SaskAries

You can call other rooms, wave phones as well as text other wave phones. If you have a child in the clubs you will need to carry it with you.

Something I didn't know til later in the day, you can use them at Castaway Cay if needed, just don't lose them. Guest Services also has has extras if you require more than 2 for a room, but they go quickly.

Another post from me! I haven't cruised in two or three years now, so I'm getting pretty excited :)

 

We're going to be sailing on Fantasy (me, husband, 3 year old, 9 month old) and my question is this - do we need the 'deluxe family oceanview veranda' suite, or would the 'oceanview veranda suite' be enough? I understand that the latter is about 50sq ft smaller, but is there any other difference? do the regular balcony rooms have the nice round tub/rainshower head combo like I understand the family veranda rooms have?

 

Thanks so much for your advice!

My husband, 6 yr old daughter and I stayed in a deluxe family ocean view verandah suite (10582) in Oct. Loved the extra space, and the round tub/shower was a great feature. With a 9 mos old you will welcome that extra space! Our steamer trunk was placed by the closet, which made the room feel less crowded. Just ask the room steward to move it.

I have to admit I don't pay much attention on airplanes anymore, as I can deliver the speech by heart. I do however, take note of all the exits and count rows to the closest ones in front of and behind me. I check to be sure there is a life jacket under my seat where applicable, and know better than to inflate it before I get on the wing or slide. I know which doors have slides and which ones you would exit onto the wing, and know enough to find a different exit if there is fire outside the one I am at. Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

I also know where the emergency flashlights, oxygen, first aid it, and other safety equipment is located, and what is about to happen when the bell chimes, the chief purser answers the phone, a male FA comes to the front of the plane and the drink cart is conveniently moved to block the aisle between row one and the front lav... And if you look around, you might see a gentleman wearing a sports coat who has suddenly become hyper aware of who is moving about the plane. He will be in an aisle seat, almost always in the first 5-10 rows.

 

I also take note of any passengers who I think could be an issue due to their behavior as they board. The people who can't move fast enough to get out if the way of a sloth, the woman with three kids aged five and under, those who are so confused that they can't even figure out where row 17 seat C is, the ones with too much crap that they would probably try to drag along, the beauty queens in high heels who would most likely spontaneously combust if near a flame due to the eight gallons of hairspray and perfume they are wearing, the self entitled businessman who can't understand why they can't give him a Bloody Mary at 7:10 am in Orlando (no alcohol on the ground in Orlando, state law), should I keep going? :D

 

 

 

 

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Sorry to be off topic here: what does it mean when the male FA comes to the front and the drink cart is moved to block? Flight Crew has to take a potty break?

Our last few flights to Orlando from Saskatoon, SK the Marshall's have looked more like lumberjacks lol.

Just attend muster drills! It's not a big deal to lose a few mins out of your cruise, but those few mins could make the difference between life and death in an emergency situation.

On RCCL, they scan your seapass card, so they know exactly who had not attended. If you do not attend, I would guess there would be consequences.

 

I always have gone, and will continue to go. I do not get the "I am too important to attend such a mundane event" attitude of some people.

 

I even still watch the safety briefing on planes even though I can quote it verbatim anyways. I really like the part of how a seat belt buckle works!

We did a 3 night on RC Enchantment this past Dec, we had to show our SeaPass as well as confirm our attendance, there were a few no shows and they sent crew members to check their cabins, they did escort the ones they found to the muster station.

On Disney we had to scan our Key To The World cards, so they do keep track of who attended and who did not.

It's at the most 30 mins out of your cruise, no reason to miss it. I love the idea of wristbands for the one who attended lol

Off topic: I am the same way on the plane! Even my 6 yr old daughter loves to watch the safety briefing and seat belt demo, she even asked the attendant if she could borrow it for her doll lol

As I am divorced, I need a letter to travel out of the country with my daughter.. also, we don't have the same last name. In the letter/form my lawyer made out you would read:

• names of persons travelling (in my letter it is stated like this: I___________, authorize Susie blahblahblah to travel with our daughter Gabrielle blahblahblah)
  
• passport numbers for parent travelling as well as children (We're in Canada, so most everyone has a passport)
  
• address where you live
  
• phone number
  
• dates of travel (start to end dates)
  
• where you're traveling to
  
• permission to seek medical treatment
  

That's all I can remember at the moment. You may have different requirements in the USA. Maybe check your government website, we have a travel form on ours.

 

Susie

This is exactly what they are looking for, as well as add the contact #'s of the other parent where they can be reached at any time, cell, home or work. You can find sample letters online if you search for travel permission letters.

Any time a lone parent travels out of the country with the children you should take a permission letter, notarized being preferred. It saves a lot of hassle in the long run to have it. You may never be asked to provide it, but if you are asked and don't have one, you could run into some lengthy travel delays.

I travel a lot with my daughter, without my husband and I always have one with me, and I have been asked to provide it a few times, oddly enough by the Canadian Customs as I am entering back into Canada. Our lawyer draws up ours, but you can do it yourself and then take it to a notary to have them notarize it.

20 days! Enchantment of the Seas ... Taking a couple of alone days with hubby before the Christmas festivities start at my parents in Florida!

It's not uncommon to be asked if you have a criminal record when you cross the border. My husband has been asked a few times, he's Retired Canadian Military and has been fingerprinted for his security clearance as well as a few indiscretions as a young Army guy in the 80's. He was asked to fill out other forms, one being a waiver and that was it. Never had any problems as a result, we cross on average 8-10 times a year now, the last year he wasn't asked once.

A pending court case can rule a person inadmissible to any country, having your court documents showing you are free and clear to travel should be brought along. Everyone has a different experience with the border, so to predict what will happen is impossible. Go to the source, in this case Homeland Security and get the answers from them.

I would call your lawyer and Homeland Security to get the correct answer to this question, a pending court case could rule you inadmissible, especially with it being a theft charge.

But the only people who know for a fact would be your lawyer and Homeland Security, as they may require you to fill out a waiver and other forms to allow you to travel to the US.

Ok, celebrity has no cool waterpark for your daughter - they do have a teen club but nothing else

 

NCL Epic has a water park and a rock climbing wall but only does 7 night itineraries

 

NCL jade has a kids pool and a slide

 

All of the ships have a casino so gramps is taken care of

 

I would go for the itinerary first - it depends on the time of year too

 

June / July / August - west med

September / June - east med - it stays warmer for longer in greece, turkey, and the adriatic longer

 

We love greece and turkey for wandering around, but south of france is beautiful too and monaco and montecarlo are wonderful

Thanks for the info... it's a whole lot more challenging to book a cruise with other people than it is with just hubby, daughter and I!! But it will be an experience none of us will forget, Monte Carlo is one port we hope to get to!

I think Scrapnana's idea is good, if you're staying in Paris first; another idea is to cross to the UK by train under the tunnel, or by ferry- and take the Independence OTS out of Southampton- one of the Freedom class of ships, with lots to offer on board. The right itinerary would include the lovely places in Northern and western Spain, plus Portugal, before rounding the Rock of Gibraltar into the Med.

Just to add to your confusion! :D

Thanks so much jocap.....and yes you did add to my confusion, but just a wee bit lol I was looking at some of the cruises out of Southampton and hubby had tossed the idea of taking the train to the UK as well.

Whole Foods. Lots and lots of nut free items.

 

 

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Thanks for the info... I will check them out when we are back down there next month...

My daughter and I are both fair-skinned, freckles, red hair for her and blonde for me, we use the Banana Boat kids sunscreen lotion first and then use the spray to do the touch ups after being in the water. That's the key to preventing sunburn....reapply reapply and reapply. Ears, lips, hands, tops of feet!! Even if you don't think you are going to be in the sun that long, put some sunscreen on!

If you have your UV shirt wear it whenever you are out doing any water activities, it definitely makes a huge difference Just remember to apply sunscreen on your back and sides if you are wearing a bikini underneath as the shirt is liable to ride up in the back and you won't notice til it's too late. ( I didn't do that to my daughter and she ended up with a sunburn there)

Drink lots of water and apply a good after sun lotion your skin will thank you!!

What do you mean lack of peanut free products? I am allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, and shellfish, and have no trouble finding allergen free products both I. Restaurants and grocery stores. You must not be looking in the correct places.

 

I err on the side of caution in Caribbean ports where they will,yes you to death--literally. I have had them tell me something was OK to eat until I probed and found out it was cooked with coconut milk. On the ship I was usually comfortable, but not at the buffets, and one time when I went to get ice cream they couldn't understand why I needed fresh sprinkles instead of the ones next to the nuts where they were using the same spoon for both. I gave up and had it plain.

 

 

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Ducklite, we have spent a lot of time in the US coast to coast since she developed her allergies, and yes I have had and still do have a difficult time finding peanut or nut free products, when reading the labels so many products state it has been processed in a shared facility or may contain traces etc etc. Maybe I am not looking in the correct places, but I have went to Winn Dixie, Publix, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, BJ's as well as other stores in the Sebastian/Melbourne areas and didn't find very many at all.

In restaurants most of the staff and cooks tell me there is a chance of cross contamination and there are a fair number of places that use refined peanut oil for frying and although it is said that it is a safe oil for a peanut allergic individual to use I am not going to take the chance.

Last year for Christmas & Easter I had a very hard time finding products that were nut free. So now I find it easier to bring my own from home. Considering we are in the process of purchasing a house in Florida I would love to be able to find allergen free products for my daughter.

Nothing wrong with being over vigilant, we have been going down to Florida regularly the past few years and each year when we get her blood test done for her allergies her peanut and nut ones have gone up, the peanut one skyrocketed actually, we had thought she may come down to a tolerable level but sadly I had slacked off a whole lot on reading labels and with the lack of peanut free products down there it doesn't seem it will be that way. We are back down to Florida to see my parents at Christmas for a few weeks, so I will bring her Smarties and other baking items that are peanut free to make her cookies. ( I may not come back this time though if we keep getting snow!! lol cold cold here today in Sask -25C with -38C windchill)

I was less paranoid on the ship than I am when we go anywhere else. Knowing that the servers are all aware of her allergies is comforting and that they follow us to our dining rooms each evening was a huge relief, didn't have to keep telling a new server what her dietary restrictions are. Our head server told us it would be safest for us to eat in the MDR's for all our meals, but our room was on Deck 10 so it was more convenient to go to Cabana's, he arranged for us to meet the head chef up there. It's a good thing to touch base with the head chef at Cabanas as well to make sure they are aware and so they can point you to the safe foods. One of the first things I was told by the Chef is that they do not use peanut oil for the kid's meals but there are the odd foods that they do, he asked me what she likes to eat and we went through the list and there were no issues with those foods. Pretty much the same foods she eats at home lol

Back to the cruise: The nice thing about the sightseeing tour of the island was it left you with half a day free to do what you want. Go in the morning and then you have the afternoon free to hit the beach! or shop...and shopping there is!

Kids Club activities I am sure your daughter will want to go to them a few times, we took her epipen and they store it there while she is attending and yes they do know how to use it, if they have lunch they know what she can and can not eat and keep her away from the kids who are eating things that may cause an issue. One thing about the Mickey Band we had it cut off each time we left because she did have a reaction to the wristband. Not sure if it has latex or what but didn't want to push our luck with keeping it on all the time. I put it in her epipen bag for safe keeping!

We are looking at booking another Fantasy cruise in Oct 2014 will do the East Caribbean again, Mexico has no appeal to us at all.

Happy Cruising!

We did an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy with our 6 yr old daughter who is severely allergic to peanuts and moderately allergic to tree nuts, I was a bit apprehensive when I was looking at port activities that said lunch was provided, as you don't know what their food handling procedures are like, we chose to do the Island tours of Sint Maarten & St Thomas that way we had some freedom over where and what to eat.

Of course I took along her epi pens and gave her liquid claritin prior to the tour, we had breakfast on ship, and took some safe pre-packaged snacks for her. We did not let her have anything food wise that may have been a concern. Sint Maarten we went to McDonalds! lol But I know normally the food is safe there and once she seen the Golden Arches we couldn't talk her out of it. At those 2 ports if you do a shopping- sightseeing tour you will have plenty of options food wise.

As with anything you never know unless you prepare the food yourself if there is a chance of contamination, just make sure to ask anywhere you go if they use peanut oil for cooking. We live in Canada so we have a wide variety of peanut free snacks available and I always make sure to pack some for her. As long as it is in it's original packaging you won't have any issues with bringing it along.

As a side note, DCL is fantastic in regards to allergies even at Cabanas you just talk to the head chef/cook and he advises you on the safe choices and even had a special dessert for our daughter.

Cheers!

There are not many cruise lines that are in the Med in March. Norwegian and MSC are the only kid friendly cruise lines that sail then. Quite a few ships, especially the kid friendly ones, leave at the beginning of October or late September.

Thanks Boulders. I was checking out the MSC site and there are a few that may be of interest. We are off to see my parents in Florida for Christmas so over the holidays we will review all that I have found and then make a decision, Hubby wants to go in Oct as it is our anniversary and his birthday.

Yes a fair number of people dress up on Pirate night, some very elaborate, others a bit more low key. We had a few men who looked just like Jack Sparrow that people did a double take, people with a fake parrot on their shoulder Dress up!! You won't be out of place at all. And like Tonka's Skipper said...there are many families dressed up to the nines....we seen a family of 13 dressed up, right from the 6 month old to the Great grandparents in their 80's. Enjoy it!!!

I have noticed that certain cruise lines the concierge isn't a whole lot more money than a verandah/balcony room. IS it worth it to pay the extra?

We sailed with Disney last month and I had wanted to book a concierge room but they were all sold out for our sailing. I know with Disney they are worth the money as I talked to a few concierge cruisers and they said if I can to book one next time.

There is really no right answer to where to go. Eastern and western Med are both great. Does anyone in your group have an interest in an area? It could be where ancestors came from or just an interest from reading about the area. For us, we just love the eastern Med. Cannot go there enough times.

 

Most of the cruises are port intensive, so the amenities on the ship are of less importance.

Both areas are full of history and we would like to see them both, I'm thinking right now to start with one and then do a repeat cruise to the other!

Thanks for your input!

The only ship I know of in the Med. in summer with a water park is NCL Epic, and she is only doing 7 day Western Med. cruises from Barcelona or Civitavecchia. Disney is out, as they do not have a casino. Carnival will not have any ships in Europe next year. But I would look for a ship with an Eastern itinerary, that includes Venice. The proposal that limits the size of ships entering Venice after Nov. 2014 will eliminate the availability of some of the ships with the most facilities. So next year might be the year to go there. EM

We were considering either March or Oct of next year. Venice would be one of the must sees. Will see what I find. So much to consider. We may have other family members coming along if the timings are right. Hopefully they are less picky than my parents and myself lol

Just pick one and go. We did our first Western Mediterranean from Venice to London in l989. Have lost count on how many we have done over the years. We have done both western and eastern and transatlantics back and forth to Europe to and from Florida and New York. We have cruised from Istanbul, Venice, Rome and Barcelona and to Barcelona, Rome and London. My point each and every port is amazing... you can't go wrong and I would guess if you are anything like us you will go again and again.

 

We are booked on the NAmsterdam from Florida to Barcelona next April and on the Silhouette out of Rome to east in October. It never gets old.

 

Just remember you can't do and see it all. Don't even try -enjoy what you can and plan to return again.

I am beginning to see that a return Med cruise will be in our future. I'm going to get my mom to list her must sees and I know ours. See what we come up with.

Thanks!

You said you want to see a little of everything - how about something like this. If you fly into Paris it is not hard to get to Amsterdam. You will see some of the Eastern and the Western Med. The Constellation does not have a water park but it does have a couple of pools. She is a nice size ship - not to large or too small with plenty to do (if you are not too tired from the ports).

 

Thanks for the suggestion. This would cover a lot of the want to see areas. Gives me a great starting point to work with!

Disney has the best service of the mainstream cruise lines. Was there something about Disney that you weren't happy with? What did you like and what didn't you like about your Disney cruise?

 

Having great service and a waterpark are pretty much mutually exclusive unfortunately.

 

HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam does an eastern and western Med itinerary. It's 24 nights. I did this cruise with my kids, including a 7 year old, last year. We were pretty exhausted afterwards, but we saw some amazing history.

Boulders : We loved Disney, for our first cruise we couldn't have asked for a more perfect experience. Going with my parents to the Med so Disney won't be a good fit with them...no casino for Grampa being the big one. Disney right from the start does all it can to make sure you have an unforgettable experience, we are going to book another Disney Fantasy cruise after we book this one.

I'm not familiar with the other cruise lines other than Disney from our recent cruise and then RCL as a few friends have done the Caribbean which is why I need help. I have a lot of info now to read up on!

Waterpark area isn't a necessity a good kids activity area would be sufficient.

Thanks for your input!

That's the thing, we want to see so many different places. My husband has been to a lot of these countries and wants to take us to Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France. We were considering the West Mediterranean, but the East looks just as awesome especially from a cultural point of view. The history in each of these countries is phenomenal. Which is making the decision of where to go so difficult.

As for amenities on the ship my Dad won't want to do much in the way of port excursions as his knees are not that great for walking so he will more than likely stay put on the ship unless it's a can't miss excursion.

Is there a preferred cruise line for Med cruises? We would do a Disney in a heart beat if it was just the 3 of us, but my parents won't be so enthusiastic to jump onboard lol so we have to balance everyone's wishes.

Time of year? Any preferred time to go? Parents are retired and we are self employed so are pretty flexible with time off, other than daughter missing school we can go for as long as we want.

Is it better to book your own flights? Or go through an agent for everything? We want to fly over to Paris and spend 3 or 4 days there first. Good idea? Or too much?

Hi all!

I am looking at booking at 10-14 day cruise in the Med next year for my parents, my husband, my daughter (7) and myself. Any advice on what a good itinerary would be? East or West Med which is better for inexperienced cruisers? I don't even know where to start other than it has to have a casino for Grampa and a cool waterpark for daughter & Grampa lol

We just came off a 7 day Disney Fantasy cruise to the East Caribbean and are hoping to find a cruise that is going to be even more impressive than that one (service wise)

Thanks everyone for any suggestions you may have for me!!