PiratessLooksAt40

I found the pizza on the Summit quite good! As long as it was hot. Once it sat for a little bit, it would crumble into pieces. But the flavor was better than anything I can get around home.

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Probably to sail around the Statue of Liberty.

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I'm so sorry to hear this, but grateful for all the info from everyone.

I literally just called X about this very thing and was coming here to see if anyone had experience with pier assistance in Bayonne, NJ. I had a major major sprain to the left ankle 10 weeks ago and while I'm able to walk and weight bear, standing too long or walking to far cause major swelling and pain. We (docs, hubby & I, and his awesome cousin who is my PT) thought I'd be further along by now. Sigh.

I feel kinda silly receiving "special treatment". Like I'm taking services away from others who need it more. I can go about most of my day pretty normally as long as I take breaks, wear my brace, ice frequently. We cruise in 16 days and I'm just not going to be up for end to end walking multiple times a day or standing too long. I'm going to need my crutches at times and lots of sitting breaks.

I did speak to X special needs dept. They put me down for pier assistance and said they can provide a folding wheelchair in my cabin for the duration of the cruise.

Someone on one of these boards clued me into a KYSS bag before our last cruise. It's a slash proof tote bag with a safety chain. We love it! I wrap the chain around our chairs & lock all our stuff inside. Someone would have to have wire cutters or haul our chairs with them. It's not completely theft proof, but it will slow someone down.

http://www.kyssbags.com

We have the smallest tote & it held my dslr camera & 2 lenses, our phones, wallets & 2 iPads easily with room to spare on our last flight.

We just switched our late seating to select for the same reasons. Early is too early, late is too late. I was hesitant because we've always been told traditional is best for eating gluten free. I figured I'd give it a shot & worse comes to worse, make a big stink & make sure we get a set "reservation" so they can accommodate better. We've never sailed X but from what I've been reading here, I doubt worse case scenario will occur. We sail in August & I will let you know how it goes.

Thank you! Ugh. I was so hoping it would work but I doubt it will. We are a close family but not that close. :o

We want to book the Summit to Bermuda in 2017 while we are on board this August. The Aft FV are likely booked anyway, but we are going to also have a hard time finding connecting cabins too.

Traveling with 3 kids ages 13, 11, & 8 is tough. Too big to cram into that room, but too young to have a non-connecting cabin. And the verandah would have been nice to be able to spread out.

Does anyone have a photo of an M class aft FV (family verandah) with the beds in the sitting area open?

I saw one photo on a google search that showed a pull out couch opened right into a twin couch. No walking room at all. It wasn't labeled so I'm not sure if it was an m class FV room or not.

I don't see that working at all for us with 5 people. We'd want to use that huge verandah at night. But it didn't look accessible at all with the beds open.

When we cruised in 2006 with then our 24 month old, we brought a roll of shelf liner to put down on the shower floor so she wouldn't slip. We didn't have a handheld, but we did have sand buckets. One filled with soapy water. One clean. Soaped her up, then rinsed her off. They also make great presoaped disposable washcloths. Wet, wash, rinse. That 24 month old is now 13 & I'm sending her to sleep away camp with them this week.

It is still available. I didn't buy it since I had the Summit's unlimited WiFi.

Perfect. Thanks! We have AT&T so we plan to add the cellular at sea (talk & text) just to keep in minimal contact with the kids & grandma & have an emergency phone on land. We figured if we could get wifi for the $15 it'd been offered at, we'd save some $, and limit our availabiliy.

Great review! Looking forward to our first X cruise & first time to Bermuda.

Did you happen to see if the dockyard wifi (I think it's available more than just there) was still being offered? Last I saw anyone mention it was 2015 posts.

DH & I are planning to bring our folding camp chairs on the Summit on August. We have a sweet sixteen cabin & wanted our reclining chairs with footrests since we know there's no way we'll get loungers. Does anyone know if there's a problem bringing these on the ferry or bus? They are no bigger than an umbrella stroller folded up in their own bag with a shoulder strap. But it allows us to have an off the sand lounger & umbrella in one if we can bring them off the boat.

Day one plan is to hit St. George (Tabacco bay, St. Chatherine's beach, & the sea glass beach). We'll use a taxi or just walk once there. Day 2 we will rent a boston whaler for the day, then head to Daniels Head for a sunset kayak tour & taxi back. Day 3 we plan to take the private shuttle to Horseshoe.

I certainly hope they keep Bistro on 5! I was so looking forward to spending all that OBC on gluten free crepes!

We used A Family Limo on our trip from FLL to a POM hotel for our cruise last year. It was about $120 with gratuity for a stretch limo for 5 (2 adults, 3 kids no car seats needed).

This gave us the piece of mind that we could specify exactly when & where we'd be picked up & dropped off. The driver was curteous & on time. The limo was a little worn, but we were just looking for a relaxing hassle free ride after a day of travel. They have large capacity vans as well.

Has anyone successfully ordered gluten free items through room service?

We'd love to have coffee & continental delivered every day, but if all I can eat are some grapes or melon it's not worth calling them & just heading up to a dining room.

We also like to snack on something light & have a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner. I know I can pack some unopened prepackaged snacks, just trying to figure out how much I should start stockpiling.

Bonine works for me. I start it 2-3 days before my first travel day. I need it for the car ride & airplane! I take it at night, before bed. Taking it during the day makes me too tired & foggy. I can take Jr. Dramanine during the day with no troubles. I always take the meds for another day or two after getting back to land. Ginger or lemon always calm my stomach. The idea is you can't feel sick if your tongue tastes something sour. I don't know if it's true but it worked for me for motion & morning sickness.

Thank you all for the replies! While my kids love the Disney experience, they are also really good at just swimming or relaxing on the ship as well. My son prefers to be more active, but usually just playing in the water is enough. On DCL, you couldn't even move an inch without clobbering another kid and the only time we even used the pool was on a port day.

Celebrity sounds just so much more relaxing. My kids tend to adapt & buy into whatever the atmosphere is. Crazy = crazy kids, relaxed = relaxed kids.

Great to hear about the family cabins! We do tend to prefer two connecting cabins for the 2 bathrooms, but a huge verandah is also enticing!

I'm going to give Celebrity a call. I have to price out the August 2016 cruise again too. It's a hassle to drive through NYC, but we have family in lower CT and DE where we can stay overnight and only have a short morning ride to the port.

DH & I are researching some options for our next family vacation. We thought we'd return to DCL but they are really pricing us out of their cruises.

We are a family of 5 with a 12, 9 & 7 year old. Our oldest & youngest have high functioning autism, but did pretty well on our DCL cruise over April vacation week (it was crazier than the parks at Christmas!). The kids LOVE the clubs, shows & hanging by the pool. We only do beach excursions off the ship. My son is pretty picky about food, but the girls are both adventurous. I am gluten free, but am pretty easily accommodated with a piece of chicken or fish & a veggie.

We have some questions about Celebrity we're hoping someone can answer.

I read up on the Autism accommodations on the website, which is very encouraging!

So few lines have family suites or rooms that accommodate 5, so we usually book connected staterooms. I'm having a hard time finding those on the Celebrity ships. Any other options you know of for 5 sailing together with these ages?

Gluten free food. Yay! Or Nothing special?

Kids clubs on vacation weeks or late summer dates to Bermuda? Crazy/stay away? Or if we survived DCL it'll be ok?

Pools? Is there a kids pool on some ships? How about adult only areas?

How is the coffee?

Finally, anyone do the NJ to Bermuda cruise? We (DH & I) are booked on NCL out of Boston this August for our 15th anniversary. We can cruise concierge on Celebrity for the same price we're paying for NCL. We do have a beverage package for free & don't need parking as we live 1 hour away, but something about Celebrity seems more relaxing & low key than any other line we've cruised. Thoughts?