We booked our cruise about 3 weeks prior to sailing. Having not read the reviews from the previous cruisers who experienced the "after dry dock" challenges, I was worried about what our experience would be. Never the less we went on with our plans and here is our experience:
We arrived in Galveston and stayed overnight at the Harbor House Hotel. The hotel was very nice although we thought it was a little pricey but what do you expect on a high occupancy night right on the pier? Service there was very nice, the room was lovely clean and comfortable. We did not have a pier view as our suite overlooked the parking lot. We were very close to everything which was nice and walking distance to the pier.
On the morning of the cruise we were up and ready to go by 11am. I was dropped off with the luggage and my sweetie drove back, parked the car, and walked from the hotel to the pier. We were on the ship by 11:15. Very easy embarkation and I am positive it was due to our early arrival. Once on the ship staterooms were not available until 1am so we set out to explore. We went to the spa to make reservations and found that even though we were the first ones on the ship most prime times were taken???? When asked if we could look at the schedule the manager was somewhat put off and said we would not know how to read his availability. After declining every 8am or 7pm appointment offered we settled on 9:15 for all of our services 6 total. Manicures we should have passed on. The cost versus the service was not comparable even to a $25.00 manicure. I have had better in a walk in salon. Note the $45.00 cost on the ship I expected more. Massages however we wonderful start to finish. We also got body scrubs which they too were great.