Katgoesonholiday

That's really useful Pepper! Thank you!

Late last year there was a promotion that included a free beverage package for drinks up to US$9. I made final payment recently and my travel agent was a pains to make sure I was aware that each time we ordered a drink on the package the 15% service fee would still be added to our onboard account.

It's not an issue to us but I was wondering whether this was normal practice. I had assumed that there would be no charge but now I think about it, it is obvious there is a logical difference between the actual physical drink and the service required to provide it to me.

We are so looking forward to this. We plan on heading into the city after school/work to have a good gawk with the kids.

125 days till we will be on her for our first transatlantic!

I really enjoyed our cruise on the MSC Preziosa and wouldn't hesitate to cruise on them again.

Our basic rule is that all phones are on airplane mode whilst traveling. Our teen is on a prepaid plan (as are my husband and I) and before we travel we do the checklist to make sure we have all relevant settings turned off to avoid excess charges.

He loves his phone and uses it constantly. But he copes fine without access to Internet when traveling.

I actually think I end up eating less.

At home I prepare three meals a day for three boys plus myself and my husband. It's very easy to 'graze'!

On cruises I enjoy eating in the restaurants and can only at a certain amount each meal. Since I'm not continually snacking whilst preparing meals I end up eating much less.

Strange nobody mentioned a 'Nanna Nap' or a 'Grand Pa Nap' when you first hit your cabin. LOL.

We did that on our first cruise! We had grand intentions of checking out the ship, having a swim, enjoying a few drinks etc etc. But in the event, the r laity was that I had travelled Auckland to London, London to Venice the day before and we hadn't got to sleep in our hotel room in Venice till well after midnight. Excitement meant I was up at sparrows fart and dragged my poor husband all over Venice before breakfast. So by 2pm we were completely shattered and spent the first few hours on the ship having a nana nap!

The second cruise was with the kids so we went straight to the restaurant to eat (opted to steer clear of the buffet on the first day) by the time we finished lunch the cabins were ready so we go our carry on into our rooms, changed into swim wear and went for a swim and an explore around the top deck. We saw a manatee swimming and the wharf and discovered the pizza kiosk! It was a great start to the cruise so I reakon we'll do something similar for the next two we have scehduled.

We are watching it now and it's giving us fascinating insight and context for our upcoming Baltic cruise.

Thank you for posting this recommendation.

I came across this thread earlier on in the week: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1256265

In July we are taking a two week cruise with our three sons on a ship that has no public laundry. I'm a little worried! I'll try not to be 'that' person but I'm not making any guarentees!

I had it after my first cruise - a week long Mediterranean cruise - but not after my second.

It was bad for around three days then tapered off over the rest of a week.

It was worst when I was in a small space - showers were pretty nauseating - and vanished when I was on a gondola or a plane.

We have a Celebrity cruise booked for July next year. We have already changed from our original plans which was to cruise the Mediterranean. When things started getting more uncertain with the migrant crisis and the Greek economic crisis we decided to book a Baltic cruise instead.

Our cruise is a long way off so I'm refusing to indulge in a knee jerk reaction. Things would have to get a lot worse before it affects our future travel.

One thing we have found very useful is a ultra lightweight popup mesh laundry basket which I bought at Ikea. So much easier to use than laundry bags. It weighs next to nothing and, when not in use, lives permanently in the front pocket of my suitcase.

Those are fabulous! I use one I got at a $2 shop and it was heavily used on our last holiday due to having three kids!

Oh yes! Definitely the small shoulder bag! It's great to have something to pop stuff into to leave your hands free.

I also got a lanyard for the kids to hold their sign & sail card. I tended to keep mine in the same pocket as my phone - which kept wiping it - so next time it's getting a pocket in the shoulder bag.

Definitely more money!

Also I wish I had bought jandals! Our first cruise was in the Mediterranean and the pool decks got flipping hot!!!

Things I bought and was glad of included ear plugs, anti nausea pills, band aids, nail clippers.

Things I could have left behind and not missed included half my dresses and at least two of my pairs of shoes.

We stayed at Hotel Arlecchino just off the Piazzale Roma. http://www.hotelarlecchino.com

It was an easy walk to the people mover for the port but wasn't right on the big car park of piazzale roma. Our room overlooked a canel which was magical to awaken to! The breakfast was good and the hotel seemed very popular with cruisers. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

This is excellent! I'm getting really excited about our crossing next July!

If you can possibly do a private cruise, not with a small group, but private, you will be able to see so much more and not wait in line. There will be times when you are in rooms alone and for photos it will be wonderful, Yes, it is expensive, yet worth every penny!!! We had two full days and were always driven to every entrance and treated like royalty, seeing everything we wanted to see without being so tired. We went in 2014!!!

Which company did you do it with? We have booked a private 2 day deluxe tour with SPB.

 

Those of you here, that are so adamant that you take your children everywhere with you no matter how inappropriate because it suits you, when was the last time you went away just with your mate? I highly recommend it.

July 2014 for two weeks when we left the kids with my mum and sister and went on a cruise in the Mediterranean.

NEVER AGAIN!!!

I missed my boys too much! They are great kids - articulate, funny, insightful - and we hated being away from them. Our eldest is 14 and the youngest is 7. That gives us roughly 12 more years to enjoy family holidays together before they are all grown up and we can take all the 'couples holidays' we want. So we've decided that they come with us - and that includes on Celebrity for two weeks next year on an itinerary that many have said is completely inappropriate for kids but that I am sure my boys will get a huge amount out of.

I feel a little sad for those who are so vocal about having couples holidays. It makes me think that maybe they don't enjoy their kids and their time together as family as much as my husband and I do. Enjoy this time! Revel in your kids - it is so short and it's gone in a flash!

We used public toilets in Istanbul and they were just the normal ones we are used to. Take coins though because some need coins for entry. The ones near the cafe in the Topkapi Palace are free though.

The fact that you are non Turkish and are in the tourist district will more surely give away the fact you aren't a local than your manner of dress.

We found Istanbul to be a very cosmopolitan city and we dressed for comfort in the July heat and did not feel at all inappropriate. Obviously we dressed so we could enter the mosques - for me that meant Capri pants with a loose fitting tshirt and a headscarf tucked into my bag.

There are pictures on my blog (link below) which will show what people were wearing around us on the day we visited.

We wore shorts in Istanbul last year - along with about 99% of the other people we saw in the Sultanhemet district. It was a VERY hot day and we were super glad we did.

I'll join you with rolling eyes at poor parents! My kids are well behaved because that is the standard we expect and enforce. But it makes my job infinitely harder if little Johnny is doing bombs into the pool and I'm having to tell my kids that it's not okay behaviour even though little Johnny's mommy is letting her precious petal do this. Likewise when little miss Posy is running and yahooing through the hallways and I am reminding my sons that we WALK in hallways.

Thankfully they are getting to the age where they can understand that not all parents have the same standards of behaviour and sometimes other people's parents behave poorly and don't encourage good sociable behaviour in their offspring.

So in summary, I don't have any sympathy with people who are appalled at normal well behaved kids infringing on THEIR cruise line - but I'll be among the first to skewer a misbehaving brat with my finely honed Mom glare whether said brat belongs to me or not. [emoji13]

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As you may see from my signature we booked the Eclipse Baltic cruise on the 19th June next year.

Fascinating thread! I am booked on the sailing a month after you - with my three young sons. I hope we don't have any snotty people looking down their noses at me and my kids but if they do then its not my problem, its theirs. :D

Fantastic review! I really enjoyed it. Thank you for posting.