Artemis908

We will be cruising to St. Maarten in two weeks. We decided not to get the drinks package on the cruise line and I am thinking that it could be worth finding an all inclusive resort pass or maybe finding a place with really good drink deals. I'd love to just spend some time on the beach and have drinks brought to me. I had heard, for example, for $20 you can beach access at Holland House along with a bucket of beers. Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions?

My boyfriend forgot his contact lense case and it doesn't appear they sell any on the ship. Does anyone know where the closest pharmacist is to the cruise terminal? We are taking celebrity cruises.

This will be my significant other's first cruise and trip out of the country (excluding Canada). We have one day in Cozumel. I have been there twice, both times I did snorkeling. I've traveled a ton, especially on cruises, so I am not worried about myself, just trying to figure out make this first trip for him special and awe inspiring. Any suggestions?

This will be my first Celebrity cruise, Royal Caribbean has been my favorite cruise line but there was a great deal with Celebrity I couldn't pass up. What is the first thing you do when you board? Do you go eat? Where do you like to eat the first day? Is there any activities you like to do before the ship gets hectic and full?

I saw that you can do a Manatee encounter at Cozumel. After swimming with dolphins, turtles, and sea lions it seems like you don't need to be a strong swimmer for these encounters since you're wearing a life jacket. My travel partner though doesn't really swim, I just want to see if anyone has experience with this encounter and if they found it difficult to stay afloat. I imagine that since it's inside a marine park, it'd be pretty simple since you're not fighting any waves or currents. Has anyone experienced this excursion?

It takes 2 weeks, as I stated above. This is what the rep told me and I did in fact get it in two weeks. If you want an original confirmation, call the toll free number. There is a "prompt" that asks if you want an email confirmation. Just make sure you have your booking number available.

I did that, thanks. I am a month away from the cruise and so cancelling isn't really an option, so it's annoying that it says it'll take ten days. It also says "if you're booking qualifies". I did call them and ask specifically about the offer. We are not in a suite but we paid double the cruise fare to add all 4 extra perks. I took screen shots of website and what it says. I tried to go through the terms and conditions but they are lengthy and also seem to have the wrong dates in them (June 2016).

But I got the confirmation PDF at least that says I got the "Best" offer on there... at least there is that...

Crap... I already did everything online after I talked to someone on the phone, but didn't get any kind of e-mail confirmation. I got the "Best" offer which says internet, premium drink package, "free" tips, and $300 onboard credit. He verified this was accurate and so I did everything online.

There is no confirmation though from anywhere I can see that I have ANY of these things. :(

Hiya, first time booking a Celebrity cruise. I saw that there was a combined offer going on that you could add and would give you an onboard credit + premium drink package + free internet + pre-paid gratuities. But when I go to book it, it asks me if I want to add pre-paid gratuities... which confused me since I thought I was already get this with that offer. Am I doing something wrong?

As far as recommending Coastal Kitchen for dinner over the four main restaurants, YES! In my opinion (and also that of the companions I ate with) the quality of the food was clearly superior. The appeal of dynamic dining to me is the variety of menu choices that four distinct restaurants provides. Each restaurant also has two menus, which they rotate every 4 days or so, to provide even MORE choice! Where it comes up a bit short in my opinion is the quality of the food. If I think about it objectively, it is standard MDR-quality, or close to it, but because each restaurant is branded as separate and unique (which previously meant it was a specialty restaurant) I think the average guest's inclination is to expect higher food quality. Just taking a guess but I wonder whether this is part of the reason the reviews of the four restaurants have been somewhat disappointing.

 

What I would recommend is to go up to the CK reservation desk on embarkation day and ask them if they rotate their menu like the other restaurants do. If so, ask when during your cruise that will happen. That should allow you to book CK hopefully twice, enjoy the better quality of the food and still have the variety of two different menus.

 

Hope this helps!

The menu is different for lunch too right? I noticed that it is open day 1 and thought it would be a good way to get away from the crowds who tend to go to Windjammers

I am assuming you will be less than 24 weeks pregnant on this cruise, since that is the limit the cruise line puts on pregnancy, and at that point in the pregnancy normal massages are totally OK. If you are healthy enough for cruising you are healthy enough for a massage.

 

Of course, there may be some positioning issues, but that is easily remedied, ei if it's uncomfortable on your stomach, don't lie down on your stomach. Also, if it becomes uncomfortable in any way, tell the masseuse to go softer or move her focus or stop altogether. Easy to do. :)

 

I am speaking from 35+ years as a midwife and I have never had a woman suffer any damage or complications from a simple, normal massage. Certainly checking with your midwife or OB would be best, but I would never restrict one of my patients from having a massage on a cruise at less than 6 months pregnant and no pregnancy complications.

 

People who are making it sound like you are some kind of a criminal or horrible mother to even think of "indulging" in a massage are showing their ignorance of the process of pregnancy, turn a deaf ear and have a wonderful cruise. :D

Thank you :) Yes, I will only be 9 weeks, so very early in my pregnancy.

But if you are in the Star Class doesn't the Genie escort you to you cabin when you check in at your designated time.

I am a lowly sky class :P If we decide to go to Windjammers for lunch before getting our sea passes I am wondering if they will even have the suite section open or if it'll be every man for himself.

Why wouldn't you have your cards?

If you took your photo online the cards are waiting for you in your cabin

Someone mentioned that there is a roped off area for suites in Windjammer. Does anyone know if this area exists during the first day? Since we won't have access to our cards at that point yet.

Actually I didn't ask the question before, I asked specifically about massages last time and now I am asking about spa services in general. I can't exactly go to the doctor with a spa list and tell her to pick ones I can or can't get. Especially since the descriptions of some of the services are little to none. Like I had to dig around to find out what a "spa ritual" was.

Sorry I asked.

I know about asking the doctor, but the doctor doesn't exactly know what spa services are available on cruises. And recommended prenatal massage therapist if I get the massage, which like I said, we don't know if they have. Can't really find much in the way of spa menus online for Anthem, especially with details on what it involves.

I booked a Swedish massage before finding out I was pregnant so called up RC and they said they didn't know if the massage therapists were certified for prenatal massages but to go to the spa desk when we board to talk to them.

Let's assume that a massage is a no go... besides facials, what other services do you think would be pregnancy safe?

How are you getting to the pier with it? A couple hrs will make a difference. Bring collapsible cooler?

If it's insulin, 9 times out of 10 it doesn't need refrigeration anyway

One is insulin, which I am not as much worried about because I have a travel pack for the pens that will keep them cool. I have another medication that can melt in heat and the only thing I can think of doing is bringing ice packs and packing them in. It should be able to last an hour or two, but I am concerned with the hot weather we are expected this weekend, it won't last longer than that.

We have a medical refrigerator waiting for us in our cabin, so I had planned ahead for that.

I have medication that needs to be refrigerated and I am wondering if I am going to be able to drop it off to the refrigerator when we board. We will be there early and I know cabins usually aren't ready when we board. I e-mailed RC Special Needs and even the concierge (we are staying in a suite), but no answers. Would we have any issues just going to the cabin to drop off medication and leaving?

On our second day in Bermuda we want to head to the beach for a few hours before the ship leaves at 5. Are you allowed to bring food off the ship? Like a sandwich, snacks, etc.?

I am surprised that as a frequent cruiser you didn't know about Royal's rules for cruising while pregnant. Before I booked my cruise the first thing I looked up was "Royal Caribbean and pregnant". They use to require a "fit to travel" fax to even get on the cruise ship, but I just e-mailed the special needs department a few days ago and they said they don't require it anymore:

"We no longer require our pregnant guests to submit a fit to travel letter from the doctor. Since this is a new change made to our pregnancy policy has been recently updated on our website. We are still requiring our guests to be under the 24 weeks of pregnancy in order to sail. Our guests cannot be entering, or have entered, the 24th week of pregnancy at the time during the sailing or cruise tour.

Guests will be required to fill out a Public Health Questionnaire at the pier."

We will be in Bermuda for two days on our cruise next week and I had originally planned to take a ferry to St. George, walk around on our own a bit, then go to the Crystal Caves. But then I read a post about how the stairs are steep and slippery. I am a bit nervous now about going to the caves now since I am pregnant, the stairs could be an issue. The same would obviously go for the Lighthouse... so any suggestions on other things to do in St. George?

We actually only decided to go to St. George because we have been to Bermuda twice before and never got a chance to go very far from the ship before. So open to any area of Bermuda that's not close to the ship.

Can anyone confirm if the e-mail for concierge changed or if I am completely flaking out and getting the e-mail wrong? Keep on getting it bounced back for Anthem

AN01_concierge@rccl.com

I have tried emailing AN01_concierge@rccl.com from the list posted and got an error. Am I being a total idiot and missing something? It keeps on bouncing back

Didn't the concierge use to escort suite guests off the ship? Does that not happen anymore for those without genies? We plan on self disembarking and the only issue we ever run into is finding an elevator where we can fit us and one piece of luggage.

On ships with Royal Suite Class the purple, plum and dark blue replace the "gold" card. Pinnacles have a white card. On other classes ( not Oasis and Quantum) the "gold" Seapass remains for Pinnacles and GS and above.

 

 

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That's weird. I printed out my seapass and it said "gold" on it.