joepeka

We would be all over a NE and Canada CCL cruise from Boston. DW and I have been on virtually every itinerary in the northern half of the western hemisphere except NE/Canada. Not really interested in NCL or Princess or Royal. But I won't hold my breath on CCL. 😶

We've done the all access/behind the scenes/etc. tours on several ships that it's always been explained the way Chief mentions above. In fact, on one tour, they mentioned the ocean fish seem to be in tune with when and where the emulsion will be discharged and are johnny on the spot to scarf down.

Here's the link to the compass for 4/18/2024. It's three months old and since we don't know your sail date, it may be incorrect. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/independence-of-the-seas/thu-04182024-0000

FWIW, the 4/18/2024 four day cruise compass for Indy shows Grease on day 2. But that was three months ago.

Thank you Steve. As I mention above, I have been feeling a bit like my experience a month ago was in doubt by some. My apologies if I came across as confrontational.

The ship was docked in Galveston, not at sea. The only people who should have access to the passenger hallways in that instance were crew who have other means of egress in a dock side emergency. Regardless, the locks were on the passenger hallway side and crew could easily unlock and leave if necessary.

Again, that does not explain why the doors were locked on deck 12 on Harmony a month ago.

You did not miss it. The comments regarding the casino were that people know the odds are against them and approach it (or should approach it) with that knowledge. Art auctions tend to be approached with less skepticism beyond the knowledge that the auction company is in the profit business and not looking to nickel and dime (or dollar and five) the patrons. Perhaps that's faulty thinking on the art auction crowds.

Thank you. I was beginning to feel a bit gaslighted over this door situation.

Then I guess I do not understand why I could not turn the handles on both the deck 12 doors I tried. And please no speculation about a lack of arm and hand strength. ☺️

Good catch. Yes, we spent the bulk of our time in the smaller, non-smoking casino. Hopefully, the trial is deemed successful and they move it to the main casino(s).

Glad to help but YMMV as that's how it worked on Harmony. I don't know if all the RCI ship casinos are able to handle it that way.

Those slot machine credit tickets can also be redeemed at the gaming tables for chips. And when you're done playing, you can turn in your remaining chips (if any!) to the dealer/croupier/etc. and get another credit ticket you can take to the cashier for cash. At least, that was the situation on Harmony a few weeks ago.

If by fire doors you mean the ones at various locations in the cabin hallways, that's not the ones I referred to - we have never seen those doors closed. In the passenger stair and elevator areas outside the hallways, there are doors that open to the cabin hallways. Those were locked.

Likely true. We only tried the two doors on our deck level at the aft stairway and they were definitely locked. Over the past nearly 30 years it's been a mixed bag for us - sometimes the doors are open, sometimes they are closed but unlocked, sometimes they are locked. This past cruise on Harmony, it wasn't important enough to justify not waiting an additional 30-45 minutes for the official opening.

The door from the stairway area leading to our cabin hallway was definitely locked on Harmony a few weeks ago. Maybe it's just not consistent from ship to ship, floor to floor.

1PM is the normal time that cabins are available to guests; prior to that, you will likely find the doors to the cabin hallways closed and locked. An announcement will be made when they are officially available.

True. The current path and timing are such that Harmony (and all the Carnival ships) should be out of Galveston long before impact from what's expected to be a cat 1 hits south TX on Monday morning.

Bingo!

Let's just agree that there are dollars to be made in both situations and people's expectations of them - casino, art auction, jewelry stores, etc. - vary according to their perception.

I'm thinking the distinction is that you know casino gaming is definitely tilted in favor of the house and you enter and play with that knowledge. Whereas with art auctions, people want to see them as more high class and ethical - after all, you are dealing in "art" and not the vagaries of casino games. That's my hypothesis at least. 😉

On one of our earliest cruises years ago, we attended one of these auctions and somehow won a free print of one of the items. We liked it and wanted it (it was free... right?) but the cost for them to package and ship to us in AZ was horrible and we had to have it framed ourselves at home (it came from Park West in a mailing tube). Overall, the cost of the shipping and framing was a lot more than the value of the print and as such, we've never attended another "art auction" on any of our subsequent cruises. Lesson learned.

Thank you for this review. I'm considering this itin for early 2026 but Ms. Joe doesn't know about it yet so please don't tell her 😁. Hopefully it will be a surprise later on.

A week ago Sunday, boarding Harmony in Galveston, seven of our family group were in suites and the other four in balcony cabins. The suite people used the "Suite and Pinnacle" line at the terminal and the others took the regular line - the regular line folks were on board 15-20 minutes before the suite folks. The suite area was nice but otherwise, no advantage at all in using it compared to the regular check-in line. ETA: to the actual topic of this thread, two of the suite people (minor children) had the "express" indication on their set sail passes - no one else did. Very odd.

We did this tour with Victor last week. Yeah, the monkeys you cannot hold as they are a bit hyper and just jump from one person to another. The sloths, not so much - very gentle and huggable.