BonTexasNY

Wow, not only did you list entertainers I actually heard of but I would have loved to have seen them in concert. Well, except Willie Nelson. Not a fan. @lenquixote66Lenny, so sorry to read about your friend.

She is a driver after all!

I'm surprised also. Someone at Guest Services on my Feb. 6 Adventure cruise told me they stopped serving lobster sometime a month before. Only served now on 7+ night cruises. I wonder if it varies from ship to ship.

From me too!! Looks like you'll have a great time. Isn't Steve Perry lead singer of Journey?

I think I've read all of his books.

Here's hoping Andrew feels better and is not in much pain. You were right to go to the ER. We never want to see our kids in pain.

No lobster tail on cruises less than 7 nights. On our upcoming 7 night cruise, my husband will order two entrees and give me his lobster tail. I don't care how large or small they are. It is what it is. No way would I ask a table mate to order me a lobster tail. On our 2/6 Adventure cruise, I could not order a plain house salad. Waiter told me it wasn't on the menu. Only caesar salad was listed. I ordered 2 shrimp cocktails and had to finish one before the 2nd one was brought to the table and not immediately after, I might add. Doesn't this make more work for the waiter?

Experiencing Disney through the eyes of a child (children) is truly magical. When we were at Disney World when our daughter was 5, a spotlight beamed on her sweet face during the night time parade. Her face was full of wonder, her mouth open with such joy, I couldn't take my eyes off of her to get out my camera to take her picture. I didn't think any picture could capture that magic. You're blessed to see that magic in your grandkids eyes.

Have a wonderful Happy Anniversary!

We usually don't do Mexican, but Uncle Julio's is the exception. Love, love their chocolate pinata. Dani, so sorry you had to go through that travel nightmare but it seems you're having a lovely time now starting with DH's great food. A great start to that well equipped kitchen. Marietta, so happy Charlie's MRI results are ok. Hope that his stomach problems can be quickly fixed.

From me too, and, Happy Valentine's Day to all! Dani, I hope the weather improves so you can have a wonderful vacation, and sorry you had a bad travel day.

We left our car at our pre cruise hotel for no charge. Next cruise we'll be sure to leave our car at the terminal. Lesson learned. Were you on my Adventure 2/6 cruise?

Our debarkation was flawless. We were off the ship in record time. It was after we exited the terminal that we encountered problems with pick-up. All I know is the information given on tv before we exited the ship cautioned us that only Lyft vehicles were authorized to enter the terminal. Glad you had success with Uber. Our Lyft drop off driver told us to wait at Pink 5 for pick up. One small section for hundreds to wait for their Lyft pick up. Incredible Yes, it negatively impacts all passengers no matter who the contract is with. I'm glad according to Brillo that it isn't enforced. Most of our cruises were out of Galveston. When leaving the terminal there always was a line of taxis waiting to pick up passengers. As it should be.

OK, now for the nightmare of debarkation. I forgot if Ozark and Brillo posted their experiences debarking Allure in Galveston. RCI has a contract with Lyft to only allow Lyft exclusive rights to enter the Galveston terminal. No Uber, no taxis so you can imagine how crowded and confusing it gets waiting for your Lyft to come pick you up. The weather was cold, windy, nasty. I only had a hoody jacket and was freezing. Cars kept pulling up and everyone waiting ran to see if it was their Lyft car. We waited one hour in the cold until our car finally made it to the terminal where we were waiting. At first we were informed our car would pick us up in 7 minutes. Nice! After 10 minutes we were informed all cars were busy with passengers and we would have a 20 minute wait. We waited 30 minutes and finally got the info of our car's license # and make of car. How happy we were to learn the car had entered the terminal. We waited and waited in the cold. windy really windy weather. After what seemed like forever, Jack got a call from the driver asking our location. We gave them our specific location and were finally picked up. Oh but it doesn't end there. All access streets to Seawall Blvd where we had to pick up our car were closed due to the upcoming Mardi Gras parade. We drove up all streets hoping for an opening but none were available. We finally made it and I was still shivering even though the car heat was on high the whole way to our car location. So with the somewhat lousy food, the mass of kids, the crowds, the freezing weather leaving the ship, standing on our feet for an hour (operated ankle still gives me trouble) would we cruise again from Galveston? We would in a NY minute! However, next time we might garage our car next to the terminal. I was unsuccessful transferring some photos I took to this post. I'll keep trying. I need to get more memory on my phone. That might do the trick. Congrats to the Chiefs. My friends are happy. Jack didn't have a fave and me? I stopped watching after half time. 😏

Glad you had a good Odyssey cruise and hopefully by now you're feeling much better. I just wish they kept the classic dinner items on the new menu. For me, that would work.

Warning: This is a l - o - n - g post. A few pictures to come another time. All meals were MDR early seating or Windjammer. Back yesterday from our Adventure OTS 5 night cruise. The good, bad, (no ugly) will now be discussed. Bad: The new menu. Not to our liking but of course food is subjective. Our waiter refused to deviate from the printed menu which meant no regular lettuce, tomato, cuke salad because only Ceasar salad was listed. One night we asked to finish our meal no later than 6:45. When 6:45 came and went with no dessert served we got up to leave. Waiter was super upset to the point of being angry, defending why he was so busy. We kept telling him it was ok that we weren't hungry for dessert anyway and that we really had to leave even though he expected us to stay and be late for our show. The next day we told him no rush since we could stay as long as needed BUT he rushed so fast we were done eating in 30 minutes. Twice our portions were so small our table mates said it looked like we all ordered from the kids menu. I love salmon but it was served with a spicey crust on top that according to the waiter had to be served as is. I so missed the classic offerings on the old menu. Best dishes, for me anyway was prime rib, lamb shank, pasta with seafood, key lime pie. Now, about the prime rib. It was first served to me (ordered medium rare) well done and sort of grey. Not pink in the middle, but solid grey maybe 1/8th of an inch thick. I tried it anyway and it was tough and dry. I sent it back and got a wonderful thicker piece of meat that was cooked to perfection. The wonderful part about dining in the MDR was our fabulous dinner table mates, a mother and adult daughter. We had the best time exchanging life's experiences and enjoyed each meal because of their company. WJ was super crowded all times it was open. Food there was just ok for me. No waiters cleared our tables of used plates, no waiter came around asking if we wanted coffee, water, etc. Jack and I usually made big salads (shades of Seinfeld) which was more than enough for us. The cruise had 500 kids which I find hard to believe since I thought the figure should have been higher. Kids were everywhere and pools were crowded with rugrats wearing floating stuff. Cute kids but they ran all over the pool deck many falling in the process. Jack and I were sitting on the pool deck looking out at the sea when I gasped seeing a small boy maybe 4, 5 sitting on the rail in front of an OPEN WINDOW. He was NOT being held by anyone. I jumped up and was about to go over when luckily a crew member asked his family members to please get him down and never have him sitting up on the rail every again. Venues were crowded and we couldn't get a seat in the pub or Schooner bar even earlier than peak hours. Any time the ice cream machine was open, the line on the pool deck was super long. Thankfully, because of all the kids we were able to get two lounges in the Solarium. Crew was fabulous, friendly, always a smile. Our cabin attendant always fulfilled our requests and always remembered our names. Extra tip went to him for sure. We just meandered around the port shops in Cozumel and didn't venture on that long walk to Costa Maya for fear of not getting seats on the tram when we would be ready to return to the ship. The quiet was delightful and we enjoyed ourselves before the ship filled up again. I will save the worst for another post. Debarkation was a total nightmare compared to an easy embarkation. Time to get out and refill my fridge and pantry.

Thanks, Andrew. All of my previous head colds were worse than my covid symptoms, with the exception of fatigue. Hope you feel better soon!

Congratulations. The cake topper is beautiful as are the surrounding flowers.

Thanks, Maryann. This is the first cruise ever that we aren't cruising with friends or family or getting involved with an active roll call. Meeting fellow cruisers the night before was something we always looked forward to. I'm so sorry you experienced fatigue as well. I hope you're feeling much better and yes to rest and pacing myself. Thank you for your good wishes. Yes, I remember you mentioned your post covid fatigue. I had very mild covid symptoms when I tested positive. Runny nose, slight cough, low grade fever, also 2 days. Small world how your son recognized his surfing buddy. Amazing skills. So I see post covid fatigue is a definite lingering side effect. Sucks to have a cough anytime but seems worse when you have to go to work. Hope it clears up soon. BTW my Doc said the same thing as yours did.

2/6 Adventure 5 nights. We return just about a month before our Bella cruise. That is one cruise I can't wait to get here.

Does anyone who had covid have lingering fatigue? I think Dani mentioned she was fatigued sometime after. Since July, I am more tired than usual. Really tired. I had to take a rest in the middle of packing for our cruise. All that walking back and forth did me in. It could be the natural aging process. Either way it stinks! 😏I just want to be on that ship already!

The view from your before picture including the window looks remarkably like the view from my daughter's living room in NJ.

Neither in this lifetime! 😉

I agree about March. Not here or there but Springtime is magical where I used to live in NY. Trees, bushes, flowers budding, Ramapo Mountains in the background. That's what I miss about NY. To me there is never a good winter, not even here in TX where I wore my down jacket approx. 6 times since 2003. Hard to believe we'll be here 20 years in Oct. I still don't say "y'all", but I've developed a taste for good bbq.

Maryann, congratulations on becoming Diamond! Sounds like you and Jim had a wonderful cruise. We have 2 cruises this year and after our Bella cruise we'll be 11 points away from Diamond. Slowly, slowly we plan on becoming Diamonds late 2024. @NHProudGoodness, that sounds like you took a nasty fall. Heal quickly. Glad nothing was broken.