Lizcourt

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews.  We'll be boarding on Sunday, and I will certainly look forward to spotting the two "Summit Celebrities" (pun intended) that I've enjoyed following all week.

Thanks to all for the quick responses!

We will be traveling on the Summit with my Mom, who uses a wheelchair.  On the deck plans, I don’t see elevators to either of the deck 12 venues, the rooftop terrace and the retreat.  Does anyone know if that deck has some means if access other than the stairs?

Depends on the class of suite you’re talking about. I have often found that the royal loft and royal family suites cannot be booked online, and their way of controlling that is to say there are no such cabins available. If it was a regular suite, agree that it sounds like a website glitch

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I know mom and dad are paying for the cruise and therefore should have the better accommodations (and a little privacy) but have you considered putting the kids in the bedroom “upstairs” where the beds can be separated and having mom and dad take the couch (which cannot be separated, as I recall)?

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If you want the spa treatment on a sea day, go ahead and book online. But if you are okay doing it on a port day, you will almost certainly get a better deal by waiting for the specials on board.

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Wrong!!!!

Lets hope the person that lost the item is on CC and sees this thread. Do you know the chances of that happening are? Everywhere else the OP could have posted about it? I haven't seen anything else. Less likely.

Where would your first call be to find a lost item?

I gotta tell you, weirder things have happened. On a cruise on the Oasis a few years ago, my niece was one of the kids selected to go on the ice for the ice show. Unfortunately, our camera battery died at that precise moment. A few weeks later I was reading the boards and a total stranger mentioned in his report on what he did on his recent cruise that he had seen the ice show on our sailing and had taken a bunch of pictures. Long story short, one of his pictures included my niece and he was kind enough to email it to us. I know it’s not the same thing, and really have no opinion either way on what the original poster should do or have done, but just on the point of whether it’s too great a coincidence for the post to be seen by the owner of the lost property, I can attest that such things do happen.

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Favorites

 

Allure

 

Freedom

 

Monarch (gone but not forgotten)

 

 

 

 

 

Least Favorite

 

Adventure

Agree on Monarch, but it’s probably because she was my first cruise ever. Looking back now, though she was great for her day, the cabins were tiny and facilities nothing compared to today’s mega ships, including my current favorite, Oasis.

Least favorite: Anthem.

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Have been on both ships, although the cruise on the Triumph was a decade ago, I think. Nonetheless, I would have recommended Triumph over Anthem EXCEPT for the extra night. Especially if you’re leaving from NY in any season other than summer, you really do lose full use of the ship facilities (like the pool) for a day or two at the beginning and end of the cruise. My reasons for otherwise favoring Triumph are that in my experience it handles the rougher waters of NY better (we actually sailed back into NY during hurricane Floyd and really didn’t notice it much at all) and we found the Anthem cruise to be boring (by cruise standards, that is, which IMHO is still better than any other vacation out there). Sure, Ifly is interesting for the five minutes you’re in it, but it was the very first ship on any line that we wouldn’t bother going on again. Having said that, the extra day more than makes up for the difference, so in this case I’d take the Anthem.

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Don’t know really — I wasn’t criticizing people concerned about dress codes; to the contrary, I found that a comfortingly normal topic. The juxtaposition just kind of struck me as worth commenting on

 

 

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This was in response to declansdad’s post, btw.

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Don’t know really — I wasn’t criticizing people concerned about dress codes; to the contrary, I found that a comfortingly normal topic. The juxtaposition just kind of struck me as worth commenting on

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I know this is a coincidence and just based on what’s trending at the moment but as I was reviewing the boards just now the three posts beginning the Carnival board were, in order, the thread with the video of the huge brawl on the Legend, a thread about a rumored murder-suicide on the Freedom, and this one about enforcing the dress code.

Sort of gives you a sense of perspective.

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Don't know if you still need the info, but we were in 14000 (the other Garden Villa) on the August 17 sailing. We had also been in the same Villa about two or three years ago. If the courtyard area has been renovated or upgraded, it was not in any way that we noticed. The cushions on the lounges were probably a bit newer, but basically it was the same layout -- two outdoor "couches" facing each other next to the hot tub, and a dining table. We didn't use the second level of the deck on either sailing so I'm not sure whether there have been changes there or not. Indoors, the living room furniture has changed a bit, with two larger chairs in addition to the couch, but really we didn't notice any significant difference.

Traveled out of New York on several February cruises, and generally found that the weather was not "pool friendly" until day three. Frankly that's why we've decided, though we live in NJ, to sail out of NY ONLY during the summer months -- you lose just too much of the cruise time to still being in the cold weather.

Sorry, but do you mean you did not get the beer, but did get the water, soda, and "hard" liquor. We were looking at the top suite, and we're hoping to get a better idea of the real cost (including liquor, water, etc.). From what I've been reading on these boards, things like bottled water, cappucino, premium coffee, and the like are not included in the BEV PACKAGE. And they add on the gratuity to the 'free' package.

I can only speak for the "top" (i.e. Garden Villa) suite on Gem, but there you get six bottles of liquor included (I can't bring myself to say "free" given the cost of the Villa ;p ) plus the beverages in the mini-bar. However, as a non-beer drinker, I wouldn't have noticed if the beverages in the mini-bar included beer. The concierge services contacts you about two weeks out for your preferences on the liquor and the soda types; since the contact doesn't ask about beer, I guess that might be a good indicator that the mini-bar is limited to soda only.

I take a lot of medications for various issues, and have never had a problem taking just my seven-day pill box. However, it's a good idea to take a list of the medications, dosages and prescription numbers. My BIL once lost his pill case when we flew down to Miami the night before sailing, but we were able to get seven days worth of replacement meds before we boarded the next morning at a local CVS because he had the prescription info with him.

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Yup in GV on Gem a few years ago concierge set up a complementary dinner at a specialty restaurant for us that we hadn't expected. Back in the same GV Aug 19 (can't wait!!!!) and will let you know if the tradition still holds

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Anyone else have any comments or experiences concerning young kids, activities (or things to do in general) and spending 3 days at sea in a row?

Are you sure that you have three days at sea in a row? If it's a seven day cruise wouldn't that mean that you have only one port day. Are you counting embarkation day? If so, I wouldn't -- the activity and excitement of getting aboard and settled in makes it unlike any other day, and one which doesn't really require any additional activities

As for the seas, we've taken a bunch of off-season cruises from New York, including coming back into NY through hurricane Floyd many years ago, and waking up to an inch of snow on our balcony on disembarkation day on our last Gem cruise. In both instances, the ships handled the motion just fine -- with the size of ships and the modern stabilizers they employ, that's never really been a concern in any cruise we've been on (though we did sail on the anthem the week after it had to cut short a sailing due to storm damage). But what you do lose is the use of all the outdoor activities. In even the calmest of seas, who wants to lay by the pool-- much less be in it -- when the outdoor temp is 40 degrees? Essentially, you lose the really full use of the ship for two days down and two days back. Despite the convenience of a New York departure ( we live in jersey) we've decided that unless we're cruising in the summer months, it's worth the flight to and from a warm water port.

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Agree with those that have suggested you get a second opinion. That's nothing against your current doctor -- just another perspective can be helpful. Frankly, with the way that medical knowledge and understanding advances almost daily, it would be ridiculous to just assume that any one practitioner would know it all

With respect to your specific problem, I do recall that when I was a kid my dad could never take us on amusement park rides due to a specific kind of sensitivity in his inner ear, but it did eventually abate as he grew older. Hope yours has a much quicker resolution

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Jersey shore in the summer, cruise in the winter. We aren't really into sightseeing, and want to use our precious vacation weeks to relax and recharge. I think that may change when I retire in two years (can't wait!!!!!) and have more time to travel. I would love to take a few weeks and really see America.

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It also may depend on what kind of cabin you're in. The butlers and concierge often are able to get suite guests in when someone without their help cannot

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Lack of knowledge? "Dilagents" would be diligence fyi.

 

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And, not to nitpick, but in that context "do" should have been "due." But other than that, I really don't think "you should have told them during the cruise" or "go to a premium line" are valid responses to the OP. The complaints s/he raises aren't really things that a cruise line should have to be told or that should only be done right on a premium line. Also, I have sailed Gem before and will do so again in a few weeks, and never had these issues, but what does that prove? They shouldn't happen to any cruiser, and it's no real comfort to the cruiser to whom it does happen that they are an isolated misstep. One of the things I love about this board is that people give honest reviews -- its not like cable new channels where you have to listen to two or three different networks to get a full picture of the good, the bad and the ugly (you can decide for yourself which network is which;) ). That is not helped by bashing someone who points out negatives that are causing them to make another choice in the free and vigorously competitive market of cruise lines.

Finally, as for the OP saying that s/he had a great cruise anyway, that just goes to prove my mantra -- a bad day on a cruise is better than a good day on land!

Nope, this wasn't stuff flowing in on the tide -- it was rooted and growing. But to each his own; I know for many people CoCo Cay is their favorite private island.

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I've been cruising for 20 years and always take the insurance. Like the poster above, I've become more adamant about it as my mother and traveling companion reached her late 80s. Then just last February, when we had booked an "especially special" cabin on the Oasis to celebrate 20 years of cruising, I finally had occasion to use the insurance -- but, again like the poster above, not because of Mom. The night before we were supposed to leave I was in the emergency room vomiting blood from what turned out to be an ulcer I never knew I had (obviously I have not been cruising enough!) Just three weeks after I filed my paperwork on the claim, I received checks totaling @$15,000 that I would have had to swallow for our cruise fare but for the insurance (at a time when I was not in a position to swallow anything[emoji849]). Like they say, insurance is a waste of money -- until you need it.

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We are thinking of doing a longer cruise on the Gem not sure if it will be January, February or March. I am a little concerned about high seas cruising out of NY during the winter.

We have done a couple of winter cruises out of New York, one on the Gem and one on the Anthem. We really enjoyed both cruises (the Gem much more than the Anthem), but the fact is that you DO lose a couple of days out and back due to weather; until about Day 3, it's not really warm enough to make use of any of the outdoor activities. And coming back its the same thing -- I have pictures of my balcony on the Gem covered in snow on our last night of the cruise.

As for the rough seas, that was not a problem for us on either cruise, though the week before we sailed on the Anthem was the famous sailing where the ship actually had to turn around and go back to NY due to damage suffered during a storm.

As much as we enjoyed the cruises, and especially enjoyed not having to fly to an embarkation port, we've pretty much decided to swear off NY departures for the winter months. When we go on a vacation in February, we're going to get away from the winter -- sailing away from and back into it just gives away too many of our precious vacation days to be worth it.