LuvBNatC

I'm a former Virginian and took for Norwegian coastal adventures, 1) thermal underware, 2)a turtleneck, 3)a down jacket and 4) a gore tex raincoat.....on really cold, windy days all 4 together worked well.

Eek! :eek: Thermal underwear. I've never owned any, but it would definitely be handy on this trip.

Try checking Eddiie Bauer website. I got the superior down stadium coat for a cruise in January. I also come as a parka but I thought the longer lenghty wold keep me warmer. We have had a very mild winter so far but I did wear it to walk the dog on a few evenings that got into the 30's and was surprised how toasty warm I was. I go got the petite large and the sleeves are perfect. (I usually wear 12 petite). It's waterproof, wind proof, and not too heavy. I'm planning to carry it on the plane.

 

O, and it is now 40% off with free shipping and returns. I am not outdoorsy either and I figure I can wear this after the cruise when it is cold.

Haven't checked Eddie Bauer, so thanks for the tip. Petite large is probably what I would need as well, and it sounds like what I would need. I would also like stadium length to keep my tush warm. :)

Karen

I'm not typically the outdoor type, which is why I don't have all the gear already. And Virginia has a fairly temperate climate, so it's rare to need boots. I have some, but they are not too rugged.

On this cruise, I would want to be out on deck a lot, as well as walk around the places we visit.

I was looking in the LL Bean catalog and it does describe down coats as being good against wind, but just "water resistant," which doesn't mean waterproof.

They also run very small. I tried a few on in Macy's, and for a coat to cover my bust (with a light shirt underneath), the sleeves went down to my knees! :(

So I'm thinking a packable down coat will NOT be suitable for wearing layers if I to zip it up. I've never heard of hiking or sailing jackets, so I'll check those out next. This is quite an education.

Karen

Thank you for the good advice, Sarnia. I think a lot of the packable down coats are NOT waterproof. I won't buy until I find one that is. The descriptions never mention wind, though.

This is the time to shop for that kind of clothing, so I have my eyes glued to all the sales. :)

Thank you to everyone for all this excellent information. I've been toying for several years with doing a voyage on Hurtigruten, and have decided that it should probably be my next one, because I'm not getting any younger. ;)

I watch "New Scandinavian Cooking" on PBS, and several episodes were shot on Hurtigruten ships, which gave a good feel for their size and ambience.

This would be my first cold-weather cruise, and I don't really have the wardrobe for it, certainly not the boots. Would one of those packable down coats with a sweater underneath be warm enough? I'd probably sail in the fall, and be solo.

Smells may come and go on any ship. I've been on ships reputed to have odors, yet detected nothing anywhere. I've gotten whiffs of sewer on other ships where odors were never mentioned in reviews.

I once found a moldy odor in my cabin bathroom, reported it immediately, and had a steward bleaching everything top to bottom within the hour.

Rest assured that the maintenance crew of ANY ship is not going to let any large area smell bad week in, week out. The problem WILL be corrected ASAP.

Pharmacies sell two different little kits (look near the toothpaste) for emergency dental repairs. One is to temporarily replace a lost filling and the other is to re-glue a crown until you can get to a dentist. The kit for crowns is called something like Re-Cap-It. I've had them in my travel case for years and a friend did make good use of it once.

I had no idea these existed. Good to know, since I got my first crwn not too long ago and it sometimes feels wobbly.

Absolutely incorrect. No reason to cancel and rebook when upgrading.

I just went through this twice with RCCL during price drops. I tried to upgrade from inside to balcony.

Both times I was transferred to Resolutions and informed they would cancel my original booking, CHARGE ME A CANCELLATION PENALTY since it was after final payment, book my upgrade at some rate they pulled out of the air, plus single supplement.

Although the cabin price was showing much lower on the website, their bottom line for me was at least $3,000 MORE.

I made a 3rd attempt earlier this week during a last-minute price drop. I got an RCCL rep who gave me the balcony upgrade under the same booking number and it cost me ZIP. NADA. Easy-peasy. And she had to consult Resolutions to make sure I didn't lose an onboard credit from an NCC I had used.

Now, why Resolutions refused to do it on my earlier tries is still a mystery. :confused:

My friend got a temporary tooth just before our B2B cruise, and his dentist gave him a tube of glue to keep the tooth in -- which my friend forgot to pack.

A few days into the cruise, the tooth popped out. We discovered that the ship's medical center had NOTHING in the way of dental supplies. (I think we were on Voyager.)

My friend was mortified to walk around with a fairly prominent gap in his teeth. I finally prevailed upon him to use my SuperGlue, although he said his dentist would probably kill him later.

He chose his food wisely and chewed with care, and that SuperGlue kept the tooth in for the remainder of our trip.

Lesson learned: don't expect any help with dental problems on a cruise ship.

AWESOME! Empress was a great little ship! I'd do her again in a heartbeat....went to Bermuda out of Norfolk - speaking of that, I wonder why RCL dumped Norfolk as a cruise port?

Fingers crossed on an Empress comeback. :)

I would love to see Empress homeport in Norfolk to sail to Bermuda and the Bahamas. Norfolk built a lovely new terminal a few years ago and sorely needs a ship.

I think you read way to much into this. :eek:

Hahaha! If you work in advertising, you have to "read way too much" into every word so your client doesn't blow a wad on a campaign that bombs.

It's the psychology of conning rubes who soak it in without much thought. In that, RCCL seems ro be succeeding.

An ad campaign denigrating every aspect of its product (cruises, to tourists, to the Caribbean) using negative phasing in every sentence (this is NOT...) can't be saved by cool graphics and music conveying exactly the opposite.

It comes off like an identity crisis. What's next, dropping "Cruise Line" from Royal Caribbean's name so people won't realize ships are involved?

If millennials see something ironically cool about this sort of approach, they may be ripe to blow lots of disposable income on things that aren't as advertised -- and not in a good way.

RCCL's press release rationalization is a subliminal ad for land vacations, with no rigid time constraints to do all these daredevil activities Royal envisions for passengers.

I suspect it will take new cruisers exactly one cruise packed with pricey but too-brief "adventures" to figure this out, especially once they've gotten a taste of poor Internet connectivity at sea.

The excuses were after mentioning the issues to her. There were a couple of conversations, in fact. It didn't ruin the cruise and since I don't ever want to get someone in trouble I chose not to elevate the issues. She did receive her gratuities, just nothing extra which we always do.

 

I feel sorry for the cabin attendants since they have increased the number of cabins they are responsible for and eliminated their assistants. It is not totally their fault, I couldn't do it day in and day out for months at a time.

We agree on every point except that I don't think it does her any favors to let her mope around for another month, annoying more passengers, without management being made aware of it. I'd approach it as concern for her well-being rather than a complaint.

But then, I used to be a manager, and if I had an employee giving sloppy service and making excuses for it to customers rather than correcting it, I'd want to know.

What a bunch of @#!$%

We are tourists and we are on a cruise...

I'm in the marketing and advertising industry and I just don't get it...

Is there something more to this that I'm not getting here?

What is the message that they're trying to send?

The only thing that makes the adventure different is their ships vs. the competition, but the ports are the ports (right?).

Agreed. "This is not a cruise" and "You are not a tourist" may be slogans doomed to backfire -- especially among comparison shoppers who won't be on a cruise, nor tourists, on any RCCL ship at today's crazy prices.

And calling the region "The Royal Caribbean" as if they own it is a bit over the top. This baloney will become apparent as soon as they dump a ship full of newbies on some island alongside 3-4 other megaships, to fight the mobs at all the tourist traps.

Puleez!! :rolleyes:

Not making up the room one day, no turn down two evenings, ice (requested) only delivered at evening turndown, dirty wine glasses never removed or replaced, a dirty plate never removed etc., etc., etc....The excuse was she was tired and still had a month to go on her contract. FWIW, we did not reduce gratuities but we did not give additional.

I've never experienced service this lax, but if I had, I think I would have brought the matter to her superior as an HR issue.

Whenever a steward forgets something, and they do, I either speak to them if I see them or leave a reminder sticky note in the cabin. Let's them know I noticed and care. That usually does the trick.

I cut the stewards great slack because they work incredibly hard 24/7. I'd never remove an auto-grat under any circumstances because SOMEBODY who served me onboard deserves it. But I usually tip extra in cash, and I would skip that if shortcomings weren't corrected after I'd brought them to the steward's attention.

TSA approved combination lock with an indicator that turns from green to red if the lock has been opened, and a strap. But never pack anything valuable in the checked luggage.

I've used zip ties, but once twisted the zipper pull off a brand-new suitcase when the little scissors I brought to cut the zip tie off couldn't do the job.

My feeling is that if someone wants in a suitcase, they'll go for the unprotected ones first because every second counts.

Spot-on comparison of all the little things that NCL does to make life easier (such as pool towels in the cabin).

I cut my cruising teeth on NCL, but eventually migrated over to RCCL. I'll probably be back on NCL in 2016.

Tried Norwegian Getaway last year (as a solo, in a balcony for what I'd pay for an inside on Royal). I generally found the whole ship had a more cordial vibe than Royal, especially when I was wandering around evenings looking for dinner alone without a reservation (I don't go on vacation to make a bunch of appointments).

Hosts in the dining rooms made sure I got a good table by a window when there was one, and the wait staff was very friendly and attentive.

On the whole, as a solo cruiser, I felt that NCL had a better attitude toward my situation. It's probably because they see a lot of solos from the Studio cabins.

RCCL seems hell-bent right now on driving solos off its ships with its faux sales, based on stratospheric base pricing.

It's considered last-minute, they obviously didn't fill the ship, and airfare may be a deal-breaker.

If you haven't already, snap this one up, because a price that low may only show for an hour, and then it could increase to thousands.

Thanks :) Sensi couldn't accommodate a group as large as yours, but probably Bilbo Berria could. They are close to the Cathedral and have a large of selection of pinxtos and tapas, plus regular Spanish fare.

 

Your plan works well too!

 

Most restaurants on las Ramblas are more turista and expensive than those off las Ramblas, at least in my experience.

 

Have fun :)

Thanks for the recommendation. I wouldn't even begin to try to nail down a reservation for my large a group because I suspect we'll have a lot of no-shows. Some are flying into town that same day.

I printed a list of highly recommended restaurants from TripAdvisor that are all within 0.1 mile of the hotel, as well as the ones cited as tourist ripoffs we can avoid.

The vibe I'm getting from the group is that they want an easy meal and a fairly early night, so planning anything that might involve transportation beyond walking just to save a few euros on the meal is probably a wash cost-wise and more effort than is called for.

And I'd rather dine with a small group I can converse with and get to know a little than attend a banquet situation with a crowd. That's just my preference.

Hope you have a great time at Sensi!

Just an update for anyone who hits this situation - This restaurant offered a nice menu and a tasting - but at 68 euros:eek: and they want my visa which will be charged:eek:

 

Sensi Bistro has been wonderful in emails, amended the tasting recipe as I knew certain people wanted something and the roll call is all on board so far :)

 

They have reserved our table and have told us we can have it for two hours which is more than fair. Cost is about 22 euros (not including drinks of course) Sensi Bistro it is. I will do a review on tripadvisor when I return if anyone is interested.

Hats off to you on organizing this. My roll call is doing a pre-cruise dinner, with 45 expressing interest. We're meeting on Las Ramblas at 7 p.m. outside a common hotel for a bunch of us. We'll do introductions then break into smaller groups according to tastes and go our own ways because the area is crawling with restaurants. We figure it will be close to 8 before we get ourselves sorted out.

As a criminal, I really wish 2CatsInFlorida would not have made such a post, and ruined everything for me and those like me.

 

I happen to go on cruises with the specific goal of being seated with really wealthy people in the MDR of a cruise ship just HOPING they will announce they won't be at dinner the following night. When I hear this, it creates my opening to do things. Bad things. Things that I can't explain here, but if you google "bad things criminals on cruises do when they hear people will be dining elsewhere the following night" you will figure it out for yourselves.

This has me laughing so hard, I can hardly see the screen through the tears of mirth! :D:D:D

I'm so glad to learn this about the criminal cruiser mind. I have added "tin foil hat" to my packing list. I will wear it to dinner in the MDR so it may transmit to me exactly who you are. If I make a specialty restaurant reservation, I will keep the time secret and approach the venue using a stealthy, zig-zag route to ensure I elude your deadly clutches.

Personally, I'm not thrilled about streamlined, more convenient, dumbed down muster drills that take place in lounges.

I've attended 40+ drills, most when they were held out on deck at the actual lifeboat stations and everyone had to properly don a lifejacket. Thanks to those, I feel as if I know exactly what to do in an emergency, even if the ship I'm on does a lousy, half-ass drill.

On the SS Norway, at one drill they even told us the proper way to jump overboard! :eek: (Hold onto your lifejacket with one hand, hold your nose with the other, and step off the side straight down. Don't attempt a dive.)

But what about all the first-time cruisers who get the Cliff Notes drill? I don't think they learn how to save themselves. They might become a lethal bottleneck for others when they're wandering around clueless in chaos.

After Costa Concordia, I'm frankly stunned that the cruise lines have taken such a cavalier attitude toward muster drills. They should be MORE strict, not less.

And those who treat it as a big joke, show up late with drinks in their hands, talk through it, etc., should get all the dirty looks we can "muster," get their cabin numbers recorded by crew, and then receive a summons to another remedial drill conducted by captain personally.

I was researching prices for a cruise on tues, and they have all of a sudden gone up by 30% in just 3 days!

Is this for real? Is it just something they do on a Friday?

The cruise is in March and not yet booked, and I have 2 rooms to book. Do you think the prices will go back down?

I am at a loss, as the hike makes it unaffordable for my family.

Thanks for your input.

Dawn

I've been trying for several months (without success) to upgrade from an inside to a balcony on my upcoming Vision cruise, and I've seen prices fluctuate by upwards of $4,000 (for a solo) within hours, and several different rates offered for the same category within a day.

The only thing you can do is immediately grab any good price you see, because it could be gone if you blink. The way Royal is manipulating the numbers these days is beyond crazy.

Zero. I'm kicking myself for booking my upcoming, and possibly last, RCCL cruise over a year ago.

Their maniacally erratic, mostly through-the-roof pricing and endless bogus "sales" have alienated me totally.

Lately, my inbox has been flooded with bargain-basement cruises on many lines through the end of this year. There's no incentive whatsoever to pay through the nose to be "loyal to Royal."

Sorry to break it to Rick Fain, who wants to wipe our brains of our "used-car salesman mentality," but last-minute fare slashing is alive and well -- even at RCCL.

I just saw inside cabins on my upcoming Vision cruise go for $600 less than I paid, and this well AFTER final payment was due. Proof-positive that it STILL pays to wait.

A few cruises ago, I started packing in various sized cubes I got on ebags.com. One cube for bathing suits & covers, one for daytime tops, one for evening tops, one for bottoms, etc.

I pack by category, one cube at a time, which doesn't feel as daunting as stuffing everything into a big suitcase. Once the cubes are full, I fit them into the suitcase like puzzle pieces.

Bonuses: Clothes wrinkle less because they don't shift. Because the cubes have mesh tops, I can see what's inside and take out whatever I need without disturbing anything else. I can also pack more because I roll most items and stuff the cubes to the gills, so there's no wasted space.

Once in the suitcase I can wedge shoes and other small stuff around the edges.

I'd never cruise again without my cubes.

Having worked with various insurance firms over the years I would NEVER EVER recommend buying insurance from the same firm that is providing you the goods/services.

 

You cannot rely on a goods/service provider to adequate and fairly advocate against themselves on your behalf.

 

Always use a third party insurer.

Agree 100%.