Itchy&Scratchy

My parents will be cruising with us this time - it's their first cruise ever. I'd like to recommend a venue or two to them with more of an oldies kind of music and maybe some slow dancing. They are in the late 60s.

What would you recommend?

my friend's kids LOVE the kid's club. They beg to go the minute they wake up. They've been cruising on Regal since they were 5 and 7. They are now 8 and 10, and are looking forward to it again this November.

My kid won't stay at the kid's club by himself because he has stranger anxiety, so I cannot judge the program from my own point of view. He is 6.

my friend's parents traveled on Celebrity and Princess (only Regal and Royal Princesses), and they said the food on Princess was a lot better. Including Chocolate Journey.

We have the same car seat but find it quite heavy to carry... trying to find something lighter/easier to transport for our 5 yo but will bring the frontier if all else fails.

you don't carry it - you strap it to a folding luggage cart with bungee cords and wheel it through the airport.

You are on an 8-nighter, only one more night than typical. They cannot sail all the way down there and back in a week unless they have a ton of sea days. If you have checked what Princess does in the Caribbean each season, they have had trips like that, but you get maybe two calls in the week and that is it (I know Regal is only doing three), but just keep in mind they can only head out so far for the time involved and it costs them a lot more in fuel.

 

It's the 10-day trips in Caribbean that normally get down to the southern islands.

Good luck with your trip.

we were on Caribbean princess to ABC islands last Nov, 8 night.

I would love it if they diverted my Nov cruise to ABC islands. But the email Princess sent out a couple of days ago says that Princess Cays, Cozumel, Jamaica and Grand Cayman Islands have not been affected.

We picked Caribbean last Nov for its itinerary. I had known it was an older ship before we sailed, so I adjusted my expectations accordingly.

That said, we didn't have any engine problems. While the ship wasn't as shiny and new as Regal and Royal, and had a few stains here and there, it wasn't too bad. If we hadn't sailed on Regal prior to Caribbean, I would have been happier with it, but I didn't expect the buffet to be 1/3 of the Regal's buffet size (with 1/3 of the offerings as well). The buffet size and offerings were truly a disapointment to us - we are majorly into food.

MDR food was great. It didn't have a gelato store and it didn't have anything for kids to do if the weather was rainy and they aren't into the kid's club. Nothing for active adults to do either, especially on a rainy day.

We loved the itinerary, though, and the ship wasn't too bad. Bring Lysol wipes and wipe down your room top to bottom. I used quite a few and they were black with dirt.

why would you want to stick 8 people in the same room, unless it's the Presidential Suite or something.

other than that, I'd book 4 rooms with 2 ppl in each, or 2 rooms with 4 people in it - maybe, a minisuite? INside rooms are tiny and 4 adult size humans in one inside room is quite bad.

BTW, what's special about Regal's buffet? We're not usually a fan of buffets, but will give it a try if there's something special about it.

Regal/Royal buffet is so much bigger than other ships' buffets, and offers a lot more fancy choices. Plus, Chocolate Journey desserts are also available at the buffet. And once day they even had sushi - it was an Asian/Japanese themed lunch. Terrific!

I usually go for all the seafood choices.

Alfredo's is right in the middle of the ship in Piazza. It's a specialty restaurant, and we always thought we had to pay, so we never tried it. We will this time!

on our last Princess voyage on Caribbean Princess, something went wrong with the customs/immigration and we didn't get off the ship until after noon... Thankfully, our flight was at 5 pm, because the check-the-luggage line at the airport took another hour and security took some time as well.

Are there any complementary drinks (hot or cold) available at the IC?

 

15 coffees or gelato, I didn't fully get that. There doesn't seem to be any mention of gelatos on the details about the card on my account. But its good to know.

I know, I just found out about this as well.

I sailed this week and the IC had Mighty Leaf mostly organic teas and a Vanilla bean that was not organic. You can ask for the tea bag only to bring to the dining room or where ever. You can buy the coffee card on board or for significantly less on ebay from someone ( elite tire) who trades their mini bar in for coffee cards and doesn't use both.

oh, that was another question I had. If we don't use up the card on a particular sailing and there are still punches left on it, would we be able to use it a year later? And would the unlimited premium tea still be included?

Excuse my ignorance but I don't know what this means.

 

Thanks for the tip on the water temperatures.

Having read this thread I definitely think a coffee card is the way to go even if my wife doesn't want all 10 of the coffees!

I think it's 15 specialty coffees and super-premium teas (from the Tea Tower) or gelato.

Sorry, but I'm new to Princess and I drink a LOT of tea but never drink coffee. My wife likes the occasional coffee but also drinks a lot of tea. Are you saying that, if my wife buys a coffee card then she can also get me a tea at IC without it counting against her card? And the same goes for getting hot chocolate (daughter likes Hot Chocolate sometimes)?

 

To be honest, we will probably be taking our own tea bags so I would probably only be after hot water and milk (and a cup!).

 

Thanks

there are plenty of Twinning tea varieties available at the Horizon buffet for free. So, you don't really need to bring your own tea bags, unless it's something super-duper premium that you think you must have.

I don't like coffee in general that much, and free unlimited coffee at the buffet wasn't all that yummy to me.

So, the specialty coffee card that we are talking about can be used for the unlimited PREMIUM tea (apparently, Mighty Leaf) and brewed coffee at the IC. We will mostly use it to buy gelato, but we'll also use it for premium tea and brewed coffee as well since it comes with the coffee card anyway.

Just bought this 30 oz tumbler for $5 at walmart.com for the upcoming trip for my tea!!!!

Ozark Trail 30-Ounce Double-Wall, Vacuum-Sealed Tumbler

less clothes. Tux rental or being super formally dressed is not mandatory. Don't forget flip flops!!!! I did on our first ever cruise. Duh.... 2 swimsuits/trunks because they take forever to dry. Comfy shoes.

If you got an inside cabin, try to bring a tiny lantern nightlight (battery operated because sometimes it's impossible to get to an electrical outlet). Inside cabins are like coffins - it's impossible to see in the dark.

Labadee is a lovely beach place. Our first time there hubby did the ziplining and loved it! Other than that, it's a gorgeous beach place.

Falmouth is boring. Everything fun is quite a drive away.

Cozumel's attractiveness depends on what you like doing best - beach, snorkel, ruins, shopping, etc.

Do go to all the destination boards and do research. :)

Allure will have a ton of activities for young, active people. Explore away!

thanks! I think we'll ask for a pot or individual bags. I am sure we'll figure it out, as long as they don't just flat out refuse to give us tea. :)

Horizon Court had a lot of different Twinning teas.

yes, I am thinking of bringing our large tea mug, because we literally drink a bucket of hot tea at a time, so having small cups of tea is annoying and dissatisfying. But what I mean is - is it possible to get a cup of tea for myself and hubs at the same time, since it's unlimited with the coffee card? the coffee card doesn't work like AIBP and doesn't say that it can't be shared.

we don't snorkel, but we found Bonaire's Luc (Lac) Bay mesmerizing. We simply adored the very shallow and calm aquamarine water for about a mile out. The kid loved it, we loved it.... The beach itself was tiny and unremarkable, but we spent about 4-5 hours in the water and would go back in a heartbeat. I read that snorkeling is great off an uninhabited Klein Bonaire island.

In Curacao I picked Pirate Beach (bar) and it was very unremarkable. The water was murky and meh, the beach rocky and unwelcoming, and we don't care for using the bars at all so it was useless to us. Although we appreciated having a bathroom to change in after the beach. Upon coming back to the ship, we took a stroll through town. It was very commercial, and it was hot and humid that day, so even our kid was miserable after about 40 minutes. Wifi at Starbucks was nice - and it worked outside the store as well. We looked at the floating bridge which was open at the time, and all the people that were stuck on it for a loooong time. That was it. Kind of boring and miserable.

if I have one coffee card, would I be able to get two cups of tea at once or will I have to come back for the second one later?

Don't have young kids but if you check Amazon, there are some options to BubbleBum. There's a backpack seat that gets high marks for around $35. And others. This may be a way to go.

BubbleBum is an inflatable booster for older kids. "Options" include different colors.

Please help me make the right choice. Choosing a travel insurance is totally new to me, since it's the first time my parents are coming on a cruise. I posted it in a "over 55" board, but didn't receive any definitive answers.

first, what would work best for my parents? any agency recommendations are welcome.

67 and 69 at the time of the cruise. Cruise is 7 nights. Both have Medicare (mom has some kind of additional supplement, and Dad has Medicare Part B and Medicaid); and the usual age related health problems. I have read that neither Medicare, nor Medicaid work outside the US, so that's settled.

I was thinking GeoBlue Voyager Choice Single Trip for $100K or $1M medical. Both of these also have $500K medical evacuation, which I am assuming is different from the $100K or $1M medical expenses. Judging by posts above, this medical evacuation may not include helicopter evacuation? Princess insurance has the same premiums (about $100 for 2), but much lower medical limits.

I don't know whether MedJetAssist is needed on top of GeoBlue. I can't tell what's different about what it offers. But it starts at $99pp, whereas GeoBlue was $100-130 for two people.

I have trip cancellation insurance through my Chase Visa upto $5K. So do my parents, so we are not talking about trip cancellation, but purely medical emergencies.

My nuclear family (my hubby and kid) has a regular UHC group plan through my work. Do I need travel insurance (we never bought one, but now I am getting paranoid)? Should I just contact my UHC provider and see what it offers in terms of international medical treatment coverage/evac services if it offers any?

I used medical services and it was charged to my account. Returned home and sent copy of bill to primary. They used it for my deductible. Then submitted it to secondary and they paid next to nothing and I also realized none of the medicines were covered. Sent medicines stuff to drug company and got turned down because medicines given onboard are considered out of the country and not covered.

 

Finally sent all bills medical and medicinal to princes coverage and got it 100% covered. Hope this helps

You can buy inexpensive travel booster seats that should work for your 3-year old - I have even seen some that are inflatable! :cool:

Now, if the child is off the charts for height and weight at 3, and will sit properly in a no back booster, it will provide adequate protection.

That said, we used a no back booster to transport my 3.9 year old who was the size of an average 5 year old at that time (43") from the airport to the port (2 miles) in a taxi, and the seat belt fit was very bad. The same no back booster provided a much better seat belt fit at 5 years for him (he was the size of an average 6 year old). We did not use the booster while in a taxi in foreign ports. However, all the taxis we have been in so far had seatbelts. The craziest, most careless drivers were in Ft Lauderdale.

Most people don't even think about bringing a booster or a car seat with them for travel, and definitely not for taxi rides in foreign ports....

Our friend never brought so much as a booster for their then 3 yo on any of the cruises. Our very first cruise together included Cozumel and a 20 minute taxi ride.

Which ship are you sailing on or where is your itinerary?

I have a suspicion that you are on the POA.

The POA is indeed a US flagged vessel.

However, it is also true that your US based health insurance should be in effect if you are on the ship, and definitely in port.

The POA never visits a foreign port, which is a condition for GeoBlue to be in effect.

so, since we are on Princess, and besides the embarkation port, the rest of the ports are foreign, we should be ok with the GeoBlue?