Nebr.cruiser

We're not particularly sociable in our at home life and haven't cruised with other couples, although we have taken a couple of vacations with friends.

We do cruise often with my two sisters.  We usually eat dinner together and do tours together but go our own way for other meals and on board, meeting up if we have an activity or entertainment we want to do.  It seems to work out well.

I think it is important to not be joined at the hip for the entire cruise; that way we enjoy our time together more and to be respectful of differences.

7 hours ago, Mike981 said:

I have come to believe that the travel industry is controlled by a few players. When I have done research to see who owns any of the big travel websites, it typically comes down to a couple of the same companies. It is all so intertwined it makes sense that it seems to be an industry wide problem.

 

It is scary for a company to be a leader/changer in an industry, and I am sure they know that it is costing them money, but it isn't enough to change the status quo.

I often research cruises online and get emails about sakes from several.  I've noticed lately that the pricing, format, etc. are exactly the same for several of these sites.  I mean, word for word, graphics, anything.  So I think you are right.  It's not that easy to find a really good TA who isn't bound to some big travel agency.  

I will say that I have mostly had very good service from the agents I do use--I have a couple of favorites, and they do work for big agencies.

The water depth was fine when we went through them; perhaps it would be deeper with a high tide.  The beach area where you come out of the Baths, however, had quite large waves with an undertow.  I'm an experienced swimmer, was a life guard and gave swim lessons and I did not feel safe swimming there.

Also, the trip through the Baths is wonderful, but not for any one with physical or medical problems, especially mobility.  

I feel the logistics of getting from the airport to Galveston is one of the wosrt we've experienced.  We've used the shared shuttle bus, which was ok but just took a long, long time.  Of course, the port is a good distancer from IAH, IT's not a port we want to use often, especially because itineraries from there are so limited and in winter the first and last day tend to be very cool.

On 5/5/2015 at 8:24 AM, Nebr.cruiser said:

We've had around 30 cruises to the Caribbean, the Med, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Transatlantics and South America and have never missed a port--lucky I guess.

 

I'm sure we will sometime.

Updating to 2024 and over 50 cruises, we still haven't had a missed port, knock on wood!

3 hours ago, luvbrady said:

We have traveled with the kids friends several times.  Not only did we take the consent form (which we also brought into port with us), we also had the parents authorize us to make medical decisions and sign waivers on their behalf.  Think rock climbing, ice skating and so on.  We only got questioned 1x while we were disembarking in Jamaica.  They pulled my daughter's friend aside and asked who she was with and who we were to her.  But she had all the docs to back it up.

We've taken minor grandchildren on cruises.  Be sure to take everything they ask for and it doesnt hurt to be overly prepared.  We had 7 grandkids with us and they went over each one's paperwork extremely carefully and asked the kids questions.   I agree with a form to make medical decisions and sign waivers, etc.  Rather safe then left sitting on the pier!

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I don't like Princess's medical coverage (max $20K). That doesn't cover much. Plus they have a 90 day look back window so if you have pre-existing conditions, read carefully about it.

 

I usually buy Allianz. I have had to file a claim - I broke my wrist on vacation and had to fly home. They were amazing to work with. They sent a medical escort (paramedic) to fly home with me. I can't say enough great things about them. One doesn't appreciate how good a company is until you have to use them. Once I called them, they had me approve flights in 24 hours and I was flying Business Class home in 48 hours.

 

If you want increased medical coverage - look at GeoBlue coverage (medical only). 

We usually have a annual travel policy like Geo Blue as well.

We had excellent service using Princess CFR insurance last Dec.  We had to cancel a cruise 3 days before sailing because of a medical problem.  We sent in the required documents and were refunded (to our credit card) within less than a week.  Great experience with them.

On 3/29/2024 at 8:51 PM, RenieRaider said:

Arizona Wildcat, What does that mean, When Near Land? I have never done a TA, or long stretch to land. Is it not nice when way out a sea in a crossing or over to Hawaii? Thanks.

Of course you can always go outside, but cruises to Hawaii, and I have heard to Tahiti, etc. can be quite cool.  Ours to Hawaii was cool and windy enough, with some rain, that sitting outside often wasn't enjoyable.  Of course sitting on a balcony would be the same. Once in Hawaii it was fine.  I had thought cruising the Pacific would be warmer.

As to dressing up for dinner, you absolutely can on NCL and while you may be in the minority, you won't be alone.  You won't be out of place.  In fact, the most fabulous, out of this world ball gown I ever saw was on a NCL cruise--her guy was in a dress kilt outfit.  The dress looked like something from Gone With the Wind.

And despite the casual vibe, the only time I have ever seen anyone turned away from a dining room for wearing jeans was on Norwegian.  I don't think that would happen now.

I'd love to hear what this roundtrip cruise was like, especially if all the sea days was just too much and what the weather was like when at sea.  Love the idea of no airfare and getting to see all the islands. We've only done one cruise on HA and it was far from our favorite.

6 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

Forgot to mention I have never cruised Princess or any other Carnival line, so no bonuses for me.

 

Package prices still do not look like they would make sense for me. I hardly do anything that costs extra. Just some sodas, specialty coffees maybe.

We've never bought a Plus or Premier package because it just doesn't make sense for us.  We rarely drink, are Elite on Princess, so wifi is relatively cheap, and don't even drink much pop.  I'm fine with the included coffee.  The only real benefit is tips are included, since the cost is usually around $500pp for a cruise, the numbers don't work out.

Once in a while we do a specialty restaurant, but usually using OBC.  You can spend practically nothing extra, except for gratuities, which we always pay, and have a great time.  All the other things are discretionary and up to you.  Sometimes we even can cash in OBC we haven't used.

On 3/27/2024 at 12:41 AM, MacMadame said:

I am someone who swims as part of fitness and also training for races/events. Therefore, the lack of a lap pool bugs.

 

It's too bad that ships don't have an endless pool, maybe in the gym. If ships can have a FlowRider, I don't see why they couldn't have an endless pool. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to swim laps on vacation!

NCL used to have some ships with a swim against the current pool.  I've seen one, I think on the Jewel.  I have no idea if they still have these.  It would probably be on their older ships.

John Bull, I do understand why it might work well to do a fly/cruise combo from the UK in a charter.  I don't especially see how it would work in the OP's situation where they are spending a lot of extra time in Florida.

And I have heard of charter cruises here in the US from major population areas.  We live about 2.5 hours from a major city, and even then Omaha does not have the type of airport/air traffic that normally warrants charter flights.

That said, wayyyy back in the 70's we took our very first cruise on a charter flight from Omaha to San Juan for some ridiculous price like $249pp.  Started our love of cruising.  I just wish we could sometimes find well priced charter vacations from Omaha!  Not impossible, but rare and usually pricey.

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

And that's where we differ.  If I use a TA, I expect them to answer the phone when I call.  If, for example, my flight is delayed/canceled at the last minute, I need a TA who is available to make alternate arrangements immediately.  Since they booked the flight, the airline won't even talk to me - I have to go through the TA.  Since many cruise "specialists" are one-man franchises, you really can't expect them to be available at a moment's notice.  For that reason alone, I am hesitant to book flights through TAs.  There's really no savings and you lose control of your booking. 

Right.  I've never booked a flight through a TA--just cruises, mostly.  We also use miles for almost all of our flights.  

I almost never see flight/cruise combos here in the US.  I s that common in the UK?  You should be able to google most large cruise agencies to see stand alone cruises, where flights aren't included.

However, I don't know if there is some reason you can't do this in the UK.  With your itinerary you should easily be able to find a cruise from one of the Florida ports that hits the islands you mentioned and a schedule that works for you.

I wish I could mention the name of the online agency that lists almost every cruise, dates and itinerary around the world but it's against the rules! It's so great for research, we don't always use them to book.

I admit we mainly used travel agents because of the often better price and almost always good perks.  But, we have also had them go to bat for us when issues came up or changes needed to be made in our booking. For instance, we had to cancel a cruise last December 3 days out.  Our agent handled it all.  Luckily we had cancel for any reason insurance and our expenses were reimbursed without issue.

One thing I do expect is that a travel agent responds to an inquiry I have in a reasonable time. I don't mean in an hour, but the same day if possible.

I really don't need or expect agents to give advice on most common aspects of cruising or traveling in general.  I do my own research and also we have a lot of travel experience of our own. I can't think of a time I used one for flights, hotels, etc.

We've taken pill boxes into and out of Chile and Amsterdam with no problem. That's how we normally take our medications.  Last year we made a lot of prep to take meds to Australia, which has strict rules.  I mean, we had doctor's letters, original bottles, labels, and more.  Of course, no one even bothered to look at a thing once we arrived.

After being in New Zealand on the same trip, we were asked if we had any honey products.  They laughed when I showed them the hand lotion with makuna honey in it that I had bought.

On 3/29/2024 at 12:24 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I actually meant so I could turn it up so I don’t have to stick my head in the hallway to hear the announcement.  The emergencies would come through as normal. 

I know it's not popular, but I'd rather have announcements in the cabin.  We have missed things just because we either didn't hear the hall announcement or got there too late.  

I also wish the International Cafe would add back some of the salads, etc. they used to have and of course 'real' promenade decks where you could walk around the ship.  We tend to choose older ships because they still have this.  I also like the big closet but wish for a bigger shower with shower doors!  And bring back separate conditioner and shampoo; the combo is just awful.  Finally, better production shows--they have gotten stale and lame--.Broadway style?

21 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I actually meant so I could turn it up so I don’t have to stick my head in the hallway to hear the announcement.  The emergencies would come through as normal. 

I know it's not popular, but I'd rather have announcements in the cabin.  We have missed things just because we either didn't hear the hall announcement or got there too late.  

20 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm sorry for your experience out of San Juan.

 

I was the one that said the kids are better behaved when sailing from there. I'll stand behind that. I've sailed from there half a dozen times and that's what I found. I realize everyone's experience is different. Perhaps I was just lucky.

 

As for awkward experiences in the MDR, I would be thrilled if no one talked to me at meal time, whatever the reason. Again, I know I'm unusual that way and I apologize that you didn't get the MDR experience you wanted.

It's hard to compare experiences I know.  We perhaps got a different dining room experience than usual, but we still enjoyed it and especially how nice the Spanish-speaking diners were in including us to the best of their ability.  Now, we mostly do tables for two, but when we used to share tables we certainly had some great and interesting experiences and only a few times was it a little um, challenging.  The Puerto Rico cruise was not one of those times.

.

We've sailed a lot of different lines from many ports.  The only real difference we ever noticed was on a cruise departing from Puerto Rico where apparently it was school vacation and cabins were sold very cheap to families.  Many, many kids, and while another poster said the kids were well behaved, it really wasn't true on our cruise.  Parents seemed to ignore the kids and just let them run wild.  I remember especially a little girl, 5 or less, crying and knocking on her cabin door for a long, long time. After at least an hour a parent opened the door.  I know because I was concerned about her and kept checking.

The only other real difference was that in the dining room several times we were seated with people whose first language was Spanish.  It really wasn't a problem, as they were all very nice and tried their best to talk with us, some of them spoke decent English, others not, and unfortunately our Spanish is of the extremely limited kind.  While they were more than polite, and tried to include us, it was still a little awkward.

A couple of times we have sailed with groups who were very loud talkers in public places, which I know is common for some nationalities.

On another cruise with many Asian passengers there was a lot of taking multiple items from the buffet, one that stands out its someone sitting at a table with over a dozen hard-boiled eggs and about twenty cups of tea.

On 3/26/2024 at 4:20 PM, registrar said:

Do any cabins sleep 5?

We had a family 'suite' on the Navigator of the Seas that slept easily 5--could have been 6..  It was one large room with a queen bed (we could pull a curtain across for privacyd0, another bed and a very small bunkroom.  Only one bath though.

We took 7 grandkids on that cruise and also had another balcony cabin.  The four girls and I took the larger cabin, my husband and the three boys the balcony.  Even though there were beds for four, plus me in the large cabin the girls all slept in the bunkroom together-they were ages 5-11--just because it was fun.

Even though the big room was not a balcony it had enormous round windows at the front of the ship.  It worked just great for our family.

Transportation from Houston to Galveston and back is a pain.  Last year we booked a non-cruise shuttle both ways.  We didn't have the problems you posted, but it was still a lot of waiting and going to other areas to pick people up. Took a while. 

 Coming back was somewhat easier--in fact, the shuttle company let us get on one of their buses that was leaving and had room earlier than we had booked.  Unfortunately, we had a deadly long wait for our flight; of course we had that wait no matter when we got on the shuttle.  

Having driven to Galveston when we had our own car, that isn't so easy either!

I'm not saying we will never do another cruise from Galveston, but we'd give it a hard think, mostly because of the transportation problems but also because the first and last days can be very cool in the winter.

We used to buy a lot of souvenirs, for ourselves and family, but now only a few small reminders for us, and, since the Grandkids are all now grown, usually nothing, or very little, for them.  We have so many souvenirs, we really have no place to keep or display any more. 

Maybe a key chain, fridge magnet, etc. at the most.