A Newbie's Long Galaxy Review for Newbies-part I

Hello Cruise Critics!

Veteran cruisers be kind! This is a “newbie” review. If you don’t like long-winded reviews you can click back out because I ramble! :)

I am posting my review of our cruise on the Galaxy, Nov. 25-Dec.6 to the Panama Canal.

Here are some stats of our group so that you will see where we are coming from:

5 adults

My DH & I, 35 & 36 yrs old, Arlington, VA

My parents, 56 & 57 yrs old, SLC, UT

My littlest sister, 25 yrs old, SLC UT

Every year we take a family vacation because it is the only time of year we get together. We usually go through arranged, escorted land tour companies like Globus & Trafalgar and spend between 10-15 days on vacation. We usually start planning 6 months to 1 year before. We are not “luxury” travelers, nor are we hostel-bound. We usually stay in superior or first class accommodations (European standards are different from the US), and plan to spend about $2,000 per person for the trip & airfare, plus $500-1,000pp for tips, souvenirs, alcohol & extra meals, plus $500-1,000pp for side trips/shore excursions. This was our first cruise, and after much research (mostly from these boards) we decided on Celebrity. Thank you to all who posted their experiences, they were very valuable to us because we were well aware of what lay ahead.

Let me start by saying that I read A LOT of reviews on Celebrity, the Galaxy and cruising. We are positive people and believe that a vacation is what you make of it. We are not complainers and try to make the best of everything, and we have been through some trying times! The recommendations on these boards of looking at things positively and “going with the flow” are very well & good….we were excited for the trip and ready for anything.

Galveston is a port convenient for all of us as it is right in the middle. We made arrangements in June through our TA and were satisfied with the prices on 2 Concierge Class staterooms. There were 3 of us booked in one room and my folks in the other. We chose to let our TA handle the airfare through Celebrity, it was more expensive than I could have found online, but we wanted to be sure that we got there, and if not, Celebrity would have to get us there. We flew on Delta, and the flights were acceptable (my luggage was overweight, +50lbs, had to pay $25 on the spot…weigh your bags before you go!). We arrived in Houston at 11:00am, and after meeting with the Celebrity reps (there were many, couldn’t miss them, very friendly folks) we headed off to meet the rest of the party at Continental at 12:00pm. After everyone arrived, there was a bit of a wait at the airport but we eventually got on the bus (clean & packed) and headed to Galveston. The weather was sunny and the trip took an hour. The transfers were included with the airfare deal.

I know that the Galveston port is in its beginning stage, hopefully it will be beautiful one day. Sadly, right now it was a mix of construction debris & dumpsters, but the weather was so nice we didn’t mind (It’s surely not like in “Love Boat” days, with confetti & people on shore waving goodbye!). We got off the bus & grabbed a porter there (tipped $1 a bag) and got it all inside to check-in. There was a considerable line to check-in, but it was moving along fine and then we realized there was a CClass check-in, made our way over & were checked in immediately. We presented our passports and were issued gold seapass cards (I also saw white & blue cards…don’t understand the difference), which is the only way to pay on the ship. I took the cash/travelers check option, my dad gave them a credit card. The whole check-in was smooth & quick. We had filled out our guest info forms on Celebrity, printed them out & brought them just in case. In our cruise docs (a smart little spiral-bound personalized notebook) there was also a copy of the guest info sheet. There was one funny thing in the beginning, while checking in there were Celebrity staff members handing out drinks, which they told us were martinis & wine….we greedily grabbed up a cup each and realized they were pulling our legs, it was only punch & water! Suckers.

Grabbing our luggage ourselves we headed out (I noticed that folks who needed help with luggage & such were being assisted). The infamous “photographers” were right there, snapping your photo (which I thought was our security photo, stupidly, then wondered why they let both DH & I in the picture). There are Celebrity photographers in all areas of the ship, who take your picture that you can purchase later. There are many, many photo options, and although we didn’t take advantage of them we saw some very nice ones on Formal nights. It’s up to you. We headed up a winding, scaffolded gangway to the ship, not very picturesque, but we hardly noticed as we were in awe of the Galaxy. First time cruiser awe. We were welcomed on board, had the real security photo taken (which is programmed to your seapass, which you need to get on & off the ship), were handed our champagne and escorted to our rooms by a white-gloved, friendly staff member.

The Rooms:

We were in 1124 & 1126, starboard aft (I think, we were on the right side) of the Penthouse Deck (#10). I had insisted on a balcony because I was worried I’d work myself into a claustrophobic fit. We decided on CClass because, as it was our first cruise, we thought it would be nice to have the little extras. My sister, DH & I shared one room. Because we had an inordinate amount of luggage the room seemed a little tight (our fault) and I think it would be perfect for 2 people. Now I have read about people complaining about stains & such, and here is my philosophy: I am, too, a spiller….if there is a spot on the floor I feel better because I know I will eventually spill something. The room is nicely decorated, yes, there was a spot on the carpet, so I felt right at home. There were 2 closets to hang clothes, one closet with a safe & drawers, and 2 side tables with drawers. The bathroom was spotless and came with the nice showerhead and robes. They also let you use Celebrity beach towels on shore, but if you loose one or leave it at the pool you will pay $28. There were fresh lilies set up in the room (CClass benefit) that smelled wonderful. I also had a very nice bouquet of flowers delivered on my birthday that my folks set up with Guest Services.

There is a wall of mirrors, a TV & VCR and a mini-bar. We didn’t drink the expensive bottled water but succumbed to a can of soda for $2. If you like, you can bring VHS tapes from home, and the ship has a small selection of movies you can borrow for 2 nights for free. We watched “Goodfellas” late one night. Since it was CClass, there was a nice bowl of fruit (pears, grapes & bananas). We had 2 twins that were pushed together and my sister slept on the fold-out. The beds were very comfortable. We didn’t use the pillow menu, because it seemed like we had one of every kind already in the room so we were all happy. The fold out was not as comfortable, but we used the down comforter from our bed (it was warm every night) to plump up the fold out and she was great. I think what happens is that when they make the bed up for the day they put on a bedspread and when they make it up for the night they take off the bedspread and put on the down cover. Both of these are stored under the bed, and since the humidity was high the room was “moist” and I was concerned about the covers being stored under the bed, but I never detected an odor. We were very satisfied with the room, although my dad was caught later envying the larger balconies on the suites. We spent a large amount of time on the balconies so I am glad that we had them. We ate, slept, read, viewed, did everything on the balcony. Our room was supposed to come with binoculars, but didn’t, and after using the ones in my folks’ room we decided it wasn’t that big of a deal. Bring binoculars from home if you’d like. We only heard noises a few times, during the day from the deck above. Nothing terrible. The three biggest, most helpful hints I used from this board are:

1. Bring a surge protector…there is only one normal outlet and to have the extra 6 outlets was great!

2. If you have a balcony, bring a bungee cord to prop the door open…nothing like that fresh sea air!

3. If you have a lot to hang up, bring extra hangers. There are about 6 in each closet. Also, laundry service is expensive, so if you can handle keeping clothes clean & pressed on your own you’ll save $.

We met our Stateroom Attendant, Vasoha, and his assistant, Merlin. Both gentlemen were friendly and professional. We went to the Oasis café for a snack. It is a large, casual eating area, and one note here…when you first get on there will be lovely waiters with drinks floating around…they are not free. We had a snack & a Bahama Mama in a Celebrity take-home glass (around $6+15%).

We had enough time to make it to the mandatory drill (around 4:30), and that time was spent looking for an extra life-vest. Secured the extra vest, had help from a staff member getting into it and headed to our “muster station”. There were a LOT of people around and the drill didn’t go too well. The announcements were coming over the PA system right when they were using a crane to remove the gangways, so we couldn’t hear what was said. I saw the first child on the ship, bored (can’t blame him), and acting up. After the drill we went back to our rooms and our luggage came up soon after. We had our canapés (CClass benefit, usually delivered around 4:30-5:00) and watched the ship set out. We loved the canapés, and would usually get 2 plates since there were 3 of us in the room. We also asked for shrimp cocktails (that we learned from these boards) which we had delivered after 6pm most nights.

We headed off to Thanksgiving dinner (and we were given souvenir menus of that night...nice)

Enjoying your review!!! Can't wait to read read the rest!!!

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)