Geldhart

CC isn't likely the best source to determine if websites affect buying decisions for the general public. CCers learn how to work around "features" in the websites of their favoured lines -- the lines have earned their business.

However, for a first time cruiser, who isn't tied into one line, a poor experience will likely send them packing to a competitor. If they can't book on RCL, well, nothing stopping them from trying Carnival, or NCL, or. . . , etc. And if they are able to book on that other line, well, the chances of them coming back to the original are close to nil. On our first cruise, we initially thought NCL, but their site was down, so we went to RCL, had no issues with the site. Haven't even considered NCL since.

We do that all the time in "real life" as well. Once, I called a furnace company because my furnace was constantly running and the house was still cold. Left a message (granted it was early in the day), no response even after 1000AM. So I called another company, they had a tech out right away. Guess who got all my calls after that. By coincidence, I got called to the original furnace company to fix their computer -- I mentioned the issue to the owner while waiting on the computer. The owner's son, who was supposed to be answering the phones while she was on vacation, decided he would rather play video games with his buddies all week instead of working.

However, another company, that I had done business with in the past, had some pretty serious glitches in fixing my [rather personal] issue, but given their track record, they had earned my trust and business. Took a few more phone calls, but the owner got everything right eventually. If this had been the first time I went with them, chances are, their competitor would have been granted the opportunity to serve.

Are you booking a suite? If so non-refundable is your only option. Otherwise it's an issue with your TA.

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I would not rely on any shipboard features on their own (it's fine to use it as part of an overall plan) as they can fail, or not be available on that particular ship, and the ship will NOT be responsible. Be aware that Bluetooth and GPS based trackers will not work very well on the ship either due to lack of sky (GPS) and all the metal in ship (Bluetooth and GPS). They are fine as part of your plan for being in ports.

This is how I would handle things - your friend may be better or worse than I am assuming. This plan assuming a night wander is a risk.

To keep things simple, I'm going to call the friend with memory loss "Betty" and assume female. Adjust pronouns as appropriate for your situation. I'm also assuming that if a crew member, even once, has to assist with a missing "Betty" that your entire group will be kicked off. I want to avoid that.

1. Everyone needs to be on board (pun not really intended) with the overall plan. Mistakes cannot happen. Have a clear, unambiguous schedule that everyone agrees to. Determine how long each person can honestly be the escort, and keep the shifts shorter than the "worst" person. Everyone should also have a cell phone, and keep it with them, and turned on. I also recommend practising at home prior to the cruise (practice hand-offs and test any technology on everyone's phones with someone playing the role of Betty. Try it inside a busy shopping mall).

2. All all times, there must be 1 person who is 100% focused on Betty. They do not do anything else, they don't even use the restroom. They have Betty's ship card on a lanyard [as a symbol of their responsibility plus it prevents Betty from leaving the ship if you are in port], and if something happens, they are 100% in charge.

3. There must be a clear, understood hand off. If Veronica "has Betty" she needs to make sure someone else takes over before she does anything else.

"Archie, I need you to take Betty"

"Yes, Veronica, I have Betty."

[Veronica hands Archie Betty's lanyard, Archie now "has Betty"]

4. If Betty needs to go to the washroom, she is escorted into the washroom by a female if possible. If not, the escort will stand right outside the washroom door and not move, and will carefully watch every person who leaves. Yes, this might feel uncomfortable.

5. This also applies to meal times. The designated, and the primary alternate,sit next to her [one on the left, one on the right].

6. In ports, there should always be two people with Betty if at all possible - although one of them will be the primary who "has Betty". One of these people should be female to handle washroom issues - do the hand-off if necessary.

7. To deal with night wanders, I would suggest hiring someone to take night shift. You pay their airfare, cruise costs, gratuities, and provide OBC to cover ship board costs and IN ADDITION they get a wage/fee on top of that. They get their own cabin. This person will stay in the room, awake overnight, then sleep during the day. Work with their cabin steward so the steward can work around this unusual schedule. When they don't "have Betty" or are sleeping, they can do whatever they want.

If Betty is Lost

A. On the ship: Whoever has Betty hugs a tree and calls everyone to join in the search party, and assigns search areas. One person should be at Betty's cabin (in case she is escorted by staff or gets their on her own), others start at one side of the ship and work their way to the other. The tree hugger can try to use the ship's tracking stuff [test it when she isn't lost], and everyone reports in to the tree hugger

"Reggie here, she's not in the Casino"

"Jughead here, don't see her in the XYZ Lounge"

"Veronica here, found her in the Art Gallery".

[Veronica now "has Betty"]

B. In port. Similar procedure. The tree hugger will coordinate the search and give everyone their assignments. One person should return to the port, near the entrance to where all cruisers from all ships would need to go to get on a ship. Don't let her get on the wrong ship.

"Reggie, search each store on the east side of the street. Veronica, you have the west. Archie, you have the port entrance, etc".

Given the risk of missing the ship, plan on being back on the ship 90 - 120 minutes before "All Aboard" time.

If this is too much for your group, have 2 paid aides (they can share the private room) to help reduce the efforts for everyone else, or reconsider taking Betty on a cruise. I know I would have serious reservations about taking this on.

I would call and ask. Be straight up. We booked the cruise pre injury and still want to go. I can work with my PT to continue the exercises on the ship as well as get medically cleared by my doctor. Had I been at work, this would have been my vacation time anyway.

Worst WCB says is no. Then get it in writing and file the insurance claim (If you already have it).

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If mine did that they would quickly learn that i go from "reasonable when you are following the basic family rules" to "mean dictator who doesn't trust anyone who isn't within 3 meters of either myself or my wife, and that includes bathrooms".

I know kids and teens do stupid once in awhile but that was beyond stupid.

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Not sure why people even make this an issue. Don't see a thing wrong with burkinis (learned what one is just a few minutes ago). As others said, put something over to when going into a food service area.

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So much for credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans.

Other than a mortgage (and even then) that's how many people live their life.

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Legitimate reasons why someone should not order a drink package when their cabin mate does.

1. Pregnant or trying to get pregnant. After all you might have succeeded last night in the hotel, or might on the cruise ship.

2. Recovering alcoholic who's at the stage where they can be on a cruise and also be with a partner who drinks.

3. Taking medication, or underlying medical conditions, that preclude alcoholic consumption.

4. Religious reasons. Its possible for two cabin mates to have different religions.

5. You are a personal or medical aide or sober buddy for someone in another cabin.

6. The Noodle Incident. [emoji16]

Many of these would be "Nunya business" as far as RCL wanting verification. After all, if I say I'm Mormon and my cabin mate is not, is the cruise line going to make me prove I'm Mormon? Is a lady going to bring the pee stick with her? Am I going to discuss my brother's alcoholism with the cruise line? And while with some medical situations it would be prudent to talk with the shops doctor, many others it's simply not needed - as long as you don't drink.

In the end, allowing excetions is a can of worms. Perhaps a middle ground is to allow a non drinker to get the non alcoholic package no questions asked if you cannot go with "1 person can buy"

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We've done both. First two cruises we had traditional with table mates and the third was MTD with just ourselves. On our next one we are going to split the difference and go with a traditional dining 2-top. Why? It's not you it's me.

I'm late diagnosed and on the autism spectrum and am extremely asocial. My wife is not much more social than I am.

Add to that (and could be related) I have an extreme phobic response to religion and praying - it's rough enough when I'm at my in-laws but at least they are aware of my quirk and do their best to be quick. In turn, I do my best to disguise my discomfort long enough to get by. I would not be able to do that with strangers. To put it in perspective, imagine the biggest arachniphobe you know walking into a spider web with its owner right there. That's me, only worse; I actually self harm if I'm in a church for something other than Toastmasters.

While the tablemates I've previously had are not bad people, I just don't have the desire or skills needed to participate in group dining for it to be enjoyable for any of us. And I don't want to frighten people with actual or even threatened self harm if they start praying (even of the kind that are unlikely to offend anyone).

However, Traditional had two big things going for it. One is that we don't have to worry about reservations and late seating on the East Coast is pretty much or regular dining time back home. We know when supper is and will be there ready to eat.

Having the same waiter is also more comforting given my rather unusual, but potential ugly food allergy/sensitivity. Being at just our table eliminates the "how can you enjoy this food without a proper wine pairing?" When they notice I don't order alcohol because of my sensitivity. I have had THAT come up before.

Besides if my wife wants to talk about sex, well, that's a conversation I also want to have.

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This is a question that is very much an individual decision based on parental comfort and how well screwed on the kid's head is.

With our kids in order to earn their "wings" they first had to navigate from a somewhat random spot on the ship to muster station and get there within 7 minutes without assistance from us.

Rules were very much like others on the thread. Not on anyone's cabins, let us know where you are (they used the phones around the ship to leave voice mails). We reserved the right to go check and did.

Our oldest could go in the pool as long as he was with someone else. Or youngest, not being a strong swimmer was not allowed in the pools without a parent. Even now the younger would not be allowed in the pool without us.

On non port days breakfast and lunch were "whatever" but supper was with us.

On port days they are with us from breakfast until we return to the ship. On our next cruise we may relax the supper with us rule on port days.

Of course standard family rules still apply and failure to follow them results in the revoking of their wings for a specific period of time. No one wants that, but you only have to enforce it once.

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I avoid TAs because if I book direct, there is absolutely no finger pointing involved. A TA can't say "it's a RCL problem - call them", and RCL can't say "you have to call your TA". I know exactly who has my money, and who I have to call to get something done.

I'm not sure cruise lines want to set themselves up as "electronic babysitters". That's why they require anyone who needs assistance for "normal" life has to bring their own.

Exactly. They don't want to assume that kind of liability if there is a malfunction of the system, or more likely, user error (ie the trackee isn't wearing the pendant).

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Call quality on Skype can be hit and miss, well depend on a number of factors. If you have poor connection, hang up and try again in a few minutes.

I don't think you can receive calls from a landline through Skype (haven't tested it myself).

If your staff need to be reaching you on the ship, install Skype either on a computer or a phone and connect Skype to Skype for free.

Key is to TEST calling both ways BEFORE you leave. Put your phone in airplane mode, turn on Wifi, and test from a public Wifi hotspot like a Starbucks or a McDonalds. That way you can test it from a slower speed connection than you get from home.

I've only done one Skype call from a ship and the quality was poor but good enough for what I needed. YMMV.

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One thing I've always wondered about the civil disorder thing. What if I'm walking around and a riot breaks out and I get caught in it (not participating, just trying to get out of the way) and get injured. Am I up a creek?

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Purchase early, you can always cancel and repurchase if the price goes down

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I wonder...Can an adult's ship card be flagged so that he/she cannot leave the ship without another designated person. I'd hate for hubby to leave the ship at a port-of-call on his own.Technology-wise, this is possible -- setting off some warning alarm to the cruise agent when his card is "dinged" to get off the ship. I wonder if any cruise lines have implemented this.

 

Also I wonder if a child's wrist band would also work for hubby. Children under a certain age wear wrist bands so a crew member can get him/her to the proper muster station in case of emergency, and I think it can also be used to locate the parent -- or you in this case.

No. You are expected to be fit for travel or have an aid with you. Only thing you can do is for the OP to confiscate his pass so he has nothing to ding with at the exit.

My suggestion for bringing an aid stands.

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Other option is to book a hotel and stay overnight

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Don't forget that you can be on a perfectly good airplane that takes off on time on a non stop flight and have a passenger experience a medical emergency forcing you to land in the middle of nowhere.

Almost happened to us, but a doctor was able to determine the actual issue (nothing major) and the passenger was okay to finish the flight.

In that incident, chances are the crew would have timed out upon landing.

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Also we book as much as 18 months out. However I am never guaranteed vacation until about 6-8 months prior. I had to move one this past Aptil to March due to that. I don't want to pay change fees or I will need to wait to book. $200 is a lot to me.

One option is to initially book "Refundable", then once your vacation is confirmed, you have the option to move to non-refundable if it makes sense for you to do so.

I like the idea of bringing an aide for your husband (and your own sake as well). The way it could work could be something like this:

Bring a preferably MALE aide if possible. This will allow the aide to enter public washrooms easily if needed. However, a female aide is not a deal breaker, especially if they have related experience, but a male who your husband still knows and respects is probably best.

This is a "working" cruise for the aide. They get their OWN cabin (to allow for separation during off-duty times; inside is fine) near your own. You pay the airfare, cabin, tips, travel health insurance, and other mandatory expenses including excursions if the aide is expected to come along. Provide a bit of OBC if desired as well. In addition to covering expenses, also pay the aide a wage. Maybe the aide is even allowed to bring a guest to share the cabin. (Or you can have 2 aides who share the one cabin). If bringing a guest, you are under no obligation to pay any of the expenses of the guest other than I would say cabin, tips, and taxes.

Have a clear schedule drawn up ahead of time as to when the companion is expected to be with your husband (and the guest, if applicable, is somewhere else). 24/7 someone, either you or the aide, needs to be with your husband.

As an example of the schedule, perhaps the aide has your husband from 1300 until 1700 on sea days, and as well will be required to be with you and your husband in the ports and excursions on the port days. I would not go into the ports without the aide myself.

This can make temporary split ups much easier (say you need to go to the washroom, the aide stays with your husband, and vice-versa). This is also where a male aid will be very useful, he can escort your husband into the washroom and make sure he doesn't slip away. If both the aide and your husband need the washroom, the aide should wait until your husband is done and "returned" to you before taking care of his own needs.

If your husband gets lost, one of you can search for him, the other can hug a tree. This is where GPS tracking may still be useful -- while you are in port. Not on the ship, but no reason it can't work in port. The tree hugger can even monitor the GPS tracker and relay the information to the searcher.

Don't try to do it all yourself, you need "Cruising Rosie" time as well. While you are doing something you want to do, the aide can be with your husband doing something he enjoys.

If your husband is subject to leaving the room and wandering, I would definitely have 2 aides, one of whom is on "Night Shift" duty with no duties during the day - they can then sleep in an interior room during the day. Would have to make sure the cabin stewart is aware of that and make other arrangements for them to do their job.

When you are the one with your husband (on the ship), the aide is "off duty" and can enjoy the ship and/or port. You would also need agreement over the consumption of alcohol by the aide. Some people who bring aides aboard (for dementia or childcare) prohibit alcohol consumption by the aide for that week, others limit it, but I don't think ANYONE would get the unlimited alcohol package for their employee.

If you bring 2 aides make sure the schedule is specific about which one is on duty. Don't leave any room for "I thought s/he had him".

Big thing to keep in mind that while your husband may not CURRENTLY need this level of supervision, by the time the cruise actually comes up, he might. Better to plan for the worst and have an aide that you don't really need, then get to a point where you have to cancel the cruise after final payment, or worse yet, go on the cruise and find out you can't do it alone.

Wishing you the best of luck on this.

I've used Skype many times to call phone numbers (i get free Skype minutes with my office 365 subscription). Facebook messenger also works quite well as a "call" to someone else who uses it.

Best thing to do Its test at home prior to relying on it on a cruise. Put your phone into airplane mode then turn wifi back on.

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That doesn't seem like a big difference $15 between Flexible and non-refundable but I think the difference will become wider.

At a $15 plus $100 OBC, I'll keep the refundable deposit thank you.

But no issues with them offering a NFD option.

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The issue is not paying in $us or pounds. It's that exchange rates fluctuate, and different providers of that service charge different fees (flat fee and/or a premium on the "official rate"). For example you might get charged £3 plus only get $125 for your £100 instead of $130.

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All the metal on the ship will cause issues with GPS and Bluetooth. Combine that with the 10m range of Bluetooth and you will find him before the tech does.

Great for home life and land based vacations, not do much for cruise ships.

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You can always call and reprice the cruise prior to final payment if a better rate comes up

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