clearlake_cruiser

We're currently on sister ship Jewel of the Seas, and the stateroom TV does not have the onboard account view. We use the app and request hardcopy from guest services

See below.jpg file for ride share pickup location at Pier 10 (RCCL terminal) in Galveston.

FYI... Current (Sat 7/6/24) offshore Gulf of Mexico forecast per Natl Hurricane Center has changed. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ GMZ040-062100- NW Gulf including Stetson Bank- 456 AM EDT Sat Jul 6 2024 ...HURRICANE WARNING... .TODAY...E to SE winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 2 to 4 ft. Scattered showers and isolated tstms. .TONIGHT...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS POSSIBLE. E winds 25 to 30 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft, building to 8 to 12 ft late. Scattered showers and isolated tstms. .SUN...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS EXPECTED. E winds 35 to 40 kt, increasing to 50 to 60 kt in the afternoon. Seas 10 to 15 ft, building to 14 to 21 ft in the afternoon. Scattered showers and isolated tstms.

Sure seems there is currently cruise parking price gouging happening in Galveston. 💰💰💰

Fed up with price gouging... We live 30 miles from Galveston, but just have to say the Pier 10 (Official Port Parking) prices have gotten ridiculously high 😲 Looking at Harmony OTS 8-nighter in September 2024 and the cheapest (not covered) is $202.68. That works out to $25/ day! It goes up from there for closer in North lot uncovered. EZ-Cruise is $182. Still too high. Plus it is getting to peak hurricane season. Thinking of maybe one way Uber/Lyft to the ship ($42); and for return, take RCCL shuttle to Hobby with a short Uber home. Anybody tried that as a cost effective alternative???

Yes, we did that from the free shuttle drop off outside the port gate, then a short walk across the roundabout to the city bus stop. I believe the local bus fare was €1.50 per person & we paid with contactless credit card using an payment terminal onboard the bus. I agree completely with JBare above, great details re: bus numbers, the EMT app & route; exactly our experience too.

Hi Mariester22, We didn't use the ship paid city center bus. But I believe that they had multiple return times, with an announced "last bus pickup time" to make it back before all aboard. I think the city center bus would be better for visiting the central market & historic area. City of Arts and Sciences might be a trek on foot. Or you could use local transit once you're in city center. Check out the free app Moovit which has detailed bus, metro, etc ride mapping selections all over the world. Or Google Maps can do that for you.

*** Long post *** Maybe this will be useful to others arriving at Valencia for the day, seeking info on Taxi service from Muelle Cruceros (Valencia cruise pier for large ships)... We just got off RCCL Voyager of the Seas May 1-16 2024 transatlantic ended in Barcelona Spain. For our Valencia port call, RCCL advised before arrival of only 3 options to get off. Pedestrians are not permitted to walk in the dock area (container port terminal): 1. Ship sponsored shore excursions; 2. Paid ship city center transfer bus round trip to downtown for $20 per person; or 3. Free bus transfer to port gate for access to public transportation. The ship implemented a free ticket system to manage crowds for the free bus to the port gate. We had researched ride share app Cabify (like Uber) but they couldn't enter the port. We didn't know if taxis were only available at the ferry terminal Trasmed-Grimaldi which is outside the port gate & is where the free bus drops off & picks up. Since we had an early independent excursion, and the port call was relatively short, we planned to get an early Free bus number & were able to get off quickly & then took a public bus for €1.50 per person. We had a 10 minute walk to our tour office which was all good. Unfortunately we failed to ask & RCCL made no mention of pier side taxi access, and we mistakenly assumed that fell in the category of public transportation. See below for signage and one-way taxi fare estimated costs to various locations.

Just called in to (800) 526-9723 to change/ update our amenities for upcoming cruise, and was disappointed to get redirected/ answered by a robot (without any option to press #9 as a Pinnacle)... Bunch of questions that didn't speed up the process. 10 minute hold time and then had to repeat my name and C&A number again. I don't see how this is an improvement?

Just returned yesterday from Symphony TA and also didn't get a final statement email. Just sent a request to royalguestrelations@rccl.com asking for it. Will follow up once received.

Onboard Symphony TA now, didn't know what happens if someone walks away from a slot machine without cashing out... Wife was playing video poker, another lady next to us (total stranger) gets up and leaves her machine. After a few minutes, the other lady hasn't come back. Her machine has $10 in credit & her casino account says Karen with xxx points. We ask another lady on the other side of us if she knows who it was but didn't. So I go to Cashier cage and a slot technician comes back with me. He says there's nothing they can do to put the credit back into Karen's account, and it will disappear. As soon as he leaves, the machine changed back to the idle state and I can't collect the $10. I didn't want to be accused of theft, but I was surprised they'd not make any effort to salvage the players funds. Oh well, live and learn.

Hey Airbear232, We're on Oct 22 out of Barcelona (7-nights), and back to back on the transatlantic sailing. Hope you have a great cruise. If you can follow up later with info on MDR seating details, that would be awesome 👍

Hoping someone currently aboard Symphony can report back with how the Main Dining Room is set up. Cruise Critic has an undated article that says Deck 3 and Deck 5 are traditional seating, and Deck 4 is MyTime. We're trying to figure out where we want to request a good Table for 2 for Early seating on upcoming October cruises B2B. Don't want to be in the row of really close tables. Thanks in advance

We had a difficult time May 4 disembarking Jewel of the Seas TA at Amsterdam cruise terminal with taxi service or Uber. Our hotel was Holiday Inn Express City Hall. Taxis outside were only interested in fares to Schiphol airport. We each had a large suitcase and didn't mind paying for taxi or Uber. However Uber could not find drivers & taxi quoted €40 for the very short trip (1.8km = 1mile). Fortunately weather was nice & we did it on foot but have never experienced such a problem with taxis & Uber.

Ship - Jewel of the Seas Deck - 8 Stateroom # - 8518 Stateroom Category – Balcony Starboard or Port Side - Starboard Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Generally quiet, however balcony door whistling noise when ship was moving. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - Yes Balcony View - Balcony Size? Normal Was wind a problem? - Yes, balcony door whistling. Also with swells/ rough seas/ wind, the cabin walls popped loudly. If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - not applicable Any specific problems with this cabin? - We had both sides of connecting cabins. We kept inside door between cabins open, but only 6 inches between door & bed. Also the outside balcony partition was solid & could not be opened ☹️ Any other comments? - Location on forward hallway was generally quiet. No noise from neighbors.

Not sure... I just went down to Deck 4 where there's a photo collection of ship's management team, and it still shows Jeffrey Arpin as CD. When she introduced herself at the Welcome aboard show, she mentioned filling in but I didn't catch all the details. She's from Mexico and has a high-energy outgoing personality. Still don't know her last name, argh! 😟

Onboard Serenade OTS... Cruise Director is Jimena. I'll try to get her last name & post an update.

Hi JennyB, No, we don't have any new video of 1108 but I watched the video you attached. It looks identical to how it was July 2022 for a Baltic cruise. Enjoy, it is a great cabin 🙂

Latest update... We skipped our day stop in Passau (arrgh) & squeezed under a bridge. No further issues expected.

Currently onboard Monarch Empress from Budapest to Amsterdam. We've appreciated all the excellent info on this chapter and the Rhine water level chapter. Just to provide an update today: we are hoping to dock at Passau in a few hours but we are worried about too much water!?! Here's the updated gauge chart. Keeping fingers crossed 🙂

We were in a CP balcony on Wonder April TA to BCN. We didn't know about the movie screen issue until shortly before sailing, and once onboard, we found out for ourselves it was really loud. Action movies with loud volume past 10:30pm. With all the 23-hour time changes we were already sleep deprived. Our original cabin was #12247, very close to the screen & speakers.