Cruising the Western Caribbean

On Sunday, December 1 we drove to Galveston, Texas to board the Regal Princess with our good friends, Bob and Gail Conrad for a seven day cruise. The trip would include stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico plus Mahogany Bay, Roatan Island in Honduras.

This was our first time cruising with Princess so there was a bit of a learning curve. We've cruised with Celebrity Cruise Ships in the past and we needed a few days to understand the different services and the layout of the ship as well as the on board App for the day's activities.

We arrived around 10 AM at the cruise terminal long-term parking, parked the truck and took the parking shuttle directly to the port facilities. We dropped off our luggage and went through the check in process where we received a personalized medallion that would provide us access to our cabin and on-board purchases. After getting to our cabin, C606 on deck 10, we checked out the view from our balcony. Across the shipping channel from our berth was an amazing view! There, directly across from the Regal Princess was the USS Texas.

USS Texas (BB-35) is a museum ship in Galveston and former United States Navy New York-class battleship. She was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914.

Texas was the first U.S. battleship to become a permanent museum ship; she was turned over to the state of Texas on 21 April 1948 as a permanent museum in Houston. In 1976 she became the first battleship to be declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and is the only remaining World War I era dreadnought battleship. She is also one of the seven remaining ships and the only remaining capital ship to have served in both World Wars. USS Texas is owned by the people of Texas and is officially under the jurisdiction of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Everyday operations and maintenance of Texas have been handled by the non-profit organization 'Battleship Texas Foundation' since August 2020.

At the end of August 2022 she was moved to a dry dock in Galveston, Texas, to undergo a $60 million repair project. On completion, her new permanent home will be Galveston. As of March 2024, the repair project is still underway, but she has moved out of dry dock.

On the Regal Princess, this is the view from the Sky Deck looking aft over the Sun Deck as we departed Galveston at 3 pm.

This is the view from the port side Sky Deck looking forward as we transit the shipping channel past commercial cargo ships at anchor on our way to the open sea.

Our ship featured the inviting piazza-style grand atrium -- the stunning centerpiece of many of the ships in the Princess fleet. The majestic atrium spans several decks and features the International Café, Vines Bar, a spiral staircase and several glass-walled lifts that provide panoramic overviews of the ship.

We really looked forward to a week of relaxation, good food and hanging out with old friends. Much to our surprise, we found out at the last minute that our friends, Paul and Rhonda Harlin, from the RVICS Village were on the same ship with us! So now our cruise included two other couples to share the on board party experience. We had a great time together playing cards, eating delicious food and enjoying shows on board!

Sunrise at sea on Monday, December 2 from our cabin balcony heading south to Cozumel, Mexico.