dctravel

Following! We sail in December 🙂

Love the read so far!

Coral is definitely shallow. I nicked my hand, but not seriously. Pool looked nice, but we didn’t go in.

We did Maya Key on our Carnival Cruise recently. The snorkeling was excellent. You go off the end of a pier off the beach. They have guides for you. The beach itself is calm and clear. The animals are all rescues, many confiscated from travelers at the local airport. The food was good. You get a single pass through the food line. Bar has all kinds of drinks, but you pay as you go. We had a good time!

You sign up at the bar at the Pig & Anchor (8 aft). Just ask a bartender, if you want to sign up in advance, or show up at the scheduled time. It was offered at 11 am and 3 pm on sea days.

We paid Galveston Limo directly for a spot on their shared shuttle. It was not a private transfer.

You are very welcome! Always happy to contribute, since I learn so much from others on CruiseCritic!

This! The card is coded in their system exactly like sparks1093 noted. I would also point out that if you are gold or higher, your free drink coupon for the last night is coded the same way. Just go to a bar and tell them you want to use your free drink coupon (after 5 pm). It works on nearly any drink (I think the stated limit is $12.50, but my wife got a slightly more expensive drink and the whole thing came off).

We just used Galveston Limo roundtrip from Hobby to Galveston for four of us. We flew in the night before and stayed at an airport hotel with a free shuttle. We then used the free shuttle to get back to the airport in the morning to meet our shuttle. On the way to Galveston, we arrived back at the airport and saw a Galveston Limo bus sitting in the pickup area, but with no driver. We went to sit near the bus, expecting a driver to show up. As it got closer to our pickup time, still no driver, so I called the Galveston Limo office. As I was connecting with them, our driver called us to see if we were there. He turned out to be a van behind the bus! Once we connected with him, we were on our way without any further issues. Oddly, we were the only cruise passengers on the shuttle, but we were dropped off first, so no issues there. On the way back, we booked an 11:05 shuttle return, since our flight was at 3:40 pm. We got outside the terminal at about 10:30 and hung out in the shade waiting. About 10:45, I saw a Galveston Limo driver with one of their big charter busses. I went to make sure he wasn't our driver, and he looked up our shuttle and told me to look for a mini-bus at spot 5. No Galveston Limo vehicle ever showed up at spot 5. I called the office again and was told the driver was stuck in traffic (it was truly awful getting into the port area). At about 11:10 (so after our shuttle time), we got a call from our driver about 11:10 asking if we were still going back to the airport. It turns out that the shuttle was a different big bus parked at a different location. Not a really big deal, but made me a bit nervous.

Both Grand Turk and Amber Cove offer area in the port area that you can use. In Grand Turk, there is a pool and a beach and in Amber Cove there is a pool. Both ports have restaurants where you can buy food and the ships general offer the ability to rent a cabana at extra expense. When my kids were about the age of your kids (6 and 9), we visited both ports and opted not to do an excursion at either. In Amber Cove, we swam, played giant chess, and ate in the restaurant for a few hours before getting back on the ship to play in the water park without the crowds. In Grand Turk, we did the same thing, but spent more time on the beach (which is literally next to the pier). In Nassau, you will probably want to book an excursion. The port area has recently been redone, but I haven't been there is a while, so cannot give any guidance on that. Check on the Caribbean forms for Nassau specific information and recommendations.

Not only is there water in the juice/lemonade/ice tea machines, but there is also water in the fountain self-service soda machines (you can get the water for free, you have to pay for the soda by the ounce) and in several ice/water machines located all over the ship. We thought it tasted fine too. We brought our own reusable water bottles, and just used the cups provided to fill up our bigger bottles (they don't want you putting your bigger bottle under the dispenser). One note about the free 1.5L bottles for repeat cruisers. Our experience on the Jubilee recently was that you have to go to a bar to get it (1 per person). We didn't realize that until nearly the end of the cruise, so we ended up only getting 1 of the 4 bottles that we could have gotten. Oh well!

As I wrap up this review, I wanted to end with some final thoughts. First, we had a VERY easy disembarkation, minus a hiccup with the shuttle pickup. When notified on the app, we chose a late disembarkation time (9:25 am) because we had a later flight from Hobby (3:40 pm) and had booked Galveston Limo at 11:05 am to take us back to the airport. The luggage tags (group 16) arrived in our cabin in the afternoon of our last sea day and we had to have our luggage out by 10 pm. On our final morning, we had to be out of the cabin by 8:30 and the dining room "closed" at 8. We set our alarms () to request a table just before 8 and we check out of room before we went to breakfast. Breakfast was great as it had been all week, and we hung out out our table for a while before moving to the Pig & Anchor. Not too many people back there, but do note you cannot hear announcements of boarding groups in either the Pacific Dining Room or the Pig & Anchor. We were alerted on the app when it was our time to go, and we walked off the street and were on the curb in about 15 minutes. There are two lines once you pick up your bags, one for passport holders and a second for those with birth certificates. Cannot comment on the birth certificate line other to say that it looked longer than the passport line, and in the passport line, we never stopped moving except to use the facial recognition system. The hiccup with our bus is that we couldn't find it. We knew where it was supposed to pick up, but when I first saw a large bus, I asked the driver if it was for us, and was told no, you will get picked up in a smaller but in parking space 5. We stood at that spot waiting and nothing showed up. Just as I was about to call the Galveston Limo office, I got a call from our driver wondering where we were. Turns out he was in a big bus, 3 parking spaces away. No major deal, but would have liked better communication. Ride to Hobby was uneventful, minus the bus having to turn around at one point as a slow moving freight train blocked the road he was on. Some final general thoughts: 1. We had a really great time, maybe better than we expected. We never planned to cruise for spring break, rather to travel overseas. Unfortunately, the world had other plans for us, so the cruise was a "consolation" prize. It was way more than that. The Jubilee was beautiful and it was awesome to get cruising again for the first time since the pandemic. 2. Very minor, but we really missed the Towel Animal Zoo/take over. On our past cruises, it had occurred on the last sea day, so that's when we went looking for it on Lido. When we got up there, nadda. We weren't the only ones looking. It certainly didn't lessen our trip, but something we always enjoyed. I asked John Heald about it on FB, and he noted that it did happen, but on the first port day! Oops, missed that completely. Oh well, I'll know to look for next time. 3. We thought the food was generally very good. Some meals were a bit better than others in the MDR, with the Emeril's specials the clear winner over the week. Once we got our allergy issues solved, the food was consistent and tasty. We also really loved all the choices all around the ship. We loved Shaq's, enjoyed Guy's burgers, my son loved Blue Iguana, and we all enjoyed the variety at Street Eats. I also really liked the Schwarma and coastal pizza. We were underwhelmed by Cucina at lunch and didn't try Chibang because the menu just wasn't what we wanted. We didn't buy any food this trip. 4. The brewed on board beer is really excellent, especially the bock beer (Big Mike's) and the pilsner. I also love that $1 from the American Pale Ale is donated to a veterans charity. The brewed on board beer can be found at bars all around the ship. 5. I don't drink many mixed drinks, but I did really like the Highland Smash at the Steakhouse bar. My wife didn't love the Dr. Inks or Alchemy Bar drinks on this cruise (felt that they were weak), but did love the drinks in the Pig & Anchor (especially the Watermelon margarita). The kids loved that the Gold level (and above) free drink coupon on the last night (after 5 pm and loaded to your Sign & Sail Card) included soda, something we didn't buy for them during the week. 6. We had such a good time that we are now booked on the Carnival Firenze Christmas cruise from Long Beach. New ship and new itinerary for us! I am sure that I am forgetting something, but let me know what questions you have and if I remember something else, I'll post it in the next few days! dctravel

After three port days, it was great to have another sea day as we headed back to Galveston. As I noted in my last post, we had Bolt reservations for earlier in the week, but they were cancelled because of high winds. I should note a few things about Bolt: (1) when we made reservations through the HUB app, they were doing a buy three-get one free thing, so we paid $45 total for the four of us. Don't know if this is permanent, or just for now, but I appreciated the savings. (2) when our original reservation was cancelled by Carnival (because of the winds), we were refunded immediately to our Sign & Sail account. (3) Bolt is so cool! We really enjoyed the ride. You get to go around twice and the turbo boost adds excitement to the ride. Nothing like zooming around 17+ decks above the water :). Otherwise, we spent our last sea day much like our first two. Woke up, played mini-golf, ate Sea Day Brunch, did activities (Q&A with Louie, trivia, Bingo) and then found chairs to read, have a sea day beer, and go on the waterslides. After dinner, we saw Celestial Strings (Louie noted it was the #1 rated show in the fleet). We liked it, but didn't love it. Liked Dear Future Husband better. We ended the night in the Pig & Anchor for last drinks.

The only choice when we booked was AI, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't over the top, especially because our first two choices were already sold out. We didn't notice a lot of crew, it felt more like we were surrounded by families, many not from a cruise ship. At least one family set on the edge of the club with their own chairs and started to play music. The staff came over unprompted to ask them to lower the volume. It didn't bother us, honestly. I'm used to the beach in NJ (where I grew up) and folks bringing music with them. We talked a bit with folks from the NCL Joy, but there seemed to be very few cruise passengers, comparatively (at least based on towels 🙂).

Thanks. That was my gut. We were in San Juan on Christmas Eve in 2001 and almost nothing was open (except the casino!). Figured it might be similar. Ship excursion it is, if we decide to get off the ship!