjoying a precruise day in FLL.

 

You'll enjoy Harmony, we took kids when we went. I'd like to try it without the kids as I know it would be a completely different experience. Make sure you make reservations for the shows when they open the reservations, it took a lot of planning to make sure we fit them in and made it more relaxing that it was pre-planned.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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[nelsonbrandyl]

Keep an eye on airfare we have friends that get great rates from Austin to FLL on jet blue. We have done Spirit from Houston to FLL all in with bags for under $130 RT per person. If you fly from DFW you may get a deal on Southwest (probably not as good as JetBlue & Spirit though). By the time you pay for gas, parking at the port, & wear & tear on your car it maybe cheaper to fly. Spend the time you would be driving enjoying a precruise day in FLL.

 

You'll enjoy Harmony, we took kids when we went. I'd like to try it without the kids as I know it would be a completely different experience. Make sure you make reservations for the shows when they open the reservations, it took a lot of planning to make sure we fit them in and made it more relaxing that it was pre-planned.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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Thank you. So we have to make reservations for the shows? Also I looked into it the cheapest tickets I found were $400 per person out of Austin. Houston is like 4 hours away. So it would be Austin or DFW for us

 

 

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[rum & monkey]

Thank you. So we have to make reservations for the shows? Also I looked into it the cheapest tickets I found were $400 per person out of Austin. Houston is like 4 hours away. So it would be Austin or DFW for us

 

 

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Spirit also does Dallas, not sure your dates but take a look. You will need to add the cost of bags to their price but still usually way cheaper (oh & bags on spirit are 40lbs vs 50lbs)

 

You do not have to make reservations for the shows, they let people with reservations in earlier & about 5-10 minutes before the show they let people without reservations fill the remaining seats. There are so many shows though and they are not every night so you will literally wind up with a spread sheet to make sure you see them all if you want to. There are also a couple of shows that will not be in the reservations that will just be your standard first come first serve. For example You will be able to make reservations for the aqua show but it only happens 2 days, there will be a second aqua show that there are no reservations for & it is different than the first one. Grease is the main theater production but it is only the first 3 days, they will do the headliner in that theater next, after that they will have another theater production in that theater for I think it is two days. Scheduling your shows in advance is a lot easier to juggle the shows & figure out what best suites you for dinner reservations each night. There will also be two ice shows as well but only one that you can make advance reservations. You can change/make reservations for the shows once onboard but you can only have one reservation so if you miss a show and did not cancel your reservation you can only see it later by going to the standby line. We did reservations because we had 11 of us and very hard to find 11 seats together if you can't get there early, much easier if there are only 2 of you. But I was glad we had them as trying to figure out the schedules to see them all is not what I would have liked to do on board.

 

 

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[nelsonbrandyl]

Spirit also does Dallas, not sure your dates but take a look. You will need to add the cost of bags to their price but still usually way cheaper (oh & bags on spirit are 40lbs vs 50lbs)

 

You do not have to make reservations for the shows, they let people with reservations in earlier & about 5-10 minutes before the show they let people without reservations fill the remaining seats. There are so many shows though and they are not every night so you will literally wind up with a spread sheet to make sure you see them all if you want to. There are also a couple of shows that will not be in the reservations that will just be your standard first come first serve. For example You will be able to make reservations for the aqua show but it only happens 2 days, there will be a second aqua show that there are no reservations for & it is different than the first one. Grease is the main theater production but it is only the first 3 days, they will do the headliner in that theater next, after that they will have another theater production in that theater for I think it is two days. Scheduling your shows in advance is a lot easier to juggle the shows & figure out what best suites you for dinner reservations each night. There will also be two ice shows as well but only one that you can make advance reservations. You can change/make reservations for the shows once onboard but you can only have one reservation so if you miss a show and did not cancel your reservation you can only see it later by going to the standby line. We did reservations because we had 11 of us and very hard to find 11 seats together if you can't get there early, much easier if there are only 2 of you. But I was glad we had them as trying to figure out the schedules to see them all is not what I would have liked to do on board.

 

 

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Awesome. Thanks for the advice

 

 

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[gadaboutgal]

I recommend that you make reservations for the shows in advance when they are available. If you miss a show that you reserved, no problem. You can go and stand in the "no reservation" line before they open the doors. However, if you can make it to your reservation, you will not have the hassle of standing in line and, possibly, being turned away if the non-res line is too long.