larronry

I'm getting on in 16 days and hope not to have those roaches.  I would totally freak out and probably wake everyone around me.  My worst bug experience on a cruise was bees.  We were in port are we were eating on the back of the lido and we watched a swarm of bees fly onto the ship and encase a hand rail on the hot tub.  We, and the others out there, brought our stuff inside and then went looking for someone with a phone to take get  the problem handled.  They didn't believe the seriousness until they were convinced to walk over an look. One of the most amazing sites I have ever seen.

We have done 2 Thanksgiving Day cruises on Glory and one on Conquest.  We started the year after my father passed and took my mother with us and have done it every other year until this year.  We are scheduled for  2022. We have a teen who has autism and don't mind the large families or the kids.  I love watching the kids play.  We don't tend to hang on the lido but find a quiet shady spot one deck above to relax and read.  We eat in the MDR because I like being served but the family does agree about the turkey.  I get one of the other dishes offered.

I was not thrilled with Celebrity kids club.  As a parent I found it to be the oddest and sometimes a bit horrific as compared to other programs.  From little to do in a fairly confined space in a set up that, in my opinion, made it hard to supervise the kids to broken equipment that they thought it was ok to have kids be around.   The one cruise with child on Celebrity was almost our worst cruise ever.

We were on the Splendor during it's inaugural season and it's still my favorite ship. I like the cover over the main pool when it rains or if it's cold (we had both issues) and I like the movie screen reverse from the other ships so that you can sit in the shade on the deck above Lido and see the movie. I too heard a lot about the color theme before sailing but it didn't bother me (and I'm not a pink lover).

Mine was 2 days. I took it and enjoyed the junior suite (from ocean view)

My son is about to go on his 6th Carnival cruise. If you were to ask (and I have) would you rather go on a cruise or Disney World he will tell you cruise. He has autism and is in a self contained classroom most of the day. Carnival has done amazingly well. I have learned to contact the special needs department just prior to the cruise (about a week) and ask them for such things as notifying the kids program (this next time he will be aged down so I let them know that) about his arrival and that he may need us to stay with him during the program. I ask them to forward to the staff that although we would love him to remain on his own that if the choice is we stay with him or we walk the ship with him for hours then we would rather stay. He needs whatever time he needs to get comfortable with the staff although with the exception of 1 cruise (rough seas for the first time affected him) the staff has been fabulous and handled him well. I have learned this trick of notifying them ahead of time because I've had an issue where they wouldn't let us stay (it is written into their policy that we can) and it turned out that they thought we should have a good time without him for part of our cruise. We ended up not being able to get him to stay in the kids program the rest of that cruise. Nice thought on their part. BTW it was fun learning how to do the towel animals.

Also the life boat drills can be a challenge and I would ask the special needs department to notify the Hotel Manager to make sure guest services has information as to the alternate muster drill (problem getting information on our last cruise) and elect that. The muster drill being noisy, confining, and at times too long for our kids just isn't worth the stress when they have an alternative option. I've tried everything I could during the regular drill (arrive early they make you get in the rows and you are in back - yes I have tried and tried to explain we need to wait, arrive late and it's just to crowded and difficult to handle if something sets your child off).

I think the gift cards or e-cards are better then cruise cash because should they for whatever reason cancel or postpone the cruise cruise cash is gone but the gift card can be applied anytime. At least this is my understanding.

They always have at least 1 vegetarian dish every night but not all are vegan (they may have cheese). I believe the Indian dishes might be vegan as I cannot recall there being any cheese or egg in them.

As for the new menu I did see a vegetarian dish on some if not all but they seem to more frequently contain cheese or some I would have to ask i.e. stuffed mushrooms.

If I were on the ship with the new menu and I couldn't order any meal food (a side a vegi's is not a meal) I would have no issue going up to the buffet and putting together something and bringing it down. There may be side dishes from several dishes but they won't/can't bring out just the sides (or they order the whole meals and don't let you see that they just replated the stuff you wanted) and she of course won't eat it.

I've always gotten a phone but I'm sure it depends on how many people are on board.

In that age group if you leave them on board while you go to excursions they will take them to lunch. If you are on the ship you have to sign them out of Camp before lunch.

Most times with self disembark it's a non issue but I've arrived at the port at 10:30 and the previous sailing hadn't begun disembarking (issue with a passenger on board and the INS). Another time there was an incident at another pier that closed the port down. There was a third time but we were the first cruise after a transatlantic so the entire crew had to go through customs before they began disembarking passengers and you can check where the ship was before and decide if that could be an issue.

As it should be, we are trying to get rid of the white flies in our landscape here in FL. The little buggers come from Belize and Honduras (Central America) Please follow the rules.

I had no idea where those came from. Those things are driving me crazy. Although I would assume they could still infect us by just flying off the ships that are in port.

I've been on Freedom 3 times so a bit sick of it and the decor but I would sail her again. As for the post dry dock I read somewhere reliable? who knows that due to the size of the Lido she would not be getting all the 2.0 upgrades because they would not fit. Of course no clue exactly what she would get. She is also scheduled for (I think she is the first ship scheduled for) the Dr. Seuss upgrades.

I went with a large group on a cruise out of Port Canaveral and we kept our cars at an Orlando Hotel (we had stayed there the night before) took the hotel bus to the airport and then the cruise transportation from their to the port. It is a looooonnnnggg bus ride.

As for the ports you can check the port board for details but

Grand Turk is essentially beach

La Romana, unless things have changed go to the artsy area not downtown.

St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and San Juan are good to explore in and/or do taxi tours on your own. I love the underwater observatory in St. Thomas and my husband and I have fun silly memories (a monkey and a thrown nut are involved) of the zoo in St. Maarten.

You will cry that your cruise is over. :rolleyes:

You mean they don't carry the Denver stations anymore?:eek:

Thank you for asking :p They carried Miami stations years ago but I'm so used to Denver on the cruises now and hearing how cold it is.

Food isn't an issue because I wasn't thrilled with the food on NCL or Princess. For us the bottom line is price. With a child in school and it being very difficult to deal with unexcused absences we can only cruise during high price times so right now we choose by price. When that is no longer an issue I would say Itinerary will play a big factor.

For those that don't get the CD issue I can say that when I started cruising I didn't care, but then we had this awful CD. He was so fake and I couldn't stand hearing his voice. 2 cruise later we got this high energy, funny, absolutely genuine CD (Weeeee Jimmy) and I loved to watch the morning show and enjoyed participating in the activities he was leading.

I would say that usually the CD doesn't matter but yes a CD can make or break a cruise.

Years ago we (a group of 50) were on a 3 day cruise with an overnight in Nassau. The funniest look back moments were of this blowup doll (yes that kind) some guy was carrying around the ship and into the dance clubs. Several of us were desperately searching for a few that stayed in Nassau overnight but they did make it back. I remember evening activities being fairly normal. I'm sure it was cruise casual in the dining room but we dressed up every night so I'm not sure.

Just about every ship only has one plug in the main cabin (standard stateroom) and some or most had an outlet high up in the bathroom. I've always cruised with a power strip and an extension cord. When I use my phone as an alarm (or clock) I like to have it near me when I sleep even if it needs charging.

There is no way to predict the answer to that question.

Carnival Freedom 12/12/2010 bad winds, horrible seas, first time I ever went beyond just feeling the waves but actually got sick. Carnival Freedom 12/13/2009 and Carnival Freedom 12/11/2011 smooth sailing, stopped taking the bonine on both trips although 2009 had a lot of rain on the islands. I realize these were not southern Caribbean cruises but the tropics is the tropics when it comes to weather, storms, and cold fronts and there simply is no way to tell.

Edited to add more

Carnival Splendor 12/06/2008 Freezing but smooth seas.

Celebrity Millennium 12/16/2007 great weather smooth seas

Caribbean Princess 12/17/2006 rough ocean couldn't walk a straight line black and blue from falling into furniture. Thought the pool was a wave pool the first 2 days.

Our best cruise experience was on Celebrity. Our worst cruise experience was on Celebrity. I'm telling you this just to point out that when you hear bad things about a cruise doesn't always make it a bad cruise line and vice versa. I'm still convinced that had we gone on our originally booked cruise (cancelled due to emergency dry dock) we would never have had a bad Celebrity cruise but since it happened and we did a last minute booking on Princess I can compare Princess and Carnival.

If you had said you were going on the Caribbean Princess then I would say hands down go Carnival. Last ship in design series 1 full extra deck of just rooms so all the public spaces were just too crowded. That said I too found the food bland. I did enjoy the shows and entertainment but was surprised at the times of the day and night where no food was available. We noticed this when we came back on the ship at a port and there was no where to eat. It was 3 or 4 in the Afternoon. Made me look at the food schedule and I noticed that there was nothing after midnight or maybe it was 2am. So I would say not geared toward the late night partier.

On Carnival I've not had a bad experience. Well one with Camp Carnival but they were just trying to help.

It really comes down to what you want out of the cruise and if you are a late night person the I would say Carnival over Princess after all it is known as the Fun Ship.

The cabin I have booked for my next cruise on Carnival's Victory is not a handicap cabin but is quite large at 220 sq ft, is a cabin for 3 (not 4) and has a pullout couch. I know that the Carnival fleet has many cabins of this design in outside cabins

Room description

"Carnival Victory cabin 2278 is a Stateroom with Oceanview Picture Window cabin located in the Midship section of the ship. Located on Main Deck, Carnival Victory stateroom 2278 features Twin Bed/King and Single Convertible Sofa the Stateroom with Oceanview Picture Window on the Carnival Victory features two lower beds that can be converted to a queen sized bed. A picture window gives you a view of the ocean and there is a sitting area with a sofa. In select staterooms the sofa converts to a bed. Additionally there is a television, thermostat-controlled air conditioning, direct-dial telephone with voicemail, a lighted desk area and a hand-held hairdryer in the bathroom. The bathroom features a shower. All staterooms on Carnival Cruise Lines feature the Carnival Comfort Bed with soft, cozy linens, bathrobes, 24-hour room service, a personal safe and plenty of closet and drawer space. 220 square feet."

I'm sorry but I have no idea what your point is. Are you suggesting you should be exempt from an emergency drill because you know what to do, or because your child is autistic?

 

PLEASE accept I fully understand your attitude toward your child but from what I have read it is now a requirement for all cruise ships to carry out these drills prior to sailing?

 

The master I believe has to sign off on this drill prior to the ship sailing and some cruise lines have actually disembarked passengers that have failed or refused to attend because of claimed medical conditions.

My statement was in reaction to many of the statements and reactions above. Please read:

There is a handicap muster station on NCL and RCCL cruises that we have been on. My father have mobility issues. That station is relatively easy to access from the accessible cabins. There are also special and extra crews to assist in a real emergency. I notice the lifeboats near this station look different (accessibility issues?)

Not sure about a private drill but I have mobility issues and cannot stand for any length of time. Our muster drill station was out on the deck outside the casino so there was not way I could it. Spoke to the crew member in charge and he directed me to go inside the casino. There were a few other passengers there and a crew member did the drill there for us.

It's my understanding that there is no "private" muster station, however they might be able to group you with the mobility challenged passengers.

 

My friends who have cruised with children on the spectrum have spent a lot of time preparing in advance with social stories and gone to the regular muster.

I have absolute sympathy with anyone who has a disability, and have had extensive personal experience with children and adults with varying degrees of autism, but one should remember that the drill is meant to show passengers where to meet during a real emergency. One should also remember that if there is a need to ever actually evacuate the ship, there will be no private, personal evacuation.

 

Although it may seem chaotic to a child with autism, the drill is also meant to mimic a real-life situation. This is why, in New Jersey, all school children must participate in drills, to help them to know what to expect in a true emergency.

So while I think it is wonderful that you have the utmost sympathy with the author basically what you are saying is that we (the families of those children with autism who have difficulty in handling many situations) should never ever take a vacation because so many components will need to be modified and you (and many others) don't think that is a good idea.

I never said that we should be exempt from an emergency drill but that seems to be what people think. What we are doing is utilizing the cruise-lines provided alternate muster drill and we have every right to utilize that service. And we should be able to share this information with other travelers who are unaware without being accused of wanting to get the cruise-line in trouble for not participating in the mandatory muster drill. I didn't learn of this option until my son's 5th cruise and I believe that others should learn prior to their 1st cruise.

Each and every passenger on a cruise ship attends a muster drill. If you are blessed to be an able bodied passenger this mandatory drill takes place at assigned muster stations and is the typical muster drill. However, there are passengers whose particular disability preclude the standing packed like sardines for the duration of the drill . The cruise lines have taken this into account and will provide a muster drill that allows them to participate. Would you take issue with a wounded one leg veteran being offered a chance to sit during the drill ? Of course not! An autistic individual frequently cannot tolerate the closed in conditions of the drill most passenger stand through. But rest assured, they will attend a muster drill, just not the same one as you, in the same place. There is no greater advocate, or anyone more aware of her child's safety, than the parent of an autistic child.

Beautifully said. :D

I cannot stand unaided, nor indeed sit!!

 

And YES I will be attending this mandatory drill and most definitely not be asking for ANY dispensation but where does it say we cannot sit if there is a medical reason for so doing, although I might tactfully suggest that sitting may well see us getting trampled in a real drill\panic

 

This drill is a mandatory requirement that ALL passengers on a Cunard ship have to attend (or so I was told by the senior medical officer) For this muster I will be in excruciating pain (somewhat controlled by long term morphine medication) Because of the trauma my body will no doubt be put through getting to this muster my body will suffer prolonged violent spasms, but I will have learnt how to get to my muster station in a crowd, without using a lift!! something I will need to know should a real emergency arise and something I will have learnt about by doing this drill.

 

I will not be asking for any type of dispensation, I will most certainly not be playing any type of disability card, nor asking to be excused. I opted to go on a cruise, my choice, my decision. I knew I had to do these drills and if I did not like the rules of the game then I had the option of not playing. Are these drills are for our benefit?

I commend your choice for not wanting dispensation however you are not going to scream at the top of your lungs, hit, bite, kick, or scratch those around you are you?

Can you sit during the drill well that depends and I'm not familiar with your cruiseline's procedure however during the part where you stand by the lifeboats (if it occurs during the entire drill or after meeting in a public room, or not at all) no you cannot sit as there are no seats. I was yelled at for getting on the ground with my son while I restrained him because that was not procedure.

The crew has a duty to get me to my station and I want to learn how that is done and possibly offer constructive observations if needed to help them perform this unenviable task.

Most likely won't happen on such an individual basis during the drill but will be discussed and arrangements made during the alternative location if needed.

I do know however that if I did have such a child, I would personally attend this muster, and this is where we are different....

Let those of us with experience in dealing with this population help others dealing with these difficulties and leave out the ones that just don't and can't have an understanding of what it is like being told so many times just keep your child under lock and key at home if being out in the world is so difficult and interfering to others.

signed,

Mom with a black belt in autism

Board Certified Behavior Analyst

28 years experience working with the autism population

 

I have the utmost sympathy with the author but how would this child cope in an emergency? Hysterical passengers all huddled in large groups, perhaps shouting and demanding answers to a thousand and one questions. Lights flashing on and off, the crew running about with floodlights, torches being shone in faces. Passengers all pushing and shoving, trying to change lifeboats!! When things run smoothly, I am sure a cruise is a wonderful experience but if they go wrong, we cannot open a door and walk off the ship!!

 

Would it be better to attend these drills and at least experience being in a large gathering of people?

We already know how the react in a large gathering of people and believe me they practice that skill on a regular basis in real life. And since we, the parents, already know how they will react at least during a drill I, as a parent of a child with autism, would like to protect the passengers around me.

Would you mind having you and your significant other, family, and cruisemates get on either side and infront/inback of me so that your group is the only one at risk of physical injury? Is that risk really worth it for a drill? And for that matter now it will take me hours to calm him down to a normal state. My son loves cruising. This next cruise is something he has been begging for. You let me, and the other parents, worry about how to handle our kids in a really emergency but during the drill it simply isn't worth it. I assure you that most mom's/parent's of autistic children will manage better then most during that crisis situation should it ever happen because we spend our lives in a fight or flight mode on a daily basis. You tick of a mom (primary caretaker) of an autistic child and the adrenalin will flow. It is not uncommon for the primary caregiver to be diagnosed with PTSD by the time the kids are teenagers because of this.

The difference between a drill and reality is that in a drill you stand wall to wall with people beside and in-front of you (our kids the longest since we have usually gotten to the muster drill location early thus we have been made to go to the back row) and this can be for 5 to 15 minutes depending on smooth drill or issues. In reality you are running for you life to the nearest lifeboat and you are not standing there in your neat little rows all mushed together (it is in these confined moments when the autism is likely to take hold because of scents, touches, sounds, etc putting them into sensory overload).

It's a crap shoot when you talk to someone at Carnival.

 

I will say it again...when you call your more than Likely speaking with a person who has never stepped foot on a ship and has probably only worked at Carnival for a very short time.

The turn over for a PVP is around six months and then poof their gone . You may find some that do know what their talking about and that have stuck with the company for a longer period but its not the typical.

 

Be your own advocate ....it's your money and your trip. I personally think the FTTF is self explanatory , you made two separate bookings for you B2B, why would you think it would cover both cruises.

 

Sorry you were misinformed .

Wow I've had the same PVP for over 6 years. :eek:

My son wouldn't sleep on the sofa bed and ended up sleeping between us. Only issue is when we got home he still wanted to sleep between us. :(

That's what I was wondering - refund?

 

And my girls would prefer Marvel super heroes ;)

I think that is out of the question since Disney owns them. :(