villagenut

14 hours ago, ssb said:

After cruising many times out of Galveston on Royal, we never have experienced this . And unaware of the times being displayed anywhere . 

So its been your experience that you just go to the luggage drop off area, get in line, they take your luggage, and then you proceed to building?  

In March of 2023 we cruised on Allure out of the new RCI terminal.  Everything was fabulous ONCE INSIDE.  outside was a different story.  We parked in the north lot.  We did not drop our bags with a porter, we simply parked and carried our bags to the area marked "Baggage Drop Off".  Our check in time was like 11:00 (it may have been 10 i don't really remember but the point is the same).  We arrived at the drop off area around 11:10.  the sign said "Baggage Drop for 12:00 pm arrivals". (This sign confused us since we thought the 11:00-12:00 window should still be open) There was a relatively long line that was not moving.  Since we knew we did not miss our window we asked someone and they pulled us over to the side and started loading our luggage on a cart.  Quickly a security person came over and said that we could not be loading our luggage there.  We said that we were simply doing what the gentleman instructed us to do.  Well the luggage guy quickly loaded our luggage and away he went.  So my question is this for our upcoming July cruise.  Have they changed the process any at all?  Is the signage better?   Should we drive up and drop with a porter before parking (since the north lot is so close this seems unnecessary)  Can we just carry our luggage to the place where the car drop is and leave with a porter there?  I'm just trying to avoid the same mess we got into last time.  Has anyone else had similar issues?  Good or bad experiences outside the terminal?  Like i said, our inside was a breeze but luggage drop was an issue. TIA

Thanks everyone.  Just seems like its a natural fit to be able to make dining package reservations ahead of time on the app.

Lets hope this happens

Thanks again.

Have there been any updates to allowing dining reservations on the app when you purchase a dining package.  in the past, if you had a package, they made you a reservation for the first night and you had to wait until onboard to make any remaining reservations.  At one time i heard they were going to update the app and allow those with dining packages to make reservations ahead of time.  Any word on if/when this might be available.

12 hours ago, RD64 said:

Truly though - what are you expecting for $50 per person? A grand / penthouse suite?

not expecting anything, just searching for information and people with prior experience.

Usually these deals show up for interior rooms with over and under beds.  I was told by a PVP that although that is what the ad shows, sometimes you are assigned a different type of room based on availability, and you could get a normal interior or even a balcony if there are any available.  Has anyone found this to be true?  For those that have booked this deal, what was your experience.

THANK YOU!

20 hours ago, atakkat said:

Thank you for your review. We sail 4/23. How was the motion on the 8th floor? We are in that location as well. Did you ask for a mattress topper? I’ve heard that can help on the mattress. Was the AC able to keep up,or was the room stuffy?Regarding your excursion was that through RCCL?Thank you!

We felt very little motion on 8th floor.  We only had one or two days that were real windy but even then it was not bad at all. We loved the location,  Front elevators would take us directly to Solarium and pool area.  A walk thru the park to the back elevators and you were right at Dazzles, two floors down to Boardwalk.  A short ride down to Promanade, MDR, or Casino. 

We did not ask for a topper, we didn't know it was available.  Noted for next time.  AC was fine, we did not have any issues.  Yes, our excursion to Turquoise Bay was thru RCCL.

8 hours ago, chukli said:

Do you know if there were any headliner or shows other than Mama Mia ,Blue Planet,  comedy shows(these shows could be be reserved in advance) during the week in the Amber theatre ? I don’t see any shows on day 3/4 for my May 7/23 sailing. Was their quest show? If you have a daily compass to post, would appreciate it.

There was a magic show and an excellent Tenor but I don’t remember his name.  We saw him but did not make the magic show. 

1 hour ago, DavidMutchler said:

Glad that you had an overall great cruise!

Did you drive to the port yourself, or fly to Houston and use transport from there?  If the latter, how did you return to the airport upon disembarkation.  (Getting from the airport to the Port is easy, via Lyft among other approaches, but getting Lyft on the way back seems nigh impossible, so I am interested in what shuttle services folks are using...)

We are only about 6.5 hours from Houston so we drove down on Saturday and spent the night in League City.  Parked in the North Lot at the new terminal.  Can't help you on the Airport Transfers.

2 hours ago, KEG21552 said:

Thanks for the review.  We are sailing in September.

Did you make reservations for Mama Mia and the Aqua show prior to boarding?  If so, when did reservations open?

Any excursions?

Thanks!!

Yes, we did make reservations for Mama Mia, Aqua, and Comedy.  DM's timing is about right.  Seems like we checked about 30-45 days out,  i don't recall exactly, but when they came open on the app we were lucky as most filled up in a hurry. By the time we checked 2 out of the 3 mama mia shows were full and 1 of the Aqua shows were full.  We were a party of 7.  There were limited spots for the comedy.  I did not attend but my son and his friends went.  For every venue there is a standby line.  I did not see anyone turned away but the venue's appeared at capacity.

As for excursions, we did Snorkeling and Beach time at Turquoise Bay.  It was really nice.  On the same level as Little French Key in my opinion (except TB has better food).  We only shopped at Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Been to those ports several times so we get off for a couple hours to shop and then go back to an almost empty pool area on the ship.

51 minutes ago, silentbob007 said:

That’s a shame about JR. We are looking forward to breakfast there next week. Usually the food is hot since it is cooked to order right there. 

I agree,  My guess it that my experience was not the norm.  Just wrong place wrong time.  

Booking

Overall the process was easy.  Found the web site to be a little difficult when trying to set or change details such as dining times, bed arrangements, etc. otherwise no complaints.

Embarkation at Galveston.

The only real issue we had was signage.  Our arrival time was 11:30.  We arrived exactly on time and headed to the Baggage Drop Off.  That was pretty easy to find given the huge sign out front.  However, when we got to the line there was a small sign that read Baggage Drop Off for 12:00-12:30.  Well, OK??  Its 11:30 so where do I go?  We finally asked someone(said he was the porter supervisor) who took us around to the main line and called over a baggage porter.  As they were assisting with our bags some security came over and started ordering us and the porter to move.  Well, we hurried along to load the bags onto the cart and went on our way.  It would have been good to have a line for On Time and a line for Early and Late arrivals similar to the other port.  If there is such at the new port, there were no signs to tell us.  The remainder of the process was pretty simple but they made our entire party retake pictures.  We all had already uploaded pictures in the app as instructed.  We looked around and saw that no other lines were doing this. Only the gentleman that was doing our line.  He had also made the people in front of us retake their pics.  I think he just liked being in charge. After that, security was simple.  As we were making our way thru security i heard them calling groups to board.  By the time we were done, we had no wait, we walked right on.  From parking lot to ship was maybe 25-30 minutes.  

We went immediately and did the muster which was a snap.  We watched the video on the app prior to arrival.

Then proceeded to Giovanna's to set our specialty dining reservations.  We pre-purchased the 3 night package.  Had no issue getting the times we wanted.  We prefer early so we got each night for 5:15.   Later in the week we ended up changing our last night to 8:00 and had no issues with that either.  Party of 7.

Ate lunch at the Solarium which was ok.  nothing special in my opinion.

By now it was 1:00 and we went to our rooms and luggage was there.  Interior room on 8th floor forward.  We liked the room layout but bed was too hard for our liking. No issue with room or steward.  

The remainder of the review will be some quick hits about various things we did throughout the week.  Will answer any questions you may have.

Specialty coffee in Promenade Cafe was good.  We had unlimited drink package so they were included.

We tried breakfast at the Solarium, Johnny Rockets, and Park Cafe.  Solarium breakfast was better than the lunch.  Park Cafe was good.  Johnny Rockets was horrible.  5 people.  took 20 minutes to be seated.  All 5 meals were cold and almost inedible.  big disappointment for us.

Hung out each day by the pool.  no issues. bar service was good.  seemed to be plenty of chairs if you weren't too picky.

Pizza was good

Main Dining food and staff were above par.  Early Dining.  5:00.  Were done each night by 6:20. Party of 7

Chops was good or great depending on dish. The filet's were excellent.  Strip and Ribeye just ok.

Giovanni's was 10 out of 10

150 Central Park was 11 out of 10

Mamma Mia was the hit of the entire cruise

Aqua Show was outstanding as well.

We enjoyed the group at Dazzles.  Its somewhat hidden.

Casino was smoky as usual.

We never ate at Windjammer

Wipe out Cafe was really good for lunch.  Nachos, tacos, etc

Tried to go to Johnny Rockets for a Milk Shake one afternoon.  seated immediately.  numerous open tables.   After menu after 10 minutes of waiting.  over the next 15 minutes 3 different waiters said that would return to take our order.  After another 5, we left.

Ship was at capacity. 6400 guest, 700 crew.  There were only a few times that it "felt" crowded. Otherwise it was enjoyable.  If you want to attend any event at any venue, you better arrive early or there will be no seats.  We were never able to get into Schooners, On Air, or Bow and Stern.  All seemed popular and people seemed to be having fun, but we were never early enough to get seats.

Many cruises on Carnival but this was my first RC cruise.  I will be returning.  Oasis Class are a hit in my book.

Questions?

thank you

Originally we selected MyTimeDining but would like to switch to early seating.  Can this be done with a phone call ahead of time or do we have to wait until we board?

How to show reservations show up on the app.  Will there be a "button" at the bottom similiar to Dining and Excursions?  or do you find them some other place?  I am sailing in March and currently there are no shows listed.

On 11/28/2022 at 3:44 PM, Biker19 said:

The app should list items if you set it to the current sailing.

Sailing March 2023 and the schedule is not yet listed.  We would like to reserve some specialty dining but want to work around show schedules.  Just trying to get an idea of some of the recent sailings as a guide.

Please post them up if you have items/schedule info from the Allure out of Galveston.

TIA

We originally chose My Time Dining when making a reservation. We have decided to go with Early Dining instead.  

Can I make that change on the web site or do I have to call in.  I have looked on web site and can't seem to locate the change option but wanted to check here before i called.

TIA

On carnival out of Galveston, the unlimited drink package doesn't take affect until the next morning.  Does the drink package for RCI work the same way?  

on a 7 day carnival you only pay for 6 days of the drink package.  Again, is RCI the same.

Any info?

TIA

RCI newbie.  Am I understanding this correctly?  

If i purchase a dining plan, RCI makes 1 reservation for me but I must wait until I get on board to make additional reservations 

BUT,

If i do not purchase a dining plan, i can make all my reservations ahead of time via the web site or app.

Yes or No?

TIA

1 hour ago, Tulsacoker said:

you should be able to see the individual restaurant prices in the App 9 ( ckick dinning at the bottom then select the restaurant)and ... for 3 night and ultimate check the planner for current promotions. 

That is what i thought.  But right now not all of the options are showing up.  Chops,  Giovannis Table, 150 Central Park,  not listed on app.

And @Tulsacoker Thanks, That is what i am trying to determine.  I want to compare actual prices to the 3 night and ultimate.  We are not yet sure which or how many of the specialty's we want to take advantage of.

If this is covered in another thread please provide a link.  THANKS

Otherwise, i am curious about where the new terminal parking will be.  Are there lots nearby.  I did the parking on the Galveston Cruise Port website and it indicated $150 plus for parking near that terminal.  Is that the only option?  Do the "3rd party" lots plan to run shuttles to the new terminal?  Any info appreciated.

TIA

RCI newbie trying to determine if we want to purchase a dining package.  Can someone tell me the current prices of the specialty dining options?  OR point me to a site or thread where i can find them. 

Also, If you could direct me to a drink menu with prices, that would be awesome as well.  

our ship is Allure of Seas, travel march 2023.

TIA

Been on several CCL trips but now gonna try RCI for a while.  About to book trip on Allure out of Galveston.  What is your room type preference and  deck preference on Oasis class ships.  We usually do Lido deck on CCL but after a little research it looks like some of the mid decks on this class ship may be preferable.  Two couples, no kids.

TIA!  

What is current mask policy at Cozumel in general and Sancho's specifically?

TIA