Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

*** The Galveston, Texas "Cruise Cam" Watch Group ***

Texas Teen

By Texas Teen,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

CGBCruiser

CGBCruiser

Posted
Posted
Looks like a pretty day in Galveston...wish I was there to get on a ship!

 

Me too...it is so easy for us to cruise out of Galveston. Sigh! Have a Hawaii cruise in May...not so easy! Going to be a beautiful day down here for all the folks cruising and coming home today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kwbrad

kwbrad

Posted
Posted
It is a beutiful morning in Galveston. I am so very grateful the skies have cleared after 3 days of clouds. Will wave so long to all of you this evening. Be back in a week and then be back in a week.:cool:

 

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

 

Take good care of her, we are getting on when you get off. So ready for this cruise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klingoncruiser

klingoncruiser

Posted
Posted
Watching Coast Guard Alaska right now, and get to have a nice view of some nice scenes from Kodiak. The charter operator we are using is retired USCG with friends who are "stars" on Coast Guard Alaska. He indicated we will be able to get a personalized visit if we go over to the USCG station while there. I think we will do that since we will have 2-3 days where we have spare time on the Isle.

 

If you can swing a car, go out to the end of the road, going south. Someone can tell you before you leave where to park and then walk out to the old WW11 bunkers and out looks. It really is a way cool place, and take a flashlight and look inside of the bunkers. Look for whales off shore along the way. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rancher Dave

Rancher Dave

Posted
Posted
If you can swing a car, go out to the end of the road, going south. Someone can tell you before you leave where to park and then walk out to the old WW11 bunkers and out looks. It really is a way cool place, and take a flashlight and look inside of the bunkers. Look for whales off shore along the way. :D

 

A launch site out hat way is among the things I hope o see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CGBCruiser

CGBCruiser

Posted
Posted
We're counting down too. Three weeks until we leave...for Fort Lauderdale. It would be so much easier from Galveston.

 

Indeed and I don't mean to sound spoiled because we're getting to go on a nice vacation and I am very excited about it. It's just easy to drive 45 min to Galveston. Think I'm spoiled to that short commute!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
golfpccc

golfpccc

Posted
Posted
Hey Carla! How was Crown Princess? My mom will be going with some friends in about 4 weeks.

Hi Cindy,

 

It was OK, not great but good. The cruisers were much older than on Mariner and of course Magic--we aren't spring chickens, but we do enjoy the energy of a little younger crowd--I would say the average age was around 70. Also didn't think the cruisers were as friendly. Didn't care for the entertainment and the buffet was terrible, won't complain about the Mariner's buffet ever again...lol. MDR was good after the 1st night. It's a great cruise if all you want to do is relax and read. To be honest, I was a little disappointed--didn't think it was really a step up from Carnival. Didn't even get a towel animal, nor bed turned down at night and the Princess Patter (Compass) was slid under door every night so you could slip on it when you enter the "dark" very warm cabin. Did enjoy our cabin with it's walk-in closet and 9' x9' balcony. We are sailing on Princess again in Apr to the Panama Canal and that will probably be our last Princess cruise. They didn't even serve drinks at their Past Guest Party--guests were given a coupon for a drink. Really missed all the perks we receive on RCCL being Diamond.

 

I hope your Mother enjoys her cruise, I'm sure she will, just wasn't for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ssb

ssb

Posted
Posted
Hi Cindy,

 

It was OK, not great but good. The cruisers were much older than on Mariner and of course Magic--we aren't spring chickens, but we do enjoy the energy of a little younger crowd--I would say the average age was around 70. Also didn't think the cruisers were as friendly. Didn't care for the entertainment and the buffet was terrible, won't complain about the Mariner's buffet ever again...lol. MDR was good after the 1st night. It's a great cruise if all you want to do is relax and read. To be honest, I was a little disappointed--didn't think it was really a step up from Carnival. Didn't even get a towel animal, nor bed turned down at night and the Princess Patter (Compass) was slid under door every night so you could slip on it when you enter the "dark" very warm cabin. Did enjoy our cabin with it's walk-in closet and 9' x9' balcony. We are sailing on Princess again in Apr to the Panama Canal and that will probably be our last Princess cruise. They didn't even serve drinks at their Past Guest Party--guests were given a coupon for a drink. Really missed all the perks we receive on RCCL being Diamond.

 

I hope your Mother enjoys her cruise, I'm sure she will, just wasn't for us.

 

Ouch!:eek:

Thanks for info!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cindy

Cindy

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hi Cindy,

 

It was OK, not great but good. The cruisers were much older than on Mariner and of course Magic--we aren't spring chickens, but we do enjoy the energy of a little younger crowd--I would say the average age was around 70. Also didn't think the cruisers were as friendly. Didn't care for the entertainment and the buffet was terrible, won't complain about the Mariner's buffet ever again...lol. MDR was good after the 1st night. It's a great cruise if all you want to do is relax and read. To be honest, I was a little disappointed--didn't think it was really a step up from Carnival. Didn't even get a towel animal, nor bed turned down at night and the Princess Patter (Compass) was slid under door every night so you could slip on it when you enter the "dark" very warm cabin. Did enjoy our cabin with it's walk-in closet and 9' x9' balcony. We are sailing on Princess again in Apr to the Panama Canal and that will probably be our last Princess cruise. They didn't even serve drinks at their Past Guest Party--guests were given a coupon for a drink. Really missed all the perks we receive on RCCL being Diamond.

 

I hope your Mother enjoys her cruise, I'm sure she will, just wasn't for us.

 

Thanks, Carla! I suppose the age won't be a problem for my mom...she's 81 and one of the youngest in the group she's travelling with!:rolleyes:

I was actually kind of surprised they chose the Crown over the Mariner (against my advice!:D). The group she's sailing with is my dad's old squadron from when he was in the Navy...about 60 years ago.:eek: They travel together at least once a year. Anyway, they were on the Caribbean Princess about three years ago and hated it...mom swore she'd never do another Princess cruise, but she didn't have the deciding vote for this trip.

Among other things, mom didn't like the food at all, and she thought their service was poor. My mom disliked the Caribbean Princess so much that we went with HAL over Princess for our big cruise last November/December, because even though our Princess cruises were great, a lot has changed in 5 years and I thought maybe it was time to try something different.

Hopefully they'll have a good trip...one of the men in the group is well into his nineties, and he's already said this is probably it for him.

 

P.S. -- I just reread your post. You didn't get turn-down service? That's just wrong!

Edited by Cindy
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tucker in Texas

Tucker in Texas

Posted
Posted

I did the Princess Crown in January. If you eliminate the perks you get being Diamond/Diamond+, I didn't find it that much different than Royal Caribbean.

 

I agree the buffet was not as good as the WJ. However, I did appreciate that they bought your drinks to the table for you and pre-set it with silverware so that was less you had to tote when getting your food.

 

MTD was a disaster for us the first two nights. We like to eat around 6:30 or 7:00. The first two nights, we got a beeper and a wait of 45 minutes the first night, 35 the second night to get a table. The next two nights we went to the Lido. The last three nights it was better with only minimal waits. I asked about a reservation and was told they were only available for 5:30 or 8:30.

 

I liked that I didn't have to wait for elevators unless it was after a show or when some other major event let out. They have more than the Mariner. I didn't like the fact there were only four elevators when you came in from port. On our cruise, one was out of service. If you weren't standing in front of one when it got there, you weren't getting one. Then the call button had to be reset so if the elevator in front of you got a call during the other one being emptied, you were in the back of the bus again. We were there at an "off" time. I'd hate to see it when a bus load lets off. We gave up after a 20 minute wait, hiked up two decks and crossed over to another bank of elevators.

 

I am a smoker. I thought they were very good in providing smoking areas away from other public areas. I didn't have to listen to smart remarks, see exaggerated fanning of faces, or lectures as non-smokers walked by. For non-smokers, I think the fact you can't smoke on your balcony or in the casino would be a big plus.

 

Agree, was not impressed with the entertainment. The one production show we went to was pre-recorded, loud, amateurish, and not that good sets, costumes, or content.

 

I found the food in the MDR on par with Royal Caribbean and service about the same.

 

I liked the cabin layout better than Royal with the closet. There was a lack of drawer space with only two drawers in the bed side table but shelves in the closet area worked.

 

We did have turn down service every night with the Patters placed on our bed along with chocolates. I don't remember if we got a towel animal or not because they aren't that important to me. I think the lack of turn down service warranted a complaint to guest services.

 

I thought the Cafe was much better than Royal's and even did lunch there a couple of times. However, the only "free" drink you could get there was water. Charge for coffee, tea, etc.

 

I found the "bank" system in the casino confusing when using the slots which is all I did. You could put dollars into the machine but to retrieve your money, you had to set up a "bank" with your birth date and a pin, then get a print out to take over to the cashier and feed the pin number in again. I'm sure this is nice for them as people would just let their money stay in the "bank" and play it all out eventually rather than retrieving it and going to the cashier every time you are finished playing and maybe not going back again.

 

We had an 8-hour fog delay and they really handled it well. Left all the food venues operating, cooked up activities to keep everyone as busy as they wanted to be, gave frequent updates. I heard some people even stayed in their cabin until early afternoon. They bent over backwards to help people arrange rebooking of air even if they didn't buy their air from them and secure hotel rooms for those who would be stuck overnight.

 

Tucker in Texas

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted (edited)
Wife and I are sailing on Mariner this coming Sunday. We want to watch the Cown Princess sail away this Saturday. Is it easy to find the pier I see on the cruise cam? Where do I park? Thanks for your help

Just go to the Harbor House hotel. There's a large area behind the hotel right on the channel to watch the ships pass. I know the hotel has parking, but I don't remember the cost.

 

Here's the hotel's link:

 

http://www.harborhousepier21.com/

Edited by clarea
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DeepWaterMariner

DeepWaterMariner

Posted
Posted
I did the Princess Crown in January. If you eliminate the perks you get being Diamond/Diamond+, I didn't find it that much different than Royal Caribbean.

 

I agree. We are Elite on Princess and their perks are pretty good, but we also certainly enjoyed the Diamond Club on the Mariner at Christmas. Our feeling is that if we are cruising with our kids and grandkids, then RCCL is a better choice, but if we are on our own we prefer Princess, particularly their small ships.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klingoncruiser

klingoncruiser

Posted
Posted

Ah oh.... Hong Kong is opening a new big cruise port. Royal Caribbean was named in the article I read along with other lines. I would look for RCL and other lines to position ships in Asia at this point. Hong Kong will probably be a bigger draw than Australia. (or ships will sail there). Major city, good air service..... wonder what ships will head east and nere return. Could get harder that ever to see any full time ships in Galveston.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DeepWaterMariner

DeepWaterMariner

Posted
Posted
Ah oh.... Hong Kong is opening a new big cruise port. Royal Caribbean was named in the article I read along with other lines. I would look for RCL and other lines to position ships in Asia at this point. Hong Kong will probably be a bigger draw than Australia. (or ships will sail there). Major city, good air service..... wonder what ships will head east and nere return. Could get harder that ever to see any full time ships in Galveston.

 

China is to big a market to ignore. Hong Kong is on most Asian itineraries and I would think that a new cruise terminal would allow it to better compete with Singapore as a point for beginning or ending one way voyages or segments of longer cruises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...