cairokid

Thank you Selbourne. That’s really helpful and I will pass it on to the others.

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘lined shirts’ though. I’m borrowing some ski trousers from my daughter for outside and they are lined and padded, but was just going to wear 2 or 3 layers on the top part of my body.

It’s not fur coats & mittens I’m concerned about but whether we’ll need jumpers or T-shirts. I’ve read posts suggesting you only need thin tops. I don’t want to bring more clothes than I need. 

Thank you so much. That is reassuring.

I agree. I wouldn’t think it is healthy to go from one extreme of temperature to another. Normal household temperature is about 20 so I can’t see why it would be warmer than that.

I misread it - they said 26 not 28, but that’s still a heck of a lot warmer than normal comfort conditions. Someone else told me you can wear bare shoulders. She also said it was a similar temperature to a posh hotel, but I rarely go to posh hotels so that doesn’t help, 😀

We’re a group of 10 ladies who are going to the Northern Lights on Aurora in March. We’re taking lots of warm clothing for outside but are concerned about what to wear on board. A couple of people have mentioned that it is about 28 degs on the ship. Is that true? That is incredibly warm. 

So what do you call the small place inside the cabin which has a loo and a shower? :)

The heads

I have a big birthday coming up after Christmas next year and am looking at options for a cruise for 10-12 family members, including one 4 year old child and 3 people who will need persuading to try cruising. We're mostly UK based but several of us have lived in Mediterranean countries so not interested in France, Italy or Greece. I fancied somewhere warm but not too long a flight.

There are very few options available. There is a 12-day with NCL, who I've cruised with before, from Barcelona to the Canaries. I'd love that but it may be too long for some of the others. The only other possibility I've found is a 7 day trip from Abu Dhabi with MSC. MSC have extremely mixed reviews so I am hesitant. I'm concerned whether they will have enough to entertain the little one, and also whether we'll be able to eat together - some reviews said they just put you on a table and not with your party. Any feedback from MSC cruisers please?

A more serious concern is whether we'd enjoy the area. Many of the family have lived and worked in Arab countries in the past so we've seen plenty of mosques and deserts. We're not really city types, definitely not interested in shopping malls and high rise buildings. Are there trips that involve nature and beautiful scenery or is it all man-made stuff to look at? The cruise does involve a visit to Sir Bani Yas but apart from that ... what might we like to do?

Ah, I didn't understand what virgin meant :) Yes, I think NCL misunderstood as well. I couldn't believe that you could not get non-alcoholic drinks on the package. Thanks everyone for your help.

Sounds delicious. Did you get it without rum? Was it on an UBP?

My husband and I were given a free UBP when we booked a May cruise on Norwegian Pearl.

He has recently been advised not to drink alcohol for health reasons (apart from the odd small glass of wine). Does anyone know what non-alcoholic drinks we can get with this package? I asked NCL in London about non-alcoholic cocktails, which I've had on another cruise, and they told me non-alcoholic cocktails weren't included in any of their drinks packages. We're not fans of Cola and fizzy drinks. I think non-alcoholic beer is included but is there anything else?

As both people in the cabin must have the package I'm sure there must be other couples where only one person drinks alcohol. Any advice please?

Great information, thanks.

I'll investigate the smaller HAL ship as well. Definitely think I would enjoy a ship with less than 2000 people. I'm not a city-dweller and find that many people all in one place a bit overcrowded :)

I never find it difficult to entertain myself so masses of activities aren't a priority.

Reassured to know it wasn't horizontal rain all the trip. I'm prepared for some inclement weather; I doubt anyone goes to Alaska in May expecting much sunshine ...

Points about having good clothing noted. I read somewhere that it's easy to buy additional fleeces in some of the ports. Is that correct?

Will research travel agents as well. I've already looked at flights and will probably have to go via the UK.

xlxo thanks for that link!

 

cairokid, the chilliest I've experienced on the Inside Passage cruise was in early May, around the start of the 2nd week of the month, in Ketchikan. It was about +6C, with enough blasting wind to drive the rain parallel to the ground. Some people were soaked to the skin (bad clothing choices) and certain they were never ever going to get warm again.

Brrr ... We are ( or possibly now I should say were) skiers and have lived in the Scottish Highlands so I know what 6 degrees with rain and high wind-chill feels like. That's the sort of weather I was worried about ...

Thanks. Have looked at the Oceania website and am very attracted by what they offer. There's an enormous difference between the 'brochure price' they quote and the offer prices they have up to June 30th.

I think we'd enjoy a smaller ship like this. Do the prices go up to the brochure price? I notice the prices for this May/June are much the same as for next year; also much less than the brochure price.

Check out Oceania Regatta. Take the $ credit instead of free airfare. With other O perks and a good TA, including his/her perks

I'll look into this but (sorry if I am being dumb here) what is 0 perks, TA, and his /her perks?

Thank you so much for all your helpful replies. I'll check out what you have suggested.

Those temperatures are higher than I anticipated so that's great. I don't know if we can go much later in the year than May as we're involved in a summer seasonal business here.

As for ship size, our only other cruise was on Brilliance of the Seas to the Baltic. We enjoyed it but there were a lot of people on board. It was absolutely full. I wouldn't want to go on a bigger ship than that, if possible. One with less than 1000 passengers would be great but they all seem to be over our budget.

We're beginning to plan a cruise in Alaska for spring 2016. What we'd like to do is combine this with spending a few days each in Seattle, Vancouver, and possibly Anchorage. We're thinking of a one-way cruise starting or ending in Vancouver and we'll travel to or from Seattle by train. Will be my husband and I. We live in southern Europe and will book our own flights.

We were thinking of going mid May. Can anyone advise how cold it would be in N.America then (in centigrade if possible)?

Also, when are the school holidays? We'd like to avoid them if possible.

We've only cruised once before, on Royal Caribbean to the Baltic. We're open as to which company we use so any recommendations would be nice. I don't think we'd like to be on a huge ship and can't afford to go on a very small one so something in the middle would be desirable.

All tips and hints gratefully received. Thank you.

Had nice meal on our recent cruise plus my husband booked on the sushi tuition they ran which wasn't advertised generally, only offered to clients. We paid about $30 for our meal including a couple of glasses of wine so it wasn't expensive,

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Just finished 12 day cruise. We had 3 formal nights and I think 70s and 80s theme but didn't see many people dressed for theme. Weather was fabulous with 27 degrees in St Petersburg. We only had one pair of shorts each and several people had mainly brought sweaters. Bring layers so you can peel off or put on.

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We've just returned and the weather was beautiful, although the previous week it wasn't good I believe.

Lots of people didn't have enough warm weather clothes and we only had 1 pair of shorts each. Definitely take layers so you can strip off or add more as required.

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We've just returned from 12 days on Brilliance of the Seas. We decided not to get the drinks package but opted for a wine package instead.

What we discovered on board was that the King & Country pub offers a bucket of 5 good beers for $20 and my husband got this every sailing day. As a beer drinker this suited him fine and he didn't need to get it if we were in port and off the boat for the day. You didn't have to drink all the beers yourself or all in one day.

Much more flexible than the drinks package so if you're mainly a beer drinker it is useful to know.

Thank you all so much for your useful information. Now just have to get the packing done. I'm very excited!

We are going on our first cruise with RCI in a couple of weeks and have some questions. (The Search facility on this forum is pretty useless, I've found.)

1. is there a hairdresser on board? I know you can get manicures and facials and stuff, but can you get your hair styled?

2. are there 2-pin 220v European sockets in the cabins?

3. I'm rather dreading the start of the cruise when, from what I've read, several hundred people all converge on the cafe at the same time. I really dislike crowded places so I'm wondering what options there are. We don't normally eat lunch until 2-3pm. Will it still be crowded then (I hoped most people might eat earlier)? What time do they finish serving lunch? Is there anywhere else just to get a snack or a salad on the first day?

4. I know there are lots of threads about tipping. We have pre-paid gratuities on the cruise and we're from a culture where we would only leave a tip if the service was exceptionally good, so I am absolutely naive about this. If we get great service, I'd certainly leave a tip at the end but I've read several posts here recommending tipping bartenders / stewards on the first day. I don't have a clue how to do that or how much to give them. If you tip them the first night, even if they aren't that good, won't they expect a tip every night no matter how poorly they perform? Do you tip every night or just at the start? Do you tip before they do anything for you or afterwards?

I'd be really grateful if someone could explain please exactly how, when, and what you would tip at the start of a cruise?

I will say that car motion sickness and sea sickness aren't necessarily linked. My sister doesn't get car motion sickness at all, but does get sea sick on boats.

I suffer from car-sickness, if I'm not driving, but have never so far suffered from sea-sickness so they aren't always linked.

Haven't cruised yet (first time in a couple of weeks) but I've lived on a boat for a couple of years and have taken regular long ferry journeys.

I run a sailing business so I often get asked about seasickness prevention.

My advice is not to use patches, for the reasons others have cited. I would suggest taking a non-drowsy pill for the first couple of days and/or on any days when very rough weather is forecast. It's a sensible precaution but stop after two days if you feel okay. Don't assume you will get seasick - the majority of people don't.

You won't suffer as much if you can stay in tune with the motion (drivers don't get carsick; only passengers) so look at the horizon regularly - all the time if you are feeling ill. Make sure you stay warm and avoid alcohol (especially alcohol and sun!) Ginger helps.

It's very common to feel motion when you go ashore after being at sea for a few days. It isn't motion sickness - just your inner ear adjusting I think. It doesn't need treatment and wears off after a day or two at most. You stop getting the sensation once you have been at sea for several weeks.

I've now heard back from Customer Service. This was their response.

This doesn't make sense to me. I think they are mis-interpreting what the regulations are. If you have to pay for the whole cruise, I don't see any reason to specify that you need to purchase it at least 4 days before the end ...

Logically, I think it means the whole of the REMAINDER of the cruise, but maybe it isn't logical. I've emailed them again asking them to clarify.

Also, I asked if it DOES mean the whole of the cruise, will we still have to pay for any eligible drinks purchased prior to buying the package?

I'm not very impressed with the level of response I am getting. I wonder which country their Customer Support is based in? I get the feeling maybe they are not native English speakers.

At the moment I think I'll buy a package for my husband, as he'll probably happily drink his way through enough beers to justify it :). For me, I'll pre-pay a certain amount into obc and monitor what I drink. Then, if I can buy pro-rata for the latter part of the cruise and I think it's worth it, I'll do so.

Otherwise I'll just continue to pay as I go.

When I get a reply from RCI I'll let you know but they are taking a few days to get back to me each time.