KansasK

26 minutes ago, watson50 said:

I agree we try to cruise at least twice a year but I will be 70 in September I find this age restriction to be highly discriminatory anybody can have a condition but that doesn’t mean that condition should prevent you from cruising I hope the scrap that 70-year-old doctors note for him very soon not fairI agree we try to cruise at least twice a year but I will be 70 in September I find this age restriction to be highly discriminatory anybody can have a condition but that doesn’t mean that condition should prevent you from cruising I hope the scrap that 70-year-old doctors note for him very soon not fair

I agree with you that the 70 year old required doctors release is discriminatory. I am hoping this will go away if the Corona virus runs its course, if it ever does without a vaccine.  I can see how they don't want me now and I also don't want to go on a cruise until this virus situation is safe again. I was 70 in February and wonder when my next cruise will be and wonder how hard the cruise line will continue to make it for me to board. 

I am booked for a May 17 cruise out of Galveston on the Liberty. I think this will be too soon for the virus to be gone and we will need to cancel. I am looking at a November 14 cruise on the Odyssey. We planned to fly on Southwest and they allow 6 months for the next flight, so I would need to cancel before May 17 and book a flight before November 17. I guess we can book the November flight and then cancel if the virus is still prevalent.  

I took this excursion a while back and it was a good excursion. You can see the two volcanos as you approach them for quite a while. They are quite majestic to see. The swim stop was nice. It might not be the same bay as now. I enjoyed the day, but it might not be what you are looking for in an excursion. 

I print out the luggage tags, too.

Maybe people just have the porters write them, or they have high enough status to ask for them to be sent. 

There must be a way to challenge this decision. Go higher with this. 

My husband and I are both Diamond. We find 4 bottles of water in our cabin when we arrive. It is not restocked as we use it. They are 16 oz. bottles. We sometimes refill them ourselves from the tap. Also, during Diamond Happy Hour time, we can get a bottle of water as one of the free drinks. 

5 hours ago, Ptroxx said:

I don’t follow your answer.   There’s no dress suggestion that is spelled out.  
and your to be extreme suggestion.  Wearing pants down to you knees is in no way being respectful.  
respect isn’t in the clothes you wear. Its how you present yourself when you wearing what ever your wear.   
 

my point about being someone who’s retired is just that.   Your a lot older. And lived in a different world a different day and age.   
_____________

 

I think stereotyping retired people is not a good idea. We are still people and are as diverse in what we think and do as people your age. I am still alive so I still live the day and age you do. I just look older. 

I think applying for TSA PRE is a good idea. We had bought a pass for the bus transportation in Galveston and it was extremely slow leaving due to various problems and we barely made our flight at 12:30. We had TSA PRE and walked through security. When we got to our gate, they called for boarding in five minutes. Had we been in the security line, I doubt we would have made it. 

Plan for everything that can go wrong and do what you can to avoid the delays. 

I read posts of people who take a carry on size suitcase for the week and if this works, more power to them. I take two suitcases and can manage both of them. They stay under the airline's weight and size limits. At the pier, I tip the porter to put them on a cart. They fit under the bed after I unpack. I don't mind having two suitcases, in fact, I like having two suitcases.  To each his own. 

We live outside of Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas. We have flown to Galveston twice for the Navigator and once for the Liberty. We flew into Houston Hobby and got transportation to our hotel in Galveston. We had a reservation with a transportation service to pick us up at the airport and take us to our hotel. That was easy. What was hard was initially getting a hotel room. It could be we picked the wrong dates, but twice we struggled to find a room 10 months out. We finally did, but the next hurdle was getting a cab to the pier the next day. We called the cab company the night before as recommended by the hotel and made a reservation and they did call the next morning and then pick us up and take us to the pier. I think staying in Houston might be the solution and then having a transportation service take us to the pier the next day.

We will be on the Liberty again sailing May 22, 2020.  All the Hilton or Marriott hotels were full. We made the reservation in June. I always think it will be easier that next time and it never is. 

Most people on the ship seemed to be from Texas or Oklahoma and drove to Galveston. Some drove a good distance. Texas is not a small state. 

I have Diamond status and I don't think I ever got priority boarding for security.  Security took as short or long a time as it did and then we got where we could get in a Diamond line. It depends how many security lines are open for how fast it is. My brother had the Key and said they went through regular security and then got the special Key boarding. We were boarding the Allure then, but I don't remember the diamond question coming up until after security at any port until after security. 

We are both on the Liberty in May out of Galveston, him with the Key again, and we will see what happens there. 

I found out that different apps run in the background and run up your phone bill on the ship. Facebook was one. Even though I did not use Facebook on my phone, it still used a lot of data. Look at how much data your apps use. I have AT&T also. I always get a text about the amount of data I have used. I call them and it is always some apps that did it. I did not send any pictures or do anything to run up the bill the second time, yet still I had a big bill. I'm turning it off the next time. 

We bring magnetic hooks to hang on the ceiling to hang wet things on them. I put pictures of my grandkids on the wall with a refrigerator magnet. Every ship I have been on has had metal walls and ceilings so far. ☺️

I have had a promenade room several times. I have one booked again on the Liberty of the Seas. These cabins have a much more open feel that a true inside room because of the window. I like looking down at the promenade at any time of the day. I agree about needing to close the drapes when dressing, but this is true also for Central Park and Boardwalk rooms on the Oasis class ships. I also bring a clothespin in case the drapes don't close well, to hold the drapes closed better and block out the light overnight. Maybe since the remodels, I might not need this. 

I did not find noise to be a problem. I must not have been in the cabin when most of the noise was taking place. 

If I lived on the coast I might be able to stop using plastic straws. I live in Kansas. There are no sea turtles near our landfills because there is no ocean. There are places giving out awful paper straws here, but mostly there are still plastic straws in restaurants.

I did not like the paper straws on the ship. They were too wide and felt wrong.  I like narrower straws unless it is a thick drink. I understand that plastic straws take hundreds of years to go away, but what Imp 29 says about plastic bottles and Styrofoam items is also true. 

Washing aluminum straws or bamboo straws on the ship in that dinky sink would be possible, I guess, if you brought your own dishwashing soap. I guess you could soak them.

I buy the soda package and the new drink bottle has a built-in straw. 

It is interesting to me that someone would actually set a goal to reach Pinnacle from the start.  There is no reason not to, but the number is so high with 1 point per night, unless you cruise solo or book suites. My husband and I are at 163 points now and with a cruise in May of 2020, we will reach 170. A future 7 night cruise will put us over the 175 mark for Diamond Plus, but it would not be in effect until the next cruise after it.  I plan to continue to cruise for all the reasons I love cruises,  but not for points. More power to the poster, though, if he is serious about this. 

In our case, our daughter cruised with us 3 times before she married and 5 times since then. She was 18 on the first one. Four of her cruises were given 1 point per cruise and the rest were 7 night cruises. C&A had a hard time with her name change and linking her cruises. It would never list her cruises. She called on this and was she Emerald on the cruise 4 years ago and this was correct for the number of points. She was Diamond on our last cruise. She called before our last cruise and tried again to get the cruises listed. She was made Diamond at this time. I don't know if they looked back to my husband and my status, but we reached diamond status after she was 18. 

Maybe there was some other rule back then.  

I agree with John and LaLa that the area on the walking trail on the Harmony where you can sit and see the ocean so close is a great area.  It is quiet there and a good place to read as well. I wish all the Oasis class ship would have this as part of the remodel, but this would change the hull, I think, and it won't happen. 

I agree with all of Host Clarea's list for the Freedom class ships. The Liberty also had porch swings on the pool deck which I liked. They only seat a few people at a time, but they are relaxing and I like their addition. The Viking Crown being open to all guests is a real plus for me. Also on the Liberty, the Diamond Lounge is off the Viking Crown and has a great view. On the deck plans for the Liberty, though, it looks like there are now cabins blocking the view in the fitness center. 

I think it depends where you are on the Oasis. I have never found Central Park crowded. At lunch there are people coming and going, but it is not like the Windjammer. The Windjammer tends to be full at the most popular times for lunch and breakfast. We would go down a deck to the Wipeout Café on deck 15 and eat there. You eat outside under a covered deck and can look down on the Boardwalk. I think this is called Mini Bites on the Harmony. They have a good variety of food, but not like the Windjammer. We also went to the Solarium Bistro for lunch on deck 15 to the bow. I, too, was frustrated with the Windjammer, but started going to less crowded places for lunch and breakfast and was happy with them. 

Boarding has always been really very fast on Oasis class ships, despite the number of people arriving. 

All of Royals ships seem to be full, which help create crowds.

Go on the ship you enjoy.  

52 minutes ago, karena1 said:

I take what I want - sometimes 3 bags, sometimes 4.  If I am not flying (which I normally am not) I take what I want so that I have everything I want and lots of choices for my clothes!

I always have to fly, but I also try to take enough to have choices for my clothes on the cruise. I always have two suitcases - one large and one medium.  People who want to take just a carry on size suitcase can do just that - each to his own. 

Sometimes a cruise sponsored excursion is late, so the other late people get a break.

My husband had a dive in Belize and when he had not returned by the sail away time, I went to the dive shop and asked if the excursion was back. They said it was not back. I went back to the cabin to wait and not too long after that, I noticed the ship was moving. Fortunately, my husband arrived at our cabin soon after the ship sailed. He said they actually drove them down the pier to the ramp to board, they were so late. We missed the early dinner time we were scheduled for and ate in the Windjammer. 

We always tip and our luggage comes when it comes. We usually bring a carry on with us with clothes for dinner. I think pulling the carry-on around until 1:00 helps the luggage to arrive earlier.

Last cruise on the Allure our daughter passed what looked like their luggage further up the hallway by cabin doors and then saw ours, too. She knocked on our door and I went back with her to move the luggage to her cabin and to ours. Our cabin numbers were correct on the tags. There was no luggage left at our end of the hallway, which was the furthest to the stern. It was probably 3:00 when we found it and we might have passed the luggage later on the way to the muster drill, but we would have stupidly just opened the door and looked for it outside the door until we passed it. 

We were on the Allure on the June 2, 2019 sailing. St. Thomas was changed to San Juan long after we booked. With the small distance between these islands, we could not understand why, but the ship was going to San Juan anyway. We stayed on the ship and enjoyed the mostly empty ship. My daughter and family did a San Juan Old and New excursion and had a great time. She wants to return to San Juan for a vacation.  

I cannot address the problem with others having been there so many times before, but my daughter made the best of it and still had a fun day. 

I had wanted to go to St. Thomas like many who have posted but just dealt with what we got and still enjoyed our cruise. We are not mad at the cruise line. 

46 minutes ago, Judyrem said:

On July 7 HOTS, I saw quite a bit more "formal" wear than I had anticipated.   There were lots of big family/friend groups quite kitted out.

I had a linen top and pants and felt a little under dressed, but I am a widow with a ten year old granddaughter and who really cares what I wear.🤔

They were lovely to look at though.  We, my granddaughter and I, sat in the Bionic bar and watched people posing on the stairs.

We love people watching.🙂

I was on the Allure for a June 2 cruise this year. I was also surprised at how many people dressed up for the formal night. I did not see many tuxes, but did see suits quite a bit, and then shirts and ties and so on. Based on what I read on these boards, I expected to see much more casual clothes on the formal night. I am not sure what we read here on how casual everyone is reflects what is on all ships on all dates. I actually bought a long dress for this cruise and did not feel at all like the only one dressed up. Wear what you will enjoy wearing. 

I went to several Meet and Mingles and the cruise line provided a lot more food (cheese, fruit and pastries) than needed for the people who showed up. At each of them, attendance was low even though the thread had been active. The low attendance might be why the cruise line will stop supporting this. 

Also, most people talk to people they came with. None of them were really mixers.