screwsmcernst

3 hours ago, SeriouslyNancy said:

How accommodating are the kitchens? Due to a rare gastrointestinal condition, he is on a strict paleo diet. I am wary of meats or eggs prepared on grills that might have had buns or other gluten on them that the chef did not scrape off.  
 

I would like to plan an Alaska cruise on Holland America, Princess, etc.  

 

Anyone cruised with this type of challenge?

 

thanks. 

Welcome to CC.  I have Celiac Disease, and if there is a very small amount of cross-contamination, I will end up sick.  After our last vacation,(land based vacation) I ended up in the hospital.  

We have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity.  We have come to the conclusion that Celebrity Cruise Line is the safest for me.  Their menus are marked with Allergen icons.  They also have a separate allergen kitchen.  We always have traditional dining so Ican have the same wait staff every night.  I place my orders for dinner the day before.  They take food allergies very seriously.   

Royal Caribbean and Carnival were fair.  Carnival tried to understand, but never quite got the severity of my needs.  That being said, you must always be prepared to take care for your Son if he isn't old enough to advocate for himself.  If you question anything, just say, "no that isn't correct", or "that won't work for me/him."  Good luck.  I hope it works out for you.  

I bring prepackaged GF snacks, for the ship and the airplane.  Airports are the hardest.  I have even brought my own hamburger buns and Ice cream cones on cruises before.  the attendant even changed their gloves before taking the cone... without my insistence.  That was a good day.  .  

We travel with friends all the time.  The way we work it is, do your thing and if it is the same as my thing great if not, lets meet up at dinner and talk about our day.  We have 2 sets of friends that we do most of our travels with.  It is really easy.  Then there is traveling with extended family.  My sister and BIL great.  My DH's family.... NEVER again.  

Edit:  That being said, every now and then it is nice to travel with just the 2 of us.  Our next cruise is just the 2 of us.  😃

8 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

That's an old reference even for me.

Jack Benny always claimed to be 39 years old and holding. 

Thanks for explaining that.  I know of Jack Benny, but that's about it.  😃

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

The Jack Benny number! 

What does that mean?  😃

3 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

On Board now.  Finished with muster.  Ready to cruise!

 

Bon Voyage!

We booked Alaska for the end of May this year last October.  It was a good price for a Sky suite with $600 OBC.

 In February, I looked at pricing again and our cabin Price Fell significantly.  I called my TA to reprice, we had to give back the OBC and rebook our excursions paying for them. 

Even with the out-of-pocket expenses for our excursions, we still saved almost $3000 off our original payment and we received $250 in OBC. 

I don't think pricing will decrease any time soon, I think we will still pay a lot, and get less for it. (Shrink-flation)  So if you are an early booker, just keep checking prices and hopefully, you will get a better rate.

26 minutes ago, 39august said:

Am I correct to assume the WCB also has various wines? I remember when WCB's were new, they served only the menu drinks. Apparently, they now have some limited drinks, wine and beer. 

We were on the Reflection last December,  WCB had their menu drinks, and they would make most other drinks if they had the ingredients.  What they really liked to do was be inventive.  They would ask a few questions about what you like, and then the magic would begin.  I never thought about ordering wine there, because it was so much fun trying other things.  

Just now, Josie201 said:

My mistake.  Seems there is no Craft Social on Edge  The Club also had some higher end options.  

Thanks for clearing that up.  I was looking all over the deck plans.  😂

When our children were young, we sailed Carnival and it was fine.  Once the kids were older, we moved to Celebrity.  We also love it.  After many sailings on X, we needed a quick get away and we went back to Carnival.  the cruise was fine, but we realized that there is NO going back.  

22 hours ago, Josie201 said:

We have found Craft Social has a wide variety of wines and some not found elsewhere on board.  

where is Craft Social on the ship?

We love the Reflection because we like the Martini bar and Cellar Masters Wine Bar.  I know the Edge has a Martini Bar, but is there anything like Cellar Masters?  If their isn't, what is the best bar to frequent for a nice glass of wine? 

10 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Bon Voyage!

Thanks every one.  I could not remember if it was 45 days or later.  Thanks for the clarification.

I was able to check in, but I can not view documents or print luggage tags.  When we checked in for our Dec. cruise, I could print luggage tags right away.  anyone else having this problem?  or are they not making docs. available  until closer to sailing?

Just now, ScottC4746 said:

Since we have a 12 PM Concierge Lunch, the board time assigned won't work.  Surprised they gave us one that late.

You won't have a set time for your lunch.  It goes until 1:30  I believe.  You just show up to the restaurant and they will seat you.  

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Were you in the first wave of people to board?  I believe that the premise that people are asking if they have a later boarding time but show up at 10 am, will they be allowed to board with the first wave of people or are they forced to wait until their scheduled boarding time (unlikely)

The shoreside staff try to board people by rows,  and that is usually the case, except in New Jersey.  We were in the 2nd row.  When staff came over to rows 1 & 2, all the other people in the other rows got up and headed to the ship.   It was a nightmare.  This was after suite people were boarded.

11 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

So when you arrived early at 1030, what happened?

We checked in and then we sat in the terminal waiting area until 11:30 - 12 to board