kdzgon

Can anyone tell me the cost of a bottle of water on ship? Thank you!

3 hours ago, Moondogy said:

I'll put my little 2 cents in here on couple of other ways to get OBC.

1) Veterans from US, Canada and I believe England can get OBC

2) 1oo shares of CCL also gets you OBC in case you plan on doing more cruising on Princess or even some of the other lines Carnivale owns. 😊

Thank you for sharing this info. Wish I realized this earlier - need to request OBC at least 4 weeks before sailing date for stock. Not sure of the timeline for veterans.

There are non damaging hooks that stick to walls or doors and you just stretch the sticky to remove it. Comes in 3lb....5lb and 10lb. I use to 3 lb hooks and leaves no holes or sticky residue.

Sometimes those sticky tapes work great, other times not so much. Just removed one from my wall (was only there a week) and the paint came right off with it! The wall was painted several years ago, so it's not fresh paint.

They make me nervous, so I used suction cup hooks that "lock" in to place on our recent cruise. I only hung hats and lanyards etc on them, but have used them in the past for organizers.

...We have not purchased travel insurance for any of our previous cruises or trips (10 years of trips - 1 trip per year, only 2 cruises). We have health coverage, but figure that if we have a problem and have to cancel or incur some costs due to factors unforeseen, it has evened out after not paying insurance on all the other trips.

 

 

 

Don

Let's face it: buying insurance is sort of like betting something bad will happen, right? It was truly the emotional pull that triggered our purchase (that ultimately financed a pretty sweet vacation extension for us!).

I will say though that the cost of travel insurance for those 10 years of trips would likely still have been less than the cost of the one airlift for my dad, never mind everything else it paid.

Now that my DH has the health issues he has, for us it's no longer the same "optional" purchase I once considered it to be.

That only means that Bonine is best for you, not that it is the best. Ginger works great for me, but that doesn't mean ginger is the "best".

Absolutely, hence my statement that "perhaps it works better for some than others". I was sharing our experiences. Ginger did not help my family members that tried it, and nothing short of a shot worked for my ex. I have never experienced motion sickness on a ship so I cannot give any first hand experience on any of the remedies.

I would say there is no "best" for everyone, but then that's pretty much true for most anything in life. Sorry if you or anyone got the impression that I was trying to defend bonine as "best".

Not quite....there is a "kid friendly" pirate party at 7:30 because parents complained that the regular pirate show was too scary. There are no fireworks following that show. The regular pirate show is at about 10:15' date=' followed by fireworks. At least this is the way it has always been on our cruises. We do not cruise DCL in the summer, so most of our cruises are when sunset is a bit earlier. There are no fireworks in Alaska.

 

True, it would be hard to schedule Palo to make both the kid party and the regular one.[/quote']

 

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to argue with you but I do want to share recent info for those cruising soon. We cruised on the Magic on Jan 20-25, 2016. I can tell you the fireworks definitely went off while we were dining. I don't know if that was unusual or not, but we heard them go off. If you look at the Navigators I uploaded to disneycruiseblog, you will see there was only one (1) Pirate Party, 7:30 - 8:15, and movies resumed on the funnelvision (huge screen on the pool deck) shortly after and continued straight thru until after midnight. Our last DCL cruise was in 10/2010, so I don't have much of any frame of reference re prior cruises.

Here is my experience, which I'm sure is probably the worst of all "worst case scenarios", but thats the luck I have haha

 

.....But having travel insurance meant nothing. Trust me, I made many phone calls those few days! I wont spend the money on it again, but thats just my opinion and experience. I'm actually curious to know if anyone has benefited from having insurance, please share if you have!

We sailed on a Christmas cruise (So Caribbean, out of Puerto Rico) a number of years back (2000), flying in and out of Newark airport. We returned to port in San Juan on Dec 30 and were scheduled to fly back later that day. Well, there was a huge blizzard forecast for the northeast, and nearly all flights to the area had been canceled proactively. Because of the holiday, hotel rooms were limited and expensive (I think it was ~$200 per night, back in 2000!)

Crazy as it sounds, it took nearly a week for them to get us out of Puerto Rico back to NJ. We had travel insurance. The insurance paid for the five nights in a hotel, meals, and incidentals in Puerto Rico - it was a pretty nice vacation extension, made better by the fact that it didn't cost us a dime extra!

I suspect the travel insurance didn't matter in your case because of the magnitude and related potential bad PR. I think had you been delayed four or five days due to a less publicized/less destructive storm (or even perhaps a storm that didn't affect the US in quite the same way) your experience might have been different.

Now, on the other side: we cruised with my parents the year before. On that cruise, my dad had a severe heart attack and had to be airlifted from port (Jamaica) in the morning to a hospital in Miami. My mom left the ship with him, but DH and I did not. They had travel insurance - paid for the ambulance, airlift, delivery of luggage home, my mom's hotel room for several days and I don't know what else. DH and I did not have insurance, so while we weren't sure if my dad was going to survive the next few days (they had saved his life on that Celebrity ship that day!), DH and I didn't really have the funds available to get off at port and arrange flights to Miami with my parents.

That experience, btw, is why we had travel insurance for that Christmas cruise, despite having no severe personal health issues or hurricane threats. We learned then that good travel insurance covers a lot more than the disappointment of a missed port or two.

What is your source for claiming Bonine is the best?

I cannot speak for the OP, but in my experience bonine worked much better for family members that had motion sickness than either dramamine or sea bands. It is a different active ingredient, so perhaps it works better for some than others? I have no medical basis, just our own experience. I will note, though that bonine has significant warnings for those with diabetes.

If I recall, instructions for dramamine require you to take them at least an hour before, and I remember being told it can possibly even worsen symptoms when taken after the onset of said symptoms. This latter info came from cruise personnel many years ago (~1985?) while sailing through a pretty severe hurricane. I will never forget seeing little bags taped up ALL over the ship - on every stair railing, the atrium seats, etc. Even though I am prone to motion sickness in a car, I didn't get sick even as my parents and I stood on deck watching the waves break over the bow of the ship (yes, many years ago, when much of the main deck(s) were quite open). My then-DH, however, was so nauseous he required a shot to recover!

Much has changed since way back, and overall cruise ships don't rock nearly as much as they once did. In fact, they are so much more stable I tend to miss the rocking - I always found it enjoyable and generally soothing. Weather forecasts are also better, allowing for earlier or more precise route adjustments to avoid more of the turbulence.

If you're going in Carnival, don't bring one unless you have one without hooks. They recently were banned due to damaging the walls/doors

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Banned on Disney, too and I suspect at least a few other lines as well.

Used to use one years ago, both because it made packing/unpacking so easy (it was a self-contained bag - just unzip and hang up, everything was already organized) and because storage was not what it seems to be nowadays. Also, I pack a lot less than I once did - cruises are not nearly as formal or dressy as they once were, and I have come to realize that (especially while on vacation) neither are we! lol

The fireworks are (used to be) at 10:45. It is easy to do Palo any time before 8:30 and be out in time for fireworks. If you want to see the stage show and have lots of time' date=' book Palo for 7:00. We normally spend about 90 minutes at Palo, but we don't do after dinner drinks. 2 hours should be plenty for almost anyone.[/quote']

 

Maybe the difference is because of the time of year/sunset time? The pirate party started at 7:30 pm, and I believe the fireworks were around 8:30/8:45 pm.

 

Our Palo reservation was for 7:30 pm, and while we don't drink, it still took over 2 hours for our dinner service.

I agree 100%. People need to secure a cabin big enough for their stuff, or stay home....

And sometimes life intervenes. DH had some medical issues arise shortly before our cruise that necessitated him bringing his scooter. (The original plan was to make due without it as he can usually manage with proper planning, but circumstances changed.) It was too late to switch to an HA room, so if he needed to return to the cabin for any purpose (eg, to administer meds, or to deal with other medical-related complications) he was forced to leave his scooter outside the cabin. He was physically incapable of walking the distance to the cabin unaided, and the scooter did not fit through the doorway, even if he could have managed the tight turn for access. Someone on the cruise let a notice on his chair that he couldn't park it in the hallway - turned out the people in the cabin next door complained because it caused an inconvenience for using a stroller. Let me tell you (though I am sure you already know), no one chooses to need assistance! Usually I would accompany him back to the cabin and shuttle the scooter, but between having two grandsons on board that required my attention and the sometimes sudden onset of issues, at times he needed to return to the cabin unaided.

I didn't book an HA cabin "just in case" because I felt it might result in someone that would unequivocally require the room being excluded. Now, though, based on this experience if we sail DCL again it will be either in an HA room or perhaps a larger room that would accommodate the scooter inside the room (aka a room "big enough for [our] stuff").

We used to cruise quite regularly, but due to life changes it is much less frequent in recent years. DH has needed the scooter once before, but not this much as he was a bit more mobile. We didn't have this kind of issue last time (non DCL, though I'm not sure that is the only reason for the issue).

We booked Palo on Pirate Night (night 2 for us), based on recommendations here and the fact that we weren't crazy about the menus that night. One problem was we missed the fireworks, the other was we could not take the kids to the Pirate Party. Luckily the boys didn't really care, but we were bummed we missed the fireworks.

We were on the Magic last week and kept the band. It was about $16.00 the price of a Disney Infinity Character. I used it the other day on 3.0 and it unlocked a cruise ship to use as a vehicle and the rest of the content was wallpaper, windows, and other cruise ship decor for use in the interior portion of Infinity. Since we are not going on another Disney cruise till late next year I assume it will be usable in the future editions as well. As for the value I guess it is whether you are wanting the exclusive items or not.

The band is $12.95. You get charged for it when you sign up. If you return the band by the last night you will receive a credit otherwise the charge remains on your bill.

Disney has it well figured - just try getting that band away from most of the kids that used it for the Oceaneer locations! lol

We will be taking our 4 year old on the dream in September. She has a gluten allergy. It won't kill her but makes her VERY VERY uncomfortable and I know that it would ruin the trip for everyone if she ate something she was suppose to!

 

Does anyone have experience with food allergies on the ship. I know Disney World is very accommodating but was worried about being on board. Anyone that can put my mind at ease that it won't be a pain? Or should I prepare myself??

My DGD has a gluten allergy, so I understand the issue well!

We just returned from the Magic. Every menu was clearly marked with both gluten- and dairy-free items; most had several choices. Also, we met a couple that were vegans with extensive allergies, and they absolutely raved about the dietary accommodations they received. We saw it first hand at Palo, but they said the accommodations had been wonderful throughout the ship.

We have been to the Disney parks with DGD; I would say the cruise line will be as accommodating if not more so. Please note that as with the parks, the food is prepared in the same kitchens as other foods, so there is always the possibility of minor cross-contamination if that is an issue for your DD.

Be sure to fill out the Special Needs form (available on the Disney cruise site) as soon as you are able to submit it (I think they request a minimum of 60 days). List the gluten allergy as well as any other allergies or needs she may have, as this will allow them to better prepare in advance (ordering, etc). As with the parks, you can request to speak with the chefs at any time. Also let your server know, and he or she will be sure to do whatever possible to provide your daughter with meals that meet her needs.

I believe Disney will take good care of you and your DD, and you will be able to relax and enjoy!

We were on the Magic during that time (Jan 20 - 24) and our weather experience did not turn out as well. On Fri (Nassau) almost every excursion was canceled due to weather. It rained pretty much all day, with significant periods of heavy rain. Saturday (Key West), our port call was canceled completely due to rough seas and high winds. Both days (actually, the entire trip) the weather was cool at best, ranging from the mid-60s to low 70s.

The pools were heated for the brave souls willing to bear the cool air temps and the (younger) kids clubs had loads of activities all day long, though there were a lot of "open house" hours (all families welcome). During those hours, the kids without parents present were herded in to the opposite club (Oceaneer Lab or Oceaneer Club), which sometimes (IMO) resulted in overcrowding in the "secure" areas. The "tween" area is super-small, so it was pretty crowded, though the kids there did not seem to mind much. There wasn't much of note going on (one event at a time, and some periods with nothing special scheduled) but socializing between genders and video games seemed to keep them occupied just fine :-)

Both days with itinerary changes saw activities added to the schedule, though the info took a couple of hours to be published. The only problem was some of the activities (mainly the games) were pretty overcrowded. Unfortunately, there were a couple of groups that attended every game/trivia contest/etc and tended to monopolize the event each time. The cruise staff did not do a very good job controlling this, so if you were not part of that up-front and center repeat crowd you pretty much just watched the activity. They did add an extra bingo (quite crowded), more movie showings and a matinee performance of the stage show of the day ("Dreams" - very crowded!) too.

I thought the staff did an amazing job re the food, especially as they had to provide many more meals than anticipated on two out of four days on the cruise. To their credit, it appeared they used excess from dinners for the buffet lunches rather than skimping, as there were items such as tenderloins, crab legs, shrimp etc. The new "at sea" day also included an extensive taco and fajita bar and a few other "new" items rather than simply recycling previous days' menus. You would never have known based on quantity or variety that the schedule had changed.

I know this is "after the fact", but thought I'd post our experience for cruisers searching the topic of what happens in the case of poor weather.

No worries!

 

AFAIK and I'm 99.9999% sure DCL pools have always been fresh water and not sea water. They do drain the pools and hot tubs usually nightly and replenish them the next morning with desalinated water.

When was your DCL cruise?

 

ex techie

We last cruised Disney in Oct 2010, so it's been a while. I know (on some cruise we were on) I was told they refill the pools daily with sea water. Now, that doesn't mean it was not desalinated water. Truthfully, I never thought to ask that question (duh!).

I think if your child will nap in a stroller at the parks he or she can nap on the cruise, too, no?

As to the perfect age, IMO that age is one where the child will truly enjoy the trip even if they remember little. We took family including a 2.5 DGD on an NCL cruise, specifically because it was the only line that accepted children under three in the kids program. That was a mistake, as she hated the clubs (and I was not too thrilled with the deteriorated quality of the cruise line, either!). Of course, the truth is her mom was no more ready to leave DGD in the club either so that anxiety didn't help.

Took two DGSs on a Disney cruise when they were five and seven, respectively, and the four of us will be going on another Disney cruise this week. In discussing the upcoming trip, the younger GS remembers almost nothing and the older remembers a decent amount, though less than I might have expected. Even so, the first cruise was a trip of a lifetime for them - I cannot begin to describe how much they loved pretty much every moment other than when we would pick them up from the clubs or when we disembarked.

There will never be a "perfect" time, so I say go as soon as you think she will enjoy her time there while limiting how much you will be restricted during tat same trip. To me, that means potty trained and (both of you) ready to separate for a few hours at a time OR while young enough for the nursery IF you are comfortable leaving her.

Thanks so much for the quick response, ex techie! I am not a big fan of bottled water when other sources are available.

As to the pools, do they no longer fill them with sea water? It's been a while since we have cruised, and the last Disney cruise the kids only left the kid activities if we dragged them away, so we never did swim in the (very crowded) pools. Back when we cruised regularly, it was routine to fill the pools daily using sea water and they also drained them nightly.

Does anyone bring cases of bottled water! I'm considering using Garden Grocer to deliver water to the airport hotel where we're staying the night before our cruise. Wondering if it's worth it and wondering if they will take it and store it with our luggage when we board....

 

Any opinions?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do they have water available if we bring refillable bottles (Tervis etc)?

We leave on a Disney cruise next Wednesday, so we'll see. I will say that on our last Disney cruise (Oct 2010) we were quite disappointed with the near total lack of interaction by the wait staff, especially compared to all the other cruises (other lines) we had been on previously. One cruise over 5 years ago is not much to compare to, I know, but it will be interesting to see what our experience will be this time.

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Leaving from NYC is also a huge consideration......I am reluctant to fly to a cruise in the future after experiencing the ease of departing from a port within driving distance from my home.

Ditto!!

What time of year did each of you sail? I was considering leaving from NY, but we are cruising in Jan 07 and I didn't want (at least) two cold at-sea days. I made that mistake on our Hawaiian cruise, which ended in Vancouver - in mid-MAY! I just didn't enjoy when they swapped out the pool towels for woolen blankets....