ptf2009

On 6/9/2019 at 1:08 PM, Snit13 said:

Have group booked on Harmony in November.  We used Google and were able to locate uploads of Cruise Compass from February which may or may not be same.  We are making plans based on the schedule at that time but keeping in mind there may be a need to change plans...nothing in concrete.

Haven't seen a chocolate buffet in many years.  Do they still have them?

When we were on Harmony a couple of years ago, they had a chocolate themed breakfast one day in the MDR and one day at lunch in the MDR they had a beautiful display of chocolate desserts (people were taking pics before they served them). Hope this helps...I did not see notice of these  two themes in the cruise compass, but asked our waiter in the MDR.

Also, I'm sure your doc has mentioned this, but it is best not to drink alcohol with high BP, because alcohol can raise one's BP.  High BP is unfortunately common...I still don't understand how I have it....I don't use a salt shaker, I don't drink, I exercise regularly and am not overweight. My doc told me to blame my parents:)

Happy cruising everyone!!!

4 hours ago, BellaCaps said:

Due to a few high readings of blood pressure my Dr put me on a low dose of a blood pressure med, an ACE inhibitor, and of course I leave Saturday for my cruise on Monday.  I have an appointment to go back tomorrow because I am having some side effects (just started the med) and want to see if it is alright if I hold off until I return from my cruise, as long as I can contact Royal and make arrangements to keep my sodium as low as possible.  

 

Anyway it got me wondering about the RCI medical facilities?  One of the possible side effects from my meds is a swollen face, or at worst, a tongue (which would be an emergency).  Is the ship equipped to deal with things like that?

My heart goes out to you  regarding your side effects from the BP meds...ugghh, they can be awful.... headaches, dizziness and nausea. But believe me, the side effects should get better as your body adjusts to them. I had to go to the Dr. on two ships , one for a UTI and the other for a pinched nerve that caused SEVERE pains down my arm. The one Doc gave me an antibiotic and the other gave me a muscle relaxer and Aleve for my arm (which did nothing). To be fair my pinched nerve pain was so bad my BP went to over 185, so the doc was "scared " to give me anything. To be honest I was concerned that he thought maybe I was just looking for narcotics, but I assured him that I didn't want anything like that, just something that would make the painful contractions (yes that is what it felt like constantly going down my arm for 8 days!!!). When I arrived home my internist gave me a steroid pack, which I called a miracle med:).

 I hope you feel better and have a WONDERFUL cruise!

On 6/3/2019 at 8:50 AM, Familygoboston said:

I think that’s here at chill grill, where we are in chairs. I’ll take photos. Not sure if I can get them up during the day. Although the WiFi and your drink package “work” on coco cay, the internet is slooow. 

 

Also bring your seapass card as you can’t use the band to get off the ship. 

 

Bring your our own towels from the pool before you get off the ship 

 

if you have your own snorkel gear you can easily snorkel off chill beach where the rentals are. 

 

Please let me know what is included with no charge, i.e. the pool, any slides, restaurants? Have a wonderful cruise!

We don't mind walking and climbing stairs, so we don't worry about being real close to elevators. Hey, we have to walk off those extra calories, right????

15 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Curious, were you in a neighborhood balcony or Ocean View.  I would suspect the noise would carry over into the interior balcony.  We have always had OV balcony on deck 12 and have never heard a thing even with the balcony door open. 

No, we were in an ocean view balcony on deck 12  close to under the pool area....would never stay under the pool area again on any cruise.

We were on deck 12 on Harmony and could hear the deck chairs being moved around in the very early morning hours. Also, we could hear the VERY loud music from the  pool deck in the afternoon when we were trying to take a nap...that didn't happen with the noise! When we go on Harmony this Sept. we booked a cabin on deck 10 that was no where near the pool area.

Has anyone on the May 5 sailing heard from RCCL? I read that they did receive an email letter and were supposed to be updated on Friday, April 12. Just wondering because we are on the May 12 sailing and still waiting for our luggage tags to be processed:(

15 hours ago, Pratique said:

Agreed taxi is typical. You can research rates online. I think there is a surcharge for    pickup at the port. Should be under 25 euros within the city is my recollection.

Thank you for sharing your info. I appreciate all who have responded so quickly and kindly......now we just wait and see if  Oasis is ready for all of us to sail on her:)

14 hours ago, heyya604 said:

Hi, I emailed my hotel for options to the port , as well as wanted to know about transportation from airport to my hotel. I fly in a day earlier than my daughter. I located Suntransfers through Trip Advisor and they were very prompt, and have great reviews

Thank you for your kindness by sharing this info as we all monitor Oasis sailing to Spain. Hope we all get to sail as planned:)

Okay a little off topic, but just thinking positively about our May 12 cruise. Does anyone have any idea how much we should expect to pay for transportation from the port to the hotel in Barcelona or the best mode of transportation?  Also, from an airport hotel to the port? Thank you for the info info advance:)

30 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Ah yes, port days on board - we love them but they are rarely quiet as the crew has drills and they do as much maintenance as they can get away with.

One thing to remember about the Med. cruise is that it is port intensive and most of us will be on long excursions with early morning starts. Who know how many shows we will be seeing and we are the type to see most of the shows on our Caribbean cruises. It will be okay as long as we GET to cruise:)

6 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

The most stressful thing about driving in Europe is 1 parking, 2 toll booths that are not manned and may or may not take your credit card, and 3 speed cameras.

 

jc

um...and #3... being in the passenger seat with my DH driving:):):) But really he is the most wonderful husband you could ever have!!!!

1 minute ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

Driving in Europe is pretty easy too.  I think land travel in Europe is generally better than a cruise, just because the things you want to see are often a long bus ride from where the ship stops.  Good for you whatever you decide.

 

jc

Yes, driving in Europe may be pretty easy...but ssshh,  please don't tell my DH that my nerves just couldn't take his driving 🙂

3 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Agreed.  I'm curious though if they'd state they were giving variable FCC - those booked before the incident would get what's been given but anyone booking today hoping to bank on the possibility of a "free" FCC if it's cancelled would get less...

Now that makes a lot of sense! People like us who are just waiting and hoping should get the same benefit, especially because RC won't free those with reservations with penalties.

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The only thing they “have” to do is provide a refund of the cruise fare.  In the last case they went well above that by issueing a FCC which they did not have to do.  

Yes, they don't have to do anything...however, because it is for the same reason that the other cruises were cancelled, people would naturally expect to get the same benefits. 

6 minutes ago, CarnivalCruiser32 said:

I think that makes a lot of sense. The possibly too speedy repairs worries me more than the cruise getting canceled. I'd rather they just make sure everything is 100% fixed before allowing it to sail again and we just cruise another time. rather than rush to fix things just to make the date

Agree 100%...safety first!!!

23 minutes ago, Paul in Phoenix said:

We are on the May 12 trip as well. I think there is an 80% chance that we are cancelled. We are looking at options to fly / train around Italy and then grab a flight back to Barcelona in time for our flight home. We're just going to turn our lemons into lemonade. 

Just curious why you think there is an 80% chance that we will be cancelled? We are at the point that if it's cancelled, we will be made "whole" and will plan a cruise at another time. It's disappointing, for sure as it was a special anniversary celebration for us....but we have no control of the situation at this point.

1 minute ago, fsjosh said:

 

This is an unprecedented situation. The only answers you'll get on what RCI will do will be guesses. There's nothing safe to say other than that the cruises cancelled are cancelled. We can make educated guesses when Oasis leaves Freeport, but those will still be guesses. The closest you'll get to a real answer would be to call RCI directly, and, even then, 10 calls may get you 10 different answers. If it really is that concerning, you might want to call and see if they will let you switch to another cruise. It may cost you $100 per person, but thats up to you to decide if the peace of mind is worth it. Otherwise its wait till the next RCI announcement come out. That probably won't be for 2-3 weeks though. 

Yes, totally agree with you and to be honest we have already mentally prepared ourselves that we may not be going. I'm so glad we decided to book the air with RC (which we have never done before) AND purchased travel insurance, but not with RC. We do feel so badly for those who have already been affected by their cruises being cancelled. They didn't have the time like we do to absorb this situation:(

Yes, it's  wait and see time. We are booked on the May 12 sailing and I figure we won't know "for sure" until the end of April, beginning of May. I'm sure of one thing: RC is doing EVERTHING possible to get us cruisers on board safely. This is costing them soooo much money!!!

38 minutes ago, ScreamWithMe said:

If they do cancel the sailing and issue the 100% Future Cruise Certificate then is the value of the certificate based on the amount I paid for this sailing, or is it for the minimum cabin on the future sailing? 

I was under the impression it was the amount you spent on your existing sailing. 

1 minute ago, framboesa said:

I understand your pain.We normally cruise out of USA and normally we have one week cruise and several days after and before the cruise to visit cities, watching sport games, attending events...We spend months planning different routes, hotels, attractions, car rentals...It's not not like booking a new ship and that's it  My parents will be boarding Oasis (i hope so) june 23rd.They are really happy because it's really difficult for my father dealing with long flights, and the opportunity to sail in an oasis Class ship here in Europe is something that they are waiting for years. The other reason is that my father will travel for the first time with his brother, who is dealing with cancer...so this trip will be really special for them...I really hope that oasis start to sail in may! (At least it's moving 0.6 knots right now...I don't know if those are good news, but...)

When you think about how much this is costing RC, you can be sure they will sail as soon as possible....right now only time will tell......We are supposed to be on the May 12 sailing. But hearing your situation,  I hope and pray you and your family get to go!

1 minute ago, fsjosh said:

It's amazing to me that there have been no pics or videos from the scene since the day of the accident. In this age of cell phones, it's monumental that someone hasn't snapped a pic and posted it. 

Perhaps for PR purposes. all employees have been told NO PICS! 

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Not yet.

Thank you...didn't think so, but like everyone else, wondering when they will be ABLE to leave safely.

2 minutes ago, scooby1 said:

Another Finnish update.

 

https://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000006058074.html?ref=rss

 

The evacuation appears to have taken 20-30 minutes and whilst on the ship some felt it might tip over. View was that they think the dock has split (we have all hypothesised the same). Seems it was quite a scary time leaving as the earlier video showed. 

 

Maybe in the future they will review if 2000+ crew should be onboard as well as the contractors whilst in a wet dock in future, who knows. 

Um...this article is not in English....so please explain more...did Oasis leave for Spain?