Cruiser 4 Life 66

Loving your comments about OCD, as I’m exactly the same, and drive my husband absolutely nuts! I am ALWAYS at the airport at least 2 hours prior to a flight! I have lists of my lists to pack at least 1-2 months prior, and begin packing at least 2 weeks prior of some items. Leaving on a trip June 7th, and suitcases are already open, and starting to be loaded. 😊👍

I'm the same but start packing a month before the trip. I do at least one item a day.

I use a list too, pre-printed with little boxes I can put X marks in, but not until the item actually goes into the suitcase. :D

Just my opinion, but I feel RC is a step up from Carnival. Not a giant step, but a step.

Carnival is like Walmart, RC is like Target.

Check it.

I know the Paradise just came out of drydock and got all new spaces, Funship 2.0 upgrades, and new decor/remodeling for the cabins. I haven't heard if the wifi got upgraded/improved. Just checking if anyone who has sailed on the Paradise after the drydock, or have even sailed on it before the drydock, can comment on the wifi speeds. I signed up for the "social" package, as I just want to upload pictures to Facebook, Snapchat, etc. but I have heard the speeds are horrible and it can take forever just to upload one picture, much less a whole bunch of them.

Also are there any areas where you noticed the wifi worked better/faster? I have found on previous cruises you can locate certain areas on ships by trial and error where the wifi is strong and fast. Also if you use it in those areas when other people are busy doing other things (eating dinner/seeing a show) it goes even faster due to less people using it.

Thank you for any info you can provide.

There's a big difference between the two. The social one says you can go to the social sites and no other websites. The value one lets you browse the rest of the internet. All are slow although I've had the value one on last two cruises and I thought it was ok for what it was. You just need the social one if you are just intending on using Facebook though and expect a picture to take a few minutes to upload.

I bought Social, as I just want to post pics on social media and talk to people on social media. I don't care about visiting and reading websites when I'm on vacation. Social and Value use the same speed. Only "Premium" for streaming uses fast speed. You actually can go to some websites (airline websites) on Social. From their website:

Access these social and chat apps:

• Facebook
  
• Instagram
  
• Twitter
  
• LinkedIn
  
• Facebook Messenger
  
• WhatsApp
  

as well as the most popular airline sites:

• American Airlines
  
• Delta
  
• United
  
• Southwest
  
• Spirit
  
• Jet Blue
  
• Virgin America
  
• Air Canada
  
• Alaska Air
  
• Westjet
  
• Hawaii Airlines
  
• Allegiant
  

Kind of disgusting to wear underwear in the pool, which is why pools don't like it, but he's a grown man now, so I guess he gets to make the decision.

Thanks for your detailed review and all the pics.

I always enjoy reviews more if they have pics. :)

Well it's your honeymoon, so I say go for it. :)

I've heard balconies are great.

Definitely better than an interior.

I did the Irie beach tour and it was great, seeing lots of beaches all in one day, but your sons might be bored with it and prefer just to stay/party on Mambo Beach all day, which would probably be the beach most teenagers would choose. Loud music, fast food, ice cream, crowded with girls in bikinis, beach toys in water, etc.

Most of the beaches on the tour are just a beach. No entertainment for teenagers.

B.Y.O.T.P.

Bring Your Own Toilet Paper

They said you could do it by April 1 then you found out on April 1 you couldn't?

Maybe it was all an April Fool's Day joke.

Yeah, as others have said all the cruise lines do this. It's quite crappy and a slap in the face to their loyal customers.

All aboard the FAIL boat!

Check out all the pics on the Facebook page mentioned in the first post.

It was literally raining toxic blue dust down on the people.

And a picture of the bucket of stuff raining down on them had a skull and crossbones on it (poison symbol) with the warning:

Toxic if inhaled. May cause an allergic skin reaction. May cause respiratory irritation. Avoid breathing dust / fumes / gas / mist / vapours / spray. Wear protective gloves / protective clothing / eye protection / face protection....

This was raining down on people on the pool deck!

They need more than a future cruise credit in my opinion.

What if they develop cancer or another medical problem down the road?

Will a future cruise credit fix that???

One guy on a news report I just saw said he had to sleep sitting up because he was coughing non-stop thru the night.

That means all that toxic dust was in his lungs.

NCL really screwed up on this one. They didn't want to dry-dock because they were more concerned about the $$$$.

If you think it's gonna stay just on one ship I have a bridge to sell you...and not the kind on a ship.

Were you hounded by vendors at Orient Beach wanting to sell their trinkets?

I was....constantly.

Bring a power strip.

Bring an alarm clock

Bring a flashlight to keep on the nightstand for middle of the night walks to the bathroom. Cabins are pitch dark with lights out, especially inside ones.

I agree Jamaica is very beautiful, but also agree the residents are very aggressive. Leaving Dunn's River Falls and having to walk thru the maze of market stalls I was grabbed by the arm and yanked into a stall. When I said "No thank you" to what they were selling and started to walk away I was shouted at "OH, YOU DON'T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE????"

It's not a friendly island....and I've been to almost every island in the Caribbean cruise ships go to.

Hi, we're doing a 4 hr excursion in the morning, which should be done around 1. I was wondering if we have time to go to Luc-Bay afterwards for a couple of hours. We leave at 6pm. Thanks

 

Nikki

It's Lac Bay and is just a 20-minute drive from the cruise pier.

ODECCIT - thanks for jumping in on this thread. Always appreciate the guidance of others in these situations. I've heard of Klein and it sounds great. Is so uninhabited though that we would have to bring our own food/drink? No chairs etc. Is that correct?

No bathrooms either I've heard, so I hope they can hold it for hours.

#1 might not be a problem (do it in the water) but #2 could be another issue!

I recommend Lac Bay, Google it and see how pretty and shallow the water is. Perfect for kids. Also food, restrooms, beach chairs, etc. there.

i clicked on this because i was really wondering what the premise may be. i see you're trying to prep for some under your wing... i don't think there's anything in particular to be 'warned' about though... here's my thoughts...

 

cruising is addictive.

 

balconies are addictive, too... that whole 'once you go balcony you don't go back...'

 

the 'welcome drinks' are not free.

 

turn your cell phone off. charges can be exorbitant.

 

this is a new one - if your room steward asks you to pick once a day service, tell him/her no, you can have twice a day service

 

no bottles of anything except wine

 

don't try to take a power strip or splitter with surge protection

 

no 'decorations' that aren't flame retardant

 

you have to ask for ice most times...

 

glory isn't carnival's best (or worst) ship so don't take it as a full representation of the line based on one experience.

 

that's what i've got right now.

You don't need to to turn your cell phone off. Just put it in airplane mode and turn on the wifi. People use their phones to take pictures, videos, stay in touch using wifi, etc.

Also I have taken a power strip/surge protector on every cruise I've been on and it's been fine.

Even if the wheelhouse is supposed to be lowered, you can still see other things on the roof that would have not cleared the two bridges. The antenna and a/c units. Or are those things something else? Either way it's very dangerous just leaving that little clearance.

Since Amber Cove was developed by Carnival, do the "ship rules" apply there like on Half Moon Cay, where the drinking age is 21? My 18-year-old nephew is going there on a cruise and wants to know if he'll be able to drink.

I have a difficult time envisioning that NCL cares at all about the four days of bad publicity that is essentially limited to one forum that the overwhelming majority of cruisers have likely never even heard of (and if they have heard of it, don't obsessively read and post to it on a regular basis).

 

They certainly didn't care (or even respond) when I registered my complaint earlier this year about their decision to not honor my purchase of OBC in excess of $1000, notwithstanding that they had use of my money for well over a year. And they certainly didn't care when I told them that rather than me spending $2500 in their shops and losing it in their casino, that I wouldn't be doing either, since I would have had to spend an extra $750 to purchase the equivalent amount of USD to what they cancelled, since the CDN dollar had dropped 30% since I first made my purchase. And to be clear, I stayed firm to that and other than a packet of Bonine, I didn't spend a penny in the shops or in the casino - so thank you NCL for actually saving me money.

 

NCL's only response to my complaints was that they have the right to change their policies, and sorry Maddysdaddy, you're past your PIF date.

 

And to be clear, this forum had very little in the way of sympathy either. I would estimate that 90% of the posts were in the nature of "NCL has to do what's best for business" and/or "Read your cruise contract. They can make whatever changes they want to, when they want to. All they guarantee you is a room and meals."

 

And for those posters talking about disputing charges with your credit card company, I tried that, and was told that they investigated the matter and because it was a policy change that NCL was entitled to make, they could do nothing.

Everyone go to their Facebook page and Twitter page and complain about it then.

Companies DO care about their social media profiles. How THEIR pages look to the public going there.

They don't want the pages full of complaints all saying the same thing turning off potential new customers.

Several decisions have been turned around by hundreds/thousands of complaints on their social media pages.

For "safety and security" reasons my heinie.

It's all to do with $$$$$$$$$$$$$ reasons.

How many cruise ships have been blown up because someone walked on with a water bottle?

Every port of call I always buy some bottled water and bring it back on.

Never an issue with any line.

Won't be cruising with NCL anymore.