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My Wife is having surgery on Tuesday and they are telling her up to 12 weeks to recover. She has been trying to tough it out until after our cruise in late January but it has become just tooo painful, Well as (un)luck would have it the 12th week is exactly the same week as our cruise... I am just wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this type of surgery and what was your recovery time experience? Do you think she can go on this trip?

I had rotator cuff surgery in July. Dr's said 12 weeks to 6 months. It may be healed at 12 weeks, but you will not have full motion and they will tell you to be careful in anything you do. At 12 weeks, we went to FL. and I wanted to ride a bike, my physical therapist and Ortho. told me not to, because if I fell, I would probably have to start all over again. Even at thanksgiving and Christmas, I wasn't allowed to lift anything up over my head. I get cleared in three weeks. YAY!!

I think a cruise would be the best place to recover, as long as she keeps doing her exercises, and doesn't lift luggage. In fact, lifting a DOD would be great exercise. :) Good luck. I hope it goes well with a quick recovery.

We have sailed on Carnival, and my DH LOVES Steak. We did the steak house, and it was possible a top 5 meal anywhere on land or on the sea. It was well worth the $35. For that price, you get all the courses. and the entrees are not small. By the time we got to dessert, we were stuffed. DH got cheesecake, and it was a huge piece. He couldn't eat it all. If you go, I hope your experience is as good as ours was.

The MDR steaks are on line with Longhorn or Outback. They are fine. In the MDR, DH usually orders his steak less done on the ships because they tend to be a little over cooked. So if you normally like a steak medium, then ask for med. rare. We did not find this necessary in the steak house.

Hi there! My wife and our daughter will be going on our first cruise this April. We'll be sailing with Carnival on the Breeze to Nassau Bahamas, Ocho Rios Jamaica and Grand Turk.

 

I know about the manditory gratuities of 11.50 per day, per person that gets put onto our sail and sign account but what about other unforeseen fees or charges? I'm aware that the alcohol and soft drinks aren't free. What does a typical domestic beer go for? How bout a glass of wine? Does room service cost anything extra? How about food, is it ALL free, ALL the time? Is there a difference between the buffet and MDR, cost-wise?

You can bring water, soda, and wine on board at embarkation. Check the web site on amounts allowed. Beers $5+, glasses of wine 6+.

Room service is free, but you should tip with each order.

Depending on your daughter's age, if she does the late night kids club, there may be a charge for that, and the arcade games cost money also.

 

I see the ship has a steakhouse, a burger shop, sushi bar and other eateries. I can't imagine these are all free. How can I find out which ones ARE free and for the ones that aren't, prices on how much they cost?

Most of the food is free on Carnival. the steakhouse is extra. I think $35 p.p. and it really was worth it. :) I think the specialty coffee shop, specialty pastries and candy shops are also extra.

I see the internet is extra but is it even worth it? Is it fast enough to say, stream Netflix? How about cell phone service? Carnival's website says that cellular service is available on the ship and that international roaming rates will apply. We use Verizon Wireless. Any idea of how much it would cost to make a quick phone call or texts to a friend to find out how our pets are doing at home?

The internet on ships is so slow, that it isn't worth it unless you have to keep in touch with work or home. If we aren't in a U.S. port, our phones are turned off and in the safe. It is crazy expensive. Not worth it at all.

Some times you can find a free internet in some of the places in port, but not all.

 

Who, how much and how often to you tip the staff with cash? Are there any "gotchas" that we should know about? Is it recommended to not use a credit card and use cash only when off the boat on an excursion?

Tip room service at the time of service, everything else on the boat will go on your sail and sign card. That being said, we usually tip exceptional bar servers some extra cash, and on the last night, we usually tip our MDR servers and cabin stewards extra if the service warrants.

We usually buy or shore excursions before we leave, so there isn't a charge for it on our S&S, but if you purchase them on the boat, or at the port, you will need cash. You will also need cash for tipping the excursion guides, and paying for any taxis.

 

Thanks!

Have a great time on your cruise.:)

On our first cruise, we were with our kids, and we played "Dodge Hurricane Wanda" so we didn't make all of our port stops. We did go to Key West, and got some t-shirts and stuff, but we didn't do any excursions because of churning waters, and we didn't drink on that cruise, because the kids were there, so that S & S bill only had tips and a birthday cake on it. Best bill ever. In contrast, another cruise we took with friends (adult only), Our S & S had shore excursions, bar tab, a few purchases from the shops, and a couple of photos. That bill was up near $500. Our friends bar bill alone hit $800.

We also always bring 1's and 5's for extra tipping for room service and the last night. So, if you are using cash instead of a credit card to settle your bill, plan on bringing at least $1000+ depending on your indulgences.

99.99999% of the time that people miss a ship at a stop, it is because of their own stupidity. If you are going on a ship's sold excursion, then they will make sure you do not miss the ship, and in the extremely rare case that you do miss, it is their responsibility to reunite you with the ship. But this rarely happens because the excursion providers know when the ship leaves, and are always in control.

There have been two times that our ship delayed departure because of excursions. The first one was in Cozumel, and it was a bus load of passengers.

The second one was when we were in Costa Rica, and an excursion of kayakers were two hours late. The best part of the story is that there were 3 busses with that excursion, and two of them were full of the ship's crew members. Can't leave without the crew. :D

Welcome.

I have been on many cruises, and the only time I took bonine was on our last cruise when I had a cold and my ears were plugged, and even then, I only took 2 tablets on the first day.

Well that makes me hopeful. Thanks so much.:)

We spend a week in FL. every Oct., and I completely understand the straw like hair you end up with from the salt water. I have found that if I take a tube of conditioner, that comes with hair color kits, and use that as my conditioner and leave it in for about 3 minutes or so before I rinse it out. It has really works well for me. I'm going to take it with me on my next cruise.

I've seen the menus, and they are very gluten free friendly, but I was wondering about the pizza spot in the buffet area. Is it possible for them to make me a g.f. pizza?

I have a Samsung phone also, and it usually will show the carrier right next to the bars at the top.

Does anyone know if they have a gluten free pizza crust on the X Summit?

This isn't just for the ship, but I always make sure to take a little red Sudafed decongestant when I fly. Our pharmacist recommended it to relieve the pain in your ears when landing. I tried it, and it worked beautifully.

I'm so glad there is still ice cream in the buffet area. We were on the Summit a few years ago, before dry dock. When I saw the extra fee gelato area, I was afraid they removed the other ice cream. I'm doing a happy dance. :D

Nope. My DH is a very respectful cigar smoker. He would not drop ashes over the railing. Thanks for the response.

I know there is no smoking in cabins or balconies, so is there still a bar/location on the Summit where you can smoke a cigar???

I also take mole skin. It is a soft self-adhesive felt that I put over any blisters on my heels. Also a pair of scissors to cut it to size.

That is really good news about the hard cider. Thanks so much. :)

I have a gluten intolerance, so I was wondering if X has hard ciders on board, and if it would fall under the price cap of the classic package? Does anyone know? Thanks. :)

There are cabins that sleep 4, but with 2 adults and two children, it becomes very small very quickly. ;) On all the cruises we have taken with our 2 children, we have always gotten a 2nd cabin. either two inside cabins right next door to each other, or if we had a balcony, we got and inside across the hall for them. That has always worked the best for us, but every family is different.

If you are looking for less motion, the other posters are correct, middle and low is the best. For quiet, I always make sure I am on a deck that has cabins above and below. If I do take a cabin on 9 or 10, I make sure it doesn't have busy common areas above. My DH and I don't have motion problems so we prefer decks 7, 8 or 9 in the front of the ship. There is less foot traffic in the halls. You may have to decide which one is more important to you. When you take a cabin in the middle and lower, you have less movement, but you tend to have more traffic in the halls, and on the ocean view decks, you also sometimes get the noise from the mechanicals when you reach the ports early in the morning. We were on a lower deck for one cruise, and I heard everything mechanical. The silver lining of being woken up was that I got great pictures as we arrived into ports. :)

Thanks for all the information everyone. I really appreciate all the help. I did look on the special needs form, and I did see the food allergy section. This along with a chat with the Maitre'd should work. Thanks again.

I have gluten intolerance, and I was on Celebrity's special needs page, and I didn't see a prompt for food issues. Should I go through the special needs dept., or should I talk to the matre d when we board, or both? I am guessing both. :) Has anyone else had to deal with this issue on a ship? Please let me know how it went for you. Thanks.

If you have the classic drink package, and you order a drink over the amount, do you just pay the difference? How does that work?

Hi there Cupids,

I was on the boards doing research for our next cruise on the Magic at the end of March. This time we will be traveling with Mike's WHOLE family.

Shelly and I were talking about all the cupids and wondering what you all were up to, and I saw your new cupids board and i just popped in to say hi and I hope you have a great time. Seeing how much fun the cupids had on the Freedom, I'm sure another great cruise will be coming. :)

Have fun.

Linda

Carnival Freedom, 2012 :)

I think it's sort of like the Travelling Gnome thing. You take a mascot of some sort and take a picture of whatever places you go to. It's just a fun way to remember your vacation. And you could possibly think of the stuffed animal or what have you as standing in your place since it's awfully hard to take a photo of yourself visiting such and such location.

 

Is it silly? Sure, but it's no fun being serious all the time. :) Just my two cents.

I have a small traveling gnome that I am going to bring on our next cruise and take pictures of the gnome having a great time. It's just funny.