Quiet in the Forum

Old Oct 22nd, 2016, 06:41 PM
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Quiet in the Forum

Is anybody doing any cruises this fall and winter? It seems so quiet on the board. Surely, some of you are cruising someplace. Tell us about it so we can travel vicariously.

We would like to do something, but my daughter got a new job that is longer hours than she expected, and we have our little Granddaughter so much, picking her up from school everyday and keeping her until bedtime, sometimes overnight, we haven't figured out good daycare, so we are uncomfortable leaving.

We are still hoping to do our traditional Spring cruise and had one all picked out for during our granddaughter's Spring break, but now a family wedding is planned during that time, and the ship we wanted is departing from a different port than we thought. So still looking and trying to come to a decision.

Hope all of you are out on ships having exciting, or relaxing cruises, and that you will post reports afterwards.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2016, 12:10 AM
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We will be on a ship this New Years Eve. 16 month old GD will be on board with us. Not sure if we will spend more time relaxing or baby sitting ... LOL

This will be a new experience for us, hence the question of what to do with disposable diapers. This must be a taboo subject as no one on CC replied on my question. The roll call is also "dead" and devoid of any real activity.

This forum has been very quiet for the last little while, maybe people are too busy with the election news? or maybe we have sent everyone to cc and they don't have a reason to come back here. Just my 2 cents worth.

The "regulars" are also becoming less regular as well.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2016, 06:16 AM
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Eschew,
I would love to be on a ship for New Years Eve! I am not much of a party person, but that would be an exception! What ship will you be on? Where? Departure port?

No idea about the diapers. Are some more easily biodegradable now? After your cruise, you can post advice to others. Most toddlers that age are super busy, and have to be watched every minute, so cruising with one will be an experience! I might get one of those little harness things that has a tiny soft animal backpack on it for walking around the ship. It worked well with my Granddaughter for walking near busy streets.

I have noticed roll calls being small on our last cruises. Too bad because we've met some really nice people on the roll calls, and had lots of questions answered. Most people I meet now do not even know about cruisecritic or the roll calls, maybe because there are so many websites for booking. I also think people are using Facebook now. I am on Facebook, but don't know how they do trip things there.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 09:23 AM
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Several years ago we did a holiday cruise and New Years Eve onboard was a blast.

A cousin signed up for a 12 night RCCL cruise from Baltimore at $60/night. what a deal!
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 11:55 AM
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Sass, No party for us either. With the little one, DS and DIL will be in bed early.

It would be the Ruby Princess sailing round trip from LA (8 days), with 4 Mexician Riviera stops. Nothing really that exotic but picked it out of easy access (direct flight so it would be easier travel for the toddler), the timing is right (DIL is a school teacher and can only goes during school holidays) plus it is to a warmer climate.

No plans for any shore excursions for ourselves, probably just walk off and hop on a cab, and more than likely, baby sitting while DS and DIL went ashore on their excursions. This one is more about them having a holiday than us.

Not sure what the rules would be for going ashore with the GD ourselves without the parents being present as they wold be off already on their excursions. I know it is an issue and needs letter etc at airport etc.

Being 16 months old by that time, GD would be active so we will have to figure something out to keep her safe. No balcony cabin for her to get into trouble for sure, and no pool activity on board (not toilet trained yet) and swim diapers are not allowed for obvious reasons.

She is learning to walk right now and can get up on her own, do a few steps, and sat; so no clue on what it would be like by then. I think they have a leash/back pack combo similar to what you described but not sure how she will react to that (movement restriction). We bought a "folding" stroller that folds into a brief-case size package so we should be using that lots.

Not even sure if she is too young (16 months) to go on a cruise. She probably would have zero memory of it when she grows up. We debated long and hard and finally decided on a cruise versus Disney or an all inclusive. Still not sure if it is the right decision.

We sort of joked that we will take her (GD) cruising with us (without the parents) when she is a bit older and she can take care of us on the ship like pushing us around in our wheelchairs. She could be "Elite" on the loyalty program before she turns 18 and have access to the free mini bar that she cannot use (drinking age is 21 on board?)

Will cross the diaper bridge when we got there. Probably bring s small pail (with lid) and small garbage bags as liners or lots of large zip-lock bags. Tip the cabin steward and hope for the best. Maybe air freshener too?

It was so long ago when our kids were small. I don't even remember what we did back then.

CC has been a mixed bag for us. We have come across some very nice people, but a lot more pretentious people, who just brag about how many cruises they have been on etc etc.

We used to go to the meet and greet and after a few of those boring people, we stopped going. Sometimes, we sort of showed up incognito and look around, and depending on the conversation around the table, introduce ourselves. We have pretty much keep to ourselves and yet we still managed to meet new people, usually at the Dining room (during breakfast) or maybe fellow passengers while we are ashore.

I seldom post on CC except for roll calls. I used to post reviews there but after noticing reviews posted by people who get "perks" writing reviews, I discounted the content of the reviews there, so it may not be fair on my part. I think the moderators here do a much better job keeping out the "commercial contents".

A trip report here is not like a CC review so I think the approach here is less critical, and more informational. And I like the interactive nature with trip reports here since it is on a forum. There are Q&A here whereas on the CC review, you can't ask questions and you won't get answers. Giving a rating number means absolutely nothing as it is subjective and my 5s could easily be someone else's 1s.
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 04:54 PM
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Leaving for the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess Sat 10-29. This will be my first cruise since I started peritoneal dialysis a year ago. Worrying that supplies will be delivered directly to the cabin as arranged. Its been about 5 years since my last cruise, hoping this will be good experience. We booked our excursions through the ship as we had large ship board credit. Looking forward to breakfast on our balcony. Will do trip report after we return from cruise and visit to FL.
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 05:39 PM
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LBloom,
Thank you for letting us know so we can share a bit of your worry, but also your pleasure of those breakfasts on the balcony. I am so excited for you! Pictures of the Coral Princess look beautiful, and the ship was just renovated. I will definitely watch for your TR.

Eschew,
You are brave! It will be a couple of years before she enjoys the cruise or Disney, but all of you grownups will have fun, just with more accommodation made for a toddler.

We did not take our granddaughter on a cruise until she was 4 and old enough to be in some of the kid's programs. She remembers that, and has been on 2 more. Still no balcony for her though. Even at 6, the first thing she did was grab a chair and climb up on it on our balcony. It doesn't matter what you say. They see no danger.
Our choices of ships and itinerary have also been with a child in mind, including short, non-stop flights. A happy, rested kid makes a happy trip.

I do want a TR from you about cruising with a toddler!
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Old Oct 27th, 2016, 09:21 AM
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Well I would have a TR next month but RCI cancelled our cruise as some big $$ guy in Taiwan chartered the ship (Ovation) for a private outing. Too bad as I had airfare booked with our miles.

We are scheduled to be on that ship Dec. 2017 out of Sydney but who knows if we can manage to sneak another cruise in before then. .
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Old Oct 27th, 2016, 09:27 AM
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Larry, did you get compensation for the flights? You should press them for that.

Since you booked it with miles, you might as well fly there and have a "land vacation". Christmas down south should be fun. Or maybe there is another ship lurking around the same time?
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Old Oct 27th, 2016, 01:16 PM
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They offered up to $300.00 pp for flight compensation. As we booked with miles I was compensated for the $200.00 fee to put the miles back in the bank. As the flight was ORD-PEK and SIN-ORD I am glad it wasn't cash. Yes I wanted to go,anyway but my wife did not so you know who wins that one. .

Dealing with RCI to pay us was another matter. I had to go thru hell but finally kept pushing it up and got in touch with some one high up in executive customer relations who apologized for how I was treated initially and. He said he spoke to this other person and informed her how inappropriate she was. Good! I also sent a certified letter to Michael Bailey about this entire incident. For my hassles two bottles of wine and two boxes of chocolate covered strawberries �� were given to us.

I have noted a huge disparity in CS from X and RCI between upper level Personnel and those who you are in contact initially and noted that in my letter. The people you speak to initially are seemingly into a "no" culture and are fixed and rigid. As I have gone up the folks there actually are pretty cool but man at first well let's say "Siri" has far more sense.
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Old Oct 29th, 2016, 01:44 PM
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Our last cruise was September 2015. My husband and I would love to take another cruise, but due to health issues and work restrictions nothing in the plans now. Hopefully in another 1/2 year I can start planning.
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Old Oct 31st, 2016, 04:22 PM
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We will be on a river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel in December. Will spend Christmas on board and New Year's in Paris. It's hard to be away during the holidays when there are little ones (not ours, but a grandniece and grandnephew, as well as adult nieces and a nephew, who will always be "babies" to us), but we thought we'd take this this trip away just this once. It will be our first river cruise (AmaWaterways), and we will do some "scouting" afterwards for a group that is going on a second river cruise with us next June. All in all, we're looking forward to the adventure.
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Old Oct 31st, 2016, 05:55 PM
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Burta, sounds like wonderful fun for New Years!
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Old Nov 1st, 2016, 05:49 PM
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Waiting for the Carnival Horizon bookings to open in a month or so. No cruise until Summer 2018 as we are locked into making my niece 'a dreams come true at Disney World ��
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Old Nov 1st, 2016, 09:42 PM
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Burta, that was a good cruise with Ama last year, we traveled in reverse direction. If you don't like a firm mattress ask them for an additional pad and they will have a foam mattress pad. I understand you can request it before you travel, we learned about them from another passenger after a difficult first night.
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Old Nov 1st, 2016, 09:45 PM
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DH and I are taking a 9 day Christmas Market cruise with Viking the first week of December. Starts in Basel, ends in Amsterdam. One thing I liked was having 2 nights in port at the beginning and end. I did a Rhine cruise last year with a cousin and when DH said he would do a Christmas Market cruise found a great price rather last minute. I won't mind some of the ports being repeats since we had only an afternoon in most.
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Old Nov 2nd, 2016, 12:39 PM
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Scootoir, please come back with a trip report when you get home. We have thought about that rive cruise also.

We are doing the canal at the end of January on Holland America.
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Old Nov 4th, 2016, 09:27 PM
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I will do that fmpden and will include some comparisons between Viking and AmaWaterways.
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Old Nov 12th, 2016, 12:18 PM
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We're booking on Celebrity Eclipse for a tansatlantic crossing next October, Southampton to Miami with stops in Boston, NYC, Bermuda and Bahamas. We did this last year. Will spend 3+ weeks in UK and France before we board.

We live in Florida now and are finally settled so will start looking for last minute deals, it's just that the Caribbean isn't my favorite destination.
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Old Nov 12th, 2016, 12:19 PM
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Should have said, "We're booked...."
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