Nightengale31

I am an R.N. and work with two Primary Care doctors and I do not think your request to have on hand a steroid cream and prednisone taper for your trip is an unreasonable request. The doctors I work with often accommodate similar requests from their patients, as well does my own doctor. I suggest you make another call to your doctor with your medication request, and if the answer is still no I would call a few local walk-ins to see if they will accommodate you.

Because the promos, like the type of cabin comped, depend on how CAS evaluates your previous play.

I was comped a Haven Spa suite (H9) from CAS nearly a year ago for my upcoming 10 day Western Med cruise on the Epic. At the time of my booking the promos for booking Haven suites were UDP, UBP. Paid Gratuities, and $300 OBC for the cabin and I got all 4. Getting all the promos had nothing to do with my play and was based solely on what promos were going on for Haven suites whether they were comped for full pay at the time of my booking. Had I booked this cruise a day later those promos were gone.

Hi just checking in here to see if any of you have been in the Spa Cabin on the Breakaway - pro and cons - are welcome. Thank you

I have been on the Breakaway x 2. The first time was in a Spa minisuite and the 2nd time in an Aft. balcony. The Spa minisuite is almost identical to the Spa balcony except it has a larger bathroom. These cabins are fine except the balconies are very small and can't fit a lounge chair if that is something you enjoy doing.

45 days to my 10 day Western Mediterranean cruise on the Epic. :)

I have been searching the Internet for an NCL site that posts positions on their cruise ships. I am 60, love cruising NCL and would like to work on one of their ships. I have a business degree and believe I may be a nice fit. Does anyone know whom to contact? Thank you:):)

Sorry I can't help with your interest in NCL employment, but if you are interested in travel industry work in general I may be able to stir you in the right direction.

I too am also from R.I., and in the mid 90s I took a hiatus from the nursing profession and obtained a tour guide/tour director position with a large R.I. based tour operator located in Pawtucket. I was in my mid 30s at that time, but this agency did hire folks in their 60s for these positions, and especially sought out multi lingual retired teachers. The job wasn't easy, and the hours were long, but I got paid fairly well, always had great accommodations, food, and other perks with the biggest being an IATA card.

I left this position after two years and returned to nursing as it was a tough job for a young married person being away from home so much. But believe me, when I retire in a few years I will most certainly return part time to this type of work because working in this industry I met so many great people while seeing so many great places at the same time.

Good Luck

Thanks for sharing your experiences. We are in an H9 for the 4/7/16 sailing and glad to hear the bed will accommodate my 6'1" husband.

This is a good idea. Thanks for the tip. You probably just saved me $$. :). I always get stuck listening to pitches ( I must have "sucker" written on my forehead).

 

After having a number of spa treatments during my cruises I eventually figured out that form you fill out prior to your treatment is the info the therapist uses to sell post treatment products. If you note on the form you experience water retention, following your treatment out will come a product or two to address water retention. For this reason I provide very little info on these forms that I feel is not needed for the therapist to know about me, and just put on the form treatment for relaxation only. Once I started doing this I have experienced no post treatment sales pitches.

 

Also be aware that the prices of cruise spa treatments are much higher than they are in land based spas. A 1 hour stone massage at your local spa is around $120, and on the ship is $199. So keep this in mind when deciding if you should tip extra than your 18% included tip which for a $199 treatment will be $35.82.

After loosing a filling as well as having a crown fall off during cruises I always travel with a small tube of Fixodent. Per my dentist Fixodent is good for a temporary fill of a hole made by a lost filling, and is a decent adhesive to temporarily reapply a crown.

If you have booked a comped balcony cabin through CAS, is there a chance at an upgrade for a good price if costs for that week go down? If so, how do you know what 'value' your comped week?

 

We have re-booked before to get the current promo, but I'm wondering if there are more reasons to keep checking. Has anybody done this before to get an upgraded cabin?

To find out the $$ value of the cabin you have been comped and the one you are considering to move to, do fake bookings on both, and CAS will charge you the cost difference between the two to upgrade. If all cabin prices on your cruise drop for example by $200, the value of your cabin will also drop, so the upgrade price difference will remain the same.

Having been a loyal Princess cruiser prior to my first NCL cruise 6 years back which came via a land casino comp, after that cruise I never looked back.

Love not having to lug dressy clothes!!

Love be able to dine where, when, and most importantly with whom I want.

Love being able to carry my own bags off the ship if I choose.

Love getting cruise comps from CAS compared to getting a tote bag from Princess for the same level of play!!!

Love having a coffee maker in my cabin.

Could probably think of many more positives that what I have listed. I will not discount that my cruising future will include another line, but that will be because NCL does not offer an itinerary I would like to cruise.

A friend of mine is a school teacher. His local authority are doing an educational trip, which I think is your cruise, but not able to get hold of him to confirm just now as he is in school. It involves 220 kids aged between 12-16.

I am definately not going anywhere near that lot. He's told me of some real horror stories from his school, which is in a rough neighbourhood.

And I was worried about the pickpockets in Barcelona and Italy!!! Thank you, thank you CAS for comping me a Haven Spa suite for this cruise :)

We booked a Med. cruise on the Epic for April 7, 2016. I just seen a question about Spring Break and started to panic thinking of the horror stories I read about that time of year. This is a 10 day cruise. Will we be over-crowded and dodging drinks being tossed around on this kind of cruise? :eek:

 

We never cruised this time of year before.

Hubby and I are booked on this cruise and highly doubt there will be any spring breakers aboard as most head to Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

On two of our upcoming cruises, Escape-2016 and Dawn-2017, we have all the promos including pre-paid gratuities. We will be using the OBC to tip the butler and concierge.

We too have all the promos. This will be our first time in a Haven suite so how do you go about utilizing OBC for gratuities for the butler and concierge?

Also, I imagine the amount of gratuity extended to these individuals is dependent on services provided, but honestly I am clueless of what would be a basic customary gratuity for a 10 day cruise. All input appreciated.

You will have a wonderful time even if you make no set plans other than getting a ferry/bus pass and touring on your own. We went to the caves which was interesting but pretty hot, St. Georges, Hamilton for lunch, and did a night rum cruise which was fun. I got hooked on the Bermuda fish chowder so do try some if you like fish. Have a great time :)

Enjoy your cruise !! Hubby and I are booked on the Epic next year for a Western Med cruise except we do Sardinia and Sicily instead of Cannes and Palma. This too will be our first European cruise, but I have been to Italy in the past.

The pick pocket issue is pretty bad especially in Barcelona and Naples. There are several good youtube videos on pick pocket awareness, and the one that details this problem in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona is especially good as the techniques these crooks use are pretty creative.

Also, consider things that will increase your comfort for a long transatlantic flight. Wear comfortable clothes, bring an inflatable neck pillow and sleep mask which will help with trying to sleep on the flight. Plane air is dry, so have on hand chapstick, hand cream, and face lotion to stay moisturized. If you have a tendency towards leg swelling wear compression stockings, and be sure to get up periodically to circulate the blood in your legs. Bring a sweater or shawl as you will get chilly during your flight.

Be sure to check what the carry on restrictions are especially the weight limits of the airline you are flying on. European carriers have much stricter weight limits than US carriers, so know this in advance as you may have to gate check your carry on if it is over the weight limit.

Although it is a little late for you to do this now, hubby and I just applied for a TSA pre screen number, and will also apply for Global Entry in the near future. We should have done Global Entry 1st because that includes the TSA pre screen, but what having these authorization do is TSA pre screen expedites you through flight check-in, and Global Entry expedites you through customs. If interested in these for the future you can find more about them online.

Wish you a safe and enjoyable cruise.

I live just over the bridge from Newport, R.I. and pretty much in this area other than a freak warm day we start getting cool fall weather in late August. I would not bother with capris unless you want them for hanging around the ship. 3/4 or long sleeve tee shirts, jeans, and khaki pants will work this time of year along with a mid weight jacket.

I did this primarily for work as I have to wear an ID. I have a Vera Bradley lanyard and purchased a matching luggage tag that I clipped off the larger loop which left only the smaller loop that I clip the lanyard onto. The tag holds my ID card plus a few dollars I tuck in behind it. Works great if all you need is to carry your ID and a few dollars.

Exactly 365 days from today we will be sailing on the Epic on a 10 day Western Mediterranean from Barcelona.

Cubes or some other method (I've used extremely large sealable plastic bag) are extremely handy if you cross pack your clothing, that is, put some of everyone's clothing into each suitcase, if you are checking baggage.

 

Having packages of clothing are also handy if you have a segmented trip. For instance, if you are spending a night or two at your embarkation port before cruising...or the opposite...spending a night or two after cruising before heading home. You can maintain efficiency in your packing without having to completely unpack your suitcase, just taking out the appropriate cube(s).

 

They are also handy to compartmentalize a bag that would not be as easy to pack efficiently...like a duffle style bag, or other unstructured bag. Or adding some strategic clothing to a carryon bag when you are checking luggage which holds the majority of your clothing.

 

Packing cubes allow you to pack a suitcase in a way to have more control over what goes where within your luggage so that you can structure the weight distribution to take into account the two UP sides of wheeled bags...being able to place heavier items (or items that will travel well with weight of clothing on top of it without concern for compression and setting wrinkles) not only on the laying flat bottom of the suitcase, but also on the wheeled bottom of the suitcase.

 

Packing cubes also help to maintain certain styles of folding within your luggage. For instance, if you are familiar with the KonMari method of folding and organizing your home, then the cubes help to maintain those folds in your luggage, making packing that much easier because you don't have to do any specific folding to fit your clothing into your suitcase.

 

For some clothing, it's nice to segregate certain items...if you have clothing that might be snagged by other clothing...sweaters, certain knits, lace accents, heavy zippers, glittery shirts, delicate sheer fabrics, etc.

I so envy all you one bag packers. Was seriously going the try this method on my European cruise next year, but flying Air Lingus and they only allow around 22 lbs to carry on which is not much when you consider most carry on roller bags weigh from 6-8 lbs. Oh well, maybe down the line will try it on a domestic trip.

BTW, I too am a Sonia's Travels youtube fan. Lots of very useful info in 2-3 minute videos. The one she does on travel neck pillows is a real hoot!!!!

Thanks for your response.

I am booked on a 10 day European cruise in a Haven Spa Suite for April of 2016 which is a CAS comp. Since the time frame that I booked I qualified for the UDP, UBP, $300 OBC, and paid gratuities. Having never cruised in a Haven Suite, and with this promo, I asked the CAS agent what gratuities I am responsible for and she said none. This doesn't sound quite right to me and would appreciate some input from others who may have gotten the same comp promo combo.

I just booked an NCL cruise out of Barcelona for April of 2016 and after looking at many flights we will probably fly out of Logan on Air Lingus the day before the cruise departs. Although things can change in a year, this flight leaves Logan at 6:16 pm and is 6.5 hours to Dublin. There is a 1.5 hour stop over in Dublin then a 2.5 hour flight to Barcelona arriving at 10:10 am.

I am booked on a 2016 Western Med cruise in a Haven Spa suite which is a casino comp, and booking this cruise prior to 4/5 I got the promo which includes the UDP, UBP, $300 OBC, and prepaid service charges for Haven and Suites. Just pulled up my reservation and below is what is printed about the UDP.

Q. ARE GRATUITIES INCLUDED IN THE ULTIMATE DINING PACKAGE PURCHASE PRICE?

A. No. If you wish to recognize the crew for their service, you may do so at time of service using the gratuity line on the check. Plus, a beverage gratuity of 15% will automatically be added to all beverage sales.

I stayed in a spa minisuite on my 1st Breakaway cruise and yes I agree those balconies are small. Liking to lounge on my balcony booked an aft balcony on my 2nd Breakaway cruise and loved it but the trade off is no spa access.

Quite disappointing! This was my first cruise as 'Golden' and I didn't really feel like we had much more than the lower level. Enjoyed the speciality restaurant dinner, but we got that at the lower level. The casino hosts can't yet tell us what the changes will be as of April 1st, but they were apologetic about all of the things that we no longer get. We were given two day passes to the spa which was OK, but not what we had looked forward to.....really wanted that breakfast/lunch at Cagney's. The 'VIP' experience was a cocktail party with the Captain and chief officers. There was no VIP embarkation or disembarkation- just our normal Platinum with Latitudes. We were given the concierge's phone number and I called to ask about disembarkation, but she said all she had been instructed to do was invite us to a cocktail party and send a couple of plates to the room. While we did enjoy getting those chocolate covered strawberries 3 times plus some other things, I really don't know which were due to us being Platinum with Latitudes or 'Golden' with CAS. I definitely would not push myself to play more to get a higher level.

My last CAS cruise comp was a 10 day Caribbean on the Breakaway in a aft balcony as a Golden in January 2014. Maybe I was not paying attention to the perks but I do not recall breakfast/lunch at Cagney's as Golden a perk. I did get the spa passes, premium drink card, specialty dinners, and treats to the cabin. Toward the end of the cruise I made VIP and CAS changed my drink card to ultra, and I got another specialty restaurant comp plus they picked up pretty much all my OBC tab.

Got a post card in the mail the other day plus an e-mail from CAS advertising the Freestyle Choice Spectacular promo and called yesterday to see if I was eligible for anything on a 2016 Western Med 10 day cruise I the Epic. Needless to say I was pretty surprised I got a comp for a Haven spa balcony cabin (H9), and with this promo being in the Haven I will get Free Beverage Package, Free Dining Package, $300 OBC, and Free Gratuities.

Needless to say I am pretty happy about this offer :) I did quickly ask what tier I was and the agent said Golden so I will call today to see why my VIP made on my last cruise does not show up.