vmom

My cruise companion may need to cancel our cruise due to a cancer diagnosis of her husband. There are 4 of us, 2 cabins. I still want to go.

The cruise is in less than 30 days, so no refunds from the cruise line.

We have travel insurance with Allianz.

Is it better to have her just be a no show and then I can cruise as planned with no single supplement and she would get reimbursed from the insurance company?

or does she need to cancel the cruise beforehand even though she won’t get any refunds and I would be required to pay a single supplement? 

8 minutes ago, AE_Collector said:

Yet I frequently heard that two unrelated people (even if they were related but had different last names) could both apply for the shareholder benefit as long as they each owned 100 shares. Being married with the same last name and owning 600 CCL shares, some in joint names and some in our individual names yet we only qualified for one shareholders benefit.

I travel frequently with a friend (different last name, no relation to each other) and was told it’s one CCL shareholder credit per cabin. She recently purchased CCL shares and I was going to do the same, but we were told it won’t make a difference, only one credit per cabin. 

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I can't imagine this making it *easier* to get seating!!

Well…I wondered if they had an event in a different location maybe that would be 600-800 fewer people trying to get a seat in the main theater. 

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

When is this on the Regal?

Jan 29th sailing. It’s an Irish themed cruise with Irish bands and singers. 

We will be on the Sky and Regal for a total of 3 weeks.
I found out that one week has a large musically themed group cruise for about 800 passengers and another week has a music themed group cruise for 600-800 passengers.

I’ve never been on a sailing with a large group before, especially one that because they are music themed, could use the main venues for concerts and group events. 

Curious to hear any feedback as to how this impacts the passengers who are not part of the group? 

Wondering if this will make it easier to get a seat in the main theater or will there be fewer shows available for the rest of us? How about other public venues?

if I pre-purchase wifi before my cruise and for some reason I later need to cancel the cruise , do I get a refund for the wifi? 
 

I’m booked for a cruise in 2024. Right now I have every intention of sailing. 
I was thinking of purchasing the wifi package now before the price goes up.

I have picked up the medallions at the port for the last 4 cruises,

It takes 30-60 seconds, if that. 
 

The medallions are well organized and the cruise rep is able to grab them quickly. It doesn’t add more time to the check in process. 

Did you smell any exhaust or other unpleasant smell on the balcony from the rear elevator and back?

Looking at booking a balcony on the Grand in the area around and further back than the rear elevators, around A 700’s and back. 

 

thank you!!!

Are you less likely to have your flights changed to new flights if you request early ticketing?

 I do this all the time with EZ air. I am from the Midwest and the person I travel with is from California. We book our flights separately using EZ Air, often with different dates and always with different airports as she flys out of LAX and I fly out of Chicago. 

We were able to get a paid upgrade from an obstructed ocean view to a balcony.

$20/day for a 10 day cruise…so $200 or $100 per person. 
 

It was well worth it. 

34 minutes ago, Coral said:

VMOM - how many people are on your sailing?

 

Can you tell me what times the shows are at night?

 

Thanks.

We have approximately 1500 passengers.

It’s the most they’ve had since resuming sailing. There’s been some difficulties with adjusting from the small numbers of passengers to 1500 so quickly but the crew has been fantastic. The main difficulty has been with seating in the dining room prior to 7:00.  Too many people want to eat early and there’s not enough tables available. 
By my observation, not by any person of authority, it looks like when 2 or 3 groups are seated at one large table, they are trying to keep a chair open between the groups. Also I’ve noticed many tables for 4-6 with only 2 people which further reduced the availability of  tables. I’m wondering if that may change due to the high demand for earlier seating times. 

There’s 2 different shows usually.

Princess theater entertainment is at 7:00 and 9:00.

Vista lounge shows are 8:00 and 10;00. 
Live music at the Explorer Lounge and Wheelhouse Bar/lounge.

The cruise director has been great and  the Vista Lounge is being well utilized for a change in the evenings.  

I talked to the passenger service desk. He said they have had several similar complaints. He said it was the exhaust  from the stack and is dependent on the direction of the wind and direction of the exhaust. 
 

I’m enjoying the views from inside but I hope we will eventually get to sit outside on the balcony.

Funny, I’ve been on side aft balconies before on other ships but never had this problem before. 
 

I’m close to the rear elevators so maybe the secret is going forward of the rear elevators? 
 

I like cabins towards the rear since it’s an easy elevator ride up to the Lido deck.

Thank you everyone for your responses .

if anyone has any suggestions as to if this is a problem on other ships or how to avoid this in the future, please , I’d love to hear your feedback.

We went on a half day sail boat excursion. We might have booked through the cruise line but I don’t remember. The sail was a wonderful way to spend the day.

There’s a small town to walk around. The people were very friendly and welcoming. 

We are currently on the Grand in a balcony cabin deck 12/Aloha deck towards the  rear close to the rear elevator but not an aft cabin. It’s only day 2 but we have a strong smell of fuel when out on the balcony so we have not been able to sit outside on our balcony.

Is this common or well known problem with balconies in the upper rear section of this ship?

I have been in this same location on other Princess ships (deck under the Buffet) but never had this smell before.

I’m hoping it’s just a matter of some adjustment or fix that will be resolved but I’m doubtful. What have others experienced in this location?

Having a wonderful time on the cruise and the staff is fantastic.

I’m guessing but I’m wondering how much of this is due to the reduced number of passengers on the ships. As the passenger numbers return to closer to normal I think many of these venues will be reinstated.

I read recently a post that the poster took the covid test at the Fort Lauderdale airport at reasonable cost and results in about 30 minutes. Have you looked at the FLL website about covid testing there?

Was just in Antigua. I never felt unsafe. There’s lots of people around.

Regarding the police escort for tourist buses: we were told by many sources that the escort was for us to have priority on the roads.  Traffic can be horrible and the government does not want tourists delayed by traffic jams. The buses get to go around all the traffic and get priority around the congested areas. 

On 11/24/2019 at 3:06 PM, LocoLoco1 said:

Curiously, Holland-Amer. also never explicitly had 'Antigua On Your Own' any time we stopped there. But there was the motorcoaches, there was all us the passengers getting aboard. It's the ONLY way to get to Antigua account the long distance thru mountains, IMHO. We will be back in Apr. 2020.

I just got off the Rotterdam. There is now an excursion called, Antigua on your own. They provide transportation and give information about the country and town on the way there.

I would think so, but if you run a bit short they take US dollars in Antigua. 

I agree with a previous post.  Ideally, it would be nice to have one person on the ship in charge of assisting with these unexpected events which happen quite regularly on ships.  More often than we think.

Ideally, the people had or should have had travel insurance. Travel insurance companies typically have an emergency concierge service.  Someone from the ship should have assisted the family in making contact with the emergency service from the Travel insurance company and also to make sure that the port agent was on top of the situation.  In a case like this, they needed assistance in finding a hotel and travel back.  It doesn't matter whether they were on a cruise ship sponsored excursion or not. 

I was on the Zaandam in June.  No lanai rooms that open up onto the Promenade deck, so lots of deck chairs available for everyone.  

We really prefer the anytime or "as you wish" dining.  We go to the dining room when we want, usually between 5-6 o'clock and tell them what size table we prefer.  We usually ask to be seated with others, but prefer a table for 6 as we enjoy meeting new people.  If we have a preference for where the table is located, we state that.  I love the flexibility of the dining.   

You have the option to ask to be seated at the same table  each night, but then usually you have a set time to be there.  We like the flexibility of not having to be at the dining room at a specific time. We like to eat early, but sometimes it's 5 and sometimes its 6 o'clock.  With set dining time you loose the flexibility. 

With as you wish dining/anytime dining, when you are seated, you  are usually given a table in which they are currently seating others who have just arrived at the dining room, so no one has  started eating yet unless its the bread at the table.  Usually everyone at the table is in sync with each other in terms of delivery of courses for the meal. 

I've been to Glacier Bay twice and Edicott Arm once.  We were supposed to go to Tracy Arm but couldn't get through due to ice as it was early in the season.  They are really quite different. When cruising down Endicott Arm,  I loved cruising down the arm seeing all the seals with the baby seals on the icebergs.  I found the scenery as we were sailing down the arm in a narrow channel with land close by on each side to be stunning.  We saw different wildlife  including seals, sea otters and birds and even a bear on the shore. Glacier Bay was beautiful but vast.  You are not as close to the land but the overall landscapes are beautiful.  Several glaciers are in the area.  I didn't see any wild  life cruising around Glacier Bay as compared to Endicott Arm. 

5 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

We just got off the Rotterdam after 46 days.   There are about 20 chairs on each side of the ship that are available for anyone to use.  From what I observed on my walking the deck on sea days there was no problem getting the available chairs.The Lani cabins have 2 chairs and they have a different color padding and are marked reserved.  

 

I would also suggest that if you are doing the canal that there is a little know forward deck, I think it is 6 that you can go out front and see the entire front of the ship and go side to side.  This is where I go for viewing coming into ports.  You get to it from the port side hall - go all the way forward - turn left - go through 2 doors and then right and you are on the deck.  Great place to view coming and going to ports.

great tip! Thanks.  Is this forward viewing area open frequently or only during scenic sailing?