chill6x6

In my experience, best price rarely if ever equal best service.  At this stage of my life I'll take best service over best price every day of the week and twice on Sunday.  My TA almost alway contacts me WELL within an hour after my initial contact.  Usually within minutes.  We have a good time talking.  I don't take up much of her time because I know she has others too.  I get OBC and sometimes a bottle of something. She's great and I am very happy with her! Invoice/booking conformations are sent to me at the latest the same day.

As mentioned above...the cruise I booked yesterday...same price today...except $1200 deposit!😵‍💫

I should have booked at least one more....

18 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

My wife has motion sickness. This means that when the sea is a bit rough she spends time in bed and often misses dinner.

Dramamine - the type that causes drowsiness, rather than the non-drowsy kind - works for her; thus the time out of action.

 

On another thread about a year ago some people recommended the Relief Band, and others recommended the ErmTerm.

The less expensive Sea-Bands were not very effective, but we'd like to try either the Relief Band or ErmTerm.

 

I keep ginger tablets with me and anytime I feel anything I've found them to be very successful, but that's not enough for her.

 

Any suggestions, especially from those that have similar issues and found these remedies effective, will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all for reading this (and other) thread(s).

Bill

So the most typical drugs to treat motion sickness are meclizine, dimenhydrinate, and trans-dermal scopolamine.  

Original Dramimine is dimenhydrinate.  "Less-drowsy" Dramimine and Bonine is meclizine.  So if the dimenhydrinate is working but causes too much drowsiness you can do a couple of things.  Try taking the full dose at bedtime and see if that last through the next day.  Can also supplement that bedtime dose with 1/2 tablet during the day if needed.

Trans-dermal scopolamine- Sometimes wearing the patch just at night will work and pull off patch in the AM place back on the original patch backing. Place back behind ear the next night.

Various bands- I mean you have nothing to loose with trying them.  I'm sure they are safe it's just the effective part that bothers me. 

Ginger supplements- they HAVE shown to be somewhat effective.  Nothing to loose here either.

Good luck!

So of course I took advantage of this! 10-day southern Caribbean on Zuiderdam.  HIA...$15 drink package, crew gratuity, $200 shore excursion credit, Premium wifi, 1 night speciality dining...same price I've been looking at all along! $2 deposit!

This was a no-brainer!

3 hours ago, sassycruiser said:

Hi

 

Thinking about booking the Haven on the Getaway.  Looking for feedback.  We are experienced NCL cruisers but never in the Haven.  We did do Yacht Club on MSC and loved it.

 

we would be booking the 12/1/24 trip from NOLA.  
 

thank you! 

I've cruised out of NO many times and actually cruised on the Getaway from there.  

I like the aft-facing Penthouse.  It's away from the Haven complex but the huge balcony and two baths are certainly worth the walk.  Although I haven't been on an MSC ship I have been in Holland America Neptune/Pinnacle suites, Royal Caribbean Sky/Star class suites, and Celebrity suites.  All have their pros and cons.  For the money the Haven is hard to beat. We had a GREAT, proactive butler aboard the Getaway.  The Haven sundeck on the Getaway is nice and we enjoyed it. The Haven restaurant is really good too.  I'm not crazy about the non-changing dinner menu BUT you'll probably eat in a few speciality restaurants with your "Free at Sea." 

Be SURE to get to New Orleans a day or two before your cruise and enjoy all NO has to offer.  It's a great place to cruise from! For sure head to the WW-II museum!  AND eat at ACME Oyster, Drago's, and Mr B's Bistro to name a few great places to eat!

33 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I stayed on Deck15 Aft, large corner balcony.  It wasn't in Haven Proper, but the walk down the hallway, then two flights of stairs up ( ( didn't want to use elevators) was not bad. Aft balcony would be a great place to sail thru Alaska.  AND..not being in Haven proper, you can have "new friends" hang out on the balcony without getting permission .

Absolutely the correct answer! 

Yes the OP did say deck 17 or 18 BUT... I like your answer.  I always book a deck 9 aft-facing PH.  It's the best PH balcony on this class of ship.  Next choice would be deck 12 then deck 15.  All have two loungers(sometimes more) and a dining table with chairs. Of course the views are excellent. All are a little ways from the Haven you really won't miss it.  You have your own coffee maker, butler, and Haven/dining room room service.

I'm always going to go for the larger balcony!

Thanks for answering my questions Brian! Great live review! We have a 9-day of our own coming up in November on Rotterdam.  

Thanks for that info Hank!

One of my favorite cruises was on the previous Rotterdam where they had a string quartet!  WOW they were great!

I hope it's happening on the Rotterdam in November...

I'm used to NCL and Royal's menus....Haven Restaurant/Coastal Kitchen/most speciality restaurants on both....I have to say Holland America's menu's sound GREAT! LOTS of great choices each night!

Hi Brian,

Thank you so much for ALL this information! 

I have ANOTHER question please.....it is a TWO-PART question! 

Retreat area....What is the likelihood of being able to get a cabana for only one sea day?  AND...are the loungers in the middle area there available to anyone is a cabana?

Thank you!

I have a request Sir!

How is the availability of loungers around the pool areas?

Thank you!

Hi!

Question if I may....How did you like the Crowne Plaza this time?

Hi, please add us to your list...

Rotterdam-  8-Nov-24- 9 day Eastern Caribbean

Thank you!

Last time I was in Mazatlan we went fishing with Bibi Fleet.  They picked us up and the port and brought us back.  Probably would want at least an 8 hour port stop to do it.  Caught stripped marlin and tuna! Really, it was a great trip!

We have a Mexican Riviera cruise next March but only 7 hours in port so I'm going to have to go a different direction.

https://www.fishmazatlan.com/index.php

log in... go to..

---->"manage my cruise"- select desired booking.

---->select "itinerary" ..sometimes I have to click "shore excursions" then "itinerary" at the 3 lines in top left.

Scroll to desired day 

See those three little lines in the top left? Click it.  Then click "itinerary." Then scroll down as you wish. Each day will show either "no planned activities" or "planned activities."

I was able to book all of my excursions in February for my November 9-day eastern Caribbean.  So that was 10 months out.

20 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Vibe and Haven Sundeck are literally 2 inches apart, separated by a metal door. Yup, you can spend your money to be 2” away. Both are adults only. I don’t think it is worth the money to say “I am in the Vibe”. Better to say “I am in the Haven”. 
 

we sailed in the Haven twice last year and on both ships, the Haven deck attendants were constantly available to bar and food orders. 

I've decided not to do it.  I was thinking about it just for fun and to see exactly what the Vibe is all about,  We always stay in an Haven AF PH so there's really no need.  If we don't like the "vibe" in the Haven we have the balcony with loungers and really the view is better anyway!

Thanks for the responses!

7 hours ago, cruiseDH22 said:

Wifey and I have done 4 or 5 NCL cruises.  We are interested in a Carnival Cruise to Bahamas or Caribbean out of NY later this year.

 

What will we expect, not having experienced Carnival before.  What will we miss, and what can we expect in general?

 

I will probably post this on the Carnival forum as well, but looking for some expert insight and thought I will start here.

 

(Once you NCL you never consider anything else?)

You'll probably like it! I started out at Carnival....Not a while lot of difference. In some ways you'll like it better and in others you'll probably like the NCL way.

I say go for it and experience new things! 

On 3/18/2024 at 3:06 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

Boarded the Encore yesterday.

Check in was a breeze. New terminal is very nice.

 

Other than that, things have gone sideways.

 

Once checked in before 11am  we went to a Haven waiting area on the second floor. Very nice but no restrooms. As we sat there for almost a half hour we noticed many others already boarding below. We tried to walk out and get in line but we're turned back. 

Apparently we needed to be walked on by a butler and taken directly to our muster station.

So much for priority boarding. 

 

Priority luggage??? We got it 6 hours later, a little after 5pm. Many other regular cabins had theirs.

 

We found our room not fully cleaned. A razor and a loofa in the shower. Ugh.

 

One other issue is we booked a category in the Haven proper thru a TA to discover when we arrived we had access to the Haven but not in it. Clue was when we were finally walked on, our muster was at the back of the ship.

 We are in what used to be a Spa Haven.

 

Be careful with one of the mega online TAs.

 I have paperwork from the concierge that they are wrong and I will address that when I get home.

! Priority boarding- Generally speaking the Haven personnel is really good about this. Usually a group is escorted by butler/concierge to the Haven area and usually before the vast majority of non-Haven passengers. Sometimes I'm in the first group sometimes not. You WILL get priority boarding returning to the ship at each port of call that is very nice!

2. Priority luggage- I've been in suites on several cruise lines and the only suite experience I ever really got priority luggage was Royal Caribbean Star class and then your luggage follows you to your cabin. Otherwise usually it's 3-6PM and I really don't worry about it.

3.Clean Cabin- This would bother me.  I've had it happen before and they came back and re-cleaned top to bottom. The cabin has either been cleaned properly or it hasn't.  Case closed. But once cleaned, moving on with my vacation.

4. Haven suites- They are all over the ship.  I actually prefer the aft-facing penthouse which isn't the the Haven proper as they say.  But the Haven suite "deals" are usually the previous Haven Spa suites.  You still get Haven access just like I do with the aft-facing PH.

13 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The CO dining room is so much nicer and intimate than the MDR, not having a view of the sea is well worth it. IMO the food served in CO seems to be better than the MDR and we have found the extra CO entrees that are cooked to order to be far superior to the MDR fare. The service in the CO is also far superior to the MDR, IMO.

Thanks for the info.  I'll be the first to admit we are used to Coastal Kitchen and The Haven Restaurant but really liked the ambiance of the HA MDR.  I'll go with your advice!

6 hours ago, L1211 said:

Hope you enjoyed our sail @chill6x6 - excited for you -she’s amazing! 

I certainly did! I especially enjoyed reading about what you did at each port! I pretty much know the Caribbean like the back if my hand but not so much the Mexican riviera! 

It was fun when I went to the trouble of sending HA my Carnival VIFP points so we could be 1 Star Mariners with zero cruise points just to be able to dine in the MDR for the "Mariners Lunch" on embarkation day! I'm going to sent a note as well for what it's worth!

BTW the string quartet aboard previous Rotterdam was probably the best performance I have ever heard aboard a ship. That cruise still stands as one of my favorites and I have been on some nice cruises!

Overall I'd have to say this HA board has probably the best group of posters on CC. 

Another question if I may....

Club Orange vs. MDR...I'm guessing CO is in the interior of the ship(Rotterdam) so no view of the ocean I am guessing.  I'm guessing it would still be possible to have an aft wake view while dining in the MDR on Rotterdam?