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Lady Chew

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About Me

  • Location
    Northern Virginia USA
  • Interests
    travel, reading, fitness
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Royal Caribbean
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Mediterranean

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  1. While you can get in & out of McDonalds quickly, some of the best stops we've had on private tours were by asking our guide "where do YOU eat" and eating there. Not only good food, you will probably meet some locals and get some good stories. On larger private tours (more than 10 of us) whoever organizes asks the guide/tour company to provide time for at least a snack. Also, even on a ships tour the ship cannot always wait. It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally the port (or weather) requires the ship to leave, period. But in that case Celebrity will get you to the ship somehow. We have been on two private tours and were going to be late. Our guides contacted the ship and the ship did wait. But those were very nerve-wracking experiences which I wouldn't care to repeat!
  2. My sister & I had a retreat cabana for 14 days on the Nieuw Statendam in February. We were with a larger group who had 2 cabanas & a family cabana, and we were all in a row. We all used them every day, basically all day. The attendants took our orders for breakfast, lunch, snacks, drink (even the non-alcoholic ones), helped move chaises & chairs, took dividers up & down, and were attentive in so many other little ways. They were unfailingly polite & cheerful all the time. There were 4 attendants in all. We tipped them each $50 at the end of the cruise.
  3. I did this with Mr Chew's ashes in February, from the Nieuw Statendam. The staff who helped me were wonderful, very caring. We had a small group to see him off. It was shortly after sunset, right over the wake. They cannot tell you in advance exactly when you can do this. It depends on the weather & location, in other words, someone on the bridge. We had about 6 hours notice, which was plenty. When the GS officer phoned me, she told me I could pick anytime that day between 5 pm and 6:30 am. I asked if anyone ever did pick 3 am, or some other time during the late night/early morning, and she said yes! (I did NOT pick that time, Mr Chew & I are neither night owls or early birds, but I imagine those hours might have special meaning for some.) I did have to show them a death certificate and the contract from the funeral home showing the biodegradable urn. (I also had to show those to TSA when I flew to FLL)
  4. Mr Chew was 6'4" and heavy, and had no size problems in the hallways or bathrooms, or for that matter, anywhere on a HAL ship. We've been on a few other cruise lines, and the only place he had an issue was on Oceania. He couldn't stand upright in the shower (and we had a penthouse cabin). I could barely stand up in the shower at 5'6". He would have been more comfortable with a king size bed, but had no real complaints about the queen-size beds we usually had. The only issue with that was as night, if I had to get around the bed to get to the bathroom. No matter how hard I tried, I almost always banged into his feet. No complaint about the other furniture in the cabin. And there were ALWAYS people larger than Mr Chew. Maybe not quite as tall, but much much much bigger around.
  5. We have never purchased any of the artwork on a cruise, but we have attended several of the "auctions" just for fun (ie, free champagne for me, and Mr Chew liked to schmooze with participants & staff). We participate in the guess-the-weight/etc contests. Some of the so-called art is absolutely atrocious but some of it isn't too bad. We have won a few free prints over the years. Stick 'em in a little frame (we have quite a few that we have accumulated over the years from old school photos, etc) and give 'em to Goodwill. Tax deduction!! And we have always seen people from the auctions going through debarkation/customs carrying their wrapped artwork. I was just on Enchantment with a friend, and it was a little annoying having the artwork in main public areas, but the larger ships seem to have dedicated areas that don't take up too much valuable real estate.
  6. We usually take long cruises, and have found that the stewards (and indeed, most of the crew) go above & beyond to be of service. If we have two cabin attendants, we tip each of them separately, in separate envelopes with thank you notes. (We also turn in comment cards) If the service has not been extra -great, just basic, or maybe we never see them even though they have obviously done their jobs, we'll tip a little less. We try to tip any crew member who has been of service to us. I even tip the young lady, who is usually very junior, who has the fun (not) job of keeping the public ladies rooms clean. I don't think Mr Chew ever paid attention to who cleaned the mens rooms, so no tips there.
  7. We have always tipped our cabin stewards $50 a week, regardless of length of cruise or type of stateroom
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