Cruising from Galveston, Texas with Princess Cruises

Story, photos by Cassie Hepler

We had been discussing this press trip for well over a year, deep into the peak of the pandemic where cruise ships were still requiring masks and proof of vaccine before boarding. I am unvaxxed (and DGAF if you are or not, your body your choice) and thought it odd to not just test everyone before boarding as well as the staff on board at each port. To me that seemed like the best way to screen folks – and still does to be honest. So when they lifted all the restrictions, I was ready and raring to go – especially with this very oddly cold Arizona winter!

Before this trip, it had been since 2017 since I was last on a cruise ship where we cruised to Bermuda with Celebrity Cruises. My first ever cruise was with Carnival Cruises to Jamaica, which ironically is part of the Princess Cruises empire but known as the party ship (and true to rumor, that is what I remember about it most)! But after the pandemic hit the party was over and cruise ships really took a beating with multiple Covid breakouts, one hitting very close to home as I know someone locked quarantined in a room for 6 weeks (!!!) when an outbreak happened on board.

First let’s go over the basics: packing and pre-planning for a new era of cruising. If you are leaving from a port far from home, fly in the day before and stay over at a hotel that hopefully has a shuttle to get you to the ship. Wear a mask on the plane so you don’t pick up anybody’s head cold… you don’t want to ruin your vacation before it even starts. And bring hand sanitizer, the 2 ounce size for all those people who never wash their hands after the bathroom. Make sure you pack at least one cold weather outfit for when it gets windy and pack an emergency kit including activated charcoal, motion sickness drugs and/or patches worn behind the ear and one rule I have that I didn’t follow myself, eat a chewable Rolaid each morning to coat your stomach when traveling internationally. I will now be adding Pepto Bismol to the list as well. One thing I did not bring on purpose was allergy pills for once with all that fresh ocean air!

It was hard to fall asleep the night before the flight as usual but I was up and at ’em at the crack of dawn, taking my Lyft to the airport and a pretty smooth flight with my chosen American Airlines. They are usually reliable as is United that my guest chose. Don’t skimp here, especially if you’re trying to fly in the day of… that’s a bad gamble because the ship is setting sail with or without you. But soon I was arriving in Houston, Texas and found my friend fast as we were trying to beat rush hour traffic to Galveston, Texas.