sherry08

I signed up for a spring break cruise out of San Diego on Koningsdam when they rolled the standby program out last year. Much to my surprise two days before they confirmed my booking, they offered me a paid upgrade which I declined, and I packed my bags. Had a great time in my sideways inside cabin. Including standby fare, excursions, gratuities, and on board spending I spent a week on vacation for under $1000. There is not a solo supplement for the standby cruises. 

There will be a walk in shower with a glass door. I have not seen any bathtubs on Koningsdam but there may be in the larger suites. The Vista suites do not have bathtubs. There are sofas in the larger insides which are all next to the elevators midship. Standard insides do not have a sofa. I find the cabins to be comfortable for two. 

March 2024 I was in 4032, a sideways cabin I was assigned on a standby booking. I enjoyed the room. It is tight but I would not hesitate to stay in one of these again. It was an easy one flight down to the promenade deck and I spent a lot of time walking around outside.

We adopted in 99 and did not need passports for our kids until about four years ago. In order to get passports we actually had to re-adopt them in our state. We had adopted from Russia and everything was in Russian with translation. US Dept of State would not accept that so we went through the hoops to re-adopt in Nevada. Our kids were actually nervous thinking the judge might turn us down. Everything went smoothly and they were able to get their passports, but we have extra expenses and it took several months.

When traveling out of country without my husband I always carry a letter of consent from him. I do not carry adoption papers only the passports.

Several years before that we took a small excursion from Seattle to Victoria. The boys were five at the time. My husband forgot to bring anything for them. The immigration officer looked at them and asked them who we were. When the boys explained we were their parents we were all let into port for the day and had a fun time. I would not count on being this lucky though.

Thank you Kristen, we are not going to ask for interpretation at this time, but may when he is older. My first exposure to ASL was many years ago helping with the deaf blind community and they do not see signing, but feel it.

He is only going to be seven, he has other disabilities as well and was born with only 30% hearing in some frequencies. He is always with family or an aide who helps him.

NCL has been very caring and responsive to my son's needs. That is about all I have to say about that. :D

I have never asked for this. My son is fluent in ASL but refuses to sign with anyone outside of family. When he was young he would try, but since the majority of people he encountered could not sign, he quit trying. He often will not even look at people who do try to engage him by signing. I do not know if an interpreter would add to his enjoyment of the trip or not. I usually sign to him if we are watching a show or he is perfectly content just watching and not "hearing". Sometimes he even tells me to stop signing. Sorry if this is off-topic a bit, but is he really missing out if I do not give him exposure to an interpreter? I am pretty sure he can read lips because he responds even when he is not wearing his hearing aids.

My son has had a feeding tube since he was two months old, he is almost seven now. We have traveled all over North America and taken one cruise, all without incident. We always travel with a spare button and all supplies, including an extra feeding pump. I guess the worst was last year when we arrived in Orlando and had forgotten the pump charger. We called around at three in the morning and our home health located a charger in Tampa. We drove over and borrowed it for the duration of our trip, even took it home with us and then our home health arranged for return shipping. Other than gas to Tampa we never paid a cent.

I no longer carry a medical letter with me because I have not found that it was ever needed. I did for a few years and even when I tried to show it to TSA they could not understand what they were reading (medical verbiage).

In addition to formula I always carry bottled water and juices for him, usually the child size Capri Suns for extra hydration.

When we cruised on Carnival they were wonderful about accommodating his every need, never questioned what we needed to bring onboard, gave us a private dining table for the entire week and the children's staff were outstanding. We never changed a diaper on that cruise because the staff just went over and above to make our trip wonderful. We just showed up at feeding times to feed him and at bedtime to put him to sleep. All other times he was happily entertained in the children's area and cried when he had to leave.

We have cruises booked now on NCL and DCL. I have contacted both cruise lines with our needs and they have indicated there will be no problems with us bringing everything we need on board and a fridge will be provided. I do not recall having a fridge on Carnival. If anyone is considering a cruise with their family member that requires tube feeding please do not hesitate. It was the most relaxing vacation we have ever had. My son has multiple disabilities and when he was born we decided we were going to have a normal life just like before and we have. I think he has greatly benefitted from travel and from parents who are able to get away and cross things off their bucket list.