alalone1017

We are also in an Aft balcony for our December cruise. Like you, we don't have a lot of "extra" money at the moment. A lot of little life surprises recently..new car...my in laws are needing to come live with us due to health reasons...just unexpected stuff. When we got our offer it was SO tempting...we are going to stay in our Aft and we're really happy with that decision...could we swing it, yeah probably...but it would be tight and we hate that feeling. The Haven will surely be there when it's a little more feasible for us...whatever you decide I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

 

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We are also in an Aft balcony for our December cruise. Like you, we don't have a lot of "extra" money at the moment. A lot of little life surprises recently..new car...my in laws are needing to come live with us due to health reasons...just unexpected stuff. When we got our offer it was SO tempting...we are going to stay in our Aft and we're really happy with that decision...could we swing it, yeah probably...but it would be tight and we hate that feeling. The Haven will surely be there when it's a little more feasible for us...whatever you decide I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

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Good to know. I hate feeling like an imposition. Especially when we are able bodied...now I know when they go to help not to insist and be a bigger pain in the butt than we already are..lol

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That is certainly scary. If the weather is bad we would never put anyone in danger. At that point he has everything he needs on the boat and he'd be just as happy staying on board. If the weather is good, you are saying that a collapsible wheel chair is able to go on the tender boat. My husband and myself are there to assist and really we don't require the same crews assistance getting the wheelchair on or off. We hate relying on the crews assistance, it makes us and I'm sure them feel like we're imposing. I was just curious if the wheelchair it's self is allowed to go.

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As far as electric wheelchairs go his is pretty compact and lightweight. He's able to get it in and out of their Equinox himself. Hello has trouble after long periods of time walking. Trying to avoid just having his walker in port as the scoot scoot would be better for all. Weather may be the issue. I haven't had to tender in a while, I forget about that pesky weather business [emoji846]

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Hi ya'll. We are sailing the Epic in December and my father in law uses a lightweight (70 lb) foldable electric wheelchair. Ive read the rules but I have also read conflicting reports on whether people were allowed to take them on the tender boats. He is more than capable of taking the steps to get on, just wondering other people's experience with this. We have time to reconsider the cruise as all 3 ports were going to are tender ports.

Thank you and Happy cruising!

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I'm sorry happyscmom. Cruise Critic is overflowing with mean people. Your post was more of a personal statement/story not asking for anything. I'm glad you got your balcony room for the same amount as your OV. Enjoy your cruise.

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We are on the Epic Dec 15th and Tortola and St. Thomas are still a go on our itinerary.

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Maybe my guy was new...lol. every comment I read stings a little..lol

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I wonder why I was told that then...so silly. Do they get like commission or something..lol. we would have liked to just pay for it and get it out of the way as to not have a balance due on our account before we even ship out. But I was afraid we'd forfeit the perk if we did. I don't like being told one thing but finding out another...

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Similar experience as previous poster. We have the same perk and I just called yesterday to book an excursion and was assured that the $50 credit will be applied after we do the excursion. I was told that you do either have to call the reservation number or book on board for the credit to be applied. He said people book online all the time and expect for the credit to be applied and they will not honor a $50 credit to the stateroom if you pay in full online.

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Such a great review..Thank you for taking your time to do it. Off to plan the next one!

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This kind of bummed me out..we are cruising with my in laws in December. We (or I should say THEY) wanted ajoining rooms as we have a 13 year old so if we were out they could stay with her but still be in their own space being able to leave the door open. My FIL uses a scoot scoot so they needed a HC accessible room...we do not. We were basically told when we booked that if we took the HC accessible room next to them and if they needed the room it sounded like we'd have to sleep in the kitchen. We were scared by the way they made it sound so we booked an aft balcony down the hall. They argued and really did make it sound like we would be downgraded instead of upgraded. Wish I would have seen this a few months ago when we booked.

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Sanford airport is a GREAT option if its available to you. I live right in between Sanford and Orlando and whenever we can we choose Sanford. Its a small airport..tiny really which makes it SO nice.

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Oh my sweet Jesus...you poor thing. It would have been hilarious if you would have just busted into tears and acted like you gave a poo about what he was saying. Men don't know how to react to a woman crying...lol.

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Hmmm..I'm wondering if the Epic info was a typo or if that is in fact true. We are booked on the Epic Dec. 15, 2018 so if what is in the article is true it will certainly affect us somehow...what? I dunno..different ship? I don't really mind. But the rest of the article is talking about 2019 & 2020 sailings so I'm wondering if it was just a date typo. We shall see.

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We stayed in a suite on deck 12..Family suite with large balcony. We (husband and i) our 12 year old daughter AND my in laws. We gave the old people the big bed and my husband and I slept on the pull out couch and our daughter on the pull down bed. We all slept fine. My daughter was actually the one that was the least comfortable. She said the bed wasn't great but was better than a cot..lol. With the 2 beds down and out..it sure made the room a lot smaller...so as soon as you get up..you'll want to hide them away again. Our room guy was awesome and usually did this quite quickly. My husband and I actually fell asleep one night out on the balcony..there are 2 nice loungers out there and we probably would have slept through the night if it wasn't for the mist.

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We stayed in one of those suites in deck 12 as well. I would also book again in a heartbeat. The balcony had 2 loungers, 2 regular chairs and a small table. We never had an issue with noise..I actually really liked laying out in the deck and you could hear music playing from the pool area..not too loud. It was perfect. We were actually crazy enough to share this suite with my in laws...even with that fact...i'd do it again!

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Thanks for sharing this with me. I don't have children, and I will be cruising with friends who will have children. In the past I have worked with children that have been molested, raped, or beaten <|3. I also found out someone whom seemed very normal and is around children a lot was a registered sex offender who raped a <13 yo. I would have never known.

 

Do you know if the children program staff has had a background check?

Good Lord I would hope so but its sad..I'm not really sure. The girls I saw in the kids camp looked very young..my husband laughed at me because I did ask one of them how old they were..she was very sweet and laughed and assured me she was an adult. My daughter just wasn't into the kids camps. We're very fortunate that our daughter still thinks were cool and likes to hang out with us. I'm also very fortunate that when we cruise its usually with one of our parents. So we still do have an opportunity to go on a "date night." I have friends that love the camps and their kids love the camps. So much so that the kids get sad when they have to hang out with the parents..lol. This last cruise we went on though it was crazy the amount of young teens were off in corners after dark making out and stuff. I just asked my daughter to never be that girl..that kinda freaked me out..lol

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Did you feel like your daughter was safe there with the kids program?

That's a tricky question for me..lol. As her mother..I was still really nervous. There was a lot of reassuring from my husband that she was fine and a lot of "this is where ill be.." "you won't let her leave on her own right?" And I was comforted in the fact that I completely forgot to add my mother in law on the account to be able to sign her out and they would not allow her to leave with her...For me...it was hard. And I will say on the last two cruises that we have been on..I was a little more comfortable that the majority of the staff were girls as well. My daughter is still super awkward around boys. She has only ever been in the care of family members or trusted family friends. She just recently within the last two years has gone to birthday parties without us...and to be honest...I worry. Maybe it's because she's an only child..maybe its because I don't trust strangers...I'm sure its because I was almost abducted when I was 15. I just feel at her age...she's still too young to be left alone. It works for us. This family just must not have the trust issues I do. That's ok...it just unfortunately led to a horrible thing happening and thankfully it was not worse. Being touched is bad enough.

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Just wondering, did you leave her at the day care on cruise ships when she was younger?

No...we didn't cruise when she was younger. We started cruising within the last few years. She did go to the ships children's program a few times, did not care for it too much and opted to hang out with us...which is cool.

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Umm I have a 12 year old daughter and absolutely NO. I find it absolutely crazy that other people I know think I'm too overprotective or "she's going to rebel one day" because I have never allowed my child to go to a sleepover or I don't allow her to be left home alone. Ya know...I am not judging the parents, we all parent differently. If my daughter was too tired and wanted to nap..I would have taken the opportunity to either relax with her or read a book. Being on vacation..you are still in unfamiliar places, situations, and take the opportunity to enjoy the "down time" with your kids...we rarely get that anymore with the running around with sports and school activities. I hope the girl and her family find some peace and closure.

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**Caution..Super squishy Mitsugirly love Colin at ya**

I love the layout of the website you're creating. It looks super easy to navigate..its not crazy busy..it looks very clean, not like a lot of websites you go to that are SO stressful to look at. I think its just fantastic. Love reading your reviews. Its nice to have someone's perspective that is honest and tells it like they see it. I also think its awesome that you are documenting all these memories for Sakari. Does Kendra do reviews as well? I always thought that would be cool to see you both do a review and get that mother/daughter commentary. See the differences..

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