Athina1

Your posts were all helpful info! Especially the link to web pages should one want to buy charms. I bought my bracelets recently from a Mediterranean Cruise. I like them a lot :) although I find it strange that what should be their main web page is basically non existent. There is no guarantee for the products either. The first bracelet I was about to buy missed one of the hanging charm bits, so always be careful and inspect the product closely.

The biggest concern is in fact my son who is 12. He is big enough to go a bit around the ship on his own during the week. But he could still get lost, or unexpected things might take place, in which it would make us both feel better that we could send messages.

He might get a flu with a bit of fever and have to stay behind at the ship while I'm at a shore excursion. Of course he would normally attend the kids' club but if he is a bit ill, it would not be fair to others who might soon be ill too. So in that case he'd better stay at the cabin reading etc.

Also, my son speaks a bit of English. But still way not enough to manage on his own or understand written signs be it in whatever language - all the languages they use on the ship are foreign to us as we represent the Scandinavian language group.

Costa application and link, wow, good info, thank you :) . What I don't get is that doesn't the app need wifi to work? And if yu have wifi, then you might as well use Whatsapp, it's costless as well and we use it already with our cell phones. It could be that only Costa's own system works while on ship, though, and Whatsapp doesn't for some reason. But that is definitely good information, thanks again!

I hate ringing cell phones plus loud talking in phones, too! :) And cell phones in general when it comes to not being present with other people. I'm totally anti-mainstream in this sense when compared to my age group and country. For me, cell phones exist only for practical reasons. I don't surf the internet with my phone. The only reason I know what wifi and Whatsapp are are because I have a 12 year old son :)

Whatsapp is basically the same as text messages, only that it does not cost to the user. All you need to have is a wireless internet somewhere close enough, usually in some public space. This is why I was asking if there is a wireless internet present on the ships. We'll see what happens.

Why am I thinking that post-it messages would not enough? Well, foremost of course because of my son. He is big enough to go a bit around the ship on his own during the week. But he could still get lost, or unexpected things might take place, in which it would make us both feel better that we could send messages. He might get a flu with a bit of fever and have to stay behind at the ship while I'm at a shore excursion. Of course he would normally attend the kids' club but if he is a bit ill, it would not be fair to others who might soon be ill too. So in that case he'd better stay at the cabin reading etcetera.

Also, we are Europeans, the multitude of languages does not bother us, and my son speaks a bit of English. But still way not enough to manage on his own or understand written signs be it in whatever language - all the languages they use on the ship are foreign to us as we represent the Scandinavian language group.

It was a good piece of information that there might be house phones in the elevator lobbies! In this way I could at least call the cabin while somewhere else on the ship. (I try to minimize extra walking due to my mobility issues; before someone starts raging that walking iaround the ship is good for your health.)

How do you stay connected with your travel buddies while on ship? Making phone calls is out of question of course, due to the cost. We will be traveling to the Mediterranean. The Cruise line is Costa. I've never been been on a Cruise before.

Is there wifi (wireless internet connection) at the public rooms of the ship, lobbies, corridors etc? We could use Whatsapp messages for no-cost communication through our phones, but that requires that a wifi connection is present. Our cabin is Premium, but I think that does not include a free wifi in the cabin.

How do you stay connected with your travel buddies while on ship? Making phone calls is out of question of course, due to the cost.

Is there wifi (wireless internet connection) at the public rooms of the ship, lobbies, corridors etc? We could use Whatsapp messages for no-cost communication through our phones, but that requires that a wifi connection is present. Our cabin is Premium, but I think that does not include a free wifi in the cabin.

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has an idea. I am 40 yrs and have multiple sclerosis. My problems are mainly getting easily fatigued, as well as needing to use the restroom more often than healthy people. I do not have absolute constraints with walking, but after walking more than the amount of, say 2-3 kilometres I end up very fatigued or even fall asleep, of course not during the walking lol but when I get back home.

I am able to walk for 5 km, maybe even more, quite fast even, but in any case, after 2-3 km the after effect is what I described. The after effect can be present even the day after, even later.

I do not use any assistive devices, apart from a kind of a taxi service card for the handicapped.

My question is: if, due to health reasons, I, on the same morning, have to withdraw from an excursion that I've already booked, will I get reimbursed?

On Costa website it says that the passenger will be compensated in the case of an objective state of illness determined by the ship's doctor. Or something like that, the idea was this, however.

Interested on any experiences, also other than Costa

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has an idea. I am 40 yrs and have multiple sclerosis. My problems are mainly getting easily fatigued, as well as needing to use the restroom more often than healthy people. I do not have absolute constraints with walking, but after walking more than the amount of, say 2-3 kilometres I end up very fatigued or even fall asleep, of course not during the walking lol but when I get back home.

I am able to walk for 5 km, maybe even more, quite fast even, but in any case, after 2-3 km the after effect is what I described. The after effect can be present even the day after, even later.

I do not use any assistive devices, apart from a kind of a taxi service card for the handicapped.

My question is: if, due to health reasons, I, on the same morning, have to withdraw from an excursion that I've already booked, will I get reimbursed?

On Costa website it says that the passenger will be compensated in the case of an objective state of illness determined by the ship's doctor. Or something like that, the idea was this, however.

Interested on any experiences, also other than Costa :)

Thank you. I checked the thread Buggins linked, too. This is good information. I had not thought about that English language tours would not have enough participants. That's wierd. I'm European but still I find it wierd. But if Costa is going to get customers from Scandinavia or Eastern Europe, let alone Britain, they will have to keep the English tours somehow.

I speak and understand some German and some French, but I doubt not enough to understand much.

Also it was new to me that Costa does not allow for cancellations once you have paid your excursion.

Thank you very much to all those who answered my excursion question! I will be starting now to look for the excursions list. I got so many good pieces of advice.

<For a Med cruise it is best to book your excursions in advance as the places <you visit are far away from where the ship docks most of the time and many <require timed tickets or transportation that you have to make a reservation <for.

That is a good point.

I think I will do as you suggested, I will book those excursions that are the most important to us, as well as those that are far away.

The rest we can decide depending on the level of exhaustion or if we've just got a flu or something. It's not possible to cancel excursions that you've already paid for, anyway.

and the destination is Western Mediterranean...

If I do not book any shore excursions before the Cruise, shall I miss them i.e. are they usually fully booked? I'm a first time cruiser! We are two people: me and my school boy son.