Gilgorm

On 12/21/2023 at 11:21 AM, Numer3 said:

What have you found works for you while cruising? I know people really like the patch. I don’t. I have used the pressure point stretchy bracelets. They are easy and I think helps somewhat.

 

Bonine non drowsy…even 1/4th of a tablet knocks me out if I take it during the day. But on past cruises I’ve taken that amount each night. 

 

Just looking to hear others experiences…our cruise is Sunday out of Galveston on Harmony. 

Thanks!

Hi OP,

Just wondering what you ended up using on your cruise and how effective it was.

D.

We are a party of 5 (3 adults and 2 children). We plan to self disembark from Freedom of the Seas as soon as we can leave the ship.

Our 1pm flight to Canada was changed by the airline to 11:45 am. Will it be easy to get a cab that will accommodate all of us to take us to the Miami airport? I have not used Uber or Lyft before.

Any recommendations/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

My daughter suffers from extreme sea sickness. She tried all the traditional remedies previously suggested with no success.

I met a nurse who previously worked on a cruise ship and she told me the MD on the cruise ship recommended passengers take the over-the-counter antihistamine, Cetirizine 10mg. This is usually taken for allergies. The brand name in the U.S. is Zyrtec, in Canada it is Reactine.

My daughter would take it once a day at 4pm while on a cruise. The effects were amazing. She had no drowsiness and more importantly no further nausea or vomiting. She was able to enjoy her dinners at the main dining room and the ship's evening activities.

This may not work for you but it worked for her. I tried it on my Alaska cruise and it worked for me too.

She already has it purchased for her next cruise in February.

Last week I attended Cosol's St. Lucia island tour for the 3rd time. 3 vans.

Once again I had a great time. 

On this tour the mud bath was offered. I was hesitant to partake but I am glad I did. Would wear a dark coloured bathing suit as recommended.

Great value for your money.

Cold drinks including water, pop, local beer and rum punch were offered at 3 of the stops.

Back to the ship in plenty of time.

I would not hesitate to take this tour again.

On your arrival, in your state room, will be a page listing all of the Select benefits.

The only two offers I used on my recent sailing of the Summit was the backstage tour and the senior officer's party.

For the backstage tour we had to call the extension number listed on the page the day before the tour to register.

Even though it was not written on the sheet you must wear closed toe shoes to attend the tour.

At the officer's party there were pre-poured alcoholic drinks and hors d'oeuvres offered.

Enjoy

I agree with everyone else. Very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!

On 11/26/2019 at 10:56 PM, Dawg74 said:

Hi all

 

i have been away from the forum for a while but I was hoping to get a little advice.  My wife and I have been on 8 cruises over the years, my wife gets motion sick quite easily so she has always worn the patch behind her ear and it’s worked great.  Last year we took a cruise for 12 days, a couple days after disembarking my wife became very ill, nauseated, dizzy, headache, it was like she was sea sick on land.  Our doctor said she was likely having withdrawal side effects from the patch, he suggested she try something else in future.  My wife isn’t sure what to try, and she is nervous about being sea sick without the patch but also doesn’t want to get sick from wearing it.  Has anyone else gone through something like this?  We don’t want to give up cruising but my wife certainly doesn’t want to be sick on vacation nor does she want to deal with side effects after the trip.  

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Devin

Hello,

If by chance you live in Canada, the drug several people have recommended Bonine (meclizine) is no longer available in Canada.

My daughter has severe motion sickness. 

After trying many different things, my daughter tried Cetirizine (antihistamine) after receiving this recommendation from a nurse who previously worked on a cruise ship. Trade name is Reactine in Canada and Zyrtec in the U.S. It is usually used for allergies but this certainly worked for her. It is taken once a day. No side effects noted. 

I was queasy on my Alaska cruise and took it and it worked for me too. 

Worth a try. 

Donna

Thank you everyone for answering my question. 

D.

2 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Day at Sea Day 7

 

Well it finally came.  The most dreaded day of any cruise.  The day you have to pack, put luggage tags on and remember what drawer you shoved all you stuff in on day 1.  This happens to be our first and only sea day of the cruise.  While the shop has felt empty all week, you can certainly tell its full today.

 

I had booked a spin class at 9am today and didn’t want a. Big breakfast right before it so DW and I ordered off of the expansive room service menu for breakfast.  A fruit smoothie, danishes, hard boiled eggs and cereal awaited us at 7:30 this morning.  We enjoyed it out on the balcony on a beautiful sea day morning.

 

I headed to the gym and DW went to wander the ship.  My spin class was $17, which is a little less than wasn’t it goes for on land so that wasnt bad.  As spin classes go this one was one of the better ones I have done on a ship.  Nothing beats Royal Caribbean, but then again they have a monster of a ship on the Oasis Class and can afford to do spin classes right.  One thing I was mad about, before leaving I had emailed the fitness question inbox asking about the pedals on the spin bikes.  They told be they were just regular pedals so I left my shoes at home.  I should have brought them anyway because in addition to the pedals with cages they also had SPD clips I could have used my shoes for.  It was only one class so it wasnt a big deal, but it would have been nice for them to know what they actually had onboard their ships.

 

After the workout we got ready for the day and headed to Bacio before lunch.  I went to the Captain’s Club Desk and inquired about the number of passengers onboard.  Here is what they provided:

 

2212 total passengers

2 Zenith

916 in all other levels of the Captains Club

 

That’s a lot of first timers onboard.  She even made a comment that it was unusual to have so many.  The ship certainly didn’t feel like it had 2200+ people on board........except the pool deck.  It was a hot mess up there, literally and figuratively.  We walked through that’s lord of the flies nightmare and headed right to the buffet for lunch.  While busy it never felt crowded and they had an impressive selection today.  I feel like the buffet has slowly gotten better each day we were onboard.

 

After lunch we again put out heads down and plowed through the cowards around the pool and headed to the balcony.  We were sailing though a light storm  and the temperature had dropped.  It was a beautiful afternoon with the passing showers and the fantastic protection from the deck above.

 

We enjoyed the afternoon out here until it was time too get ready for dinner.

 

Here are tonight’s dinner menus

 

 

 

 

DW had the spinach salad, and the chicken.

 

 

 

I had the Scallop, the Thai coconut soup (wasnt that great so I swapped it out for the French Onion soup, which was delicious), and the arugula salad, with the prime rib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I missed the desserts, but DW got a baked apple and I had the guava sorbet.

 

After dinner we needed to pack so we headed back to the room and packed away.  I read some more and ended up reading 3 and a half books this cruise which was awesome!  I don’t make enough time at home to read so it was so much fun to get through that many books in a week.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a terrific review of your cruise. Most appreciated. 

We will be on Summit in February, only 77 days to go. lol. Lots of cold, snowy days to endure before we are on the ship. We can't wait.

Did you happen to notice if there was a Love and Marriage game? Similar to the Newlywed game of the past. 

Have a safe trip home. 

D. 

I was wondering if the Celebrity Summit has something similar to the Love and Marriage game that is on the Royal Caribbean sailings? Very entertaining.

D.

On 11/10/2019 at 1:02 PM, klfr said:

http://crew-center.com/cruise-ships-ports-schedules-2020  I used this website.  

Thanks for this info. 

Very helpful for my upcoming cruise in February.

D.

When I booked my direct return  flights to San Juan from Toronto I ended up paying only 10 dollars more than what I paid 5 years ago. My travel agent commented on how good the price was. She too told me that a lot of people change their mind from leaving on a cruise from San Juan due to the airfare cost.

Yes my airfare is more than if I left out of Florida but the upside to me is more ports and less sea days. 

My favourites are still St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Barbados.

D. 

Dear Alcpa 1,

Thanks for the heads up re where the ship is now docked in St. Thomas. This was news to me. Where the ship now docks in Crown Bay is there any shopping within walking distance?

D.

In the past I have been on the southern route a total of 5 times. I have been to the majority of the islands you have listed in the 3 choices.

In February 2020, I am booked on the first itinerary (San Juan > at sea > Barbados > St. Lucia > Antigua > St. Kitts > St. Thomas > San Juan) but in reverse order.

I chose this one mainly because of St. Lucia and Barbados.

I plan to book Cosol's island tour for St. Lucia (have been on it twice already and thoroughly enjoyed it) and go to the Boatyard in Barbados for a day at the beach. In St. Thomas we will walk to the Havensight Mall which is across the street from the port. No plans for St. Kitts or Antigua. 

D.

How far in advance can you order luggage tags? My cruise is early February 2020.

Thanks,

D.

I will be sailing of Celebrity Summit in February 2020. To date Celebrity only offers one post cruise tour with airport drop off but it is to the Bacardi Distillery which doesn't really interest me. I would prefer to do a tour of Old San Juan.

Can anyone recommend a private tour company that may offer this type of itinerary and airport drop off. 

Thanks,

D.

Thanks everyone for your advice. 

D.

I have read that you are allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine per cabin onto the ship.

My question is: does the wine have to be in your luggage or can it be in your carry on? 

D.

Hello,

I am booked for February 2020.

According to the floor plans on line it shows a library on the 8th deck mid ship across from the elevators. Is this still there? Are there books still available or just a few chairs to relax in?

Thanks,

D.

On 3/19/2018 at 9:05 PM, jkgourmet said:

 

Actually, it's not the only way. One can drink all the water and soft drinks they want in the dispensers in the buffet area(s). One can take a beverage package as one of their incentives.

 

OR one can not worry about it and realize that they are going to buy water and soda at home, and just enjoy themselves while on vacation. . .

 

If these alternatives don't suit, maybe it's time to switch to another cruise line where bringing cases of water and soda are very acceptable and common, right along with the rum runners.

 

Sorry if I sound snotty, but passengers complain bitterly about cruise lines that "nickle and dime". I don't get how doing stuff like this isn't nickle and diming, too. Do you bring your own soda, water, booze to a land based restaurant? It's a rhetorical question, because I know that y'all are gonna blast me.

Yes, you are sounding snotty.

These are boards are meant for people to ask questions and not be judged for those same questions.

Get a grip.

D

p.s. To the OP, I bring a couple of my own bottles of pop on board. I don't drink enough pop to justify the daily cost for the pop packages offered by the cruise ships.

My daughter suffered badly from sea sickness. She tried the remedies previously recommended with no success. On the advice of a colleague who previously worked as a nurse on a cruise ship she tried an antihistamine called Cetirizine 10mg once daily (in Canada the trade name is Reactine). This is usually used for allergy symptoms. 

Using this over the counter medication was a turn around moment for her. She has used it on 4 cruises since then with tremendous success. She is now able to enjoy cruising and especially the sea days.

Hope this helps.

D.

Hello,

It sounds like you plan to take many pictures. My daughter would either go after midnight or first thing in the morning and take a picture of the elevator floor which has the day of the week on it as soon as you enter any of the many elevators. This way it was easy for her to sort what day of the week her pictures were taken.

Just a thought.

D.

Considering the chaos we all experienced when we embarked onto the ship, I found the disembarkation process to be very calm in comparison.

The Windjammer on the morning we left was not as busy as I have experienced in the past.

I did self disembarking for the first time. We left the ship at 7:30. A breeze. Would do it again for sure.

D.

Perfect!

Thanks so much for taking the time to send this. D.

Hello,

I was on the April 8 -14, 2018 Freedom of the Seas cruise. Had a great time.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring home the Cruise Compasses.

Any chance any one from my sailing or a previous recent sailing of the Western route has a copy of the Cruise Compass that contains the profile of the Crew including the Captain etc?

Thanks in advance for your help

D.

p.s. If anyone has any questions about the cruise please feel free to ask.