A little background: I am 52 and my husband is 59, this is our 3rd RCCL cruise (9th overall) and 2nd on a Voyager class ship. We are from the Midwest and have had a miserably snowy and cold winter. Traveled with my brother and sister-in-law. We were in cabin 8320 (hump) and loved the location. We were in the Magic Flute dining room, second seating at 8:00pm. So glad they changed the time. We were, for the 2nd year in a row, some of the younger people on board. Not many children.
Flew into Houston Hobby a day early and rented a car from Enterprise. Drove to Galveston by way of Kemah for lunch and a change of pace. We stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites at 61st and Seawall Dr. and was very pleased with the cleanliness and the size of the room. We had dinner at Tortugas right in front of QI & S and enjoyed it. It was very busy.
Sunday: We woke up to FOG. After a quick check of the web cam we were relieved to find that the ships were in. Had breakfast and made our way to where the ships were docked. Driving down Seawall Blvd you could hardly see 2 feet in front of the car. Once we turned inland to cross over the island it started to clear. It was totally clear by the ships. Parked the rental car at EZ Cruise parking and did a little bit of shopping on The Strand. Back to the car and started walking to the ship with all our luggage. I am not sure why we walked, but we did. Got to the ship about 11:30 and by 12:30 we were checked in and eating lunch in the Windjammer. We were in our cabin by 1:00. Some of our roll call met at the pool bar at 3pm. It was fun meeting the people that I had been corresponding with over the last year. Muster drill was hot as we were in the front. Luggage didn't arrive until about 5pm. Leaving port was a very cool experience. As we approached the shipping lanes you could see that the fog was still very think out in the Gulf. There were a few freighters in front of us and was eerie watching the ships disappear into the fog with their fog horns going every so many minutes. It remained foggy for a good part of the night, so we really couldn't see any of the oil rigs. Our waiter was Joseph Rodriguez (sp?) from India and he was great! Probably the best waiter we've ever had. He was very professional and charming. He also had the cutest smile. We were at a table for 9 but only 1 other couple, besides the 4 of us showed up. They were a delightful couple and we enjoyed them throughout the week. Had the Atlantic Cod and husband had Prime Rib, both good. Tried the Connoisseur Club out with my husband (he loves his stogies) but this would be the last night. Cough, cough. My lungs didn't clear until Tuesday. ( They need better ventilation. On the Brilliance, it was much better and I could at least sit in there with him.)