Independent

Oh, this is an interesting point! We tried a Carnival Western Caribbean cruise some years ago, and decided it was Not For Us. There were many positives, but we just didn’t enjoy what seemed like way too much noise and way too many crowds. That wasn’t a good fit for us. You make me think that perhaps we should have another look sometime, and stop setting our online travel agency search filter to ‘exclude Carnival’. Thank you for the info!

Now I am wondering if NCL (or other cruise lines) can decline to book future cruises for these passengers?

Ah, this answers so many questions! While we ask about meat broths and lard, it would not have occurred to me that asking in advance would be useful.

Wonderful, thank you.

Thank you! Sounds as though we will find some good things to eat.

Any suggestions for good uses of the specialty dining meals for a couple of life-long vegetarians? Will be on the Bliss next month and wonder if anyone knows of something enjoyable to use up the FAS meal package? We don’t have any other dietary concerns, fine with dairy and eggs. We are not triggered by others nearby eating meat, although Brazilian steakhouse style might not be our first choice 🙂. We usually just skip the specialty dining, but hey, CC folks may have some other advice. Thanks in advance!

Ok, I’ll bite. I will say up front that I’ve never felt that I needed a Scrubba on a cruise ship. If there’s a laundry service, sign me up. I do, however, travel to moderately remote places - moderately meaning running water but no laundromats or fluff and folds. So how to get dirt out of our clothes when when we’ve been getting filthy on a geology field trip or archaeological dig? Scrubba. Pre-Scrubba, I used pretty much the same technique described. I think the Scrubba’s useful, not everyone would find it worth the space. Oh, and It is first rate for getting chlorine out of swimsuits.

Lately have been using this Beyond Free and Clear for travel: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RZFXJDX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I’ve also used LuckyFiji, also from Amazon, and it seemed to work just fine.

A person who thinks like me! I pondered the travel wash question for quite a while and found all sorts of interesting gadgets online. I have a Srubba and I like it. The Scrubba feels nicer to me than washing in the sink. It is similar to the plastic bag approach, but is a fairly sturdy thing, more like a snorkel dry bag than a kitchen ziplock. The Scubba has little nubs that help get things clean, and a valve to remove excess air. In terms of soap, I like laundry detergent sheets, so no liquids to carry and they dissolve well.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/fire-at-vacant-building-closes-multiple-roads-in-belltown/ The smoke was probably this, by the location.

Now that is determination! Have you managed to cruise again? (I hope.)

Of course I can’t guess when NCL will provide any updates to those on pending cruises. Our experience with the cancellation of the June 30 sailing was that my husband received a cancellation email June 28 just before 6 am Seattle time (but no email to me.). Later (around 7 am) I did receive an email, not mentioning the cancellation, but requesting that we rewatch the safety video. Around 11 am, I got two identical text messages in quick succession, informing me of the cancellation and referring me to email for details. No text so far to husband, but I did ultimately get an email. We are trying to unravel our arrangements - prepaid parking at Pier 66 garage may not be refunded because of cancelling less than 72 hours in advance, and the dog boarding cost won’t be refunded. At least we are local to Seattle and don’t have flights to cancel. I am mildly tempted to try to rebook for the sailing on the 5th. So far NCL has cancelled two cruises in a row for us, wonder if third time’s the charm…

Well, we were to be on the Sun sailing on June 30 from Seattle. We awoke this morning to an email letting us know that the cruise has been cancelled. We very much appreciate the updates from this thread, which let us anticipate that this might happen. The letter says we will get a refund (minus cruise protection fee) as well as a credit of 50% of the voyage fare, and airline change fees up to $300 pp. Very disappointing, but so it goes.