paddingtonbear

1 hour ago, hrhdhd said:

Why wait? Leave a sticky note and carry on with your cruise. Even without sticky notes, I can find my husband -- he's in one of three or four places. Or we'll find each other in the cabin later. 🤷🏻

We've only been on two ships and we lost one another a few times.  I don't know the places well enough to tell him where I'd be.  This next cruise I'm going to do a more thorough exploration of the ship and I'm going to pay more attention to the names of venues so we can at least tell people on cruise critic where we like to spend our time! 🤣

I haven’t sailed with the medallion yet but I’m really looking forward to being able to find DH after he’s gone on a ship’s engine tour or some other weird event I’m not interested in so I don’t have to wait in the cabin for him to return. 

Even if you don’t want to dress up and go to the MDR it’s worth watching from higher up as they pour the champagne tower and watching people enjoying themselves. 

Thank you for posting the link. It is very helpful for me. 

THank you very much.  Will do. 

On 5/5/2024 at 11:57 AM, McFins said:

We took this tour last year and enjoyed it very much 

 

Did you do the Unitour tour? (Used to be called the Old Quebec Tours). It goes from 10:30 am - 3pm.  Our ship is in Quebec City for 2 days.  On embarkation day (the first in Quebec City) you can board the ship at about noon.  Would it be better to do the tour on the day before the Cruise or on Day 1 or on Day 2 when the ship is in port?

2 hours ago, dog said:

Funny you should mention pre cruise hotels- my 3 nights in London hotel is more $$ than my cruise fare.

My post was supposed to say helicopter rides at $650 USD pp. 

Yes London has some crazy hotel prices atm too.  We have given up on visiting Toronto and Niagara Falls this trip to Canada New England because the price of the hotels was just outrageous and the time needed for the stays and trip to Niagara was just not worth it to us. Would have liked to have done the cruise/tour which looked really good and took in Niagara Falls but it was just not in our budget this time.

5 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Sounds very much like the Resmed Airmini... I just purchased one of these; can't use it because of the extreme difference in noise!  (Very light sleeper.) Looking to sell it or *somehow* get some of my $1100 back!

Yes an airmini. DH took out the dehumidifier disc and that reduced the noise. Also place the machine on the floor or in a draw on the bedside table below the level of the bed. I’m the light sleeper between us and admittedly I generally sleep with earplugs but I don’t hear a thing with either machine. I get disturbed by wind and rain and neighbours dogs before either of the machines! 
 

Or try a different mask with it? DH says the mini mask has the air coming out from the top of the tube - below your nose but right near your ear which he can hear but it doesn’t disturb his sleep. You can buy an adapter for the mini hose to use any Resmed mask.  The other Resmed masks release air from a few places so the noise is greatly reduced.  The other Resmed masks are also more comfortable for him and don’t dry him out so much. I hope this helps you. Good luck. 

Yes there has to be a point when people just don’t do excursions. Even the private ones are getting expensive. And reasonably priced nice hotels at launch and disembarking ports are very difficult to find. 
 

but we recently went to Africa (not a cruise) and people were doing Heliopolis at $650 USD day after day. Some people just seem to have no limit! 

DH has an airsense11 for home but uses a travel CPAP when we aray because it is 1/10th of the size and much lighter. Also works on a battery if required. No water required for the humidifier as it is built in.  It’s a tiny bit noisier than the air sense so putting it on the nightstand shelf will be perfect.  Whatever works for you to get a safe good night sleep is the way to go. 
 

Thanks for the info about the under the bed power point and adapters. 

Hi I was thinking that the medallion wrist band looked like a useful accessory. 

But some on the various websites look the same as an apple watch band.  

Would an apple watchband fit the medallion?

Or is the lanyard the way to go?

On 5/19/2024 at 6:38 AM, Bemidji Ty said:

OP here.  Thanks to all for your responses.  We appreciate it.  We've decided to stay in the mini-suite and have increased our bid for the Reserve Collection.  The clincher for us is that we really enjoy what a private balcony adds to the cruising experience - especially in Alaska.  Whatever happens, we are looking forward to another cruise.  As our daughter stated, "First world problem."

 

Cheers

Personally, I think you made the right decision (such a difficult one!).

We had a balcony in Alaska and it was fabulous.  We went in early July and the weather was great.  We spent so much time on the balcony eating and drinking and watching the scenery and taking photos.  Especially in Glacier Bay. 

I love the balcony for the quick and easy access to the outdoors and would never sail without one.  You can take fabulous photos without the obstruction of the glass too. 

@walkingsoonThat is good to know.  We did the Royal around the UK. Not my first preference as I thought the ship too large but it fitted the itinerary.  But when we were on board it wasn't crowded at all, so many quiet places and we had a couple of tender ports which went smoothly and quickly.  I was impressed. 

We've also sailed on the Star to Alaska.  Again I would have opted for the smaller Island Princess but the Star fitted our itinerary.  It was great as well.  So I think we are easily pleased!

Thank you all very much.  I really have no idea where we will be spending a lot of time as I don't know the ship at all.  I have a lot to learn about the ship.  We finally got a balcony cabin on Deck 11 Baja mid aft close but not right next to the lifts and stairs. If you think we should go lower I can keep my eye out for vacant cabins as we get closer. 

Luckily I have a fair bit of time to research the places to go on the ship.  We don't mind walking up a few stairs.  We were on the Royal in 2015 on Caribe deck which seemed ok but my memory is pretty vague. 

31 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Is that mid-AFT on deck 9 or deck 14?

I would choose by deck.  I would go with deck 9.  We ended up on deck 15 way  forward when booking late...  Never again after the motion on that cruise.   SO much better when we were down in the Piazza on deck 5/6/7...   

Both deck 9 and deck 14 have mid aft cabins available.  We’ve been on deck 10 (caribe) on the Star princess but the Majestic is a much bigger ship and DH thought there might be a better view up high! I think we’ll go for deck 9 as it might be rough in September.
Thank you for your advice. 

Thank you both for you insights. Both deck 9 and 14 have cabins above and below. We’ll go for mid aft. Thank you. 

3 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

I'm not sure it matters. We've been facing the port in Halifax and Charlottetown. I think I'd rather face the port in Charlottetown and the harbor in Halifax. I'll let you know which way we dock in Quebec City.

What about the view while sailing? Your view of the other land masses looks great from the port side. Thank you.
Looks like you are having great weather! 

I noticed your cabin is on the port side. Is there a preferred side for this cruise or are the views from both sides good? 

Hi The Majestic Princess has just about sold out for Sept 2025 New England Cruise.  

Which is better level 9 or 14?

And since I can't go mid ships is a tiny bit aft better (quieter and smoother ride) than a little bit forward?

I know to avoid the lifts, stairs and laundry.

Thank you. 

If you get the princess plus package does that mean you don't have to pay the mandatory gratuities?  Is it included in the $65 a day?

Hi We are thinking of doing a New England Cruise from Quebec City to Boston with a balcony in October is there a best side of ship?

I am thinking of views and less winds.  

Thank you very much for that rundown.  It was very helpful.

Hi, I haven’t been on Cruise Critic for ages but we have done two cruises - on the Star Princess (4300 passengers) and the Royal Princess (3080 passengers).  They are both big ships but we weren’t bothered by the passenger numbers but neither cruise had very many children.

We are looking at a New England cruise either on Emerald Princess (3080 passengers) or the Majestic Princess (3560 passengers) or HAL - Zuiderdam (1964 passengers) and the Volendam (1432 passengers).  Are any of these ships streets ahead of the others? We are in our 60s. 

Other than the ship size the main differences are the ports.  We really like nature and quiet places so we’d be looking for walks and things like that rather than cities.  To help us decide on one cruise over the other can you please tell me if any of these are must see ports or if are any not so memorable: Saguenay, Portland, Rockland, Bar Harbour or St Johns.

Thank you very much for your help.  I know I over think things but we will only be doing this once and we are trying to make the most of the trip.

We did a 10 day British Isles cruise on the Royal and were impressed. The buffet was well organised and excellent. Great food selection no matter what time you went. We ended up having breakfast, lunch and a few dinners there.

I was so worried the ship would be too big but it was big enough to hide the people it seemed! Lots of places to go and sit quietly. Lots of entertainment choices and lots of food choices.

Only one problem with crowds and that was at a tender port that made disembarking and embarking slow but we got to meet some nice people in the line so it worked out well.