tracyanns

I will have an 8yr old and a 15yr old with me on this cruise. We've been to Blue Lagoon and LOVED it! So we wanted to try Balmoral. Do you think it's kid friendly enough? I heard the lunch isn't fantastic, but do you think it would satisfy picky eaters? TIA

We've been to both and I prefer Blue Lagoon over Balmoral. The food there is OK, basics like burger, chicken fingers. Balmoral is small and limited, it's pretty there but BL offers way more to do.

Slides won't stay open until 7...latest I've seen is 6 and no you don't have enough time to enjoy everything...figure an hour each way for getting off/on the ship, getting a cab, getting your tickets and walking to the waterpark. Now figure having to be back on the ship an hour prior to sail away. We've done Aquaventure 5 times and I still find you need at least 5 or 6 hours to enjoy it...arriving in the afternoon the lines are also at their peak.

Is everything pay extra? And would you know what type of selection they have and hours they are open?

 

 

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You pay for everything in there...I know you can get birthday cakes for $50 but that's all I know...

I would see if they have any of their premium balconies left...the rooms aren't much smaller than a suite and the balcony is extended in both length and width and much cheaper than a suite...

Does anyone know is the Slendor has the Hasbro game show?

Why does Carnival call these nights elegant night? there is NOTHING elegant about carnival! Sounds queer!

They aren't called Elegant night anymore and haven't been for sometime. And regardless of your opinion of Carnival, if you want to wear a tux and gown to McDonalds you can be elegant...they weren't called Elegant Night to make the ship look anymore elegant than any other night, but to let the cruisers look elegant and feel elegant.

So you don't think there's anything on a cruise a blind person can enjoy without being able to see? Without vision, you can't understand why a blind person might want to get out and experience a cruise as opposed to sitting in their home all the time because they can't see? I'm sorry, I don't understand your line of thinking. Just because a person has lost their vision doesn't mean they've lost all their other senses. Usually, when you lose one sense, you become much more sensitive to all the other senses. I LOVE the feel of the sunshine and wind on my face, the gentle motion of a ship or smaller boat, the smells of the ocean, the sounds of waves crashing on the shore or gently lapping against the sides of the boat. i often will close my eyes just to experience these things. There are many many things to enjoy on a cruise that don't require vision....most particularly, spending time with family/friends.

 

I find these comments offensive because macular degeneration and blindness runs in my family - on both sides. My mother's grandmother was blind, my mother's father went blind, and my father has lost much of his vision. It is probably in store for me in the future. I can't believe that anyone would think a blind person doesn't need to cruise.

She wasn't agreeing with the blind not being able to cruise, she was just saying that just because someone doesn't understand something doesn't make their statement ignorant or dumb. They just don't have the knowledge or experience that you do so they don't understand the way you do.

You are correct, it is neither ignorant or dumb but lack of personal experience and knowledge.

We saw a blind person at the movies one time...my daughter looked at me and said that was strange...you can't see the movie.

Well, she is right, but she was wrong. They can't see the movie, but they can hear it and experience it with someone.

Most people take sight and hearing for granted and don't realize what we would do without them. Some people have never had them, so everything that we do is the same thing they do and is normal. They can't see anything, but they can hear and taste and feel and be with the people that they love and they just experience it in a different way.

We had a study at school one day where we had to choose to either be blind or deaf for the day, they covered and taped over either your eyes or ears and we had to spend the entire day that way...until that day I never realized the things that we take for granted and would never wish that on anyone.

On the other hand, people say that you can just ignore the dog...well, yes, you can, but what if the person in the cabin after them had the severe allergy and wasn't aware there was a dog in there...you really wouldn't think about it...not being cleaned properly could be disasterous...

There really is not right or wrong, the ONLY wrong is people trying to sail with their pets and pretending to need them for a reason just so they can bring them all over...guess we can thank Paris Hilton for that one! A dog is not an accessory, it is an animal, unless it is medically necessary, leave it home...if you are that attached, stay home with it.

I love to dress up on cruises...and so does my husband. I wear heels and a cocktail dress to dinner each casual evening and he wears dress pants and a button up shirt. On formal nights he wears his tux and I wear floor length gowns. We only get to do it once in a while at home so I LOVE to do it at home...except I now have a bunch of gowns that never get worn again as I like to buy atleast one new one each cruise...

And no, it is not JUST an excuse to shop, but it does give me another reason...

I do have to mention that most people don't really dress on casual nights so I do get some looks walking through the MDR when I am all in my cocktail dresses...can't help it, I like to look nice.

We once sailed with a service dog and we never even knew he was there. He would lie under the table in any area or under a chair if out on deck. He was always out of the way. There was a "litter box" for him, it was a large box with some sort of substance in it that they would take him to and they had to clean out after each use. The staff would not help or were not allowed to handle the dog in any way.

I do not remember what was wrong with the gentleman with the dog but it was a legitimate service dog. He was a golden retriever.

Now, I never saw anyone have an issue with the dog on the ship, but like I said, you didn't know he was there. I think the cruise lines should have to require the certification on the dog on being a service dog and maybe they should start making it ALOT harder to get these dogs certified so people can't take advantage of this...

As far as CCLs liability in getting sued for asking questions, what about their liability for getting sued if someone gets bitten? Suppose you have some woman in the dark theatre at the show and you sit next to her and her dog bites you because he considers you a threat...a service dog is trained to not do this, but the "semi-service" dogs might not be...I would think there would be some serious liabilities for that...

I guess it really doesn't matter, people see a situation and there are those that take advantage of anything that would make them happy regardless of anyone else. Sad, but that is how society is becoming.

Just wondering.....what does the cruise line do when parent don't make it back to the ship in time and their kids are in day care (camp carnival etc).

 

I wouldn't leave my kids on the boat w/o me on the ship, but I can't think of a worse nightmare.

This came up on another thread and the answer was if the missed the boat because of an accident or legal problem the children would be taken off of the ship and brought to them, if they missed it and the ship had not heard from them, they would send staff to their room to watch the kids until they arrived home or the next port if the parents could get there and they would be charged for the babysitting fees. And maybe something about not being able to cruise again....

I am a pier runner and have been so a few times. Can I tell you that it is not MANDATORY to be on the ship 30 minutes to sailing time, so anything beyond 5 minutes until sailing time I am not running, I am strolling.

I do not do it intentionally, sometimes we just caught up in the moment and are having a good time and just lost track of the time. But guess what, I bring my passport and credit card off the ship with me and if I miss the ship I am well aware that it is my fault and I would deal with it...it wouldn't teach me a lesson, it would just give me the rest of the night and another day or so to have a good time at the island that we were on. Let me also note that I do not and would never expect the ship to wait for us. And I can tell you that they won't.

Closest call was ship was leaving at either midnight or 1:00 am, don't really remember actually, but got caught up in the moment at Senior Frogs in Nassau, of course, longest pier EVER...and asked hubby the time. He looked and me and said we have to go. We had 5 minutes to get from Senior Frogs to the ship...not far, you can see it, but still had to get down Bay street, go through security and all the way to the last dock...and hubby had to pee...actually stopped to go to the bathroom near the gate to get to the dock...I started walking ahead since he is a foot taller he can catch up pretty quickly...so we are half way down the pier and here comes a golf cart...people from the ship asked if it was us, we said yes and they gave us a ride to the ship, we got off and got on and they pulled up the door behind us and off we went. We had 45 seconds to spare.

The next day we had a voicemail on the cabin phone that that they advise us for future cruises that we try to be on the ship atleast 5 minutes prior to sail away next time as we cut it a bit close by less than 1 minute.

Oh well, added a bit of excitement to the end, and if we had missed the ship we would have spent a few days at the Atlantis and flew back to NY to meet the ship and get our stuff...

I think it has to do with survival instincts. If you are up on deck 12 forward doing something and those bells ring, in a true emergency who is going to say...I have to walk all the way to the aft and down 6 flights of stairs...instinct is going to take you down 6 flights of stairs to the CLOSEST lifeboat...and I think that is what happened on Concordia...if the ship is sinking, they are not going to tell you that you have to go to the front and other side of the ship to your lifeboat...

I don't really think anything will run smoothly in the event of an emergency, muster drill or not...

And on another note, maybe I am selfish, but I don't really care if others don't pay attention, as long as I know where my muster station is, I don't really care about others...their safety is not my problem.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say in the event of a real emergency, this is all going to be null and void anyway...I mean, there will be mass chaos and people will just head to the nearest life boat, they aren't going to check the list to see if you are in the right boat, which will leave everyone running around trying to find a boat...

I think that many of the people that don't pay attention are the ones that have done it many times. I mean, if you have seen one muster drill you have seen them all...they show you where to go and how to put on your life jacket...

If you miss part of it, go back to your cabin and put on your life jacket, and you muster station is on both your life jacket and on the back of the cabin door and on your sign and sail cards...so you know where to go...

As long as I knew where my life boat was, I would feel confident not going to the muster drill, I know it is not an option, but those few ships that they do this inside while seated over the TV or movie screen have it right...

I think the easiest time to board if you are not in a hurry is about 2 hours prior to departure. Most people either seem to get there at noon or before, so if you sail at 4:00...I think 1:30-2 would be good. Still may be a bit busy but it should just be people checking in as they get there, all of the early arrivals should be well onboard by then.

We sailed on her on the first cruise after dry dock, the Serenity area is definitely very nice! We didn't notice any smokers at all (don't know if it is non-smoking or not). The makeover definitely made for a great quiet spot.

It is a non smoking area...go figure...you can smoke by the pool with all of the kids but not near the other adults?:confused:

Anyway, the question I had was my DD mentioned that the ice cream bar was back at that bar...did they move it so the kids can still use it?

Did they have different options as to what you could order in this glass? Also did you get to keep it? Price? I have never seen one and defintely am interested in ordering one in April!!!

Yes, you can order what drink you want in them...the monkey head with a non alcoholic drink was around $14 I think, so figure a few more for alcohol...give or take a dollar or 2...The plastic cups should be around $10 or so...probably depends what you get in them...

We saw the disco balls on the Miracle last year...in the disco of course. I didn't see the blowfish...my DD will HAVE to have one of those...hopefully they are less expensive than the monkey head full of smoothie she HAD to have!

So I'm browsing around for that cute, floral, tropical, cruise dress. Something that would be cute to wear to the MDR. So let me see what you got!

 

I know I always do a little clothes shopping and I know I'm not alone on that!

I don't normally go with floral, but with the bright vibrant colors of the tropics like the hot pink and turquois...that kind of thing...not sure of your age or the style of dress you are looking for but there is a sight out there that is prom girl dot com...no spaces that I buy from quite a bit...

Don't all of the ships do them in the lounges and theatres and dining spaces now? The last few I have been on have been this way and it is better as you have seats while waiting for everyone and you aren't sweating outside or freezing if sailing from the North in Winter...WORSE muster drill we EVER did was NY in January...OMG...freezing outside and it took FOREVER...they did rollcall and sent people for people and it was ridiculous...

On the Dream and the Fantasy they had the Marlboro Reds, Lights and the Menthol but no menthol lights...that is what I wanted to buy my mom...had to get her the Benson & Hedges Ultra Lights instead.

We are booked like 3 or 4 rooms back from the front of the ship on deck 10 on the starboard side...I would love this location on a smaller ship but being on such a large ship if anything is on the back of the boat we are going to be hiking quite a bit...I do like to take the stairs and it is pretty close to the forward stairs but would have loved this deck somewhere near the middle of the ship...but my category is sold out on this cruise so they can't move us and to go up 1 category they want over $2,000...worse case scenario, I get some exercise:eek: