ladybugpug

6 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

I would have ran the other direction.   Panda's are Chinese.  High risk bears.

LMAO 🐼

3 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Is it only me, who is thinking "nice trolling job"....had plenty of bites.  

I actually just thought the very same thing.  

 I would just cancel if you are that worried that you may get sick. In reality you would have to wear the mask pretty much at all times and also a mask does little to protect you anyway. More likely to give you a false sense of safety than to offer much protection. Sitting at dinner, shows, and around the pool while wearing a mask and gloves is ludicrous to me. Personally I would not cruise until this virus situation gets under control. I would be somewhat afraid if becoming sick but more afraid of being trapped onboard a ship that is quarantined. 

4 hours ago, coffeebean said:

Just wondering......have those many many people who blame RCI for this tragic event ever been on a cruise ship?

Wouldn't have a clue.

I don't have any cruises planned so that's not a worry for me. My husband and I are visiting our daughter, who is studying in London, later this month. I am a bit concerned about all of our flights during our trip. Two flights there and two flights home. We are also flying to Dublin during the vacation so that adds two more flights. Our daughter and her roomies are in Zurich all this weekend and they are staying in a hostel with students from all over the world. It is easy to see how it can spread. I'm very excited for our trip but am not going to lie and say Coronavisus isn't on my mind. 

On 1/20/2020 at 9:51 PM, atanac said:

Reading through this entire post the general consensus is the Grandpa was negligent and the fault

lies squarely with him. If this actually winds up in court with a seated jury the defense would be wise

to read every ones comments here on Cruise Critic for a preview as to what the outcome from a jury

might be.

Anyone else see it that way?

I have seen many many people on other sites who blame the cruise line 100%. I can easily see this case going either away. 

2 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Many of the mini suites on the Jewel-class ships, including the Pearl, are under the noisy public spaces of Deck 12.  Personally, I would not want one unless I could pick the location, which would not be the case with a bid.  Also, please know that the mini suites have a tub/shower combination; the tub wall is extremely high and the tub is no fun to climb in and out of, especially on a moving ship.

I loved the tub in the mini suite. My daughters' had their own mini suite and they both took advantage of the tub too. The weather on my cruise in December was awful so I took a drink and book to my tub a couple of times. 

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Would you press charges against your parent?

If my parent held my child out of a window over an 11 story drop I would remove my child from them and most likely never speak to them again. If my child fell??? I would want them to spend the rest of their years in prison and then an eternity in Hell. There would be no forgiveness. I cannot fathom the negligence and stupidity of holding a child out a window. It is mind numbing. 

Yes hairdryers were provided.😊

19 hours ago, mugtech said:

You enjoyed the Gem, how was the Pearl, a sister ship, different?

The Gem was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to most likely has something to do with it. Also my Gem experience was years ago so the ship would have been newer and in better condition. On the Gem I liked the over the top decor colors. Even the "hated" purple that passengers complained about. I remember a more upbeat and friendly crew on the Gem as well. On the Pearl there was none of the cheerfulness that I associate with a cruise experience. I think for me that bigger is better. I like the more over the top ships with the shops, shows, etc. I would sail NCL again if the itinerary and dates were a match for us but only of it were on one of the bigger ships. 

My family of 6 ( husband, 19 year old daughter, 21 year old daughter, 25 year old son, son's fiance, and I) cruised from December 18th through the 23rd. I chose this particular cruise due to time constraints with my son's graduate school schedule. We sailed on the Gem years ago and enjoyed it very much. Next two cruises were RC Oasis and RC Freedom. I have to admit from the start that I prefer RC to NCL. We liked the set dining and having the same waitstaff. I also have to admit that our weather during the trip was cloudy and rainy and not very pleasant so I'm sure that colored our experience. I found the cruise as a whole just very average. The positives: loved the bathtub in the mini suite and the bathroom in general. Loved the Summer Palace MDR. So pretty and we all thought the food was good. Service there was good also. We ate at Teppanyaki and Moderno and enjoyed both. A huge positive to NCL's credit is that my one daughter is gluten free and they went above and beyond to accommodate her in the MDR and specialty dining (buffet not at all sadly). We enjoyed the variety show and comedian. Not so positives: the ship was just not impressive. Much of it looked old and drab. I thought the decor was pretty ugly and dated. And when you're stuck inside due to lousy weather you really feel the size of the ship. There was very little to occupy yourself with during the day.  I watched It's a Wonderful Life, The Lion King, and EIf and took a lot of naps lol. I doubt I would sail a Pearl sized ship again no matter what the cruise line. Our room steward was just ok. Nothing above and beyond. No towel animals. We sat our by the pool one afternoon and not one server came around to take drink orders and the pool area seemed small and dingy.  Another less than positive was the food in the buffet. Nothing was very appealing or tasty. In all I would say we had an enjoyable time. But there was just no "wow" factor in the Pearl. 

My family will be cruising on the Pearl in December. We were on the Gem around 9 years ago but haven't cruised NCL since. I remember that when we arrived on board we were able to store our carry on bags in a designated area. Is that still available? Also were is a good place to sit down (besides the buffet which will be a madhouse I expect) and maybe get a drink or bite to eat while we wait to get into our staterooms? One last question...I adore Christmas and can't wait to see the decorations. Do they go all out for the holidays? TIA for any help!

I guess I must be odd or rude also. Just this morning we were at breakfast with my family. My young granddaughter took her dads hat and put it on backwards. My other son and I each took out hats and put them on backwards as well. Then we all laughed. I don't think anyone else at the restaurant really cared what we did.

The point was they were NAPKINS not hats. So yes it looked ridiculous for adults to sit in the MDR at dinner with napkins tied to their heads night after night. But to each his/her own. :')

On the Freedom in December:

Saw a couple in the pool licking each others tongues. Literally sticking their tongues the whole way out and licking the other person's tongue. Like tongue fencing. It was beyond gross and really strange too. This was around noon in the solarium. Take it to your room.

Stood up to leave the variety show in the theater and happened to look on the floor of the the row behind me and saw a stack of pizza crusts. I guess it would have been too much of a bother to not throw the crusts on the floor. There was probably 4 or 5 of them laying there.

In the MDR a little boy (maybe around 11) tied his napkin to his head like a hat. Ok he's a little kid, so what? Not a problem. But then every adult at the table tied napkins to their head as a hat. They did this on more than one night. I'll chalk that one up to more odd than rude. :D

We went to Maya Chan in December and loved it. The food and drinks were amazing. Staff there actually kayaked drinks right out to us in the water. The road to and from is really bumpy however. Maya Chan provided the transportation and that was my only complaint. The "taxi" van provided for the trip there had seat belts that were tied up so that they could not be used and my two daughters and I had the backseat which had a broken seat back. With every bump we hit our seat would literally slide back and forth. I didn't feel safe at all. The trip back was a bit better. Still no seat belts but the van was in better condition.

We did a sea lion excursion at Blue Lagoon around 5 years ago. It was the highlight of our trip. We did not book through the cruise line however. The trip to and from the island was very enjoyable and the island itself was beautiful. Besides the sea lions we didn't use any of the other amenities (and I'm sure it would have cost extra). We did a stingray excursion just this past December in Grand Cayman which was an amazing experience but a little scary. Those things swimming all around you is off putting. My teen daughter got so panicked she had to get back of the boat early and just watch. I was close to joining her.

Can you tell me when the Drink Cards were on sale and the price?

Thanks

$75 plus 18% gratuity. They offered it on day 3 of our 6 day cruise.

I traveled with my husband, adult son and his girlfriend, and two late teen daughters. It was our first cruise on the Freedom and second RC cruise. We enjoyed the cruise and ship very much. The holiday decorations were very pretty.

We had 3 outside balcony rooms.

We ate in the MDR every night for the second seating. The food was always tasty and hot (with the exception of lobster night).

Lobster night was embarrassing. We were warned by our server that no extra entrees could be ordered on lobster night but he did sneak us some lobster tails ( which were small, tasteless, and rubbery. But RC seems to really take their lobster very seriously lol. He actually looked fearful of “getting caught”. I can’t remember what the other entrees were but they weren’t good either that night.

We ate breakfast in the MDR every morning except one morning we had room service due to an excursion. MDR breakfast was very good. Room service as on the Oasis was lousy. But now we got to pay a room service fee for an order that barely resembled what we actually ordered and did not come with silverware. When we got silverware the food was cold.

Grabbed a chicken burger at the WJ twice for lunch. The second one was completely raw mush in the center. I’m not a WJ fan.

Our bed was horrible. Like a sheet over a board. I never managed to sleep past 7 am which sucks for a vacation. This is my biggest complaint of the ship. Pillows sucked too.

Our cabin attendant was excellent. Always friendly and kept our rooms spotless.

We all loved Matt Yee’s diva show in the schooner lounge. We went 3 nights in a row, he was that good.

Ice show was pretty good.

Variety show was good.

Musical show was just ok. None of us were impressed.

Enjoyed the solarium. Never had to wait very long to get loungers together.

We really liked the cruise director Abe Hughes. A vast improvement over the guy and girl on the oasis last year who got on my last nerve.

Did 3 tours outside of RC. Moby Dick stingray city (amazing), maya chan (enjoyable), and mr Sanchos ( good food but crowded and I dont think there was a drop of alcohol in their drinks).

We ended up buying two drink cards which were handy.

All in all we had an amazing trip. Lots of great memories. The vast majority of crew and fellow passengers were a joy to be around.

Leave for my first time on Freedom next Friday!

Responsibility has nothing to do with it. If you can’t follow the rules imposed by a Cruise Line, then stay at home where you can monitor your underage children when alcohol is involved.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Why such venom? How is it effecting you? I've seen plenty of drunks in public making fools of themselves on various vacations. All adults. My last RCL cruise we watched security wheel a clearly adult man probably in his 40's who was drunk and angry (and missing a shoe no less) back on board after a port day. He was verbally ripping his female companion to shreds because "he could walk".

Rules are rules but it appears that you feel these rules don’t apply to you because you are in law enforcement. I actually have no idea what your job has to do with RCIs drinking policy.

 

You certainly are setting a fine example

for your daughter. If she commits a crime are you going to fix it so she doesn’t go to jail??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Great the parenting police are out and riding in on their high horses.

We paid for my group of 6 for the holiday dinner at Giovanni's on Oasis last Christmas Eve. We had a very nice time. The service was excellent and the food was good. Was it worth the huge cost? No. I wouldn't pay that again for the experience. Besides a glass of champagne and some lobster tails the meal was no different than the regular Giovanni menu. The website sucked me in with the image of a gorgeous table all decorated for Christmas and in reality there were no extra decorations or anything special.

My 18 year old had a few fruity drinks by the pool and a glass of champagne on our Christmas cruise last year. The champagne was handed to her unasked for (and her 16 year old sister) by our server on Christmas Eve and I purchased the pool drinks and then gave them to her right on deck. No one looked twice. We did ask when we boarded and were told "no" she had to be 21.

Most kids (unlike some adults who feel the need to act like they know what is best for everyone else's kids) get that life as a child is much different then life as an adult. My kids have been taken out of school for family vacations in the past and will again get taken out for a couple days in march. Trust me they, unlike some adults, are smart enough to get that you can't just get up and go away on vacation whenever you want as an adult.

 

And saying that those vacations and family time is important is in no way saying that school isn't also important. It's not one or the other. It's a combination. Again fascinating that kids get that, but adults don't.

 

You know why I'm taking my kids out of school? Because we couldn't go on this trip if I didn't. We have other things planned during school breaks, including work and local trips.

 

Family time is very important and kids grow up quickly. My kids have memories that they will cherish forever. Things that will stick with them much longer then anything they learned in school. I was reminded of this in a very powerful way this year. My family was hit with a tragedy that I won't get into here, but it affected my kids, we were all taught how short life is. You shouldn't have to go through what we have to learn that sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses and cherish your family.

 

If you feel that kids shouldn't be taken out of school then fine don't take YOUR kids out. But keep your opinions on how to raise kids to yourself.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Agree 100%!

With the talk of taking kids out of school to go on vacation at the parents schedule. I would sure like to try that with my employer....telling him I am taking off such and such weeks for a vacation...even though I'm not entitled to the time off....see how long I would last there.

My kids' school district has a vacation request form. Describe the educational value of the trip, turn it in, and viola vacation gets approved and the kid is excused for the vacation and it doesn't count against their attendance. It has never been a problem. And if it was a problem I would still take a family vacation when it works for my family as they are my children and not the school district's.

By some huge coincidence last fall we took my daughter out of school for a trip to Salem MA the same week they were studying The Crucible. Did she learn more sitting like a drone in a classroom or more touring the museums, cemeteries, etc in Salem? I would say going to Salem was more educational. Other parents would disagree. We also spent a night in the Lizzie Borden B and B and learned all about a famous murder and subsequent trial and did a whale watching cruise in Boston (which was magical as whales are rare in Pennsylvania lol).

Why some busybodies get so up in arms about OTHER parents' kids missing school to take a vacation is beyond me. Read the thread on the Carnival board about the poor little girl who died falling over a railing. Posters who flat out said the death was the parents' fault because the kid should have been in school and not on vacation. :o