marshalltp

As indicated, no to the bucket of beer. I will have to go with yes to the unopened beer. Just off Jubilee, and I just about always got a unopened beer at end of night to keep in cabin fridge (which BTW on Jubilee was icy cold)

Part 8 - The Ports We have been to both Roatan and Cozumel several times before. We hadn't been to Costa Maya and that remains unchanged. El Capitano decided early on that he wasn't going to attempt the rough waters of CM, and after day 1 of Roatan we were quickly informed that we would be porting the next day in beautiful.......Roatan. Times before we did so tours with Victor Bodden, and went to West Bay Beach. This time we had already decided we were going to take the Magic Chair and stay in Mahogany Beach. Our friends surprised us as we continued to walk down the beach searching for the perfect loungers with palm tree shade. We kept walking as they told us they had reserved a Cabana. They chose Pineapple (nothing to read in to there, we don't swing that way....the pineapple was right side up). It was a fantastic day at the beach, with loungers, hammocks, chairs, privatish ocean and dedicated waiters. We reciprocated with taking care of the bar and food bill for the 4 of us for the day. It ended up being about $250 if I recall correctly. The best viewing at Mahogany that day was a couple of groups next to us that ended up stone cold drunk to the point where medics, managers and life guards had to intervene. By 1PM they were intermittently passed out in hammocks and leaning over to jetison some more salt water/rum punch combo. I feel sorry for the 3 Mahogany staff that had to load the 3 of them into wheelchairs and push through the sand and up the hills before dumping them at the gangway. We saw one, TIna, a few times later in the week. She was breathing but looked like she didn't want to be recognized. I did take the time to ask her is she wanted a Rum punch. We have always been a Nachi Cocum beach club fan in Cozumel. This time being that we were late entries into the cruise plans, we joined our friends reservation at Latino Del Mar Beach Club. It was much closer to the port and the other direction as most of the beach places. It did the trick where we spent most of the day in and around the pool. The food and drinks were not as good as Nachi or Paradise. I don't think that any of us would go back. Next time in Coz we will either head back to Nachi or maybe try Isla Passion.

Part 7 - Ship Amenities As I said earlier we were travelling with companions that booked an Aft Corner Excel suite. We took full advantage of that massive wrap around balcony. Even with a passenger load of 5880 out of 6600 possible, we remarked about how we didn't feel surrounded by huge crowds all the time. I don't know where everyone was, but I know they weren't where we were....lol. We spent some time on Serenity on the way out across the Gulf. It was extremely windy to the point where some were having a difficult time walking....at 3 bills+ my walking difficulties were later in the cruise and for much different reasons. As with the other Excel class ships, the layout is great and splits crowds among several different decks. They did use the Limelight Lounge as a second comedy venue most nights. It took some of the capacity stress off of Punchliners. I threw the RED light on the Bolt scale, but my bud did a few circles around and said it was a blast and the perceived speed is exhilirating. We hung out around the Deck 8 aft pool a few times but never swam on board. That pool was typically not crazy busy. I play Blackjack. I donated to the well being of several Casino staff from Montenegro. I hate 6/5 blackjack payouts, but that is the way of the world nowadays unless you plan on playing a Ben Franklin on every turn of the cards. For me personally this was the one negative of the cruise. The dealers were business like, not rude in any way, but the were not fun to lose to either. I have had plenty of other Carnival losses in the past where at least the staff were personable. The Casino host was energetic, but it stopped with her. The bars were all well placed on the way to the dining rooms. There were two dining rooms, the Atlantic (mid 6) which I think may have be a 1 floor room, and a bigger Pacific 6 and 7 AFT, where I think anytime was on 7 and seated was on 6. Service was good. I meant to be a few of my own golf balls for real miniputt. The foamy sort of golf balls they provide don't hold up well in the wind. It was typically a stiff breeze on deck 18.

more coming soon

I want to add that Rudi's Sea Grill was excellent bordering on phenomenal. We didn't love it last year on Celebration and glad we gave it another chance. Part 6 - Chefs Table Mixed reviews of our chef table experience. Many courses of unique and artistic culinary creations. My wife can be a bit picky and skipped a few courses....venison, lamb, etc..The presentation and attention to detail was incredible. The galley was interesting although the melting cake preparation was not able to be heard with the kitchen noise. I would suggest some sort of mic and amplification. I am glad we did this once. Our friends liked the previous Chefs table menu better.

Part 5 Eatin' and Drinkin' Eats As far as food is concerned I would say that we were much happier in general with both the quality of the food and the caliber of service. Some of that may have come as a factor of making reservations through the suite with the concierge. We always seemed to have a prime window table at whatever venue we reserved for dinner. For dinners we did the main DR twice, both on formal nights Sunday and Thursday, ChiBang, Cuccina del Capitano, Bonsai Sushi, and Rudi's Sea Grill. We also did the Chef's Table for my BDay on Monday night (more on that next up). I would say that we had no complaints throughout those venues. For breakfast, most days we got early morning specialty coffee. HINT: Go to Mariner Bar and see Angela, she is a great barista and much less busy than the lines at Java Blue. We did hit the buffet a couple of times for breakfast....same old same old....good fresh omelettes with everything else being the same as always. Most in our group of 4 opted for Blue Iguana breakfast burritos and I like the Huervos Rancheros there. Emerials was good for breakfast although I didn't get my crepes until well after everyone else was done and then only when I asked about them. The beignettes were good but did not stand out as much as on the Celebration last year. Lunch onboard typically was good. We ate at Guys Burger, Pig and Anchor BBQ, Shaq's Big Chicken, Seafood Shack, the Serenity salad place and a couple of times at Street Eats. Drinks We had never bought the drink package before, but since we had a significant booking credit, we decided to give it a whirl. Neither of us are huge drinkers, but aren't tea tottlers either. I know, I know, first question is did we break even.......I would say yes we did but it was close. We also drank more than we would have if we had to watch our sign and sail account accumulate. Typically had on average 5-6 drinks a day, plus a glass of wine with dinner, and a specialty coffee or two in the mornings. We also brought water back to the cabin from the bars. I think that you get 1 big water a day per person with cheers, and unlimited standard sized bottles....Had more than enough to supply the room. I know that 18% gratuity is included with drinks prepaid, but we typically gave an extra $1 per drink for regular bar service, and $2 per drink for showy service (ie Alchemy/Dr. Inks/Mermaid Bar). Some of the standout hightlights were: Angela serving coffee in am and then evenings at Dr.Inks. Dijana at Dr.Inks was a lot of fun, think sort of a fun insult bartender that interacted well with her customers. Nikola Boskovski and Nikola Ristic were a highlight of the trip at Alchemy, and messed with our dinner schedule quite a bit, keeping us there trying new drinks. HINT: go off menu, tell them what you like, and they will make you some awesome creations. As you know, out of Galveston, your cheers package doesn't start until Day 2 6AM. You are charged for 6 days (on a 7 day cruise). Lido deck bar service seemed to be great on Day 1, but after that it wasn't easy finding a waiter on the Lido or Serenity. We just rolled with it and went to get our own.

Part 4 - Cabins Standard sort of balcony cabin. Some of the USB ports didn't seem to work, but our room stew did something and got them working. Yuli was fantastic for the duration of the 7 days. Cabin was clean. Bathroom was small. Glass shower was small but efficient. We hated that the bathroom nightlight could not be turned off, not so much for light filtering under the door (towel took care of most of that), but more for middle of the night pee breaks blaring in the eyes. Plenty of closet space and hangers, although unused hangers had to be taken down because of the rough sea clanging. We quite literally did not hear any noise in our cabin for the duration, other than a couple of flushes, and the occasional Azipod vibration. Unlike previous experiences, the cabin fridge was actually cold. TV had the typical Carnival channels, TMC, HGTV, Discovery and Travel channel, along with movies to rent. Our balcony had two chairs and small table, sufficient for the two of us. It was nice to have access to our travel companions suite balcony which was huge and included dining table+4 chairs, two loungers, 1 big ass basket lounger for 2 or 3, a love seat, a rocking chair and a jetted tub. Cabin entry doors were not very magnetic. Interior walls were all strongly magnetic. We had some magnet hooks that we used for beach towels, hats, beach bags etc.....

Part 3 Boarding Process Harbor House has a pretty decent but small breakfast area.....yogurt, fruit, cereal, juice, coffeem pastries and pancake machine. I had read alot of reviews complaining about this part, but what do you expect? Think Fairfield Inn inclusive breakfast but nowhere near as busy. We had booked a 11am-1130am boarding window. Originally we had planned to meet up with our friends on board, but they decided to get off Dream, drop their luggage at the Jubilee and come hunt us down. We hung out in room for a bit and left at about 10:50 timing a 11am arrival. We grabbed the first Hawaiian shirted porter we could find, tipped well and left our luggage with them. We were in Cabin 11500, a Port Aft Balcony room. Our friends splurged for this one and booked an Excel Corner Suite 11514. Needless to say they had a different check in line. Our line and their line pretty much was at the same pace. We checked in, security screened almost together. Once we got to waiting area, they went to the Captains lounge but essentially walked right through and on to ship. We sat until our boarding group was called (I think we were Grp 7). Our wait was no more than 6 or 7 minutes until we were walking the gangway, not far behind our buds. Note that they alternate gangways midship 6 and FWD 6. On our way to meet up each group went and did our Muster drill. Painless. We got seperated for a couple but had coordinated meeting up on the Aft8 Deck Pool area (Pig and Anchor). Got drinks and a little BBQ. Being that they were in a Suite, we had access to their room at 12:30. Our room became available at 1:30. Both sets of luggage arrived sometime around 3. We quickly unpacked, and hung our on their massive aft corner balcony for sail away.

Part 2 Hotel and Port We booked Harbor House Pier 21 for our night before stay. We arrived at about 7PM. Check in was smooth. They asked us if we were eating somewhere and gave us a coupon for the place we had reservations. The hotel is not inexpensive, but it is very very close to Pier 25/Jubilee. The lobby is extremely small, but the rooms were quite clean and updated. We went for a walk on The Strand to pick up some wine. Found a decent selection at Frankie's Liquor. The clerk also plied me with a couple of Bourbon samples that hit like a ton of bricks having not eaten in quite a while. We had made dinner reservations at Fishermans Wharf on Open Table. Our travel mates had gone to Katie's the week before and gave it an 'OK' review so we chose something different. Fishermans Wharf was an awesome view, very good food and possibly one of the best Pina Coladas ever (short of San Juan anyway). Dinner on the deck was leisurly and the walk back to Harbor House was only a few potentially not completely straight steps. We were so full we couldn't do dessert so gave our HH coupon to a proximal table.

Life is busy so I don't think I will get time soon to write a full review, so here is my Mini Jubilee Review: First time cruising without our kid who is now a College Freshman finishing up his year. My wife and I have cruised a fair bit, and were meeting up with our cruising mates who were doing a back to back Dream to Jubilee. After a 1.5 hour Delta Flight delay to finish changing a complete tail cone (WTH!) we arrived at IAH at about 4:30. Earlier in the day we had notified Galveston Express that we were going to be late, and could we switch from 4PM CST to 5PM shuttle. No problem they said, as they had 4 open seats. We were lucky to by flying down 1st class and subsequently our luggage was literally off the carousel first. We were on the curb at Door A-114 by 4:45 local time. Not seeing the GE Sprinter van, I contacted their dispatcher who told me 'if you can see door A-114 you are at the right spot". Being that it was Friday rush hour I was anticipating delays. By 515pm and still not seeing anyone I called back again only to be told that they had no record of the time change, and that we were a No Show at 4PM. Further he told me that he didn't have anything available until 8:30. We decided that we would instead pay the extra, to use Uber (a first for us). Within 15 minutes we were in a car with Phillip on our way to Harbor House Pier 21. Including decent traffic jams and a stop for gas, it took us about 1 hour 15 minutes to get there. Our Uber driver was fantastic.

we found the matresses relatively hard/firm

yup.....all over the place on The Strand

2 of our 3 recent reservations with Galveston Express were fine. In particular we had an early IAH departure (11:20), and despite adding a last minute Moody Gardens Hotel pickup with a stop at Hobby, our driver busted his butt to get us there on time. We did make it with time to spare. We had an 8am scheduled Jubilee pickup on Saturday morning. The one big problem we had was on our Friday IAH to Galveston Harbor House trip. Delta delayed our flight by an hour and a half due to maintenance. They did advise us (9am EST or so) of the change before we left home for flight. I immediately called Galveston Express to see if we could switch our 4PM CST pickup to 5PM instead. The dispatcher said he had 4 seats left and not a problem that he would make the switch. We landed early and made our way to Door A-114 by about 4:40. After waiting a couple of minutes and not seeing the GE sprinter I called to make sure we were in the right spot. That dispatcher told me if we could see A-114 we were good, and knowing it was Friday night I anticipated delays. By about 5:15 I was concerned and called back to check in again. This dispatcher told me we were a 'no show' at 4pm and had no record of the switch to 5PM. He told me the earliest pickup he had was 8:30. I asked them to refund just that portion of our trips, since they had made an error. They refused. We instead used an Uber which was seemless. Emails post trip continue to deny a refund for that portion of the trip which I think is bad business. We were not a no show, and I feel that since it was there mistake they should refund that portion. They have offered a future credit FYI, although I have no plans on returning to Galveston anytime soon. Your thoughts?

Just got back from the Jubilee, and finished our cruise out with a dinner at Rudi's. We have been twice before, and our last time on the Celebration a year ago was not great (we did have a group of 9 for dinner and I think that may have impacted service). Our meal on the Jubilee was one of the best I have ever had. The pre dinner bread was incredible. I would go back in an instant.....

We reserved ahead with Galveston Express