Arrived at Bush Int'l in Houston and had reserved a car to take us to the port. We didn't want to wait for a bus to fill up to get going. We used ExecuCar and it was as expected. Getting to the cruise terminal once you are in the port area is a big pain - a lot of traffic and not very organized. I don't think we will bother with this port again (after the ease of Fort Lauderdale and Miami embarkation on previous cruises). Port of Galveston is industrial, not exactly putting you in the vacation mood.

We waited in a rather long line to check in and get our sea pass card. We are Emerald and we were in line with others of a much higher loyalty class, many commented that they were not used to waiting in any line and were very disappointed. Our agent was very nice and we embarked quickly once we received our sea pass. There is nothing like that feeling of getting on the ship! So much to look forward to for the whole vacation! We were "compted" a spa treatment and a specialty restaurant dinner through our travel agent Delta. We had to wait until we were on board to book, so we took care of that right away. The spa treatment had to be on a "port day" - that was a little disappointing because we leave the ship on port days, but we figured it out.

Our cabin 7540, an outside balcony room, was in a good location for us. Our room steward Daniel was very efficient and our cabin was always in good condition. We also received treats in our room for our new Emerald level; 6 bottles of water and some treats the first day. Use of robes and a lapel pin with a green crystal. It's nice to get some extra perks from RCCL. Read more