Essiesmom

The canal has been conserving water in the old locks, too. If you watch the ships going through, you will notice that particularly at Gatun locks, one lane goes east, one west. They line the ships up in neighboring locks and the water from the locks with the ship lowering flows into the neighboring lock to raise the other ship. As a result it is taking a little longer for a ship to go through. EM

I was on a 10 day cruise in Dec, my niece stayed home. On day 8 my niece at home texted the family that after 3+ years she finally got it. The next day on the ship I started what I thought was a cold. By the time I got home I knew it was more, and I was positive. Very mild cases. EM

You do not need to take your towels off at OC. There is a stand just inside the gate to get towels and turn the in when reboarding. EM

Today it’s Ambience, another world cruiser. I can’t help it…I e always thought this was an ugly design…

This is pretty well covered on the Ports of Call board here for Panama Canal. EM

If you choose Silhouette, the ON in Istanbul is Sat/Sun. Grand Bazaar is closed Sunday so if you want to see it ( you should) pick a tour that goes Saturday. EM

The wristbands are good for everything ON the ship, just not for getting off in ports, and back on. You need your card for that. EM

First, you need to go to the special needs section of your cruise line website. That should tell you what companies rent equipment to be delivered to their ship. There might be a number to call for that info. Call those companies and ask if they rent one way. What are you using for your travel to Portsmouth? EM

If there are wrist bands for YC, that means it’s a ‘smart ship’ so there will be wrist bands for purchase for other areas of the ship. EM

No, MSC does not give out extra room keys. I have read here that it is possible if you are in the Yacht Club and the concierge has done it. The solution I suggest is that if the ship has wristbands available, have the people who wish to switch get the wristbands and trade. But you would have to remember not to use them for anything else on the ship. EM

Here you are at Pedro Miguel, and in the left rear at Miraflores from the Cocoli cam. EM

I cross reference the two sites because cruisemapper covers more cruise lines than cruisetimetables. EM

I’m on an iPad, also tried on my mini4 with same result. EM

Today was Zuiderdam on her world cruise, Ruby Princess and Carnival Pride doing partials. Unfortunately after their entrances, the webcams stopped updating, or appearing at all.

BElla and Fantastica have assigned dining. Supposedly with Fantastica you can state an early or late preference but it is not guaranteed. There is a place to go on boarding to request a change. EM

There is a sticky at the top about Panamax ships. If your ship fits the old locks, 99% it will transit through the old locks. EM

Carnival’s Dream class and newer have deluxe OV cabins that have the main bed for 2, two upper bunks and a sleeper couch. They also have a split bath: two showers, two sinks, one toilet. One shower has a small tub. EM

Yes there are. Whatever is listed. EM

Sea Cloud Spirit at Miraflores and NCL Bliss passing Pedro Miguel

I think you misunderstand. The chartering company/organizer pays the cruise company a flat fee for the ship and then sells cabins at an inflated rate. They do not give cabins back to the cruise line. If the charter is selling poorly, they might cancel the whole thing. A,so, a few years ago there was a thread about the definition of charter, and it seems they can have a charter without booking the whole ship. EM

The OP states he has already pre-paid gratuities. OP, you should be asking this on the board here for NCL. EM

I have always used sea bands and they work for me. I also found early on that the side to side rolling was a problem. Our first cruise we had an OV cabin with the beds under the window. We both found we could not sit in bed facing the inside of the ship and read. The solution was to leave the cabin and go somewhere we could sit with a forward to aft orientation. It’s still true for me. EM

Many travel agencies/agents charge a cancellation fee, and it would be per person. It’s part of the fine print…. Best to avoid those agencies in the future. EM

Go to cruisetimetables.com and choose ports you wish to visit from the Cruises to…tab. Then select the time you wish to cruise. It will show you who is calling there and their itineraries. If you find ships listed that you are not familiar with, try cruisedeckplans.com and choose that cruise line. Initially it will show you all the ships of that line, size and age. EM

Go to the Viking Ocean board here and scroll down and back a few pages, see if anyone has done a Live from or post cruise review. They may discuss the excursions they have taken. EM