Two friends and I signed up for a group package set up by a friend that will have painting classes the days we are at sea, we also know several others in the group. But we did read the fine print buried in different places on the cruise line’s website,
the good news is our cabins are midship so less boat rocking.
we did not understand that we could have opted out of the almost unlimited beverage package. We don’t drink so will be drinking a lot of mocktails.
the package also included $50 credits toward excursions which you can do much less expensively onmyour own.
The cruise line is promoting their dinner theater but never says what movies are being shown.
we also get three meals at specialty restaurants which require reservations. If we had looked sooner we might have been able to make reservations. Supposedly we can still get in line to make reservations once we get on board.
if you open the cabin door while the balcony door is open everything will get sucked out of the room.
we get 150 minutes of wifi unless we buy more minutes. Reports are both good and nad about reliability of shipboard minutes. And someone always answers to put the phone/tablet down and enjoy the cruise.
Top of ship appears to be an amusement park.
it will probably be too cold to use the swimming pool.
i requested wheelchair assistance but have no idea if I will be able to walk to excursions for mobility impaired people on vehicles that do not have storage space for rollators, etc.
one crew member recently either fell overboard or committed suicide.
Group leader told us location of our classroom but got the name wrong. Someone on the zoom meeting noticed the error. Wherever it is starts with B.
i am bringing post its to leave messages on cabin doors since I do not understand hiw we can contact each other if we don’t buy more minutes. Someone gave us app optins that are much better and cheaper to use but my phone is probably too old. Will try Whatsapp.

I dutifully downloaed cruise line’s app to get travel documents but could not primt liggage tags. Thanks to facebook discussions found out different way to print them. Based in the five duplicate emails I figure their tech support needs to be fired.

I have cruised many times and have never heard that if you open the cabin door while the balcony door is open that things will be "sucked out of the cabin". Who told you this?
I know we have opened our cabin door while the balcony door was open.

Too bad your first cruise is on one of the big ships with a playground like atmosphere.
We enjoy the small ships now that we are older.

You are with friends so you will have a good time.
Just take a deep breath and enjoy.

"I have cruised many times and have never heard that if you open the cabin door while the balcony door is open that things will be "sucked out of the cabin". Who told you this?"

Same.
I've not cruised many times but I took a river cruise last year and the door was open a lot of the time. No problems.

"we did not understand that we could have opted out of the almost unlimited beverage package. We don’t drink so will be drinking a lot of mocktails."
Just order what you like to drink but without the alcohol. I would just order sodas, juice, or whatever else I'd want but without the alcohol. Those things are mixers for alcohol. I've never bought a beverage package but I would imagine you can have whatever mixer you like.

I hope the trip turns out a lot better than you expect. Enjoy the painting and just ignore the other stuff you won't want to do. I think it's cool you are going on a painting cruise. It's been decades since I've been on a "big ship" cruise, but I really enjoyed the entertainment.

I've taken two of those huge ship Caribbean cruises in the last two years/. It's something my partner wanted to try and, shockingly, I agreed to go a second time last January. Look at it like an adventure, even if a strange one.

I had a great time on both cruises, although I did not do many organized activities and I did not like the few shows that I was dragged to. The issue of getting a table at the speciality restaurants is a giant pain in the neck and trust me, you are not going to miss much if you do not go. If you really want to eat at one, just show up at the host station on the first night and beg for a table at any day at any time.....you'll probably get 5pm, or 9pm..

We did not take any of the ship's excursions..I just got off and took a taxi in a couple of ports---Cozumel, Puerto Plata..and waked around alone in Belize City...


See my DR "adventure" here:
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC...options from Amber Cove

Think of it like a whole world that you would never have imagined existed......I was on Princess and if I can give you any tips on their ships, let me know..

Just found this....little report about my day off the ship in Belize City:


Photos of belize city...

Thanks to all for listening amd encouraging me to have a good time. I probably am worrying too mich because of mobility issues but I won’t be the only one and i can get some walking exercise with my rollator.

I cannot imagine that you will have the slightest issue as far as mobility...there will be MANY others using collators, walkers, canes, wheelchairs, etc...and everyone on these ships seems so NICE!

Which ship are you sailing on? (notice I now say "ship" instead of "boat")

I think you are just frustrated because you are dealing with physical limitations. Lots (LOTS) of people with mobilityissues take cruises -- that is one of the draws for multi-generational family trips -- the kids can run all over/be mega active, while Granny can get everywhere with a rollator or wheelchair. No, your stuff won't be sucked out when you open the cabin door. Someone is pulling your leg

Now I haven't been on a large ship in probably 8 or 10 years but I can't imagine cabin phones have been removed. You can call room--to-room and also leave voicemail messages. No need to use up your wifi minutes contacting your travel companions.

Have fun -- there is lots to enjoy, and the 'other stuff' usually isn't awful.

frosty, I'm not sure if this will make you feel better or not, but a friend called a couple of days ago to see if I could take her mom's place on a small ship cruise to Alaska. It's an extended family trip, her mother could not go and she needed an answer that day to see if I could sub for her mom. I said "maybe" and called the dog sitter if it would work - but my heart was not in it. I've not felt "right" for about a week. I think I've been fighting off a cold or flu or something. I could easily get ready in the next few days but the thought of the trip was honestly overwhelming right now. I've been to Alaska (twice) and although the very nice cruise ship/ line would be a different experience (instead of public ferries) it all seemed daunting. I think...maybe... you just don't feel so great right now and your trip may just feel overwhelming. Go. Choose your own pace. Don't worry about skipping excursions. Enjoy the painting and being with your group and your painting friends. Enjoy your own version of this cruise. Maybe not as much as a river cruise but there's a good chance that this cruise will skew toward older passengers - since school is still in session right now. I'm glad you are going and hope you will have a good time.

I just got off a cruise with my sister who used a rollator and/or cane. There was NO issues on getting on/off ship, tender or excursions. Lots of people to help.

have fun!

In the kindest possible way, you are worrying far too much.

Let's start with the drink package. I bet it's not too late to add that to your reservation. For mobility issues, I think cruise ships tend to be more accommodating than most any form of travel. For the amusement park, it's easy to stay away from that. And regarding things being sucked out of your room, that might or might not happen in a severe hurricane. Of course, the ship won't sail under those conditions so don't give that another thought. Not gonna happen.

I've been on about 15 cruises and I loved every one of them. I think you will too. I can't wait to hear about it when you return.

Great input, P_M.
Just a thought - I think her concern is the opposite about the beverage package. They signed up for it but she doesn't drink alcohol. She asked earlier (another thread) about mocktail suggestions to order. Other than a Shirley Temple, I don't know of any to suggest - but IMO any cocktail on the menu that sounds good could be ordered sans alcohol. I'd just order whatever beverage I like, assuming that the juices, sodas, and other mixers would be included in the beverage package. Of course, ask first, I guess.
I'd also ask the bartender for suggestions.

Thanks for the comments and optimism. It will probably ne the last time I ever get on a big boat.
despite buying a rollator using ship’s size limits it was too wide to get thru cabin door and too wide to roll between bed and wall so I had to fold and drag it in and out of cabin.
yes, my worries were too much.
ship could have done a better job announcing location of deck for port gangways. PA system was difficult to understand because of cruise directors accent. They could have used ship tv or daily printed news or the computer screens that were here and there and which on final friday I finally saw gangway directions. At first port two employees imcluding cruise directors were at elevators directing people to deck 7 gangway. When they saw my hiking poles i was directed to deck 5 which I could easily walk. Help was always offered. But my friend with cane with ni,ble friend was still directed to deck 7gangway. Returning to ship she barely made it bck the long serpentine gangway.
i understand tides are different on didferent days but i think they still could have given gangway directions the day before each port day.
no imfo was given about location of excursion pickup. Again, I worried for nothing in first port because pickup was in front of terminal. In second port there was a long walk and long wait to board fleet of mini buses advertised as good for people with mobility issues. Plus five hour bus tour with two forty minute stops was too long yet not enough time to get lunch,
Buffet was generally mediocre although a few things were excellent. I am pretty sure the stir fried veggies at the wok station were stir fried cucumbers and not zucchinis.
check in was poorply planned. Because I had a rollator I was put in a different wheelchair assistance line. It was at least 30 minutes of standing and then another long wait for a wheelchair. A friend almost collapsed during wait. I met another woman whise husband decided they would walk rather than comtinue waiting for a wheelchair. The walk made his brwathing worse and he was missing excursions.
on restaurant was my favorite for breakfast but terrible for dinner because of noise from atrium.
nasically all ship employees were very helpful and cheerful.
Other passengers were also,helpful and considerate. Enjoyed chatting with a few.
I made a time zone mistake on final day so went to wheelchair assistance area for debarkation 1 hour and 45 minutes early instead of 45 minutes. Three people were already ahead of me. BUT i had a gray luggage code so got first wheelchair. This was another example of poor ship communications. Aaccording to goodbye newsletter, wheelchairs were first come first served. Not so. It depended on your luggage color code and Imhad earliest time since I knew enough to go to guest services to get a tag. I got,last gray one. My two friends had to take next time slot which was pink.
now my wheelchair guy gets me safely to luggage pickup area, his English is poor and he has to find my gray suitcase among several hundred suitcases. It is too bad the planners didn’t go one step further and add a second tag for suitcases for wheelchair people so those suitcases could hve been in a separte area to make it easier to find. Fortunately I had a duplicate of my ship luggage tag, showed it to wheelchair guy and then he knew to look for suitcase with my cabin number on it.
He then wheeled me to pink area to wait for my friends,
fortunately my friends finally agreed with me that we needed a porter to get outside. Porter knew nest place to take us and told friend door number to tell our driver where to find us, it was a long walk to,this,place but worked out great for driver. Congestion was terrible necuase some people were arriving early to board for next cruise.

sitting in a hot tub helped pain in my calf but I did not have the strength to get up out of hot tub. I was sitting onmthe edge so only my legs were in water. I had to scoot on my butt to get to stairs where I could use better railing to help me up.

yes, I was disappointed that i hadn’t done better in rehab before cruise. I had gotten to 25 minutes on treadmill but didn’t trust my legs without something to hang onto. Since we painted all day onmthe three days at sea there was no time to participate in any activities. After hot tub on partial port day I simply satued on board for a quiet morning with a friend. She crocheted and I read while sitting on shady deck chairs.

but, it would have been cheaper to take painting classes at a hotel which we have done in the past. My worries about debarkation killed my appetite at our last meal in a specialty restaurant. My fault. Hard to believe I used to love adventures and challenges.

Oh, my dear.

I say you still have a great sense of adventure for trying something new. Nothing is for everyone. Kudos to you for getting out there.

You live in an incredibly beautiful state. You do so many fun things at home. I look forward to reading about your adventures every week on the RR thread.

Onward and upward.

dfrost...I'm sorry you encountered so many tricky situations.
Please don't let this turn you off to cruising all together.
The smaller ships are easier to get around, and in my experience, have good communication with the passengers.
I'm glad you made it though the adventure.

Sorry you had a less than fantastic time. What ship were you on?

NCL Breakaway
i answered a ship survey and at close of survey up popped yet another of their promotions to sign up for a cruise. One day I got five identical emails from them.
Found out from emails that two friends were the very last to get picked up at terminal becuse Boston closed off a lot of streets. Our driver said she got re-routed and it was a little teicky. She had gos on dashboard screen for help. Friend’s husbnd couldn’t figure out how to get to terminal because of closed streets. And by then it was raining.
since we had painting classes all day during three days at sea we were not able to take part in most of ship activities but they sounded too loud anyways.
i much preferred the Alaska Marine Ferry with several park ranger lecrures each dy in forward observation lounge. Food was mediocre and cabin was tiny but good times.
thanks for listening.