Seraphine

On 7/2/2022 at 2:15 PM, Markanddonna said:

I read somewhere that Spice H20 and another area (Seaplex?) affected by the debris from the funnels is closed for the month of July. They are giving passengers a $50 voucher to make up for this.

Thanks for this!  I was hoping they'd fix it... we're back on that ship in October and really hoped to get to be on the space.

We were on the Epic a month ago, and H2O was only open when we were in Port. The funnels were spitting out debris, so they weren't letting passengers up there unless the funnels were off.

A huge pain.

So are they fixing this, then?

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'm thinking about booking a cruise on the Encore - for all the reasons you dislike haha...laser tag and go karts! But, I am really curious about the spaces where you felt claustrophobic. Where was this? In your room? Public spaces? Waterfront? Etc...could definitely keep me from sailing the Encore if it's this pronounced.

I went on the Go-carts, but kept getting rear ended by an obnoxious 10 year old who was eventually got escorted off the track for hitting me so many times.  I have zero interest in laser tag 😞  

The library space that lead to the Observation Bar at the front... while the bar was more open, I could reach up and touch parts of the ceiling.   It just seemed weird to me as that never happens.

The cabin was fine, but yes, the public spaces seemed cramped (and there was only about 75% occupancy... I'd hate to see it full).   No big "wow" spaces, nothing that made you step back and think, "that's cool/impressive/not a shopping mall"   If I wanted small, uninspiring spaces, I'd stay home.

I'm sure some people will like it, but it really made me evaluate what I did like about NCL ships, and that's what I seek out now.  

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'm thinking about booking a cruise on the Encore - for all the reasons you dislike haha...laser tag and go karts! But, I am really curious about the spaces where you felt claustrophobic. Where was this? In your room? Public spaces? Waterfront? Etc...could definitely keep me from sailing the Encore if it's this pronounced.

I went on the Go-carts, but kept getting rear ended by an obnoxious 10 year old who was eventually got escorted off the track for hitting me so many times.  I have zero interest in laser tag 😞  

The library space that lead to the Observation Bar at the front... while the bar was more open, I could reach up and touch parts of the ceiling.   It just seemed weird to me as that never happens.

The cabin was fine, but yes, the public spaces seemed cramped (and there was only about 75% occupancy... I'd hate to see it full).   No big "wow" spaces, nothing that made you step back and think, "that's cool/impressive/not a shopping mall"   If I wanted small, uninspiring spaces, I'd stay home.

I'm sure some people will like it, but it really made me evaluate what I did like about NCL ships, and that's what I seek out now.  

I love the Escape, but hated the Encore. 

(for reference, we just made Sapphire level, so we've been around the block for a while on NCL)

We went on the Encore Inaugural sailing... I'm really short (5'3) and I felt claustrophobic in so many of the areas (where I could touch the ceiling with my hands up... how do regular sized people manage?)

It felt closed up, like a shopping mall.  No grand spaces.  Too much space wasted on laser tag and crummy things that have upcharges.  No Spice H20.  No Howl at the Moon. A huge chandelier that looks like an embolism.  

Nope, I'm sticking to the ships I like.  At the moment, it's just the Escape, Epic, Breakaway and Getaway.  

 

31 minutes ago, cybergremlin said:

I'm guessing your price includes flights? i've just had look at the May 21st cruise, and a balcony cost £4168 ($5600) whereas with flights it adds another £1300 ($1750) on top. 

Not sure where in Scotland your from but I can get Flights around £120 from Manchester so it might be worth looking at a DIY option

Nope, not including flights.

3 hours ago, glennmartin said:

this is about right, maybe look at a cheaper cruise line 

Eh, we really like NCL... we did one on MSC this past summer, and I realise it was covid precautions and all that, but it just wasn't fun like NCL.  We love the entertainment and bars and Howl at the Moon.  

We're based in Europe, and it's just easier to sail from here.  But very expensive now 😞

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Have you looked at the Jade sailing that leaves April 24th? You can put all 4 of you into a 2 bedroom Haven suite for ~$10K, or a 2 bedroom non-Haven suite for ~$7K or 2 separate balcony rooms for ~$4K each. It might just be the particular week you're looking at.

 

Or the Epic sailing that leaves May 1st - that one would be about the same price as the Jade, but it's a better ship (IMO). Have 2 bedroom would be about 10K, club balcony suite with 4 people sharing would be under $5K total for all of you (a bit snug for 4, I've fit 3 in there comfortably),  and again 2 separate balcony rooms for ~$4K each.

Those are good ideas.  We can't do the 24 April, but possibly 1 May with the Epic (which we love).  

I was just shocked at the prices.  I miss cruising so much, and I know they need to keep the fleet going, but it made me get pale real quick!

 

We are Platinum level cruisers, but haven't been cruising since before the lockdown stuff.  But I was trying to book a 10 day Greek/Italy cruise for May 2022 (Escape) and it just seemed scary-expensive.

We were looking at a Balcony cabin for 2, plus an inside for 2 (our two teenagers).  The Balcony alone was going to be more than $6900, and the inside was going to be another 3000 or so.  We usually do a quad cabin, but the kids are getting too big to fit four so I had asked about a spare inside.

This is way too much.  We can't afford to go at this price.  I've not been keeping up on the boards, but is there a way to make a savings at all?  Even if we all cram into a quad cabin again, it's too much.  We've tried other lines, and we don't want to go unless it's on Norwegian, and this is one of our favourite ships.  

Does anyone have any suggestions?  Short of staying home.... that's getting really dull....

I would hold off. There will be no difference if you start in a week or 3 weeks. If she shows interest in food on your cruise, by all means let her have a taste, but you might as well wait until you are all back at home before you start major changes.

No stress :) Have fun!

We bowled on the Pearl last week - it was $7 a game for each of us. It was a lot of fun - it's harder than it looks because of the movement of the ship (gentle, albeit still movement). I'd do it again but I'd watch for specials.

Thank you!

Can anyone help me with this? (urgently, please! We get to Miami Sunday morning!)

I've seen some old threads and some old TripAdvisor queries about this - we want to return a rental car to the airport and get a shuttle to the Port of Miami.

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g34438-i92-k4343300-Shuttles_to_Port_of_Miami_from_MIA-Miami_Florida.html

Can anyone tell me if there still is a free shuttle from the airport to the Port, and what car rental companies take part in it?

(I've tried calling the car rental companies, but I keep getting central reservations and they don't seem to have a clue!)

The childs club runs, whether it's a 3 nighter or a 3 month cruise! No worries....as far as the other passengers....ignore them. Yours won't be the only child. Children ARE ALLOWED on X...so do NOT worry about that!

 

As far as Lerin, you must have chosen a guaranteed stateroom, where THE CRUISELINE assigns your cabin. They don't just "move you" willy nilly!

Well.... sometimes they are!

We were on the Celebrity Infinity's TA last October (14 days), and our two children were the only kids on board eligible for the kids' club. There were also 3 infants on board, but our kids were the only 2 children in the club.

The kids' staff were fantastic - they still ran the club as usual, but gave the kids more leeway in what they wanted to do each day.

We didn't get much side-eye from any of the other cruisers - most people were nice, although it was a bit frustrating that when we sailed out of England we had many days of cold weather (and very rocky, wavy conditions). We couldn't go swimming in the indoor Thallaso pool because of the age restriction, so on a few days we swam a bit in a hot tub. There were several hot tubs on the main deck, and I don't think we were prohibiting anyone from joining us if they wanted to. When we just walked through the thallaso pool area, we did get a few dirty looks like we didn't belong there, but we were just walking through it to the main deck.

One lady stopped me and asked if she could give the kids some pez dispensers, and said that they were the only children she'd seen onboard. A few others stopped the kids in the elevator and made conversation that they hadn't realised any children were onboard.

We are on NCL next week, and while the kids had a good time, they are hoping for some more kids to play with this time!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my pictures back! Thank you so much, Ana!

They arrived this morning, after I'd long given up all hope. I'd contacted my TA and asked her to contact the ship, and I contacted the photo company (only to be told the photos would have been deleted almost immediately). Nothing had shown up in Lost and Found, and Celebrity had said there was nothing they could do.

And then finally an envelope came!

I'm overjoyed - it was a small good thing to happen in a very tumultuous time for us, so I'm hoping it's a sign of things to come.

Just wanted to share some excellent service!

This is why I was so upset - and seriously, I'd been off the ship for an hour before I went back to the port.

Knowing that the system would probably be cleared that day, that's why I asked to please progress past the basic security and try to speak to someone on board. Ana from Guest Services came down and was lovely - I was crying by this point - and said she would find them. I asked her how long it took for the photos to be deleted and she said that they'd still be available.

But I don't know.

Elsewhere on CC I found a post about lost photos, and someone included a link to the photo company on Celebrity. I submitted a query to them and I'm hoping they can help me out. I just really hope there's a way to do this.

But photos aside, is there any way I can send an email to Ana onboard at Guest Services? Just to see if there's anything else I can do? She had seemed so confident she could fix this... I'd just love to talk to her again.

Thank you!

I just didn't know where I should start. I know there was only 2 photos, but they were really good ones and I'm gutted they were lost. I know I checked the whole cabin - I looked under beds, I stood on a chair to check the top shelf, all that, but somehow they evading packing. It's really upset everyone and I just need to try to rectify it before they get deleted permanently (if they haven't already).

Within an hour of getting off the Infinity TA about 3 weeks ago, I realised I left a plastic bag with two 8x11 photos in it somewhere in my cabin.

(yes, I thought I'd double checked everywhere when I'd packed, but I must have missed it somewhere as it wasn't in my bag.)

Because I was so worried that the photos were deleted off the ships' system after each cruise, I went back to the port.

I spoke to security. I filled out forms. Eventually they sent a Guest Services rep (Ana) from the ship, and she took my details as well, with the promise that if she couldn't retrieve them, that they could be reprinted and sent to our home address.

I haven't heard anything since, and I'm worried it's just not going to happen.

Can anyone advise anything? Who do I contact next?

We did a TA in Sept 2011 with Disney - there were hundreds of kids.

We just got off the Celebrity Infinity TA that left mid October 2014... our kids were the only two children on board (in exception to four infants not old enough for kids club). We chose that cruise as it corresponded perfectly with their 2 week school break, but it seems like no other schools had holidays at the same time.

It was definitely a different cruise, but the kids staff were fantastic and made it a great experience for my kids. Celebrity wouldn't tell us or our travel agent how many kids would be on board before we boarded.

Thanks, Marisa. If we were in Florida it would be easy, but we're sailing out of Harwich, England on a transatlantic to Florida. Theres only 3 stops on the 14 day sailing. We're in a strange town in a wet climate - I checked my local area last week and didn't see any summer stuff. I was shortsighted that I didn't just order one.

BTW, I'm just talking about a little blow-up ring, not a huge thing you sit on. I know some cruise pools have rules about inflatables. Kids are issued small life vests in the cabins - I didn't think they'd be allowed in the pools but I'd have to ask. I'm not expecting a lot if kids on this sailing and want to make sure the kids do get to have some fun.

I'm just over 5 feet tall myself and can't touch bottom... To handle a slightly panicky kid who's only 6 inches shorter than me is tricky.

We are sailing tomorrow and I kept forgetting to ask this: are there any shallow pools on the Infinity?

My 9 year old isn't a hugely confident swimmer yet, and on our last cruise on Princess, every pool was 5 feet deep - there wasn't any shallow pools at all (except one in an adult only area).

Can anyone help me with this? I couldn't find him a swim ring to use and hes too old for wings. We will work on his swimming during this sailing but I'm trying to prepare myself.

Thanks :)

Nope, no changing tables on my recollection.

Start practicing this now - learn to change your baby on your lap. I did this with mine from the time they were born til age 3 (mine were late trainers), so size is not an impediment. They soon learn to lay on your lap while you get the job done. It meant never having to search for a changing table or settling for a dirty one... Your lap (put a change pad down first if you're worried about your clothes) is always a safe place!

In 2012 we used GUY Tours for a full day tour in Ashdod, and it was amazing. Our guide took the four of us (including 2 children) and made the day a really fantastic memory. I can highly recommend them.

G.U.Y. Tours

http://www.guytours.com/

Ok --- here's the removed-version:

 

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Dear goLC

I'm glad you got it sorted out! I hope it didn't hurt too much.

Please be assured that any decent nail tech could use gel or acrylic and smooth out your existing nail and extend it.

See this page for an example of how it's done.

I do this for quite a few of my clients and you often can't tell which big toenail is damaged. As long as the skin is intact and the nail is healing, you can extend it.

(nail professional here)

Go see a podiatrist and have the damaged part of the nail removed. They can do it safely and it's better than having a loose nail hanging about - it will be just waiting to catch on something.

Afterward, once it's healing, you can have a gel or acrylic extension put on to make it look like the others. But go see a foot professional to make sure the nail bed is taken care of and further damage is prevented.