GalvestonBear

Never been a pier runner. We almost always do beach club excursions and I'm anal about missing a ship or plane, etc. (I'm the guy that's at the airport 3 hours early always.)

However, wife and I *DID* miss our ferry from Jost Van Dyke to Tortola 3 years ago. We stayed on JVD for 9 nights and our plane was leaving from Tortola back to the states. We were souvenier shopping at Foxy's and lost track of time. Thank goodness the ferry was running every hour as we caught the next one and still made it to the airport with about 30 minutes to spare...which isn't much but in Tortola that was doable as there is only one commercial flight at any given time (typically).

We did almost miss our ferry once when vacationing in Playa del Carmen. We caught the ferry over to Cozumel for the day and erroneously thought the last ferry to Playa was at 10:00pm. The last one is actually at 9:00pm. Thankfully, we checked the ferry schedule at the last second and made it to the ferry with about 2 minutes to spare. Had we not, we would've been stuck in Cozumel until 6am. On top of that, for reasons I wonder even now, I neglected to bring a credit card with me and we only had about $50 in cash. We laugh about it all the time now.

Diet Dr. Pepper is the nectar of the gods! :D

Stewart Beach is not the most beautiful beach in the area but it is generally clean, has bathrooms/changing rooms, a snack bar, umbrellas, etc, and is the most convenient.

It's where I would go if in your situation.

Interesting. Seems a little more like a Spirit Class.

 

There is no way a Carnival ship would not have at least 1 pool topside. I'm pretty sure the same goes for other lines.

I don't know about this comment. The mille concept leaves a lot of interpretation in the rough designs we've seen. It looks like the thinner superstructure and wider hull could allow for pools on the promenade (see attached photo) on each side. It looks like there are slides on the top deck, aft that could be a splash pad/kids zone.

The area at the front being cut off could allow for a serenity area/pool on the front of the ship.

In other words, I agree in principal that having a pool topside is very likely but I don't think it out of the realm of possibility that they could do something unique.

Just an aside from a disinterested solo traveler. I honestly thought this was a joke and smiled when I read the first post. Then I viewed the photos and thought, no, it is serious. Then I saw that it was an old thread revived and read all of the appreciative comments. I am still thinking about it and the need for it and still don't fully understand. But congratulations to the OP for what others find to be a great idea.

I would've probably been in your same boat until I had a kiddo. It really is amazing how it changes your point of view on almost everything.

We love travelling with our daughter. With no family available, it kind of becomes a necessity to take her with us as well. I'm sure some would dread the thought of cruising with a kiddo but I'm really looking forward to it- she's somewhat of an explorer and everything is fun and new and fresh to her. It brings me great joy and happiness to experience things like this with her.

But one thing that is difficult is sleeping in close quarters. She's a good sleeper but if we're awake and in plain sight, it's going to be very difficult to get her to bed. This will help immensely.

I just ran into this thread via Search and must say that I am impressed!

We are travelling with our 2.5yo daughter in 2 weeks. While she is amazingly well behaved and a great sleeper I've been concerned about the close quarters.

The thought of a DIY room divider has been swimming around in my head for a while but I've been unsure of how to execute. You have shown me the way.

Are the ceilings of all ships steel? It's hilarious to think but, in all my cruises, I'm not sure I recall giving much attention to the material the walls were made of?

Cruising is a service industry with high customer interaction. When in that type of industry, part of your job is to have a pleasant demeanor, make sure your guests are happy and that their expectations are exceeded.

I have moved employees from a high customer service area to a back office area not because they weren't good (some of them were very good at their actual tasks) but because they were not good with interacting with customers (especially since customers are sometimes demanding or insensitive).

So, is it their job to be happy? No. It's their job to make the customer feel good and happy...which almost always requires a pleasant attitude.

Different strokes for different folks.

I have cruised CCL more than RCCL but I have definetely enjoyed my RCCL cruises as well and would not hesitate to book them again.

My personal opinion is that the itinerary and time of year has more of an impact on my cruise than the line itself.

For example, go on a short cruise around spring break and you'll have a ton of teens and under 30-somethings that are seriously partying it up. That's great...as long as you aren't 60 and looking for a relaxing, quiet trip. Go on a 7 day cruise to Alaska in May before school is out and the exact opposite is likely true.

My opinion is that NCL, RCCL, Princess, and CCL are all great lines. I have not cruised MSC or any of the Euro lines but I'm sure most of the big players in that field are good as well.

My thought is this:

If it significantly upgrades my experience, I'm likely to do it. If it does not, I won't unless the price is so good that it's impossible to say no to.

For example, going from an oceanview/inside room to a balcony is a huge upgrade in the experience for me. (I have a young family so we spend more time in the room than most.) So, for a good price (less than book, of course) I would seriously consider it.

Going from a balcony room to a junior suite (or even OS) does not really do much to my experience. It gets me some additional SF (which is, indeed, nice) and a bigger bathroom (most of the time) but it doesn't really change anything else. So, unless a no-brainer value, I will likely decline every time and use the funds for on-board activities, shore excursions, etc that directly impact my experience.

That said, if it was a special occasion (a milestone anniversary, for example) I would consider it just for the yolo factor.

To each his/her own though. It's your vacation.

I do think Carnival is trying to drive out competition. I don't think they are necessarily doing it with the intent of oversupplying to drive down prices with the intent of hopefully increasing margins later when supply can be restricted. That would be a fairly large gamble as it basically means you are spending a lot of money now at slim margins for only slightly better margins later.

In reality, I think Carnival knows that Houston has been a consistently good and stable market for them. I was at a wedding with a person in RCCL's admin office last summer and they indicated that Houston had surpassed their expectations and was doing really well for them. If Houston is going to absorb additional capacity, I think CCL would just assume it be them and not NCL or Princess who are trying to gain a foothold.

To me, the big loser here will be NCL. Princess will draw a different type of passenger than CCL (generally speaking). RCCL is a solid brand and, with only 1 ship, will do well. CCL is a good product at a good value. Where does NCL fit in? It's not going to be attractive to the Princess people and it's unlikely to attract the CCL people. At best, it's competing with RCCL but RCCL's product is better, especially with Liberty coming.

That sucks... It really sucks to cruise out of Galveston considering that you have to fly into another city 40 minutes away, car rental is scarse. I can go on... :mad::mad::mad:

Galveston's strength is that it's within a very reasonable driving distance of more than 30 million people (Texas pop = 26 million, Louisiana = 4 million).

It's not as easy to fly into but if you fly into Hobby (which, admittedly, fewer flights go in there), then your drive is roughly 45 minutes to an hour. 90 minutes if traffic is bad. That's not horrible. The rental car situation will likely be resolved as more traffic ends up there.

The Bayport Terminal was a horrible decision by the Port of Houston and was snuck in on the back of a bond. They simply didn't want to give up the potential revenue. Realistically, it would've been better for the City as a whole to build up Galveston as a port because if you had a state of the art terminal there with Princess, NCL, 3 CCL, and 1 major RCCL ship in a concentrated area, then access (while still not as convenient as Miami) would be better.

But, again, a big chunk of passengers out of Galveston are from DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and are driving anyways.

Need new destinations. I'm sure Carnival has done their homework but I (personally) don't feel another ship running the same itineraries Magic is running is worthwhile. Or...at least not all the time.

What if it ran same iternerary as Magic (in different order) but every 4-5 weeks they ran a 8 day/6 day route?

Something like...

Sat- Galveston

Sun- Fun Day

Mon- Key West

Tues- Fun Day

Wed- Grand Turk

Thur- Half Moon Cay

Fri- Fun Day

Sat- Fun Day

Sun- Galveston

Then flip with a 6 day:

Sun- Galveston

Mon- Fun Day

Tues- Key West

Wed- Fun Day

Thur- Cozumel

Fri- Fun Day

Sat-Galveston

This gives people leaving from Galveston the chance to get to some ports that are typically only served from Florida- Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk. They have the option via the Eastern from Galveston to hit Key West, Nassau, and Freeport. And since the Magic and RCCL's Navigator are running Sun-Sun, the port should be clear.

Also, since you are going weekend to weekend, you don't have to take more than a week off work (which makes a difference to a lot of people).

The 6 day is not ideal but I would certainly cruise that over the 5 day option with Progresso and Cozumel (personal opinion).

After you did an 8 day/6 day jaunt, you could resume back on the Magic's itinerary for another 3 weeks, etc.

I even like the idea of a 9 day/4 day if you could get down into the Southern Caribbean some more but 9 days means people have to take more than a week off work. Doable, sure, but probably can't fill a ship doing that on a regular basis (ie, monthly).

As a Houston native, I will agree with the above posters and tell you that is too tight of a window and I would catch an earlier flight or arrive the day prior.

Grantbob,

As I rethink it, I would seriously consider just going 59 to Beltway 8 to 45 South. You shouldn't hit much traffic on 45 south on a Monday morning as you will be going against traffic.

You could still do 59 -> Beltway 8-> 225 -> 146 as I mentioned above. It will be slightly slower.

At the end of the day, the real key will be getting off 59 as soon as possible because it is a major artery into Houston and the closer you take it to downtown, the more likely it becomes a parking lot.

If you are getting on the road at 7am, you'll be great. I can't imagine a scenario where you wouldn't be there by 10-11 at absolute latest and you could be there by 9-930 if everything goes smoothly.

I've driven 146 between Livingston and Baytown more times than I could count. Only problem there are a few parts (Dayton/liberty jaunt) that are not intuitive in my opinion. You would be guaranteed not to hit traffic this way but you'll also be driving backroads a bit. I think I'd go the route I mentioned above because I could drive 75+ all the way until LaPorte but you couldn't go wrong taking 146 all the way in, especially if you have a phone with Google Maps to be safe.

Unfortunately White Bay has become a major party spot and we avoid it on weekends especially. Nice beach and a fun spot but party central anymore and that's too bad. We Like Seddy's One Love Bar and we like his bushwacker better than the Soggy $ painkiller but just a matter of taste. He performs card and magic tricks and will entertain you if he's there.

 

But if it's too crazy do have them drop you at Foxy's and check out Great Harbor. The nice thing about going by private boat is they can drop you and pick you up where and when you want within reason.

Great Harbor is a great spot to relax and enjoy Foxy when WB is too nuts.

My experiences with Jost have been completely different. Then again, I always went during June/July which are definetely slower months.

While the previous posters are correct in that getting to the south side of Houston is ideal (and the absolute safest bet), that makes for a long drive in one day if coming from Arkansas.

I think you could definetely stay on the North side of Houston and feel quite comfortable as long as you left yourself time for "what ifs."

Livingston would be my choice as it's 45 minutes closer. It's not a big city by any stretch but there are numerous "name brand" hotels in Livingston (Holiday Inn Express, Best Western, La Quinta, etc) and plenty of your prototypical restaurants so it's great for a simple stopover.

I would do the following to make sure not to avoid most of the possible hiccups in Houston traffic:

From Livingston, take Hwy 59/69 towards Houston to Beltway 8. Take Beltway 8 (east/south) to Deer Park and take Hwy 225 east towards LaPorte. Take Hwy 146 South in LaPorte towards Texas City. Hwy 146 dumps out into I-45 right before the Galveston causeway.

The mileage going this route is almost exactly the same as taking I-45 direct, however, it might take 30 minutes longer because Hwy 146 has several lights in/around Seabrook/Kemah and in/around Texas City but the traffic on this road is almost always very light.

Beltway 8 is a toll road but you don't have to stop except once or twice and toll lines are non-existent due to the "bill by mail" or "Toll Tag" option which 90% of people utilize.

Google Maps says this route referenced above takes roughly 2 hours. I would think you could do it in less but absolutely no worse than 3 hours assuming the worst of circumstances.

Meanwhile, taking Livingston to Galveston via the typical I-45 route could be done in an hour and 45 minutes assuming no traffic but it could be 4+ hours if you hit major traffic coming into Houston (on the North side) and then assuming you hit major traffic going from Houston to Galveston (on South side).

In other words, I-45 is definetely faster and more direct but there are far more variables that could delay you.

I would think if you crashed at a hotel in Livingston for the night, were out of the hotel by 9AM, there would virtually zero chance you wouldn't be in Galveston by noon with plenty of time to spare for a 4pm departure.

Chair hogs are everywhere. Go to any resort in Mexico and if you aren't out at the beach at 7am, then you are screwed for getting a chair. Europeans were just as bad as Americans.

To me, it's not the people that leave for an hour while grabbing a bite or taking an extended dip, etc, that are the problem.

It's the folks that get up at 7am and reserve a bunch of seats but don't show up to use one of them until after lunch.

I'm an easy going guy, so- to the OP's question- I would never move someone's stuff. I'd just find somewhere else on the ship and adapt. That said, it is rude (in my opinion) to reserve a chair for half the day and not use it because you are significantly inconveniencing others who would use it during that time and there is a limited supply.

It would be better to show up 30-45 minutes before you plan to start using the chairs and try to find some to reserve at that time.

I've spent about 4 weeks on JVD over the last few years. (My wife and I have gone numerous times as a destination.) I can't comment on the ride over as we typically go from West End (Tortola) over and there is a regular ferry between the two.

To me, White Bay is the most beautiful beach in the Western Hemisphere. I would not miss a chance to go there.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't waste any time in Great Harbour. It's great to stop at Foxy's, etc, but White Bay and Soggy Dollar is where the daytime action is at. Great Harbour doesn't come alive until evenings and particularly weekends. Great Harbour is also not a good beach.

Regular taxis (~$5USD) from Great Harbour to White Bay.

At White Bay, don't spend all your time at Soggy Dollar. Don't get me wrong, SDB is amazing and I spent 75% of my time there (I favor the Nilla Killa a bit too much) but don't forget to try out One Love just down the beach. It's typically a lot less crowded, has a lot of really great drinks and a very good menu (when the grill is open).

Sorry if already posted:

http://www.bananacoast.com/

Some pictures of the Captains Suite on Sunshine:

http://www.jimzim.net/CarnivalSunshine.html