salty dingo

A crewmember told me that when someone dies, they are placed in a freezer to minimize the decomposition of the body.

I want to be locked in the beer cooler. They say you can't take it with you, but I would try :D!

They have special accomodations for the dearly departed. You can view it here.

Hey - if you die before the first non-US port of call, can your estate invoke the Vacation Guarantee? It would be a shame to lose those cruise days just because you die!

We stayed one day pre-cruise and one day post-cruise at the Westin Moana Surfrider.

Pluses:

- Location. It is directly across from International Marketplace and right on the beach. I think it is in the ideal Waikiki location.

- Ambience. It's very "plantation" like with high ceilings and wide open spaces. We stayed in the historic Banyan wing and were impressed with the condition of the room.

- Price. DW's brother works for Westin so we got a "Star-Hot" rate. It's very low but requires an authorization form. On our post-cruise night, I lost the form, so they charged us a $198 rate. I'm not sure if that is good for a regular rate but I think it is. I did have a copy of the form on my computer and transferred it to a USB key and the concierge printed it out for me for free. They then adjusted the rate down to where it should be.

- Free boarding passes. There is a kiosk at the concierge which lets you log in to any airline website and check in and print your boarding passes. We used USAirways which has a crummy website and the kiosk's security would not allow the passes to print. I did call the 24x7 help like and a man in India took remote control of the kiosk and gave me Administrator permission to get around the security and I was able to print my boarding passes. Still, it was a hassle.

Minuses:

- Expensive Internet. We used our own "pay as you go" internet which also worked great on the ship and at all the islands.

- Live Entertainment. Most would not consider this a negative, but they had a man signing and playing acoustic guitar (with amplifier and microphone) right under our window. He was very good and the crowd loved him, but he played until 11 PM which, as we are from the East, was way, way too late to be shaking the walls. On the flip side, when the racket was over, we could hear the waves crashing which was very relaxing and peaceful (unlike the entertainer.)

Considering that a cruise ship IS a hotel in every aspect, then yes, if land hotels occasionally have an infestation then cruise ships will as well.

The bugs ride in luggage, and travel along with people. It's really not that common nor is it something to lose sleep over.

Can one person really use 100 lbs of stuff, plus a carryon, for a week on a ship? Yikes!

Nope, per taxi.

The taxi is really the best way to go!!

We absolutely love the steakhouse, and it is a must-do for each cruise. It was just the two of us, and the food and ambience were wonderful.

If you are traveling with younger kids, you may want to skip the steakhouse, or arrange for them to be in the Camp Carnival or with someone while you eat there... it's not the kind of place kids would like and at $30 each its probably not a good deal for them.

In all seriousness, duty officers have 4 hours on followed by 8 hours off, around the clock. Not sure if the Captain follows that schedule... probably not.

When they do the mid-air refueling they often drop in a new captain.

 

On the cruise ships, they keep an ample reserve of captains down below.

I agree... unless you like to hang out in bars all the time, the best best is to bring your own booze.

I read through the whole review and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a bunch of useful information there, which I know we will use in our upcoming cruise. Thanks especially for all the pictures.

I would not risk an 11:20 am flight, but that's just me. It's a much nicer experience to spend the night in Seattle post-cruise if you can swing it. Then you have your pick of flights the next day, and you get another day of vacation.

1) cruiseline/ship Majesty

2) sail date 5/2008

3) days before sail date when contacted 5 weeks

4) price per person 80.00 total

5) from what category to the new category K to DD

6) did you take it yes

7) was it worth it will let you know in May (but how could it not be?)

Final payment has been made so then if she wants to go alone it will not cost her anything since the cruiseline has already been paid. Is this correct? The sick passenger would just submit a claim to the insurance for his share back.

I disagree - that does not sound right at all. If this were true, the sick person who purchased the insurance would not be out any money, and the person taking over the spot would cruise for free, and the insurance company would be paying for it! That's not right!

I think if someone took over the booking and sailed that person would either have to pay the usual fare, or the insurance company would deny the claim because the fare was indeed being used.

You see, if someone substitutes a name on a reservation and sails, there is no claim to be made, since no cruise was lost. In that case, presumably the person sailing would pay the sick person directly and no claim would be filed.

If a claim is filed and paid, that person's cruise fare should not be transferred to anyone else. If someone wants to sail in that space they should pay the going rate like everyone else!

You can actually go into the NCL seaweb site and specify a "push beds together" attribute on your booking. That is actually something the travel agent or NCL should do, but if you know how you can do it yourself.

When the booking is flagged, the cabin steward will be notified to push beds together when they prepare the room for you. If you do not do anything, the beds are apart by default.

If they don't cut me any breaks I should wait until the 26th to cancel because it is a 50% refund up until 7 days before the cruise that regardless of if I cancel earlier.

Yes, I would delay to the last minute, if for no other reason than it may be possible your wife's Dr. changes his opinion and says the cruise is OK, and presumably you still would want to go in that case. That is, unless you need the refund money sooner.

I don't think there are any "damages" to NCL due to your cancelling. If someone booked six months ago, or two weeks ago, and then cancels at a certain number of days before the cruise, the end result is the same: NCL has x days to fill that cabin. How long ago you booked it does not change that there are only x days left when you cancel. It is the short window that is the problem - NCL may have to cut the price to get someone to buy that cabin if the voyage is not selling well. If you got a good discount two weeks ago, that is probably the case.

Now, if you can find someone to go in your place, you can ask them to change the names on the booking, and that would be a MUCH lower cost to you than the cancel penalties.

But if you cancel, I don't think there is any precedent to change the cancel policy. I would be shocked if NCL offered any sort of remedy short of the full cancellation fee.

There also seems to be very little sympathy or weight given to the fact that we only booked this cruise 2 weeks ago so how much can NCL really be out.

It's not a matter of how long ago you booked or how much they are out. You could have booked 10 minutes ago and, if you book within the penalty period, you will have to pay a penalty to cancel for any reason. Even a really good reason like an unexpected medical condition.

Travel Insurance is a good idea in these circumstances. If you had bought it before you found out the news, you may have been eligible for reimbursement.

One reason the cruise lines sometimes discount heavily after the penalty period begins is they know people can't back out easily, so they offer a good rate to make them commit.

A note from the doctor re: pregnancy would be no different than any other medical condition, in my opinion. NCL does not waive cancellation penalties for medical conditions. I think the penalty will apply.

And, we too, stay away from her mushrooms but her Martini's are the BEST;)

Yeah, I think it has to be either the bong water or the shrooms. One or the other. :D

"Bong!" NCL Sun (I believe, right now). "Bong Water" is the drink! LOL!:eek: He does magic and is a super nice guy!

Bong water?? OMG, sounds like the old college days. Does it come in a souvenier bong?

Wow, what a super review - detailed and humorous. I think there will be stories to tell from that cruise, from now on!

I know from personal experience that many of the routine medicines that need a prescription in the US do not need them in other countries. Case in point: I needed anti-amoebic in Guatemala... symptoms and treatment are obvious, and the local convenience store has the drug. It would be silly to have to pay for a doctor's prescription, but that is how it is here in the US (doctors have clout, you know.)

Any serious sleeping pill or narcotic would need a prescription.