Itchy&Scratchy

We used to sail Princess fairly often. We thought it was a small step up from RCI which used to be our cruise line of choice. But after a cruise on the Sapphire was pretty disappointing, we stepped up to Celebrity which we love. However, we just booked a cruise on the Regal over New Years and I admit I am hesitant about going, especially because we have 2 cruises booked on Oceania right before the Regal cruise. 2 concerns I have with Princess are the food and formal nights. Princess seems to be the last cruise line to still do formal nights and I'm not sure why. Oceania is country club casual everywhere and Celebrity is now Evening Chic. Of course if you want to dress up you can, but it's your choice and no one minds if you do or don't. And as everyone on these boards says, you can always eat in the buffet, but on Princess their buffet food is not the best and the food in the MDR on formal nights is usually good so who wants to miss that. I agree with the OP, while I like peanut butter and jelly, who wants to eat that on a cruise?

you will be pleasantly surprised by the buffet on Regal. We didn't know buffets on different Princess ships were so different, so we were somewhat unpleasantly surprised because we sailed on Caribbean AFTER Regal.... Regal has a spectacular buffet. Caribbean Princess has a regular one - it's not bad, but it's not as extensive and huge as on Regal.

We don't dress up for formal nights on any cruise. The best I do is business casual which is pants and a nice blouse. Hubby wears slacks and a button up shirt.

P.S. We didn't notice PBJ during the evening buffet on Caribbean. Most of the dishes were the same as MDR, but not all. I loved the smoked cold cuts section during every meal.

I have difficulty understanding why two people who use the same habits and precautions in the same cabin don't both become Ill with noro. One does and the other doesn't.

 

Wouldn't that indicate some activity is aided by ones immune system?

 

The same would apply to almost all ailments and diseases.

it happens. My friends (a married couple with two kids) were cruising a couple of years ago, and the husband came aboard with some kind of an intestinal bug (blames on a chicken salad at the cafeteria at work). He was quarantined in their cabin for 5 days, but wife and kids never got anything. Perhaps, it wasn't contagious and was just an upset stomach.

At times when our kid gets roto- or noro- but the adults don't get it. Sometimes it runs through the family like wildfire.

The $89 push chair is not a smart choice for anything other than short trips between car and the couch at home. It will NOT have the two large wheels that would enable him to push himself at any point, let alone maneuver himself in place.

thanks, that's a good point.

The ones with wheels start at $116 like this https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/medline-steel-wheelchair-with-swingaway-footrests/ID=prod6071474-product

but they are also rather heavy, starting at 38#... Do they roll when folded?

Dad doesn't need a chair from car to couch. He can even make it to the apartment complex pool just fine. But Regal Princess is huge, and he will most likely need something to help him go the distance and then plop into a chair somewhere.

Mom does have a rollator, but I don't think that's what we need for a cruise.

we were in a handicapped inside room on Liberty of the Seas (which is the same ship pretty much as the Independence of the Seas which was our very first cruise). It was huge compared to a regular inside room. We had a queen bed to the right and a huge sofa bed on the left (for the kid, so it stayed open all the time) and there was still enough space to get around. Although probably not enough space for a wheelchair to fit between an open sofa bed and the queen size bed, as I remember. Our kiddo tried to jump from one bed to another and I had to stop him because the gap was still substantial. And because we don't jump on beds.

The shower was roll-in and very spacious.

Aim to check it at the air bridge not the gate or at check-in and have it returned to the air bridge on disembarkation.

Last time a flight attendant took my luggage cart from me and gate checked it in while I was installing the car seat, even though I insisted that I was going to store the cart in the overhead compartment. Of course, the luggage cart wasn't there upon arrival - it was with luggage, and I had to hand carry a 25# car seat all the way to the baggage carousel... Ugh. Not helpful at all. I have back problems of my own. On the way back I made sure not to let the flight attendant take the cart.

Dad can move around and take steps and whatnot. He just can't walk for a long time/distance. Everyone's back problems are different... I can sit for hours, but I can't stand or walk for more than 20 minutes, or I will be in agonizing pain.

Dad's pain comes from 5 herniated discs that were aggravated on his last trip. I am considering buying a flight back for him, but we are not rich and it all adds up quickly.

We use a narrow push wheelchair for my father.

The big advantage as far as I'm concerned is that it fits through a normal cabin door and folds for easy storage in the cabin. .

The kid's car seat is about the same weight.

Yes, there are people who would sail using a credit card only. My ex-wife for example. Amazing how much money I have now that I'm married to a different woman.

oh, please. The problem is not with using a credit card. We use credit cards for everything and pay off the entire balance every month.

I choose to pay for the cruise with a credit card, because it has a built in cancellation protection, cash back (1-5%), and because it's easy and instantaneous, and it doesn't involve sending a paper check.

I don't know about Norwegian beds, but Princess "twin" beds are actually narrower than real twin beds, and I couldn't fit on one with our then 4 yo kiddo.

He sleeps like a log and was fine using the upper Pullman bed, although I wouldn't advise putting a more active sleeper or a 2 yo into a Pullman bed.

Princess doesn't give you a choice for inside cabins, but if Norwegian gives you a choice - I would absolutely get a sofa bed for kids.

yes, I've read a lot of threads in this subforum, including info on renting.

Mainly, I wonder if I should buy one for $89 and drag it everywhere with us, or rent one for $75 and use wheelchair assistance provided by the airline and cruiseline in port.

I find Princess cruises to be a lot more reasonable than RC. Especially for travel with 3-4 passengers. I am only paying $99 for the kid during a 7 day Thanksgiving cruise to the Caribbean!

I would bring everything with you. We pack our entire stash of over the counter and prescription meds in carry-on luggage, because we are paranoid that the checked in luggage will get lost or delayed.

Ship's doc is very-very expensive.

Our little grandson aged 19 months will be taking his first flight next month, just 2 hours to Venice but long enough we think as he's very active.

 

Does anyone have any tips for flying with a toddler please?

if you are not flying in the US on a US airline, and do buy a separate seat for your toddler, you may not be able to use a car seat on the flight. You will need to inquire with your specific airline.

Only US airlines are obligated to let you use an FAA approved car seat during the flight.

Also check out a Travel with Children board on babycenter.com for tips specifically on traveling with kids. Previous posters provided some excellent advice on that, but if you need more - be my guest.

Some questions you will need to ask yourself - will you need a car seat at your destination? will you be using a taxi and need a car seat?

P.S. my kid never needed stickers/games/books/anything if you give him a tablet with cartoons or age appropriate games on it. It's a life saver! We started cruising with him since he was 3, and he would have gotten bored in MDR and start acting out like other kids we've seen if it weren't for the tablet. He finishes his meal and then quietly watches cartoons/plays games (headphones are a must) while we are still busy with our meal. Our kid has been called the most well behaved kid in MDR by others. I know a lot of parents would frown upon using a tablet during dinner time, but if we want quality time enjoying our meal and talking to other adults, while the kid is bored out of his mind, the tablet is our sanity preserver. And no, we cannot ship him off to a kid's camp. He is very much opposed to that.

So, at the moment my dad's back is in agony, and he has limited mobility issues. He is getting treatment and physical therapy, but as of right now there are no improvements. Some days are better than others, but even better days leave him in a lot of pain.

We are taking him on his first cruise in November, so he still has a couple of months to get somewhat better. At this time he can sit, stand for a couple of minutes, lie down and walk about a 100 yards without assistance (but slowly). When he flew a month ago, we had to get wheelchair assistance for him, because at that time he could barely walk.

This would be our first time traveling with someone with a limited mobility requiring the use of a wheelchair for long distances.

We are flying to FLL to the cruise, but driving a rental minivan back (10+ hours).

If he doesn't get much better by our sailing, I was thinking about two possible ways to make his getting around a little more comfortable.

1) buy a push wheelchair at walgreens, currently $89 + ground shipping. Take it with us, wheel him through the airport ourselves or he can push it himself. At this time his arms are working just fine. Gate check the wheelchair, wheel him to ground transportation after the flight, get a minivan taxi to the port, wheel him through the port and onto the ship. He may or may not need it on the ship, depending on the distances and his pain status at that time. I am inclined to think that he may need it at times if the walk is long, but he won't need it all the time. Do this same thing in reverse on the way back to the airport car rental.

2) have the airline personnel wheel him through the airport to the gate and then to the ground transportation. Have the cruise/terminal personnel to wheel him from the taxi to the ship. Either rent a push wheelchair for him for $75 or let him hobble around on his own. Request Princess assistance for disembarkation.

We aren't doing any strenuous excursions. We'll mostly go to the beach at the ports. I am sure we'd NOT be using the wheelchair at ports .

If we were to request port wheelchair assistance from Princess, how far would they be able to transport dad in a princess wheelchair? He can come down the gangway by himself, but the long distance to the taxi stand may or may not be a challenge. I am sure that personnel would not venture out as far as the end of the pier.

What do you think? Door #1 or door #2?

P.S. We will also be wheeling around a large car seat on a luggage cart for the kiddo. I am not sure how strong a person needs to be to push my dad around in his wheelchair. He is just over 200#.

you should really consider getting an accessible room. It's extremely inconvenient to bathe your kiddo in the regular shower stall, even if they don't have mobility issues, but having a roll in large shower for a kiddo in a wheelchair gives you a lot more room to maneuver around. It truly is very helpful. Plus, having a larger room to move the wheelchair around is nice.

Granted, I am comparing a regular inside room to an accessible inside room. The difference in space was immense. Perhaps, the bathroom in a mini-suite is roomier than a regular bathroom in an inside room.

just curious - how long is your cruise? We had an 8 night cruise last time (3 of us in the cabin), and I got the water preordered, and we didn't even finish the pack. We do drink a lot, but there were 4 sea days for which we didn't need bottle water. It was kind of sad to let it go to waste. This time there are 6 of us and 4 port days, so I think we'll finish a pack.

We didn't want to book an accessible stateroom, taking away from those who really need it, because she doesn't need all the bells and whistles the room has.

 

Thanks!

 

~Katrina

we were booked into an accessible room on RC (we didn't really need it at the time, but we appreciate it), and it didn't have any bells or whistles aside from being bigger, wider and having a roll-in shower. It also had a sofa bed instead of a Pullman bed.

My husband has always had a major fear of going to mexico since a former employee of ours was detained by the police there years ago. I finally got him on board with cruising there and dang it, he saw the warning on the news last night. We are still doing our 2 night - wasn't getting off the ship anyway, but I bet I'll have to cancel my spring time cruise now. :(

just stay on the ship.

My friend refuses to leave the ship on our upcoming trip to Cozumel, but it's because she had a horrible taxi driver experience... Not because of violence.

It it just occurred to me - when you have parents traveling with two children - you will of course come up to the limit on the number of cabins which would accommodate four - that would explain the limitations - without it being simply age-based.

It makes perfect sense since they have a maximum capacity for each of their kid club age ranges. If they didn't do this we would be having outraged threads about how someone's kid wasn't allowed into the kid's club because it was full, or outraged threads about how badly overcrowded their kid's club was.

On two of our cruises the main pool, and then a hot tub, were closed for over 24 hours for cleaning, after a diapered child left a deposit.

We don't like pools on cruises, because the water is freezing. Even in April in the Caribbean. We either use hot tubs or nothing at all... Even my kid (kids are frost-proof, right?) couldn't get in the pool, because the water was unpleasantly cold.

Menus in MDR are just not that interesting. The only thing special I order every night is french fries. Many nights that's what I end up eating.

yeah, I can have French fries at home - any time. Literally - McD's is open 24/7.

I go on a cruise to eat wonderful food, mostly, seafood, but I love all food. I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to get on a boat, travel to exotic locations, while being served great food... and all I would eat is French fries...? wat? :evilsmile:

You/they need to get started NOW. The process to receive Rehabilitated status is not a short one and depending on the charges, it will take a year plus for the application process - and there is no guarantee that it will be approved.

I'd probably just pick a cruise to the Caribbean instead.

One might be no big deal, but say on one of the mega ships, there are 200 children under 2 that are sailing free. That is a LOT of adult fares that are being lost. Say and average price of $1000 per person, would YOU give up $200000 in income for 1 week?

Oh, and by the way, cruise lines do limit the number of kids in certain age groups on a sailing. Last year we couldn't join our friends because Regal Princess didn't allow any more kids aged 4-8 on board. Our friends' family was also in a predicament, since they had an 8 and a 10 year old. They were waitlisted, and when somebody with kids backed out, they were allowed to book the cruise.

The stop in Victoria might be an issue. If the Canadians want for info , they be looking for documents that you are rehabilitated . They don't care how many years but are you rehabilitated .

Our oldest loves the kid's clubs/camp and may be out late with them and I'd rather be in our cabin after the younger one goes to sleep.

P.S. We have a 6 yo, and we wouldn't put him in a separate cabin, unless it's with a responsible adult (not a 13 yo that will be out with friends).