amandaepperson21

I broke my foot a couple of weeks ago. I've tried to find info to no avail. I have a knee scooter and walking boot. I will be using it. But in all honesty, getting anywhere on the scooter is exhausting and walking or standing for long is painful. 

What should I expect in regards to things like waiting at guest services once we board? Or waiting in line at dinner? What about the muster drill? Or the tender to Belize - are there accommodations for that? I can't bring my scooter on our excursion, but I'd much rather not stand waiting for a tender. 

My knee scooter folds down, so storage isn't an issue. I'm mostly concerned with the times passengers typically have to stand in long lines. Can anyone share experiences? I've been off my foot for the most part, but yesterday was sort of a test and I'm in pain for sure. I'm not trying to cheat, I just know that even with the knee scooter, waiting in lines is really hard. 

Sailing on Meraviglia on April 2. I'm on a walking boot/crutches/knee scooter. Broke my foot. I have a good knee scooter, but if you've ever used one you know it's still kind of a struggle. I was just explaining the muster drill to my first-time cruiser bf and thought holy shyt, howww am I going to get thru that?! And then I started thinking of all the other things that will suck. Like my room isn't accessible and I can't change it because my kids are in the cabin across from ours. I highly doubt there's a balcony and interior cabin close together at this point. It's spring break. 

What are some things I need to consider? Any accessibility hacks? Do they have shower chairs by request? This injury just happened a week ago and I'm very quickly learning the struggles people with disabilities experience. From uneven parking lot pavement to buildings that only have stairs for entry (my office). 

We are stopping at Ocean Caye. I'm using a cover on my boot and disregarding the advice of my orthopedist lol. I want to see everything. I'd like to bring my knee scooter on the island, but I know I won't be able to take long strolls on the beach. Are the golf carts accommodating to something like a knee scooter? It's about 3" in length and weighs 20 lbs. The handle bar does collapse. 

Any info from people with experience is appreciated. There's so much I don't even realize is an accessibility issue until I experience it. I'm an overthinker. I *need* to be prepared. 

They no include Atlantis access for single night stays per their website. "Same day 1 night bookings will not have access to Atlantis amenities."

This Spring Break, my kids, boyfriend and I will be stopping at Belize City. I've gone to Caye Caulker and was very unimpressed. I've been cave tubing twice; once with the kids. We loved it, but don't really want to do it again. Boyfriend has never been to the Caribbean. I'm hoping if I provide some info on our likes and dislikes as travelers, I can get some ideas of what to do.

None of the usual ship excursions interest me. I'm a seasoned cruiser. Comfortable renting a car or hopping on a ferry boat without it being an organized excursion thru a third party company. Also ok with using a third party. I've only ever taken a ship excursion once. 

Likes - beautiful beaches, adventure, hiking, places that have a day passes with things like kayaks or paddle boats, snorkeling (especially where you can swim out from shore - we bring our own snorkels), resort day passes. But the biggie is just know I found the beaches at Caye Caulker among the most "meh" of all the Caribbean beaches I've been to - which is a lot. I'm all for a chill beach day as long as it's very pretty. Think Cemetery Beach in Grand Cayman. I like both off the grid and resorts. 

Dislikes - badgering from locals selling stuff on the beach, anything that feels sketchy or dangerous (keeping in mind that my idea of dangerous is human trafficking, not some local offering me substances and going away when I decline lol). I'm not into ruins, swimming with stingrays, dolphin tours, booze cruises, tours with multiple rushed stops, tour companies that have tons of people per tour. No ziplining - one of my kids would neverrr. 

I know what I like. I've just always struggled to find it in Belize. I don't want to go cave tubing a third time, but that's where I've currently landed. Mostly because my kids have only done it once (loved it) and my bf never has. 

I'm thinking maybe Ambergis Caye, but do the pics live up to the expectation? What do you do once you're there if you prefer not to be herded around like livestock by a tour company? 

TIA! 

9 minutes ago, BensonFan711 said:

 

Cabin steward - I have found that a friendly chat with the head of housekeeping resolves problems like that.  I've only had one poor cabin steward, and it was fixed with a 5 min phone call.  Same goes for towel swap.  The stewards I've had generally will take them (but not leave them, because then you become responsible and potentially subject to a lost towel fee, should you fail to return it/leave it in the cabin).  I don't mind that they don't leave them because I can get a fresh one at the pool or on my way off the ship to a shore excursion.

 

Yes, no laundry.  And I personally think that's fantastic.  The last thing I want to do on vacation is laundry, and having a guest laundry area takes up more space on the ship that could be used for something else.  This isn't completely unheard of either; many lines don't have guest laundry (besides the laundry service), and that's just fine (Norwegian and Royal most certainly don't).  If you REALLY want to do laundry, there are laundromats on shore that are cheaper than what the ship likely would be.  

You know, I never thought about taking laundry on shore lol. I know it sounds absolutely insane, but if this trip had been with our whole family of 5 + our nanny, I would’ve been in trouble. 

22 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

 

 

Sheets are not changed daily.  Can’t imagine getting sand in the sheets,  Never had a problem with bathroom towels not being exchanged twice daily.  Same way with steward cleaning cabin - wonder what you mean about “tidying up” - they tend not to touch your personal stuff. How much tidying up did you expect?

 

 

My husband isn’t as tidy as I am. There would occasionally be trash left in the floor. Like a wristband, cup cover, etc.. Just small stuff. Also other lines do touch your personal items. 

Sand in the bed - this itinerary was very port heavy. 5 stops + San Juan home port. Lots of beach days. Lots of coming back and crashing for 3 hours, not always bothering to shower first lol. 

Just back from our first RCI cruise. Freedom of the seas out of San Juan (with the key). We aren’t brand loyalists. We’ve cruised on Princess, MSC, Costa, Carnival and now RCI. 

After hearing people rave for years about how much better it is than other lines, I had certain expectations. But in all honesty, our experience was just okay. 

Heres a quick list of the better/not as good experiences we had: 

Better: 

1. They didn’t care if we brought back on large quantities soda or juice from port - like two full size bottles of juice or a 2L of Pepsi. 

2. Actual lifeguards at all pools. I’ve never seen this on a ship before. 

3. Kids life vests available at the pools. Major plus!! We didn’t bring our kids this time, but we always have to bring their life vests. 

4. The layout of the ship is soooo awesome. Everything is together and easy to find. Plenty of elevators. It didn’t feel like a huge ship. 

5. VERY food allergy friendly!! I was not cross contaminated once! Someone at my table couldn’t have gluten. They presented her with the next days menu each night so that it could be cooked separately. They also gave her GF bread each night. And there’s a GF buffet section. Never seen this before. Excellent. I’m cross contaminated with my allergen almost every time I dine out, but was not on the ship. 

6. Embarkation with The Key was crazy fast. We brought our bags to lunch in the MDR and our room was ready when we were done. 

7. Self disembark was a snap. 

8. No mystery smells, even on deck 1. Almost every ship I’ve been on has an area with a weird smell lol. 

Not as good: 

1. The food. We ate in the dining room all but one night. The food was okay. Desserts were VERY meh. Creme brûlée top layer was liquid, not that normal hard shell. I only took 1-2 bites of dessert every night because it was just meh. Sometimes even gross. Entrees were meh to okay. Escargot was fantastic though. Dining room breakfast was limited and meh. Buffet has more options, but they were again meh. Only 2-3 foods on the whole cruise made me say, “Wow this is so good!” I ordered steak twice and it was over cooked both times. 

2. Restaurant service was slow. We were often the last ones out of the place. Long waits for drink refills. Long waits between courses. During our Chops key lunch, the service was just plain ridiculous. We had our appetizer before the appropriate server even came by to take our drink order. On that note, our Chops meal was of quality I’d expect in the main dining room - just okay. I’m a steak connoisseur and was not impressed. It was also over-cooked.   

3. WiFi in our cabin was a joke. We own a business and check in daily. I’d much rather do this from my room than a public space. Unlimited WiFi was the biggest reason we purchased the key. 

3. Cabin steward bombed. Sand in our sheets most nights due to her not changing them. I kept stacking our dirty room glasses so they’d be swapped out - she just rinsed them in the sink and put them back. I know because they still had lipstick on them. Minimal tidying. 

4. Cabin was not great. You could see the dips in the mattresses when the bed was made. It was so hard my hips and shoulders hurt in the morning (side sleeper). No bath robe. Refrigerator didn’t work. Shower head was possessed. The bath towels were good though. 

5. Towel exchange stinks. Cabin stewards swapped them out on every other cruise I’ve been on. Ours just folded the soggy things and stacked them in the floor. The towels themselves were pretty sad and desperately need to be replaced. All of them. 

6. Lots of nickel and diming. Room service is usually free + tip on cruises, but not on this one.  The bar mixed drinks were expensive compared to other ships. $9-10 including gratuity for the daily drink special, which is usually cheaper. Also the daily drinks didn’t come in cute souvenir cups or anything. I don’t mind paying extra (hello I purchased The Key) but the extras on this ship were priced higher than most. 

7. Limited hours for ice skating and flow rider. Long lines when it was open. The Key only had one designated hour each for these on our one sea day. 

8. NO LAUNDRY. WHAAAAT!? This ship departs from San Juan PR, which means most people arrive the day before the cruise, aren’t hauling massive amounts of luggage (which I am guilty of when we drive to FL for cruises) and might be staying a day or more after the cruise. Lots of laundry. Why on God’s green earth are there not at least a few guest laundry facilities on the ship??? Oh but of course you can pay $$$ to have your laundry done lol. We did this trip with one carry on and one personal item because I had planned to do laundry on the ship. After numerous cruises, I’ve never been on a ship that doesn’t have a laundry facility for passengers. 

9. Limited food options without paying extra. IMO there’s no reason Johnny rockets shouldn’t be included in the cruise fare. I mean, burgers are on the buffet. Maybe charge for shakes. Other ships we’ve sailed offer more than MDR, pizza/cafe and buffet. That’s all that’s included on Freedom. Others have at least 1-2 options that were premium on this ship. MSC Divina has an American style sports bar with full menu and a burger/brat/dawg place beside the pool. At the Divina pizza place by the pool, they’d cook whatever pizza you wanted on the spot - you didn’t have to pick from whatever 3 were in the warmer. All these are included in cruise fare. 

There were a lot of other things where I’ve had better experiences elsewhere. Like medical, they didn’t call to check on me after my visit (unrelated to the ship) the way Princess did when my daughter broke her arm (and they called once or twice daily!). Slow drink service at the pools. We were booted from the pool for having a drink but two other people holding the exact same cup weren’t. Nightclub didn’t open until 11pm or later each night. Smoking section beside main pool (should be by adult pool at best). The ship is going to dry dock soon and it is definitely needed. No nightly chocolates on the pillows (smh even Carnival does this). Little touches. 

This post is not to dog RCI because we did very much enjoy our cruise!! I’m just wondering if this is the norm for this line. Thus far, MSC has been our favorite (and they are expanding their Caribbean itineraries). If our experience with RCI is par for the course, IMO it’s not worth the premium rate. 

We are in San Juan about to hop on Freedom. We paid for the key. It’s 9 am and we are ready to be on board lol. Boarding officially begins at 12:30. What is the earliest we could expect to get on, considering we have “the key”? 

Also, what is security like for bringing on your own bags (instead of leaving them with porters)? I assume we still have to go through the whole bag xray hoopla, right? 

Thanks! 

We sailed MSC Divina Spring Break 2017 and I REALLY wanna cruise Seaside next year. I have cruised with Carnival, Princess, Costa and MSC. Thus far of 7 cruises, Divina was my absolute favorite. Maybe it depends on where you sail from. We sailed from Miami. Going on my first RCI in a few weeks, so we'll see if MSC remains my # 1. 

1. The ship is just stunning. 

2. Kids sail "free" is a major bonus. My kids really enjoyed the kids program. Everyone is whining about unattended kids ... we didn't really experience this. There's an adults only pool. If you don't like kids, well there ya go. 

3. The service was awesome. My son and I have food allergies. Mine is potentially deadly. I didn't die, nor was I made to feel like an inconvenience at any point. They were more than accommodating. 

4. The nightly party scene was perfect. FUN but not 4 day Carnival Booze Cruise fun LOL! Classy fun. The music was awesome everywhere we went. They definitely realized that half the passengers would be American and made sure we stayed entertained. The shows were really good too. 

Having been on two European cruise lines (MSC and Costa), I felt a lot less snubbed for being an American on MSC LOL. 

We are sailing Freedom on 9/15. Cruise planner says 6:00 am arrival. I called RCI and was told debarkation begins 60-90 minutes after arrival, so 7:00-7:30 am. We have The Key so we should be able to get off pretty quickly. The key supposedly has "choice" disembarkation. Not sure if choice = priority. Google Maps says the airport is 15-30 mins from the port. My flight leaves at 10:09 am. No checked bags, just carry ons. I feel like I have enough time so long as we aren't dragging our feet. What do you think? 

I chose this flight because all the other options will put us getting home super late. IF we don't make it, we can change flights and just pay the difference, so it's not the end of the world. I'm just wondering what everyone else's experience was getting to the airport. 

Thanks!

DO SEASIDE! I'm dying to go on Seaside. I went on Divina a couple of years ago an honestly it was the most beautiful ship I've been on (and I've been on a bunch). I liked MSC overall way better than Carnival too (been on 2 Carnival cruises, including one 7 day on a similar class ship as Divina). 

I'm 7 months post-op sleeve. Taking my first post-op cruise in 2 months. I dine out a lot. Like it's kind of ridiculous. I have learned to avoid appetizers. Too easy to fill up before the good stuff arrives. When we eat in the main dining room, I won't get one of every course. I'll also tell my waiter on our first night that I'm fine with having our food brought out at an accelerated pace if it's something they can do. The biggest thing I hate isn't the food I can't eat. It's the sitting there waiting while everyone else continues to eat long after I've had my fill LOL.

I use the timer on my phone to pace myself between drinking and eating. I have found that if I have an empty stomach, I can drink as soon as 10-15 minutes before a meal and it be gone from my stomach. Most surgeons say no drinking 30-60 minutes prior to eating, but the purpose of that rule is so your stomach is empty and so that food doesn't easily wash out with the liquid. Through trial and error, I've found 15 minutes to be my sweet spot. 

Most importantly: lean steak IS healthy lol. Also lobster tail with a little butter. Seafood in general. I'm allergic to chicken so I eat a lot of steak and seafood. 

I don't usually do protein shakes. If you do, you can get a little baby formula powder travel case type thing (or two) and pre-portion out some scoops. 

Bring a yeti style cup for keeping your water cold all day. 

Sooooo to answer the original question lol.... Craziest thing I saw was two families - FAMILIES - go ALL OUT royal rumble on the Lido deck. It was on MSC Divina (about half European/non-English speaking), and none of them spoke English while they were screaming at each other, so I have no idea what it was about. I don't think they knew each other though. They had a verbal exchange earlier in the cruise. Four of them were carted off the ship in handcuffs at the next port. 

2 hours ago, cruisinfanatic said:

There is no western itinerary from San Juan. As long as the port isn't getting nailed at time of departure, they'll just change the itinerary. Maybe do same ports backwards

Forgive me, I’m legit dyslexic. Eastern. 😂

We’re sailing Freedom OTS on 9/15 from San Juan. I read that in the event of a hurricane, RC May reroute the cruise from an eastern Caribbean itinerary to western. If that were to happen, would they change the departure port? I’m about to book my airfare and hotel for the night before. Wondering how safe it is to book non-refundable lol. Especially on the airfare. September is the peak of hurricane season. One would hope PR will catch a break after its recent bettering, but I want to be prepared. We’ve only sailed from Florida thus far. 

One of the times we went to Cozumel, we had a long port day. We rented a car, went to the “back side” of the island, ate at this little (amazing) place called Mezcalitos where they had free beach hammocks, went to the back beach, drove to Carlos & Charley’s, did a couple of other things but I wasn’t the driver and the trips kind of blend together lol. Anyway, it was fun. The island isn’t huge so getting lost isn’t easy. 

Calico Jacks is the cruise ship passenger dumping ground. Depending on how many ships are in port, it will be crowded to very crowded. 

Depends on how you pack them. I’ll give you the 411. I’m not here to impress anyone with my sanctity 😒. 

1- Don’t put them in the same luggage as your wine. 

2- Put them vertically along the sides of your luggage. 

3- Put each one in its own freezer bag for obvious reasons. 

4- Pack less than you think you need because seriously you’re not going to be going back and forth to your cabin to make a drink every single time you want one. 

I have never cruised alone, but I love traveling alone. I imagine if I cruised alone it would be no different than my pursuits in solo land travels. I don’t solo travel to meet people, make friends, etc.. I solo travel for peace, relaxation,  parasympathetic activities, meditation, etc.. I’ve been on 5 cruises and never really made friends with anyone. I go with my family. I’m not there to make friends. And if I went alone, I wouldnt be there to make friends. I’d want to be left alone. Otherwise it would defeat the entire purpose of going alone. But when I travel alone, I seek out cottages far off the beaten path so as to avoid human contact as much as possible, so a cruise definitely wouldn’t be my choice. 

We cruised the Caribbean last Spring on Divina. I've now been on 5 cruises... 2 Carnival (one older ship, one newer/larger/nicer), Costa Magica, just off Caribbean Princess and last year's Divina. Divina is hands down my favorite ship!! So beautiful. I also enjoyed the vibe onboard. The nightlife was very lively too. I like that Magnifica has a retractable pool cover like Divina.

How does the Magnifica compare??

I'm looking to book a Greek Isles cruise next May and this is one of my top contenders. I'm not married to one particular line though.

This is our 15th wedding anniversary trip, so I really want to get it perfect. The only other MSC ships sailing Greek Isles in May 19 don't look as exciting (Opera and Lirica).

Both day and night every day last week on CB.

I have been avoiding coming back to this post because I thought there would be a lot of critical feedback lol. But much to my surprise, there’s not! Thanks you guys! Glad I could constructively contribute.

My only comment is about the staff not picking up kids in the dining room--called "Dine and Play" on Disney. That's the only line where I've seen this service. Parents did this for years before DCL instituted the service. Ask your servers to get out the kid food quickly. Between adult courses' date=' excuse yourself and take the kids to the programming area. Then return and finish your dinner.

 

We've been on cruises where I don't think there were 30 kids on the ship. It wouldn't make sense for Princess to offer some of the kid programs that Disney does! They also don't charge the DCL prices.[/quote']

 

Carnival and MSC offer this service. Also RCI (based on my research, not firsthand experience).

 

I definitely think it isn’t suitable for every cruises. But for ones where there are plenty of kids (the one we were on), it isn’t hard to accommodate.

Pooh: Both you and the OP reported that it was crickets after 11:00. Was Sky Walkers shut down then? I've been on CB twice and both times Sky Walkers didn't even heat up until 11:00. That's when the BOGO Happy Hour started and the crew (officers and entertainers) started to show up.

I only made it past 11:00 once and it was slow. I live on the east coast, so most of the time 11 felt like 12 or 1 am to me. While I liked that we kept local time, it was a struggle at night lol.

Now I was on the same cruise and now you will get the "older" view of the cruise.

 

The muster drill was done as best as possible as the computer system used had crashed. I was frustrated it took so long, sure, but I think they did the best job they could manually so that could get the ok to leave port. Technology makes one's life easier until it breaks!

 

Thought the ship was in better shape than I expected for its age. Only problem was when they used the thrusters and you were in the dining room you lost a few calories with all the shaking! Speed was no problem as they have now got the port times down.

 

Two new things that occured during our trip. Now you tap your key card on the ipad to open your cabin door. Works well. No glitches(at least to our room).

 

Also newly instituted at least for dinner, and the waiters are frustrated too just to let you know! Now initially you don't get your three balls of butter, you get a ball of butter per person at the table. So now a couple initially gets two balls of butter not three! That changed in the middle of our trip. Our waiter was so good that he just brought us more butter automatically.

 

The entertainment was not the best even I as an oldie have to agree. Much more active and better on our last cruise on the Royal. Do not determine all Princess' ships on this one sailing as it is not indicative of the entertainment. There still is no late night life on Princess but is fun times until 11PM! Grin. I did notice a lot more younger people (18-35) on this cruise than I am used to seeing on Princess.

 

The crew all around were great and attentive and did their jobs well. Food was out of 10 averaging around a 7 - decent. I liked the soups on this cruise. Also if a meal was to be hot it was served hot which was appreciated. For my taste the buffet offered many "different" type of main dishes that I would not try. Very into Mexican, Indian, Asian. Some American offerings but not that many. International Cafe was decent too.

 

We were in a mini-suite on deck 9 and our cabin was in very good shape. Even the bathtub area and sink were decent. Maybe we just lucked out. I am wondering when they designed the ship, though, why they put the minisuites on deck 9 where the balconies are completely exposed and uncovered. And since it was extremely hot this cruise, did not use it much.

 

Also the A/C is spotty depending on your cabin as has been reported. In our case it was barely cool enough during the day but at night for sleeping it was ok with just using a sheet - no way you could use the duvet cover as would have been too hot. The A/C in all the main common areas of the ship worked well though.

 

Enjoyed my time on the Caribbean Princess but think I will use other ships in the line for my future cruises.

 

Pooh

Agreed on the AC.

We were on Deck 10 with an extended balcony. I figured the deck 9 balconies were extended and partially covered like ours, just farther out. Bummer!

The butter thing was crazy lol. There were 6 of us. 4 of which were kids ranging from 6-17. Every night was a race to the butter lol.

Thanks for your review. The most important part......what cruise did you take and when???

Oh oops! Caribbean Princess western Caribbean 7/28-8/4