cyntil8ing

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

Royal and Celebrity have been matching for years.  What’s new is they added Silversea.  EM

This! No real change for lower tier RCCL or X cruisers, but matching tiers above Diamond/Elite is a welcome change.

It's not the Pride, but there is a cruise ship in Baltimore today. It's Vision of the Seas. Sails tomorrow.!

Just got notice our Labadee stop was canceled for Apex in December.

26 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

This happened 1.5 years ago.  Why is this just now being written about?

They're fundraising for the US hospital cost. It probably took a while to go to collections.

I agree that $2,500.00 seems reasonable.

"He also has mused whether trying escargot for the first time the night before could have played a role."

Ok, that made me laugh. Seriously, my dad had a seizure on a ship after a day in Nassau, likely due to dehydration. We had to leave the ship and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was cared for overnight. 

Even having insurance, he still had to pay the ship's medical cost up front, getting reimbursement after the fact. Travel medical insurance is most often secondary, meaning they won't pay until after you submit to your regular insurance (assuming you have it), so it's not like they're going to be sending you cash.

While Dad was hospitalized, we contacted the travel insurance company and they were helpful. They were prepared for a medical evacuation back to Miami, where we did not live, but the doctor cleared him to fly, so we just all flew home commercially. We had passports. 

Dad has since passed, but my family now carries an annual medical evacuation policy that returns us to our hospital of choice, ie. home, rather than the closest hospital.

No. Even if it has the necessary internet access, it will show the location as a dot on the ocean. There is no ship for reference.

We had air tags in our luggage. They most often showed as in the last port we were in. We had to turn off notifications that we left them behind.

It's been eight years since we stayed there, but it definitely stuck in my kids' heads, and apparently mine too! They still talk about the carryout food we found in the microwave and that the port shuttle driver called our ship the Celebrity Constipation. Fun times!

Seriously, it was kitschy, and is perfectly fine for a night. It's a 1960's-style motor court with a pool in the middle and outdoor corridors. We arrived after 10pm and still were able to get a decent dinner next door. I think it was karaoke night. Breakfast was included and was typical hotel morning fare. I think we bought a bottle of wine in the gift shop to carry on the ship. Nothing to complain about.
 

Many years ago, we rented bikes late one afternoon in Dockyard, locked them up overnight by the ship, then started off at sunrise, when it was cool and there was no road traffic at all. We didn’t ride all the way to Hamilton, but picked up a ferry back to Dockyard from Rockaway. It was a great morning! We were back early enough to have breakfast with the kids and grandparents.

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Bird did not look for one. Doesn’t mean it was not there, but not something we looked for. And there are no more nights to research. 

No worries. We can look for ourselves in four weeks. Enjoy your last night! Thank you again s thread.

Is there a crepe station in the buffet? We were on Escape last year where there was one, but we missed it completely! Don’t want to do that again.

As a Vueve fan, I was really happy on our Celebrity cruise last year. It was available by the glass in all the dining rooms for $23, an $8 up charge from the Premium plan. No need to worry about the bottle. My husband isn’t a fan, so it worked perfectly. One night, the wine steward poured for me, wasn’t happy with the bubbles, so he opened a new bottle and poured me a fresh glass.
 

But I already have my bottle ready for my August cruise.

2 hours ago, bar1068 said:

Very curious to know how Carnival made that decision.

After coordinating with the port? The Port of Baltimore announced Royal Caribbean was returning on the 25th earlier in the week, then announced Carnival’s return on the 26th yesterday.

The current plan is to refloat the Dali early Monday morning, where it will take 21 hours to get to its dock. 
 

There are no seat belts, so no way to install a seat. Also, many are open sided, so kids need to sit between adults. I have seen a few lap children, but personally, I don’t think I would take a child younger than 5 on one. 
 

Thank you. I see my concerns are well founded.😃 Here are my results from last year. I was on Escape in September, and Carnival Magic in late August. Big difference!

This has been the most through "live" I have ever seen! Thank you for all your efforts. I'll be boarding this cruise in four weeks and this is just so helpful.

One thing I don't think you've posted about is internet. With such a photo-heavy thread, can you write about what access level you have, and how it's performing? Speed tests would really be welcome. On our Escape cruise last year, we upgraded to the unlimited premium and it was so slow that I am hesitant to pay for the upgrade. 

Port of Baltimore post on Twitter:

I can highly recommend Heidi Cowan with Bermuda Byways Tours (https://www.bermudabyways.com). I have used her twice, once in a shared tour with random people, all were from the same ship, and once privately when we traveled with my kids and parents. She customized the private tour so we saw all new stuff. The only repeat, and it was one I was happy to do, was the fish sandwich lunch. 

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The Waterfront is an NCL innovation allocating a large amount of space to a relaxing outdoor spot for relaxation and entertaining. 
 

There are comfy sofas and chairs along both sides of Deck 8. During the day, restaurant tables can be used for reading, work (bad word on a cruise) and games. 
 

There are outdoors bars on both sides of the ship for a quiet drink while you watch the sunset. 

My first NCL cruise last year introduced me to the Waterfront. I can't count the hours I spent there. It was more comfortable than my balcony, not to mention, drink service! It's definitely unique to NCL. I've done 40+ cruises on other lines and never experienced anything similar. Can't wait to return in a few weeks.

My family and I will be on this cruise too. It is my second NCL, but my husband and son's first. My daughter and I did the New England / Canada cruise last September that ended floating in the Hudson for two days due to a hurricane, so we had FCCs to use. Unfortunately, my daughter can't join us. We will be in Club Balcony cabins. 

We've done the Celebrity Bermuda run four times, the most recent being 2014. I am looking forward to returning to Bermuda to see what has changed. We were booked on Carnival Magic to Bermuda from Norfolk last August, but another hurricane sent us to the Bahamas instead. We booked earlier in the season, but still after school ended this year. Hoping for no storms!

We chose NCL over Celebrity for a couple of reasons, the biggest probably just trying something new for my guys. I really enjoyed leaving from Manhattan last year. Daughter and I took Amtrak up from Maryland the night before, wandered around the city for the evening, and experienced probably the best sail away ever. I loved sailing down the Hudson and past the Statue of Liberty. With Bayonne, we just make the four hour drive on departure day.

I don't think I ever posted on the roll call. I'll go find it now. Probably copy/paste this post there. lol.

You can see it. Barely. Here's a photo of Anthem from 2021 from Liberty State Park.

22 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Good question; beats me. I wonder if Carnival ships do it when sailing out of Galveston? 
 

Maybe it’s simply catering to one’s customer base here. 

Carnival went a bit further! https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-jubilee-floats-out-and-reveals-texas-star-bow

The fifth construction worker's body was recovered yesterday. There is still one more to be found.

The ship is expected to be removed next week. The temporary deep water channel will close to facilitate that.

The target for opening the channel is the end of the month. Opening the channel does not mean cruises will restart immediately. When Carnival will resume cruises is an open question.

I have a cruise from Baltimore scheduled for August. I assume it will be open by then.

1 hour ago, RobInMN said:

Everyone earns their own points in the cabins that they stay in.

Yes, but minors’ accounts will show their parents points until they are 18. My kids are 17 and 20. They both show my status. The 20 year old shows their points. The 17 year old shows my points. Saturday, when he turns 18, his points will drop to his own.
 

It’s weird, and doesn’t make sense, but that’s how it shows in the app and the web site. I think everyone should always show their own earned points, 

Every person, minor or adult, earns the points for their own accommodations. Minors share their parents’ points and status. At 18, they revert to their own earned points, but keep their parents’ status.

How about logon.com? There might be a button to log off?