misty57

I bring a lot of the same things to ease common symptoms

another thing I bring is oragel. Its terrible to get a toothache especially on vacation.

I also bring Zicam. The nasal spray as well as lozenges. I wish they still made the swabs. Those things really worked.

I think it depends on what you are going for, relaxation or an adventure. I absolutely loved our Alaskan cruise, and hope to go again in a few years, to include the cruise tour land portion. It is so much about the destination, the cruise being a means of transportation as some of the areas you can only access by ship. The Caribbean is fun and relaxation for us, but I would go any time of year I could getaway and could afford to. The ship is important to us on the Carribean. It less so on the Alaskan, as long as it is clean and the food isn't too bad.

Did they call her, or did she upgrade on the website?

Just a couple of the usual things:

 

 

• Feather pillows
  
• Wine Glasses
  
• Champagne Glasses
  
• Ice bucket for wine
  
• Fill mini bar with ONLY Coke and Coors beer
  
• Replace duvet with blanket
  
• Water pitcher filled half way with ice refreshed 3x daily
  
• Two extra towels folded in a square (not rectangular) with each towel change
  
• Bed's put together every morning but separated at turn down
  
• Loungers for the deck
  
• Three extra sitting chairs
  
• extra hangers
  
• store luggage for us
  
• Cardboard box covered with sheet for laundry bin
  
• Extra bottled water on counter
  
• Towel animals daily (No Monkeys!!)
  
• Cleaned and sanitized glasses daily (no cleaning with dusting cloth)
  
• 14 rolls of extra toilet paper
  
• 3 extra boxes of Kleenex
  
• two copies of daily program each evening
  
• Blanket to use as covering for fake leather sofa
  
• Roll of string
  
• Extra laundry bags and forms
  
• And a partridge in a pear tree!
  

Umm, you are kidding about the 14 rolls of TP aren't you? I hope you tip well!

I have never responded to this thread because no one talks about the luxury gurney and IV poles by the wading pool so we don't drown cruiselines. Let's not talk about the salt free....fat free blended free of lumps cuisine too.

Does anyone know the nurse to passenger ratio on any given cruiseline:confused:

 

I can have just as much fun as any 23 year old...almost:D

:confused:

Ha! I agree, but we like watching other people climbing on things! We spend a lot of time in the Solarium, and just walking a little bit to see what's going on. Its kind of like shopping. I like walking through some of the stores but it doesn't mean I'm buying! :)

I think the focus is more on the retired, those who are almost retired, and those of us who wish we could retire!:D "Seniors" often have different interests and challenges than those in their younger years and those with young families. I don't care to dialogue with the "party boat" groups, but maybe with those who find great excursions that would appeal to those in our age group. I think boards for different ages or different occupations would be fun.

Jerry Lewis... he was filming for the telethon a ways back. I remember someone spotting him as he got on an elevator and said "There's Jerry Lewis"!!, and he stuck his head out of the elevator and said in his funny voice " where?":D

Excellent advice.

 

If my parents were still around - the best doctor and the best nurse in the world - they'd offer this advice:

1. While washing your hands, hum "Happy birthday" to yourself in your head - twice. Mom actually taught nursing before she retired, and this was one of her constant themes she drove into her students. Particularly the "in your head" part - she told them that if they sang it out loud, people would talk. :p
   
2. If possible, after washing your hands grab a clean paper towel and use it to turn off the faucets.
   
3. When possible, push elevator buttons with your knuckle.
   
4. If you are in an environment where people are sick, the only body part of yours that you should put into your mouth or your eyes is your elbows. (think about it :D)

 

--bruce T.

Love it! Those suggestions continue to be passed along. Ive been a nurse for over 38 years and you become a little (or a lot!) OCD about hand washing and sanitizing. My DD said she is getting me a giant container of hand sanitizer for Christmas as I get a little panicky if I cant find my little bottle in my purse.:rolleyes

I had the same questions. Even though Celebrity doesn't give a balcony discount for Elite status, they do upgrade one category for oceanview or veranda cabins. I personally prefer the balcony discount with RCI.

Since our first balcony cabin we have only had an inside cabin once. It was because the cruise price for a 4 day was $350 for 2! So... that being said it was one of the smallest places I have ever stayed. Now I have an inside cabin booked for next Feb. I am also torn. I originally booked a balcony but then for $1100 savings changed to the inside. I keep looking at the prices.. if the price for the balcony drops I might trade up, but I don't really expect it to.

Maybe it will force me up and out of the cabin earlier. I keep thinking about the savings. :)

My husband won't go to an inside I've done one and it was just fine but he loves the balcony and will sit there for hours on end in peace and quiet and if that what makes his cruise then we will still book the balcony

I love a balcony, but also want to cruise after I retire:D so trying to do what we love and save when I can. DH doesn't stay out on the balcony like I do, and we tend to spend most of our at sea days in the solarium. We will see how this inside cabin is. The last one we had was on the Majesty and it was waay too small. I had a dream that I was stuck in a box LOL!

Now I have to decide if I want to "downsize" on the type of pre cruise hotel we book. February is a very costly time to stay in Florida, so nothing will be low priced ( at least where we would want to stay). I might try Priceline or Hotwire later, as we have had some good experience with that.

We just booked our first Celebrity cruise yesterday! I love RCCL, but have noticed some decline in service and the food quality. I like knowing the layout of the ships, and the entertainment is pretty good and sometimes really great!

That being said, the itineraries are getting old. They are sending their older and smaller ships to the best locations and the newer and bigger are doing the same old eastern/western cycle. So we wanted to do a Panama Canal cruise but only partial transit because of the flights and length of the cruise. Royal doesn't do a partial transit, so we are taking the sailing on Equinox that hits some of the same ports, and we can take an excursion to see the locks.

I am eager to experience a different line, although they are the same corporation. It is nice that we can step into the Elite level, although the perks aren't as good as Royals IMO.

I'm hoping that we will like Celebrity as much as Royal :D.

I did it! The $1100 difference was too great to not downgrade. DH has a good outlook on it. We'll just spend more time up on deck! This will be good practice for retirement traveling. Whoo!:D

DH and I have been wrestling with this issue. I booked an 11 night and now wondering if I should have gone with an inside or at least an ocean view because it will likely be too hot to sit on the verandah. I may call back and downgrade tomorrow. Like the balcony though, but the difference on price could pay for a hotel room pre-cruise!

We sailed last year in Feb after dry dock. The service was pretty lousy at times. The worst part was the long long long wait at the pier on embarkation. I think that colored the entire trip for us. We have since recovered though. I'd sail on her again. ;)

The Oasis is a different experience. We have sailed on her twice, and after just stepping off the Independence today, I would definitely choose Oasis. I do wish they would switch up the itinerary a little though. I generally like the Fredom class, but found on this cruise that the entertainment was not as good ( except for the Beatles Maniac show), and found the food choices to be slimmed down and some dishes came out tasteless and cold. There were a few other things that didn't sit well this trip, but every one has their own opinions.

At the end of the day, a cruise is a cruise, and I didn't have to cook!:)

As much as I like the Oasis and Allure, Freedom class is my favorite. The Royal Promenade is the center of things on these ships, and they still have some of the amenities such as the Flowrider. Actually, I like all of the ships just fine! Majesty is a little small and low ceilinged for my taste but has great open areas. Enjoy the Independence. We will be there in about 4 weeks!

Thanks! I was going to do that but thought I would verify with the experts:)

This subzero weather put me in the mood to get things lined up for our trip in 51 days!

I'm trying to fillin my on line sign in as I have done many times but our flight home is at 11:45 am FFL. The site will not let me continue as they suggest flights after 12:30 am. Any suggestions?

We sailed on Navigator soon after her refurbishment. We had to call to have our toilet flushed! The service in MDR and some of the food was less than stellar. We were delayed going and coming, but that was due to fog. I like Galveston, but not the Navigator.:p

I have known many people who work for the "extras". I am working for health insurance, home renovations, cruises, and to save up for retirement. I also kind of like my work, but would like to be a part time worker. Maybe in 7-8 years I will be able to cut back a little. It depends on the insurance and health care situation in this country. :p

We have stayed at Hyatt House in Dania several times. it is near to a shopping area with restaurants but is across a busy highway. I'm getting to the point where I prefer not to try to get across because the walk light is very brief. I've been stranded in the middle a few times:rolleyes:. We have also stayed at Embassy Suites on 17th . It's expensive but there is added value for comfort and convenience. We were going to stay at Cambia since they also have a shuttle from the airport but the distance to restaurants and the lack of an e

Inclusive breakfast made me change our reservation. Many of the hotels in Dania are nice, and if you don't mind the highway w

You have access to shopping and restaurants. I just prefer to make the per cruise hotel a pleasant stress free start to our vacation.

I have only done ATD/MTD on one Royal Caribbean ship so far but I experienced the same thing (exact same table and waiter every night) and I also noticed that the girl at the podium seemed a little upset if I didn't always show up at the same time every night. It is almost like my ATD had been changed to a set time dining after the first night, by her. I have been on several Carnival ships that I did ATD and did not had that experience on Carnival with either getting the same waiter (unless I requested that waiter) or the people at podium being unhappy if I didn't show up at the same time every night. I don't think it has anything to do with your cabin number. It may be because he wasn't friendly and no one wanted to set in his area. I am booked out on another RCCL ship in Feb 15 and will see if the same thing happens on that ship. If it does I will make it a point to ask why. I have noticed that even with ATD/MTD I kept seeing the same people in the MDR every night even on Carnival.

We noticed the same thing. On our recent Alaskan cruise we chose MTD for the first time and the lady at the podium tried to put us in the same spot with the same wait staff. We had late excursions so we were didn't make reservations for those nights. They were able to accommodate us but were trying to put us in the same place on those nights too. I think it has more to do with the wait staff than the passenger preferences. We much prefer the alone dining. Its less stressful which is what we are after on vacation.:)