isnowman

For those that may not have read the post regarding bed bugs in a hotel, this tip will work on ships as well.

Before retirement I traveled extensively all over the world staying in all types of hotels. Bed bugs don't care if it's a 1 star or 5 star accommodation, they're very opportunist.

The recommendation of not putting your luggage on the floor, or another bed, is paramount in not bringing those uninvited guests home with you. Use the metal luggage valet, or place your suitcase on the top of the dresser during unpacking, and always close it tight when finished. 

Another tip our crew used was to fill a couple of empty 2 liter water bottles with hot water. Place the bottles on the bed under the top sheet and cover them. The bugs are attracted to the warmth of the bottles and will come looking for a meal. Check the bottom sheet near the bottles after about 30 minutes, if there are bed bugs in your bed you should see them. As was previously posted, checking the mattress cover for blood spots also works, but only if a previous guest has been bitten.

Hope this helps.

On 5/24/2024 at 9:21 PM, MMDown Under said:

I hadn't heard of bed bugs on cruise ships.  However, we were badly bitten in accommodation overlooking the Mediterranean.  We were travelling with a friend's mother from Rome.  When the owners discovered we were foreign, they tried to cancel our booking.  However, We insisted they honour our booking.  Not a smart move, because I suspect they knew about the bed bugs.  Our friend from Rome's room had no bed bugs.  I was told to always check the mattress protector, which will have blood spots, if there are bed bugs. 

Before retirement I traveled extensively all over the world staying in all types of hotels. Bed bugs don't care if it's a 1 star or 5 star accommodation, they're very opportunist.

The recommendation of not putting your luggage on the floor, or another bed, is paramount in not bringing those uninvited guests home with you. Use the metal luggage valet, or place your suitcase on the top of the dresser during unpacking, and always close it tight when finished. 

Another tip our crew used was to fill a couple of empty 2 liter water bottles with hot water. Place the bottles on the bed under the top sheet and cover them. The bugs are attracted to the warmth of the bottles and will come looking for a meal. Check the bottom sheet near the bottles after about 30 minutes, if there are bed bugs in your bed you should see them. As was previously posted, checking the mattress cover for blood spots also works, but only if a previous guest has been bitten.

Hope this helps.

A Canadian here, would like to add my perspective to the conversation. Like the US, many employers in Canada  ( mostly food/ bar type establishments ) do not provide their staff with a liveable wage, hoping the consumer will supplement the wage with a tip. Is this right, no, does it happen, yes. 

The solution is simple, force ALL employers to pays a liveable wage, the consumer would see a price hike but then know that they don't need to tip. Reality would be the same amount of money would come out of the consumers pocket at the end of the day.

As far as on the cruise, I have no idea what the staff are being paid. When I order a drink in a bar and the waiter brings it over, I will most likely give them a US 1$ tip ( that's $1.40 CDN  ), not because I'm trying to buy their loyalty, but because I think they deserve it. At the end of the cruise I have probably spent an extra $ 20 to $30 on tips, again my choice.

I hope this doesn't bother people, my choice, again not trying to buy their loyalty.

On 3/9/2024 at 11:39 AM, Barwick Cruiser said:

Finally received my renewed card after much hassle and expense. Hubby and I received approval back in October and were patiently (at first) waiting for our new cards in the mail. We left for a trip to NZ in January and our expired cards worked fine. We absolutely expected our new cards to arrive before we returned home mid Feb however not 🤔. I contacted border services thru the trusted travellers website and they advised that we would need to apply for replacement cards as they couldn’t explain why we never received our cards. So there’s another $25US on top of the initial $50US we’d already spent 😠   I received my new card the next week and activated it easily. Hubby is still having issues trying to get a replacement card…seems to be no link on his account page on the website. He’s in the midst of communications to try and sort this mess. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how both of our initial cards didn’t find our mailbox (yes, checked and rechecked address multiple times) and not wanting to believe it’s some kind of scam to procure more money but 🤷‍♀️. We don’t travel until May so worst case hubby can still use his expired card. 

So sorry to hear about not only the delay, but also the extra expense in getting your cards. I was wondering if you used the phone number I had posted earlier, or just used the email address on the Nexus website. I had tried using the email address first, but it seemed to give me only auto generated answers from the frequently asked questions ( one of which said use the lost card prompt and pay $25 ). When I called the number the agent was able to get into our account, confirm that we had been approved for the renewal and that the cards DEFINITELY had not been mailed. They put in a request to have them mailed, arrived about 3 weeks later. 

This doesn't help you now but might help someone else.

On 2/11/2024 at 10:01 AM, mafig said:

Do you park your own car and take the keys or do they do it?

They keep your keys and park your vehicle.

I must say I am really impressed by the service provided by Park 'N Go. When we arrived for our cruise in late January they carried our bags from the car to a waiting van. Were the first ones on it, had to wait about 10 minutes till others arrived, then off to our ship. They only put passengers on a particular ship together so no stopping at multiple ships on the way. When we disembarked 11 days later we had to wait about 10 minutes as the first van just filled up as we arrived at the meeting spot. The next van arrived about 5 minutes later then it took 5 minutes to load up. The drived collected the blue cards, asked make and color of your vehicle and away we went. As we stopped at each vehicle the driver not only offloaded your luggage but also helped put them in your car if you needed assistance. What service! Will definitely use them for our next cruise.

On 1/16/2024 at 2:34 PM, isnowman said:

After close to 14 weeks and still no cards I decided to do a little research. Seems that if your NEXUS site dashboard does not have a button for you to activate your new card it's because your new card has not been processed. I called 1-877-227-5511 ( U.S. Customs ) and spoke to an agent ( on hold for :50 minutes ). They confirmed my new card had not been processed and escalated my file to get a card mailed. Apparently this can take another 4 to 5 weeks. Hopefully this helps..

Kurt

Although we are currently out of the country, I have been informed by a family member that the new cards have arrived. It looks like it took 3 weeks from when we called the above number to when they arrived, a total of 18 weeks from when we had been initially approved for our renewal. 

2 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Good info, thx for updating. We’re currently in NZ on holiday with family. Used our expired nexus cards in YYZ to bypass the long security line and no one batted an eye. It’s true that they’re still accepting the expired cards. Hopefully our new cards are waiting for us when we get home later Feb 🤞, if not, I’ll try calling as you did. Next trip isn’t until May. 
Cathy

Enjoy your holiday, I'll let you know if/when our cards arrive.

Kurt

On 12/21/2023 at 10:38 AM, Barwick Cruiser said:

We received approval notice about the same time as you, maybe a week later and are still waiting for our new cards as well. We travel in early January but it is reassuring that the old cards will still be valid if we haven’t received the new ones by then. I’ll post back here if/when we get them. 
Cathy

After close to 14 weeks and still no cards I decided to do a little research. Seems that if your NEXUS site dashboard does not have a button for you to activate your new card it's because your new card has not been processed. I called 1-877-227-5511 ( U.S. Customs ) and spoke to an agent ( on hold for :50 minutes ). They confirmed my new card had not been processed and escalated my file to get a card mailed. Apparently this can take another 4 to 5 weeks. Hopefully this helps..

Kurt

20 hours ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

We received approval notice about the same time as you, maybe a week later and are still waiting for our new cards as well. We travel in early January but it is reassuring that the old cards will still be valid if we haven’t received the new ones by then. I’ll post back here if/when we get them. 
Cathy

Thanks Cathy, I'll let you know if ours arrive.

Merry Christmas,

Kurt

17 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

I may be wrong, but you must 'activate' your new cards when you receive them, and to the best of my knowledge the existing cards you have are valid until you receive and activate the new ones.

Thanks for your reply. This is our second renewal, I did notice that they state due to the high volume of applicants the existing cards would still be valid past the expiry date. I'll be sure to activate the new cards once they arrive.

Starting to get a little nervous. Back on October 12th both my wife and myself received notice that our NEXUS renewal was approved with no interview required. Unfortunately we have not received our renewal cards in the mail, now into our 10th week. Trying to get in touch with someone in the U.S. will be next to impossible, my only option would be to apply for a lost card, and pay the $25 fee. Has anyone who received their new card waited this long for it to be delivered, appreciate any information.

Merry Christmas to all....

Thankfully our cruise isn't till late January so I assume the shoreside concierge will get in touch with us soon. If I haven't heard from them by the end of the week I'll try calling. 

Thank you for the information.

It was quite a shock but we just received the email that our moveup to a Royal Suite was accepted on our upcoming cruise. One of the perks of this suite is unlimited complimentary speciality dining, however we see that almost all of the speciality restaurants show completely full. Has anyone who has had an upgrade close to sailing encountered this issue? If so, I am wondering if a limited amount of reservations are held back to allow for this. We did prebook a couple of speciality restaurants, although not as many as the upgrade allows us to book. I appreciate any information anyone can provide.

Thank you,

Kurt

19 hours ago, Fouremco said:

November 30, and both of our new cards arrived in today's mail. That's just 9 days following the second announcement of renewal approvals.

 

Quite frankly, we were lucky that the cards even made it at all, as neither envelope was sealed and it would have been quite easy for the contents to have slipped out while they were in transit. Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Thanks for the update, hopefully we'll see ours in the upcoming week.

Thanks all for the tips, will look into them.

I'm hoping someone might have a suggestion of a hotel NOT usually used by overnight cruisers. We will be driving down from Ontario for a cruise in late January, and was hoping to stay in a hotel about 30 to 45 minutes from Port Everglades. We do not need any shuttles, and have parking reserved at Park 'N Go for our cruise. Have previously stayed close to the port and used their shuttles so hoping someone might know of a good alternative.

Thanks....

I was hoping that once the approval for our renewal came through, the new cards would arrive within a few weeks, unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Like everyone else, patiently waiting.

On 11/8/2023 at 10:54 AM, Fouremco said:

Lucky you. Our renewal acceptance letters were dated September 13, and we have yet to see our new cards. 

 

IIRC, as your renewal application has been approved, you can continue to use your old card while waiting for the arrival of your new one.

Hi Fouremco,

I was wondering if you've received your Nexus cards yet, we renewal acceptance was a week after yours and we still haven't received them.

Thanks...

Thanks Jelayne...

Thank you for your reply...

Hi all,

I've asked this question on the Australia/New Zealand boards but have not received an answer.

We will boarding the Edge in Auckland and was wondering if they have a seperate Suite check in area. It's a nice perk to not have to select a specific pier arrival time, and be able to relax before boarding.

Thank you for any information.

Hi all,

We will boarding the Edge in Auckland and was wondering if they have a seperate Suite check in area. It's a nice perk to not have to select a specific pier arrival time, and be able to relax before boarding.

Thank you for any information.

I hope that everyone understands that there is no such thing as Premium Economy or Business Class with lie flat seats on Rouge, that would be Air Canada mainline only. Rouge does have a class above Economy called Premium Rouge which has larger seats ( 2 abreast instead of 3 ) and other perks. Just wanted to clarify.

13 hours ago, californiagirl said:

I stumbled on your amazing and comprehensive trip report.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed it.    We are in the beginning stages of a South East Asia trip planned for January of 2025.  Your first person experience has been incredibly helpful so thank you!  I have a few questions about the ship that are not covered by your report or anywhere else on cruise critic or on you-tube for that matter.  I’m hoping you drop by the river cruise board periodically and can answer them.  If not then hopefully anyone who has been on Scenic Spirit can reply.  These questions may seem insignificant to most travelers but they would help us make an informed choice.  Managing expectations can make the difference in travel enjoyment.

 

-Do any of the lower end suites have true balconies?  It looks like they have french balconies with top windows that lower.  I realize that the weather is warm and humid and not much time is spent in the cabin on this kind of cruise but did the windows seem large enough to experience the essence of traveling on the river?  

-Regarding the bathroom, what is the door like from the room to the bathroom?  One of us is bathroom shy so this is an important detail.  

-Do they serve Diet Coke?  If so is it canned or fountain?  Neither of us drink coffee or alcohol but we love our Diet Coke!  

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

We just returned from an 18 day Scenic Mekong river cruise from Hanoi to Siem Reap, and I definitely feel that Scenic went above and beyond in meeting our expectations.

To answer your questions, we were in a mid level suite ( 212 ) and had what is called an infinite balcony where only the top part of the window lowered. We're used to cruising on large ocean ships with true balconies, but found this was just fine. It was VERY hot and humid, we only lowered the window to take pictures. You don't really spend much time on the ship as the shore excursions are so exciting, but when onboard we usually met with other guests at the pool or on the sundeck ( in the shade ). There were definitely no French balconies, possibly a true balcony on the third deck in the high end suites but we never saw one.

I've attached 2 pictures of the bathroom, unfortunately they don't show the bathroom door closed. The door actually slides across, has a latch to lock it if you like. I would say it is as private as most bathrooms are. We loved the shower, there was plenty of room at the sink and vanity, only issue is at night there is a motion night light that comes on under the vanity when you enter the bathroom. It didn't bother us, but it might be an issue.

I know there is Coke onboard, but never asked ( or saw ) Diet Coke. What I will say is that Scenic will do anything they can to make you happy, so ask when you first board and they can always pick some up. On our trip, one of the guests really liked blue cheese stuffed olives in their martini. They did not have any ( no surprise ) but a bartender was able to get some blue cheese from the kitchen and hand stuffed enough for the entire 8 day journey, enough for many of us to enjoy. They said it was no problem at all.

If you do decide to go with Scenic I think you will be impressed with everything from the hotels they use, buses, tour guides and especially the group leader they provide. As I said, they exceeded our expectations. The only complaint we heard was that due to a website hack and ransom demand. Apparently Scenic refused to pay the ransom so had to basically build a new website and their customer database. This caused many issues that seem to now be fixed.

Enjoy your trip, on whatever line you choose.