cb140

Our TA is *from* Southampton (to Ft Lauderdale) so I'm hoping there will be...

No, he won't :)

Does anyone know what the Diamond Lounge is like on Indy? We're on a TA on her next year, and I haven't sailed anything other than Oasis class for ages (have been on Indy before but it was a looong time ago and before we were Diamond).

Eg is there an outdoor area? Coffee machine? Breakfast? (someone mentioned an outdoor area on Liberty, which I think is a sister ship...).

On the subject of Indy, does anyone know if there is tea/coffee making facilities in the cabin (ie an electric kettle/mugs?)

NOBODY is going to mind your 3 year old wearing shorts in the MDR, on formal night or any other night. Shorts are appropriate attire for young boys - in more formal times, back in the past, a little boy wouldn't have graduated to long trousers until they were 11 or so.

Not a TA strictly speaking, but we've just transferred our booking to a repo (from Abu Dhabi to Rome) in April 2017 on Connie, and are not getting our OBC and classic drinks package that we had on our original booking. Don't really mind too much as the price was fantastic, but just to make the point that it was the fact that it was a repo cruise that meant we lost our benefits.

Diabetic , cruise agent & frequent cruiser here..also a former Pharmaceutical Rep w/ 23 yrs exp...Diabetes is doable when you cruise ..first, go see the dietician..also, *IMPORTANT*- VODKA has no sugar & is a decent choice for diabetics..you should not have to eliminate all alcohol or sweets, just do all in MODERATION..I drink beer on cruises, though not as much as 20 years ago, maybe...watch the starches & desserts..ALL proteins ( meat, chicken & fish) are fine..proteins have no sugar & no carbs..veggies OK..careful w/ fruits- they are loaded w/ sugar...buy some "blood glucose tablets" at the store & bring with you on the cruise..actually, LOW sugar is much worse for diabetics than high sugar...NEVER let it get under 70 when you check it ( you will be getting a blood glucose monitor to check your sugar levels ..)...most want you to check your glucose levels FIRST thing in the morning ( called "fasting" level)..also, they may want you to check it 2 hours after dinner OR just before sleep...FYI- you should be under 180 two hours after dinner, BUT, let's face it, on a cruise it may be higher..I have been diabetic for 20 years now, & have been on 31 cruises, so I'm very experienced on do's & don't's..TIP: You will most likely have to make some decisions on what you prefer to eat or drink on a cruise when diabetic..personally, I find 90% of desserts pretty lame on cruise ships, so I don't really eat desserts much ( although I LOVE things like chocolate cake, brownies, peanut butter cups, Key Lime Pie, etc..) because they don't have the goodies I like..I DO love bread..just keep portions limited..it is important eat something every 2-3 hours to keep your sugar level up ( because the medication can or will bring it down..) if possible..when you get off the ship & go on an excursion or explore on your own, it's a good idea to bring maybe an apple or crackers from the buffet at breakfast along with those sugar tabs ( you should take 3-4 tabs if feeling weak, heart racing a bit, hands clammy, or feeling a bit weak- those are the common symptoms of low blood sugar)...I know it sounds scary and a bummer for you before this cruise, but just get the information from your doc & if you like come back on here & post what meds you are on...I'm on: Metformin, Actos, Glipizide, & Victoza injectable 1x daily...I never miss a dose ( might take a bit late when vacationing, but I never forget!!)...any questions/ concerns give a shout...you will be fine!!!

 

Big Al

If you're on all those things then I'm not surprised you get low blood sugar occasionally. This is not going to apply to the OP, however, who has only just been diagnosed and is either going to be on nothing at all, or else Metformin only (which does not cause low blood sugar). Your advice about hypos is spot on, of course, but isn't going to apply to the OP, and I just wanted to say that because he's already freaking out a bit, and he really doesn't need to worry about carrying glucose tablets and snacks with him whenever he goes out.

I also like wearing the bathrobes onboard instead of packing mine. Also, check-in is in the same line as Emerald and Diamond. The Gold line is about the same length as first-time cruisers. Just made Platinum and enjoying these little perks.

Ah yes, fair enough, I'd forgotten about those things. Probably just feeling a little grumpy about Royal Caribbean's loyalty program at the moment because its not nearly as good as Celebrity's. I wish they'd do free laundry and internet

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Everyone has been most helpful. I know I will have to change my diet....which sucks because I LOVE ice cream.

 

I'm going to wait and see what happens before I cancel my package. I'm not a big drinker anyway. But we are going on this cruise with a bunch of people so I thought I might indulge more than normal.

 

And BTW, my drink of choice is Captain Morgan and diet coke.

You know what? Have a little bit of ice cream if you want it. Not all the time. Not every day. But the fat in ice cream means that the sugar is absorbed more slowly, and doesn't spike your blood sugar levels. Sorbet is less good (unless they have sugar-free - you never know, they might) as there's no fat and so causes sugar spike.

Your drink sounds fine. Will you be drinking enough of it to make the package worthwhile though? I heard you had to average 7 or 8 drinks a day to come out even (and that's not good for anyone, diabetes or not lol!)

I honestly wouldn't even consider doing this on a Monday morning :(

Sorry - hate to freak you out. But....really....just no. It could easily *at this time* take you two and half to three hours (its no good just looking at the distance and calculating it from that - this is all about rush hour traffic). Your journey time with no traffic (eg in the middle of the night) would probably be about 1hr 30m to 1hr 45m, but leaving the ship at 6:30, you're going to be hitting the M4 around 8am-8:30am (and presumably need to be at LHR at 9:20am? Where are you flying to? They generally recommend 3 hours before your flight).

If there's any way at all to get a later flight, I'd do that. If you're stuck with this one...well you'll just have to hope for the best. Airlines usually seem to sort something out for you in the end, if the worst happens.

You'll definitely need to be doing self-disembarkation (where you carry your own bags off, before everyone else, at 6:30am or so). So don't overpack!

Don't panic! Our last cruise we didn't even do online checkin (just forgot, and then we were abroad and had no internet). It was fine, we just checked in at the terminal. Took a bit longer, cos had to fill in all the forms (all the stuff that you'd normally fill in at online check in). but no big deal.

Mistake was what I thought but I can't help wishing!! Will see if they reply to my email. Fingers crossed!

I don't want to rain on your parade but I can't to be honest remember any particular benefit to being Platinum over Gold. It only really becomes worth anything when you are Diamond (60 nights of cruising).

Maybe there is a Platinum benefit that I never really noticed because it didn't interest me? But I doubt it. Its more stuff like "5% off when you spend $100 on photos" and that kind of thing. Don't hold your breath ;)

Another Type II diabetic here. I am assuming you're Type II - Type I is a very different matter (that's the one where you have to inject insulin from the very beginning, and is also the one that can be life-threatening in the short term, if not properly managed).

Assuming you have Type II, which is by far the most likely if you haven't even seen a dietician yet, you can stop worrying about "going into a coma". The effects of high blood sugar are much more insidious than that - nothing dramatic is going to happen, but your organs, nerves and blood vessels will very slowly accumulate damage all the time that your blood sugar is too high. You'll also feel tired, crappy and might be peeing a lot/thirsty. That's why you want to work to get it back to normal as soon as you can - by reducing sugar and empty carbs, and if possible by exercise, and maybe by medication if your doctor recommends it.

Alcohol per se is less of an issue than the stuff you put with it. Juices, non-diet soda, pina colada mixes, fruit smoothies - that's the stuff you probably should be avoiding. Beer and wine do have sugar as well, but are less dire for your blood sugar levels than fruit juice and sugary soda. (Actually - shhh! - alcohol can lower your blood sugar a bit, but that isn't a good medical reason to over-indulge).

Whether you cancel your drinks package probably depends on what sort of things you were planning to use it for. If you'd enjoy, say, a rum and diet coke, or a vodka and slimline tonic (avoid normal tonic - stuffed with sugar), then I think there's no harm in indulging. The things I'd really stay away from are the frozen sweet cocktails (unfortunately for me - I love those!).

[And yes, actually, before anyone asks - I *am* a doctor :p]

You probably already know this but Civitavecchia is quite a long way from Rome airport. I would want to allow at least an hour to get from one to the other. In terms of cost, if you're picking up a taxi from the airport, the fixed cost is 120 euro (don't know that in dollars - maybe about the same?). We paid 150 euro a couple of weeks back, because our plane didn't get in til after midnight. For us the journey took around 45 minutes in the taxi, but it was the middle of the night - I would definitely allow a bit longer.

(we didn't pre-book a taxi - we just picked one up outside the airport. If its much cheaper, it would of course be worth you pre-booking, but if the price you're quoted is not far off 120 euro, you might be better just getting a taxi outside, because then you don't have to commit to a particular time (I agree with a previous poster that 90 minutes after your flight has landed seems way longer than you need, barring delays).

Edited to add: you never know, if you do this you might even be able to share a taxi with someone else going to the port. Its a pretty expensive journey - anything helps, right?

I would highly recommend RCI as the best for a family vacation. The facilities and general age on the ship will be more appropriate.

 

I have done a day tour of a P&O ship and the general feeling was that it was for people significantly older. There weren't the facilities to keep adults 'entertained' let alone children. I know that all the ships are different but I would strongly suggest looking at what is offered and what appeals to your children.

 

I'm sorry to hear your family were caught up with what happened. Best wishes to you all.

Just to say that although that may be true for other P&O ships, it absolutely will NOT be the case for Ventura in the school holidays. Ventura is nicknamed "Butlins at Sea"! It will be chock full of kids (to be honest, speaking as an empty-nester, you would probably have to pay *me* to go on it!)

Been on Ventura twice in the summer holidays. Its a very, very British experience. Sing-songs round the pool (Roll out the Barrel, Its a Long Way to Tipperary, Land of Hope of Glory etc). Lively night time entertainment in the pub. Swarming with kids. You get a really decent cup of tea unlike any American ship. Most of the staff are Indian, and generally are a little more quiet and reserved (although very good!) than the staff on RCI ships.

Being Diamond and having been there before

From experience, you have greater chances of being accommodated for upgrade in between B2B cruises rather than being upgraded mid cruise. It happened to me with another cruise line when I did Alaska B2B.

 

absolutely you would be accommodated in between B2B cruises. B2B cruises are separate cruises - you would have every right to be upgraded for the second leg if you achieved higher status during the first leg. However, you may have to nudge the LA for this to happen because often it doesn't register automatically on the C&A system for a few days.

Our reaching Diamond was done about half way through the first week of a B2B. We didn't ask (or expect) to be upgraded that week, but went to the LA the morning of the first day of the second week, and they did it immediately and gave us new cards.

You're the one with some "issues" if you don't see the unbelievable selfishness and ignorance of such a request in the first place.:rolleyes:

No, I can't agree with this. As I said in my previous post, I don't really care about what cabin I'm in - I've never gone to the trouble of picking one specially. I just take the one the travel agent assigns me. If I was asked nicely (I wouldn't appreciate someone demanding it) I would be happy to help.

:eek::eek::eek:

 

Not on your life would I even remotely consider this! Open my balcony so strangers can walk though it? Ain't happenin'.

 

On a positive note though, if I knew my cabin was between a large group I would want to trade rooms so that I could avoid all the cross talk between the group over my balcony - that would be annoying.:rolleyes:

Yes, I'd probably agree for that reason as well (especially if there was a sweetener lol). Bear in mind too that although the person may have chosen the cabin specifically (especially if its on the hump), not everybody is fussy. I've never ever chosen a cabin specifically - I just don't care that much. If its a balcony cabin, that's all I need to know - no preference for mid, aft or forward, no preference for deck. I do prefer to be near the elevators (especially on the big ships) but I don't feel strongly enough about that to refuse to move cabins in a situation like this.

ABSOLUTELY would not open my balcony dividers, though! Seriously?;)

Another thing I've remembered - I think the poolside experience is a little better on Celebrity. They don't ration the towels: on RCI ships I've been on, (mostly Oasis class) you get one towel, exchangeable when you like, and if you lose it they charge your card $25. On the celebrity ships I've been on (Equinox and Silhouette) the towels were freely available at a towel station. Also I found the celebrity pool stewards MUCH better at monitoring whether people are hogging sunbeds - at RCI, the notices are there but they never seem to do anything about it.

I've never tipped (port employees - I pay gratuities on the ship!). Never had a bag go missing. Never had anything damaged. 20+ cruises over ten years. (We did have a bag go to the naughty room once, for either having a power strip or hair straighteners, can't remember).

In fact I've never paid anything in extraneous tips (beyond the gratuities). But we don't use the bars, don't use room service, and don't use the spa, so maybe that's why. As far as I'm concerned, that's what my gratuities are for.

Hopefully I can be helpful having sailed on both. Like you, we're Diamond on RCI and took our first Celebrity cruise last year (and our second this year).

Generally the ambiance is rather more sophisticated/quiet/more geared to middle-aged (whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on what you like!). There are less "activities" on Celebrity than RCI (not just the ice skating/flow rider / climbing wall stuff, but also less quizzes/games/other things). They do have nightly shows and live music around the ship, though.

For me, I'd say the food very slightly has an edge but not dramatically. I probably prefer the Celebrity buffet restaurant. Also I love Cafe Al Bacio, there's not really an equivalent on RCI.

One thing that I think is better with Celebrity is the perks to being Elite. I don't think the Diamond perks are actually as good. You will get:

40 minutes of free internet (per person, not per cabin)

Elite cocktail event from 5-7 most nights with free (selection) of alcoholic drinks and canapes

A lot of free laundry stuff (RCI only offer discounts, which are not nearly the same). Our last 7 day cruise, we got a free "stuff the bag" wash and fold, again per person, which in fact was way more than we could possibly use in seven days! Also there were coupons for free dry cleaning, free pressing, free laundering (for one item each).

Free scoop of Gelato per person from the gelateria.

There was other stuff but we didn't use that so I don't remember it.

As well as a couple of 'meet the captain" Elite events which we didn't go to because I don't enjoy those, there is an Elite afternoon tea (very nice) on the last sea day. There's also an Elite breakfast available every day, which is a lot quieter and calmer than the buffet or the MDR. Its served plated, not a full buffet, but theres a good selection and they will bring you as much as you want (plus cappucino, smoothies etc). Its served in Tuscan Grille, one of the specialty restaurants with a nice view of the ships wake.

Its REALLY good fun. We were lucky enough to get comped in after befriending some of the entertainment staff - I'm so glad we did because I don't suppose I would have actually paid for it without knowing what fun it was (now, I probably would). You need to be in the spirit of it though - definitely get dressed up in 1920's as much as you can.

You do not need to be out of your cabin at 8 am and in fact, on B2B's we give our cabin steward the turnaround morning off. They have enough to do that day, in our opinion. We say, come in just once that day in the evening and we are good. They have always appreciated it. :)

 

Have fun! B2B's (especially in the same cabin) are wonderful.

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Thats such a nice idea - I'd never thought of that. We will definitely do that next time. I would have no problem at all with my cabin not being serviced during the day, as long as the bed was ready by nighttime.

Doing a b2b on Enchantment 4 day/3 day. Keeping same cabin and wondering what the proceedure is. I know we need to disembark. By what time usually? When can we return, and can we get back to our cabin prior to other cabins being ready at 1:00? Is there anywhere in walking distance (mile or two) from PC to purchase wine? Is there separate dining for continuing guests?

There'll be a meeting for B2B-ers about 3 days before the end of the first cruise and they will explain everything to you then.

Yes, you can get to your cabin whenever you like - just explain that you are a B2B cruiser (you can open those big doors that they close the corridors off with - just remember to close them behind you). I seem to remember that generally you disembark after everyone else has gone, and its generally pretty quick - walk off walk on again. Sometimes we've been given our new Seapass cards at the meeting a few days before.

Special dining seems to vary from cruise to cruise - we've had it, and we haven't. I would say more often than not we do have it (its often a set-lunch at one of the specialty restaurants eg Giovanni's. Limited menu, maybe choice of 3 apps and 3 entrees). Or of course there's nothing to stop you using the WJ.

Turnaround days are the BEST. Seriously. You'll love it. Two best things: having the ship almost entirely to yourself between about 10:30am and 1pm. And seeing all the people with their luggage getting off as you go down to breakfast and knowing you don't have to.

I really wish there was some link for the major caribbean ports with locations. I started a thread in a couple port sections such as the Bahamas, St. Maartin, St. Thomas, but just a couple vague responses like "try McDonalds."

 

It would be nice for someone to put together a map near the cruise terminal or nearby shopping where there is free wifi.

that would be a really great idea. You could also try asking the crew, who also enjoy getting wifi ashore.

Can't speak for the Caribbean, but in the Mediterranean, pretty much every cafe and bar will have free wifi - you wouldn't really need a map. Just go to the nearest bar.

Ok I think I understand it now.....

 

$60 gets us 50 mins of talk....but what I want to know is, will we have cell reception when at sea?

 

we get 100 outgoing texts, we get unlimited receiving text

 

And when we are on land we would have to get another int'l plan, which we won't do.

 

I'm happy I get the minutes to talk, just want to know if it will actually work out at sea.

If you get unlimited receiving texts, that seems ideal. Because you can ask your in-laws to just text you every day with what your little one has been up to - I'd have thought (you may be different, but this is what I felt when leaving a 3 year old) that what you most want is to hear that he/she is fine, and what they've been doing. Talking on the phone to your in-laws I can't see is going to be any better than them texting you. As for talking to your little one, I hate to say it but I wonder whether you might find that a disappointment. Three year olds aren't usually great at having conversations on the phone, it might (or not might not) upset them and it also might upset you. Especially if, for example, they're not very interested in talking to you, or they just wander off in the middle, or talking to you makes them cry. A nice detailed text from Grandma every day about the fun things they've been doing and funny things your little one has said or done would be much better, I should think.