Background: We are in our early 60's (most people think we are at least 5 years younger). We live just outside Washington, DC in Virginia. This was our 19th Cruise; our 6th with RCI. We chose this cruise because it went to Progresso, Mexico, where we could see the Chichen Itza Mayan ruins.

We booked our own air and flew to Houston on Saturday, a day prior to the ship's departure. In Houston, we spent the night at the Airport Marriott. The room was OK but the food situation was not very good -- we had a choice of two Marriott restaurants (high-priced or expensive), neither of which had a good selection. If we had caught a cab to a local restaurant, then the cab cost would have eaten up any food savings. All airport eating facilities appeared to be behind security, so we could not go back there to eat. We had checked out other hotels but thought Marriott was the best option for us, especially given that the airport underground train that traveled between the terminals also stopped at the Marriott.

Sunday morning we caught the Galveston Limo Service, which picks up at either the airport or the Marriott (another good reason to stay there). We had a reservation on the 9:30 shuttle, which came to the hotel at 9:45. By 11:00, we were at pier side, BUT WITHOUT the Voyager in port. Two things happened in Galveston that day. First, some of the roads in Galveston were closed because of Mardi Gras, so the limo took a little longer to arrive at the pier. (Turns out that was the least of our problems.) The second thing was FOG. Because of the fog that day, the Voyager (and the Carnival Conquest) could not dock until 11:30 AM. This caused MAJOR problems for all the disembarking and embarking passengers on both ships. We had read that the fog is sometimes a problem in Galveston between December and February, but apparently, it was unusually thick the day we boarded. Read more