Mama2littleman

Quick question: Packing for Escape on Saturday ... what dining venues require pants? I only recall Le Bistro on the Getaway. Does the same hold true with the Escape? Thanks!

Thank you so much for the giggle. It reminded me of a running joke in the Emergency Comm Center I used to work at ... Pants are optional for night shift, so remember to call before you go popping in.

You all are so funny. All the experts. Food saftey.gov specifically outlines that C. perfinges is "Diarrhea and abdominal cramps (not fever or vomiting)" and clears up within 24 hours...check here - Food Safety.Gov

 

Stop guessing. If you can't provide a qualified answer (for goodness sakes at least google it first...) stop wasting time and showing off your lack of mad skillz at diagnosing food borne illness.

 

-Sean

I'm sorry Sean, and your diagnostic abilities are courtesy of which skill set and training? Other than Dr. Google, that is?

I can pretty much guarantee that it is foolish to assume what skills, or lack their of, other posters have.

I appreciate the folks with general concern and I also appreciate there kind words. But those of you using this as a sounding board for various reasons like being so loyal to NCL or trying to be a know it all about what the illness really was are ridiculous the comments sound very uninformed. If I would have though I would get these kink of responses I would have stated all the facts along with my post to fend some of it off but I know the know it alls will chime in any how disputing the fact that Madernos food caused the food poisoning. It is the only food he ate that made sense from him getting sick exp the time line. So this was supposed to warn all that he was sick from there food. We had a good cruise up till this point. And they did try to hide it when he went to the infirmary they were only concerned that he was quarantined and kept calling to make sure he was still in the room. The DR even said one lady had symptoms cause we asked but he would not give detail because it is against policy.

Given your description of symptoms and time of onset, it was more than likely the rice and not the chicken that caused the illness. Salmonella takes a while to infect you, C. perfinges on the other hand produces a toxin that kicks in pretty quickly when ingested.

I won a tanzanite necklace as a door prize at bingo on the Gem last May. Irritated my friend I was cruising with since she had to drag me kicking and screaming into play.

I must have gotten extremely lucky. I attended my first M&G on the GEM a few weeks ago. I met some of the most amazing people and it was nice to run into people throughout the cruise and sit down and join them for a drink or quick conversation. Or sometimes a a really long conversation and more than a couple of drinks.

The slot pull immediately after the M&G I think helped people loosen up and get to chatting. Hard not to be social when you have a drink in hand and everyone is cheering over a $10 win on a Wheel of Fortune machine.

I will definitely make sure I attend future ones. It's well worth the time investment.

Thank you for the teen perspective. I'm taking my son (14) on his first cruise at the end of May and this was a bit of a concern. Breathing a bit easier knowing your teens were entertained and happy.

Nikki

He's just getting food. It isn't as if he's flinging kids out of his way. Sheesh, the things that get folks' drawers in a wad!

Now THAT would have been picture worthy!

So it's not a myth then! Glad you're pleased.

 

I've emailed three times and checked the email address via Twitter and not even had a gnat's breath of a response. I've given up now and just put it down to my not being a potential high value customer and therefore at the bottom of their list.

Have you tried calling them? I'm hardly a "high value" customer. A balcony room is a splurge for me. I've found that a phone call often gets me a more personal touch than email.

Nikki

Oh Christmas!

Thanks everyone for the lovely responses, and even the not so lovely ones :eek:.

As one poster mentioned, it was past final payment and was not a cancel and rebook, and therefore, the customer service rep didn't have to do diddly for me.

We are an obscenely privileged group on this board. We are fortunate enough to have enough disposable income to be able to afford to have amazing experiences and travel the world. I choose to be grateful for that opportunity. Whether or not you choose to, is not my issue to resolve. Not my circus, not my monkeys :) .

Just remember, you don't always have to embrace the suck. It's ok to choose to be happy once in a while.

To those that are cruising on the Gem at the end of May, I look forward to meeting you.

Nikki

Very nice to hear. Most times it's just complaints of holding on to long, or you booked a GTY cabin and its NCL fault because the location stinks, or you have bed bugs, etc.

 

 

Geri

Let's not get crazy ... I'd scream bloody murder about bed bugs ;-)

I know how easy it is to complain about less than stellar experiences with customer service, but I want to take this opportunity to thank a customer service representative that went above and beyond ...

I books a cruise for me and the kidlet to celebrate our respective birthdays at the end of May out of New York. I got an obscenely fair price for a balcony room, given the current UBP promotion.

My old Army roommate expressed an interest in joining us for the trip. I called NCL directly and the customer service representative went above an beyond and made sure that the added person got the "sail free" offer for the 3rd person in the room, not only that, but she shuffled the people in the room so my friend got the UBP and my son (a minor) got the soda package, all for no additional charge.

I got placed on hold for about 10 minutes, but it was completely worth it, since that time was spent getting my party the best possible deal. AND she apologized for my having to wait, even though the computer wanted to initially charge us a higher rate, and the time was spent making sure we received the best value for our dollar.

So ... share your awesome Customer Service Experiences. If this is any indication, I will sail Norwegian again.