Sea and Me

Carol, sounds like your DH needs to go back to his doctor ASAP and get a different kind or strength of medicine. BP meds affect everyone differently so you usually need to try a few before finding one that (1) works and (2) doesn't give you horrible side affects. Good luck!

Sandy:

We were in touch with the doctor. He had changed the dosage (my husband has been on this med for a while) to a higher dose. When we called and told him of what was going on he lowered the dose. His symptoms are going away and he is feeling better. Thanks for your post.

Carol

I don't know if I worded the title correctly however, if we cancel our flights are we to book flights from the time we purchased the tickets or from the time we were to use them?? We purchased in April '16 to fly Aug.'16.

Thanks,

Carol

How close to sail date did you ever have to cancel your cruise?? My DH is having gastro problems due to increased medication for his blood pressure. We are to sail 8/13, however, we may have to cancel. We do have RCI insurance. Has anyone canceled this close to a cruise??

Thanks,

Carol

I've been on this board before stating that my brother in law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We have two cruises booked. The one in Nov. is being tossed around to cancel for several reasons, however we are booked on the Adventure for Aug. 13th. Yesterday I received a call that he is doing poorly. He is confined to bed and hardly eating. I'm wondering what to do. I don't want to be out of the country if he should die. Going on a cruise at this time seems "heartless" while his family members are going through so much pain. We do have RCI insurance and I'm planning on seeing my TA today. I don't know if any of you have had this situation in the past, if so would you tell me what you did. If the diagnosis was months no problem I'm talking of his life being numbered in days.

Thank you for understanding. I appreciate your answers. Its not about me at this time, its being here for my sister and family.

Carol

Thanks Bob, I meant check in (senior moment had a lot lately). Another question, would we print our boarding passes or will SW have them at the airport?? Sounds like I never flew before!

Thanks,

Carol

This will be our first time flying SW. We leave on 8/12 at 6:45 am. How do I go about doing early boarding?? If I check in regular do I check in the previous day?? Coming home from the cruise our flight leaves at 2pm. How would early boarding work coming home??

Thanks for your help. Have a good day.

Carol

I enjoyed your review. When you said that your husband and you went for a walk and saw the ship across the water, I'm assuming it was docked at the Pan American pier! We are staying a day ahead in OSJ and hope that our boarding will be as quick as yours. Thanks for taking the time to post, pictures were great.

Carol

Your review is awesome!! St. Lucia is my favorite island and we will be there on 8/17. I'm so excited. This time I can show my grandkids the beauty of the island. Your pictures are really great. Those people in the photos look like one happy family!! Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.

Carol

Thanks everyone! The 16 year old has a PA drivers permit. The 14 year old, as some say, won't need an ID. I know that in some ports the security wants to see a photo ID. I remember Puerto Rico in particular a few years ago. I'm seeing their parents this weekend and will let them know what I found out from all of your posts. Thanks again.

Carol

We are traveling with our son and his family. Grandchildren are 16 & 14. They have passports. Not wanting to take their passports off the ship could we make photo copies and bring them to get on and off the ship?? Of course, they would have their sea pass card too. What do other parents do for their childrens ID??

Thanks,

Carol

We are going to be flying in the day before our cruise. To those that have done this-- a question! When do you attach the ships luggage tags?? I'm thinking when we did this once before the ships luggage tags were attached from home. What do you do??

Thanks,

Carol

When I started this post the question I asked was about the military discount on RCI and wondered why they didn't offer it on all of their cruises!! That was the intent of the post! I asked a simple question. I never thought I would get so many responses of different opinions. I thank all of you for your responses.

I want to make this clear I never intended to boycott any cruise line or book on a particular one for "discounts". We have over 20 cruises and the times we got "perks" or "discounts" are few! If we want a particular itinerary we book no matter what cruise line.

Also, to those of you that have served in the military I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have family members and close friends who have served and some retired. Some have come back with "issues" and are now trying to deal with all that they have encountered while serving this country and letting us live "free". It is to those of you that really deserve "discounts" no matter where you shop or vacation (just my opinion).

I hope you all enjoy your day.

Carol

Seriously, I'd stick with Princess if you get the discount there. I also think it should be on all sailings.

Our son and his family asked us to go with them on the Aug. cruise!! We're going (making memories). We usually go to NC on a family vacation (10 yrs.) however, grandkids involved in activities so not this year!! We do like RCI (Diamond) but also like Princess for their itineraries. We enjoy cruising and being retired we can go when we choose. We are truly blessed.

Enjoy your day.

Carol

Thanks for your responses. I think this sort of "stinks". If one cruise line can do it why not all the others? We have a booking with Princess and get the military discount. Our Aug. booking on the Adventure doesn't include it. Our TA is checking it out. I doubt we'll get it but worth a try. Thanks again.

Carol

Do all bookings give the military discount?? I noticed that when I do a "fake" booking some include it and some do not. I thought military was given to all bookings. Am I wrong??

Thanks,

Carol

Our son and his family have their cabin!! A superior ocean view with balcony. They are happy cruisers!! That assignment took 3 days.

Thanks for all your responses.

Carol

I expect many different answers to this question but here goes!! How long did you wait for your cabin assignment on a cabin guarantee?? My personal experience was two weeks before sailing. What was yours??

Thanks and have a good day.

Carol

We booked a Nov. cruise with the 3-1 promotion. Does anyone know if a future 3-1 will be featured?? I'm also wondering is it better to book while on board or I guess when I see a "deal" when I snoop the Princess website.

Thanks for your responses.

Carol

This question is for those of you that use travel agents. I'm wondering if your TA would notify you of a "sale" and try to upgrade your cabin. Yesterday while "snooping" the RCI website I noticed that our sailing in Aug. was lower in cost!! We could reserve a balcony cheaper than our outside cabin. I compared the cost of both cabins and the balcony was $100 cheaper (a no brainer) I immediately called my TA and he worked it out. We have the balcony cabin. I then asked if he would look into our sons reservation. They booked an inside. Sure enough within 10 min. our son went from an inside to a balcony guarantee for only $70 more!!

I guess my question is this: Why wouldn't the TA know of the sale?? Why wouldn't they do the leg work?? Our son told me that I should think of being a TA--not a bad idea!! Or just start booking our cruises without a TAs help??

Thanks for your response.

Carol

I would like to thank all of you for responding to my post. After much thought my DH and I decided not to cancel the cruise. My sister and her husband have a large family and a wonderful support system. We will continue with our plans. Thank you again.

Carol

We did it from ocean view to balcony. Son went from an inside to balcony guarantee. It pays to "snoop"!! Glad I have time to look for the "deals".

Thanks everyone for your input. Have a good day.

Carol

I was just snooping on the cruise we booked for Aug. It seems a balcony is cheaper than the ocean view that we booked. Has anyone ever switched cabins after final payment?? Is this even possible?? When we booked the ocean view on a "sale" we got "free gratuities" but the balcony cabin is almost $100 cheaper and includes a $50 OBC. Could we do this??

Thanks,

Carol

So glad I came upon your post. We are staying at the Sheraton in Aug. and cruising on the Adventurer. My DH and I have been on the Adventurer and did the same itinerary but DS &DIL with grandson 16 and granddaughter 14 will be with us this time.

May I ask the price of the cab?? Do they charge for luggage?? We were told by the lady at the hotel just to take "white colored cabs" is this what you did??

Looking forward to your review. I'm sure the others appreciate all the time and effort you put into it. (Do it at home, don't lose your job)

The pictures are great!

Carol

We are booked for an Aug. cruise. We fly Southwest to Puerto Rico. Cruise and air are paid. We just received some horrible news about my brother in law. He is diagnosed with cancer and only has months to live. I'm thinking of canceling the cruise. The question I have is what will Southwest do to our tickets. Do we get a year to use them with some kind of voucher system??

Thanks,

Carol

I'm wondering if any of you have heard about a cruise to nowhere. I'm going to celebrate a "biggie" in January and our daughter said someone told her about a cruise to nowhere. Any one know of the details?? Thanks in advance.

Carol