niksmom630

The made to order omelets /eggs/ oatmeal / grits area is not well labeled and literally above a burger condiments section at the end of the serving counter, which I walked right past on day 2. Niksmom tip….. walk to the end of the serving area, place your egg order, drop your number off at a table, and then get into the beginning of the hot food serving area to get any other items , and your eggs will likely be at your table by the time you are seated! 😉 “Special sauce” ???? Hmmmm…..I’d need full disclosure on the ingredients before I’d be willing to try this……🤢

In addition to the traditional breakfast selections at the solarium cafe: assume this will change on the port days when it’s considered “breakfast”

We used: https://www.portparking.com it was $130. It is covered, secured indoor parking. My SIL said they’ve used them twice before and never encountered the shuttle issue we experienced this time.

Day 3 shaping up nicely…. todays plan is the beach pool….. this photo taken at 8:45 am ish….. maybe this sailing is a sleepy bunch, but this is NOT what the pool looks like on a sea day when I’ve sailed out of Florida…..is chair hogging a Florida phenomenon? 🤔 Solarium bistro for “brunch” this morning…..really missing the peaceful Wipe Out cafe breakfast and unobstructed view of the boardwalk 😐 I took some photos of the offerings at Solarium this morning. Will post in a bit. It’s definitely stray better than the windjammer, especially if you arrive right when it opens

Please tell me I’ll have your report to look forward to in January when it will undoubtably be 10 below zero and any tan I had will be a distant memory 😃

Found a great spot on the upper level right in front of the solarium bar. It’s all about location 😏 these were extra wide rockers with little footstools and the morning pina colada was just steps away Solarium pool great start to day 2…… breakfast at solarium bistro was also a thumbs up. I’d call the menu brunch because there were salads as well as a few entrees besides the breakfast items .

We had a similar issue out of Tampa on brilliance in Feb. we also got the 30 for lunch, lol. And we didn’t board until almost 7. It was rough. We checked out of the hotel at 11, and we’re basically at the port the entire day. Luckily there were venues within walking distance!

All of the furniture I’m the solarium is new with the exception of the aluminum loungers…. this appears to be a coveted spot…. But not noticing a lot of saved chairs in the solarium this morning….. The large daybeds are all gone.

the solarium definitely got a major furniture overhaul…. Photos coming up!

A few other noteworthy items….. - no breakfast served at the Wipe Out cafe this week…..this is a game changer for me, as it’s my go to spot….. 🥹😬 going to try solarium cafe instead…. I’ll report back… - there was a balloon drop at midnight. Way to late for me, but I’m sure I’ll catch the replay. - business was booming for Casino Royale last night….a lot of the tables were full before the casino even opened. The casino bar also couldn’t open until the casino actually opened. Wish I would have captured a picture there….. two bar tenders backed against the bar waiting for the announcement to open and a sea of people surrounding the semi circle bar waiting with sea pass in hand …. - dinner last night at Sabor, which never disappoints for me. When we checked in there the hostess asked if we were aware there was a $30 per person charge. I thought it was $25, and it was, but maybe she was including gratuity … was able to use my BOGO D+…. We are at 150CP on Tuesday, but I thought you needed to use the BOGO on concurrent nights… anyone with recent experiences on Allure?

This sailing is actually a first for me…. I’ve never sailed after thanksgiving and before Christmas so I was kind of excited to see the Christmas decorations….. a few photos, but it seems pretty minimalistic…. guest services has a bit of bling…..no doubt an attempt to make the unhappiest place on earth cheerful!

It’s definitely been hit or miss, and mostly miss for me, particularly on the last few sailings. I remember everyone raved about the famous sandwich when the venue first debuted. Maybe that’s why there were no lines there on boarding day. Word is out! 😂

Last nights fog….. continued….. Beautiful start to day 2

I’ll definitely check the MDR because we will be there. I usually avoid the windjammer on Oasis class ships if possible. 😫 But I will see what’s available if I make it there. Will check solarium bistro also this one wasn’t……. The meat was so tough when I bit into the sandwich the entire slice of beef came with it. 🙄 but I’ve had some good ones, so I’ll probably try it again.

we were a bit delayed, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what time. we couldn’t even feel the ship moving and then you couldn’t see anything either! Went up to deck 15 around 9 pm and the fog horns were still blowing

I’ll check when we disembark. I didn’t notice on the way in!

Yes, on deck 15, the Pool Bar side, it’s the smoking area

At noon the windjammer lines were pretty rough. opted for a sandwich at the park cafe which was not crowded at all Drink package “special”

Thanks good to know 😊 what was your boarding time on the first leg?

Once we FINALY git thru security…. Another mass of people….. apparently lowly gold, who still weren’t allowed to board. worst boarding experience ever…. Actually, I did have one worse out of Tampa that because of a fog delay we didn’t board until almost 7 pm…., guess I am spoiled after so many sailings out of Miami and FLL moving on to more positive commentary now…,: just consider yourself forewarned 😉

Then we entered the building . 😫 Bodies everywhere but no clear signage for check in. I am vertically challenged at 5 feet, and all I could see was the security sign, so we just moved with the flow like cattle until we found ourselves in a row waiting for the agents to do the check in. Turns out this is before you go thru security. line after line of weaving and it was hadky moving. Turns out they were herding way to many people thru a single security line that was also dedicated to handicapped cruisers. While others were just zipping through the other 5 open security lines. The couple in front if me attempted to “jump” or shouldn’t say crawl under the line divider and were quickly chastised by an RCI agent. all the while I am hearing a shrieking announcement telling passengers already thry the security lines to “wait” until there group us called….Key, suite, pin, D+, D … and so on….

Ok, so the boarding process…,.. we are on this sailing with my brother and sister in law who live in Houston. She booked the parking at location not far from the pier where they shuttle you to the port. They’ve cruised out of Galveston a few times using this location. I’ll get the name later. in any event, she was reluctant to book the parking at the new terminal because she wasn’t sure how much walking would be involved, and also the offsite garage where they park is covered parking. Arrived at the garage around 10:15. Our boarding window was 11-11:30. Boarded the shuttle with luggage, and then the driver pulls over to the side of the road. Says that they only allow on company shuttle in and out to unload at a time. 😐 after about 15 minutes, we were on our way …. entrance to the port -taxi rates After pulling into the terminal, you see all these numbered drop off stations for shuttles. Except our driver says they aren’t allowed to use them. This is also where the doors to enter the terminal are. when you drive a little further, there’s another set of drop off spots numbered 7 - 12. All were full with shuttles from various company’s. When one left, another could enter the port area. So we shlepped are luggage back to the entrance of the terminal by the spots that we had passed. The porter situation was a little odd. There were a ton of them walking around but we couldn’t tell if they were actually taking luggage, or just helping to transport it with people back to the front the terminal. Once we figured out they were in fact taking it as a check in, we entered a side by side series of 6 lines. No signage. Like check in time slots, C&A status, suites etc…. more confusion. No one asked our boarding time and we were just herded inside this was a lone sign for suites and pin’s…. Except no one was there …. Perhaps they were quickly escorted into the terminal 🤷🏼‍♀️

Hey @Ozark_kid! Thanks! I’ll definitely look him up. no delay because of the fog , but the terminal / parking process was rough…😫

horrendous, I’m sorry to say. Pack some extra patience . It’s been years since I’ve sailed out of Galveston so before the new terminal , and on a smaller ship. I’ll have more coming up on this! my port boarding experiences have been pretty much limited to Miami and Fort Lauderdale most recently, where the process is sooooo efficient, even after Covid.

Plenty of open spots at the pool and in the smoking section because it’s currently closed because the ship is refueling