CruiseNYC

Gosport11 - Thank you so much for sharing! I forgot to mention that we also bring the heating pad to warm up the dialysate bags. Very glad to hear you had a good experience. We are leaving for a 14 day cruise out of NYC next week, bringing all supplies with us, clearly labeled. We have not had any boxes opened on previous sailings but it’s not a problem if they want to have a look see.

We are really happy to hear so many good reports. As I’m sure you know, there have been quite a few passengers who have been less than satisfied with food offerings, wait times, etc. Thank you for the very positive feedback!

All we can say is, "Wow"! We are 12 days from Embarkation and very, very excited. Do you remember how far in advance of departure April contacted you? So happy to have some help with boarding. My husband has some mobility issues so it will be nice to have help navigating our way to the cabin. We were supposed to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary when we first booked - about 3 years ago. We're up to 32 years - but it will still be nice to celebrate on board. Thank you very much for your reply. So happy to hear that it was a memorable experience.

We are 3 weeks away now! Super excited. We spoke with Thor this week and pretty much reviewed all of our preferences and reservations. I am unclear what additional service April will provide. Can you please let us know? It feels like everything has been taken care of. Thank you!

I would have to agree: there is no comparison. We are Elite on Princess and have only recently begun to cruise on Celebrity but there's a marked difference in the suite experience on Celebrity. Princess Suite breakfast in Sabatini's is wonderful - but just having a section of one of the main dining rooms for suite guests does not compare to Luminae on Celebrity. It does appear that Princess is catching on as the new Sun Princess is showing a suite-dedicated dining room as well as a Retreat-type Sun Deck. It will be interesting to see. Meanwhile, we only have one, upcoming cruise on Princess and 4 on Celebrity. For us, the Retreat is very appealing.

Safe travels home. Thank you for taking us all along with you. I’ve been checking frequently for the 2024 schedule. Really hoping we can book this one!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery on your upcoming surgery.

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful replies. I was afraid that the open area of the restaurant would be off-putting. Some Celebrity ships have a similar problem with the placement of their specialty dining. I am not a fan.

I’m looking for anyone’s current experience/review of Bistro Sur La Mer on Enchanted Princess. Menus? Worth the additional charge? We’ve been to Crown Grill and Sabatini’s and enjoyed both. We were thinking we’d like to try something new. Thank you!

We have always rented the Scooter - either from Scootaround or SpecialNeedsatSea, depending on pricing. Although purchasing maybe be the more economical option, we generally have to fly to wherever the ship leaves from and I am not able to lug or lift the equipment around (my DH uses the scooter). I would not be able to lift it into the car, either. We don't have anywhere to store it when not in use. For us, for those reasons, we're happy to rent and not have to deal with it when we're not cruising. I would also add that often we're not able to get a HA accessible cabin. In those instances, the narrow base (21"), 3 wheel scooter works perfectly - easy to get into and out of the cabin.

We were in a Royal Suite on the Summit in July. It was the first request I made to our Retreat Host and a Lavazza machine, cups, sugar/sweetener and pods were provided shortly thereafter. We also had additional Specialty Dining requests made once on board and there was never any problem. Enjoy!

We’re in S310 too! It’s funny bc I saw the hot tub back there but somehow thought it was on the deck below. So there is open access to the hot tub from other decks? It’s odd that Princess didn’t think to include a hot tub on the actual Sky Suite balcony. Most of Celebrity’s top suites have them. Thank you very much for the info! Much appreciated.

I'm just catching up on the review here. Sounds amazing. We'll be in a Sky Suite on Enchanted this Fall. Can you please tell me more about the Hot Tub and Pool on Deck 17? I don't see it on the Deck plan. Thanks in advance!

Just checked. They do have the same itinerary in 2023 - about the same dates. Hoping for 2024 !! Thank you again for keeping us enthralled!

Jim - feels like this cruise is an absolute must for us. Can’t do next year but would love to do this itinerary in 2024. Any idea when they release and if they offer the same itineraries year after year? Thank you in advance.

Photos just keep getting better and better! Thank you!

Oh that’s fantastic! So happy to hear that more folks are transitioning from HD to PD. It’s freedom! We use Baxter, too, here in NYC. For manual PD, our solution comes 6 bags per box. DH does 3 exchanges per day so we need quite a few cartons for longer cruises. We have also found a great - and lightweight - portable IV pole that we use to hang the bags. It easily fits into a suitcase. We throw clamps and caps into a ziploc bag and throw those in our luggage, too. We always try to take a couple of extra solution bags, just in case. (We recently had a carton with a couple of damaged/leaky bags.) Wishing you safe and happy cruising. Please post your cruise experience when you return. It’s great to hear about how others are managing.

I think that’s a question for his nephrologist/dialysis center. DH’s clinic occasionally allowed for Monday HD to be replaced with early Tuesday am appt so we could travel a little - followed by regular schedule. Your FIL’s HD team would best be able to help you. Good luck! Being able to cruise again has been life-changing.

We filled out the PASSENGER MEDICAL SUPPLY VENDOR INFO sheet - even though we are bringing the supplies on board ourselves. As for getting the supplies to the cabin, as mentioned, for our recent Celebrity cruise, we affixed large labels to all 4 sides of the boxes. They put one of their labels on the cartons and I took a photo. They were already in our cabin with our luggage by the time we got to the cabin. I’m sure it will be fine - or at least I hope so. We sail on Princess in November.

We had the same, exact issue! But, tbh, we found the air conditioning turned to frigid in many locations on the ship. Lesson learned: need to bring additional sweaters and shawls - even on Carib cruise! DH needed his thermals lol

Happy sailing, Jim and Iain! Looking forward to following along. Thank you for taking all of us with you

Thank you so much! I’m anxious to see where you’re off to next! Looks like ours next year has San Juan first (same as yours) but then St Thomas and St Maarten. Tortola is in the middle.

You should come! It’s Summer Streets Saturday! Over 8 miles of city streets closed to traffic. Lots to see and do. Also, we have unlimited 30 minute ride passes on Citi bikes. Head to Park Avenue and enjoy!

Tbh not sure where we’d set up the machine. There haven’t been many outlets next to the bed on recent cruises and there was no place to set the cycler down next to the bed. Also, I remember, many years ago, we had a power outage on a Princess cruise. We don’t want to take that risk. We’d love to hear from people who have brought cyclers aboard. We’ve always learned so much from cruise critic people!

Thank you so much! Looks like our itinerary for next year is very similar although the order may be different. I’ve already started a file and added your Tortola excursion to wishlist. Love following along with your trip!

Thank you both so much! I’m really enjoying virtually cruising with you! We’ll be on the Equinox next June with a similar itinerary. I’m taking lots of notes! Quick question: we’ll be in Retreat. Does Luminae on Equinox also bring main dining and Blu menus? Thank you!